Pros/Cons of booking air through ABD

[Jess_S]

Hi everyone,

We're booking our airfare for our summer 2018 ABD today because my experience has been that airfare doesn't get any cheaper as a trip approaches. (We once paid double the price I had originally found for a flight to Hawaii because I waited 2 months to book.)

Anyway, I got a quote from DU for booking the airfare through ABD. The quote seems to be cheaper than what I'm finding on my own, so I'm thinking I will book through ABD. But since I've never done an ABD before, I thought I should check in here to see if there are any considerations I haven't thought of. Have people had good experiences booking airfare through ABD? Any downside I should be aware of?

Thank you!

 

[sayhello]

I have had very good experience booking through ABD. As you said, I've found that the last few times, they've been able to find the exact same flights I've been looking at, or something extremely similar, for less than I've been able to find them. So that is definitely a plus.
There's not many cons to it, besides the normal "cons" of booking through a TA, ie, you can't make changes to the reservation yourself; you have to go through your TA (who has to go through ABD). But you still can choose your own seat, do meal selection, stuff like that.
As far as pros are concerned, if you got the trip insurance through ABD, then you are certain to have the flight included in your coverage if ABD books the flights. If you book your own flights, there are conditions on whether it's included in the coverage from ABD or not. I tend to purchase my trip insurance from outside insurance companies, so that's not really an issue for me.
The other advantage is, on the extremely rare occasion that ABD might have to cancel your trip, changing your flight if you switch to another ABD or getting a refund is much easier if you book through ABD.

And yes, my experience has also been that airfares just don't seem to go down (unless you want to switch to a horrid itinerary with 4 legs, that takes 26 hours to get to Europe...)

Sayhello

 

[Jess_S]

Thanks. That's super helpful. The flight that ABD found was $600 cheaper (for 3 tickets) than the best deal I could find, so I was kind of worried that it was too good to be true.

Oddly, when I searched flights, the airlines actually wanted more for the flights with 25 hours of combined layovers than for the 1 layover flight we're going to book. (Sadly, there don't seem to be direct flights from Boston to Edinburgh).

 

[sayhello]

Thanks. That's super helpful. The flight that ABD found was $600 cheaper (for 3 tickets) than the best deal I could find, so I was kind of worried that it was too good to be true.

Oddly, when I searched flights, the airlines actually wanted more for the flights with 25 hours of combined layovers than for the 1 layover flight we're going to book. (Sadly, there don't seem to be direct flights from Boston to Edinburgh).

Are you going through Shannon Airport? The good thing about Shannon is, if you participate in Global Access, they have it at Shannon. But that's really interesting about the price. Usually, the shorter the overall flight time, the more expensive the ticket...

Sayhello

 

[Jess_S]

The flight that ABD found connects through JFK in NY. In some ways that makes me even more frustrated about the lack of direct flights from here because NY is so close. But I guess they can do more direct international flights with the much bigger population.

 

[sayhello]

The flight that ABD found connects through JFK in NY. In some ways that makes me even more frustrated about the lack of direct flights from here because NY is so close. But I guess they can do more direct international flights with the much bigger population.

The one thing I'm going to mention here (because *NOBODY* told me!) is that most International flights from JFK will leave from a different Terminal (I believe it's Terminal 1) from where you fly into JFK on your domestic flight from Boston. Which means having to get to another Terminal, and possibly having to go through security again. So make sure you have *plenty* of time (at least 2 hours if not more) between your flights at JFK.

Sayhello

 

[Jess_S]

I had a moment of panic because I gave my TA the go ahead to book before reading this. But we have almost 3 hours for our layover, so hopefully it will be okay. We're also flying in 2 days early, so at least we won't lose any ABD time if something goes wrong (though I would be sad to miss our Edinburgh pre-days).

 

[carpenta]

We just flew back from Iceland and had to switch terminals. The people mover (subway train) runs quite efficiently and our experience going through security AGAIN was not so bad,,,, about 45 minutes. One thing I learned ( the hard way) when I booked our airfare outside ABD was that if the trip does get cancelled ABD does not refund any money in change fees for the airfare ticket. BUT make sure you get to choose your ticket seat before hand or you could end up in the last row with NON RECLINING SEATS!!!!!

 

[sayhello]

I had a moment of panic because I gave my TA the go ahead to book before reading this. But we have almost 3 hours for our layover, so hopefully it will be okay. We're also flying in 2 days early, so at least we won't lose any ABD time if something goes wrong (though I would be sad to miss our Edinburgh pre-days).

3 hours should be plenty! Didn't mean to panic you. But I wish someone had told me the first time!! I was hanging around the terminal, arranging to meet up with a fellow DISer who was going to be on the same cruise, when I realized I had to be in a whole other Terminal, AND go through security again!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

We just flew back from Iceland and had to switch terminals. The people mover (subway train) runs quite efficiently and our experience going through security AGAIN was not so bad,,,, about 45 minutes. One thing I learned ( the hard way) when I booked our airfare outside ABD was that if the trip does get cancelled ABD does not refund any money in change fees for the airfare ticket. BUT make sure you get to choose your ticket seat before hand or you could end up in the last row with NON RECLINING SEATS!!!!!

What airline did you fly to Iceland? I like Icelandair, but they don't fly out of Ohio. (Last time, I was traveling with friends, and spent a couple of days with them, then flew out of Boston).

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

What airline did you fly to Iceland? I like Icelandair, but they don't fly out of Ohio. (Last time, I was traveling with friends, and spent a couple of days with them, then flew out of Boston).

Sayhello

We did fly Icelandair from JFK and back again. Used Jet Blue to and from Burlington, Vermont to and from JFK. We had an enjoyable flight and we were in their first class type seats. They don't call it "first class" but getting use of their airport lounge(s) was a perk and the tickets we scored was pretty reasonable in my opinion. Some of the best food we have ever eaten on board a plane. The airport in Iceland was crazy to say the least. We also used Icelandair while we toured in Iceland flying on day 3 to an upper fjord from Reykjavik. Again quite easy and quick.....much quicker than a 6 hour bus ride.

 

[sayhello]

We did fly Icelandair from JFK and back again. Used Jet Blue to and from Burlington, Vermont to and from JFK. We had an enjoyable flight and we were in their first class type seats. They don't call it "first class" but getting use of their airport lounge(s) was a perk and the tickets we scored was pretty reasonable in my opinion. Some of the best food we have ever eaten on board a plane. The airport in Iceland was crazy to say the least. We also used Icelandair while we toured in Iceland flying on day 3 to an upper fjord from Reykjavik. Again quite easy and quick.....much quicker than a 6 hour bus ride.

Thanks! I just get really nervous using 2 different airlines to get somewhere... Unless I have like an overnight to buffer it. I'll have to think about it, and work the pros & cons.

Was it their Saga class that you flew?

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

Yes I believe it was called Saga class. Jet Blue is a "sister" airline of Icelandair so they checked our bags straight through for us to Iceland. Love Jet Blue when we can fly them.

 

[sayhello]

Yes I believe it was called Saga class. Jet Blue is a "sister" airline of Icelandair so they checked our bags straight through for us to Iceland. Love Jet Blue when we can fly them.

We don't have Jet Blue in Columbus any more. It was a brief fling...

Sayhello

 

[sandhya]

I second the idea of booking thru Disney.
1. Our Business class with British Airways were 1/3 cheaper.(to Athens)
2. God forbid some thing happens, ABD will take care of everything.
3. and, they are extremely pleasant to deal with.

 

[TimeforMe]

Can they book airfare if you're flying somewhere other than what's on the itinerary? For example, we will probably fly into Paris for a few days before heading to Basel Switzerland.

 

[Jess_S]

You guys sold me on the ABD airfare, but they sadly sold out of the deal I wanted before I could book. I wound up booking through a discount site because it was $200 cheaper than the new more expensive ABD price. It's the same flight that ABD was going to book me. My fingers are crossed that we won't have any issues that will make me regret my cost-cutting.

 

[acndis]

You guys sold me on the ABD airfare, but they sadly sold out of the deal I wanted before I could book. I wound up booking through a discount site because it was $200 cheaper than the new more expensive ABD price. It's the same flight that ABD was going to book me. My fingers are crossed that we won't have any issues that will make me regret my cost-cutting.

This is what we found when we tried to book ABD airfare by the time all parties were notified, the fares were gone. After trying on our first ABD, I gave that up all together and have always booked my own airfare. We have never had a problem with our flights that would have been better solved booking through ABD. I would not worry!