Update on HAL Privileges Program

I thought I would provide an update of our experience with this program. We signed onto one of the versions on our Alaskan cruise last August. The purchase price was $1995 USD of which $500 was a cruise credit for us. I thought it was a great deal when I signed up, I will now say that it is an okay deal. I do wonder if I will continue it after we have taken our resort stays that were the main incentive. One mistake I made was relying on the truthfulness of the HAL sales representative, a slick sales presentation and what I thought was HAL reputation for integrity.

Because we were one of the first 10 to sign up on this cruise we received 2 resort certificates for one week stays. How could we lose, I thought. Up to six family members could go to a resort twice at no cost. We were made aware that some all-inclusive ones did have an additional charge but told there were lots of free ones. If there was no other benefit, this would be worth the $2000. The resorts looked good on initial inspection as shown at the presentation. When we got home and looked further, it turned out they were all time share resorts that presumably had unused rooms. Five resorts listed at a certain destination (Cancun) where we were interested in going to, were really only one enormous resort. The reviews varied but most complained bitterly of the hard sell time share salespeople who harassed them or even intimidated them if they went to the 1 hour presentation that turned into 5 hours. Plus the resort was enormous, requiring a lot of walking or use of intermittent shuttle buses. The resort was remote and expensive to leave and the restaurants on site were over-priced along with lots of extra charges. They just weren't any we wanted to go to. We ended up paying $1150 (a 40% discount, I estimate) for 4 adults and 2 children to go to a different resort in Cancun for a week. Judging by prices on-line we saved about $800. We just came back. The resort was okay, maybe 3 1/2 stars. Not all-inclusive. We're going to book the second resort in Mazatlan shortly but there are only 3 to choose from. Again, they are time shares. Two require an additional payment because they are all inclusive. The third one again has time share harassment.

We got a free tablet as part of the package but it only worked for two months.

We were told and assured that our version of the plan had no renewal fee as long as we purchased something from the site during the course of the year. When I called today to confirm this, I was told that was not the case, never had been and was not part of our contract.

Airport lounge access was another benefit, a complimentary one year membership. What was not explained on the cruise ship was that this is only for one person so if you are a couple the other person will have to pay. You have to sign up with the company (with your credit card) that runs the airport lounge and then get access. I guess this would be best with a multi-hour lay-over but that hasn't happened yet for us. This benefit would probably work better for business travellers as we don't generally fly more than twice a year and try to go direct.

You can book hotels though the website and earn cruise credits but although we were shown examples in the presentation of 50% credits it seems to be that most are about 10 - 20%. I checked one hotel in Seattle listed as $279 a night. For 2 nights stay you earn $200 in cruise credits. On the hotel website the same room is $234. I guess you're still ahead. They say they will match prices but I haven't tried that. You have to call for price and availability for golf and spa packages and it is clearly stated that you receive 20% in cruise credits.

I had put some items in a shopping cart in the Merchandise section of the site before Christmas but when I went back to it they had disappeared and the site had been revamped completely with more high end merchandise. For example, Kate Spade Cameron Street Candace Satchel - Porcini is listed at $378. $113 cruise credits earned. Price comparison is given with Bloomingdales and Lord and Taylor at the same price. A quick internet search turned up the same bag for $253 and $271 at other retailers. A Crueset cast iron pan was the same price on Amazon as was an LG refrigerator on Best Buy.

I was only buying to avoid the $99 renewal fee and now that I know that isn't available, I prefer to shop through Amazon. You can also buy gift cards and the notice states you receive 10% back in cruise credits.

Although the salesperson knew we were Canadian, it wasn't pointed out to us that the Wine packages are not available to us and the gift cards are for restaurants that aren't available in Canada. They would work for U.S. travellers.

It doesn't help that everything is in U.S. dollars against which the Canadian dollar has been steadily declining but that certainly isn't HAL's fault. And, of course, I'm responsible for not reading the pages of fine print that constitute the contract.

The program would more likely benefit high end shoppers and frequent travellers.

Thanks for the update. We almost went for it and I am glad we didn't. Sorry you were taken in. Too bad HAL does this to their customers

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Thanks for the details of your experience. Sounds like something to avoid.

HAL is really pushing this. I kept all the "junk mail" until the end of our cruise and then counted it. For an 11-day cruise, we got 5 flyers for the Privileges. And that's on top of the "presentations" listed in the daily program.

Thanks for the heads up! We'll definitely walk on by if we see them on Kdam next month. Sounds very complicated and really not even worth the bother.

Thanks for the update - I sat near 2 couples who were on the receiving end of the sales pitch on our last cruise and it sounded to me like a hard sell time share presentation which certainly didn't interest us. We didn't respond to any of the information that came to our cabin and will continue to ignore any and all in the future. Sorry you had to invest so much to get so little.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

I haven't had any desire to buy this but I appreciate the time you took to let us know how it turned out for you.

Thanks for an honest rundown of the program.

I get a headache thinking about timeshare "deals" and I'm suspicious when I'm told an upfront cash payment will yield vacation discounts later on. Travel discounts are a dime a dozen and you don't need this program. It is offensive hearing about cruisers being solicited while on board a ship.

If you want access to airport lounges look into the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. Some perks that were available 6 months ago have been reduced but it is still a decent card for anyone spending much money on travel and leisure. We both signed up for the card and both received the enhanced benefit package.

We experienced this on our Koningsdam cruise in December. None of us were sold on the concept.

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Thank you for doing your homework and reporting back to us about HAL's Privileges Program.

Definitely not interested in it.

I feel sorry for anyone who falls for this scam.

Shame on you HAL.

Thanks for the report. As far as I know, they did not offer this on our cruise, but we met some young women who said they were training to be sales reps for it on future cruises.

You would think that a company as large and as well known as HAL would run a much better program. The sad part about it is that they are giving a bad name to those timeshare companies who do it right and do what they say.

I belong to a vacation timeshare that I like and has worked out for me, so there are credible ones out there. The thing that bugs me the most on these things is the overly aggressive sales tactics that a lot of them use. If you offer a great product that fits the customers' needs, it will sell itself. You accept up front that your product is not going to be good for everyone; by forcing or intimidating people into purchasing something that they are not sure about, you are guaranteeing a lot of negative press for yourself.

The one I signed up with used to have a problem with some of their sales staff being too aggressive, but they changed their sales practices after doing an in-depth interview with a bunch of owners (which I was one) to ask what they liked and didn't like. It was the first time I've ever witnessed a company really listening to their customers and make changes based on the feedback they received.

If you don't travel much (once or twice a year), vacation timeshares are a waste of money; however, if you really like to travel, you can find one that will give you a lot of variability.

Can you cancel?

You would think that a company as large and as well known as HAL would run a much better program. The sad part about it is that they are giving a bad name to those timeshare companies who do it right and do what they say.

 

I belong to a vacation timeshare that I like and has worked out for me, so there are credible ones out there. The thing that bugs me the most on these things is the overly aggressive sales tactics that a lot of them use. If you offer a great product that fits the customers' needs, it will sell itself. You accept up front that your product is not going to be good for everyone; by forcing or intimidating people into purchasing something that they are not sure about, you are guaranteeing a lot of negative press for yourself.

 

The one I signed up with used to have a problem with some of their sales staff being too aggressive, but they changed their sales practices after doing an in-depth interview with a bunch of owners (which I was one) to ask what they liked and didn't like. It was the first time I've ever witnessed a company really listening to their customers and make changes based on the feedback they received.

 

If you don't travel much (once or twice a year), vacation timeshares are a waste of money; however, if you really like to travel, you can find one that will give you a lot of variability.

The presentation we attended in January 2017 onboard Oosterdam did not use any aggressive sales tactics. They were not able to provide a hard copy of a contract for review although offered to let us read it on a tablet.

It wasn't for us so we politely declined and that was the end of that.

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The Privileges program is not a HAL program, it is a contracted scam just like the art auctions.

The presenters are contractors just like so many other cruise line services and HAL gets a cut from the sales.

We sailed on the Oosterdam in February and a number of times when we went up to the Crows Nest they had sectioned of an area and were doing the Privileges presentation and it was loud enough for us to hear the presentation, the presenters where no more than schill's for the company that actually runs the program. In our opinion it was something to run like hell away from. Any time you have to spend money to get something for free "It ain't free!"

Remember Caveat Emptor.

The Privileges program is not a HAL program, it is a contracted scam just like the art auctions.

The presenters are contractors just like so many other cruise line services and HAL gets a cut from the sales.

 

We sailed on the Oosterdam in February and a number of times when we went up to the Crows Nest they had sectioned of an area and were doing the Privileges presentation and it was loud enough for us to hear the presentation, the presenters where no more than schill's for the company that actually runs the program. In our opinion it was something to run like hell away from. Any time you have to spend money to get something for free "It ain't free!"

 

Remember Caveat Emptor.

Excellent post. HAL must think this program is a cut above the Art Auctions and more appealing to the younger crowd they wish to attract.

Thank you for sharing your reality based experience, so others can be saved from it. I hope you're able to cancel easily!

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Can you cancel?

We bought into this but are canceling. There is a 30 day cancellation period. I got a call (on answering machine) fro HAL Priv stating they received my notice but would like to go over some "things" to finalize it. Called back and got a runaround so had to leave voicemail. Waiting for callback. The contract states you may cancel without any reason for doing so (as long as you are within 30 days). This might be a good program for those that do resorts/timeshares, shop on line at "member approved sites", eat at select restaurants (by purchasing gift cards for those restaurants from HAL Priv)....etc.

We've been cruising for 30+ years, it's our type of getaway. We don't do resorts, don't fly, don't really want gift cards in my wallet in case we eat at one of their restaurants...you get the point.

A contract is a contract so we should get our $1950+ back and will just put it towards our next HAL cruise...if we have a hassle getting a refund, well there are a lot of other choices out there.

VonRyan - I hope you are able to cancel and get your money back. These types of deals often make it difficult to do so - hoping you will eventually give up trying. One of the reasons I dislike any program that has an ongoing, automatic charge.

Out of curiosity we spoke to one of the sales reps on our recent Westerdam cruise, since we had no idea what the program entailed. All he would give us was a quick overview with no specifics. He said we would have to schedule an appointment to get more details. Even he would not answer a direct question as regards to pricing, just kept spouting the discounts, price matching and cruise credits. The few minutes we spent with this slick salesman gave us a bad feeling. Needless to say, we did not schedule an appointment and did not attend the presentation with free wine; instead opting to put the inviation in the trash.

After doing reseach on-line and reading reviews from those who either attended the presentations or purchaed this "privilege", our suspicions were confirmed. We are glad we gave it a pass. It is certainly something that is not up to HAL standards in our opinion, and we hope it is a short lived offering on the ships.

Thanks for the info. We will stay away.