Booking Independently?

[wideeyes]

Hiya everyone just looking at how much money can be saved by booking Independent and have come up with a few questions.

Okay first question can somebody in the UK book a Disney Hotel on the USA site?

Where can you find the codes for discounts?

Is it best to buy a ticket and accommodation package or just accommodation?

Also has anyone ever used an American airline as I have noticed that they are almost £1500 cheaper than Virgin for us? they are not direct however that is quite a saving!

If going with Virgin is it best to book with Virgin Atlantic or a fly drive with VH.(We have no air miles)?

Any other tips?


Thank you!

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Can't answer all your questions, but will help with what I can...

We just about ALWAYS book independently now. I tend to "know my own mind" when it comes to booking holidays and ALWAYS seem to find that booking independently is the cheapest way to get what I want.

Booking US airlines is NO DIFFERENT to booking BA/Virgin. You can book them directly (look out for a "united kingdom" option to ensure that prices appear in GBP and that there is no problem with accepting your credit card etc) or through a 3rd party website (look at expedia.co.uk or opodo.co.uk or lastminute.com - all three are great and very useful for comparing prices for different airlines).

The thing that you need to be aware of "booking independently" is that you will be required to pay for flights IN FULL at time of booking. Also (unless you buy very expensive fully flexible tickets) these tickets will be FIXED/NON-CHANGEABLE. This works ok for us, but wouldn't work for people like mushumadness... . You should really take out travel insurance WHEN you book the flights - so, if something comes along and you need to cancel/rebook the flights, you will be covered. We have an anuual travel insurance policy, so this isn't a problem.

These days "e-tickets" are the most common form of airplane ticketing - you receive an email of your e-ticket (print a copy and keep with your travel documents) within about 24 hours of booking.

I would have NO PROBLEM booking hotels through a US site. Dreamsunlimited (http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/) is one that is sometimes talked about on here. I have booked a cruise with them before and wouldn't hesitate to book hotel. I have booked hotels with expedia.co.uk before (although they need full payment upfront). Have also booked direct with many of the major hotel chains (i.e. Marriott/Hilton) - they normally just need a credit card to guarantee (unless it is a very cheap pre-purchase rate...).

I am a fan of booking independently - although it may not be for everyone. I recommend that you work out what you want and then price it up both independently and with the major package operators (i.e. Virgin, TCD etc...) - see what comes out cheaper...

Well, that's a start... .

Boo

 

[Frances999]

Okay first question can somebody in the UK book a Disney Hotel on the USA site?

Yes

Where can you find the codes for discounts?

I find www.mousesavers.com to be the best resource.

Is it best to buy a ticket and accommodation package or just accommodation?

We have Annual Passes, so reserve accommodation only. If your trip is 14 days then it may be worth looking into getting APs. Not only will you be able to re-use them up to a year later, but they can be used effectively for WDW resort discounts.

Also has anyone ever used an American airline as I have noticed that they are almost £1500 cheaper than Virgin for us? they are not direct however that is quite a saving!

We have used AA before and found them to be fine. You will find most to be very similar in terms of leg-room and facilities to Virgin Atlantic or British Airways.

If going with Virgin is it best to book with Virgin Atlantic or a fly drive with VH.(We have no air miles)?

Check both. Sometimes a fly-drive with VH can come out cheaper, particularly at the peak times. It is also worth checking sites such as Expedia and Opodo for flights too.

Any other tips?

I would give Dreams Unlimited a try. They will automatically search for any applicable discount codes and then add them to your reservation. They can also make your ADRs for you and prepare a personalised itinerary.

 

[Giddy Kipper]

"Also has anyone ever used an American airline as I have noticed that they are almost £1500 cheaper than Virgin for us? they are not direct however that is quite a saving!"


we flew with AA last october and changed at chicago...we had a 5 hour delay from Manchester which would have meant we would have missed our connecting flight BUT because there was over 100 holidaymakers wanting to make that connection they held the plane back at Chicago...we literally ran through the airport dumping suitcases on route...No security...with AA staff running alongside us to get us all on the flight...After all that drama would I fly with them again- YES, although we had no seatback tv...the food was good ( no Kids Meals though) especially the Chicago pizza, and the staff excellent, and you feel smug youve saved a packet!

 

[wayneg]

Packages are ok if you want to go for 14 or 21 nights and can get free/reduced child places.
No good for us, like for example our next trip is for 25 nights.
Out of all the trips listed below this next Xmas is most I have paid for a flight £499 all others have cost between £291-£395 a lot of them in school hols. nearly Always book 11-10 months before we travel.
Stayed onsite once, never again £60/night Allstars Movies. Not worth that in our opinion.
Examples of offsite we have done recently BW lakeside £24/night. Courtyard by Marriott £26, Homewood Suites By Hilton £22 incl breakfast. Disney is too expensive for what you get.
Our total cost for 25 night trip is £2,137 for 3 of us incl Full size car, flights and hotel
try Airnet.co.uk for car they are very good also flight prices sometimes good thats who we used for this next trip.

 

[brer rabbit 28]

Another vote here for Dreams Unlimited
I was a bit unsure about how it worked but now that i've booked i am over the moon with them!
They do all the hard work for you checking and applying any discount that may come available (no guarantees though).They also offer to book any meals you may fancy.Oh and they do all this for no charge from you,i believe Disney pays them commision.

 

[mozzman]

hi its my 1st time to disney and i am booking with american specialists of manchester they were the cheapest virgin flights i could find,but they only do virgin i think,if you do book virgin flights its worth a look

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I do part part, i book flights and first hotel or flydrive with Virgin its in sterling and also you can leave payment until 8 weeks out. But book DCL and WDW with dreams, as they can transfer to better rates if they come out or to the free DDP, also they book your ADR's etc. The problem is payment in dollars, you can do that with your card, currently the dollar rate is good, so its a benefit, but if it swings against you and you havent paid up you can loose out.

 

[wayneg]

hi its my 1st time to disney and i am booking with american specialists of manchester they were the cheapest virgin flights i could find,but they only do virgin i think,if you do book virgin flights its worth a look

Someone else told me about this company, they have got flights for next Easter school hols for £420 each. Direct with Virgin was £550. If you dont have frequent flyer miles to use it is worth giving them a try.
Shame they dont have a better website. http://www.americanspecialists.co.uk/

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

American airlines Uk web pages whare you can book

American Airlines
http://www.aa.com/content/uk/index.jhtml

Continental Airlines
http://www.continental.com/uk/default.asp

Delta Airlines
http://www.delta.com/global/uk/home/index.jsp

United Airlines
http://www.unitedairlines.co.uk/qenglish/index.html

US Airways/American West Airline
http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/contact/intlsales.aspx

here are a couple of Non US airlines to price check against as well

Icelandair
http://www.icelandair.co.uk/?loc=flag

BA (their prices are getting better)
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/batsbooknow/public/en_gb

Air Frog
http://www.airfrance.com/uk

Northwest airlines/KLM
http://www.klm.com/travel/gb_en/index_default.html

 

[mattnkatsmum]

OK. I have been to Disney loads of times and booked UK packages, through UK Disney, the works. I have found the cheapest and best option to be as follows:

1. Book through US Disney. A travel agent is great if you don't know the ropes. If you are sad like me and spend every day on Mousesavers looking for discounts, it probably isn't necessary.

2. UK Disney does not offer the same deals as US Disney. For instance, free dining and the annual pass codes, only work through the US.

3. Cancellation terms are far better through the US. Also,if any discounts come out you can apply them to your existing booking. You definitely can't do that throught the UK without paying a cancellation fee.

4. If you want the dining plan, you have to do a package with tickets, but you only need to buy a 1 day pass for each person. I haven't found that buying tickets throught the UK works out much different than buying them in the US, in any event.

5. If you can afford it, buy an annual pass for one person in your group. The discounts available (typically $75 per night for a deluxe resort) can offset the cost of your pass. You only need one annual pass to get the discounts.

6. Get a Nationwide Credit Card. No commission is taken out for foreign currency exchanges. A week at the Wilderness Lodge in August has cost me £900 including one day park passes and free dining for four of us.

7. As for flights, I'm not sure about this one. We are travelling with Airtours in August, because I wanted to keep prices down and we saved about £750 over booking with Virgin. I'll let you know when I come back whether this was money well spent!

Anybody need any help on booking through US Disney, please feel free to PM me and I'll happily share any advice I can!

 

[juliebro]

Also has anyone ever used an American airline as I have noticed that they are almost £1500 cheaper than Virgin for us? they are not direct however that is quite a saving!

We have flown with US Airways on all our trips to WDW. I have also flown BA to Washington DC. We hve found US Airways to be very good value for money. Seatback TVs with individual choice of films and TV shows to watch. Good seat pitch too. AND, if you manage to get upgraded to Business Class, it is excellent.

Julie

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Its a long flight i want to get there direct so i use Virgin to MCO, yes it can cost more but its worth it, but i do now book the Disney bits with DREAM's they have been very good with ADR's and Free DDP.