Booking Airfare through ABD

[pixiepirate]

I am considering booking my airfare through ABD. How does this work? I usually handle this on my own as I have a few control issues. Would I be able to print my boarding passes or need to check in at the full service desk? Would there be assistance if there flight delays or cancellations? We are booked on the 8/20 AK trip and I could use some advice on return flight times. Any comments on your experiences would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[sayhello]

When it comes to booking airfare through ABD, they pretty much act like a Travel Agent. You can either figure out exactly what you want, and have them book it. They'll tell you the price they can get it for, and if you like it, they book it. Or you can have them research the airfare, and they'll present you with a couple of options, and you book the one you like. If you don't like any of them, they'll try again.

You get the booking number, and you can purchase seats, print your boarding pass, all that sort of thing. They only thing you can't do is change the reservation. You need to do that through ABD. The same thing is true if you book through any travel agent. They will keep you advised of any changes to your flights. They're not so great if there are flight delays or cancellations once you leave home. That's where the difference between ABD and TA's is.

I definitely recommend booking through ABD. They've managed to book the exact flights I was looking at for less than I could find it multiple times. They've also done a good job of presenting options when I really wasn't sure what flight I wanted to go with.

Enjoy the Alaska trip! It's wonderful!

Sayhello

 

[pixiepirate]

Sayhello, thank you for the information. I rarely use a travel agent. I haven't had any luck finding a good one, though I managed to find a couple not so great ones. While our departure flight is pretty straight forward, the return flight options are giving me a headache. Though the tour has 21 people booked it has not yet been guaranteed and I know booking airfare through ABD is a better option if anything happens. But those control issues keep insisting I have to be IN CHARGE. Having this information helps a lot.

Hope you enjoy your Iceland trip. It's on my list.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Sayhello, thank you for the information. I rarely use a travel agent. I haven't had any luck finding a good one, though I managed to find a couple not so great ones. While our departure flight is pretty straight forward, the return flight options are giving me a headache. Though the tour has 21 people booked it has not yet been guaranteed and I know booking airfare through ABD is a better option if anything happens. But those control issues keep insisting I have to be IN CHARGE. Having this information helps a lot.

Hope you enjoy your Iceland trip. It's on my list.

FWIW, Kevin at Dreams Unlimited has been my agent for all my ABDs. He's been nothing but great for us.

As far as airline reservations, I usually make my own, since I book with points or may extend my trip in an unusual way. However, we're going to Spain this summer. It was tough finding a flight home. We leave from a minor European city, we're an hour+ away from that airport, and ABD had a late time restriction when to fly out that made catching any reasonable flight impossible. I finally gave in and had Kevin discuss it with ABD. Not only did they allow me to fly out earlier than their normal requirement, but found a better price than I was finding. It was a win.

I'm pretty sure you can print out your boarding pass since its a domestic flight. ABD gives you your airline confirmation code - everything you need.

 

[sayhello]

Sayhello, thank you for the information. I rarely use a travel agent. I haven't had any luck finding a good one, though I managed to find a couple not so great ones. While our departure flight is pretty straight forward, the return flight options are giving me a headache. Though the tour has 21 people booked it has not yet been guaranteed and I know booking airfare through ABD is a better option if anything happens. But those control issues keep insisting I have to be IN CHARGE. Having this information helps a lot.

Hope you enjoy your Iceland trip. It's on my list.

You're welcome! ABD should be able to help with the return flight options. I'd definitely give them a call.

And I *totally* understand the control thing. I booked through a TA for Iceland, and while she's given me *excellent* service, and there's been absolutely no problems working with her, the lack of control is killing me.

Sayhello

 

[2-pointdoe]

I am used to planning and booking all of our stuff myself. We have our first ABD coming in June to Italy. I priced options and the let Kevin @ dreamsunlimited get me a quote. The price was the same but we were upgraded for that price so I let them handle it. So far so good.

 

[pixiepirate]

Thanks to everyone for your input. This has been quite informative. I'm going to do a little more research this weekend, then it may be worth giving ABD a call.