Final payment before due date

[Mer turquoise]

Hi,

 

We booked our next cruise with a US Travel agency. Exchange rate from USD to CDN are very good right now. Because of that, we are considering making final payment before due date (January 2, 2011). There are no chances we would want to change this cruise for another one so we don’t need to keep our options open.

 

So we are willing to pay this cruise 2 month in advance. With the actual exchange rate, it would put money in our pockets compare to the exchange rate we had estimated. Would be a good thing and mean more money to spend on excursions.

 

Is there something I am not thinking about that would make this a bad move ?

 

Thank you !

[canadarocks]

Excellent question! We are in the same situation as you and have $2000 owing on our cruise for next March. Final payment is not due until Christmas day, but I'm wondering if now is the time to do it as well. :cool:

 

What I'm nervous about is that if the cost does go down, will we be able to take advantage of the discount and get a refund (not onboard credit)? :confused:

[CowPrincess]

According to my HAL PCC, it doesn't matter when in advance of HAL's final payment date you make your payment -- you are still entitled to any price drops. AND if you are still ahead of the HAL final pmt date, you can still cancel under the same terms as would apply had you not paid far in advance. We've done it several times, to take advantage of the exchange rate.

 

As far as I know, there is no "down" side. BUT if you are dealing with a TA, you need to check with them, and see if it creates any issues with the TA. The TA's policy may be different than HAL's. If you are dealing directly with HAL, make sure they tell you what I told you :D

[canadarocks]

According to my HAL PCC, it doesn't matter when in advance of HAL's final payment date you make your payment -- you are still entitled to any price drops. AND if you are still ahead of the HAL final pmt date, you can still cancel under the same terms as would apply had you not paid far in advance. We've done it several times, to take advantage of the exchange rate.

 

As far as I know, there is no "down" side. BUT if you are dealing with a TA, you need to check with them, and see if it creates any issues with the TA. The TA's policy may be different than HAL's. If you are dealing directly with HAL, make sure they tell you what I told you :D

 

Thanks. Have you ever received an actual cash back refund doing this?

[CowPrincess]

Thanks. Have you ever received an actual cash back refund doing this?

 

No our cruise prices always seem to go up :eek: :)

[brewster007]

Have you ever thought of opening a USD account with your CAD bank and also getting a USD visa card from your CAD bank. Thats what we do and when the rate is good we buy and put it into the USD account and then use it when we need it and also use it to pay the USD card when we use it. Some thing to think about.

 

Brewster

[canadarocks]

Have you ever thought of opening a USD account with your CAD bank and also getting a USD visa card from your CAD bank. Thats what we do and when the rate is good we buy and put it into the USD account and then use it when we need it and also use it to pay the USD card when we use it. Some thing to think about.

 

Brewster

 

We have a USD account, but I have never thought of getting a USD credit card.

[Mer turquoise]

We also have a USD account. Thought about having a USD credit card but decided not to since we would be using it only once or twice a year.

[rochelle_s]

We also have a USD account. Thought about having a USD credit card but decided not to since we would be using it only once or twice a year.

 

 

You might want to check with your financial institution to see if they have any promotions regarding their US dollar credit cards. My local Bank of Montreal has a promotion on, where they will pay the fee for the US dollar credit card. If you continue to use the card they will continue to pay the yearly $25.00 fee. Even with the fee it may be advantageous to have a US dollar card so that you can take advantage of the fluctuations with the dollar whenever they are in your favour.

 

Rochelle

[Davidson Duo]

The Bank of Montreal Mosaik US dollar credit card also does not charge the usual 2.5% - 3% foreign transaction fee typical with other credit cards.

 

If you have a US$ bank account with BMO, you can earn interest on your balance, and you can transfer Canadian dollars to that account with no exchange fees, then you pay your US$ credit card off from that account. So no charges for conversion. We like to deposit into it when the exchange rate is favorable as we know we will always have another cruise coming up that we'll have to pay for!:)

 

Plus, if you spend $1,000 USD or more in a year on your card, the annual fee for the subsequent year will be rebated ($25). It is the best credit card for Canadians that I have found especially if you do a lot of traveling that deals in US funds. :)

[m steve]

as we needed the airmiles on the credit card for another trip. We ended up cancelling and were refunded the entire charge as well as the prepaid excursions also prepaid. I was before the final payment was due. We were even able to move part of the insurance forward to a different cruise.

[iancal]

We maintain a USD bank account and a USD Visa Card. We usually get quotes in Canada based on USD and CAD rates. These rates are often different because the cruise lines pre set exchange rates rather than adjusting them daily. A good Canadian TA will give you both rates. Some TA's will not.....a sure sign that they do not know the business very well. We also get rates from our on line US TA (these are usually the best). We make it a practice never to pay before final payment is due. We take advantage of currency fluctuations by moving money from our Cad accoutn to our USD account. We do not use bank rates. We typicaly withdraw cash from the bank, walk across the street to a currency exchange to get the money and then we re deposit it. Last time we did this was on a 5K transaction. The currency exchange office gave us $150. more than the bank would have given us. For us, it was worth the 1/2 block walk. I guess this only works if you have a currency exchange office near you. We do the same with GBP and Euros. The bank rates in Canada are not great unless you are trading 25K or more and they never seem to have a good selection of denominations. Last time my son went to get GBP, then bank wanted to give him 50 pound notes as it was all they had. He went to the currency exchange and got a much better rate and his choice of demoninations. Watch your shipboard expenses. Some cruise lines have a habit converting from USD to CAD and charging your CAD credit card in CAD dollars. They use a currency conversion rate that is anywhere frm 3-7 percent higher than market. At least, this has been our experience. Princess seem to be the worst for this.

[Juanita462]

We also have the B of Montreal US account and US credit card

 

Interesting though, that we would have been charged exchange fees for transferring Cdn dollars to our US account - higher rates than the Royal - so we had to exchange the dollars at the Royal and then deposit them in our US account at the Montreal.

 

I will be checking with our local bank about transferring Cdn to US account without paying the exchange fees - they must have the same policy for all branches I would think.

 

It was great to just be able to use our US credit card for our next cruise and no inflated exchange rates by the cruise line.

 

We take US travellers cheques with us and pay off shipboard charges with those so that they don't go through the credit card.

 

There is one problem - with the 60 pp per day hold that the cruise line puts on our credit card it would more than max out the US limit so I guess we will have to raise the limit to cover that

[DRWhit]

Not trying to get political here, but the US Federal Reserve is about to (or has just already done so) buy 600 billion in US bonds with pretend dollars in order to (hopefully) give a boost to the economy.

 

I would think this would cause the dollar to move even lower against other currencies over the next few months.

[sanssail]

We paid a couple of weeks before the final due date in order to take advantage of CAN/US exchange rate. A few days before the official due date HAL cedited our master card. (I had to phone them to find out what the credit was for:o) We did not book directly through HAL but used an online TA.

[iancal]

DRWhit...I agree, if the Fed continues to do this (and it looks like they must) the USD will slide downwards a little. Should help exports though. Canada is having the opposite problem. While it is good for us on vacation, it is not good for exports or our unemployment rates.

[navybankerteacher]

If the US $ continues to slide, as many think likely, wouldn't a Canadian be wise to hold off payment, so as to wind up "buying" cheaper US $'s? Timing markets is always risky - it is possible that the US $ is now at its lowest and is poised for a rebound vs Canada $'s (not too likely) - but something to think about. Of course, it is fun (?) playing arbitrageur just like the money-center big bank boys.

[DRWhit]

Yes, that was what I was thinking. It might be even better to wait a bit if you are Canadian. But, as you say, it is riskier. At some point you decide a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

[Mer turquoise]

WOW ! thank you for all your answers ! I think we will make our final payment in the next few days (or may be gamble and wait a little but not too much since the actual exchange rate is acceptable for us). Like I said before, we don’t want a US credit card that we would use once or twice year even with no or very low fees. Might be a good option later, when we travel more, but not now.

 

Thanks again !

[happyglobetrotter]

The Bank of Montreal Mosaik US dollar credit card also does not charge the usual 2.5% - 3% foreign transaction fee typical with other credit cards.

 

If you have a US$ bank account with BMO, you can earn interest on your balance, and you can transfer Canadian dollars to that account with no exchange fees, then you pay your US$ credit card off from that account. So no charges for conversion. We like to deposit into it when the exchange rate is favorable as we know we will always have another cruise coming up that we'll have to pay for!:)

 

Plus, if you spend $1,000 USD or more in a year on your card, the annual fee for the subsequent year will be rebated ($25). It is the best credit card for Canadians that I have found especially if you do a lot of traveling that deals in US funds. :)

 

 

Yes, but I was wondering. Does this card also offer insurance protection (cancellation, medical, etc) when you charge your trip on the card. My current card does that.

And that can be a great saving.

[CowPrincess]

the actual exchange rate is acceptable for us

 

And IMHO that is when you should "do it" :)

 

We bought a reasonable amount of US $ when we were happy with the exchange rate -- spread out over several months, we averaged around $1.06 or so. Friends who joined us on THAT cruise ended up buying US $ at $1.20. They weren't happy about that -- but they'd had the SAME chances to purchase at better rates that we did and chose to not do it. Again, JMHO, but if you're happy with the rate, make the payment.

[Davidson Duo]

Yes, but I was wondering. Does this card also offer insurance protection (cancellation, medical, etc) when you charge your trip on the card. My current card does that.

 

And that can be a great saving.

 

You can purchase the total insurance package if you would like it as an add on. The total package costs are:

 

Under 65 yrs. old - $99 per year

65 - 69 - $299

70 - 74 - $399

 

 

Medical Protection: ($89 per year if purchased by itself)

 

• Up to $2 million in eligible expenses
  
• For trips up to 31 days in length
  
• Year round coverage for you and your family
  
• Unlimited number of trips per year
  
• Emergency hospital, ambulance and medical expenses
  
• Private Duty Nurse cost (up to $5,000)
  
• Emergency dental expenses (up to $2,000 per family member)
  
• Emergency air transportation by air ambulance to the nearest appropriate medical facility or to a Canadian hospital
  

Optional Extension of Coverage:

Your Coverage Period can be extended provided no event has occurred that would give rise to a claim under this insurance and provided you request an extension by phone prior to your scheduled return date. Your total Trip length including extensions cannot exceed 183 days (212 days if you reside in Ontario or Newfoundland).

 

 

Travel Protection with Trip Cancellation :( ($60 per year by itself)

 

• Collision damage waiver insurance for car rentals
  
• Trip cancellation (up to $2,500 per family member and $5,000 per account)
  
• Trip interruption/trip delay (up to $2,000 per family member)
  
• Baggage delay, loss or damage up to $750 per trip, per family member
  
• Flight delay benefits up to $500 per account per trip
  
• Common carrier accidental death and dismemberment insurance (up to $500,000)
  
• Unexpected return home and trip assistance
  
• Unlimited number of trips per year
  

 

 

Coverage Eligibility

You do not need to charge your Trip to your MasterCard to be eligible for this coverage, providing your MasterCard Account is in Good Standing.

 

We purchase this every year and it is by far the cheapest insurance we have found. Cancellation coverage does not always cover the total amount of our trips (which tend to be longer durations now), but we are willing to self insure the difference, as we feel the odds of us having a claim balance out the extra premiums we save each trip. It covers us for any trip that we make during the year, whether it be a cruise, air/hotel/resort, or car tour.

 

We have been happy with their service in the past and have found their coverage to be the best suited to our needs-and pocketbook!:)

[sanssail]

Hello Davidson Duo ... we also use the BMO mastercard travel protection and think it is a good deal. Did your post imply that you have made a claim on this insurance ?

 

Also we were on the Rotterdam 33 day South Pacific this past spring and had a wonderful cruise so good cruising. On that cruise we participated in the Roll call group (our first) and it was well worthwhile. HAL went out of its way to provide private events for us and also a few couples in the group had pre-arranged tours that we were able to participate in for good value.

[Davidson Duo]

Hello Davidson Duo ... we also use the BMO mastercard travel protection and think it is a good deal. Did your post imply that you have made a claim on this insurance ?

 

Also we were on the Rotterdam 33 day South Pacific this past spring and had a wonderful cruise so good cruising. On that cruise we participated in the Roll call group (our first) and it was well worthwhile. HAL went out of its way to provide private events for us and also a few couples in the group had pre-arranged tours that we were able to participate in for good value.

 

We have not made a claim on their insurance personally, but my parents have. They were on a cruise, she tripped in Cabo, needed stitches to her eye, and broke her shoulder. She chose not to go to the hospital, but to return to the ship's doctor for attention, then on home (5 days). Long story short all turned out well.

 

But her claim for medical, etc. was covered with no problem, and they had great support for her as she needed it during the return trip home, and again once they finished the trip.

 

We have dealt with BMO for 40 years, and have always found them fair. I don't hesitate to recommend them.

 

We are definitely looking forward to our cruise in March. It sounds like most people who go on it really enjoy themselves. And our roll call has around 60 people all ready, so looks like we'll have a lively group. We can't wait! :)