Question.

[jonthomas]

The tours for our March cruise have come out.

We have a ton of OBCs coming our way, but not in the account yet and maybe not for a long time.

OBcs for Loyalty, NCL shares, TA, etc.

 

To book a tour now, we have to use our own funds. The OBCs we will receive later are then really wasted.

To wait till it all appears on the account, is risking the availability of the preferred tours.

 

Any ideas?

[jo-b]

Not being sarcastic but have you tried ringing Oceania and asking them? 

 

Our Loyalty OBC always appears on our invoice immediately but have no idea when it shows up in the account to be used as we rarely use O excursions. 

[jonthomas]

yes I think that one is easy to get onto the account...

 

I know the answer to this one, but will ask anyway....any chance of applying it on board and getting a refund for what you pain out of pocket?

[tigerfan75]

21 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

The tours for our March cruise have come out.

We have a ton of OBCs coming our way, but not in the account yet and maybe not for a long time.

OBcs for Loyalty, NCL shares, TA, etc.

 

To book a tour now, we have to use our own funds. The OBCs we will receive later are then really wasted.

To wait till it all appears on the account, is risking the availability of the preferred tours.

 

Any ideas?

Others will correct me if I am wrong…

In my experience, I book excursions as soon as possible from the PDF, by calling into O and paying with my credit card.  At a later date, after the non refundable OBC shareholder, etc. may appear, I ask for my TA to contact O for another O Guest Statement invoice.  At every instance, the non refundable OBC is automatically applied to the excursions, and a refundable OBC shows on the account.  I usually take from the Purser at Reception the refundable OBC (what is left!) in cash the next-to-last day of the cruise, and keep my credit card points.  I suppose I could request my TA to have O refund by credit card, but I have not done that.

[Flatbush Flyer]

21 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

The tours for our March cruise have come out.

We have a ton of OBCs coming our way, but not in the account yet and maybe not for a long time.

OBcs for Loyalty, NCL shares, TA, etc.

 

To book a tour now, we have to use our own funds. The OBCs we will receive later are then really wasted.

To wait till it all appears on the account, is risking the availability of the preferred tours.

 

Any ideas?

Most importantly, not all of the SBC “coming your way” will ever be available in your account for pre-purchased anything. Most notably, refundable SBC provided directly by your TA will only show once you are onboard.

Usually, what will be available will exist when you initially book - old O Life SBC perk (or unseen tours perk that auto-figures in the cart’s bottom line) or new SM tours SBC. To that, add O Club SBC and designated BoB SBC  (all non-refundable). 
 

As for a strategy regarding added SBC once you’ve put the tours balance due on your CC, the “easiest?” solution is to cancel, at least, some of the prebooked tours and rebook them (while still available to do so pre-embark). Of course, that is not without its own major issues: 1) the selected tours may be sold out and your rebook puts you on a waitlist and 2) you will now be at the bottom of that wait list.

 

The other solution is, once onboard, make your short list of useful items from the onboard shops to secure on the next to last day of the cruise. You can always add to your collection of Oceania branded merchandise or finally take home one of those cute little anti-gravity globes.

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 minutes ago, tigerfan75 said:

Others will correct me if I am wrong…

In my experience, I book excursions as soon as possible from the PDF, by calling into O and paying with my credit card.  At a later date, after the non refundable OBC shareholder, etc. may appear, I ask for my TA to contact O for another O Guest Statement invoice.  At every instance, the non refundable OBC is automatically applied to the excursions, and a refundable OBC shows on the account.  I usually take from the Purser at Reception the refundable OBC (what is left!) in cash the next-to-last day of the cruise, and keep my credit card points.  I suppose I could request my TA to have O refund by credit card, but I have not done that.

This is a great idea. I’m currently facing this possibility on an upcoming cruise with a HUGE bank of non-refundable SBC I got in a negotiation around the ES sale prices and adjustments to the paid fare. And, although pre-existing SBC definitely lightened the load of my initial tour purchase pre-cruise, I still had some out-of-pocket CC charges.

I’m going to have my TA look into it and also ask my trusted O rep (used to purchase tours) about a switch. We board Regatta next Monday and if it works, I’ll report back.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

finally take home one of those cute little anti-gravity globes.

The ones that magically spin? I have a funny story on that, but I won't go into the details, but just in case anyone gets one don't pack it in your carry on if you're going to fly. They are filled with liquid. They also need light to spin. I'm looking at mine right now.