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MSC upgrade program - how is this a deal?

Reenie75

By Reenie75,
in MSC Cruises

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sverigecruiser

sverigecruiser

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Até said:

The person, Reenie75, you are telling $5100 is a good deal is sailing on the Meraviglia in the Caribbean in early December.  I can book that same cruise right now in a YC Deluxe for just under $3900 and I haven't even looked to see if it's a Voyagers Selection.  I also pointed out that the same sailing in 2020 can be booked for $4300. 

 

ETA: I'm pretty sure Reenie was quoting the $5100 in Canadian dollars, so that comes out to the minimum bid paying right at full current price for the cabin.  And that's getting stuck with a random assignment which we all know is going to be the least desirable cabin that no one else booked.  My feeling is that so far with this bidding system anyone can find a better deal by just paying attention and booking the cabin they want in the first place.

 

Maybe it's possible to book the cabin cheaper now but do we know how much it should cost her to cancel the booking she already has and book at the current price?

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

Maybe it's possible to book the cabin cheaper now but do we know how much it should cost her to cancel the booking she already has and book at the current price?

That's an interesting topic.  I'm pretty sure she's past final payment so cancelling probably isn't an option.  So her other option is to call in to upgrade, where she will be held to the prices at the time of her booking.  In the case of YC that is usually helpful because MSC does not typically lower YC prices, quite the reverse lately they have been increasing as the deposit loss date closes in.  I fully believe the price currently shown is very close or the same as what she could upgrade herself.  If anything the current price on the MSC website may be higher than what she could upgrade by calling in. 

 

Non YC cabins are another story as they tend to drop in price, especially after final payment.  So in the case of trying to upgrade cabins manually it has been frustrating to be held to the old price that existed when you originally booked.  I could see the bidding program might be advantageous in that type of a situation.  Unfortunately in the cases I've been involved with this wasn't true.  I've seen two cases where lower cabins were booked and they dropped significantly after final payment.  The people wanted to upgrade, not to YC, but were held to the old cabin pricing from when they booked.  When they received a bid offer the lowest bid was still more that what they could do on their own at the old prices.  I think MSC and Plusgrade are still tweaking their system, I've not seen any real deals being offered - especially if you've been paying attention to the prices available over time.

Edited by Até
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sverigecruiser

sverigecruiser

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Até said:

That's an interesting topic.  I'm pretty sure she's past final payment so cancelling probably isn't an option.  So her other option is to call in to upgrade, where she will be held to the prices at the time of her booking.  In the case of YC that is usually helpful because MSC does not typically lower YC prices, quite the reverse lately they have been increasing as the deposit loss date closes in.  I fully believe the price currently shown is very close or the same as what she could upgrade herself.  If anything the current price on the MSC website may be higher than what she could upgrade by calling in. 

 

 

Interesting. Are you saying that you think that she will a lower price than the $5100 if she call and ask for an upgrade?

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, sverigecruiser said:

Interesting. Are you saying that you think that she will a lower price than the $5100 if she call and ask for an upgrade?

I think it's very possible.  I don't know what the YC prices were when she booked, but I highly doubt they were higher back then than what they are currently.  After being held to MSC's rule where I couldn't take advantage of price drops - upgrading the booking had to be at the price structure that existed at the time of booking - I now keep screenshots of when I book.  So if I ever want to upgrade and YC current prices have gone up I want to hold them to the old, lower price when I originally booked.

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frank808

frank808

Posted
Posted
On 9/20/2019 at 1:46 AM, Reenie75 said:

If I upgrade I would be at the $5100.

Our Seaside YC sailing for June 2020 is a little more than $6000 for 2 adults and 1 14 yr old.  That is also summer pricing so would expect Dec to be cheaper.  But you are sailing on a newer ship than seaside so pricing is usually more on the newer ships.  

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, frank808 said:

Our Seaside YC sailing for June 2020 is a little more than $6000 for 2 adults and 1 14 yr old.  That is also summer pricing so would expect Dec to be cheaper.  But you are sailing on a newer ship than seaside so pricing is usually more on the newer ships.  

Meraviglia is officially an older ship than Seaside.  And if you look right now on the MSC website any Voyagers Club member can purchase a YC Deluxe suite for Reenie75's sail date for two adults and one kid for US $4150, making her total CA $5100 bid offer not much of any savings.

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SailBreakaway

SailBreakaway

Posted
Posted
On 9/23/2019 at 6:13 AM, DCGuy64 said:

Does anyone know which bid MSC uses to decide whether to allow you to upgrade? Is it the first one you place or the highest? 

 

Be careful with this bidding stuff folks, with NCL I learned you need to really take some time and figure out some numbers.  Having said that, this company that does this uses pretty sophisticated algorithms that looks at several factors, some of which are internal to their pricing structures, etc.  

 

When you update a bid for a given category, it becomes the controlling bid, so it's always the last one for each category.  

 

All in all, you need to bid what you're comfortable spending, however always look at the full purchase prices before you do, and if you see you're coming close, use caution.

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DCGuy64 Great Review Rare

DCGuy64

Posted
Posted
 
Be careful with this bidding stuff folks, with NCL I learned you need to really take some time and figure out some numbers.  Having said that, this company that does this uses pretty sophisticated algorithms that looks at several factors, some of which are internal to their pricing structures, etc.  
 
When you update a bid for a given category, it becomes the controlling bid, so it's always the last one for each category.  
 
All in all, you need to bid what you're comfortable spending, however always look at the full purchase prices before you do, and if you see you're coming close, use caution.

Thank you,@SailBreakaway. That’s just the answer I was looking for. I decided to bid the lowest possible. If they take it, great, but if not, I’m not out any more money.


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