Share the Savings? Simply Not True!!

[mrsbojamp]

Initially after reading your response I was thinking like RickEK.

 

If you click on the current share the savings link does it show your price? I agree it does seem strange the way you are describing the situation.

 

I just went to the booking to see if it showed a price when I go to share, but it doesn't. If I click "invite a friend" it just brings me to a page to enter all of the info for the friend. At the very bottom there was a link for Terms and Conditions. I thought "aha!! This is where I will get my answer. " But, no. These are the terms:

 

Share the Savings allows you to share your booking's promotional offer with others to create 2 additional bookings. The guests must sail with you on the same voyage. They may book their cruise via princess.com, by calling Princess directly or by working with a travel agent. To qualify for the shared promotional offer, these guests must provide the same email and home address that you provide within their invitation during the online sharing process. To book online, the guests must register with this email and home address or use an online profile that includes this information. If you cancel outside of final payment, the guests will lose the rate and receive new fares. Share the Savings offers are only available to guests who reside in countries for which the promotion applies. Share the Savings offer is available for a limited time and based on availability.

 

Perhaps it is because the cruise has already been booked, but that was not an issue when we did it in September. I plan on calling Princess on Tuesday in hopes of speaking with a supervisor (tomorrow being a holiday),

[MelbourneCruiser]

I will admit i have not looked into this promotion "share the savings" cause i will not be using it so didn't bother looking into it but my understanding of the promo would your friends would get the price that you did when you applied for it and then if your price goes down there's wouldn't.

 

now this might not be the problem you are having and i could be wrong so its just something to think about if this applies to you.

[RickEk]

Great....could you please show me where those rules are stated? "Share the savings" is still an option when I look at my booking online, so presumably I should be able to share my promotional pricing, if I understand how this goes. I would think that if it was not an option, it would not appear when I logged in.

 

Well, it sure seems to me that you have at least two promotions that have been combined on your booking... one is shareable (and that's why it still appears in your personalizer) and the other is not. Once you speak to their customer relations (and they'll be open on Monday) let us know what they say...

[mrsbojamp]

I have wonderful news!!! I got a response from my email that I sent to customer relations. They have given my sister the discount!! The email stated that I should have re-done the "share the savings" when I re-fared my cruise. I'm so happy and my sister is too!!

 

Now I feel like this thread should be re-named. Can that be done? Thanks for everyone's responses to this matter.

[Ren1216]

Congrats!! Enjoy your cruise.

[RickEk]

I have wonderful news!!! I got a response from my email that I sent to customer relations. They have given my sister the discount!! The email stated that I should have re-done the "share the savings" when I re-fared my cruise. I'm so happy and my sister is too!!

 

Now I feel like this thread should be re-named. Can that be done? Thanks for everyone's responses to this matter.

 

Coolness abounds!

[AE_Collector]

Last June we were targeted with better prices on a cruise to Alaska than our friends and relatives could get so we used the Share the Savings to give them our pricing which worked perfectly.

 

We booked a Hawaii to Vancouver cruise for this April just before the final payment date back in January. Yesterday we asked my wife's parents if they wanted to come along. Prices have crept upwards the last month so I called in yesterday to book them with a Share the Savings. After quite a bit of the booking was complete the Princess rep came to the conclusion that our promotion "wasn't combinable" so it ended there.

 

Later I noticed that there was a Share the Savings button when i logged into Princess which had the same wording reported earlier in this topic:

 

The fare you have booked qualifies for our “Share the Savings” program. You may invite up to two friends or family members (two staterooms maximum) to join you on your cruise, and they will be offered the same promotional pricing you received. Click “Invite Friend” below to get started! This offer available for a limited time.

 

So I clicked it, filled in the info and my inlaws received the invite. I decided to call in today as yesterday was Sunday and I thought I might get a better result during regular weekday hours. I sure did! I was told that was an error and we proceeded with the booking. A few minutes later I got "oh I see what you are trying to do, you are trying to give them the same rate you got but that promo is over. Their best price for the same cabin is $300 each higher now".

 

I read her the wording (above) from the web site which makes it very clear that they should be offered the same price we got assuming there are still cabins available but no go. I have to agree after reading the rest of this topic, the wording is VERY misleading. Either that or there is a lot of inconsistencies in how it is applied.

 

After I got the in-laws excited about the trip it all fell apart. In the end rather than paying $300 each more they paid $400 each more and got a balcony rather than an Obstructed OV like us so it worked out not too bad.

 

I would still like to see some clarification on this though because after it worked perfectly for us last year it didn't work at all for us this year.

 

As for the OP's situation, it seems reasonable to me that you use the Share the Savings to book your friends/relatives but if there are then changes after that you may not be able to continue to get the other persons rates reduced depending on the situation. Even though you could right then do a new Share the Savings for someone else who may get the further reduced price.

 

Terry

Edited March 25, 2014 by AE_Collector

[likeadisguise]

I'd imagine the issue is that whether the Share the Savings button shows on your personalizer is based in whether you're booked under a promo code that allows StS (not all do).

 

Your issue is that the promo you booked under is over. So, while you can share that code, it does them no good, as it's not a current promo being offered.

 

It sounds like a glitch with the website, which needs to do a two step check - is the promo code part of StS *and* is that promo still available.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Edited March 25, 2014 by likeadisguise

[AE_Collector]

It seems to me that promos are constantly coming and going. If they really mean that you can only Share the Savings while the promo that you booked on is still running the wording seems to be very out of line. I guess as you say if the button simply disappeared as soon as it was no longer applicable that would solve the problem as well.

 

The intent of the program could be one of two things. Share the pricing that you received initially or share the price you are able to get at any moment in time. The latter isn't as likely to be a savings to the person receiving it but still may be depending on their loyalty level or targeted promos. The wording seems to imply that the program is based on the former scenario.

 

Terry

Edited March 25, 2014 by AE_Collector

[likeadisguise]

I believe it's designed precisely to share promos based on loyalty level or targeted promotions -- you can "share the savings" with someone who's not yet entitled to it. I don't think it was ever intended to let you offer your price to someone else indefinitely, months later.

 

Like many things, they could probably explain/implement it better!

[RickEk]

From what I understand, a "Share the Savings" promotion should be good until the ship sails. The original promo may have expired, but it can be shared with other folks to get the original rate. It's possible that a promo was coded wrong, but Princess' customer relations department should be able to fix that kind of mistake.

[JoAnneNYI]

I used a travel agent for our upcoming cruise. Because we have more cruises than our travel companions, their price would have been $500 more than ours. So the TA suggested a switch on paper only, meaning, list the husbands in one room and the wifes in the other, so the prices would be the same. Then once on the ship, go up to the front desk and switch the rooms. Well, as it turned out we were able to use 'Share the Savings' and not play the room name game. A good TA is a great help.

 

I just spoke to princess today and they suggested the same thing so our companions get same pricing. He said to just switch room cards and sleep in room want...but that could not change at the desk once onboard.

[rayandshirl]

We have had many family members and friends "share the savings" and have always used a travel agent that books lots of cruises with Princess. We and our family and friends have never had a problem with the pricing.

 

Find a good travel agent.