Package or Not

[Andy Lou & Meg]

After the recent debate I started about onsite vs offsite I was hoping people could give me even more advise about whether to package or not. Last year we went through Virgin and did everything with them. This year as we are going with friends we are doing the same again. Next year it will just be the 3 of us (DH & DD5).

At the moment Virgin are doing a special where as if you book by end of March (this year) you will get next years holiday at this years price (I am a frequent Virgin so I get 10% off).

If I take up this offer the approx cost will be £2200 to stay on a nice I Drive hotel (inc car hire & insurance).

Now because of this and next years trip we are buying annual passes and I have heard that you get special rates at disney hotels for this.

I was hoping someone with a little more experience at these things could give me the low down on doing everything seperate (maybe even some website tips etc)

 

[UKPhil]

Whenever I've added it all up I've always been able to beat package prices by some considerable margin for my family's trips. I also prefer to book things seperately as it gives me the freedom to 'mix and match' and concentrate my spending on those things that are important to us, reduce cost on those parts that are less important and generally 'do my own thing'.

Having said all that, there are some real bargains to be had with packages these days if you do our homework, know what you're buying and shop around.

Bear in mind that package companies need to make a profit somewhere. If they're selling you a bargain package, watch out for them making things like car insurance 'compulsory' and bumping up the charges on it.

 

[vernon]

I've found that DIY almost always works out better for families of 4, usually that is also the case for groups of 3s or 2s , but less so than for a family of 4. It seems to me the TAs know the majority of their business is families of four and try to make their extra profits there. I can never work out why they always seem to charge more than it would cost for just a flight for a child, for a childs place when the hotel rooms in the US are charged by the room not by the person.

In my experience "free cars" on fly drives usually cost as much in insurance as an "all inclusive car hire" costs if booked independently.

The only way to really work it all out is to do the numbers once you've decided on your dates. Obviously this can be a little time consuming and that's what the TA are banking on to make their profit on your trip. I found that http://www.ba.com (British airways site) is useful when researching because you can get the costs of different days (up to 14) around the one you want to book. If you have a little flexibility in your plans this is a huge time saver as things like expedia and many of the other airline sites will only let you put in one date at a time.

For hotels if you want to stay on site then I would use http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com even if they are the same price as booking direct with Disney, Dreams will continue to check for discounts and better deals on your room rate and apply the lower rate if it comes up (saving you money after you've made a reservation, something a regular TA will NEVER do). If you go through Dreams, make sure your rep knows you have an AP and they will be able to apply any AP discounts to your booking. Knowing that you need just one Annual pass in your group to be able to get annual pass rates for your hotel room is another potential huge saving. You could easily save $50 a night on your room charges by geting an AP rate, for a 2 week vacation your room savings will pay for the AP many times over. If you're looking at off site, booking a villa direct can save lots of $$$ , using a reputable local agent to book a villa is cheaper than booking a villa from a UK agent. For hotel rooms for up to 4 nights I use http://www.hotwire.com a lot as I've got some great rates at good hotels (for the cost) I'm not sure I'd use them for the whole of a holiday if it was my main holiday for the year as you don't know the actual hotel until AFTER you commit to the booking. I've never had a bad hotel with them, but for something as important as the main family holiday for the year I'm not sure I'd put THAT amount of trust in the system. For a couple of days I can put up with a slightly unsuitable hotel, as long as it's clean. I know I'll be moving on soon, but for the whole stay, those small inconveniences can build up.

 

[tartangirl]

I'll echo Vernon's comments on car hire.

www.airline-network.co.uk seems a popular choice although I've booked my car through www.uscarhire.co.uk for this year which saved ££££s over Virgin and I'm getting a better car.

I booked a flydrive for June next year and it worked out cheaper than June this year which came as a pleasant surprise - I'm looking forward to seeing if the prices do go up when the brochures come out.

 

[Celestine]

I think it also depend upon the time of year you go. We've booked next year using the Virgin offer as we can get ASMo in August for under £60/night (booked flydrive as have independently booked Disney cruise) We're also tied to school holidays, so to do it independently would mean waiting until September to start booking. Car hire is definitely worth looking at. We tend to take the car with virgin because we get a free upgrade & the platinum package is a good deal for us as legally we require a car seat ($5/day otherwise). Last time we booked Disney independently & got a good deal, but you would need to book to guarantee a room & then keep an eye out for the rates to become available & rebook. Like vernon said, the best way is to do the math, compare & then decide, but whatever you do, I'm sure you'll have a great holiday

 

[feistyblue]

I've found that with the 10% flying club discount I can't beat Virgins price.

If you are flying PE, there is no way of beating the package price coupled with the 10% discount from Virgin.

Staying onsite flying PE both ways, 10 nights with Virgin ( no car) for myself and ds is costing £2022.39 with the 10% discount in November.

I tried everytihng to beat this - but just couldn't.

 

[Ware Bears]

I agree with the others that you will just have to do your maths! When we were planning our 2004 holiday I priced DIY against all the package operators even though I knew I only wanted to fly Virgin. We wanted to go for Easter but by flying out a couple of days before the school holidays started we saved getting on for £1000. We went on a Virgin package in the end and if definitely worked out cheaper for us than DIY (2 adults and 3 children). However, if we had gone in the summer hols it was the other way round and it would have been cheaper for us to DIY!

When we start planning our next trip to WDW I'll start pricing it all up and then we'll go with whoever gives the best deal, either Virgin package or Virgin flight and carhire with whoever!

 

[DisneyBB]

We have always checked the price of hotels in the packages against DIY. We needed three nights at the beginning of our holiday in Feb 05 and found that VH beat any price online. With the 10% discount we got a king suite for £36 a night, whereas the online prices were over $100. If we are flying at a popular time then we have found that flydrives work out cheaper than flight only. We always take the "free" car, but decline the insurance and use Natwest insurance. I think it is good to keep an open mind about packages and really do your homework.

 

[lagunn]

flights £1837.50 (virgin)
villa £880
car £565 4x4 fully inclusive with tank of gas
grand total
£3245.00


3 adults and 2 kids booked diy


good price i think for 3 weeks..

 

[shellbell]

We booked last year for sept and they total cost for the holiday was £3795. We didn't end up going due to the hurricanes and we got a full refund. We have have now rebooked to go on June this year and what we are staying onsite for 1 week this time (which last time we were staying off site for the entire holiday in a private villa) and we have the platinum car insurance (last year we had the one below) and its costing us £3695.£100 less We also get the 10% depostit taking off an extra £363 but what i'm trying to point out is that its cost us less at this years prices than last years.

Michelle

 

[heatherbelle]

Booked for 2 weeks school hols in May/June.

Flights and car hire virgin - 1660
Hotel - Lake Buena Vista 400
Insurance 95

Passes 660 - 5 park hopper plus, and 14 day 4 park universal etc. (They are cheaper now, I bought mine before xmas).

2 adults and 1 child