First time I’ve booked an ABD trip and I’m trying to figure out my options. We were supposed to do the Disneyland escape starting on October 1, but now have no interest in going. The trip was booked in February and additional payments were made, but have not PIF. My understanding is that we can move the deposit and additional money paid to a new trip. However, we would not be eligible for an early booking discount. We’re considering a trip in September 2021 that has an early booking discount of $750 per person. Should we book this new trip and then cancel the existing trip? I know we would lose the deposit, I assume the additional money paid would be refunded? Is it possible to have the deposit/addItional money placed on hold until we decide on another trip, without a discount? Is there anything else to consider? Thanks for any advice.
You’re correct, if you move your booking to 2021 you will retain all money paid but not be eligible for any early booking discounts as you will retain the same reservation number. Until AbD cancels it, you are only permitted one move so if it’s already a moved reservation you can’t move it again under the usual rules. Your reservation would still be under the same policies in effect when the original booking was done, ie no restart of the 14-day (already passed) or current New PIF-day cancel window. So you might need to weigh the EBD loss vs cancel penalties/loss of what you’ve already paid.
info from AbD in my recent cancellation email - this is what you’d get back and your cancel penalty if you cancel on your own or before AbD cancels / offers exceptions due to the virus. So check your confirmation email to see what your Cancel terms are. If these are your terms, you’d already be in the 50% Of package price (not what you’ve paid) cancel penalty window as we are less than 120 days from October 1. If you also bought insurance, either thru AbD or private carrier, you’d need to check their cancel provisions to see what your Cancel options are.
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CANCELLATION FEES:
Unless stated otherwise in your Guest Confirmation, the following cancellation policy shall apply:
Days Prior to Vacation Commencement Date Fee Amount
120 days or more Deposit per Guest
119-90 days 50% of vacation package price per Guest
89-46 days 75% of vacation package price per Guest
45 days or less 100% of vacation package price per Guest
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Since these are unprecedented times, I don’t know what exceptions AbD might be willing to consider at this point since your adventure is not yet cancelled. You could give them a call to ask.
While the EBDs are still available for some of the longer trip 2021 departures, many others no longer have it as they’ve all been taken. And not to add to the pressure, while the 2021 trip you’re considering still has an EBD today, it may not tomorrow or by the end of the week as people book trips.
Disney seems to be canceling trips around 45-days in advance from the start of a month - the August cancellations came on June 15 & the July cancels were mid-May. If that pattern follows, it would be around August 15 before the October departures might be considered for cancellations. A lot of time for things to change in the world.
If you wait it out until then, and it is not cancelled, you could still move it and keep all monies paid. But if you book a separate new one to get EBD & then the 2020 one does not cancel, you’d have to cancel the new one & move the original one to not be subject to a 75% Or 100% of package price cancellation penalty...depending on when AbD did the cancellation. You’d need to really be on top of that 45-day window. You could also watch for September cancellations, which would likely come thru in July - if September does not cancel, it is more likely October would not cancel either.
You also have your PIF date coming up - do you pay the rest of the balance due hoping for an AbD cancellation, or do you move the trip to 2021 & forego the EBD but keep your monies paid and have longer to pay on the new trip.
Lots of things to consider and different ways to look at it, and different amounts of money involved with each one.
Good luck with your decision.