What's Going on with Swan Package Pricing?

[JAB]

We had a trip planned originally for May '20 that obviously got cancelled. It's been rebooked and cancelled a couple times since then (Dec '20 & May '21) as we watched the progress of the parks return to "normal." We'd booked/rebooked our trips through Costco and gotten a really good price every time, so we'd intended on rebooking again through Costco for May '22.

However, by late July of this year, Costco still wasn't booking the Swan for '22, so we booked with Disney Travel even though it was $1500 more than what we'd paid for May '21 through Costco because we wanted to at least be sure we had a room, and wanted to get all our Park Pass reservations sorted. It turns out it was fortunate that we did.

I did my periodic check of Costco Travel today, and found that they were finally booking for the first half of '22; however, I was shocked to see that their price has jumped up $2000 over what we paid for May '21, making it $500 more expensive that our Disney Travel booking. Wondering if it was just Costco, I checked Disney Travel, and their current package price has increased as well - $900 over what we paid just two months ago . That makes the current Disney package practically the same price as just booking the room through Marriott and buying tickets separately. The room rates through Marriott have not gone up since May '21, so why have all the Swan package prices increased so drastically? Has the new Swalphin GM shortsightedly decided to no longer offer package discount rates to 3rd parties like Costco and Disney? If the Swan no longer offers a significant savings over Disney resorts, then we'd be very tempted to stay at the Boardwalk or Yacht/Beach instead.

 

[Dave B]

Disney has raised there prices so the Swan is just staying course to keep up with Disney, not to mention everything Disney has taken away

 

[JAB]

Disney has raised there prices so the Swan is just staying course to keep up with Disney, not to mention everything Disney has taken away

The Swan hasn't raised their prices, though. The room rate through the Marriott website is the same as it was when I priced May '21. It's only the package prices through 3rd-parties like Costco and Disney that have increased. It seems more likely that Marriott has cut back on the discounted rates it was giving them.

 

[nickys]

Are you sure it’s for the same type of room? Or even for the Swan Reserve perhaps?

 

[JAB]

Are you sure it’s for the same type of room? Or even for the Swan Reserve perhaps?

Yep. Exact same room type at the Swan (Costco doesn't offer Swan Reserve currently). In fact, I just ran the quotes again, just to be sure, and realized that on the Disney quote, I forgot to select Park Hopper, so the actual quote is another $180 higher, making it $1100 more expensive than the exact same package I booked through Disney less than two months ago, and more expensive than booking the room only through Marriott and buying tickets separately.

May '20 (10 nights, 2 10-day PHs, package through Costco) : $3900

May '21 (11 nights, 2 10-day PHs, package though Costco) : $3900
May '21 (11 nights room-only through Marriott, 2 10-day PHs through Disney) : $6400

May '22 (11 nights, 2 10-day PHs, package though Disney, booked late July) : $5400

Current Prices:
May '22 (11 nights, 2 10-day PHs, package though Costco) : $5900
May '22 (11 nights, 2 10-day PHs, package though Disney) : $6500
May '22 (11 nights room-only through Marriott, 2 10-day PHs through Disney) : $6400

 

[Magicmom203]

Rates are usually based on availability or If there is a special event or convention going on at the hotel the rate will go up. Did you compare with Dolphin? if you work maybe your company has a code for additional discount. All you have to do is show a work id on check in. It seems like when I use my corporate code they don’t take a deposit out either so you’re not floating that money for 8 months.