Avalon VS Viking pricing

[Kylie]

I have sailed with Viking 3 times and have always refused to pay one year ahead. They have always let me pay 6 months ahead ( which is still about 3-4 months before other lines require payment).

 

We just paid Dec. 1 for our June 3, 2016 Viking cruise - our TA got that date set for us. Not too bad.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Kylie

[janetcbl]

Hello janetcbl,

 

that is good to know. The slight "hiccup" in this for me is that you actually refused and asked for different conditions. Most river cruisers IMO will do not think of doing so.

 

Let me ask: are we talking about full payment here, one year in advance?

 

The German (and European) situation is quite different, there is a common way of doing things. Deposit, then full payment 90 days before departure, except for special offers. These come in the shape of discounts, or early booking (and payment) price reduction. Etc. There are probably exceptions to my general statement. If anyone comes across one I would like to know.

 

For me paying one year in advance for a service is still out of the question. But then me being on the other side of the big pond I luckily have different options (i.e. companies). Some of those are available in North America now, of course.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Yes, Viking usually demands full payment, often a year + in advance, which is why I refuse to pay the balance so far ahead. Many other US companies are "upping " the time for full payment to 4 months before sailing, but the usual seems to be 3 months before sailing...except for Viking. If more people refused to pay so far ahead, maybe the requirement would change.

[franski]

I'm not sure about travel agents--but ignoring that and ignoring whether or not you are comfortable pre-paying to such a large extent-- to put this pre-pay issue in proper perspective you need to calculate the value of the money tied up for that period of time, assuming you have the money in the first place.

 

So let's assume a cruise costs $10K, close to what my wife and I are paying for the Grand European Tour (15 days) we just signed up on Viking, which was $9,923 for the trip, with air, from Cleveland, OH, for the lowest category. Viking will have this money for 8 months (it's a July trip). Avalon would have the money just 3 months.

 

Let's assume the money would earn you 5%, which is $500/yr or $208 for the five extra months you have the money at Viking. The similar tour offered by Avalon is $11,200 with air, $1220 more than Viking. This is why I went with Viking.

 

I am with you on this one, thdave... other than the issue of earning 5% on your money. Would LOVE to know what bank is paying that these days!!

 

Another wrinkle for those of us living in Canada is the exchange on the dollar. We know a couple that booked with Viking (they did their homework, liked the package and the price) and negotiated a later date for their final payment. Then our dollar tanked.... and it cost them significantly more at time of final payment than it would have to pay earlier.

 

Viking now has brochures with "Canadian pricing" (think 20+ percent above the US price) but we aren't even looking at anything that has a US parent company due to our low dollar. Our next cruise is with Emerald.

 

Fran

[thdave]

Funny, I just picked a high interest rate to more dramatically show the costs of the lost value of money by paying far in advance. That said, there are municipal bonds in Ohio available that are paying ~4%. Also, stock market returns have been averaging >5% per year.