Are we mad to even consider this?

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

When we booked this holiday, we had a few prior commitment constraints on either side which dictated that we could only go for 2 1/2 weeks.

We have just found out today that the commitment that we were flying home for has been moved to the following week. I made a joke to hubby that we could have stayed longer.

And he said.................well why don't we? Let's go to Washington DC for a few days, then fly home.

I'm not sure when we will actually make it back to the US after this trip. The plan is to head to Europe for the next one or two trips so I was feeling a bit bummed that we were going to miss Washington. So here is the perfect opportunity to include it.

My question is though....how hard is it going to be to change our flights and add flights, etc. with only 10 days to go until we leave?

Is it all going to be too much of a headache and I should just get over it and stick with the original plan? Or since we are in the US, would we be mad not to seize the opportunity?

I would welcome your thoughts.

 

[aussietravellers]

Hi Ms.Shuttergirl Haven't seen you here in ages.

How exciting! Well I would extend if it were me, sieze the opportunity I say . It is not hard to change flights at all, just a matter of calling the airline or TA to make the changes, book an extra flight or two to Washington and it's easy and very quick to book accommodation too.

I have changed flights at the very last minute without much hassle. Depending on your fare they may charge you to change those flights, particularly if they have already been ticketed.

But if you can then I think it would be great to extend.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Shuttergirl - how much would it cost to change the return flights?

If money was not an issue and there was no issues with taking extra time off school for the kids, I would add on the extra days.
But if you were going back next year, you could always do DC then....and stick with what you have.

 

[Kalice]

Id' try if you've got the extra time. At least find out what the cost would be. While we enjoyed DC, we would of liked some more time in NY. It was good for kids as it was less crowded than NYC. The kids now identify DC readily in movies and so on. The museums were similar to NY IMO. The train was great, and probably took as long as flying when you consider the time savings not clearing security etc.


I always vote for more holidays and less home time!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'm going to ring my TA in the morning and find out costs, level of difficulty, etc. To be honest, I'm not too worried about the cost . Because the whole trip is paid for already, it doesn't seem crazy to spend more .

We will see what the morning brings I guess.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

 

[PrincessInOz]

it doesn't seem crazy to spend more .

I'm going to steal this line and try and work it into my NOT PTR

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hahahaha, feel free to use it.

Does anyone have any hotel recommendations for Washington?

 

[kyl]

Wow how exciting for you Ms. Shuttergirl! Book it I say you will come home other wise and think that you have missed out. Yay.....

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I just tried to get my TA on the phone and wouldn't you know it, she's not in today. UGH!!!!!

I did speak to one of the other TA's briefly and she said because the flights are already "ticketed" that there would probably be a fee of $350pp to change then the difference of the flight charges. I think she just kind of didn't want to deal with me, which is fine but she indicated it could cost us up to 2k more and if that is the case, we definitely won't add the extra days in Washington on.

I would rather throw that money towards another trip LOL.

She did email my TA a detailed message about what we are wanting to do and she will call me in the morning hopefully but at this stage, it doesn't look good.

 

[kyl]

I would call the airline direct ask them if you can change your flights once over there, you may find this a lot cheaper worth a phone call!

 

[BrizMarc]

I wouldnt want to miss washington dc at all. its a must see in the usa.

I will be going there on my upcoming trip. As for hotel? I am not sure, DC is expensive so I am staying in a Hostel as I am traveling alone.

 

[aussietravellers]

I just tried to get my TA on the phone and wouldn't you know it, she's not in today. UGH!!!!!

I did speak to one of the other TA's briefly and she said because the flights are already "ticketed" that there would probably be a fee of $350pp to change then the difference of the flight charges. I think she just kind of didn't want to deal with me, which is fine but she indicated it could cost us up to 2k more and if that is the case, we definitely won't add the extra days in Washington on.

I would rather throw that money towards another trip LOL.

She did email my TA a detailed message about what we are wanting to do and she will call me in the morning hopefully but at this stage, it doesn't look good.

Yes I do know that when we changed ours a few months ago there wasn't a problem because they were not ticketed yet and once they are ticketed it is more expensive to change them.

Sorry it isn't sounding good, with a bit of luck the TA will return tomorrow with some good news or options for you

I will be on the plane though so will probably not read the update. Although I will have the laptop in the Qantas Club so may read before we leave

 

[kyl]

Ms.Shuttergirl totally off the subject but I noticed you went to disneyland hotel last year. Was it good. We are staying there for a few nights on the way home and requested a room in the dream tower. They have refurbished them and they look so pretty on utube. We stayed at the GC last year and loved it but a bit expensive to do it again and thought disneyland hotel looked nice when we went to goofys kitcheen. Any feed back would be great. Thanks

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Aussietravellers - I fear you may be right. I think we will have to give it a miss but I will still wait to talk with my TA tomorrow.

Kyl - We thought the Disneyland Hotel was really sweet. We didn't stay in Dreams tower because it was being renovated at the time but from everything I've read it is the place to be. I'm sure you will love it. I fell in love with the GC though and loved it's proximity to the parks so if we ever went back I'd be hoping to stay there but agree with you that the price is steep.

I think you'll like the DLH very much.

 

[Kalice]

Hi Ms Shuttergirl

How did you go with your tentative changes? Or is another trip on the cards?

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hi Kalice,

We decided not to extend the holiday. It was definitely going to be a min. of $1400 before we organised the Washington flights. I just decided if it was going to cost approx. 2k, I'd rather go again another time. I think part of me was struggling to change my mind set of what we were doing on this trip to be honest so I'm not too disappointed. We will get there eventually.

 

[kyl]

At least Ms.Shuttergirl you now have another reason to return.....

 

[ehsmum]

What a shame that it didn't work out, but yay for a reason to have to go back!!

We had a similiar situation with our trip. We booked our return flights based on the date that my DH had to return to work but inbetween booking the flights and travelling he changed jobs and that time restraint was no longer there. We decided to extend a few days but all flights were booked for weeks and it would have been around $1500 in fees so we decided against it too.

I can't believe you're going next week!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Yeah, I am a bit sad about Washington but I know we will get there one day. To be honest I think our next OS trip will be Europe so it might be time to start looking into Disneyland Paris

 

[Travel Mum]

ITo be honest I think our next OS trip will be Europe so it might be time to start looking into Disneyland Paris

Oh Ms Shuttergirl, I see that your lovely ticker for your WDW holiday next Christmas has disappeared so does that mean that you really are not going to do that trip anymore?