STA Travel Part 2

Hey all,

So today I returned back to STA travel on campus to pay the deposit for Jen and mine’s flight. Easy said, easy done. Then we discussed about a few things: accommodation, domestic flights within America, travel insurance, transfers from airport to accommodation… It was a very info heavy half an hour.

Accommodation

We discussed accommodation, looked at heaps (there are so many hotels in just the theme park area, it’s insane) and looked at the ones Jen and I have been looking at. We ended up coming back to the three we have been debating about: Quality Inn & Suites in Kissimmee, Doubletree by Hilton Hotels in front of Universal gates and Comfort Suites Maingate East. Pretty much he can’t get them that much cheaper, like $2 or so cheaper since they’re already ‘bargain’ prices as he put it. He said he’s stayed at Quality Inn & Suites when he was over there and was impressed since he was expecting a ‘typical $60 hotel’ but he said it felt like he was paying $100. So I guess that’s good haha. He’s left the choice up to us and when we decide on our top two (since some hotels over there require a 21+ person) to let him know and he’ll see what he can do with prices.

Flights (LA-->Orlando)

Domestic flights within America STA recommended Delta, which is good seeing as that’s the direction Jen and I were looking in. They’d get the flights for about the same price which is $220, however we’d have to pay them upfront due to it being a domestic flight within the US. Not that it really matters, if we were to book it ourselves we’d have to pay it up front anyway. At least with STA travel we can get seats together and not have to spend a trip next to someone who could potentially be annoying (I once had a guy spill his beer all over me on a 22hr plane flight. Was not the highlight of my trip… ).

Travel Insurance

This was probably the most info heavy conversation.

We compared Cover More (he said that it's one of the most reliable once out there) and STA travel's Cover More travel insurance. STA travel gave us two options for each insurance cover. The first figures are based on an excess of $250. Cover More was at: $1543 and STA Travel Cover More Insurance is at $2162, the differences being obviously how much the insurer will pay out. Then there's the one with $0 excess to be paid whenever making a claim. CoverMore: $2023 and STA CoverMore: $2455, with the same differences of how much you get back when you make a claim etc. STA said if you think that you might have the possibility of making a few claims over there, to go with the second option ($0 excess) because it'll end up that you may be spending more anyway with all the excess money. But go with the $250 excess if you think it's unlikely that you'll be making claims. So...I’m sort of lost, but that’s where mum comes into it with all her knowledge of insurance stuff, so I’ll see what she thinks I should go with.

Transfers

Since Jen and I liked the idea of the Disney hotels coming and picking you up from the airport (and taking your suitcases) I asked about what (if any) transfers were available and how much they would be. There’s companies that do transfers and do the whole standing near the arrivals holding up your name (how cool) and take you on over to your hotel. The transfer costs $30 initially, then like $2 more with each zone you enter. It’s looking to be about $32 for the both of us since the hotels fall in about zone 2. I got some figure from the internet about how much a taxi fare is over there, apparently it was a bit outdated... It’s cost around $30+ for the taxi fare from the airport to the hotels. So it works out to be the same. The only real difference is there’s less hassle if we get a transfer and don’t have to spend time with other arrivals trying to grab a taxi.

As you can see I got a fair bit of information today which was good. I also paid my plane flight tickets to LA today after making the deposit. A chunk out of my account, not it looks a bit pathetic, but at least now I don’t have to worry about paying for flights!

Until next time!~