Cancel and Refund to FCC instead of Credit Card

[cruisemover]

Booked a 5-day cruise last year sailing within 56 days. Holland America's standard refund policy should allow 50% of the gross fare to be refunded to the original payment method (credit card). The COVID-19 flexible cancellation policy should allow the remaining 50% non-refundable fare to be refunded as Future Cruise Credit.

 

Does Holland America allow 100% of the fare to be refunded as Future Cruise Credit if requested, instead of 50% to credit card and 50% to FCC? I had used the $400 off $1500 American Express offer, who are known to claw back offer credits if a purchase is returned.

[Mary229]

I have never had HAL turn away money😉. Call them and direct them what to do with the money

[zgscl]

If you call they should be able to do this. Should is the operative word. I had a $100 deposit that was refundable and I asked them to just roll over to a FCC. They assured me that it would be taken care of and 14 days later it appeared as a credit on my Amex statement. 
 

If you have an idea what you want to do instead you may do better calling to cancel this booking and apply 100% of everything to the future booking. If you have no clue choosing a random cruise (with a refundable fare) far out may still be a better option. In theory this is an easy request but I have found that transferring money to a booking works better than getting an FCC. Maybe others have had better luck than I have with it though. 

[cruisemover]

1 hour ago, zgscl said:

If you call they should be able to do this. Should is the operative word. I had a $100 deposit that was refundable and I asked them to just roll over to a FCC. They assured me that it would be taken care of and 14 days later it appeared as a credit on my Amex statement.

This is what I am worried about. They may promise to refund to an FCC but the system may automatically refund to the original payment method. Then the American Express system would  probably claw back the $400 credit from last year.

 

The new booking costs less than the existing booking, so I would have funds leftover going the transfer route that you suggested.

 

Beside the $100 refund to your Amex, were you successful getting other refundable deposits refunded to an FCC?

[zgscl]

19 minutes ago, cruisemover said:

This is what I am worried about. They may promise to refund to an FCC but the system may automatically refund to the original payment method. Then the American Express system would  probably claw back the $400 credit from last year.

 

The new booking costs less than the existing booking, so I would have funds leftover going the transfer route that you suggested.

 

Beside the $100 refund to your Amex, were you successful getting other refundable deposits refunded to an FCC?

That was the only time I tried! When you call and talk to the person hopefully you can gauge how competent they are. Hopefully if you explain to them what you are trying to accomplish and why they will get it done right for you. They have recently added overseas call centers (maybe this is not new, but first time I have experienced it). My sense was these folks were newer and maybe didn't know the same tricks as the longer term folks in Seattle. I know HAL also has also brought in a lot of temps in Seattle too. If you can try to chat casually with the person and maybe establish how long they have been there maybe you will have a successful result. Never be afraid to hang up and try again as is my go to strategy when an airline or cruise booking agent is going down a path that is not promising. Far better results than trying to get a supervisor involved. 

[zgscl]

23 minutes ago, cruisemover said:

This is what I am worried about. They may promise to refund to an FCC but the system may automatically refund to the original payment method. Then the American Express system would  probably claw back the $400 credit from last year.

 

The new booking costs less than the existing booking, so I would have funds leftover going the transfer route that you suggested.

 

Beside the $100 refund to your Amex, were you successful getting other refundable deposits refunded to an FCC?

The one that was cancelled and rebooked to a new booking was done by someone in the Philippines and they did it perfectly, but there was also only $100 on that one so it was a pretty easy transfer. The one that failed I think was done through the web chat and I was trying to have it go to FCC instead of refund. 

[Mary229]

Maybe they will apply it to a gift card

[cruisemover]

Forgot to mention I booked through an agent so hopefully the telephone game goes well! Will also ask if a gift card is possible, which would be preferable to an FCC!