Aren't we glad we don't have to worry about the Best Rate Program

[RweTHEREyet]

I have skimed thru some of the info, just out of curiosity, and all I can say is that I sure am glad I have my DVC rooms and don't have to worry about wading thru and figuring out all this new AP Best Guest stuff. It looks like a lot of stuff to figure out and worry about to me. Can you imagine booking a room and not really knowing what the end cost to you will be?

Just one more reason why I do so appreciate my DVC.

 

[lulu71]

I agree. DH and I were just talking about this last night. The new passholder rate program sounds complicated to me. I'm very glad I only have to keep track of points!

 

[jarestel]

Can you imagine booking a room and not really knowing what the end cost to you will be?

Well, you actually do know what the maximum cost will be at the time you book. It can only go lower, but will definitely not increase. I suspect many of the same folks on the codes board who are decrying this "evil, awful" program will be the same ones posting "not fair" when the discounts come out for the early bookers and they aren't able to get one at the last minute.

But as you say, owning DVC does make this a moot point, except for the occasional extra day or 2 at a WDW resort some of us book from time to time.

 

[d-r]

I saw some of the stuff about it, and actually, I'm going to disagree with y'all.

We have 420 points now, but I could still see us using an AP rate for a weekend getaway or something like that. And I think that this new program is a great one.

We've had annual passes for years, and used AP rates many times. The way it used to work was that annual passholder rates were released quarterly, pretty much corresponding to the release of the Mickey Monitor newsletter. You'd get the Mickey Monitor, there would be dates of the rates and some examples, and you'd call up and book a room.

That has kind of changed a little bit lately. One thing I've noticed is that there are some internet sites were people call, seemingly daily, to see if there is a "rate" out for the next block of time, and post, seemingly daily, if there are AP rates out. I always sort of thought of AP rates as a "bonus." If they needed to fill some rooms, there would be AP rates. But I think that people sort of expected it and would call and book a room to make sure they had it, then they would call and try to change the rate of the room to be an AP rate when those were released, or any other rates they saw posted on the internet.

But now no one has to do that sort of thing. This new system sounds like it will be great. You don't have to wait for the announcement of the next quarter. You don't have to call that first day trying to get the rate. You just book your room, and they will apply the rate when it comes out. What a great service. This is the kind of program for repeat guests that they should have. We don't have any current plans for staying at a "regular" room any time soon, but it makes it much easier to want to book that room at the AKL for a weekend or whatever, with the knowledge that you can just book it and the best rate available will be applied. That is just sweet.

It is like they are doing a better job at tailoring vacations to meet different groups of guests. For the more causual visitor, there are the package deals with the rooms and tickets and dining included. For DVC like me, there is DVC, the AP discount, and the disney dining experience. Now, for APs that aren't dvc, or arr dvc and want a different room, they have improved the ability to get that special room rate. I think it is a very good improvement and I'm glad they did it.

I can't think that it is much harder to go on the internet and book a room more than 120 days out than it is to manage points and book one 11-months out, imho.

 

[JimMIA]

I tend to agree with d-r and llovell on this.

At first there was a lot of the usual hysteria because something changed. But I think what Disney has done will benefit most of the people most of the time, because it will take some of the "froth" out of the AP reservations.

An awful lot of those reservations were speculative, with people booking multiple rooms, or multiple sets of dates when they knew darn well they weren't going to use them. Disney's lenient cancellation policies encouraged people to take advantage of them. Real visitors couldn't get deals because of bogus reservations, and Disney was losing revenue to last-minute cancellations. They had to stop it.

Some people are upset because of the non-refundable deposit. I don't know where they're used to staying, but at most destination resorts, you're going to have more than one night's non-refundable deposit! When we go skiing, it is ALL nights, non-refundable, paid in full 90 days out. If people are really worried about unexpected cancellations, do what we do on ski trips -- buy trip insurance.

Some people are upset with the 120 day prior booking. Why should Disney give you a big discount for booking a week ahead??? The only rationale for that is that the room may go vacant if they don't. And...who says they won't in that scenario? You might get a great rate...wait and take your chances.

The only thing the new program does is give people who plan ahead (and THIS site is the hometown of the plan-ahead folks!) a guaranteed low rate with the assurance that they won't be penalized for booking early if rates drop. And they're asking for a non-refundable deposit in return.

Works for me.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I guess I am thinking that I know what the deal is with DVC, I know what I have to do to book a room, that hasn't changed in the 5 years I have been a member. This Best Rate thing is a major change in policy and procedure that folks will have to figure out. Glad I don't have to do that. My rate is already fixed.

 

[Granny]

I tend to agree with both the original poster and with JimMIA. I agree with Jim that this will take "some of the froth" out of booking, manipulating the system, etc.

On the other hand, I would think that many people who go to WDW do so on some sort of budget. And it might be hard to book a room at rack rate, plop down a non-refundable deposit, and HOPE like heck that you don't end up paying rack rate.

I don't know...that would make me hesitant to book unless Disney virtually guraranteed some sort of minimum AP discount such as 10% or something!

So I can see where people are concerned about this.

On the other hand, the hysteria coming from the other boards is certainly unwarranted.

You ought to read some of those posts...and the feelings of entitlement that many feel should come with purchasing AP's (as if discounted admissions is not enough).

Oh wait...there are times when THIS site is the hometown of entitlement too!

 

[DeeDeeDis]

I think it is a very good improvement and I'm glad they did it.
I can't think that it is much harder to go on the internet and book a room more than 120 days out than it is to manage points and book one 11-months out, imho.

Well D-R i've been trying to get on the passholders website since i first read about this change (need ap rate for Oct 22-23) and have not been able to get on the site, "System Error - Try Later" is all i keep getting.

imho not only is it extremely hard, but very frustrating also.

I know, I know they just came out with this new plan, and once all the bugs are out i'll be able to get on the site and read up on this, but i'm getting close to that rumored 120 day mark, i would love to try the poly or AK Savanah view and without an ap rate theres no way i could afford to stay in either of these resorts.

 

[bicker]

All the hassles with the AP discounts the way they were was one major reason we decided to buy into DVC. We tried year-after-year for the AP discount and only got it once! Every other time I got word of the discount after it was already sold-out! This program would have been a great option for me. It would be nice to know what the discount is in advance, but with the old program it would have been nice to know the same thing, and precisely when we could book the discount!

 

[JimMIA]

On the other hand, I would think that many people who go to WDW do so on some sort of budget. And it might be hard to book a room at rack rate, plop down a non-refundable deposit, and HOPE like heck that you don't end up paying rack rate.

I don't think that's the deal. I think AP discounts will be offered; otherwise, there would be no incentive to put up the non-refundable deposit. You would get whatever discount they were offering at 120 days, and then would also benefit from any better rates they offer later.

The potential fly in the ointment, is that the guarantee is the you will get any discounts offered to "...the general public." It's hard to know exactly what that means. Does that mean that I would get a FL resident rate that you wouldn't be eligible for? Or, that they would offer a room-park pass-dining package that you wouldn't at least be offered?

I really think, though, that Disney will continue being Disney, and will not treat their customers like that. If we just step back from this one individual issue for a moment and look at the big picture, where have all of their efforts been focused recently?

AP discount for DVC members -- get 'em in the parks, and their hearts and wallets will follow.
DDE for annual pass holders -- get 'em in the parks, and then get 'em to eat in the parks
Sleep-play-eat -- get 'em onsite, get 'em in the parks, get 'em to eat onsite (we don't really think that "free" food is free, do we?)
Magical Express -- get 'em onsite, and the rest will follow

So much of their recent marketing has been directed toward maximizing their revenue from people who are coming to WDW anyway -- not only getting new "true believers," but maximizing revenue from us.

Disney's not going to turn around and bite the hand that feeds them. They are going to take care of their customers, not ONLY because it's magical to do so...but because it improves their bottom line.

 

[barb45]

I booked 2 rooms today to add to our DVC stay in December. It was very frustrating - but should be OK when they work the bugs out. The problem is that you can only book 1 room with an AP. So I booked 1 with mine and 1 with my husbands (daughter and son-in-law coming with us). The problem came when the rooms are so limited that I put in for the first room and got a rate of $104.00 (Coronado Springs) and when I put in for the second room got a rate of $149.00. I tried 3 more times and it said there were no more available rooms at Coronado Springs for the passholders. I grabbed the $149.00 room since the deposit for the first room is non-refundable (I would hate to be at 2 different resorts). Then I noticed that there was no passholder rate notation on the second confirmation which means they wouldn't even lower the rate if a new one came out. Then I had to call guest services and after an hour he said there were still rooms with a water view for $121.00 - so we switched the $149.00 standard view to the $121.00 water view. WHEW - this took me 2 hours and I'm still going to pay more than I wanted because I had to take a room with a water view. It was very stressful. You really have to watch that there is a line to insert your passholder number or it automatically switches to a regular booking. The good news is that there are reduced passholder rates there you just have to find one and they are selling out very fast.

 

[JimC]

...AP discount for DVC members -- get 'em in the parks, and their hearts and wallets will follow.
DDE for annual pass holders -- get 'em in the parks, and then get 'em to eat in the parks
Sleep-play-eat -- get 'em onsite, get 'em in the parks, get 'em to eat onsite (we don't really think that "free" food is free, do we?)
Magical Express -- get 'em onsite, and the rest will follow...

Sorry JimMIA, I could not resist a little parody of your well worded thoughts (hope you do not mind)

AP discount for DVC members -- get them back in the parks because we don't make money if they are not in our parks.
DDE for annual pass holders -- Get them back into our restaurants because we have too many empty seats each night.
Magical Express -- whatever you do don't rent a car, trust us there is no other place you will ever want to go.

Maybe I am a little cynical (and having just completed "Disney War" it is no wonder -- by the way this is a must read for all on these Boards!!!!) but I don't see much for the guest in this new program. I don't play games with reservations to leverage rates as described by others. It is not worth my time to try and Dreams Unlimited already monitors rates and secures better deals when they become available (the beauty of travel agents!).

I can understand the non refundable deposit. It's a fair trade in my view -- steep discount room rate in return for non-refundable deposit. I don't see paying them for a discount that may or may not exist. Now if they expanded it to "most favored" status giving us the best rate offered period, then I would reconsider my position.

I can even understand the advance booking for the same reasons. However, they will still want to fill beds at the last minute, so last minute specials are going to continue to exist. Just like airlines and cruise lines the best deals go to the frequent customer, those who can plan well in advance and those who can go at the last minute if a favorable deal is dangled in front of them.

But I tend to agree with Granny regarding those who look at the budget. I don't see this helping those folks.

 

[JimMIA]

Sorry JimMIA, I could not resist a little parody of your well worded thoughts (hope you do not mind)

Certainly not...and well done, by the way!

 

[DisFlan]

The new AP plan online isn't a problem for us. We don't have an activated AP right now - just the voucher. Can't use the voucher online. Voucher won't be activated until we get there.

This might be the one tiny flaw in their plan.

But wait!! We could always do it old fashioned way if needs be. The phone! And we wouldn't have to plunk down a rack rate, non-refundable deposit.

Problem solved.

Whew. I feel all better now.



DisFlan

 

[barb45]

Disflan - I have a feeling it's going to be pretty tough getting an AP rate over the phone when the site is filling up the AP rate spaces in a few hours. I'm not sure how that is going to work - but nobody knows for sure. A travel agent can use your voucher number to set you up though.

 

[colleen costello]

I fear that my efforts to save points may now result in my having to spend a night or two at... GULP... the VALUE RESORTS! EEEK!

I have used the AP discount to save gobs of money on the nice MODERATE resorts... This plan has saved me zillions of points. A Saturday here and a Saturday there (on cash) and I have enough points for another trip! While I DO plan ahead and I RARELY cancel, I just can't see AP rates being as low as they have been. I can't see Mickey looking over the books and saying "Well, we have all their money already and the rooms are virtually booked, let's now give them a great discount..." Just don't see it happening. Mickey is too shrewed a businessmouse.

This plan may alter the way some folks use their points (shorter trips, more studios booked), but overall, yes, I am really glad I have DVC! And AAA membership is looking better, too.

 

[DisFlan]

Disflan - I have a feeling it's going to be pretty tough getting an AP rate over the phone when the site is filling up the AP rate spaces in a few hours. I'm not sure how that is going to work - but nobody knows for sure. A travel agent can use your voucher number to set you up though.

Thanks, but I'm not really worried about it. We're set for our trip in Oct.- with points. It's just sort of fun to watch the chaos of people on the other boards running around waving their hands in the air and screaming their ire at the heavens because the online AP rate plan is something new and they aren't sure how it's going to affect their Sacred Discounts Entitlement.

I don't think even Disney has a handle on this new plan, yet. I'll wait to see how it is six months from now.


DisFlan

 

[TDC Nala]

I used the AP rate a lot to stay for weekends and save points.

The only things that really bother me about the new program is the nonrefundable deposit and the so-called "change fee." Unless you can book as usual within the 120 days, AP holders can have discounts but absolutely no flexibility. Trip insurance for one night at Pop Century sounds like more of a waste of time and money. If a friend wants to split the room after I book it, it's a $50 fee to get them added to the reservation, which won't help save much of anything.

 

[DisFlan]

It's beginning to sound like the airlines, isn't it?


DisFlan

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I fear that my efforts to save points may now result in my having to spend a night or two at... GULP... the VALUE RESORTS! EEEK!

Colleen, I can promise you that the Pop Century resort is nice. I have stayed at both Pop and AllStars, for that matter, stayed at every resort on property with the exception of AKL, and I really like Pop. The location is better than AllStars, the decor is better than AllStars. It's not bad for one night. Honest. Actually, it's not bad for more than one night. I actually like staying at the Pop. It makes me appreciate my DVC even more.