WestJet Vacations - new to the Disney mix...

A couple of months back WestJet (the airline) announced that they were getting into the package vacation business. They have done quite a bit of advertsing in Ottawa lately and a number of you have been asking me about them, particularly for their well-priced Disney vacations. I have a few thoughts...

The way that our agency chooses to book your Disney vacation offers a number of significant advantages (see below), and is usually also the cheapest way to book. However, recently, WestJet Vacations have challenged this, and there are occasions where you can save quite a lot with their packages.

They are new to the market - and are trying to get some "market share" so a lot of their packages are really, really agressively priced. This is good for the client. (I have booked one package where the package including flights, accommodation and Disney passes cost less than the VERY SAME flights, purchased alone).

However, there are some significant down-sides to their packages over the regular way that we book Disney. While these are not going to be important for all people, for others these will be significant. They are:
1. WestJet Vacations only offer the Disney value resorts. (Which is fine for some people but not for others.)
2. They have very limited availabilty and some weird short durations. (The same package that I mentioned above was for 4 nights only, and there was no way to add additional days to this.)
3. You cannot get the Disney Dining plan. (There is no way to "upgrade" their package directly with Disney either. I know. I tried!)
4. Like other package vacations (sun destinations etc.) we cannot "hold" anything for you. It is instant purchase, and price and availability can change by the minute.
5. The full price is required up front, you are immediately subject to penalties, and the entire package is 100% non-refundable within 21 days of travel. (So you would lose more money in the event of a cancellation and/or your insurance premiums will be higher.)

In short, you CAN get some good deals, but you need to be prepared to buy exactly and only what they offer you, and you can't change it after the fact (if a "special comes along later").

The way that our agency chooses to book your Disney vacation offers many advantages:
1. we can "hold" the Disney booking, and often the air space, to give you time to get the time off work and/or coordinate everything properly
2. we can offer any duration of stay (subject to normal availability constraints)
3. you can get any type of Disney package that you like (including the very popular Dining plan)
4. you can get any Disney resort that is available.
4. if a "special" comes along later, we can get it for you (always as long as it is available, of course) - with no penalty .
5. and usually, it is still cheaper to get us to "make" a package for you anyway, especially when you consider that you are actually getting what you want...

In summary...
We like WestJet, and see no reason not to like WestJet Vacations either. As far as making Disney bookings are concerned we will happily book them for you if they offer what you want, and will happily book you in a different way if they don't!

Easy!