majortom10 Posted October 29, 2023 #151 Share Posted October 29, 2023 45 minutes ago, newbie202020 said: I thought that you can't choose the stateroom number for upgrades. That's why I don't bid for upgrades or put myself down for free upgrades as I need mid ship to avoid motion sickness. If there's an upgrade program where I can choose the location, then I would definitely be interested. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks That is correct just type of cabin, suite i.e. QG, PG, Club or balcony and then there is different pricing for grades of cabin/suite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted October 29, 2023 #152 Share Posted October 29, 2023 1 hour ago, newbie202020 said: I thought that you can't choose the stateroom number for upgrades. I too am prone to motion sickness, but on QM2 it's not something I need to worry about, or on shorter trips across the Channel. But if you were referring to my earlier post, I was offered a Plusgrade bid, but then saw the fares had fallen anyway (they have since gone back up again), so I just rang Cunard and asked them for a quote to the upgraded cabin. As it happen, Club staterooms are pretty much all midship, a few are Mid Forward. Anyway on the call to Cunard I was quoted for specific cabins, and at price higher than the opening bid slider on Plusgrade but a lot lower than when I first purchase and for a specific stateroom. But this wasn't Plusgrade, it was more a factor of the falling fare price. But having rung Cunard, I'm now in a position to Plusgrade to the Grills for a very low cost, which I've done, but I'm quite relaxed about whether I get it or not. My general stance is to try to stick to £200 per night in a Balcony, including obstructed and sheltered, and to spend any excess over that on another voyage rather than play Cunard's enticement games. With Plusgrade you can't specify staterooms or port/starboard etc. If that's a big deal then don't use Plusgrade, just watch the fares and call up. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagtail adventures Posted October 30, 2023 #153 Share Posted October 30, 2023 I am confused, what is 'Plusgrade' please? Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemarble Posted October 30, 2023 #154 Share Posted October 30, 2023 20 minutes ago, Wagtail adventures said: I am confused, what is 'Plusgrade' please? Many thanks Plusgrade is the company that manages the upgrade bidding process. When you receive the email from Cunard stating you are eligible to bid on any upgrade, the link they provide in that email takes you to "upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/...". The Plusgrade website states they partner with Azamara, Celebrity, Costa, Cunard, MSC, Norwegian, P&O, P&O Australia, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Uniworld and Virgin as their cruise clients. They have many more clients in other industries especially airlines (they list 77 airline clients). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagtail adventures Posted October 30, 2023 #155 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Ah, thank you so much for your detailed reply. I had wondered if it was something in addition to the Cunard upgrades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted October 30, 2023 #156 Share Posted October 30, 2023 3 hours ago, Wagtail adventures said: Ah, thank you so much for your detailed reply. I had wondered if it was something in addition to the Cunard upgrades. Well in a way it is. Cunard upgrades 2 ways - complimentary upgrades, and paid upgrades. The latter is cheaper if there has been a price fall since booking, and instead of getting cross when you see your fare drop say £200 just after the deposit deadline, you can call up and ask for the cost of an upgrade - this will mitigate the pain since you will get into the higher stateroom more cheaply than at the time of initial purchase. We suspect complimentary upgrades are not that common, however I got one earlier a few months back (obstructed to unobstructed balcony). I have a one-off anecdote there, when I bought - unusual for me - Oceanview, for what I thought was a low cost, and the balconies where expensive for a 7 nighter down to Lisbon. At 95 days to departure the prices across the board nearly halved! I would have been better to throw away my deposit. I rang up, and said "OK, I get that fares are dynamic, can I pay for an upgrade to Balcony". Tap, tap, tap; "No sir, the most expensive balcony is cheaper than your Oceanview fare and it has to be equal or more expensive". How much cheaper is your expensive Balcony? £3. I said "oh come on now..." and the agent rapidly whispered "I don't quite believe it myself, let me talk to my manager". And I not only got the upgrade but Cunard refunded me £3! Plusgrade is a Canadian outsourced model. It's used by airlines, as mentioned by @bluemarble, where it us used a lot by the Star Alliance group of airlines, TAP, Lufthansa, LOT and so on. For the few hundred that Plusgrade do for Cunard, they do hundreds of thousands of upgrades for Star Alliance. They know their stuff. They also handle railway upgrades, financial services, and hotels too. The also run Points international, which is a way of buying more Avios, Hilton Points and so on at a cut price. The model is "dear Cunard, give us a bit of your inventory, we will charge 20% for our services, you will get a heap of money from us, since we know how to haggle with your customers". And they do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted November 14, 2023 #157 Share Posted November 14, 2023 On 10/26/2023 at 11:27 PM, Pushpit said: I put in a low bid for P1, P2, if it works then I'll be in Princess for a total of £640 (solo traveller) rather than a more typical cost of around £850. My low £50 per person (so £100 as a solo traveller) Plusgrade bid was accepted and I have been upgraded from Club to Princess. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeirdreTours Posted November 20, 2023 #158 Share Posted November 20, 2023 We have received a plusgrade offer for our 17 nights SFO-AUK cruise departing February 7 on Queen Victoria. On Cunard, all cabins show as sold out and have for the last 3 months, except for few days right after final payment when Q was showing available. We are currently booked in a Guarantee Balcony BD at $2970 all in, and were offered : Q3-4- min bid $4895 Q-5,6- min bid $4745 P1-P2- min bid $3250 Club- min bid $1160 We are not inclined to bid as I don't see $2300 in value in Club or $6500 in P1. We can use that sum towards a lot of specialty dining and other little luxuries instead! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted February 28 #159 Share Posted February 28 I have another 2 night HAM-SOU coming up and the upgrade email came through today, some 11 weeks before departure. I'm in a QM2 Sheltered Balcony. My offers - minimum bid - are Balcony (instead of Sheltered Balcony): £40 Club Balcony: £50 Princess: £110 Queens Q5 / Q6: £160 Queens Q4: £360 Above offers being per person, so in my case as a solo passenger I would have to pay double these figures. Strangely, the voyage is shown as sold out except for Balcony so maybe the upgrades won't work here, at least at the lower prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamingOfSunnyDays Posted April 23 #160 Share Posted April 23 Has anyone else had any offers accepted lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubanIrish Posted April 24 #161 Share Posted April 24 Yes, just had an inside cabin bumped up to a sheltered balcony for $5 more than the minimum bid. Our May 23 crossing appears to have plenty of room, as prices have dropped greatly since earlier this year. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schattenfell71 Posted April 24 #162 Share Posted April 24 I guess there will be no upgrades for sold out journeys? May it be possible for the Maiden Queen Anne voyage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Deafcruise Posted April 24 #163 Share Posted April 24 I have bid for Q2 and Q1 but I checked online and it said Queen Grill are sold out so not sure how bidding works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wetterthanwater Posted April 24 #164 Share Posted April 24 3 hours ago, Deafcruise said: I have bid for Q2 and Q1 but I checked online and it said Queen Grill are sold out so not sure how bidding works? I guess they overbook cheaper cabins. They are hoping to monetise the upgrades before having to upgrade people for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csardas Posted April 24 #165 Share Posted April 24 What’s the minimum sum over the minimum bid that’s been successful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laktex Posted April 27 #166 Share Posted April 27 On 4/24/2024 at 8:36 AM, Deafcruise said: I have bid for Q2 and Q1 but I checked online and it said Queen Grill are sold out so not sure how bidding works? Yes - I have bid for an upgrade to Q1 on Queen Anne but I'm not feeling too hopeful, although I have had a Q1 upgrade before on the QE. (Not a lot of Q1's to go around!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NE John Posted April 27 #167 Share Posted April 27 I got a call yesterday directly from Cunard offering, for a very reasonable upcharge, a move from PG to a Q6 for an upcoming Alaska trip. The only caveat is that it may be a handicap room, something I don’t need. While the bathroom is not as nice as a QG bathroom (no tub) I took up that offer because the price was very right and it gives us a discounted way to give us our first QG experience. If that room is needed for a disabled pax, we get upgraded from there. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiguelST Posted April 29 #168 Share Posted April 29 Hi, I've received an email regarding a Cunard upgrade, about a Cunard cruise I will do in 50 days, but it seems a bit scammy. Can anyone forward me an Cunard Upgrade email, received in the past? I'm a bit suspect about clicking on the Links My email: miguel.santos.teixeira@gmail.com Thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted April 29 #169 Share Posted April 29 9 minutes ago, MiguelST said: Hi, I've received an email regarding a Cunard upgrade, about a Cunard cruise I will do in 50 days, but it seems a bit scammy. Can anyone forward me an Cunard Upgrade email, received in the past? I'm a bit suspect about clicking on the Links My email: miguel.santos.teixeira@gmail.com Thanks 🙂 Does it say anything on my Cunard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiguelST Posted April 29 #170 Share Posted April 29 3 minutes ago, exlondoner said: Does it say anything on my Cunard? I still don't have a Cabin assigned... but don't see anything different... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TowandaUK Posted April 29 #171 Share Posted April 29 There is a section on the Cunard site entitled Introducing Cunard upgrade. There is a button to check if your voyage is eligible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemarble Posted April 29 #172 Share Posted April 29 (edited) @MiguelST, as @exlondoner has advised, log in to your booking in My Cunard. If you are eligible to bid for an upgrade, there should be a section under "My stateroom" called "Upgrade your stateroom" with a link to "View my upgrade options". Edit to add: The link to "View my upgrade options" will take you to "upgrade.plusgrade.com". Plusgrade is the company that handles the upgrade bidding process. Edited April 29 by bluemarble 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NE John Posted April 29 #173 Share Posted April 29 33 minutes ago, MiguelST said: Hi, I've received an email regarding a Cunard upgrade, about a Cunard cruise I will do in 50 days, but it seems a bit scammy. Can anyone forward me an Cunard Upgrade email, received in the past? I'm a bit suspect about clicking on the Links My email: miguel.santos.teixeira@gmail.com Thanks 🙂 Click on the email and make sure it’s from Cunard and not ending in an unknown email address. Also, here’s the link to use: https://my.cunard.com/en-us/mycruise/login This is the US site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiguelST Posted April 29 #174 Share Posted April 29 18 minutes ago, bluemarble said: @MiguelST, as @exlondoner has advised, log in to your booking in My Cunard. If you are eligible to bid for an upgrade, there should be a section under "My stateroom" called "Upgrade your stateroom" with a link to "View my upgrade options". Edit to add: The link to "View my upgrade options" will take you to "upgrade.plusgrade.com". Plusgrade is the company that handles the upgrade bidding process. It only shows this on that section... That's why I wanted the email, really seems funky 😕 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Hattie Posted April 29 #175 Share Posted April 29 Mine was last year but it came from upgrades@cunard.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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