Anyone used First Choice

[Ellie_loves_Minnie]

Hello all

Has anyone used First Choice for the whole package (ie flight, hotel AND park tickets)?

I picked up our tickets today but there were no park tickets included. When I asked I was told that we could pick them up at the hotel (we're staying at AKL). Now, there's been a few little porkies that First Choice have already told us in this whole process so I'm not sure if this sounds legit or not...

Anyone had this experience before?

 

[Hilary]

It sounds as though the passes will be added to your room key at check-in. Does your booking paperwork show that you have park tickets included? If it cearly shows what you have paid for, I'm sure AKL will just add it to your key.

 

[poohmadmum]

We've just come back and our tickets and DDP were simply added to our room keys on arrival.

 

[Ellie_loves_Minnie]

Thanks for the replies

Yes, the invoice clearly shows that we bought and paid for the tickets. The reason I asked is because we've only been twice before and both times we were sent separate park tickets; this is the first time it's being done this way for us.

I've had a couple of problems with First Choice as they told a few outright lies to get us to book (even though we were going to anyway so they wasted their effort) and then told me that the AKL construction didn't exist as they hadn't been told by Disney. They subsequently admitted that they'd known about it for a month but "no-one has been impacted so we are not notifying travellers". Hmmmmmmmmmm.

I can't deny they gave us a very good price but it comes across as a fairly amateur operation really. Hopefully all will be well with the park tickets - maybe I'll take the order and payment confirmation just in case...

Thanks

 

[profolly]

We've just come back and our tickets and DDP were simply added to our room keys on arrival.

So you didn't have to go to their "Welcome" meeting the next day and get your park tickets then ? I've been told that I have to specifically request that I can pick up my tickets at POFQ when I get there ? Honestly, I must admit I am getting fed up with this confusion about when you get your park tickets I don't thnk any other holiday company does this !!!!

 

[poohmadmum]

profolly : when we got our tickets from First Choice there was no mention of the tickets or free DDP in the voucher booklet. However, we were assured by First Choice that our booking showed this and we would have no problems. I did take the invoice which showed we had paid for the tickets/DDP but we had no problems.

On arrival at POFQ we were issued our room key card together with the tickets and DDP on it. We did a split stay and had no problems on arrival at the Poly either. Room key issued with new tickets and DDP.

We were very impressed with the First Choice flight. We flew from Bristol so it was a long flight going out as we had to fly to Manchester to stop and refuel and change the cabin crew. Entertainment/food/drink etc did not start until we left Manchester. We flew in Star Class Premier which is better than economy but to be honest we preferred the service we got with First Choice to Virgin last year and they were much cheaper even with the flight upgrade.

 

[gbrchill]

I had the same questions and despite asking direct questions via the web site got only wishy washy answers not actually answering the questions back.

I did go and see the rep at Sanford airport on arrival (just to make sure). As it happened he told me to go and check in at the hotel. When we got there all was in order and the park ticket and DDP were added to the room key.

This lack of information before departure was very different to the service we got on the outward flight which ended up being delayed by 5 hours because the original 767 had a radio fault. We waited on the plane for an hour an a half whilst the engineer tried to fix it before they offloaded us and got a spare ready. At all times they kept us up to date on what was happening and what the likely outcomes were. They even indicated the likely time required to get the new plane ready. When we were offloaded we got £5 refreshment vouchers.

Chris

 

[Hilary]

I did go and see the rep at Sanford airport on arrival (just to make sure). As it happened he told me to go and check in at the hotel. When we got there all was in order and the park ticket and DDP were added to the room key.

This is exactly what happened to us with a Thomson booking many years ago, so it's not purely a First Choice issue. With Thomson, I'd spent weeks stressing that we'd have to 'waste' a morning going to the Welcome meeting to get our tickets , but they were simply added to the WDW resort room key on check-in.

Like poohmadmum, we preferred our First Choice (economy) flight to Virgin's too (although I'm fairly happy to fly with anyone who'll take me if the price / date / airport is right! )

 

[profolly]

Thanks to all you folks you have reassured me so much, we are flying from Bristol, Star Class Premier . My DD and I are travelling on our own for the first time and thought it might be better to fly with a charter co.

Viv x

 

[arieliwish]

Hiya,

We flew with first choice to cbr 2 years ago and everything was put onto our room keys. Each time we used DDP we just handed our room key over and they swiped it at the til, the computer records how many credits you have left in total so only need any one key each time.

We thought the whole first choice service was great, the air crew were lovely, especially with our kids. We'd definitely use them again (when we save some money!), and no we didn't go to the meeting on the first day either - too much to do/see!!!

Lynn

 

[karengr]

we always fly first choice and this year were delighted they had started to fly from bristol. the only problem with the bristol flight was the Kylie CD that was played over and over again while we refueled and changed crew at Manchester .
have trust in First Choice what they say about your tickets is true just take your paper work that states you have paid for your tickets with you.
have fun

 

[kevg1889]

If you read my trippie, you will see that we have nothing but praise for First Choice, & it includes piccies of the flight etc. We actually had our park tickets issued by FC before we left, but we booked them at a different time to booking our holiday, and having negotiated a very good deal on them. I would not worry, because other people in our hotel got their tickets either issued on arrival, or added to their key card, but I must admit that I was happy to actually have the tickets in my hand.

You are so lucky to be going to AKL as it is truly paradise, and my trippie has loads of pictures, but you can never describe the feeling of when you first walk in there. Enjoy!!