Has Anyone Ever Received Great Deal From CAA?

[AndyMcV]

Just wondering... has anyone ever recieved a great offer from CAA whether it be room only or an entire package??

We are starting to plan a trip to WDW for June 2008. I'm wondering if CAA can offer us anything or not.

Please let us know if your experience.

Thanks
Andy

 

[digskat]

For $1969 us for DH, DD10 and DS7 and myself for 11 nights at POP with 7day hopper passes, threw CAA I didn't think it was too bad. Since we booked thru CAA we got our passport photos done there for free. We booked threw them for the last two trips because we love our travel agent she is the best. We plan on upgrading to 10days when we get there. Thanks KAthy

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We have enquired at two different CAA offices and have not been happy with the service but this was just our experience. We haven't ever booked with CAA. The people that we were dealing with weren't Disney experts and couldn't understand the difference between regular tickets and park hoppers. The quote that we received wasn't any different than booking directly with Disney.

Just our experience so please don't come down on me about how great CAA is. I know that there are great CAA agents -- we just haven't hit any.

Fiona

 

[drag n' fly]

We have enquired at two different CAA offices and have not been happy with the service but this was just our experience. We haven't ever booked with CAA. The people that we were dealing with weren't Disney experts and couldn't understand the difference between regular tickets and park hoppers. The quote that we received wasn't any different than booking directly with Disney.

Just our experience so please don't come down on me about how great CAA is. I know that there are great CAA agents -- we just haven't hit any.

I 100% agree with you. However I did get 4th night free at GC in November and that was through AMA. It was about the only time they ever they managed to not mess something up!(knock on wood)

 

[ChisJo]

I used to work at CAA - not in the travel section. It was while I was in University - I had a receptionist job and I knew more about Disney then the so called Disney experts that worked there. I also told them that I was able to get a better deal on Hotels, flights, and passes AND transportation than any of them could have gotten me. They challenged me....and in the end I won. Plus, of the 3 that I knew, only one of them had been to WDW, the other ones had only been to DL (albeit, multiple times). That being said, the one that had been to WDW was very knowledgeable and I would have trusted her to book a trip for me had I not know anything about Disney. I personally think if anyone is willing to take the time to learn the tricks and the codes from this site, they can get a WAY better deal than what CAA can offer....That's just my opinion. But, I did use them for travel insurance as I liked theirs and their benefits...

 

[Starr_DJ]

CAA deals are OK, not great. Whatever you do though DO NOT book your flight through them. I did that this year (non-refundable of course) and it ended up costing me almost $200 more for the flight for 2 people than it would have if I had booked it with the airline myself. Oh well, live and learn!

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

We got a 15% discount on the room portion of our package at the Poly (saved about $400 ). I've been tracking discounts for the last 5 months and this was the best we could do since free dining times were not suitable for us. ZJZ code was released recently that was $25 per day better but was not available for our dates and we had a very limited window in which to travel. We only used the TA to do the package booking. ADR's, Pirate/Princess tickets was done by us. Net result - if we hadn't used them we would have ended up paying more to go for our specific dates

 

[I Run Long]

I didn't bother with them as I am a westcoast gal and their expertise out here is with DL. I ended up going through Small World Vacations as recommended through Mousesavers.com and am extremely happy with them. My TA kept an eye on all the codes and got me the free dining so I'm happy. Now if I was going to DL I might give CAA a try.

 

[drag n' fly]

I didn't bother with them as I am a westcoast gal and their expertise out here is with DL. I ended up going through Small World Vacations as recommended through Mousesavers.com and am extremely happy with them. My TA kept an eye on all the codes and got me the free dining so I'm happy. Now if I was going to DL I might give CAA a try.

We did something similar when we went to WDW. We booked with Dreams Unlimted and they took care of everything!

 

[tmli]

The secret is to have a great TA that is knowledgable about WDW. I know booking at CAA can be a deal....and can be even sweeter if you have a TA that specializes in Disney. Someone for example who will book your package at the CAA discount but not just put your file in a drawer.....she would help with dining reservations, special event tickets and if necessary set up an appointment to discuss nothing but attractions and touring ideas (as not everyone is as versed as those of us on these boards)...to top it all off she will check daily for disney released specials that may be a better deal than what you have booked. When general public deals are released she will recalculate your package costs and rebook if necessary to get you a better deal.....in some cases saving you over $800 on your family vacation before you even know there is a new offer!!

CAA/AAA has a great partnership with Disney and for that reason people expect to be finding a Disney expert in every office. Rightfully so, but unfortunately its not a reality at this point!!

The problem is a TA has to be able to sell travel to anywhere in the world. While one TA may suck at Disney they may have chosen to specialize in European River Cruising and could sell that with the same passion as another agent would sell Disney. There are very few destinations in the world with as loyal a following as WDW with message boards such as these. We all learn so much here it would be impossible for a TA who doesn't frequent the boards and/or visit Disney on a regular basis to know as much as we do.

 

[Northstar]

I like the CAA room-only discounts because 1. they're available year-round and you know the discount will be there...no waiting and sweating over codes 2. you don't have to book through CAA to get them! For room-only, it's a steady, reliable, 15-20% off. Because the cancellation policies for room-only are way more forgiving than for packages, you can often cancel and re-book if a better rate or package comes out later.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

When I started planning our next trip (2 weeks from now ), I checked the prices with CAA. They were waaaay higher than what I could get by booking on my own. So that's what I did.

I booked two rooms through Disney and put park passes on one. Then I booked the flight separately with AirTran who had a seat sale at the time. Afterward, I transfered the rooms and passes from Disney to CAA and got 10% off.

At the time I had also arranged to DME from the airport. After thinking about it, we decided to rent a van from the airport instead. So I called CAA and had the airport transfer cancelled. We just got our ticket package and it had Disney luggage tags, so I'm not convinced she cancelled that portion. I'll have to call again to make sure our luggage doesn't get picked up. Maybe I won't put the tags on the luggage at all, just to be sure.

I agree with a previous poster about the knowledge of CAA's agents. DH and I cruise a lot and our local CAA office is supposed to specialize in cruises. I've heard a LOT of misinformation come out of those agents that would have cost their customers a ton of money.

Beth

 

[tmli]

Just an FYI.....All things equal it is not possible for CAA to be "way higher" than disney direct. Especially with a AAA discounted package. When that happens there is an error on one side or the other. On a room only they would be exactly the same....on a package with AAA discount CAA will always be cheaper, on a general public package they should be equal.

The benefit being the AAA perks and a lower rate when available.

 

[NikP]

If you find the right CAA agent it is the way to go. I know that my agent is always looking for codes and is on top of everything Disney. She has contacted me a couple of times to see if we would qualify for any codes etc. and see how my plans are coming together. I know that she personally goes to WDW a few times a year, and she is also a Dis member. I have 3 close friends that happen to be travel agents. I chose to go with my CAA agent because of all her knowledge. My travel agent friends have been to Disney and are so called specialists, but I seem to know more than they do. CAA also has good prices. I know that I am getting the AAA discount and I am happy with that. We also got our passport photos done for free and she was nice enough to pick up some park maps for us on one of her trips. Excellent customer service!!