Upgrading internal air help!

[AllisonGsav]

I am wondering why Disney will not let us pay to upgrade our internal air flights for our China trip in September? We need the extra baggage allowance (they only allow one suitcase weighing 44lbs) and a carryon. We are going to Japan before we start the China trip and I am not a very light packer. Has anyone had any experience with this?

 

[RSM]

We tried to do this with our internal flights on the Australia trip and they wouldn't allow it. We were gone for about 3.5 weeks and had no intention of doing laundry multiple times, so we paid the extra baggage charges. ABD gave us a story that because it is a group reservation on the airlines, they can't change the reservation for one.

 

[AllisonGsav]

Thanks so much for this info! This is one part of abd that annoys me- the inflexibility. Abercrombie and Kent and tauck for example will let you upgrade your flights and your rooms (to suites) for example. Guess we will be mailing back our luggage from Japan

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I had my laundry done at the hotels in China (usually if were at a hotel for more than 2 nights I sent out laundry). The one exception was in Shanghai where I used a laundry service that picked up from and dropped off with the concierge (I left my money with them in an envelope so they could pay the service). It was well worth it. Honestly it is so hot in China in June (when we went) that I wouldn't want to carry around dirty clothes from city to city.

Laundry services are abundant in China. You can easily coordinate it on your own. I also found hotel laundry wasn't overly expensive.

WRT the internal flights -- they aren't bad at all. You will be seated with your ABD group and it's a nice time to relax and get to know them.

Have fun! It's a great trip!

 

[AlixaLock]

It doesn't help you with your baggage issue, but we had the opportunity to upgrade ourselves at the check-in desk between Hong Kong and Beijing (because you have to check yourself in for that flight on your own, ABD doesn't do it for you.) I think the reasoning behind the no upgrades on the internal China flights is that ABD completely handles everything, check-in, luggage etc... your guides basically hand you your ticket with your name on it and send you through security. From their perspective, maybe upgrades complicate this process? Just a thought, I know it frustrating, I would love the option to upgrade flights.

 

[notaprincess]

I have the same issue, why stay in the best and very expensive hotels and then fly coach? I do realize they are only short 'hops', but
my long-hauls will be first class and 20kg of luggage -no can do.

 

[Theta]

On another note, does anyone have any luck getting frequent flyer points on the internal flights booked by ABD?

 

[AlixaLock]

On another note, does anyone have any luck getting frequent flyer points on the internal flights booked by ABD?

Yes. Several people were able to use their status with a particular airline to board early on one or two flights. We also were able to get points for our HK to Beijing flight after the fact, we just kept our boarding passes.