Is Disney Trying To Edge Out Independent Travel Specialists?

My first clue was the delay in announcing the AAA member benefits for our upcoming Disney Cruise and the second clue was the lack of offering AAA member benefits for our upcoming Walt Disney World vacation—such as AAA Story Time—click here to read more, and Reserved Wishes Viewing—click here to read more.  Then there was the announcement of the Disney Vacation Savings Account—click here to read more—that made saving for and reserving a Disney vacation conveniently located all in one location.

What are these clues telling me?  They are telling me that Disney may be trying to edge out independent travel specialists, including AAA and other Disney certified travel agents.

Already, if a guest has a reservation for Disney that was made through a travel agent, Disney cannot touch the reservation—it has to be handled by the travel agent.  For us, there have been no issues, but we have seen and heard of instances where this has caused guest confusion and dissatisfaction.  And, while not technically Disney’s fault, it is typically while at Disney this dissatisfaction happens and Disney gets the blame.

When I asked about member benefits for our next Walt Disney World vacation and whether or not previous benefits would be offered, I was told no.  The best offer will be the 10% discount at World of Disney at Downtown Disney. 

And, we have been the folks that have taken advantage of the perks of both our travel agent and Disney Cruise Line when sailing.  For example, if we rebook on-board for our next cruise and give our travel agent the credit for the booking, we walk on the ship for our next cruise with an on-board credit from Disney as well as any perks or bonuses offered by our travel agency.  In the past, these perks have been on-board credits, or drink credits, or free tube/float rental for Castaway Cay, or photo package credits.  The perks vary based on the length of the cruise—the longer the cruise the better the perks.  For our upcoming 7 night cruise, the AAA member benefit will be photo credits, which was the same for a 5 night sailing.  And, there were no member benefits for cruises booked for later in the year; another hint!

If prospective guests use the new Disney Vacation Savings Account, they are expected (not required) to reserve their vacation directly with Disney.  Guests can use an independent travel specialist, but to access the savings account to make payments requires some extra steps.

We love Disney and we love our travel agent, so we are hoping that we don’t have to choose between the two.  And, we renew our AAA membership each year, not just for the travel perks, but the other services.  We appreciate our AAA travel specialist and appreciate AAA for the discounts and the service. 

I understand why Disney is doing this—edging out independent travel agents—I just don’t like it.  And, Disney does have the capability of providing service to assist guests in all aspects of the travel planning process—flights to dining.  Prospective guests will be able to experience the “Disney bubble” even before touching down in Orlando.  It is just that I don’t have Disney Reservations’ phone number on my phone, but I do have my travel agents.  And, I can tell you that more people ask for that number than any other!

AAA's ExploreMore Rewards Program

Just recently a Williams Family Blog reader asked about why we use a Travel Agent or Agency to help us with our travel needs.  In the world of websites, apps, and Smartphones why would we go to a person and/or an agency to book our travel?

It may seen old fashioned, but the real answer is the service.  And, now there are rewards!

As far as service goes, our travel agent is wonderful.  Emails and telephone calls are responded to promptly.  Even as much as I like to be “in control” of our travel plans, our travel agent is great at making flight reservations, booking ADR’s for Walt Disney World, and changing plans if necessary. 

A family of frequent “do it yourself” travelers told me how they accidentally booked flights using an on-line website for February instead of March as they had intended because the month layout was exactly the same.  Their change fees to get the flights they wanted and needed for March cost them way more than any travel agent’s fee, times 20 trips!  And recently it was reported that airline change fees are netting the airlines millions.

We have had to change flights—when the airline changed our flight times considerably and due to storms.  We have never had to pay a change flight fee.  Our travel agent has taken care of everything for us.  What she can’t control are delayed or canceled flights, though I have called her when our pre-Adventure’s by Disney flights were delayed and I knew the tour group was waiting for us in Phoenix.  She called Adventures by Disney and reassured us that they would wait for us, or make other arrangements if we were going to be significantly delayed.

Since our travel agent and I work as a team, it is comforting knowing that I am not alone in making travel decisions that can be quite costly.  I also appreciate how she keeps track of all of our “numbers” for us.  Do we have multiple frequent flier and hotel rewards accounts?  Yes!  And she keeps track of all of them for us and puts the appropriate ones on reservations.  The only time I see the frequent flier numbers actually is when they appear on our AAA Invoice. 

And, now, I am being rewarded for using an independent AAA travel agent with AAA’s ExploreMore Rewards program.  ExploreMore came out in mid 2012 to not a lot of fanfare.  The program awards members with points for every dollar spent on qualified AAA travel (I think this means packages, tours, and cruises, but not flights.)  When the balance reaches 10,000 points, members receive a $100 voucher off their next AAA qualified travel reservation.

My favorite part of the program are the referral vouchers.  When referrals book qualified AAA travel, I get 500 points added to my ExploreMore Rewards account.  Guests can check their ExploreMore accounts on-line—click here to read more and check your points.  Just enter your AAA member number. (I'll post later on how we get a discount on our AAA Membership.)

Since the program started in mid-2012, points were only earned for travel booked in 2012.  So even though we traveled to Walt Disney World in March of 2012, the trip was booked in 2011, so we did not get points.  Also, we sailed with Disney in March of 2012, but alas, the trip was also booked in 2011 and did not qualify for rewards.  I did protest a bit and remind that the Walt Disney World portion of our December 2012 trip was added on later. . . in 2012.  We did receive the points after some checking.  We have yet to receive any points for our upcoming trip.  There is still confusion as to whether the points are added when you are paid in full or after your travel.  I will know more very soon!

With our trip to Walt Disney World just handfuls of days away and our Disney Cruise next summer, it is not going to take us very long to earn the $100 travel voucher.

As of right now, the points don’t expire.  Our AAA agent can also check our ExploreMore Rewards balance on-line, which is another benefit.

Why We Use a Travel Professional

We could call ourselves frequent travelers. We don't come close to the ten million frequent flyer miles George Clooney's character in Up In the Air accumulated during his career, but we have added up some miles over the years. We know how to pack a bag, make it through security without any fuss,  which airlines offer non-stop service to our frequent destinations, and which airports offer free parking. The boy is well traveled as well, experiencing his first flight at three weeks.  So, when it comes to making travel arrangements, we rely on our travel professional, Shauna.

Often, Shauna and I work as a team. I look one place for good prices and she looks in another. Travel agents have access to information that the rest of us may not have access to. Or, I get the e-mail with the discounted PIN code and forward it to her so she can make our reservation. I have e-mailed her with our dining requests to be e-mailed back a list of our dates/times and confirmation numbers. I have called to see if we can change our dining time on our cruise because we want to book a Port Adventure that returns to the ship later and voila, it's done. She keeps track of our frequent flyer account numbers for various airlines so that when she makes a reservation for us she can attach it to the appropriate account.

When we take advantage of re-booking specials while cruising, we give her credit for the reservation and then she helps take care of the details. "Bounce back" offers at the Walt Disney World Resort, work the same and we give her credit for the booking. Then, if another offer or special comes along from Disney she can check to see which deal is the best and change our reservation. One year in March, there were three Disney discount specials happening simultaneously. We wanted to make sure we had the best deal. Shauna checked for us and indeed we did have the best deal saving us 42%. We couldn't have done that or known that without our travel professional.

In the days of internet and mobile devices, we can find ourselves working for the various businesses we are purchasing services from. For example, when I print my own boarding passes for an airline, I am now working for them instead of them working for me. Same holds true for making travel plans and reservations. That's one of the many reasons we use a travel agent. OK, I must admit, I love our travel agent, Shauna. She has helped us during winter weather warnings, delayed flights, and travel insurance claims. She has offered us just the right amount of assistance each time we have needed it and found us travel deals that we maybe couldn't have found for ourselves. Sure, I could go on-line and do it all myself, but I don't want to. My time is valuable just like everyone elses, so why not have a skilled travel professional in my corner?