Upsell offer?

[Ineke]

Our T.A. called re an upsell offer for our upcoming cruise. HAL offered us a suite for an additional payment that is more than what we paid for our current booking. We said "No thank you!"

[Krazy Kruizers]

That sounds pretty steep to me and I would pass it up as well.

Don't know what category you had booked or what category the upsell offer was for.

[CruiserBruce]

There is no way for us to comment yea or nay without any details on this.

[Scrapnana]

If I had wanted to pay twice as much I would have booked a higher grade to start with. I would have turned down the offer, too.

[MermaidWatcher]

Our T.A. called re an upsell offer for our upcoming cruise. HAL offered us a suite for an additional payment that is more than what we paid for our current booking. We said "No thank you!"

 

Similar experience in August for us, except the offer was exactly equal to our original booking price. We both thought it had to be some kind of mistake, but my wife called, and they verified the numbers. What the hell kind of marketing logic is that ? If you entice me with an offer that is at least reasonably close to what I obviously wanted to spend, it would at least get consideration, but not doubling it. If I go to the Chevy dealer to buy a $25k car, it is not much of a chance that they upsell me to a $50K Tahoe, but they at least have a shot at me going to the $30K next level trim package.

Edited December 14, 2013 by MermaidWatcher

[jtl513]

If I had wanted to pay twice as much I would have booked a higher grade to start with. I would have turned down the offer, too.

It depends. If the original booking was for, say, $1000 pp when a suite was and is now selling for $3000 pp, then an additional $1000 pp to upgrade is a good deal.

 

As CruiserBruce said, without specifics we can't say if this was a good deal or not.

...

Edited December 14, 2013 by jtl513

[Linda&Vern]

Our T.A. called re an upsell offer for our upcoming cruise. HAL offered us a suite for an additional payment that is more than what we paid for our current booking. We said "No thank you!"

Without knowing what price you paid and the cabin category of your "current booking", we can't tell you if it's a great, good, or poor offer for a suite.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Linda&Vern

[MermaidWatcher]

If I had wanted to pay twice as much I would have booked a higher grade to start with. I would have turned down the offer, too.

 

Me thinks :rolleyes: ......for all the posters who say they can't comment without details, Scrapnana has got the point of the OP perfectly. It is not about an economics professors analysis of the markt value of the deal, it's about the practicality of offering you something that costs double what you were in the market for. When I am checking into my $250/night hotel room, it is irrelevant if they offer to give me the $4000/night presidential suite for $2000, because the great deal of 50% off has no relevance to what I was obviously looking to pay.

Edited December 14, 2013 by MermaidWatcher

[CruiserBruce]

Me thinks :rolleyes: ......for all the posters who say they can't comment without details, Scrapnana has got the point of the OP perfectly. It is not about an economics professors analysis of the markt value of the deal, it's about the practicality of offering you something that costs double what you were in the market for. When I am checking into my $250/night hotel room, it is irrelevant if they offer to give me the $4000/night presidential suite for $2000, because the great deal of 50% off has no relevance to what I was obviously looking to pay.

 

This amounts to personal preference. If the OP had an inside, and got offered the PS for twice the cost of the inside, that is a good deal. Perhaps the OP doesn't have the money to do that, and that is fine. But in the big economic picture, and the common cabin pricing schedule on HAL, that is a pretty good deal.

 

And, in the OP's statement compared to yours, the Presidential Suite would need to be priced at $500 to get the analogy correct. So, $500 is a pretty darned good deal for a Presidential Suite, using your analogy. But if the OP doesn't want it, or can't afford it, that is the OP's choice.

 

But, as the OP didn't give any real info, we can't tell what the situation really is.

Edited December 14, 2013 by CruiserBruce

[Linda&Vern]

Me thinks :rolleyes: ......for all the posters who say they can't comment without details, Scrapnana has got the point of the OP perfectly. It is not about an economics professors analysis of the markt value of the deal, it's about the practicality of offering you something that costs double what you were in the market for. When I am checking into my $250/night hotel room, it is irrelevant if they offer to give me the $4000/night presidential suite for $2000, because the great deal of 50% off has no relevance to what I was obviously looking to pay. [/color]

But how would HAL know that? Others "could" have been thrilled to have been offered a Suite upsell. Only the person receiving the upsell offer knows what they can/want to pay ... HAL can't predict that..

Edited December 14, 2013 by Linda&Vern

[Typhoon1]

Details are pretty sketchy making it impossible to comment.

[cruz chic]

Me thinks :rolleyes: ......for all the posters who say they can't comment without details, Scrapnana has got the point of the OP perfectly. It is not about an economics professors analysis of the markt value of the deal, it's about the practicality of offering you something that costs double what you were in the market for. When I am checking into my $250/night hotel room, it is irrelevant if they offer to give me the $4000/night presidential suite for $2000, because the great deal of 50% off has no relevance to what I was obviously looking to pay.

 

What is a presidential suite? I've never heard that on Hal. Do you mean the penthouse?

[oaktreerb]

HAL seems to keep the verandah prices high for those who want to choose their location on the ship. Once those placements slow down they seem to call people to see if they want to upgrade at a price. Then if they still have cabins available they lower the price until most verandah's are taken. At a certain point they offer only guarantees at a reduced price.

 

HAL has an interesting price structure in that some people can pay $4,000 (suite) for the same cruise that others pay $699 (inside) for. Everybody gets the same food, the same entertainment, essentially the same service around the ship, and most people have no idea what other people paid. Within this structure the company is expected to offer excellent service and a profit to shareholders.

 

Every time I think I have the game figured out it changes! But I know one thing. Once they get you into a verandah, that is the dream for your next cruise!

[jtl513]

It is not about an economics professors analysis of the markt value of the deal, it's about the practicality of offering you something that costs double what you were in the market for.

On the contrary, the "practicality" has no bearing on whether it is a good deal or not. People do change their minds sometimes, and a good enough deal might cause that.

 

What is a presidential suite? I've never heard that on Hal. Do you mean the penthouse?

At that point the poster had left the fleet and was talking about a "$250/night hotel room, {vs} the $4000/night presidential suite"

...

Edited December 15, 2013 by jtl513

[cruz chic]

 

At that point the poster had left the fleet and was talking about a "$250/night hotel room, {vs} the $4000/night presidential suite"

...

 

Thx for the clarification. I have a short attention span at times:D:eek:.

[Ineke]

We originally booked a VH guarantee. Phoned HAL about the Explore 4 promotion, which we couldn't get, but were eventually upgraded to a V guarantee, which we'll be quite happy with:). So $1600.00 extra just didn't seem like a reasonable option to us, it might be to others.

[MermaidWatcher]

What is a presidential suite? I've never heard that on Hal. Do you mean the penthouse?

The analogy this term was taken from was not about HAL. I was using a hotel room (thus the presidential suite) situation to make the point that no matter how great a deal it might be compared to retail price, if it is double what I was willing to pay when I booked it, I obviously am not interested in it, or I would have booked something at least closer to it to begin with.

[MermaidWatcher]

On the contrary, the "practicality" has no bearing on whether it is a good deal or not. People do change their minds sometimes, and a good enough deal might cause that.

 

At that point the poster had left the fleet and was talking about a "$250/night hotel room, {vs} the $4000/night presidential suite"

...

 

I guess we live in different worlds, because in mine practicality has everything to do with whether something is a good deal to me or not. It does not matter how good the math makes the deal look in theoretical discussion, it is not practical to expect that I am going to jump at a "deal" that costs two or more times what I wanted to spend when I bought the original product.

[Stakeout]

But how would HAL know that? Others "could" have been thrilled to have been offered a Suite upsell. Only the person receiving the upsell offer knows what they can/want to pay ... HAL can't predict that..

 

oh I bet they can.. they know every tidbit of info on every passenger and their history in sailing HAL

[MermaidWatcher]

And, in the OP's statement compared to yours, the Presidential Suite would need to be priced at $500 to get the analogy correct. So, $500 is a pretty darned good deal for a Presidential Suite, using your analogy. But if the OP doesn't want it, or can't afford it, that is the OP's choice.

 

My analogy is not intended to be a perfect mathematical proportion, as I am not comparing these two products to each other. The discussion is about the perceived "value" of the deal, so theoretically being offered a cruise ship suite deal for 50% off retail is the same value as being offered my hotel "Presidental " suite for 50% off retail, regardless of the actual dollar amount.

Edited December 15, 2013 by MermaidWatcher

[jtl513]

... it is not practical to expect that I am going to jump at a "deal" that costs two or more times what I wanted to spend when I bought the original product.

That's you. "Impractical" to you is not always that to everyone. Another person may just say "Hey, this is just too good a deal to pass up ... we've always wanted to try a suite ... let's go for it". Or maybe their financial situation is better now than when they originally booked. And that is what HAL is hoping for.

[cruz chic]

That's you. "Impractical" to you is not always that to everyone. Another person may just say "Hey, this is just too good a deal to pass up ... we've always wanted to try a suite ... let's go for it". Or maybe their financial situation is better now than when they originally booked. And that is what HAL is hoping for.

 

Totally agree. When I booked my Alaska cruise last August I never dreamed I'd be sailing in the penthouse. It was expensive over all to do it but I felt I deserved it after the rough road I'd faced for the couple months prior to that. I'm really happy I did but it's something I never thought I would do.

[catl331]

I guess we live in different worlds, because in mine practicality has everything to do with whether something is a good deal to me or not. It does not matter how good the math makes the deal look in theoretical discussion, it is not practical to expect that I am going to jump at a "deal" that costs two or more times what I wanted to spend when I bought the original product.

If you "won the lottery" you would not consider changing from a VH to a suite at twice what you wanted to spend originally? Edited December 15, 2013 by catl331

[visagrunt]

I think it all has to do with how many categories you are jumping, and what the final cost of the cruise is relative to the market value of the cruise.

 

Going from a VH gty, skipping over SY/SZ and landing in an SA/SB/SC strikes me as priced about right at twice the VH gty. But if I was looking at a shoulder season Alaska, I might expect to pay only the VA price to snag an SA.

 

At the end of the day, HAL has plenty of experience building offers and gauging what their passengers are willing to buy.

 

I was recently offered an upsell from an A to an SA on the Amsterdam for about 30% of our original fair, and I didn't even hesitate to snap it up.

[MermaidWatcher]

I think it all has to do with how many categories you are jumping, and what the final cost of the cruise is relative to the market value of the cruise.

 

Going from a VH gty, skipping over SY/SZ and landing in an SA/SB/SC strikes me as priced about right at twice the VH gty. But if I was looking at a shoulder season Alaska, I might expect to pay only the VA price to snag an SA.

 

At the end of the day, HAL has plenty of experience building offers and gauging what their passengers are willing to buy.

 

I was recently offered an upsell from an A to an SA on the Amsterdam for about 30% of our original fair, and I didn't even hesitate to snap it up.

 

My point. I also would consider 30% a reasonable upsell offer. The OP's offer was over 100% of his purchased room; would you have taken that "deal" ? I ask because here is a real life situation, not the theoretical parameters being argued by most here, some of which have drifted into the realm of deep space.

I suspect that none of the posters promoting this over analysis have taken any 100% plus upsells as a good deal.

 

Highlight in the quote added by this poster for reference.

Edited December 15, 2013 by MermaidWatcher