Any tips for getting a better price on ABD?

[tink70]

I am considering booking a trip with my family of 4, but am a little frightened by the price of these trips. I am looking at the knights and lights trip, and it looks like it would be about $18,000 for the four of us not including flights to get there. Yikes!!
So I am wondering if there are deals out there for these trips, or is that it?
I dont need to be sold on disney, I already know how great it is, I just don't want to go broke on a vacation!
Any thoughts?

 

[Bobo912]

There really aren't many deals on ABD trips. Some travel agents offer gift cards if you book with them, like the DU offer at the top of this page. Costco Travel gives a Costco Cash Card if you book with them. Occasionally, ABD will offer an incentive on a limited number of itineraries and dates. Currently they have a free hotel night offer on some European trips and $250 off pp on 6 dates for the Eastern Costa Rica trip. In the past they have offered free 3-night cruises and Visa Gift Cards, among other things. A couple of times I have seen one of the Italy trips on Jetsetters.com at a significantly reduced price, but the dates are always fall dates after schools are back in session. And you really can't count on something like that - it's very rare. Even with something like the Visa gift card offer, it was only $500 per booking for international trips, which is not much when you're talking about spending $18,000 on a trip. But if you're planning to travel with ABD anyway, it's nice to have the extra spending money.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

I am considering booking a trip with my family of 4, but am a little frightened by the price of these trips. I am looking at the knights and lights trip, and it looks like it would be about $18,000 for the four of us not including flights to get there. Yikes!!
So I am wondering if there are deals out there for these trips, or is that it?
I dont need to be sold on disney, I already know how great it is, I just don't want to go broke on a vacation!
Any thoughts?

Here's a list of the current discounts available with ABD - http://www.wdwinfo.com/adventures-by-disney/discounts.htm

 

[familygoboston]

I feel your pain! We travel, with our two teens and often bring my folks or a niece along on our trips...it's not unusual for us to spend 5-10 k pp for everything ( depending on where we go), when you scale that up over a bunch of people the numbers are scary! And airfares are out of sight right now!
We went on a ABD Costa Rica in 2007 and they were offering a deal for kids free in the room with adults- that was an incredible deal, because June in CR is a little bit " off season" , and they were still trying to build the new brand a bit. I haven't seen anything like that in a while now

Here are a couple of opinions:

-You can save a little with those agencies that offer a gift card or early booking bonus, it is small potatoes, but it does help!

-if it's a unique trip, you can save by pulling the kids out of school. We ( almost) did this for Africa. The price before July 1 was literally 1/2 price compared to after July 1. ( not ABD) I planned a 2 week trip, factoring no snow days ( almost unheard of in NE) before July 1 knowing my high schooler might miss a final exam...but I figured if the teachers didn't think this was a valuable educational experience they were out of whack! Luckily, it turned out to be the only year we got absolutely no snow days. Schools ended, we left the next day and got our 1/2 price trip

-Think of the value added and compare apples to apples. We've done lots of trips with different companies, and I've usually found that a very good fully guided trip with lodging on par with what ABD offers are priced pretty competitively.

When researching Africa, we found some real low ball prices. When I investigated I learned we'd be going overland ( takes days) rather than internal flights, some of the transportation was billed as " local". That's great and very authentic, but road transport is one of the riskiest things in traveling in developing countries, and I couldn't chance it with 3 kids. We didn't take and ABD to Africa, just because we wanted a different itinerary, but the trip we took compared favorably with it and cost us a bit more than the ABD, because we had more safari camp nights.

I know K&L isn't developing, but the apples you compare there is the unique access ( without lines) you get with ABD, vs the cheaper options.

In the end only you know what's best for your family...I do hope you find the trip that works for you!

 

[tink70]

Thanks everyone. I am checking into other travel companies as I just don't think I can do it. The price doesn't even include airfare to get there.
I cant take my son out of school, as it is high school, so it's not that easy. I did it when he was young, but it is just too much now.
I love Disney, and know it would be a fantastic trip, but I have to be sensible.
Thanks again, and enjoy your trips!!

 

[HGLightlyj]

F.Y.I. I used Trafalgar Tours for 9 day trip to Italy and it was amazing. Very well organized. Tour Director was amazing and took really good care of his travelers. I highly recommend Trafalgar.

 

[tink70]

F.Y.I. I used Trafalgar Tours for 9 day trip to Italy and it was amazing. Very well organized. Tour Director was amazing and took really good care of his travelers. I highly recommend Trafalgar.

That's actually where I am looking, my TA recommended them, and it's at least 5 to 7k cheaper. I would rather go with Disney, it's just too much more.

Thanks for the tip though,

 

[Bobo912]

You mentioned you already have a travel agent, but if you're not too attached, Costco offers 10% off on Trafalgar tours plus a $35 gift card.

You might also check out Tauck Bridges. They have an itinerary that is similar to K&L. They have the same kind of VIP access to attractions and events that ABD has. They are also quite expensive, but their London/Paris trip is around $700-$800 less than ABD's and their listed price includes the tour director's gratuity, which ABD's quoted price does not.

 

[tink70]

Bobo912,
Thanks for the great trip about Tauck. Had not heard of them, and after checking them out, they look great. Looks like you also get a discount for kids, not sure how much, but still good to hear. And tips are included, which is great also!!
Have not heard of k &l, what is that? I see I missed it in an earlier post also....

 

[Bobo912]

K&L is just shorthand for Knights and Lights.

 

[tink70]

oops!

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I did the Tauck London and Paris. It was very nice but I wasn't all that impressed with our tour director. She seemed depressed most of the time. However, I am doing the Tauck Bridges New York trip this summer. They have a backstage broadway workshop that my DD is really excited about.

 

[knewton64]

I am considering booking a trip with my family of 4, but am a little frightened by the price of these trips. I am looking at the knights and lights trip, and it looks like it would be about $18,000 for the four of us not including flights to get there. Yikes!!
So I am wondering if there are deals out there for these trips, or is that it?
I dont need to be sold on disney, I already know how great it is, I just don't want to go broke on a vacation!
Any thoughts?

........looking for a vacation destination/tour company is like finding the right food to eat that evening.


.....there is no right or wrong -

it's just whatever suits your wants and needs.




Tauck is a good company to go through.





Good luck with your choice.
Lets us know via a trip report perhaps??





T.T.F.N.

 

[larry_poppins]

How much money does one normally tip ABD guide? How much more do I need to add to the price of the tour + airfare to get the true cost of ABD?

Thanks,

Larry

 

[Bobo912]

Last year ABD recommended $5 to $9 per day per guest for each adventure guide. So for a family of 4 on a 10 day adventure, for example, if you tip $9 per day the tip for each guide would be 9x10x4 = $360. So $720 total for the two adventure guides. That information used to be on the ABD website, but I haven't been able to find it since they did the redesign.

 

[larry_poppins]

$720 in tips! Trafalgar is looking better all the time!

 

[starry_solo]

I've done tours with Trafalgar, Cosmos, and Globus. Cosmos & Globus are run by the same company, with Globus being the higher end version (and closer to the cities) than Cosmos.

Cosmos is good for an inexpensive vacation with good hotels. Globus is better for a bit pricier vacation (usually 1-2 days shorter than Cosmos for about $500-800 more per person) but has great hotels.

Tips are typically $3-5 per person per day for the tour director and the driver (for Globus and Cosmos). It used to be $1-2 per person per day, then increased to 1 to 2 Euros per person per day until it's current rate. Depending on the person, you can usually deduct 1-3 days off the trip (1st day is your travel day, last day is your travel day, 2nd day all you do is meet the tour director and that's it).

 

[Tozzie]

Last year ABD recommended $5 to $9 per day per guest for each adventure guide. So for a family of 4 on a 10 day adventure, for example, if you tip $9 per day the tip for each guide would be 9x10x4 = $360. So $720 total for the two adventure guides. That information used to be on the ABD website, but I haven't been able to find it since they did the redesign.

It is still on the ABD site but you have to hunt for it, you need to go to a specific adventure and under trip tips and FAQ's go down and under tipping it is listed.

 

[Bobo912]

It is still on the ABD site but you have to hunt for it, you need to go to a specific adventure and under trip tips and FAQ's go down and under tipping it is listed.

Thanks, Tozzie!

Some of the trips recommend $5-$9 and some $6-$9. I don't recall different ranges depending on itineraries for past years, but I may have been mostly focused on the trip I was taking and didn't check the others.

 

[HGLightlyj]

F.Y.I. Trafalgar has a very informative community board similar to Dis. Tour Reviews, helpful suggestions for travel etc. Really helped a lot before I took my first international trip