Rare Selbourne Posted July 17 #251 Share Posted July 17 31 minutes ago, buchanan101 said: Is it illegal though? Not at all. It’s pretty much a standard marketing ploy used in many industries. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted July 17 #252 Share Posted July 17 4 hours ago, buchanan101 said: Is it illegal though? Hotels is the easy one - book cancellable rates; I always do and sometimes rebook cheaper (Hilton at the cricket ground in Southampton before H415 case in point, new Hilton Tapestry in York for this August BH), though with hotels probably indistinguishable from dynamic pricing as unlike cruise ships you can't see a plan of free rooms Cruise Lines are at liberty to offer what they like for sale at any given time. Last May I tried to book a QM2 trip by the time by my call was answered everything was sold out with previously a choice of inside or balcony . By next morning there was availability. Very bizarre but I got my cabin so was pleased. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 17 #253 Share Posted July 17 3 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said: Cruise Lines are at liberty to offer what they like for sale at any given time. Last May I tried to book a QM2 trip by the time by my call was answered everything was sold out with previously a choice of inside or balcony . By next morning there was availability. Very bizarre but I got my cabin so was pleased. That may possibly be due to some cabins having a "hold" put on the. If I am not mistaken this is another one of the "perks" for those across the pond - but I also believe that some (all?) TAs can do it as well. Then there are those who are part way through an online booking that can lock a cabin out - I have actually seen this happen when booking via the phone, first it was available, then not, then became available again all in the space of about 10 minutes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemarble Posted July 17 #254 Share Posted July 17 2 hours ago, david63 said: That may possibly be due to some cabins having a "hold" put on the. If I am not mistaken this is another one of the "perks" for those across the pond - but I also believe that some (all?) TAs can do it as well. Then there are those who are part way through an online booking that can lock a cabin out - I have actually seen this happen when booking via the phone, first it was available, then not, then became available again all in the space of about 10 minutes. Just for the record, the timeout for a cabin to be held on the Cunard US website during the booking process there is 15 minutes. Other travel agent websites offer different hold times. The one I use offers a 25 minute hold time. When I call my travel agent to help me with a booking, she does have the ability to place longer holds on cabins. During a recent call, she told me she had to call Cunard to work out the details for my booking and would call me back later. I noticed the cabin I had requested disappeared from the inventory on the Cunard website shortly that call and remained that way for several hours until she was able to call me back to process my payment and complete the booking. We in the US do not have the ability to place courtesy holds on bookings via the Cunard website anymore. That option used to exist quite a few years ago but no longer. The options we have now to complete a booking on the Cunard US website require us to charge either the deposit or the full amount to a credit card. I do not know if the Cunard call center can place courtesy holds on bookings if I were to call them to place a booking though. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Hattie Posted August 28 #255 Share Posted August 28 An update from me, we booked a Britannia balcony (BF) on a Saver fare 40 days before sailing. We had a free upgrade to BE when the cabin was allocated and today, 11 days before sailing we had our Upgrade bid to Britannia Club accepted. Club has been showing Sold Out since we booked. 19 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DaisyUK Posted August 30 #256 Share Posted August 30 On 8/28/2024 at 5:03 PM, Host Hattie said: An update from me, we booked a Britannia balcony (BF) on a Saver fare 40 days before sailing. We had a free upgrade to BE when the cabin was allocated and today, 11 days before sailing we had our Upgrade bid to Britannia Club accepted. Club has been showing Sold Out since we booked. That’s great news for you! Did you get an email from Cunard to let you know? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Hattie Posted August 30 #257 Share Posted August 30 Yes, from the Cunard Upgrade email address. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rakkor Posted August 30 #258 Share Posted August 30 I was invited to bid on our upcoming Nov QA cruise this morning - I had to do it but not expecting anything to come of it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted August 30 #259 Share Posted August 30 2 hours ago, Host Hattie said: Yes, from the Cunard Upgrade email address. Oh no - not another cutback!! What has happened to the upgrade fairy? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Victoria2 Posted August 30 #260 Share Posted August 30 9 minutes ago, david63 said: Oh no - not another cutback!! What has happened to the upgrade fairy? She's [assuming of course she is a she] assisting her best friend, the fridge fairy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csardas Posted August 30 #261 Share Posted August 30 She got Covid and died. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyPanda Posted August 30 #262 Share Posted August 30 24 minutes ago, david63 said: Oh no - not another cutback!! What has happened to the upgrade fairy? She is still around! Recently upgraded from Inside to Oceanview on Queen Anne despite only booking an Early Saver fare. Very happy. However, it's now made me put a bid in for another upcoming cruise as I don't really want to go back to an inside again so my 'free' upgrade might end up costing me money after all. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Hattie Posted August 30 #263 Share Posted August 30 She's a clever one! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted August 30 #264 Share Posted August 30 2 hours ago, david63 said: Oh no - not another cutback!! What has happened to the upgrade fairy? They* are still with us. Despite the wording used on the screen, the Saver fares tend to see most of them, but I had a Club upgrade a few months ago. * E&OE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIRGINCRUISER1066 Posted August 30 #265 Share Posted August 30 This may seem a silly question but I really don't know the answer. If you receive the Plusgrade email to bid on an upgrade do they inform you of the stateroom number (which tells you its location) or just the type of stateroom? Many Thanks..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted August 30 #266 Share Posted August 30 Just the grade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIRGINCRUISER1066 Posted August 31 #267 Share Posted August 31 16 hours ago, david63 said: Just the grade Thank You.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napria Posted September 1 #268 Share Posted September 1 So, if the upgrade fairy hasn’t gone away for good, when would an upgrade be granted? I’m setting sail on my first Cunard voyage on September 29. (THIS MONTH!!!) and if she waves her magic wand and upgrades us from sheltered balcony to regular balcony I wouldn’t be happy. However if we were to be upgraded to PG or higher, we’d be in BIG trouble. We have 3 weeks of back to back sailing booked on QM2 in August 2026. I’m afraid if we were upgraded to PG, we’d have to go back and pay for the upgrades for the 3 week voyage. Luckily for me the chances of that happening are probably slim to none 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted Monday at 08:33 AM #269 Share Posted Monday at 08:33 AM 9 hours ago, napria said: However if we were to be upgraded to PG or higher, we’d be in BIG trouble. We have 3 weeks of back to back sailing booked on QM2 in August 2026. I’m afraid if we were upgraded to PG, we’d have to go back and pay for the upgrades for the 3 week voyage. Luckily for me the chances of that happening are probably slim to none 😁 Never say never, but it is pretty unlikely. Sheltered Balcony to Club Balcony is perhaps more likely. I think there is a general suspicion that for those with fixed stateroom numbers, the introduction of Plusgrade has taken away much of the surprise and delight role of the upgrade fairy. For those on Saver fares or similar then inevitably there has to be shuffling around of the available inventory but even then it's more likely they would go from BZ to BV, and I'm not sure even I would notice the difference. But there is an art to going up and down the stateroom categories (to use the official language). I've done all categories from Oceanview to QG. It's true that those in Grills can rarely countenance an existence back in steerage, but the sheer value for money of Britannia should hit home. A relatively inexpensive PG Crossing is about £2,400 per person for 7 nights, whereas the least expensive Britannia is a mere £549 and I think that is tremendous value for money. Even Premier Inn with views on to the motorway can easily charge more than £80 a night. Now if you consider you can have FOUR Crossings in Britannia for one PG experience then I think I'd go Britannia. The catch is, of course, that time isn't in endless supply. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyPanda Posted Monday at 12:50 PM #270 Share Posted Monday at 12:50 PM 13 hours ago, napria said: So, if the upgrade fairy hasn’t gone away for good, when would an upgrade be granted? I’m setting sail on my first Cunard voyage on September 29. (THIS MONTH!!!) and if she waves her magic wand and upgrades us from sheltered balcony to regular balcony I wouldn’t be happy. However if we were to be upgraded to PG or higher, we’d be in BIG trouble. We have 3 weeks of back to back sailing booked on QM2 in August 2026. I’m afraid if we were upgraded to PG, we’d have to go back and pay for the upgrades for the 3 week voyage. Luckily for me the chances of that happening are probably slim to none 😁 The last 7 days before sailing would be my guess, perhaps the last 4 days. Assuming that Cunard will want to prioritise people paying for upgrades through the Upgrade Programme, as opposed to giving them out for free then the T&Cs and associated info for that suggest the last opportunity to put an offer in is 7 days prior to cruise departure. There is then 3 days to pay for said upgrade. Once Cunard have allocated all staterooms for paying upgraders then they can look to upgrade (or not) everyone else. For my last Cunard cruise, my cabin was upgraded (for free) 2 days prior to departure, I then had to wait until the next day for my boarding pass to be updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caipi Posted Monday at 01:23 PM #271 Share Posted Monday at 01:23 PM 14 hours ago, napria said: So, if the upgrade fairy hasn’t gone away for good, when would an upgrade be granted? I’m setting sail on my first Cunard voyage on September 29. (THIS MONTH!!!) and if she waves her magic wand and upgrades us from sheltered balcony to regular balcony I wouldn’t be happy. However if we were to be upgraded to PG or higher, we’d be in BIG trouble. We have 3 weeks of back to back sailing booked on QM2 in August 2026. I’m afraid if we were upgraded to PG, we’d have to go back and pay for the upgrades for the 3 week voyage. Luckily for me the chances of that happening are probably slim to none 😁 We got the first upgrade 7 days before sailing, (sheltered balcony on deck 5 -> glass balcony on deck 11), and the second one 5 days before sailing. (glass balcony on deck 11 -> Britannia Club glass balcony on deck 13) After the 1st one I wrote them that I don't like it because of the connecting door, but they wrote back that I have to take it because I had agreed to being upgraded. But this was not true, I booked on the phone and was not asked at all about this, and I wrote this back. So maybe the second upgrade was because of this, but of course there's no way of knowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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