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CC Elite Category Upgrade & Big OL Travel Agency Much Cheaper


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We are Elite and should supposedly be entitled to a one category upgrade...if I go on and do a dummy booking I get the same price with or without My Cc#thru Celebrity...Thoughts???

Also, it is depressing that I can book the same cruise (3-4-18 Silouette) FOR EFFECTIVELY OVER $500 less ($200 less basic cost, extra perk (gratuities $$$), extra OBC $150 thru the Big online TA....BUT... I have a considerable Future Cruise Credit ( which I really earned when I fell on a RCCL cruise last December...broke my wrist, put off the ship in Cozumel to hospital, ship left without us taking all our clothes, valuables, etc...NIGHTMARE!) Agency can't take my FCC since they won't make enough commission...so, effectively I have to spend over $500 more with Celebrity to use my FCC....DOUBLE BUMMER! Anyone having similar problems and what about the one category upgrade issue??

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a) Can you book with Celebrity using your FCC and getting the upgrade and then transfer the booking to your BolTA to get their pricing and benefits?

 

b) Have you spoken to anyone at the BolTA about booking via phone and getting the upgrade?

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To get the 1 category upgrade I have always had to book by speaking to a person be that at Celebrity or a TA. As others have suggested it may be best to book with X get the upgrade, us the FCC and then transfer to a TA to get their perks

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We are Elite and should supposedly be entitled to a one category upgrade...if I go on and do a dummy booking I get the same price with or without My Cc#thru Celebrity...Thoughts???

Also, it is depressing that I can book the same cruise (3-4-18 Silouette) FOR EFFECTIVELY OVER $500 less ($200 less basic cost, extra perk (gratuities $$$), extra OBC $150 thru the Big online TA....BUT... I have a considerable Future Cruise Credit ( which I really earned when I fell on a RCCL cruise last December...broke my wrist, put off the ship in Cozumel to hospital, ship left without us taking all our clothes, valuables, etc...NIGHTMARE!) Agency can't take my FCC since they won't make enough commission...so, effectively I have to spend over $500 more with Celebrity to use my FCC....DOUBLE BUMMER! Anyone having similar problems and what about the one category upgrade issue??

 

 

The one category upgrade applies to all levels of Captain's club membership. It is really not a big deal.

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We are Elite and should supposedly be entitled to a one category upgrade...if I go on and do a dummy booking I get the same price with or without My Cc#thru Celebrity...Thoughts???

Also, it is depressing that I can book the same cruise (3-4-18 Silouette) FOR EFFECTIVELY OVER $500 less ($200 less basic cost, extra perk (gratuities $$$), extra OBC $150 thru the Big online TA....BUT... I have a considerable Future Cruise Credit ( which I really earned when I fell on a RCCL cruise last December...broke my wrist, put off the ship in Cozumel to hospital, ship left without us taking all our clothes, valuables, etc...NIGHTMARE!) Agency can't take my FCC since they won't make enough commission...so, effectively I have to spend over $500 more with Celebrity to use my FCC....DOUBLE BUMMER! Anyone having similar problems and what about the one category upgrade issue??

 

Is your FCC worth more than $500? If so, stick with Celebrity to book and if not, book with the agency.

FCC's are a little tricky ... they are only transferable in an allotted time frame and also cannot always be added to certain bookings, especially if you're already getting a lot of other perks or if you are in a group booking.

As other's have mentioned, you will need to call either Celebrity or that travel agent to get the one category upgrade, which is available to anyone that has sailed on Celebrity before. It is not limited to elite members and above but is only applicable to certain room categories and again, not always available for group bookings when specific cabin types are blocked for the group.

Sometimes, the savings can be significant with this one category upgrade (I once saved over $500) but oftentimes, the discount amounts to $20 - $40. And, these upgrades are never applied if you book a guarantee cabin type.

Good luck getting your best savings ... and enjoy your cruise.

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We are 1C...booked on phone..was just never offered the price for lower category...just seems like if they advertise the perk you should get it ..... $20- $40 might not be a big deal but it's still $20- $40...Just sayin'...

 

Yes, it is a big deal. It sounds like someone dropped the ball for sure, in this case. Sorry for that. You just need to call, now that you know, to get the upgrade, provided it is not beyond final payment date.

 

bon voyage....

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We are 1C...booked on phone..was just never offered the price for lower category...just seems like if they advertise the perk you should get it ..... $20- $40 might not be a big deal but it's still $20- $40...Just sayin'...

When I did a search for a 1D cabin nothing came up. I could be wrong, but I believe the only 1_ categories are 1A, 1B & 1C. If this is the case and there is no 1D, then there was no lower sub-category and thus no lower price; but you could have booked a 1B cabin for the price of a 1C.

 

Note: the loyalty offer does not go across categories - e.g. you cannot get a 1C for the price of a 2A.

 

Hope this is helpful; perhaps you can rebook a 1B for the 1C price.

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To the OP, been there. The only option with an FCC is to find a TA that is willing to book it for you but don't expect them to throw in perks that affect their bottom line. You can't expect them to lose money. Celebrity was actually good to me in that they allowed me to split the amount into two. If you don't use the whole amount, you lose the remainder. It's really unfair that the TA does not earn commission on the value of the FCC as it's "still money" and they do just as much work, if not more when an FCC is involved.

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Called today...nice lady...even though my price category has stayed the same, she said one category below is more expensive....makes a lot of sense...Right? Oh well, it's only Money! Maybe rates will drop and I can rebook but I'm not holding my breath..

The price category below 1C is 2A. Regardless of the price of the 2A, the loyalty upgrade would not apply since both the upper and lower cabin classes have to be sub-category classes within the same category.

 

For example, 2A priced at a 2B or 1B priced at a 1C.

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This happened to me this morning, a LARGE online TA is having their annual Firecracker sale, and they said the 1 cat upgrade is not available on the "Special Rates". I take care of the bookings for our groups and they have a FCC from an accident last trip. This same TA said they would be able to honor the FCC but will not be able to provide the added Grats ($270 for the 10 night), however they were able to provide a total of $500 OBC in addition to the Classic Bev Package. The original deal was the Classic Beverage Package, Tips, and $300 in OBC. Not a bad deal.

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Sorry OP that you had a bad accident and your cruise turned into a nightmare. I hope you can get this replacement cruise priced to your satisfaction.

 

Nantahala cruise is right. 1C is the bottom price level in that category. You cannot go down from 1C to 2A. You can only go from 1B to 1C or 1A to 1B etc.

 

We have dealt with the company who has the firecracker sale currently and if their price is a group price they won't let you have the one category upgrade because the price is already lower and may have some perks added too. I hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction.

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To the OP, been there. The only option with an FCC is to find a TA that is willing to book it for you but don't expect them to throw in perks that affect their bottom line. You can't expect them to lose money. Celebrity was actually good to me in that they allowed me to split the amount into two. If you don't use the whole amount, you lose the remainder. It's really unfair that the TA does not earn commission on the value of the FCC as it's "still money" and they do just as much work, if not more when an FCC is involved.

 

We have booked with the same TA (mentioned in the previous post) several times. Always been pleased!

 

When we recently booked using a credit refund for a cruise cut short (another cruiseline) the TA could only offer the cruiseline perks, plus one of theirs. However, like wendy mentioned, the TA could not give us the extra OBC that they normally would. We were fine with that. Came out way ahead of booking with TA than through that cruiseline. ;)

 

The one category upgrade applies to all levels of Captain's club membership. It is really not a big deal.
It can sometimes be a great deal depending on where you wish to be located!:)

 

Is your FCC worth more than $500? If so, stick with Celebrity to book and if not, book with the agency.

FCC's are a little tricky ... they are only transferable in an allotted time frame and also cannot always be added to certain bookings, especially if you're already getting a lot of other perks or if you are in a group booking.

As other's have mentioned, you will need to call either Celebrity or that travel agent to get the one category upgrade, which is available to anyone that has sailed on Celebrity before. It is not limited to elite members and above but is only applicable to certain room categories and again, not always available for group bookings when specific cabin types are blocked for the group.

Sometimes, the savings can be significant with this one category upgrade (I once saved over $500) but oftentimes, the discount amounts to $20 - $40. And, these upgrades are never applied if you book a guarantee cabin type.

Good luck getting your best savings ... and enjoy your cruise.

 

We have saved well over that. Just recently checked for a cruise and priced the AQ staterooms. We prefer the A1 on some ships. The A1 on this particular ship was about $2500 more than the A2. In fact, the A2 was priced below the standard veranda stateroom (I am sure for a limited time.) We have booked through our TA before when the rates worked out this way, and we received the A1 for the significantly reduced A2 rate. :D

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