"Great deals" through travel agents

[stickeymouse]

Disney absolutely knows they are doing this. They want to fill rooms and are willing to sell them "at bulk", so to speak, to fill them. Plus, the only way to book these rooms is to call Disney groups, so how would they NOT know? No one is "undercutting" Disney pricing. The pricing is being set by Disney Groups, through contracts, and all the money is going straight to Disney!

There are quite a few agencies that contract with the Disney Groups Dept. (as a convention would), get the room blocks at a discount and then pass the discount on to their clients. Boscov's (the department store) http://www.boscovstravel.com/ used to be the biggest Disney group sales agency in the US, but I don't know if that's still the case. If you look on their website, you will see their exclusive charters advertised. This is all legit and contracted through Disney.

As to why all agencies aren't doing it? - my guess is it's because negotiating the contracts takes a TON of time and effort. If anyone here has ever booked or managed a convention or large group (wedding, etc.) at a resort, you know what I'm talking about. Now multiply that experience with the number of travel timeframes, per year, you want to offer a room block. It's a ton of work. It's also less money, in the long run, as the TA's will get less commission on the discounted room than they would get if they booked it at rack or a general public discount and there is no commission on the tickets. So agencies really need to do a cost/benefit analysis to see if entering into these contracts will ultimately be of any value to them - or just a huge pain to manage with little reward.

A suggestion - if you question an agency, look to see if they are "EarMarked" (they will typically have a special Mickey logo on their web page showing their status) or check here: http://www.authorizeddisneyvacationplanners.com/ Check their FB page, look at yelp reviews. We live in an age where a simple google search will let you know, pretty quickly, if a business or business person fulfilled their promise to their clients.

Third-party wholesalers (like Expedia and Orbitz) also frequently offer discounts beyond Disney's general public promos. These sellers work through the Disney Wholesale dept. and are also completely legit.

So, sorry, but, you lost your bet. Disney has been entering group contracts with travel agencies for years.

It's not a loophole. These are negotiated contracts that benefit Disney.

Ha, I didn't lose anything. And as I said in the post immediately preceding yours, I agree with you now. Sorry you had to draft such a lengthy post. I didn't mean loophole literally, as in a rule-breaking loophole. More like a rule-bending loophole. We are on the same page.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

These other deals that some TAs have are booked through Disney Groups and Conventions. They end up with a deep discount on rooms in the neighborhood of 30% and a 10% discount on tickets. I'm not sure how it all works but I'd guess it's above board with Disney.

It seems some travel agents either don't have the resources to do this or aren't willing to take whatever risk may be in play. Again all speculation, but not many people are doing those types of deals. Your typical TA should offer you identical pricing to the Disney site (and maybe a $50 gift card or something for booking with them).

Reservations indicate "Disney Group Getaways" and the Disney website it connects you to indicates that groups of 10 or more get discounts, including special room rates.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

as a client you may have to give up the flexibility to get your first or second choice of resorts to book with that TA. last year our first choice was POP, 2nd was ASMu. the deal for our week at a Value was at ASSp. For us it was Sports or no trip at all, just could not make it happen financially otherwise. and we booked 7 months out.

with a regular TA you would probably have more options as to where you could stay

Yes you definitely do. There are usually options available in each category (value, mod and deluxe) but not all resorts.

 

[stickeymouse]

Just curious, but when you book with these companies offering group discounts, do they offer full-service travel agency amenities, such as help with FPs and dining reservations?

 

[limabeanmom2003]

It's not a loophole. These are negotiated contracts that benefit Disney and are negotiated on a yearly basis. If Disney didn't want to offer room blocks through agencies and weren't benefitting from them, they would simply stop offering the contracts.

Dreams Unlimited may book these group getaway rates when special events take place like the dis 20th anniversary last May/June. I know they had special rates available that were better than any offer Disney had at that time.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

Just curious, but when you book with these companies offering group discounts, do they offer full-service travel agency amenities, such as help with FPs and dining reservations?

Yes

 

[stickeymouse]

I should've explained what I meant by loophole in greater detail. Disney does NOT allow a travel agent to discount Disney products by themselves. An example of this would be if an agent decides to forego his/her commission and take that price off a Disney package. He/she could not advertise that discounted price and offer a discount unique to that agent/agency. The discount must come from Disney (ex. Free Dining, AP discounts, group discounts, etc.). Dreams Unlimited has offered group rates surrounding some of its events, such as the recent anniversary meetup at Epcot. This is a true group booking, in every sense of the word. The loophole I was referring to is when an agency contracts for a group of rooms under a group offer and then sells them as individual reservations. The people who buy these packages do not belong to any part of a group, other than they just happened to book with the same agency. They will not go to events together, dine together, etc., as they are not truly members of the same group, and do not fit within the original intentions of group contracts. Thus, the agencies are bending the rules a wee bit. However, as some of you stated, it appears that Disney knows this and allows it. I didn't mean to suggest that anybody taking advantage of these offers is a criminal or breaking the rules. If it's okay with Disney, book away!

 

[mousefan73]

May I just add that these certain group rates also exclude the possibilit of certain add-ons. Such as Dining plan for sure and I believe but could be wrong. Park Hopper. . There are limits to these special offers.. some room types are excluded and of course you are VERY limited to when. So dont think you can get a great package deal over thanksgiving with one of these deals.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

May I just add that these certain group rates also exclude the possibilit of certain add-ons. Such as Dining plan for sure and I believe but could be wrong. Park Hopper. . There are limits to these special offers.. some room types are excluded and of course you are VERY limited to when. So dont think you can get a great package deal over thanksgiving with one of these deals.

Not true - on our "group getaway" we added on the dining plan and have park hoppers. There are some instances when you can't add dining on, but you can always add park hoppers. You are correct about room type but not about "when". All of the dates we choose have been available. January for marathon weekend, November for wine and dine and April for spring break. It is not 365 days a year availability but there are a lot.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Some of the contracts preclude certain add ons. Some do not. It varies.

 

[TandLMommy28]

Wondering what resort and what dates?

Poly, 9/2-9/9.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Just curious, but when you book with these companies offering group discounts, do they offer full-service travel agency amenities, such as help with FPs and dining reservations?

Some do and some don't. My friends agent won't book her FP+ or ADR. I never asked my agent because I like doing it myself. But for 65% off rack rate I'm ok doing it myself. She did book DME.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

Poly, 9/2-9/9.

 

[TandLMommy28]

Just curious, but when you book with these companies offering group discounts, do they offer full-service travel agency amenities, such as help with FPs and dining reservations?

My experience was no... they are booking all their clients for the same dates so if they were to book everyone's ADRs and Fps, it would take all day and some clients wouldn't be booked until later in the day, which means they wouldn't get what they wanted. Because of how these discounts work, it is better for each client to do their own ADRS, etc.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

May I just add that these certain group rates also exclude the possibilit of certain add-ons. Such as Dining plan for sure and I believe but could be wrong. Park Hopper. . There are limits to these special offers.. some room types are excluded and of course you are VERY limited to when. So dont think you can get a great package deal over thanksgiving with one of these deals.

I wanted to add that the best deals that folks talk about are very limited to specific dates (late August early September I believe). I can still get a better deal than what Disney offers on other dates but it's not the great price that is offered in late August early September

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My experience was no... they are booking all their clients for the same dates so if they were to book everyone's ADRs and Fps, it would take all day and some clients wouldn't be booked until later in the day, which means they wouldn't get what they wanted. Because of how these discounts work, it is better for each client to do their own ADRS, etc.

Exactly. And specifically for the Labor Day exclusive.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

My experience was no... they are booking all their clients for the same dates so if they were to book everyone's ADRs and Fps, it would take all day and some clients wouldn't be booked until later in the day, which means they wouldn't get what they wanted. Because of how these discounts work, it is better for each client to do their own ADRS, etc.

Exactly. And specifically for the Labor Day exclusive.

That could be the difference. Perhaps Labor Day doesn't include the extras that are offered at other times with Deals.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

That could be the difference. Perhaps Labor Day doesn't include the extras that are offered at other times with Deals.

I have a coworker booking her January trip with their exclusive and was also told no. But I know others on this board have had them book for them. Maybe it depends on the agents load.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

I have a coworker booking her January trip with their exclusive and was also told no. But I know others on this board have had them book for them. Maybe it depends on the agents load.

I always prefer to do my own and I'm guessing most of us on the boards do too perhaps.

 

[Donna3271]

I'm paying under $250 a night at the GF in 2 weeks.

Me as well... in three weeks...right after our cruise... not DVC, a regular room. I need Mousekeeping!! LOL!!!