Travel Hacking ABD

[Simba06]

Hello!

I am really interested in doing some ABD trips in the future. They are pricey, but seem worth it for some destinations. I have figured out how to travel hack WDW pretty well, but ABD seems like a whole different ball game.

What are your tips and tricks for saving on these vacations? I’d love to hear anything from flights, rebates, travel agent deals etc.

Thanks guys!

 

[tink1970]

Hello!

I am really interested in doing some ABD trips in the future. They are pricey, but seem worth it for some destinations. I have figured out how to travel hack WDW pretty well, but ABD seems like a whole different ball game.

What are your tips and tricks for saving on these vacations? I’d love to hear anything from flights, rebates, travel agent deals etc.

Thanks guys!

1)ABD often has "early booking discounts" when new dates are released (usually in May) or if certain itineraries aren't selling well-currently until 7/15 there's a discount on several trips.

2) The sponsors of this board (dreams unlimited travel) give a discount on booking so I use them-it's around 5%.

3) While the dreams travel agent isn't always thrilled to call in several disney gift cards, they will, especially if you consolidate them into $1000 gift cards on the disneygiftcard site (NEVER throw these away in case there's an issue or a refund!!-I don't get rid of them until I'm home from the trip) and then give your travel agent several so when they call in the payment it's worth their time on hold (that's been my TA's request, at least).
I've found disney gift cards are a good way to have a discount-from the Target 5% to other deals (like x off y spend at Best Buy, grocery stores, etc). I also let family know we're saving for a trip and disney gift cards are a welcome gift for birthday/Christmas.
There's a thread on the budget board that usually keeps track of discounted gift cards including disney.

4)I've also signed up for new credit cards that give cash back on spend and use that as found money.

5) For flights I travel hack with credit card sign ups/spend/retention tricks (the I love credit card thread can be helpful here as can blogs like Frequent Miler dot com or Miles to Memories dot com), usually using American Express Membership Rewards (other versatile currencies like Chase's Ultimate Rewards or Citi Thank You Points are also popular) and often book pre and/or post ABD hotels via hotel currencies with Hilton and/or Marriott.

Those are my suggestions off the top of my head. I've yet to win the lottery so these help

 

[Marthasor]

Consider using a Disney Visa card to book your trip. You will get Disney Rewards points which can be used in the parks, shopdisney, etc. and also get 0% APR financing on the trip for 6 months.

 

[Simba06]

Does anyone know what the typical amount in the costco shop card is when you book through them? Their website gives no idea of range or anything

 

[Bobo912]

Does anyone know what the typical amount in the costco shop card is when you book through them? Their website gives no idea of range or anything

It's been a while since I've been on an ABD, but I booked 5 through Costco and the shop card was always around 8%. I think the max is $2000.

 

[Simba06]

It's been a while since I've been on an ABD, but I booked 5 through Costco and the shop card was always around 8%. I think the max is $2000.

That seems pretty good! And thats on top of the 2% back for executive memberships?

 

[Bobo912]

That seems pretty good! And thats on top of the 2% back for executive memberships?

Yes it is.

 

[jimmymc]

The ABD early booking discount combined with the Dreams discount is really the cheapest way to get them. You can also book airfare through ABD and get the Dreams discount on your tickets.

Not really saving money, but a good way to extend your trip is to book post-nights through ABD. They will be cheaper than booking the same hotel on your own, although probably more expensive than changing hotels.

Something that has saved me a lot of money is using a credit card with travel insurance. I don't need to worry about adding on or pricing out my own, since it's all covered.

 

[sayhello]

Not really saving money, but a good way to extend your trip is to book post-nights through ABD. They will be cheaper than booking the same hotel on your own, although probably more expensive than changing hotels.

I suppose it depends on the trip, but in most cases that I've experienced in 11 ABDs, adding the post-night through ABD is WAY more expensive than booking the same hotel on your own. Sometimes it's been more than twice as much. The advantage is definitely not having to change rooms, and still getting breakfast and then transportation to the airport afterwards.

Sayhello

 

[jimmymc]

I suppose it depends on the trip, but in most cases that I've experienced in 11 ABDs, adding the post-night through ABD is WAY more expensive than booking the same hotel on your own. Sometimes it's been more than twice as much. The advantage is definitely not having to change rooms, and still getting breakfast and then transportation to the airport afterwards.

Sayhello

Wow, that's the opposite of my trip. It was $100 less per night. Maybe this one will vary, especially if the hotels have last minute sales.

 

[sayhello]

Wow, that's the opposite of my trip. It was $100 less per night. Maybe this one will vary, especially if the hotels have last minute sales.

If you're talking about the Southern California/Disneyland Resort trip, that may be because it's a Disney owned property.

Sayhello

 

[jimmymc]

If you're talking about the Southern California/Disneyland Resort trip, that may be because it's a Disney owned property.

Sayhello

Maybe, but I'm surprised the non-Disney hotels are more, and not at least the same price.

 

[sayhello]

Maybe, but I'm surprised the non-Disney hotels are more, and not at least the same price.

It's always been the dilemma of booking the post-days (and pre-days) via ABD or not. More expensive, but are the benefits worth it?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Sayhello

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

It's always been the dilemma of booking the post-days (and pre-days) via ABD or not. More expensive, but are the benefits worth it?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Sayhello

Yes, I was going to say exactly this yesterday. In my experience--7 ABDs over the past 15 years or so--pre and post nights are always more expensive through ABD than booking on your own. The benefit of having someone pick us up at the airport, which in most cases is tied to whether you do pre/post nights through ABD, and not moving has been worth it about half the time for us. Depends on the county. I want to say there was at least one time where we couldn't get a pre-night on our own and had to book through ABD.

 

[sayhello]

Yes, I was going to say exactly this yesterday. In my experience--7 ABDs over the past 15 years or so--pre and post nights are always more expensive through ABD than booking on your own. The benefit of having someone pick us up at the airport, which in most cases is tied to whether you do pre/post nights through ABD, and not moving has been worth it about half the time for us. Depends on the county. I want to say there was at least one time where we couldn't get a pre-night on our own and had to book through ABD.

That's been my experience, too.

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

I’ve been travel hacking since 2012 and coincidentally the catalyst was the original Scotland ABD. I would suggest checking out the I love Credit Cards thread on the Budget Board here on the DISboards. It’s 99% travel hackers. Your best bets are to utilize credit card sign bonuses and build a points and miles portfolio. Each bank has rules for applying and for sign up bonus offers. The regulars on the thread are helpful to newbies. I thought Scotland would be our one and done big vacation and ABD. Thanks to travel hacking, we’ve now completed 11 ABDs and experienced many bucket list type vacations.

 

[DisneyFamNYC]

I've been wanting to try ABD. Thanks for all these tips.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Yes, I was going to say exactly this yesterday. In my experience--7 ABDs over the past 15 years or so--pre and post nights are always more expensive through ABD than booking on your own. The benefit of having someone pick us up at the airport, which in most cases is tied to whether you do pre/post nights through ABD, and not moving has been worth it about half the time for us. Depends on the county. I want to say there was at least one time where we couldn't get a pre-night on our own and had to book through ABD.

We ended up booking a pre-night at the Gran Melia in Rome ourselves because it was far less expensive than booking through ABD. It also would have been more expensive to extend the Hilton Stucky through ABD versus on our own (but we switched to the St Regis anyway). We did have to change rooms at the Gran Melia, but the staff moved all our bags for us.

I'm not sure if it was a fluke, but ABD sent a local guide (not the one who was with us during our trip) to pick us up at the train station in Rome the morning before our ABD started (despite not having booked the pre-night through them).

Our guides also arranged a taxi to pick us up the morning our ABD ended, drop off our luggage at our new hotel in Venice, and take us to Murano. (We didn't have to pay for the taxi with the understanding we'd be buying glass in Murano, which we did.)

I'd price out booking pre and post nights through ABD vs on your own, but with the understanding you might have to move rooms and be responsible for transportation.

We also book early, take advantage of travel agent discounts, buy GCs at Sams Club,...

 

[jimmymc]

I'm not sure if it was a fluke, but ABD sent a local guide (not the one who was with us during our trip) to pick us up at the train station in Rome the morning before our ABD started (despite not having booked the pre-night through them).

Sometimes ABD covers transportation even if you book postnights on your own, sometimes they don't. The only possible explanation I've seen is that some travel agents will make sure they cover your last transfer, as long as it's about the same length as the ABD hotel.

 

[sayhello]

Sometimes ABD covers transportation even if you book postnights on your own, sometimes they don't. The only possible explanation I've seen is that some travel agents will make sure they cover your last transfer, as long as it's about the same length as the ABD hotel.

That doesn't make sense, as I've booked the exact same hotel on my own, so same transfer distance, and my Travel Agent has been unable to get ABD to provide the transfer. It seems almost random. I was arriving by train with friends who *had* booked the hotel through ABD (it was included as a special offer when they booked, I believe) and ABD was going to provide them with transfers, but would not provide me with a transfer. Standing in the train station with them. Now, that trip was cancelled due to COVID, so we never got to figure out if the driver would have actually left me standing in the train station, but that was ABD's position.

Sayhello