4/3 deal at other times

[aurora, ariel, and bell]

Just got back from a September trip with free dining. Out of curiousity was looking into the 4/3 deal (southwest has it on their website). It would be less expensive to do this than the free dining in september. I would want to travel at a non busy time (well as non busy as I could get) Dreaming I was figuring last week of Jan first of Feb, but it is just too soon:(
So my question is...do you think this deal will be around again, and would it possibly be during a non busy time...hopefully before next Jan...but will take what I can get.
I love the first two weeks in September for the crowds..not the weather (HOT).
Please give me ideas....AND HOPE!:thumbsup:

[Strmchsr]

It's impossible to say. For 2009 they did the initial 4/3 deal through March and ended up extending it through June or July. Whether or not they do that in 2010 depends entirely on bookings. Also for the last 4-5 years now it's been "free" dining in the fall and a package deal later. The fact is, there are always going to be specials. "Free" dining and "4/3" are purely marketing tools. You're getting about the same deal you'd get with a discounted package but the "free" makes it sound better. So, just plan on going whenever you want, book through Magical Journeys, and let them find the discount for you when it comes out. Check the historic discounts page in Info Central to know when it's most likely to see a discount released (for instance, don't count on June/July regularly having a discount).

[aurora, ariel, and bell]

If you could pick any promo, which one seems to save you the most money?

[Goofy4TheWorld]

If you could pick any promo, which one seems to save you the most money?

I have booked neither promotion, but from what I have read here on Intercot, which deal is better for you really depends on how much money you would normally spend on food, as thus, whether or not you would pay for the dining plan if it wasn't free. If you would add the dining plan to your 4+3 package (and pay for it) then most people on here seem to come up with the 4+3 promotion being LESS of a deal than free dining would have saved them.

If you are like me, I would never spend that kind of money on food, so I would only take the dining plan if it were free, and the 4+3 promotion would save me way more money than free dining, so I would pick the 4+3 over free dining.

[princessesmom]

Which one is better depends on your specific situation. Whether you are staying value, mod, or deluxe makes a big difference as well as the number in your party and whether your children are over 10. We got the 4/3 deal in February and stayed at a cabin in FW. It was myself, DH, DD(13), DD(11), DS(9), and DD(4). We would have saved more money with the free dining, since the dining plan cost us $180/day and we were there for 8 days. So you have to price our what you want and see what is better.

[Strmchsr]

:ditto:

That's why I always let Wendy at Magical Journeys crunch the numbers for me. Comparing the 2 directly I can say that the "free" dining at a value resort was about $100 cheaper going in September than the 4/3 deal was in May. However, the reason for that was not the promotion but the fact that May is "regular" season and September is "value" season. Otherwise the deals were virtually identical. At a moderate/deluxe I'm not sure which is the better deal. I know the "free" DDP is not a very good deal other than at the values but I haven't priced out the 4/3 but the concept is the same - you pay full rack rate on the rooms instead of the discounted rate in return for your "free" whatever (nights, DDP, etc).

[cer]

To be noted:

The buy 4/get 3 free is only for the mods and deluxes this year.

They are offering 5/2 for the values, which is different from last year.

ALSO! The price of the dining plan differs with when you go this year....

[aurora, ariel, and bell]

i just find this sooo confusing!:confused: I never seem to get the same prices when I look for them. There is only two of us going. I would LOVE to try a deluxe and wondering if one of the sales would allow us to try it. When we were there and priced French quarter for 10 days free dining it came to 3200. (no flight) On line pricing from 4/3 it was 2700 for Poly with flights no dining. (I love the dining package, just knowing what the trip is cositng us ahead of time) so i would probably still get the dining plan.

[BMan62]

i just find this sooo confusing!:confused: I never seem to get the same prices when I look for them. There is only two of us going. I would LOVE to try a deluxe and wondering if one of the sales would allow us to try it. When we were there and priced French quarter for 10 days free dining it came to 3200. (no flight) On line pricing from 4/3 it was 2700 for Poly with flights no dining. (I love the dining package, just knowing what the trip is cositng us ahead of time) so i would probably still get the dining plan.

Unfortunately, you really need to plug in the same info -- drop the flight and add DDP to the Deluxe information to see the real difference between a Mod on the 'Free DDP' promotion and a Deluxe on the 4+3 promotion.

Best bet, call/write/email MJ and let them take care of the details. You'll sleep better!! :D

[princessesmom]

I agree with the suggestion to contact MJ. They can give you prices on the various specials. Let them know what you want and they will figure out what is the cheapest option. I have used Wendy on our last two trips and she was terrific.