Expiring Future Cruise Credits

[RMLincoln]

Maybe CCers on the Princess forum can help me....

 

We (DH and I) each have a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) purchased on board Ocean Princess in Jan 2014. It was good for 2 years, plus I had it extended for a year... thus it is expiring soon, Jan 26th, 2017.

 

I called Princess and was told that it will indeed expire, no extension available if I do not have a cruise booked... silly, because if I had a cruise booked I'd have used it!

 

I was told that they would refund the FCCs to the credit card that they were paid for with, but that credit card is long gone with the issuing of new chip cards by our banking institute.

 

It's possible we may want to book a cruise for the fall of this year but it's not certain yet as we are working on a remodel of our old log cabin... life happens.

 

Any suggestions on how not to lose the FCCs? Or not to lose the $200? I'd rather have the FCCs, but if that's not possible at least a refund would seem appropriate.

 

What if I book a cruise before the FFCs expire and then cancel it? Would the FFCs go back into the system?

 

The FFCs are under the name of a TA, do you think he could do anything to get it extended?

 

Thanks for any suggestions, insights or reports of your experiences.

Maureen --

[geoherb]

We just received checks in the mail for FCCs that expired last month. Both DH and I received a check since I had one FCC apiece for each of us. In our case, we had purchased two FCCs each and ended up only using one of them--for a cruise last month. Since I knew we were going on a new cruise and could purchase additional FCCs, I did not try to extend the ones that were expiring. From my point of view, it would have been great if Princess had refunded the money to my credit card. I can't remember which one I used to purchase the FCCs, so it may have been one that's no longer active. But the checks worked OK, other than a little trouble I had at one bank trying to deposit DH's check into my account (after he endorsed it over to me). I had to take it to a different bank where we have a joint account.

Edited January 11, 2017 by geoherb

[NavyVeteran]

If they expire, you will receive a refund. If the credit card is not valid, they will send you a check. Check your junk mail, because the check will be in an envelope that is not labeled as Princess and that looks like junk mail.

 

If you book a cruise using the Future Cruise Deposit and then cancel it after the FCD expires, it will be refunded.

 

I have one suggestion that may work. Book a cruise now using the FCD. Then if you decide that you want another cruise instead of that one (before final payment), book the other cruise online but do not place a deposit - place a hold on it without a deposit. Then call Princess and ask them to transfer your FCD from the old cruise to the new one, cancelling the old one. Since the FCD is immediately applied without going back to the bank, they may honor it without refunding it.

 

There is no guarantee that this will work. And it won't do any good to call Princess and ask them. You won't know for sure until you try it. If it doesn't work, you will still get the refund of the FCD.

 

Even though Princess notified your TA when you booked the FCD, it is in your Captain's Circle account and can be used with any TA or directly with Princess. I doubt a TA would be able to do any better than you on this issue, but it wouldn't hurt to ask - if you don't mind probably just wasting the TA's time.

[RMLincoln]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and ideas. I think I'll just have to consider the FCCs lost and hope they send us refunds. The FCCs used ot be good for 4 years, then only 2 with possible extension, but things change....

 

I'll watch for the check in the mail :) Any idea how long the process will take after the FCCs expire? Asking only so I have a window of awareness to watch for them, not holding my breathe. I"m assuming I don't have to do anything to get the refunds.

 

And I'll stay open to a future cruise down the pike. Nothing booked now but maybe someday....

Safe travels all, m--

[Michelle19]

We even had the same credit card and it was valid and still in use and they still issued us checks.. 1 for me and 1 for my husband.

[RMLincoln]

We even had the same credit card and it was valid and still in use and they still issued us checks.. 1 for me and 1 for my husband.

Good to know. How long did it take and did you have to request the refund? m--

[Michelle19]

I believe it was 2 weeks max. :)

[RMLincoln]

Wow, excellent. Thank you again.

 

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Maybe there was so much difficulty in getting credit card credits processed that Princess has given up and just sends checks now. At least my address hasn't changed! m--

[JF - retired RRT]

We even had the same credit card and it was valid and still in use and they still issued us checks.. 1 for me and 1 for my husband.

 

"We'll refund to your credit card" seems to be a common response.

You'd be told the same thing if you have any refundable OBC left and go to passenger services to ask how to get the refund. "We'll refund to your credit card"...NOPE!! They send a check.

[RMLincoln]

"We'll refund to your credit card" seems to be a common response.

You'd be told the same thing if you have any refundable OBC left and go to passenger services to ask how to get the refund. "We'll refund to your credit card"...NOPE!! They send a check.

 

Interesting... i didn't know that!

[NavyVeteran]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and ideas. I think I'll just have to consider the FCCs lost and hope they send us refunds. The FCCs used ot be good for 4 years, then only 2 with possible extension, but things change....

 

However, they did make one improvement in the time. The expiration date used to be a "Sail by" date. Now it is a "Book by" date. Since I often book a couple of years in advance, the "Book by" expiration date is much better.

[caribill]

 

We (DH and I) each have a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) purchased on board Ocean Princess in Jan 2014. It was good for 2 years, plus I had it extended for a year... thus it is expiring soon, Jan 26th, 2017.

 

 

I called Princess and was told that it will indeed expire, no extension available if I do not have a cruise booked... silly, because if I had a cruise booked I'd have used it! Call again and ask for the Captain's Circle department. If it is at all possible to extend them again, that department could get it done for you.

 

I was told that they would refund the FCCs to the credit card that they were paid for with, but that credit card is long gone with the issuing of new chip cards by our banking institute. If it was to the credit card instead of by check, then your bank would know what current credit card number replaced the old one.

 

 

The FFCs are under the name of a TA, do you think he could do anything to get it extended? They are under your name with the expectation you will book with that TA. The TA may or may not have a contact at Princess that can help you. It will not hurt to ask.

 

Thanks for any suggestions, insights or reports of your experiences.

Maureen --

 

see above in red

[Corfe Mixture]

Not cancelled FCC with Princess, but have done so with Seabourn, which is the same parent company.

 

My FCC were in Sterling and had been charged to a UK credit card.

 

I initiated the cancellation by telephoning the Southampton office a few months before they expired and was told it would be refunded to my credit card.

 

However, in the period between purchasing and refunding, my credit card had expired and a new card had been issued with a slightly different number, so I questioned whether or not it would be possible to refund my card.

 

'No problem' they said, 'the bank will be able to sort it out' which they duly did.

 

Not sure how long it took, but it was certainly not more than a few days.

[lstone19]

I was told that they would refund the FCCs to the credit card that they were paid for with, but that credit card is long gone with the issuing of new chip cards by our banking institute.

 

The bank gave you a new card number? That's unusual. But regardless, even when a new number is issued, the old number normally remains associated with your account and can still be used for issuing a credit. Even if the old number was compromised (lost, stolen, etc.), most banks will still allow merchant initiated credits to the old number and they post to the new number.

[RMLincoln]

I had not thought of calling the Captains Circle number but that's an interesting thought. We are only platinum, not elite but maybe they could help. If so I'll report back here :) m--

[thinfool]

I had not thought of calling the Captains Circle number but that's an interesting thought. We are only platinum, not elite but maybe they could help. If so I'll report back here :) m--

 

November 2016--I wrote a short email to the Captains Circle email address about my FDC's that would expire in December 2016. And promptly forgot about it.

 

Within two weeks I received a reply that two years had been added to my FDC's and my TA had been informed.

 

I was surprised at how easy it was.

 

Seems likely to me that talking to Princess is an unproductive effort. The communication needs to be with the Captains Circle folks.

[RMLincoln]

November 2016--I wrote a short email to the Captains Circle email address about my FDC's that would expire in December 2016. And promptly forgot about it.

 

Within two weeks I received a reply that two years had been added to my FDC's and my TA had been informed.

 

I was surprised at how easy it was.

 

Seems likely to me that talking to Princess is an unproductive effort. The communication needs to be with the Captains Circle folks.

 

Really! Excellent news. I will try calling first and if no positive results then I will email Captains Circle. I will report back! m--

[RMLincoln]

Hmmmm....

I'm not finding any phone number or email address specific for Captain's Circle, just the general number 1800 774-6237.

Any other ways to contact Captain's Circle? m--

[ggprincess2004]

Just wanted to let you know, in the event you cannot extend the FCD's, that it can be longer than 2 weeks to get the refund check in the mail. Had to call because the check refunding my husband's expired FCD's didn't arrive, mine had, and they had a non-existent address for DH. Anyway, 4 weeks is more like it.......they explained the time frames on their process, since they had to start it all over again.

[RMLincoln]

Just wanted to let you know, in the event you cannot extend the FCD's, that it can be longer than 2 weeks to get the refund check in the mail. Had to call because the check refunding my husband's expired FCD's didn't arrive, mine had, and they had a non-existent address for DH. Anyway, 4 weeks is more like it.......they explained the time frames on their process, since they had to start it all over again.

 

Thank you, I was taking 2 weeks as optimistic but possible. :) m--

[Thrak]

Your loyalty level should not have anything at all to do with assistance from the Captain's Circle folks. They are supposed to "be there" for all Princess cruisers from their very first cruise onward.

[Thrak]

Try this:

 

Login to your Princess account. Go here: https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/contactUs.page

 

Click on Contact Us on the left side of the page.

[RMLincoln]

Try this:

 

Login to your Princess account. Go here: https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/contactUs.page

 

Click on Contact Us on the left side of the page.

 

Thank you. I had tried looking there for an email address or phone number but instead I used their template to email them directly from the website... I had to go back and look up the booking number from the cruise on which we purchased the FCDs but I had it in my old itineraries. I requested they both be extended. I'll let you know what results I get. m--

[caribill]

The bank gave you a new card number? That's unusual.

 

Not that unusual. New card numbers can be issued when:

 

o The bank had a data breech and is issuing new cards to avoid fraud.

 

o With the new chip cards, people on the same account can have different numbers instead of everyone on the account with the same number.

 

o You have reported a lost card or reported a charge to your account that you did not make.

[Steelers36]

Just wanted to add that a bank should have history of cards issued on file and can "redirect" a refund issued to and old card to the new card. Of course if you wrapped business and cancelled with the old bank and are at a new bank by choice, then that historical link is broken.

 

Princess' system is required to issue any refund to the original payment. It's masked from customer service reps and they cannot override an old number with a new number for the refund. If they get a reject from a bank unable to refund to a valid CC, then Princess issues a check.

 

They cannot even stop/cancel the process of attempting to refund to the original CC and start the check request early. I just had this discussion in detail with Princess less than a week ago.

 

The good news is that you do get the FCD refunded if not eventually used - you just lose the opportunity to gain some OBC when the FCD is applied to a booking.

 

And congrats to everyone on this thread who used the correct term - FCD. It ain't a credit until something is done with it.

Edited January 13, 2017 by steelers36