Price drop after final payment: TA disadvantage?

[Pia1913]

I have learned that with Princess, HUCA (hang-up-call-again) is an important strategy to use if an agent seems to be giving the "wrong answer." Knowing that it isn't "a TA's job to keep calling..." I am becoming more convinced that I should go back to booking directly with Princess and prepare to HUCA (unless I can find an amazing TA like Luvmyrotti or suzyed).

 

Tim

 

You need to attend the M & G on your next cruise and "network."

[PescadoAmarillo]

I have called many times after final payment for price drops and was unsuccessful. But I called in the last month and was told that, although I couldn't get the flash fare, there was a another fare I could get. We moved from the cheapest inside guarantee on the ship to a specific obstructed OV cabin, received $100pp back on our credit card and an additional $20pp OBC. We had booked EZ air with this one and needed to keep the same booking number. But for three other cruises, I've simply cancelled, rebooked at the flash fare and am submitting the cancellation fee to Princess Vacation Protection. Even considering the cost of the insurance, we're saving over $500 per cruise.

[flip side of fifty]

More than 2 months ago I was ready to book a B2B cruise with a TA, but a medical situation with my fellow cruiser led me to not make the purchase. Now that the situation has resolved itself I have decided to take a "wait and monitor" approach to the purchase. Every few days I have monitored the unsold cabins on the Princess site. One day last week I was very surprised when I logged on only to find All the mini suites sold out. There had been a good number of unsold cabins, then - sold. I believed the site and just thought I had missed a "Flash Sale" of some sort. The following day, the same unsold cabins were back as unsold. I guess a large amount of people could have held all the cabins, but it seems a little funny. I have also seen frequent rate changes and OBC changes.

 

After reading this thread, regarding the comments about "Final Payment Date", just when is this? With a cruise start date that is exactly 11 weeks out, as of today, I am wondering if I should start a daily "Princess Check In" regarding rates. My plan was to check with the Princess web site and then contact my TA to see if he could beat it.

[Pia1913]

More than 2 months ago I was ready to book a B2B cruise with a TA, but a medical situation with my fellow cruiser led me to not make the purchase. Now that the situation has resolved itself I have decided to take a "wait and monitor" approach to the purchase. Every few days I have monitored the unsold cabins on the Princess site. One day last week I was very surprised when I logged on only to find All the mini suites sold out. There had been a good number of unsold cabins, then - sold. I believed the site and just thought I had missed a "Flash Sale" of some sort. The following day, the same unsold cabins were back as unsold. I guess a large amount of people could have held all the cabins, but it seems a little funny. I have also seen frequent rate changes and OBC changes.

 

After reading this thread, regarding the comments about "Final Payment Date", just when is this? With a cruise start date that is exactly 11 weeks out, as of today, I am wondering if I should start a daily "Princess Check In" regarding rates. My plan was to check with the Princess web site and then contact my TA to see if he could beat it.

 

If you booked your cruise today, final payment date would be December 5th.

[cactusrose]

I have called many times after final payment for price drops and was unsuccessful. But I called in the last month and was told that, although I couldn't get the flash fare, there was a another fare I could get. We moved from the cheapest inside guarantee on the ship to a specific obstructed OV cabin, received $100pp back on our credit card and an additional $20pp OBC. We had booked EZ air with this one and needed to keep the same booking number. But for three other cruises, I've simply cancelled, rebooked at the flash fare and am submitting the cancellation fee to Princess Vacation Protection. Even considering the cost of the insurance, we're saving over $500 per cruise.

 

The most clever strategy I've heard.

[PescadoAmarillo]

More than 2 months ago I was ready to book a B2B cruise with a TA, but a medical situation with my fellow cruiser led me to not make the purchase. Now that the situation has resolved itself I have decided to take a "wait and monitor" approach to the purchase. Every few days I have monitored the unsold cabins on the Princess site. One day last week I was very surprised when I logged on only to find All the mini suites sold out. There had been a good number of unsold cabins, then - sold. I believed the site and just thought I had missed a "Flash Sale" of some sort. The following day, the same unsold cabins were back as unsold. I guess a large amount of people could have held all the cabins, but it seems a little funny. I have also seen frequent rate changes and OBC changes.

 

After reading this thread, regarding the comments about "Final Payment Date", just when is this? With a cruise start date that is exactly 11 weeks out, as of today, I am wondering if I should start a daily "Princess Check In" regarding rates. My plan was to check with the Princess web site and then contact my TA to see if he could beat it.

Final payment date for most (not all) cruises is 75 days out. I've witnesses the same strange stuff happening with categories marked closed then the next day they're open at Flash rates.

[Pam in CA]

I rarely find a drop in the Princess price to below what my TA has charged. So a price adjustment to the Princess price would be an increase.

Same here. Probably because I usually start off paying 10-20% less than the Princess fare to start with through a TA. If the fare drops, the TA may not be able to drop my discounted fare and if they do, it's usually not the same drop as the Princess fare.

 

The bottom line is that since I almost always get a better price than the final Princess fare, I don't watch the fare changes as much as others since I know I'm already paying less.

[Mycruises62]

When I booked our first cruises, I never considered using a TA, assuming that it would be best to book directly with Princess. But over the past three years on CC I have learned of various advantages of using a TA instead of booking directly with Princess. It took me a while to find a TA I felt comfortable with, but eventually we met a friendly TA on a short getaway cruise (as we waited together to talk to the Future Cruise Consultant).

 

I have been happy with the personal service the TA has provided, and feel that the TA has responded to my concerns quickly and efficiently (and has even anticipated my needs in ways that may have saved me from having major problems).

 

But a few days after the final payment deadline for our next cruise, I noticed that the advertised price for the cruise had dropped $100 (this does not seem to be a "flash sale," and the price appears in black, not red, on the website). I asked the TA if it might be possible to get OBC for the $100 difference. (I thought I had recalled that our Princess Cruise Vacation Planner had done this for us previously in a similar situation.)

 

The TA cautioned me not to get my hopes up, but agreed to ask Princess. Later I received a message from the TA saying that Princess said that they do not make exceptions after final booking.

 

After this disappointment, I decided to do a search on CC to see if anyone else here had been in this situation. I found a 2012 thread on this subject, where some users (such as posts 16 and 18 on this thread) said that Princess would honor the difference in cases like this while a TA would not do so.

 

I thanked our TA for trying to get an adjustment, and I believe that the TA really did try to help. Assuming that the TA probably received a reduced commission (because this cruise was booked in part with previous "free cruise" credits from a getaway cruise), I would not want to even think of reducing the TA's commission any further to give me any credit. Nevertheless, I am beginning to wonder if in the future it might be wise to switch back to booking directly with Princess.

 

Various times on CC (including on the 2012 thread I mentioned above) I have seen Pam in CA offer the advice that a TA who books a high volume of Princess cruises would provide a discounted price which would make such late pleas for adjustments unnecessary. Apparently my TA doesn't fall into that category, and I haven't taken the time to learn how to find one that does.

 

I also know that many CC users caution their fellow cruisers not to even look at the prices after final payment. Perhaps I should have taken their advice and saved myself some frustration.

 

Anyway, I like to let other people learn from my mistakes. Perhaps some other CC users will have some additional wisdom to offer about this which supplements what was said in the previously mentioned thread.

 

We are on the 11/9/2014 10 day Mexico cruise on the Grand Princess. Our balcony had a price drop on 200.00 PP I called my T/A and she had the 400.00 put back on our credit card. Plus extra ship board credit. It was a great day yesterday, this was of course after final payment.

[Mycruises62]

Same here. Probably because I usually start off paying 10-20% less than the Princess fare to start with through a TA. If the fare drops, the TA may not be able to drop my discounted fare and if they do, it's usually not the same drop as the Princess fare.

 

The bottom line is that since I almost always get a better price than the final Princess fare, I don't watch the fare changes as much as others since I know I'm already paying less.

 

I pay less then the princess fare as well. I have a wonderful T/A. give me a huge discount. plus a great OBC.

[eandj]

I agree that finding the right TA can save you more than what drops might show up later.

If you find one with a nice price and added obc's, stay loyal and it will pay off. By jumping from TA to TA you might lose good customer service and those nice surprises.

[Coral]

It is always worth it to ask. The TAs can see the different rate codes and usually know which can be reduced after final payment and which can not.

[suzyed]

Same here. Probably because I usually start off paying 10-20% less than the Princess fare to start with through a TA. If the fare drops, the TA may not be able to drop my discounted fare and if they do, it's usually not the same drop as the Princess fare.

 

The bottom line is that since I almost always get a better price than the final Princess fare, I don't watch the fare changes as much as others since I know I'm already paying less.

 

Ditto!

But I did find a lower fare at one point and called my TA and they did lower my fare quite a bit! Win/Win!

Edited September 29, 2014 by suzyed

[DMRick]

I've tried using her TA twice and both times her price was not as low as what I have gotten elsewhere. And my elsewhere TA was sucessful in a recent drop in price in getting me the drop of $150 in OBC. So really, you need to ask around and see who others are using and had good luck with..or perhaps in this case, the price couldn't be lowered or obc offered and you do have a good TA.

Various times on CC (including on the 2012 thread I mentioned above) I have seen Pam in CA offer the advice that a TA who books a high volume of Princess cruises would provide a discounted price which would make such late pleas for adjustments unnecessary. Apparently my TA doesn't fall into that category, and I haven't taken the time to learn how to find one that does.

.

[DMRick]

Totally agree!

 

Took the words right out of my mouth!

In an effort to try booking directly with Princess, I asked if they would match what my TA was offering and I was told, "no, we don't do that". So even with Princess price drops for my upcoming cruise, the price is still way more than what I paid through my TA! ;)

[Iamcruzin]

Just a quick question from the UK because I am really intrigued by all of this - if you bought a new TV and then saw that the store was running a sale a few weeks later, would you go in and ask for some of your money back? In the UK you pay the price at the time and that's your lot. You take a chance on booking at the lowest price. We would be laughed out of court if we asked for a discount if the price dropped after we had booked.

In the U.S. they have to adjust the price if it drops with in 15 days of purchase. Some retailers are more liberal with the policy.

[Coral]

In the U.S. they have to adjust the price if it drops with in 15 days of purchase. Some retailers are more liberal with the policy.

 

Is that a law in your state? We don't have that where I live. I doubt this is a US law but more of a state by state law.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Coral

[Shaggydoggy]

I booked with a TA thru Costco ( good deals) and did receive not only a discount after final payment, but when TA called Princess to inquire about price drop they said they could 'upgrade' us only. The following week TA called to say Princess was giving us OBC and discount

as we were 'upgraded'. I was quite pleased to say the least.

[terrific_surprise]

...The TA cautioned me not to get my hopes up, but agreed to ask Princess. Later I received a message from the TA saying that Princess said that they do not make exceptions after final booking....

 

I'm thrilled to report that it looks like the frustrating story I shared here will have a very happy ending!

 

I received an email yesterday from a CC friend (Renee, aka cr8tiv1) that motivated me to check the roll call for my upcoming cruise. When I saw several people on the roll call happily reporting that they just received new discounts and OBC even though some of them booked through TAs (and it is obviously still past final payment), I decided to go ahead and ask my TA to give it one more try.

 

My TA quickly reported that Princess would be crediting us for $200 per person plus $100 extra OBC (for a total of $500)!

 

So I guess even with a TA "HUCA" is a good strategy!

 

On a day like this, I'm definitely glad to be part of the CC community!

 

Tim

[mbrodrig01]

terrific - I'm not sure why your TA wouldn't be able to get the lower price. Our final payment was due Aug. 26, on Aug. 29 I noticed a substantial price drop, called Princess and they gave us a credit card refund of the difference.

(I booked directly with Princess.)

 

If you dont mind me asking how long did it take princess to credit you back on your card? 2 weeks ago I noticed that the priced dropped and my TA called princess, and they gave me the credit back on my card but I am still waiting on it. it has only been 6 business days but it would be nice to use that money for my cruise too.

[Jadn13]

If you dont mind me asking how long did it take princess to credit you back on your card? 2 weeks ago I noticed that the priced dropped and my TA called princess, and they gave me the credit back on my card but I am still waiting on it. it has only been 6 business days but it would be nice to use that money for my cruise too.

 

I was told yesterday that a credit always takes 2-3 weeks.

 

Keep checking because my TA had to follow up with Princess about a credit that failed to show back up on my card. Princess recognized the mistake and are again issuing the credit but it will still take 2-3 weeks .

Edited November 18, 2014 by Jadn13

[Guinnessgal31]

Princess definitely will offer OBCs or upgrades after the final payment deadline. Always try. Also--if the person you speak to won't do it, I recommend asking to speak to a manager. They usually have the power to do more than the Princess customer service reps can.

 

Here's what happened to us: About a week after our final payment date, there was a MAJOR drop in price on our cruise--all stateroom categories. We were booked into an interior room, and we wanted a balcony, so we didn't really want a refund or an OBC. We wanted an upgrade.

 

We called Princess directly and were told by the rep they couldn't do anything for us since it was past the final payment deadline and the deal was for new bookings only. I asked to speak to a manager, and the manager immediately tells us she can either offer us an OBC for the difference or upgrade us to an obstructed ocean view stateroom free of charge. I didn't even have a chance to ask for either of those--they just offered them. So, they do offer OBCs after the final payment date. However, I told her we actually hoping to upgrade to a balcony, and that we were willing to pay the difference as long as they would agree to give us the new guest rate. It took her all of five minutes to charge our card the difference and help us choose a balcony stateroom for what had previously been the cost of an oceanview. Five minutes later, we had the new confirmation with our balcony stateroom and new receipt on it.

 

So, for anyone else who is thinking about calling for a price adjustment, OBC, or upgrade after the final payment deadline, definitely give it a shot. The worst they can say is no. Oh--and if they do say no, ask to speak to a manager. You may have better luck.

[MrsFops&FopsC5]

My TA got us $300 OBC for our upcoming cruise even past final payment. Believe me it is greatly appreciated and as such will continue to get my cruise and land business.