Travelocity room question...

[TheresaNY]

If a room is listed on Expedia as being available, does that mean it REALLY is available ?? I had a room listed as available on AAA website yet when I tried to make a reservation it said it was not available - but not until AFTER I put in my credit card and hit enter !! Also, the cancellation policy is very vague to me....can you get a full refund if you cancel room only ressie up to 5 days before arrival ?? Thank you so much !!

 

[4greatboys]

When we used Expedia only rooms came up that they had in inventory. If there resort didnt have a room, it didnt show up in the ones to choose from. That was 2002, I dont know if that has changed or not.
As for the refund I would expect you to have some penalty to pay at Expedia, I doubt you would get 100% back.

 

[Cinderella]

I think i remember seeing that you lose your money if cancelling with expedia - it think it was if you cancel within 30 days of trip but not certain. But, on travelocity i did notice that you don't lose unless you cancel close to your trip, when you lose your deposit - one night stay. I'm tempted to use travelocity but worry that if i don't go thru disney the room may end up overbooked. Has anyone else used travelocity or expedia?

 

[cjhentschel]

I have booked thru Expedia - last May - it was really easy. And when we got to the airport and the hotel - we only needed to show our ids and nothing else. I was definitely scared that they would not have our ressie as this was the first time booking everything thru Expedia. But it worked out great and we are doing it again for this May.

 

[bytheblood]

Expedia has probably purchased a group block of rooms and they are for Expedia to sell. Expedia could have them available when Disney does not for that very reason.

 

[TiggerAllie]

Some advice for those purchasing through Expedia-- We purchased a room/ticket package in February and when we went to check it at the resort, they had our room reservation but no record of our (prepaid) ticket purchase. Both the hotel res desk CM and I were on the phone with Expedia for at least 2 hrs. We eventually got Expedia to cancel and refund the tix we had purchased through them and rebought them at the front desk of our hotel. Needless to say, we got no touring done that day. So, if you do purchase something from Expedia, make sure you have your conformation numbers in case you need to call and fix your reservation!

I learned from Disney that they have had trouble in the past with some Expedia reservations. During busy seasons, they have had to turn away guests that (thought they) had Expedia room reservations at the resorts, but Disney had no record of them and the hotel was full.

 

[TheresaNY]

Thanks for the info. I am not sure what to think/do now. I am embarrassed to say that I was actually looking at Travelocity.....NOT Expedia. I am sorry !! Could I get input on Travelocity......please ???

 

[jackmac]

I have never used Travelocity for Disney reservations (DVC member) but have used them for other travel. I have never had a problem with them and they are now advertising their guarantee that everything will be as stated in the reservation. I would not worry about them, just make sure that you read what you are buying. Their cancellation policy is stated when you make the reservation.
I do know that Expedia sometimes has deals that cannot be cancelled and they charge the complete room rate at the time that you make your reservation. I did lose on this one time when I had to cancel due to the death of a relative. Expedia and Travelocity are very reputable.

 

[TAKitty]

I have truly found that Expedia and Travelocity are never cheaper than AAA. I would pick another hotel for the AAA discount and book directly with Disney.

 

[SB in KY]

Personally I prefer Travelocity over Expedia....think the customer service is better. They have always stood behind their promise/rates in our experience.

Beware however...on several occasions I tried to book rooms through Disney and/or AAA and they did not have availablitity for the resort we wanted on our dates, but travelocity would show availability....so I would get all excited and go through the entire reservation process....and at the very last step I would get a message saying the reservation could not be processed or something like that....in other words they didn't have availability either....so if you are thinking you might get something thru them that is not available via the usual channels you probably won't be able to book through them either.

 

[cinderkelli]

I totally agree with you. Travelocity just has better service and a better website. They also have a 100% guarantee on everything now so if you have problems you are supposed to be able to call them directly and they will fix it immediately.

 

[lark]

Usually with expedia when it says there is availability, you can book. With travelocity, often it shows you a room and a rate, but when you get to the very end of the process, it says something to effect of "sorry, you have to call us."

My experience with expedia has been different from a poster above. Often when disney announces a room only code, you will see a corresponding rate on expedia -- usually with a different name, like "fall savings" or something like that. You can get these rooms from expedia even when WDW says its sold out. I've personally done this, and it worked like a charm. So I disagree that you can't beat AAA rates with expedia.

I believe expedia purchases options to buy rooms, not actual rooms. In other words, it pays disney for the right to sell the room, but can also put the room back to disney.

Every time I've made a reservation through expedia for a disney room, I had to prepay, but the cancelation policy was the same as WDW -- 6 days, althought expedia did charge some nominal cancelation fee, of like $25.

I have never been treated any differently at WDW when using an expedia reservation, and in fact have been upgraded. I think it's just like you made the reservation through any travel agent. The problem is that CR won't let you put special requests on the reservation, you have to do that through expedia. I would stick with room-only with expedia and stay away from the packages.