The MAGIC is Back!!! ~ WBTA 2014 ~ Come & join the fun!

[DavidADuck]

Hello to Sydney! Where about are you? We used to live in Canada Bay/Inner West before we moved up to Narrabeen/Northern Beaches. Now we are back to Germany, where we are missing the surf and the sun



Hi David, my hubby Steffen is working for Porsche in Stuttgart. You two probably will have a lot to talk about


We also booked our flights yesterday!
Stuttgart/Germany to Barcelona will be a short one. Longhaul back with Condor from San Juan to Frankfurt will be an adventure for our two boys (or me, not sure about that yet )
Still looking for a hotel in Barcelona, we fly in the night before the cruise. Any suggestions?

Hi there! Congrats on booking your flights. Certainly makes the trip seem more 'real' when you know you have airlines booked.

Your husband works for Porsche! How awesome is that. I was at the factory this past July and went on the 911 production tour as well as a lengthy trip through the museum. Pass on to him that I am the very fortunate owner of a beautiful '09 911 (997.2 Carrera S) and visiting the plant in Zuffenhausen was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

Having been duty stationed in the UK (Hampshire, Meon Valley), I've been to Germany countless times. Nothing more fun than 145mph on the autobahn.

 

[scottishwee35]

Welcome to all newcomers.

Our plans are starting to come together now. Happy with all prices so far.

Flights booked from UK to Barcelona on Friday 5th £80pp($130) incl extra luggage
1 night here at £93($150) for a triple room http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...otel_Barcelona_House-Barcelona_Catalonia.html
Still awaiting flights to be released from San Juan to MCO/TPA
7 nights at Homewood Suites LBV at £40/nt($65)
Flights home, MCO~MAN(UK) £219 ($355)

Total cost under £1200 ($1,950) per person for 22 nights incl flights, cruise & hotels. Very happy with that.

hi

Are you flying with BA from Wales to London to Barcelona?

Scottishwee35

 

[scottishwee35]

Welcome new cruisers....

Scottishwee35

 

[wayneg]

hi

Are you flying with BA from Wales to London to Barcelona?

Scottishwee35

No, from Manchester.

 

[col1]

Hi

Just booked in the last 2 hours.

Me - Colin
DW - Yvonne
DS - Ryan 15

This will be our 4th Disney cruise did WBTA in 2011 and loved it.

The itineray looks fantastic we have not been to any of the ports except St Martten.

Roll on September!!!

 

[bound2travel]

This is a duplicate post from the FB group page.

Bad news people. As I am job hunting for a school librarian position, I've had to cancel this cruise. If I get the job, then I would not be able to get time off in September. I won't know if I get the job until after PIF - so I canceled this week. I'll just have to look at a TA cruise some other time.
Please take me (K. Dorney) and my friend (J. Brock) off of Palo Brunch, Champagne Girls, Secret Mickey, linked dining, and any of the tastings I had signed up for. I hope all of you have a great time.
Please send great thoughts up so that I get one of the jobs I applied for. I do know that if it is meant to be... it will be.
Thanks

 

[WAMUMOF4]

Thanks much, glad to be here! I am a 1 Million Miler (1K) with United Airlines and a Lifetime Platinum with Marriott, so booking travel for me is second nature. Early booking is key - especially if you are using award miles/points. It allows for revisions to the trip as availability changes (and it does!) while having a 'backup' itinerary that is still feasible. I am very fortunate that I don't pay change fees so I can book/cancel/change as often as I want.

that would be a lovely Perk and as much as I love flying(it's a necessity to get to disney ) a million miles wow that's amazing! We haven't booked our flights from the USA to Europe yet I keep procrastinating doing it and change fees are one of those reasons but we have our flights to the USA booked.

 

[DavidADuck]

that would be a lovely Perk and as much as I love flying(it's a necessity to get to disney ) a million miles wow that's amazing! We haven't booked our flights from the USA to Europe yet I keep procrastinating doing it and change fees are one of those reasons but we have our flights to the USA booked.

I'm currently at 1.38M on United after a very busy last six month. I will probably be close to 1.5M by the cruise! I fly cross country round trip roughly 2-3 a month for work.

We are fortunate. To get to Disney, it's just a 45 minute trip down the 5 freeway.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

I'm currently at 1.38M on United after a very busy last six month. I will probably be close to 1.5M by the cruise! I fly cross country round trip roughly 2-3 a month for work.

We are fortunate. To get to Disney, it's just a 45 minute trip down the 5 freeway.

Disney is a 22 hour+ trip for us and I will never make the million Miles club I don't even know if that exists over here I'll have to google

 

[TexasMousEars]

Sounds like a good idea! Send a PM to Claire (Pinky166) so she can add the meet and sign-up information to Page 1. As the cruise gets closer, we might want to have the organizers of the different events try to coordinate the meets/events to avoid as much overlap as possible. We may not have much choice as it will depend on what DCL has available and is willing to give us, but we can try. I know on the 2011 the Pub Crawl overlapped with the Champagne Girls meet, which was fine. Some of us were well on the way by the time we got to CG!

So being a newbie, I have a general question. On these tastings we are signing up for - about how much are they per person? Just trying to start to do some preliminary budgeting!

Thanks!
Cristi

 

[mdwoodman]

So being a newbie, I have a general question. On these tastings we are signing up for - about how much are they per person? Just trying to start to do some preliminary budgeting!

Thanks!
Cristi

The normal cost is $15.

 

[pharmjenn]

I am starting to seriously look at airfares finally, and did searches on both Kayak and Skyscanner. The oneway prices to BCN are much cheaper than anywhere else, booking through cheapo-air and edreams.
Does anyone know if the booking class on these is eligible for frequent flyer miles? Both flights I am considering (Air Canada and US Air) are Star Alliance, so if eligible, we could get United miles

I am thinking the difference in price far outweighs the value of miles we would lose, but would love to get both!

 

[DavidADuck]

I am starting to seriously look at airfares finally, and did searches on both Kayak and Skyscanner. The oneway prices to BCN are much cheaper than anywhere else, booking through cheapo-air and edreams.
Does anyone know if the booking class on these is eligible for frequent flyer miles? Both flights I am considering (Air Canada and US Air) are Star Alliance, so if eligible, we could get United miles

I am thinking the difference in price far outweighs the value of miles we would lose, but would love to get both!

Hi there - You are correct, price usually trumps the value of miles especially given the huge devaluation of SA frequent flier miles over the past decade. I only 'spend' miles on International First/Business awards as the cost of domestic flights rarely justifies the award requirement.

You are eligible to earn award miles for flights on Air Canada, United, US Air etc. even if they are booked through travelocity or kayak. As long as its a valid fare class for earning (ie not an award class like XN), then you will earn on your preferred Star Alliance carrier.

A few words of caution - US Air won't be in Star Alliance for much longer. I don't know exactly the conversion date (Jan 1, 2015?) but they've receive permission to merge with American and will close out of SA soon.

I don't want to start a debate on booking through kayak vs. airline websites, but I've heard horror stories on delays and disruptions and then having to go back to your 'booking agency' to resolve the issue. Kayak is a great tool to find the flight/fare class you are looking for. More often then not, you can then return to the airline website and book the same flight/fare class.

Good luck!

David

 

[DavidADuck]

Disney is a 22 hour+ trip for us and I will never make the million Miles club I don't even know if that exists over here I'll have to google

But you are SO close to the Nurburgring, so it is an even trade off. We can swap houses next summer so you can go to Disney, and I can use my Ring Taxi ticket.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

But you are SO close to the Nurburgring, so it is an even trade off. We can swap houses next summer so you can go to Disney, and I can use my Ring Taxi ticket.

I had to google Nurburgring to see what it was I'm guessing you mean the race track lol in that case that won't work as my summer is your winter we live in Australia

 

[MandyGirl]

For those on Palo Brunch standby list, I was able to move some up from standby into a group. There had been some also wanting to change group, or add a person from standby, so by doing it in one clump I was able to accommodate several requests after we had a few cancellations reported.

It is kept updated here.

NHPixidust, disney_Leonard, Goofy Adpi, Shercara, Dgentrysim have had movement (but Goofy Adpi you are in a different group until a slot opens up in your requested group). Everyone else is still on standby list in order of request received date. Post has standby at bottom in bright pink.

Between now and May 9 Pay in Full date, I anticipate more cancellations, but will continue adding folks to the standby list who send me a PM. By doing it in a clump that helps me be able to accommodate requests better as I can move folks around into open spots. Please read that linked post in it's entirety as most questions should be answered there and is also where it is kept updated. Thanks!

 

[DavidADuck]

I had to google Nurburgring to see what it was I'm guessing you mean the race track lol in that case that won't work as my summer is your winter we live in Australia

Oh my, please forgive me! I mixed up usernames

Albert Park? I was there two years ago for F1, great place.

 

[pharmjenn]

Hi there - You are correct, price usually trumps the value of miles especially given the huge devaluation of SA frequent flier miles over the past decade. I only 'spend' miles on International First/Business awards as the cost of domestic flights rarely justifies the award requirement.

You are eligible to earn award miles for flights on Air Canada, United, US Air etc. even if they are booked through travelocity or kayak. As long as its a valid fare class for earning (ie not an award class like XN), then you will earn on your preferred Star Alliance carrier.

A few words of caution - US Air won't be in Star Alliance for much longer. I don't know exactly the conversion date (Jan 1, 2015?) but they've receive permission to merge with American and will close out of SA soon.

I don't want to start a debate on booking through kayak vs. airline websites, but I've heard horror stories on delays and disruptions and then having to go back to your 'booking agency' to resolve the issue. Kayak is a great tool to find the flight/fare class you are looking for. More often then not, you can then return to the airline website and book the same flight/fare class.

Good luck!

David

Thanks for the info, David. I had forgotten about the USAir/AA merger. My DH and I actually fly mostly AA, while my father flies almost exclusivley United.
I have searched the individual websites and can not find any fares near these prices. I usually do the same thing, search the consolidators then book direct, so that is one of the reasons I am wary as well. I am torn.

 

[DavidADuck]

Thanks for the info, David. I had forgotten about the USAir/AA merger. My DH and I actually fly mostly AA, while my father flies almost exclusivley United.
I have searched the individual websites and can not find any fares near these prices. I usually do the same thing, search the consolidators then book direct, so that is one of the reasons I am wary as well. I am torn.

Totally understandable. Hard to think of a worse feeling than booking an airline ticket too early or too late, and simply overpaying. I'm sure there are others who can chime in with better advice on how to land a more cost effective international ticket.

One pieces of advice I can offer up is that if your DH is a frequent flyer on AA, maybe he has Global Wide upgrades (this is a United term so forgive me if AA uses something different) that allows you to upgrade one fare class on day of travel. I have done this several times over the past few years (especially with Lufthansa) and it's been a great perk. The catch is, you must buy a minimum fare class ticket - for United, I believe the fare class is 'V'. Point is, if you had these available to you, it changes the way you shop for international tickets - focusing more on how many empty seats are projected in First/Business, and the minimum fare class cost. Nothing better than flying in Business Class on a revenue ticket to Europe for $1300 RT.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Welcome to all newcomers.

Our plans are starting to come together now. Happy with all prices so far.

Flights booked from UK to Barcelona on Friday 5th £80pp($130) incl extra luggage
1 night here at £93($150) for a triple room http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...otel_Barcelona_House-Barcelona_Catalonia.html
Still awaiting flights to be released from San Juan to MCO/TPA
7 nights at Homewood Suites LBV at £40/nt($65)
Flights home, MCO~MAN(UK) £219 ($355)

Total cost under £1200 ($1,950) per person for 22 nights incl flights, cruise & hotels. Very happy with that.

Great prices .... who did you book your Man - Barcelona with as that is
a lower price than I am finding currently. We probably missed the boat on the best deals but we have passport issues with one of the group which need sorting before I book anything.