Free Dining 2014 Discussion ~ Part 3

[denman007]

Our trip, this past January, was with my daughter and her family.
She is the one that got the PIN and she was the only one that could check us in and they did require her to show her Drivers license and we had to use a credit card with her name on it for all our incidentals. When I tried to check in, my daughter had gone to the rr with one of her kids, we were in the on-line check in line but the CM required that we wait for her to come back before we could check in so she could provide her drivers license and a credit card in her name. We had never traveled with a package booked with a PIN before so I can't compare it to prior trips but they were very specific to make sure the persons name that checked in matched the name on the PIN that was on the reservation.

I had heard/read that they had gotten much stricter with the usage of PIN's, ensuring the person that it was sent to/intended for was in the actual travel party since so many people were sharing PIN codes. I am here to say that they were definitely very thorough in making sure that the PIN matched my daughter and that she was definitely in our travel party.

But whose name was the ressie under - yours or daughters?

If I make the ressie under my name now using my SIL's pin, I doubt it would be an issue. If it was, I would do a chargeback on my visa for the difference.

 

[SPOERLX3]

But whose name was the ressie under - yours or daughters?

If I make the ressie under my name now using my SIL's pin, I doubt it would be an issue. If it was, I would do a chargeback on my visa for the difference.

We had 2 ressie's under the same PIN since you can book up to 3 rooms with the same PIN. One ressie was in my name and one was in hers. They had the PIN on both reservations and the PIN showed under my daughters name. We could not check into either room without her being present and without her ID. I am not saying this will happen to you, I am just letting you know our experience. What would they have done Who knows
But speaking only for me, if the Disney guidelines/rules are that the PIN codes are unique to a specific person, are not transferable and can only be used if the recipient is traveling with you, why would I try to use it if they weren't traveling with me? It appears that this is cheating the system. And if we teach our children to follow rules, how can we teach them when we aren't following them ourselves.

 

[ConnieB]

I would strongly urge you to do some searching on these boards about using someone else's PIN code......you want make an informed decision.

There have been many reports of people living in the same address, but the PIN is in the name of the spouse not going and it is denied. I'd hate to arrive and find out that the only way to get the room was to pay the regular rate!

 

[hawaiigirl504]

You should be fine. Keep calling till you get rep that will change it for you. They will my sister in law got one and we booked with hers and they moved the pin to my name. Just be overly nice. I called and check just to make sure and it shows I got the discount and pin one my own name now since we transferred the names

 

[aaarcher86]

But whose name was the ressie under - yours or daughters? If I make the ressie under my name now using my SIL's pin, I doubt it would be an issue. If it was, I would do a chargeback on my visa for the difference.

You could try. All Disney has to prove is the terms of everything and visa won't give it back. I saw a post at one point where someone did that over a Disney cruise and they were put into collections for the balance.

Is it really worth the hassle of the unknown to knowingly break the rules and go through the ramifications if you get caught?

 

[SPOERLX3]

You should be fine. Keep calling till you get rep that will change it for you. They will my sister in law got one and we booked with hers and they moved the pin to my name. Just be overly nice. I called and check just to make sure and it shows I got the discount and pin one my own name now since we transferred the names

I am not sure I fully understand what you are saying but it is not booking with the unique code/PIN that is the problem. Anyone can add someone to a reservation, use the unique code/PIN, then remove them from the reservation later. The CM may or may not remove the unique code/PIN code. Others can always call and call and call till they find a CM to add it (we all know that some of the CM's are more knowledgeable than others) but once they get to the resort to check in, there is a STRONG probability that one or more of the following will happen:

• the person that received the unique code/PIN will have to be the one to check in with ID.
• the ID of the person that received the unique code/PIN will be required
• a credit card for incidentals will have to be provided that matches the name on the unique code/PIN.

All 3 happened to us in January and if you research, you will find that this is becoming the norm since they have gotten much more strict that the person that received the unique code/PIN is the actual person using it as either the responsible party or a travel party. Getting a CM to add the PIN is just the first piece of this trickery.

 

[denman007]

Getting a CM to add the PIN is just the first piece of this trickery.

There is no trickery.

I told the CM it was for my SIL who will not be traveling and they said no problem. I am not breaking any rules.

There wasn't anything available anyway so I did not use it.

If I have a verbal agreement on a recorded line and confirmation emails, I doubt Disney will go to arbitration. Besides, the money doesn't come from VISA it comes from your card issuer.

 

[aaarcher86]

There is no trickery. I told the CM it was for my SIL who will not be traveling and they said no problem. I am not breaking any rules. There wasn't anything available anyway so I did not use it. If I have a verbal agreement on a recorded line and confirmation emails, I doubt Disney will go to arbitration. Besides, the money doesn't come from VISA it comes from your card issuer.

You can doubt it, but it's still a chance you would be taking.

The pin information states non transferable. If a CM on a recorded line stated someone could use an extra day on their ticket to park hop Disney isn't going to honor it. Someone with a written reservation confirmation using a military discount who doesn't qualify won't have it honored, etc.

 

[denman007]

If a CM on a recorded line stated someone could use an extra day on their ticket to park hop Disney isn't going to honor it. Someone with a written reservation confirmation using a military discount who doesn't qualify won't have it honored, etc.

Apples and oranges.

I see your point, though, and this debate is probably mute, yet interesting.

 

[lisafab]

I have a question that I realise is probably stupid however I'm going to ask just in case someone knows if this has happened historically.
We are booked at CBR with free DDP in September however like many others POR was our first choice (we've never stayed there and want to try somewhere new). When I look on the website POR has standard rooms available for our dates for the room only offer.
Anyway my question is, does anyone think it's possible that Disney will add POR into the free DDP pot for certain dates if there are rooms available? I've called 3 times to see if we have an offer code but there's nothing.

 

[aaarcher86]

I have a question that I realise is probably stupid however I'm going to ask just in case someone knows if this has happened historically. We are booked at CBR with free DDP in September however like many others POR was our first choice (we've never stayed there and want to try somewhere new). When I look on the website POR has standard rooms available for our dates for the room only offer. Anyway my question is, does anyone think it's possible that Disney will add POR into the free DDP pot for certain dates if there are rooms available? I've called 3 times to see if we have an offer code but there's nothing.

No. I don't think they will. Obviously no one know for sure but I think they're pretty comfortable booking wise. Most of the other resorts are booked out which is where they wanted to drive people, so excluding it worked.

 

[ALD85]

Booooo hisssss! We just got a FD pin in the mail! It's only good for dates through Dec and were going the end of Jan!

 

[soonermel]

We are trying to match up FF miles to available FD dates. I have a ressie at All Star Sports that starts on a Saturday. A flight came open on Friday that I'd love to book (one more Disney day!). When I look online, I can book FD for that Friday through most of the way through our needed dates, but not the last day.

However, I've talked to two reps to see if I can make our check-in a day earlier and keep FD, and they both say they don't see any FD available for the Friday check-in. The second one booked me room-only (different room type, meaning we'd have no dining the first night and would have to change rooms - pain with two kids!). Does that sound right? Why wouldn't they be able to add a day at the beginning of the reservation if it's available?

Thanks!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

I just checked for ressies from Sept. 25 through Oct. 5th and it says there are no more free dining offers available! Is this possible? Last year I used free dining in Dec. and reserved in Oct. and there were still spaces left!

 

[scard192]

I just checked for ressies from Sept. 25 through Oct. 5th and it says there are no more free dining offers available! Is this possible? Last year I used free dining in Dec. and reserved in Oct. and there were still spaces left!

Disney has been saying for the last few years that they were going to cut back on the discounts we saw when the economy was bad. Offering FD but releasing a lot less rooms than in previous years seems to be the route they are taking. Still looks like a great discount but much more limited.
there have been a number of posts that people can't find any availability of FD for their dates

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Disney has been saying for the last few years that they were going to cut back on the discounts we saw when the economy was bad. Offering FD but releasing a lot less rooms than in previous years seems to be the route they are taking. Still looks like a great discount but much more limited.
there have been a number of posts that people can't find any availability of FD for their dates

-sigh- I guess we'll have to go with the other room discounts.

 

[momofkids]

Has anyone seen rooms going back in the FD pool? I keep checking for our preferred resort for our dates, but I haven't seen any additional rooms pop up yet.

 

[momto2inKC]

Has anyone seen rooms going back in the FD pool? I keep checking for our preferred resort for our dates, but I haven't seen any additional rooms pop up yet.

I have been trying to get a standard or preferred at CSR with free dining for our dates and finally got it today. All that was available before was business class and suites.

 

[SPOERLX3]

Has anyone seen rooms going back in the FD pool? I keep checking for our preferred resort for our dates, but I haven't seen any additional rooms pop up yet.

I have never seen Disney put more rooms into the FD pool BUT families book in hopes of going but have to cancel for whatever reason, opening up rooms. You will normally see more rooms opening starting around 60 days prior to the date and even more around the 45 day mark since the payment for the trip is due at the 45 day mark and there are charges to cancel, move re-arrange around that time as well.

 

[Dittz]

I have a questions about free dining pins. My dad just received one. I realize the person who receives the pin must be on the reservation.

1. Can I cancel my current reservation and add an additional room to my parents reservation so that we can all use his pin?
2.Do we still have to book the same type of park tickets? We currently have water park hoppers and they only have hoppers.
3. Also they have a standard room and we have a royal. Can we still book a royal if they have standard on the same reservation?

Thanks for the help guys and gals!