What Would You Do?

Over the past few years Disney has been releasing discounts like popcorn.  In fact Disney has released so many discounts that people don’t wait for them anymore.  People have started booking the resort they want and sit back and wait for a discount they can apply to their booking.

That’s not a bad idea but it poses the question – What happens if no discount is released? Do you take it one the chin and pay rack rates or would you cancel your booking?

What it boils down to is how much have you invested already.  You can get your deposit back if you cancel in time.  What about airfare?  That can be a major issue.  If you get a good price on airfare and lock it in you might be stuck with it unless you pay a large fee.  It’s not uncommon to pay a $100 per ticket change / cancelation fee when you try to cancel a flight you have already booked.  On the other hand if you wait to book your airfare the price might shoot through the roof and you’ll pay much more if you do decide to go.  It’s a sticky situation.

If I had booked my airfare I’m going to take the vacation unless something really bad happens.  It’s really hard for me to turn around and tell people I’m not going anymore.  Work would be annoyed because they already did the scheduling for it and my wife would be annoyed because she would have been looking forward to it.

For some people though it does make sense to cancel outright. If you are driving down or live near Disney you can easily sit it out and wait.  In that case you might have little or no monetary loss if you cancel your trip but can you mentally deal with?

When You're Ten Days Out

Ten days to go is an important mark when you are waiting for any vacation. When you hit ten days you can start to check the weather. Most people would check the weather at their destination. However, for anyone who lives in New England, the destination comes second. During the winter you always check the local weather first.

Why would you check the local weather first? Because booking any airfare in the winter is a gamble. You cross your fingers and hope a storm doesn't hit the day you fly out. Thankfully I've never had a storm hit the day I've had to fly out. My wife however has.

What do you do if a big storm is going to hit the day you are trying to fly out? You gamble. To put it simply you book another flight for the day before and book a cheap hotel at your destination. This is a gamble because if the weather isn't bad enought to cancel you get stuck paying for two flights. Granted you only do this for slam dunk storms. Normal storms you keep your fingers crossed and hang out at the airport.

You might wonder why you wouldn't just buy travel insurance. I do buy travel insurance but I'd rather enjoy my vacation than get reimbursed for lost days. That's an awful way to start your vacation.