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How to check price drop in US funds when you are Canadian?

canadianbear

By canadianbear,
in Holland America Line

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canadianbear

canadianbear

Posted
Posted

We did a future cruise deposit when on the Eurodam and booked a Panama Canal cruise for April 2013. Today I noticed a price drop and phoned HAL.

 

Upon further checking she found that the price drop is in Canadian funds but because we had booked using the FCC while on the Eurodam that was in US funds. So, the options were:

 

1) cancel the cruise and re-book in Canadian funds to get the $300 price drop but then we would have to pay the $800 each as a deposit because we couldn't use the FCC as it was in US funds

 

2) leave it as it was and phone them every month to see if there is a price drop.

 

She was quite surprised (as was I) that the Canadian price had dropped lower than the US fare.

 

I asked if there was a way I could watch the website for price drops in US funds but she said because we are Canadian our "server" only goes to their Canadian prices. I left the booking as is for now.

 

Does anyone know of any way I can "fool" our computer to think we are US to check for price drops on this cruise in the coming months?

 

Thanks.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
Posted
I sent you an email are this.

 

Mar56

 

 

all I have ever done is use the on line travel sites to try to determine price drops. If there is a way to check the HAL US prices for Canadians, would you be kind enough to share this with me as well? thanks so much.:)

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Mar56

Mar56

Posted
Posted
all I have ever done is use the on line travel sites to try to determine price drops. If there is a way to check the HAL US prices for Canadians, would you be kind enough to share this with me as well? thanks so much.:)

 

done - check your email.

 

Mar56

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iancal

iancal

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There are two ways that we get US and CAD fares. Your Canadian TA has the ability to quote your fare in USD and in CAD. These are seperate quotes and we have found a difference in pricing when there has been changes to the cruise lines's exchange rate or in the market. A GOOD TA is very familiar with this. IF you get a blank look from your Canadian TA when you ask for USD as well as CAD pricing then it is time to get a new TA. This is fairly basic stuff for a good TA.

 

If we log in to the cruise line site and the prices show as CAD we drop off and log in thru another source, like google or something else. It seems to shield our ID and give us US pricing. We primarily use an on line US TA who is very responsive and very price competitve. I think that all but one of our last 10 cruises were booked in the US. We maintain a US dollar bank account and a US dollar VISA card. Makes it much easier and we avoid VISA's userous exhange rates.

 

Keep in mind that the US price that you see when checking with a US on line TA site is NOT the price that you pay. You will typically get a rebate of anywhere from 8-12 percent or more of the basic fare in the form of an on board credit or prepaid gratuities. You need to call, speak to a live person, and ask how much OBC you will get by booking with them. This rebate usually covers our daily gratuity charge.

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Johanna7

Johanna7

Posted
Posted

When we get the Future Cruise Certificates, we always specify US now as we no longer book with Canadian TAs. They always promote their insurance which is no good for us due to the excessive cost and the fact they are age dependent. We are both over 70 now and it is out of this world and they want you to fill in a long questionnaire with all your previous conditions.

 

The US insurance is no trouble at all, cheap, no 8% sales tax and not age dependent and if paid for when booking, covers previous conditions.

 

I have been happy with US TAs and they give shipboard credit. Never had that from Cdn TAs, maybe a soft drink card and I seldom drink pop. Prefer tea.

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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Thanks everyone for your answers (and e-mail)...appreciate it. We haven't transferred our booking to a TA as yet just dealing with HAL as they have our future cruise deposit holding this sailing for now. I had hoped just to monitor HAL site for price drops etc for awhile.

 

Lots to think about-thanks again for everyone's help.

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ger_77

ger_77

Posted
Posted

Can I also be privy to how to find prices not in Canadian funds? I usually email friends who live in the US and ask them to check for me. Not the easiest, especially if I'm in a hurry, but it works. I tried going into the HAL site from the google toolbar, but that didn't work either. My email is ger underscore 77 at yahoo dot com - I appreciate any assistance you can provide!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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Yes, we still need to figure out how us Canadians can get on HAL's U.S. website with American dollars showing instead of always in Canadian funds.

 

We can look at online US agencies for prices but I'd really like to get on HAL's U.S. website to monitor them.

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boards Holiday Sharing Rare

boards

Posted
Posted

 

I can get a better price in Cdn. funds from Hal's website for a Nov. 2012 we are considering than from website shown above. I would tell which one but I want it available when we book next month. I know, not smart to wait, but DW says we have too.

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Mar56

Mar56

Posted
Posted
Could I bother you too for this information? Our cruise is booked in American $ also and would like to keep a eye on price. email fdemeyere@amtelcom.net

 

I copied and pasted your email and sent you a reply but it said it wasn't delivered. Could you email me at sam dot watt at hotmail dot com and I'll reply with the info.

 

Mar56

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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Agree. Just because you are Canadian doesn't mean your FCC automatically comes in CAD$ and you can ask for either USD$ or CAD$.

 

I still think that everyone should have the option of checking prices on HAL's website in Canadian and/or US dollars without having to have a friend in the other country do it for them. Everyone is told to monitor the cruise you are booked on for price drops and this just makes it more difficult. Guess we just keep calling HAL to check for us.

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Koshlong

Koshlong

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We book in either CDN or US $ depending on the price difference at the time of booking. Our TA checks both for us. However, every web site I've tried (including travel agencies) always directs us to CDN prices, no option seems to be given.

 

Can you send me the information about checking this? My email is in my signature. I know my TA would check for us if we asked her, but I don't think it's fair to bother her regularly with this kind of question.

 

Thanks, I hope,

 

Marnie

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tcook052

tcook052

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I still think that everyone should have the option of checking prices on HAL's website in Canadian and/or US dollars without having to have a friend in the other country do it for them. Everyone is told to monitor the cruise you are booked on for price drops and this just makes it more difficult. Guess we just keep calling HAL to check for us.

 

As mentioned earlier, a good TA can check both currencies easily and let the client decide which currency they would prefer. However you can't change the currency of the FCC so you're stuck with what you selected.

 

The good news is that there's mercifully little difference bewteen the two currencies these days unlike once upon a time.

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xjust4fun

xjust4fun

Posted
Posted
I sent you an email are this.

 

Mar56

 

Would you mind sharing this information with us, we booked a 37 night cruise on the Meds with a US TA and we sure would love to know this information. Any savings would help and we would like to be able to track the prices since we still have 8 months to wait. Our email is charlebd2003 at yahoo.ca

 

Thank you so much.

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