Honest Opinions - Travelocity vs Disney

[wen8jr]

I want feedback if you have experience on this. So I am changing my current Disney reservation by dumping free dining and biting the bullet and paying rack rate (if we book through Disney directly) so we can stay at POFQ like we want and to snag a wonderful APH deal just released on a split stay at Universal's Portofino Resort.

Here are the details and I want your opinion on if you would go through Travelocity or not for Disney. I have never booked through them and I have read good things and bad.

Disney Directly:

POFQ - Garden View
2 Adults & 1 17/yo (adult ticket)
5 nights (holiday rate) w/ 4 day tickets - 2375.02

Travelocity:

POFQ - Garden View
2 Adults & 1 17/yo (adult ticket)
5 nights (discounted & also HOT13 code) & 5 day tickets (1 day free) -
2066.14 (at checkout w/ taxes)
In addition I can get back 134.00 from EBATES & a $10 Walmart Card
This is with terms of being able to cancel or make changes with no fees by Dec 19th.
This brings the final total to 1931.00.
The tickets seem to be non refundable and may only be good for certain dates - so I may buy them from Disney (if so this will add 151.00 of discounts back on to the overall cost) with a final total of 2082.00.

This is a potential savings of 444.00 or at the least 293.00 in savings which will help cover not having free dining with this change to get the resort and the dates we want during the holiday.

It seems to me the Travelocity/EBates deal is just too good to pass up. But I'm worried about not booking with Disney Directly. I have read on here that people were able to link DME and tickets for FP+ and do online checkin.

I have no issues with paying everything up front as long as I can cancel.

 

[TDDisney]

I want feedback if you have experience on this. So I am changing my current Disney reservation by dumping free dining and biting the bullet and paying rack rate (if we book through Disney directly) so we can stay at POFQ like we want and to snag a wonderful APH deal just released on a split stay at Universal's Portofino Resort.

Here are the details and I want your opinion on if you would go through Travelocity or not for Disney. I have never booked through them and I have read good things and bad.

Disney Directly:

POFQ - Garden View
2 Adults & 1 17/yo (adult ticket)
5 nights (holiday rate) w/ 4 day tickets - 2375.02

Travelocity:

POFQ - Garden View
2 Adults & 1 17/yo (adult ticket)
5 nights (discounted & also HOT13 code) & 5 day tickets (1 day free) -
2066.14 (at checkout w/ taxes)
In addition I can get back 134.00 from EBATES & a $10 Walmart Card
This is with terms of being able to cancel or make changes with no fees by Dec 19th. Not sure about refund on tickets - I will check on that.
This brings the final total to 1931.00.

This is a potential savings of 444.00 overall which will help cover not having free dining with this change to get the resort and the dates we want during the holiday.

It seems to me the Travelocity/EBates deal is just too good to pass up. But I'm worried about not booking with Disney Directly. I have read on here that people were able to link DME and tickets for FP+ and do online checkin.

I have no issues with paying everything up front as long as I can cancel.

BEWARE!!!!!! You can get what you want through Disney, but it will cost you about $400 more, right? I strongly suggest against going through travelocity! I did it and regret it BIG TIME. First, are you aware that travelocity tickets are non-refundable and are only good on the specific dates of your trip? Also, if fastpass+ rolls out to your resort, you won't be able to do it bc travelocity tix uses numbers that MDE doesn't recognize. Third, Disney can not answer any questions about your ressie, or do any room requests, bc travelocity is a third party. And, when you call travelocity you NEVER get an agent in the us....and you can't understand them...and they know close to nothing about Disney, so they can't offer much help. It took me 6 phone calls and 2 emails to get a fridge added to our ressie for DH diabetic meds. I would go back to my Disney ressie in a heartbeat, but can't bc travelocity tix are not refundable. I would spend the extra $400 to go through Disney.

 

[TDDisney]

I want feedback if you have experience on this. So I am changing my current Disney reservation by dumping free dining and biting the bullet and paying rack rate (if we book through Disney directly) so we can stay at POFQ like we want and to snag a wonderful APH deal just released on a split stay at Universal's Portofino Resort.

Here are the details and I want your opinion on if you would go through Travelocity or not for Disney. I have never booked through them and I have read good things and bad.

Disney Directly:

POFQ - Garden View
2 Adults & 1 17/yo (adult ticket)
5 nights (holiday rate) w/ 4 day tickets - 2375.02

Travelocity:

POFQ - Garden View
2 Adults & 1 17/yo (adult ticket)
5 nights (discounted & also HOT13 code) & 5 day tickets (1 day free) -
2066.14 (at checkout w/ taxes)
In addition I can get back 134.00 from EBATES & a $10 Walmart Card
This is with terms of being able to cancel or make changes with no fees by Dec 19th.
This brings the final total to 1931.00.
The tickets seem to be non refundable and may only be good for certain dates - so I may buy them from Disney (if so this will add 151.00 of discounts back on to the overall cost) with a final total of 2082.00.

This is a potential savings of 444.00 or at the least 293.00 in savings which will help cover not having free dining with this change to get the resort and the dates we want during the holiday.

It seems to me the Travelocity/EBates deal is just too good to pass up. But I'm worried about not booking with Disney Directly. I have read on here that people were able to link DME and tickets for FP+ and do online checkin.

I have no issues with paying everything up front as long as I can cancel.

Also, be cautious....some peole have posted that they were able to link travelocity tix. I have posted back and forth about that. When we canceled through Disney, then booked through travelocity, our old tix were still showing up (many posters have mentioned that)....I would be cautious that some might be adding fastpasses to those tix, not the travelocity tix. I had to call Disney to get the old tix off.
Plus, I've called Disney a zillion times....and was told repeatedly that those tix can not be linked bc travelocity doesn't exchange them with Disney until just before your trip. So, again, I just urge caution...try not to just let that savings suck you in like it did me!

 

[wen8jr]

Thanks TDDisney for your feedback.

I'm wondering if I were to book room only if I'll be pretty okay and still save the 300.00. I'm not worried so much about room requests - I never seem to get them honored at check in so I don't get my hopes up. If I book garden view, when I check in I will request top floor. Otherwise, we don't mind where we are at at POFQ since it is small.

I may get my tickets through Disney. What are the rules on buying tickets directly from Disney? If I buy them... how long are they good for in the event I can't go when we plan and if I buy them without a ressie, where do I pick them up?

 

[cbentley]

Just got back from a trip last week (went to Universal as well) we booked through Travelocity for both a room and tickets without any issues. I can't speak about trying to link to my Disney account as I didn't try and do that. I was able to link my room and dining reservations easily. If you get your tickets through Travelocity, you receive a voucher that must be exchanged for tickets at any park. It was a painless process at both Disney and Universal. I will also mention that I did not need to contact anyone regarding special room requests, questions, modifications, etc. It's easy to understand being nervous about booking this way if you've never tried it so you'll have to go with what you feel comfortable with. For me? I'd pocket the savings and allocate it on something else. On several previous trips I've booked through Disney every time but wouldn't hesitate to use Travelocity again if the price was right.

 

[wen8jr]

Just got back from a trip last week (went to Universal as well) we booked through Travelocity for both a room and tickets without any issues. I can't speak about trying to link to my Disney account as I didn't try and do that. I was able to link my room and dining reservations easily. If you get your tickets through Travelocity, you receive a voucher that must be exchanged for tickets at any park. It was a painless process at both Disney and Universal. I will also mention that I did not need to contact anyone regarding special room requests, questions, modifications, etc. It's easy to understand being nervous about booking this way if you've never tried it so you'll have to go with what you feel comfortable with. For me? I'd pocket the savings and allocate it on something else. On several previous trips I've booked through Disney every time but wouldn't hesitate to use Travelocity again if the price was right.

Thanks for the feedback. We are pretty easy to please just because our requests rarely get honored at such a busy time anyway, so as long as I get the room type I pay for I feel we will be satisfied...so booking room only may be the way to go.

I'm more worried about the ticket portion because they may be tied to the ressie dates and expire(?). But it is a really good deal for the tickets with 5 days for the price of 4 plus the discount code and Ebate discount applied.

 

[TDDisney]

Thanks for the feedback. We are pretty easy to please just because our requests rarely get honored at such a busy time anyway, so as long as I get the room type I pay for I feel we will be satisfied...so booking room only may be the way to go
I'm more worried about the ticket portion because they may be tied to the ressie dates and expire(?). But it is a really good deal for the tickets with 5 days for the price of 4 plus the discount code and Ebate discount applied.

Have you checked undercover tourist for tix? They have a good reputation. I think they are good for a year and are refundable. I got Universal tix through them. I've read that people can link UT tix on MDE. Good luck!

 

[wen8jr]

Thanks!

 

[trying2photo]

I booked with Disney, then cancelled and booked through Travelocity. There is a one day ticket showing up on MDE. Then my actual tickets I linked that were purchased through UT. I noticed someone mentioned this. What do I need to do about the Disney ticket that is showing up on my account?

 

[JGoodish]

I want feedback if you have experience on this.

I just went through this decision and made the foolish choice to purchase from Travelocity. Well, it was foolish for me, anyway.

As another poster pointed out, I'm now learning the hard way (to the tune of over $1000) that, despite Travelocity's banners and even their own terms and conditions language to the contrary, that a reservation and anything associated with it (like tickets, dates, etc.) are CHISELED IN STONE. If you make a ROOM ONLY reservation, you can cancel without penalty up to a certain point, but the cancellation policy isn't as flexible as booking through Disney (I knew this). What I didn't know, and which Travelocity doesn't tell you BEFORE the purchase, is that any tickets purchased with the room are LOCKED DOWN to the dates of the room reservation, and are of course non-refundable (I knew the latter part, but not the former part). What they also don't make clear is that if you book a room and tickets on the same reservation, it's considered a "package" even if there's no incentive to do both together, and that the terms and conditions of the most restrictive item in the "package" essentially govern the entire reservation. For example, with room and tickets on the same booking, there's no way to cancel the room without canceling the entire reservation, thereby losing the ticket voucher AND being subjected to the fact that it's non-refundable. That means that the room with a no cancellation fee suddenly has a cancellation fee of the value of the ticket voucher. Travelocity was also kind enough to tell me over the phone that even though they make a big deal about the fact that they don't charge any cancel or change fees (in their terms and conditions), later on in the terms and conditions they state that the booking is "non-changeable" and the "package" essentially means that you can't cancel without a huge penalty. I guess if they won't let you change it, it makes it pretty easy for them to offer no change fees, and making the ticket voucher non-refundable allows them to reap a potentially huge cancellation fee for the entire booking.

In my opinion, they're weasels. If you book something and don't have to make a change, or have no other issue present itself, they may not do any worse than anyone else. I tried to do my due diligence before I booked with them, I read the T&C language multiple times, but in my opinion it's engineered to be intentionally misleading and obscure the actual meaning of the booking contract so that you end up with a false sense of flexibility. Nowhere does it mention the fact that ticket vouchers are locked down to specific dates until AFTER you purchase the voucher, then that language is all printed clearly on the voucher itself. They tried to tell me that I should have known that "non-transferable" means that I couldn't change the dates, except that's not what "non-transferable" means at all (it means you can't sell them or otherwise transfer them to another individual). So I guess that they get to make up their own definitions for contract terms as it suits them in a given situation.

A reputable business doesn't try to deceive its customers, and when there's a misunderstanding, that business puts forth a good faith effort to make things right. I've talked with two different folks at Travelocity, including a supervisor, and they're unwilling to do anything, including putting forth any effort to work with Disney to see if there's a possibility of allowing me to change dates on the ticket voucher.

So now, instead of saving $400 on the room, I may be out over $1000 for the cost of tickets booked through Travelocity, plus spending an additional $400 on the room to book the reservation through Disney, which is what I should have done in the first place.

I travel quite a bit, rarely use travel agents, and never use online ones. I never will again. Disney needs to crack down on these guys by refusing to do business with them, because although their policies and practices aren't Disney's fault, they at least in part represent Disney to the consumer, and their business practices reflect poorly on Disney.



JKG

 

[basketlacey]

I booked one night and 4 tickets through Travelocity a few weeks ago. I have a couple of issues with my reservation which are all my fault because I hurried through the booking process.

It is true that you cannot make room changes through Disney. I accidentally booked the room for 1 adult instead of 2. I called Disney to change it and they won't. I called Travelocity and they called Disney and said they had to fax in a change. As of now, it is still not fixed. I am aggravated because I don't want to do online check in without having dh and I both on the room. However, I am not overly concerned as there is no price difference to add one adult so if necessary, I'll take care of it at check in. Again, this was completely my fault.

I was able to find the room in MDE and I can do online check in.

My second issue is that I bought 4 tickets. Two of the tickets are 5 day tix and 2 are 4 day tix. Travelocity asks for a name for the ticket voucher. I put my name on one set and my bff's name on the other. Only thing, I did it backwards. UGH. Again, this was totally my fault. Travelocity can't change it. I called Disney, they told me not to worry about it since essentially, they are all MY tickets since I paid for them. She told me I can cash in all 4 vouchers and put whatever name on them I want. So that is my plan. Again, I am not overally concerned. At the end of the day, if it can't be fixed, I'll upgrade my set of tix to the 5 day once we get there and just pay the difference.

Overall, would I book through Travelocity again? Absolutely! I saved over $300 with my discount code. The issues are that I had priced this trip several times when trying to decide and when I finally pulled the trigger, I rushed it. Next time, I will be much much more careful. But I like to save money.

Also, I didn't have any issues understanding the agents at Travelocity. They were very nice and tried to help, just couldn't. It is certainly not Disney customer service but it also wasn't bad service.

 

[panfan]

I used travelocity this summer with no problems and saved quite a bit of $$$. Room only. I even "played" with the reservations with no problems with cancelation, AT ALL.

I would do room only thru travelocity, or CheapTickets as they have 20% right now . Then get the tickets separate from Undercover Tourist.

 

[DPickering]

I used travelocity this summer with no problems and saved quite a bit of $$$. Room only. I even "played" with the reservations with no problems with cancelation, AT ALL.

I would do room only thru travelocity, or CheapTickets as they have 20% right now . Then get the tickets separate from Undercover Tourist.

+1

Anything you do with Travelocity that is automated and done thru their site is easy. That includes bookings and canceling room only res's. They want canceling room only res's to be easy so you don't have to call in and cost them time/money by speaking to somebody. But anything where you have to talk to a Travelocity staffer is gonna be hit or miss.

 

[Tigjam630]

We booked a room only through Travelocity without any issues. You pay in full when booking, but can cancel up to 6 days prior to arrival I think. We were able to link our reservation online with Disney immediately. Have no experience with Travelocity tickets, as we get ours through Undercover Tourist. If interested in trying them, sign up for the mousesavers .com newsletter for a lower rate on UT tickets.

Thanks TDDisney for your feedback.
I may get my tickets through Disney. What are the rules on buying tickets directly from Disney? If I buy them... how long are they good for in the event I can't go when we plan and if I buy them without a ressie, where do I pick them up?

Disney tickets are good until you use them, so don't worry about tickets expiring if you buy from Disney or UT and don't use them! Once you use the first day of the ticket, it expires within 14 days. With UT you can have the tickets mailed to you (free shipping, I think it takes about 2-3 weeks to come) or pick up at will call. I'm sure it is similar with tickets purchased directly from Disney.

 

[snyderla]

I would book through Travelocity and buy tickets through undercover tourist. I booked 2 nights at the end of our DVC trip through Travelocity and saved $35 over Disney's FALL promo code AND got POFQ! I'm happy.

 

[wen8jr]

Thanks for everyone's feedback!

I took the plunge and booked with Travelocity today - POFQ, Garden View, room only with 6 day out cancellation no fees. It will save us $300.00 off rack rate. Next step is to try to connect it to MDE (after I cancel my Disney reservation).

I'll buy tickets in Sept. either from UC Tourist or Disney. Chase Visa has 5% back on park tickets through 9/30 - so I'll have to do the math on what will work best.

 

[TDDisney]

Thanks for everyone's feedback!

I took the plunge and booked with Travelocity today - POFQ, Garden View, room only with 6 day out cancellation no fees. It will save us $300.00 off rack rate. Next step is to try to connect it to MDE (after I cancel my Disney reservation).

I'll buy tickets in Sept. either from UC Tourist or Disney. Chase Visa has 5% back on park tickets through 9/30 - so I'll have to do the math on what will work best.

The room ressie may automatically be on MDE. Ours was almost immediately after booking with travelocity. Tix is a different story. You should be fine, though, with UC tix if you chose to do that. Good luck!

 

[wen8jr]

Just linked my new Travelocity reservation on MDE - it was very easy to do and all appears correct.

We are excited about our Disney portion of our trip again! We've done POR and CSR before and wanted near DTD w/ POFQ this trip for something different. Since we wanted DTD, free dining was forcing us into a POR Royal Room when its me, my DH and DS (17) which just wasn't feeling right and the dates weren't exactly what we wanted.

Now I just need to be on the lookout for any FP+ options for POFQ resort in Dec.

 

[bopper]

I just went through this decision and made the foolish choice to purchase from Travelocity. Well, it was foolish for me, anyway.

...

A reputable business doesn't try to deceive its customers, and when there's a misunderstanding, that business puts forth a good faith effort to make things right. I've talked with two different folks at Travelocity, including a supervisor, and they're unwilling to do anything, including putting forth any effort to work with Disney to see if there's a possibility of allowing me to change dates on the ticket voucher.

So now, instead of saving $400 on the room, I may be out over $1000 for the cost of tickets booked through Travelocity, plus spending an additional $400 on the room to book the reservation through Disney, which is what I should have done in the first place.
.


JKG

This is pretty common in the travel industry. Think about plane tickets. If you want fully refundable easily changable tickets, they cost more. You pay for the flexibility. Same thing with Travelocity.