Nickle and Diming

[OlsSalt]

But who will cover the gratuity cost?

 

Let alone the taxes Uncle Sam is going to impose on that prize money. :eek:

[OlsSalt]

WOW!!!! Better than a cruise. :) TY :D

 

Or you can look at it this way: Add only $14.75 more, and you can go to the Pinnacle for free!!

[serendipity1499]

LOL:D:D: Have been laughing my head off reading the last two pages..

 

HAL is a very nice mainline cruise line. I have never thought of HAL as

"upscale and prestigious". I see HAL primarily as a high-value cruise line in which I appreciate they are looking after the bottom line, so we can still afford to visit all those far away places with strange sounding names without paying the "upscale and prestigious" prices. If they need to cut a few corners to keep doing this, we will just go with the flow, as long as we don't have to start rowing. :p

 

You are right HAL is not "upscale & prestigious".. That's why I enjoy sailing on them! I'm also a stockholder & am glad they are charging the 25 cents per page.. For the first time on all of our cruises we used the HAL computers for e-mail when we did our Antarctica/South America cruise, but will probably will not use the Internet while we are on our next cruise..

 

I'm sorry, but I just don't see any meaningful distinction between "25 cents per boarding pass" and "25 cents per page for printing".

 

I don't either & think that the sign was put there by the Internet Mgr for those Psgrs who never or rarely use the Internet just to let them know printing of boarding passes won't cost an arm & a leg.. Maybe he had been inundated with questions from Psgrs asking how much it would cost to print their boarding passes.. Also wonder if boarding passes could be printed without paying the $2.95 Internet fee?

 

Perhaps if the sign read: "Printing of Boarding Passes only 25 cents" it would have been less objectionable to the OP..

Edited November 3, 2013 by serendipity1499

[donaldsc]

You can't be serious. Assuming that the cruise cost you $4000, your 25 cent printing cost is 0.01% (not 1% but 0.01%) of the cruise cost.

 

DON

Edited November 3, 2013 by donaldsc

[florisdekort]

Where do you get free printing?

...

 

On Celebrity Cruises.

[GeriatricNurse]

Not to veer off course here but Luggage Direct is the way to go...what a bargain at $20 per person. Put our bags outside our room on Saturday night and didn't see them again until we landed in Boston late Sunday!

 

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, 'Luggage Direct' is NOT available to Canadians who are flying with the (two) Canadian air carriers! :(

[trvlcrzy]

Cause if you're flying Southwest, printing out your boarding card a day early vs at the airport is the difference between sitting by your DW in a location of your choice and sitting apart in middle row seats half a plane apart... :eek:

 

Or you can pay the extra early bird charge for Southwest to take care of it for you. Hmmm. $0.25 vs. the SWA charge for the service... was that $15 or $25? That early bird charge is supposed to get you in group A, but apparently they oversell sometimes. I've been in group B more than once after paying for the convenience.

Edited November 3, 2013 by trvlcrzy

[swom]

Carol's right. I fly Southwest when I fly domestic, and I never print out a boarding pass---at home, or on the ship. I do like to check in, though.

I believe the ship gave me a boarding pass for Southwest when I used Luggage Direct, but don't recall. I do know it would have been paid for in the LD fee, with no additional charge for the boarding pass.

I have a question about Southwest. Never flown with them, but think I am this time. Can I pick my seat when I reserve or do I have to pay the 12.50 extra pp to get this OR do I get this option if I do pay the 12.50 pp?

Thanks!

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

No one can reserve a seat on Southwest. If you pay the 12.50 you will be assigned a boarding position ahead of those who do not pay the extra fee. Then the next group of people are automatically assigned a boarding position based on checking in at the earliest 24 hours ahead. A boarding position is the number you are assigned to board - the first group is A 1-30, then A 31-60, then B 1-30 and so on. When the flight is called, you line up according to the position number on your boarding pass. I believe A1 to A15 or so are reseved for those who pay full fare or business or whatever SW calls it. When we pay the 12.50 we are usually assigned in the range of A20-A30. Families with small children board between the A and B folks and those who need special assistance - wheel chairs etc. must get a blue sleeve for their boarding pass at the check in counter and they board first before anyone else. System works quite well actually and SW boards their planes faster than any other airline IMO.

[swom]

Carol's right. I fly Southwest when I fly domestic, and I never print out a boarding pass---at home, or on the ship. I do like to check in, though.

I believe the ship gave me a boarding pass for Southwest when I used Luggage Direct, but don't recall. I do know it would have been paid for in the LD fee, with no additional charge for the boarding pass.

 

No one can reserve a seat on Southwest. If you pay the 12.50 you will be assigned a boarding position ahead of those who do not pay the extra fee. Then the next group of people are automatically assigned a boarding position based on checking in at the earliest 24 hours ahead. A boarding position is the number you are assigned to board - the first group is A 1-30, then A 31-60, then B 1-30 and so on. When the flight is called, you line up according to the position number on your boarding pass. I believe A1 to A15 or so are reseved for those who pay full fare or business or whatever SW calls it. When we pay the 12.50 we are usually assigned in the range of A20-A30. Families with small children board between the A and B folks and those who need special assistance - wheel chairs etc. must get a blue sleeve for their boarding pass at the check in counter and they board first before anyone else. System works quite well actually and SW boards their planes faster than any other airline IMO.

TY so are you saying it's worth the extra 12.50 to board first?

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

TY so are you saying it's worth the extra 12.50 to board first?

 

Yes, for us it is as we like to sit near the front.

 

However, if you change your flight as we did recently as we could catch an earlier one, you lose your boarding position and take what's left. We ended up in the last row which actually wasn't so bad as we were heading home and by the time we got to baggage claim, our luggage was there.

 

Sorry folks - I know this is not about nickling and diming on ships.

[avalon1025]

Crystal. Comes down to "You can pay me now (in the fare) or you can pay me later. I enjoy the free printing but would pay the quarter a page in a heartbeat.

 

Roy

 

Bingo! Crystal gave everyone on my sailing 20 minutes of internet to check in and print their boarding passes on the last day. A lovely cruise, but over $750 a day, vs for the week. You dont want nickle and diming, you unfortunately have to pay for the higher end cruise lines.

[RuthC]

TY so are you saying it's worth the extra 12.50 to board first?

The first people to board are those who need assistance, but even then there may already be people sitting on the plane. If there are through passengers from the preceding flight, they were allowed to move, and frequently do move to the first rows.

I have seen the first disabled passenger to board, thinking she would get her choice seat, surprised to see someone already in it.

I have also seen through passengers who were allowed to leave the plane reboard before the waiting passengers. Sometimes people don't understand those people get to cut the line.

Then after the passengers needing assistance---along with one companion per assisted passenger---come the A, family, B, and C groups.

 

As SJSU says, though, it's very organized and quick. It's so much better than the old days when you had to stand in line to hold your place from the time you arrived at the gate.