Canadian @ Par Deal

[wrabs]

Hi. I just booked the POP Century Resort, and cancelled our Res. @ The Best Western Plaza on Intl. Dr. heres why:

With the CDN. @ par deal, the better our dollar does, the more we save. Our rate is $1324.00/US for the 3 of us (incl.7 days worth of Ultimate Park Hopper privledges), and the $1324.00 gets billed on my VISA @ a rate of $0.69 US which = $913.56 US x 1.3 (current conversion) which is $1187.63. We end up paying LESS in CDN funds than Americans pay in US funds!

I LOVE saving a buck!!

wrabs

 

[rdm]

wrabs,

Sounds like you got a good deal, make sure you double check because we have just received our visa bill and were charged the conversion rate (0.742878) on top of my package rate. I was quoted the US rate of 1643.46 plus travel insurance which gave me a total of 1723.36, now my visa bill is 2319.84.

When I called disney they told me that this is my at par price. I am looking into this further because I think my definition of par is different from theirs.

rdm

 

[tigger2on]

When we booked our at Par deal I asked about the price.
The price they quote you is the price with the discount in US dollars. If you are booking for $1800 US at the CDN @ Par Visa Deal they supposedly already discounted your quote.

 

[oracle]

Originally posted by rdm

When I called disney they told me that this is my at par price. I am looking into this further because I think my definition of par is different from theirs.

The whole system is very confusing. When I booked my @Par package, it took me about a half an hour on the phone with Disney to figure out how they were pricing it. I'll see if I can explain it, and hopefully make some sense. The way they do it is this: They take the normal price of the package in US dollars, say $300. They then take this $300 and convert it "at par" to a new price. By "at par", they mean each US dollar is now worth $0.69 Canadian(So not quite at par anymore, with the recent upswing of the Can. dollar). Your new price now comes to $207 US dollars. They then bill your credit card $207 US dollars, and whatever the day's exchange rate is, that's what you're final total will be. Hopefully that makes some sense, I know it's confusing.

 

[tigger2on]

We are staying @ CBR from May 22 - 26, 2004. We booked 2 preferred water view rooms and have 4 adults and 2 kids in our party.
We were quoted $2600US for a regular price but when we asked about CDN@Par Visa Deal, it went to $1862US.
Best way to check your quote is too call back on the 1-800 # and ask for a no code quote for the same dates and resort. that way it will tell you what you will save and if they gave you the CDN @Par Deal.
Hope this helps everyone!
:O)

 

[FatCow]

and don't forget your CC's conversion surcharge.

say US$1 = CAD$1, CC company will have a surcharge that will make US$1 = CAD$1.1 (for example).

 

[Tiger926]

We are booked for April 26-April 30 at CBR with 2 adults and an infant @ $823.88 USD. Love saving money on tickets as well as hotel! Since our dollar is doing so well, this is a great deal!

Tiger aka Piglet's Momma (who will also be going on her first cruise - Disney cruise of course - 2 days after we check out of CBR)!

 

[Rebecca P.]

what does the cancelation end up being, or do they not bill your Visa until arrival?

Rebecca

 

[pampam]

We've been to WDW many, many times. We usually get the annual pass and use it before it expires so we can get 2 trips out of 1 annual pass. Anyway, our pass expired last year and we were going to get another one to use in Feb 04 and Jan 05. Disney came out with this Can $ at par, so I booked it for 21 days. Since we usually stay 10-14 ni, it would give me a week to play with when I searched for the best airfare prices. Well, I got off the phone, got out the calculator and when I realized what a good price it was, I couldn't believe it. Still, I had till Dec 7 before it was carved in stone. When the annual pass price for rooms came out I figured out that with their prices it would cost us 300$u.s. p.p extra to go that way. Then, another code came out at $55 u.s. for the all stars + taxes of course. So, I thought why not stay on Can $ at par for only 20 nights since the last day we won't be doing the parks. We'll just get room only for the last night. I phoned for that rate. For 20 ni Can $/par +55$ + tx all we would save is $1.40!!!!!! $.70 p.p. Yes, the prices are actually in U.S.$ but we are getting ALL the parks at par too! I just can't believe the price. We leave in 4 days. With the annual pass we didn't get the water parks, Disney quest, Sports, pins lanards, $25 to use at Planet Hollywood etc. For us it's great, especially since we are going for such a long time.

 

[kwirtanen]

The Canadian-at-par rate is a great discount. The price they quote you is in US dollars with the discount. When you charge it to your VISA, it will still be converted to CAN dollars, but since the exchange rate is so good, that will save more money too. VISA charges a small amount for doing the exchange - about $30 CDN for every $1000 US I think. Not sure why it is so hard for VISA to exchange??? Oh well, it is still the best deal around! Sea World is also offering their tickets at-par, only their rate was more accurate at about .76. Ticket prices are about $39US for one day adult pass, $32 for child. Can't beat that!

Tigger2on, we are booked at the CBR from March 23 - 26 too! I can't wait!

The countdown is on...

 

[FayeW]

Actually, Kwirtanen, I can beat that SeaWorld price. I got my SW tickets at CAA, price was $55. per adult for members, $60 for non-members. This was in Canadian funds, and included the 2nd day free admission. We did go back on another day, so that put our admission at $27.50 Cdn per day. This is a truly excellent value.

 

[Tiger926]

Actually Sea World just raised prices, and therefore, so did CAA. Just called yesterday and 1 day at par ticket is $57.56 CAN. It is actually cheaper to purchase off of Sea World website as they have used a .76 factor as kwirtanen said, plus they discount 10% off for printing online. With the low exchange rate, this is the cheapest place to buy Sea World tickets ($approx. $42.00 USD tax included) - even cheaper than CAA. As well, Sea World validates tickets upon departure of park for a second day, so this is not an issue when buying tickets as it needs to be done at the park.

Happy planning! Tiger

 

[Peter Fuzessery]

Here is what I've been going through. Beware that this does not happen to you.

I booked our trip for May 14-May 24th, 2004 May 20th happens to be my 6 year olds 7th Birthday. And this is the first time we are taking the kids. My wife and I have been there twice before, once on our honeymoon and once with other family members, just not with the kids.

We booked our Canadian at Par package for 10 days. We were told it would be 1849.88 for the 10 days. I thought I understood the package and figured that if I converted that to Canadian it would be 2400+ in Canadian. I was told when I made my first payment I was wrong. It would be 1849.88 and whatever I paid in US would be converted to Canadian and that would be taked off at par from the 1849.88. This makes a different of about $600 dollars between calculations. I was accidentally disconnected by a dead cordless battery and a second person (both reps from Utah) had confirmed the calculation. I was told to call back befor eI make my next payment and I would be told how much was left, but not 1449.88 after making the $400 US payment after all.

I called back about 2 weeks later and found out I was misled, by 2 reps. It's actually the 1849.88 US and whatever that turns out to be in canadian is what its going to cost. I asked to speak to a manager. He didnt want to listen but told me he would forward this to a manager but no one called me back. This is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, but its turning out to be the most crooked place on earth as Im told that all the way up to Micheal Eisners office that under no circumstances are they going to make even a small compensation at all for the missinformation.

I have no spent the extra $600ish dollares on other things which isnt their fault but if I had been todl the correct details, then it would not have been a problem. I now have less cash to entertain my daughter at probably one of the most special times of her life. My sons birthday is 2 months earlier but we will try not to make him feel left out either.

I would have been happy with an upgrade in my room, or some tickets to something or whatever but noone seems to care. I just feel like they dont care what was said, just that they get my money and if they change the rules to suit them then who cares.

BE Carefull, ask all the questions up from before you pay anything. Dont let them cheat you out of your hard earned cash. Im still going to go I guess, but I wish someone would have done more than says "Im sorry". But i almost had to pull teeth to get that.

Good Luck Everyone.
Peter Fuzessery, Toronto

 

[Tiger926]

I'm having trouble following your thread due to confusing details and spelling errors. As has been discussed many times, Disney figures the at-par price using the US package price and then converts using a percentage factor of .69. This is heavily advertised in the newspaper, Internet, commercials, etc... Therefore, you would be charged $1849.88 USD, minus your deposit of $400.00 USD. Whatever your credit card is using as the exchange rate is what you are charged back in Canadian funds (unless you have a USD credit card). Many of us are actually making out better because the dollar is doing well (not so well in the last week I might add).

That being said, here are my questions:

1. Where is the $600.00 that you are talking about?
2. What type of compensation do you expect?
3. Why is it Disney's problem that you spent extra money that it sounds like you don't have?
4. I can't imagine a CM telling you that your deposit would be converted to CND funds and taken off of balance, when your credit card determines the exchange fee, unless of course you were paying by cheque in which case this is moot since you would have to send them a cheque drawn on a US account since Disney doesn't accept CND funds.

I see that this is your first post, so I would urge you to use the knowledge that you can gain from these boards to better educate yourself for future travel (based on your responses, I don't think that you'll be going back to Disney World anytime soon). Contrary to what you think, Disney employees were not trying to rip you off - it sounds like there was a miscommunication or perhaps you misunderstood how the At-Par deal works. Regardless, at least it's straightened out and you'll be able to visit Disney World for your daughter's birthday.

Good luck with the rest of your trip planning, Tiger

 

[FatCow]

Also, what credit-card are you using? If you're using a CC that's NOT Visa, then you can't get the Canadian at Par package (or so I'm told).

To avoid these types on confusion, I assign all bookings to my travel agent (and I'm paying the exact amount as if I booked it myself, but minus the headache... plus my agent gets a comission too!)

 

[Peter Fuzessery]

I guess its my frustration thats causing the problem with my writing. Im not usually this frazzled. Im also not the best speller or typeist(sp?) either.

Im very good with numbers. Im not confused anymore, and I wasnt in the beginning. Its the two agents I talked to in Utak a few weeks back when I paid my deposit that confused the teddy bears out of me.

I understand/understood what was going on until I was told this convoluted and confusing way about hos its actually less than it sounds due to how they both told me things were calculated.

By your response, it sounds like you work for Disney. It doesnt matter if you do or dont, but I will try and explain.

Normal Calculation that I understood at beginning and again now. ($2600+ US price for US residents) $1849.88 Canadian at par discounted. Convert any and all payments to Canadian and whatever the conversion rate at the time of the transaction(next business day when Visa processes the payment etc), means what its going to cost me in the end. That I understood until what im about to tell you I was told.

Weird Calculation.
1849.88 which is in US dollars. If I call and make a payment of $400.00 which I did 2 weeks ago when this all started, the conversion was 533. I was explained that they take the Canadian dollar and subtract that from the US price at PAR. so my new total woudl be something like 1316.88 or something close to that. She told me it was like the total package was 1276.41 US, minus $400 US since they only deal in US dollars and that my new balance would be 776 or 800 or something like that. This was like unexpected great news.

At this point my cordless battery died and I called back to confirm my payment was taken and processed and confirmed these details. I was surprised and excited that it wouldnt cost me so much. The difference between the 1849.00us/2425CDN or soemthing like that compared to 1849.00US/CDN at par equals $575. This was like night and day difference. Again I told my wife this and she was excited but confused.

I was told that they would only know the final conversion rate and the total that would be subtracted once the conversion was done and Visa informed Disney of the total cost and then it would be determined the amount I had paid so far so I would know how much left to pay. This I would be told on my next call to make a payment. I called back last week on the 29th and was told that I was wrong and someone was confused who told me this. (maybe its the UTAH math) As both girls who confused me were from Utah.

Anyways, that explains the $600.00 or so that I talked about and see I confused you too. All I was hoping for was like something extra for the Kids or a room upgrade or something that made it feel like Disney cared about the glaring missinformation that I was told. Im not expecting $600.00 in compensation. Im just trying to be fair. Yes, its my fault I paid other debts with the calculated difference in the money, but I wouldnt have adjusted my calculation if I had not been misled.

I have been to Disney 3 times. Once when i was very small and barely remember. Once for my honeymoon and once with my Mother and Late brother who passed away from cancer last year. To me, disney is a dream place. A place where my wife, my family and my children can/will be able to talk about for a long time to come.

Im not rich, I just wanted to know how much I had left to pay. I didnt ask to be confused. I asked if I had 1449.88 left and was told flat out NO. Did I make the mistake, I dont think so unless you count the fact that I believed her. But, I assumed that they knew what they were talking about since they are taking my money.

Hey, Id settle for something extra for my Daughter on her birthday or something. I just want to have a good time, and her to remember it for the rest of her life.

Hope this helps explain my frustration. Hey anything to get away from the snow and Ice we have had here lately. I wish i could be on that plain tomorrow. Im just concerned about the $600 less cash I will now have based on the decision I made compared to what I would have made if I had not ben misled.

Peter Fuzessery

 

[FatCow]

I honestly still don't understand your confusion.

Say the ticket price is US$2600. With Canadian at-par package, the amount charged to your credit-card will be .69 conversion rate of US$2600.

This amount, whatever that is, say US$1800, will converted at the normal exchange rate (which right now approximately means CAD$2400).

So nothing misleading here, it's really simple math. I know it's simple math, because I'm only a musician and I can count this with no problem whatsoever (you know, the joke of musicians can only count up to number four )

To paraphrase the terms and condition of Canadian at par package:

The total amount for the package will be charged at .69 conversion rate in US dollars. The amount will be converted to Canadian dollars at its current rate. Exchange-rate fee may apply. Offer valid to payment using Visa card only.

Pretty clear cut to me... and I also don't work for Disney. I run a recording studio... which has no afiliation with Disney.

Cheers,
FatCow
- FatCow is a Dude -

 

[beglluvr]

FatCow is right, I think what's misleading you is the name of the promotion - CDN @ par. Disney deals in US dollars only and has no way of knowing what exact exchane rate is when your VISA is charged. They call it CDN @ par, but really what they're doing is giving a 31% discount.

This is what they mean when they say, "The total amount for the package will be charged at .69 conversion rate in US dollars". So what Disney did was choose one rate to use for all reservations instead of changing the conversion rate every day.

It sounds to me like you were expecting to pay $1849.88 CDN. When they gave you that quote, it was after the 31% discount. You don't get that amount @ par - it's supposed to come out close to what the rack rate (the $2600+) would be in Canadian dollars. With our dollar being as good as it is, you will likely pay much less than $2600 CDN.

I thought this deal was pretty straight forward - I figured my price out to within a few cents and was thrilled with the price. All in all, it's a great deal for Canadians, at least, those who understand it... I think they should have been a little clearer in describing the special as there are a lot of people that don't understand it.

 

[bevwells]

Peter,
Just wanted to let you know the same thing happened to me. I totally understood how the Canada @ par worked and called our travel agent to book Disney for 3 nights for 5 of us at a moderate resort. He called Disney and booked our reservations and called me back so excited when the lady told him that our package was only going to cost $1183CAD. I told him this is definely wrong to check back with Disney. He had to call back 4 times before someone actually confirmed that this was indeed incorrect and that $1183 was the USD amount that would be charged to our Visa. The first 3 people assured him that $1183 was indeed in Canadian dollars.
Just wanted to let you know you where not the only one who got a representative that got it confused.
BW

 

[FatCow]

Ahhhh. Now I understand the situation.

Okay then, so it's not about the program being misleading, it's the CMs being misrepresentative.