Disaver Club

[Joe A.]

I have to tell you I'm a little skeptical about this! I'm going down in July for 2 weeks at a cost of approx. $7,000. Why on earth would you pass on a $700.00 commission just to pick up a $49 membership fee? I'm sorry but I still believe that you don't get anything for free or in this case close to free. Please explain how this benefits you. Thanks.

 

[Janet2k]

Joe, I don't have the answer to your question. I am sure someone who does will answer it. All I can tell you is that I am a long-time member here on the Dis. I have also used Dreams Unlimited Travel for my last vacation. The Dis & the Dream Team are good people. And Pete is a man of his word. If he and his team want to do something revolutionary, I am sure that they gave it an awful lot of thought. When I saw this new club announced the other day, I had no doubts about joining it. None. If I can save a few pennies on my vacation, I am all for it.

This is all my humble opinion.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

Joe,
It's really very simple. A large amount of people book through CRO directly because they don't require or want the services that a full service travel agency provides. There was no reason for those people to do anything but call CRO directly. Many of the people on the boards are "disney savvy" and enjoyed doing it themselves. Now there is a very good reason. Dreams gets a reservation that they would not have gotten otherwise and the customer saves money.
For those who want or need the full travel agent services, the conventional service is still available through Dreams Unlimited Travel.
It's just an alternative choice.
It would be really nice to get that $700.00 check about the time the credit card bills come in right?

 

[Joe A.]

"Dreams gets a reservation that they would not have gotten otherwise and the customer saves money"

Why does Dreams want a reservation if they are not getting a commission????

I'm sorry but I still don't get it?

 

[WebmasterAlex]

The money to join the club and the $15.00 fee for a reservation.

 

[SuzyQue]

So DU would be making $64 off of Joe A. , but have to turn around and pay him $700? Obviously DU is not in it for profit but where do they get the $636 (700 less membership and $15) to pay back?

 

[WebmasterAlex]

That's the beauty of the whole plan, Disney pays that money, if you book through CRO, they keep it, if you book through a travel agency, they pay that to the agency. That's why it comes in the form of a rebate.

 

[Joe A.]

Hey Suzy,

What do you mean DU is not in it for the profit? Are you kidding me????

Hey Alex,

Stop tap dancing around the question. What's in it for DU??????
If it's none of my business just tell me!

 

[WebmasterAlex]

Any further financial details would have to come from Pete. But it really, really is as simple as what you see above. I don't see where I am tap dancing around anything. Dreams gets the membership fee and the 15 dollar fee.

 

[Joe A.]

Alex,

So let me see if I understand this completely. I book my trip through DU and instead of DU getting a $700.00 commission they will be happy with a membership fee & a $15 processing fee. Did I lay it out correctly? I'm not missing anything am I? Sorry if I'm repeating myself.

 

[Kelsie]

Joe A,

You are correct in your assessment however, there is one very important point you are missing. DISavers is targeting those who would make their own reservations anyway. This is a win/win, DU gets a fee and reservation charge they would not have received and the customer receives the commission that Disney otherwise would have kept. It really is that simple

 

[Joe A.]

I'm not sure it is that simple. It seems to me that DU is now saying they will not be making any commissions ever again on a Disney trip they book. They will be just happy with the membership fees. I'm sorry I don't buy it!

 

[SuzyQue]

This is off the DU-FAQ page...

Q - How much does your service cost?

A - NOTHING! Our fees are paid by our commissions through Disney. You receive the same price for the rooms and tickets you book with us as you would if you called Disney yourself. In many cases, we can find discounts and other promotional offerings that you might not know about.

OK, so DU use to make a commission (from Disney) off of people who booked through them because they didn't know how to do it themselves or wanted DU to keep an eye out for a better deal for them. Now they will still be making that commission off of people who don't know how to do it themselves, plus they will be making $64 ($84 after introductory) off of people who normally do, do it themselves. Like you said, DU & the customer both win! ~~

 

[nicknamy1996]

Look at it this way....


I call disney and book a vacation for $3000. DU makes nothing. Disney keeps the $300 they would have paid for an agent booking the same vacation.

Instead I call DU and get the exact same package (discounts and all) and because DU, a travel agent gave them the business they get a commission. 10% or $300.

DU now gives me the $300. And they make $50(membership)+$15(fee) from me.

Bottom line, by booking through DU heres what happens...

I save $235
DU makes $65 (would have made $0)
Disney "loses" $300

Thats my take, pretty simple really.

I personally will not use it simply because I go ultra cheap. AP rate at All Star in the Value season. (269.50 for 5 nights) so I would only make $27 back. But for any vacation well over $650 it seems like a no brainer.

DU makes $50 for every person that joins, if they book a vacation or not so we'll call that profit.
Now they make $15 per reservation that they make (this is the only part where I can see someone worrying about a catch, Is it worth the time and work to book a vacation and handle all the details for $15???)

Also a benefit (to DU) would have to be the huge jump in Disney vacations booked through them, I don't know how travel agencys work, but I would think Disney would give them free trips or some kind of benefit for the large number of vacations they will be booking very soon.

 

[Joe A.]

What about the thousands of loyal clients they already have who would have booked with them anyway. Why give back those dollars in commissions. You have to be talking about some significant commssions. You trying to tell me they are trading those commssions for Free Trips?????

 

[nicknamy1996]

And now applying that to your original post...

One simple question.

Were you going to book your vacation throuth Dreams Unlimited?

If the answers is NO. Then although you say they are losing $700 they haven't lost a penny, because you were not using them in the first place.

Now if you decide to only because of there new DisSavers they have made $65, not a lot, but better than the $0 it was yesterday.


Questions?

 

[Joe A.]

You didn't answer my question. What about the thousands (my guess) of repeat customers who will no longer be paying commssions? You have to sell quite a few memberships to make up for that lost revenue???

 

[nicknamy1996]

Good point, but I'm sure that someone did the math and figured that they would make more money to go this route (they are a business and I'm not saying they are giving anything away, every business has 2 goals 1 make money, and 2 if possible make more money.)

So I'm sure they are looking to make more money.

Maybe the 1000's of clients you are referring to are shrinking because of the ease of making reservations yourself (thanks in part to thier own website).

 

[WebmasterAlex]

A lot of people will still want the full service, having their trips planned, their priority seatings made. The full service agency is still available. I think if you want more details on that issue you will have to wait for Pete or John as nobody else is authorized to speak to internal financial issues of Dreams Unlimited Travel. The bottom line for the customes though is they have a choice and can select whatever is right for them.

 

[nicknamy1996]

You didn't answer my question either. were you going to use DU?