be careful of aaa rates.....

[vikame]

:
here's my story. we are planning a trip for prechristmas this dec. i waited till after the 2nd so i can new plan info.(as a silverplan fan i am disappointed i waited).
anywhooooo-being the control freak i am, i did tons of research on the disney site & here. i initially decided to do a 1 bdrm in the bc-i wanted 2 tv's. since it was impossible to get thru the disney site i went to aaa(i am a member). the called wdw & was told 1 bedrooms dont get the discount. i went home & did more research & and called to see about a BWI garden suite. after looking into here, i decided on 1 deluxe concierge room. as of wednesday the rate she gave me was 5300 & change w/ins for 7 nites.
that kinda sounded ok & she the discount was there because the notes said aaa package. i made a few changes so i confused myself.
when i finally got into the disney site last night-i got the same rate for the same room. aaa was not discounted.
i called disney today & they checked & said the disount would apply in dec for the deluxe room.
i called aaa & she called me back after speaking with disney. they advised her there was a new aaa code they were to use.(she said this is the 4th code her office was given).
long story short-i got a $608.00 discount. my package for 7 nites, 7 park days & dining is 4700 & change w/ins for deluxe cl in bwi.
i was a huge pain in the rear but i know when i am right.
so be aware ahead of time & challenge them. there's major confusion because of these new plans.
-sorry so long.

 

[FutureAshleyDukes]

I kind of had the same thing happen to me when I was planning my wedding site visit. My AAA travel agent was very hard to reach, and didn't seem too worried to find me the best deal or to even work at getting me the standard AAA discount. I'm kind of used to getting snubbed since I am only 21, and I guess they didn't think I had much money to spend on a vacation, but I was more than happy to take my money to dreams unlimited. I am a huge fan of AAA and think it is worth every penny, but I will only use the travel agency again as a last resort.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thanks for the info. I have a room only ressie that I was trying to convert to a package. I seem to know far more about these packages than the AAA agent which was scary. She insisted there was no discount for packages. I'll try again.

ETA: I like the couple of perks AAA has: Preferred parking at the parks, a 10-15% discount card for certain shops in WDW and the AAA member visitor center in the MK.

 

[SeaSpray]

I was told the same thing today by my local AAA office; they don't discount packages. They sell packages of course, but only the room portion of the package is actually discounted.

So do you mean that they DO discount packages, meaning they'll discount the entire package, including the tickets and dining plan portions???

 

[TaurusSES_Sport]

I kind of had the same thing happen to me when I was planning my wedding site visit. My AAA travel agent was very hard to reach, and didn't seem too worried to find me the best deal or to even work at getting me the standard AAA discount. I'm kind of used to getting snubbed since I am only 21, and I guess they didn't think I had much money to spend on a vacation, but I was more than happy to take my money to dreams unlimited. I am a huge fan of AAA and think it is worth every penny, but I will only use the travel agency again as a last resort.

I hear you about the age thing, people think because we are young we dont have any money to spend. At hotels and check-in, ive been snubbed many times when inquiring about an upgrade or room change.

 

[dialane]

I didn't know that you could get preferred parking if you had a AAA membership. Do you show your card as you enter the parking lot or what? How do you get this preferred deal?

 

[bobcat]

The AAA parking pass is good only if you buy a package through AAA. Same with the discounts at DTD. The AAA lounge in MK is nothing special and you have to have your voucher to get in. It is only a one time visit.

I'm not too thrilled about the AAA packages. Besides the fact that it took the lady from AAA almost two weeks to call me back for a quote. I figured I would know more then they did about the new packages but I was very disapointed when I asked her about Universal/IOA ticket prices she couldn't find them and had to call me back. If I wanted too I could have looked in my AAA magazine as they are listed there I believe. Not very good at all.

 

[Jennyvelaz]

I had my fill today when I went to buy a MYW ticket. First, PH are gone! Not even a glimpse from AAA, they stopped selling them 1/12/05 and had to ship the rest back to Disney. Second MYW passes are going to be enscripted so as I was buying a pass for my brother and planning on paying for the 7day premium, without expiration and taking the ticket after his 5 days were up, doesn't fly anymore. It would be his and his alone. The old PHs were exchanged within my families all the time. Last AAA disappointment was that they do not have a discount for advance ticket purchase less than the 5 day. So the 4 day MYW premium or not can be bought at the door-AAA's price is the same. I'm bummed on all accounts. The park hopper was a not only cheaper but had more use.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

We don't book packages through AAA( we just get the AAA discount when booking room only through CRO) but we use them for many other things.
When we went there before our last trip we were able to get the AAA parking pass since we got our tickets there.
I don't know if anyone else would be able to do this but we go in there so much that they are always giving us perks little extras etc....
Try and ask it can't hurt!!!

 

[kjs1976]

That was my question...parking and the lounge. We were told we can't get those perks unless we book a package which we'll never do...doesn't save any money for us. Is this still the case? We bought our PH tix last year through AAA and were going to book our room through them until a code came out.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I just got off the phone with the CRO. I don't have to cancel my room only ressie; I can even call as late as arrival day to "extend" it without penalty. (My dog wasn't well so I wasn't 100% sure we were going but I'm almost certain now we are).

If I booked a package I'd have to pay in full whether through AAA or CRO. For the package I'm looking at, it's only $20 savings to book through AAA so I'm not sure it's worth the aggravation anyway. I also like AAA for lots of things but I think I'll probably just book this myself through CRO the night before we go. If I knew I could get a code discount through AAA (as the OP got) then I'd probably book with them but so far nobody knows anything about it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That was my question...parking and the lounge. We were told we can't get those perks unless we book a package which we'll never do...doesn't save any money for us. Is this still the case? We bought our PH tix last year through AAA and were going to book our room through them until a code came out.

I know you already have your tix but you might want to look into converting them to the new MYW packages that include room, tix and dining. They seem to be pretty affordable. I never book packages either but this is actually saving us money and we get to go to the parks 6 days for what we normally would have paid for 4 days (no hopping). If you have very young children, under 9, the dining package is a really good deal.

 

[Leslie32]

That is weird that you don't get a discount on the pkg only the room through AAA because I just booked a pkg through AAA and when I add up what it should be discount only on the room then the price for my tickets that the price is at disney online then the dining add on it comes up way more then what I got from my AAA. With the AAA discounted room, the tickets and meal plan it should of been 347.38 more then what my AAA agent gave me. My pkg is only 4595.08. So it looks like I got a discount on more then my room.

 

[WDWBetsy]

I guess different AAA agencies have differing policies. I just had to put down $200 and the rest is due 45 days before arrival.

For those wanting to book a MYW package + dining WITH the AAA discount off the room rate: if you are getting quotes that are similar to what shows up if you get an online quote from Disney's online reservations, be polite but firm about questioning the discount off the room portion of the package. Many AAA agents are still getting incorrect quotes from Disney's computers and are not questioning the amounts.

Take the rack rate X the % offered off for the particular season you're going. Calculate the tax (generally 11.5%) and add in total for tickets and dining ($35 per adult per day, $10 per child 3-9 per day). You should save some $$. We saved $231 after getting numerous misquotes that were similar if not higher to what I could book online.

Those people not wanting the dining can book a AAA rate by calling Disney directly or using any other travel agent. But if you want to add the dining package AND also get the room discount, you have to go through AAA.

Also - many AAA agencies are offering 25 Disney Dollars if you book a 3 night package during the month of January (go to www.aaa.com for details and an agency near you).

Just trying to help people save $$!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Betsy, great info, thanks! (this is getting exhausting)

 

[mochabean]

vikame,
Have you considered renting points from a DVC member for a 1BR at the Beach Club Villas? At the going rate, it would be about $2000 for a week in early Dec or $2150 for later Dec (but before the 23rd). I am a DVC member, feel free to PM or email me if you have any questions.
With 7-day premium tickets at $279, you could calculate how much you'd be paying for food vs. the dining plan to see if this option makes sense for you.

 

[Abbie]

As far as the AAA diamond parking voucher, we received one when I purchased our PHP from AAA in late December. I don't know if AAA offices differ in their policies on this but it was in the same envelope as our tickets. Since we flew we didn't use it. There was not a voucher for the AAA site inside the MK which was fine!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Just wanted to thank the OP again for starting this thread and also WDWBetsy for the info above - you saved me $100 this morning. I called AAA again and the agent I originally spoke to wasn't there so I got someone else who knew about the AAA codes and repriced my package correctly. So I will book it today with them and (hopefully) everything will be ready at the resort when we check in Wednesday.

 

[WDWBetsy]

Just wanted to thank the OP again for starting this thread and also WDWBetsy for the info above - you saved me $100 this morning. I called AAA again and the agent I originally spoke to wasn't there so I got someone else who knew about the AAA codes and repriced my package correctly. So I will book it today with them and (hopefully) everything will be ready at the resort when we check in Wednesday.

Hooray!! I'm glad you got the discount you deserved. Have a great time!