Adding Additional Days to Trip

[BBH]

I just booked the August 13th Norway trip, and I am curious if others ever add on additional hotel days through ABD? I called and got a quote to arrive a day earlier in Bergen, and stay for two additional days in Oslo and the rates they quoted were about 50% higher than booking direct. I didn't exactly expect to get a good deal, but I was a bit surprised by that markup.

 

[Marthasor]

I always book pre- and post-days on my own for this very reason.

 

[Mathmagicland]

I just booked the August 13th Norway trip, and I am curious if others ever add on additional hotel days through ABD? I called and got a quote to arrive a day earlier in Bergen, and stay for two additional days in Oslo and the rates they quoted were about 50% higher than booking direct. I didn't exactly expect to get a good deal, but I was a bit surprised by that markup.

I have booked pre-nights through Disney, as those often include both breakfast plus the airport transfers. You would want to check with Disney to see whether the transfers would be included if you book pre and/ or post stays on your own at the same hotel as sometimes those are not included with your own bookings. Also, if you are able to book stays on your own, you’d want to message the hotels to be sure they are aware you are also there with Disney to ask if you can be assigned the same room so you won’t have to move.

 

[AquaDame]

We've booked our own room twice for prestays, and both times we had to move even after telling them we were with Disney. The second time (also in Oslo) we really didn't want to have to check out and wait for the other room, so we just stayed in our original room. It was much smaller than the one Disney had arranged, FWIW. They don't always book the cheapest, which might account for some of the markup you're seeing.

 

[abdgeek]

I just booked the August 13th Norway trip, and I am curious if others ever add on additional hotel days through ABD? I called and got a quote to arrive a day earlier in Bergen, and stay for two additional days in Oslo and the rates they quoted were about 50% higher than booking direct. I didn't exactly expect to get a good deal, but I was a bit surprised by that markup.

I always book my own pre/post hotel stays when I do ABDs because I get cheaper rates booking directly with the hotel and don’t have to pay in advance (I only book refundable rates that don’t require a deposit). The only time I pay for my pre/post night through ABD is if their price is cheaper than what I can book myself. Whenever I book my pre/post nights, I book them at the ABD hotel. I then make sure ABD notes in my reservation that I have pre/post nights and ask them if I can stay in the same room. They forward the request to the hotel and it’s always been honored. Unless you’re doing a river cruise, ABD will normally transfer you to the host hotel. If your pre/post night is anywhere else, you have to get to your hotel from there. As OP have said, check with ABD to ensure you know how your transfers will work.

The only time I didn’t do my pre nights at the ABD hotel was in China where the Peninsula Hotel was almost $1000 a night. I chose to stay across the street at the Intercontinental for $2-300 a night. I booked a private car through the hotel for my transfer from the airport to the hotel. The day the ABD started, I took a cab across the street to the Peninsula and checked in. I would have walked, but that would have been too challenging with all my luggage.

 

[Woodview]

For the sake of a phone call or " e " mail always book direct

Also Google the hotel & see what offers they have say 2 nights or 3 nights

 

[Eastridge]

For the ABD Rhine cruise, I did book a pre night and post night through ABD. Yes, the additional nights were more expensive than I might have reserved on my own. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the post night room in Amsterdam. They reserved a suite with a panoramic view of Amsterdam. Also, booking through ABD meant they provided the four transports to/from the ship and to/from the airports.

 

[Donalyn]

For both our trips, we booked pre-nights with ABD and didn't even look at what the price was at the hotels if we'd booked on our own. (Didn't want to know.) We liked having an easy trip to the hotel and getting into the room and not having to move to a different room. Also, after a long over night flight, nice to just have ABD take care of us. And in Basel, the hotel that they use was pretty convenient - just right outside from a tram stop, so even though it wasn't close to the action, it was easy to get to the action (and public transport was free, with your hotel stay).

However, for both trips, we booked our own post-nights. For the first one, we were flying from Venice to Paris for our post days, so that made sense. And in Amsterdam - my DH just had some specific ideas. (We didn't even ask what their post night hotel was.)

For our next trip - we are likely doing an east bound Danube cruise. We will likely book our own pre-nights in Munich and maybe have ABD help with a post-night in Budapest. We shall see (it is still a few years out).

 

[sayhello]

For me, it varies by trip. In general, I prefer to book pre- and post-days through ABD just for the ease of it (definitely includes transportation and breakfast and not having to move rooms).

If it's seriously expensive, I'll check out the ABD hotel and see if I can book it on my own, as you will sometimes still get the transportation, although it's definitely not a given! For my ABD Rhone River cruise that never happened (COVID) I was arriving by train with @Grifdog22 and his dear wife, who were also doing the ABD. They booked their pre-day via ABD and got transportation from the train station to the ABD hotel. I booked my pre-day at the ABD hotel on my own (a SIGNIFICANT saving) and ABD refused to transport me to the hotel. They KNEW I was arriving with people they were transporting, and going to the same hotel, but would not do it. The trip never happened, so I don't know if the driver would actually have picked up just them and left me standing there, but that was ABD's policy. They also would not include the transfer from the hotel to the ship, even though, again, it was from the same hotel to the ship. So you really HAVE to check with ABD! It seems to be a moving target!

And sometimes, especially if I'm spending more than 2 pre-days, I will book a more reasonable hotel on my own and just get the transport myself. Again, it depends on the destination, because if I don't speak the language, I'm WAY more likely to just cough up the money for the ABD hotel/transportation.

Sayhello

 

[jimmymc]

I've only done the Southern California ABD. The first trip I didn't do a pre-night and used DVC points for post-nights. The transfer was still included at the end even after getting post-nights on my own. On the second trip, I did one pre and two post through ABD. The pre-night was about the same as booking on my own, and the Grand Cal was a discount.

If I were going to Europe or Asia and adding more than 1 or 2 nights, I would probably switch up hotels to save some money. In your case, I would probably just book them myself and try to let the hotel know that you have two reservations.

 

[Mathmagicland]

In many instances, Disney is limited on how many pre or post days they can offer. With some hotels it is one pre night only, others they can offer two or three; it depends on the contract they have with each hotel. Sometimes, like with the Escapes, they don’t offer any pre or post. Also, Disney has a limited number of rooms available per adventure as they’re using past data to estimate how many they might need for booking through them for each adventure. For example, for the new 2025 Holland/ Belgium Tulip time river cruise, their inventory of pre-night rooms is already gone. Sometimes Disney can get more rooms, other times they can’t.

When I wanted more than Disney could offer with Antarctica, I booked the one with Disney then added two more myself, and was able to both link the two so I could stay in the same room plus get the Disney - provided airport transportation, I asked Disney about this before booking anything, as it will vary by trip, to known my options,

Before booking on my own, I always ask Disney what category of room they are using, so I can book the same category to hopefully not have to change rooms between the two bookings and it has always worked that I could stay in the same room.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

We recently requested 2 pre and 4 post nights with Southern Cali BM tour.
Our agent had to request the nights through ABD. It took longer than I thought it would for an answer to come back to us but when it did it was far cheaper than if we had to book the nights ourselves.