Holiday company discounts - Worth it?

[toonarmani]

Go into a Virgin store or contact them via phone / email as you can sometimes get further discount on their web prices.

I negotiated further 18% discount in peak season 1 year in my local store (they had to get area manager approval) so worth negotiating (instore manager can usually only go to 10% if they agree to discount).

Failing that price it DIY and get a TA to beat it (did this with Thomas Cook for this year, but nothing on the booking is with TC themselves).

[Guest]

Thanks for the very useful replies.
We have requested a quote from Charter and arranged a call back with My Magic Holiday for Saturday (next available appointment - good sign!). In the meantime, we are still waiting for Virgin to email over the quote breakdown after a few chaser emails, so perhaps the CS is already a little stretched.
From the replies, it seems we should panic book with Virgin as the discount is ending today, and from toonarmani's reply, we should be able to negotiate the 10%+ anyway with Virgin if thats who we decide to book through anyway.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

Hi.
It may help in providing an answer as to who with, package or diy etc if you give information on what you are seeking.
Onsite Disney or off.
Car or not.
Villa, Condo, hotel apartment or room.
Multi site accommodation or single site.
Will you consider indirects (we prefer them).
Will you consider arrival and or departure from Sanford, Tampa, Daytona, Miami?

With all of the above answered, you will in probability get good advice. As for the Virgin sale, Virgin are often the most expensive way of vacationing in Florida, whether in a sale or otherwise. It may well be that you can save a great deal by diy (dependant on what you seek).

See more...

To answer above,
We were aiming for package as we haven't been for some 25 years (we were very young then you understand )and aren't too familiar with the hotels, areas and parks (some have gone - wet and wild and others sprung up since then) now. Not adverse to DIY though - just means more effort on our part I guess.
We understand that Universal is more for the thrill seekers rides (that's us - 2 teenagers so not looking for more child friendly parks - the more white knuckle the better for me and my daughter!)
Initially was considering Animal Kingdom stay, but minimum 5 day stay put us off for reasons above - suspect we'll only spend 3 or 4 days in Disney parks - rest in Universal parks, maybe a trip out to Busch gardens and Cape.
Multi-site is what we were considering - Universal + International Drive but open to suggestions
Indirects - I presume you mean flights? Think we'd prefer direct. Any reason you prefer indirect other than perhaps knocking a few pounds off?
Yes to car for part of the trip as planning to visit cape and Busch Gardens
Accommodation - was looking at Hotel on site for Universal and one of the hotels on International drive - with 2 rooms & kitchen area.
Arrival airport - Ideally the closest, but happy to be persuaded if makes decent difference on price to arrive elsewhere and drive in.

Thanks again for all the advice. Much better getting impartial advice from fellow travellers!

[DonnaD]

You can book Disney hotels for less than 5 nights. It must be a VH minimum you have seen. Another reason to book DIY IMO.

[CJC]

Seriously shop around. Last year whilst pricing up this years disney/universal holiday Virgin proved to be the most expensive. In the end Jordan at Travelplanners beat all other quotes so give them a call, freephone, and hopefully they will be able to offer you a deal.
Let us know how you get on - good luck

[Guest]

Thanks again for all the replies. Very helpful.
Interesting that Disney do allow less that 5 night stays. Was this during the July August time though? We were led to believe that it was during the school summer holidays they enforce it.
Will check that out as well as the indirect flight option.

[sha9]

Originally Posted by MrMoo

Thanks again for all the replies. Very helpful.
Interesting that Disney do allow less that 5 night stays. Was this during the July August time though? We were led to believe that it was during the school summer holidays they enforce it.
Will check that out as well as the indirect flight option.

See more...

5 night minimum stay only applies to specific deals. You can book 1 night if you want. Just choose hotel only on the Disney site for an idea of prices but check out Expedia and the likes for potentially lower prices.