price drop

[lolmerry]

Hi my holiday has gone down about £60,wont Thomsons do anything about this.I know the other cruiselines do,I dont think they do but that would help them get back loyalty from their customers,Anyone had any onboard credit or anything because of price increases,thanks

[campolady]

No - Thomsons won´t do anything.

 

We booked for October last year 11 months in advance and the price dropped just 3 days after booking. I contacted Thomson to say how unfair this was and all I was told was that we had the pick of dates by booking early!

 

Our next cruise has already dropped by over 100 Pounds each with 4 months to go befo9re we sail.

 

It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth but sadly nothing we can do about it.

[davecttr]

No, they won't do anything and neither will most other cruise lines. The bargain is struck when you pay your deposit and they accept it. It is all down to consumer law which is different here than in the USA where they do match price reductions.

 

Be very wary of any 'price promise'. You will probably find that they have devious and just legal ways of avoiding paying.

[WeeCountyMan]

"Anyone had any onboard credit or anything because of price increases,thanks"

 

You haven't had a price increase though.

[Iain1873]

If the price went up would you ask to pay more ??? , sorry its called fluid pricing and moves all the time dependent upon demand/promotions at the date you view the cruise and its cost

[gemini77]

We have always booked our cruise late to get the cheaper deal. We are not worried about having the AI drinks so free AI for booking early doesn't appeal to us.

We had been watching our cruise for about 3 months before we booked and noticed some interesting things.

Thomson would always increase the price over the weekend.

The price would be lower on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

The price would also rise if there was an increase of traffic on their website.

Thomson would often lower the price of the cruise but then up the price of the cabin supplements to compensate.

Thomson had a £50 voucher off late bookings until they dropped the price by £50 then they removed that offer.

They use a range of different marketing tactics.

 

Buy booking early at least you are guaranteed the cabin you want and you get cheaper AI and I guess you pay a premium for that priviledge, however if like us you aren't too bothered about which deck you sleep on or you don't drink that much alcohol then I would suggest waiting it out. The ship is going anyway and Thomsons will always reduce the price nearer the time as they would rather sail with a full ship rather than lots of empty cabins.

[Huddersfieldtourist]

I read what you are saying about the days but have not found that to be the case as much as you have - but equally I have never noticed the price go down during daytime Saturday or Sunday ! I have seen price drops on a Friday night for the weekend though so I would say that the day of the week is not that important. I feel the other factors you mentioned are amongst the more significant elements.

 

Of course you are possibly watching from one airport and if you try a number of airports at the same time eg Manchester and say Gatwick you will see different things happening -sometimes one goes up and the other goes down - it is primarily about supply and demand and availability compared to departure date. There are other factors too.

 

If price goes down after people have booked you can not complain - if those people were not happy with the price they should not have booked it - and those who still feel aggrieved should ring Thomson when they see a cruise they have booked has gone up since they booked it and offer to pay the extra - and yes they do go up sometimes if demand is outstripping supply - sometimes with a month to go the price can be more than it was with say 2 or 3 months to go - particularly if they had a short term offer on at that time.

 

I bet no one who booked the weekend affair cruise whilst it had the £50 off offer on offered to pay Thomson the £50 when they withdrew it after less than a day as there was supposed to be a minimum spend.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Huddersfieldtourist

[WeeCountyMan]

"Of course you are possibly watching from one airport and if you try a number of airports at the same time eg Manchester and say Gatwick you will see different things happening -sometimes one goes up and the other goes down - it is primarily about supply and demand and availability compared to departure date. There are other factors too."

 

I think it's correct to highlight the airport factor as significant.

I price watched "Ancient Wonders"in October from Glasgow and Edinburgh - both were £693 then £621.

 

A couple of days later I went to book EDI at the lower price and it had gone up into the £800's - presumably due to fewer seats on the flight.

 

It's now £827, so I've saved over £400 by going from GLA.

 

It pays to look at alternative airports and flights.

 

Incidentally GLA has now risen to £656, so there appears to be a optimum time window for best price deals.

Edited July 30, 2014 by WeeCountyMan

[gemini77]

Yes I think the airport you fly from does make a difference to the price. Exeter was cheaper than Bristol for ages, then Bristol suddenly dropped.

I am sure most other travel companies use similar marketing techniques to sell their cruises and holidays.

I always believe, it you see what you want at a price you are willing to pay and think is acceptable then you've got a fair deal. You have to accept that others may get a different deal.

This will be our 3rd time on the Dream, I'm more worried about the negativity about her at the moment than the price we paid, as we sail in a fortnight :/

[Queenmandy]

We are going on the 16th august looking forward trying to be positive!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[nancyneptune]

"Of course you are possibly watching from one airport and if you try a number of airports at the same time eg Manchester and say Gatwick you will see different things happening -sometimes one goes up and the other goes down - it is primarily about supply and demand and availability compared to departure date. There are other factors too."

 

I think it's correct to highlight the airport factor as significant.

I price watched "Ancient Wonders"in October from Glasgow and Edinburgh - both were £693 then £621.

 

A couple of days later I went to book EDI at the lower price and it had gone up into the £800's - presumably due to fewer seats on the flight.

 

It's now £827, so I've saved over £400 by going from GLA.

 

It pays to look at alternative airports and flights.

 

Incidentally GLA has now risen to £656, so there appears to be a optimum time window for best price deals.

 

Is it the school holiday week in October by any chance. That would explain the price rise. Not all passengers on the flight are going on the cruise, many are going to hotels so demand will be high.

[WeeCountyMan]

Is it the school holiday week in October by any chance. That would explain the price rise. Not all passengers on the flight are going on the cruise, many are going to hotels so demand will be high.

 

20th October, so schools holidays are past.

 

I believe these are the last flights out to Dalaman for season 2014 - that may be a factor in booking patterns.

[gillhalfpint]

School holiday dates can vary around the country for October. Break up 28 October round the midlands.

[WeeCountyMan]

School holiday dates can vary around the country for October. Break up 28 October round the midlands.

 

That won't impact on flights from Scotland, the price differential between Edinburgh and Glasgow departures being the point

[BaggersCruising]

If the price went up would you ask to pay more ??? , sorry its called fluid pricing and moves all the time dependent upon demand/promotions at the date you view the cruise and its cost

 

Whilst I fully appreciate prices can go up or down after booking, when you've booked a cruise, then 3 weeks later you email Thomson to find out how much an upgrade is, they quote a stupid figure so you decline, then the next day not only have the dropped the price of the cruise quite significantly, with all the same perks I might add (£10pppn drinks), but are also offering a free upgrade to the new bookings, it's not exactly encouraging that customer to come back and book the next cruise with Thomson is it?

 

Maybe this has been a inherent problem with Thomson over the years and been slowly losing customers, hence the need to massively discount the cruises closer to departure just to fill the ships, which then leads to more dissatisfied customers, and then even less people booking early at full price the year after?