Purchasing OBC

[resordanis]

Just a question, can you purchase OBC before you sail? I have heard other cruise lines do offer this. Never seen the reason to do this, but need to have additional US dollars and looking for the best way to purchase to pay our account.

 

TIA

[david63]

Not aware that you can purchase OBC but you can buy a gift credit https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/activity-types/gifts/gift-credit. Don't know if it is available in Australia.

[rakkor]

I did it back in 2016 when Cunard had a ridiculous USD exchange rate, but they messed it up and it didn't get added to my on-board account until nearing the end of the cruise which was quite stressful. I've not tried it again since.

 

[Jack E Dawson]

2 hours ago, resordanis said:

need to have additional US dollars and looking for the best way to purchase to pay our account.

 

TIA

resordanis, I may be missing something here but I believe that you will have to have a credit card on file and everything onboard will be charged to that. Your credit card company will convert it back to AU$. I'm not even sure cash is accepted onboard. 

Jack

[resordanis]

6 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

resordanis, I may be missing something here but I believe that you will have to have a credit card on file and everything onboard will be charged to that. Your credit card company will convert it back to AU$. I'm not even sure cash is accepted onboard. 

Jack

Thanks fully aware of all the above, but just trying to avoid large amounts of US dollars going on our CC. Our bank is not favourable on currency exchange.

[resordanis]

8 hours ago, david63 said:

Not aware that you can purchase OBC but you can buy a gift credit https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/activity-types/gifts/gift-credit. Don't know if it is available in Australia.

This might work thankyou. For past Cunard cruises/voyages we have had sizeable OBC, alas not this time.

[rakkor]

Here in the UK Cunard used to charge the OBC bought in GBP using their fixed exchange rate, which was the reason for me buying it, I think they gave $1.54 to the £ when the spot rate was nearer 1.20, but that has changed and the now just charge you in USD if I remember correctly so there would be no advantage and you'd still get the CC charges - Don't the do low/no fee credit cards in AUS, I have a Halifax Clarity and Nationwide Select specifically for foreign exchange which have no commission charges - The Halifax is good for cash withdrawls which the Nationwide doesn't do.

[david63]

Another option, if it is available in Australia, could be to have a prepaid card loaded with USD when the exchange rate is good and then use that to pay off your onboard account.

 

8 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

I'm not even sure cash is accepted onboard. 

It is to settle your account https://my.cunard.com/en-gb/mycruise/articles/money-service

 

[Pushpit]

Australians have to be careful since much credit card usage results in a service fee for card usage. Debit cards don't attract this fee, typically but do get some big pre-authorisation reserves. If the OP has cash dollars then paying over extra OBC is a good way to avoid paying that fee without getting some massive debit card Cunard pre-authorisation mucking up your debit card usage.

 

You can add cash to your OBC when you board, by going to the Pursers desk, but the danger is that it can get awkward if you have any unspent OBC: you may deem it as being part of the cash you gave at the start, but Cunard may say it came from the OBC that came with your package or shareholding and that's never refunded. Typically this can be resolved, but it's best not to get into this logic.

 

A better approach is to add enough money to cover known expenditure but be sure to under calculate it. Then as you get past the halfway point or towards the end, top it up so as to maximise cash and minimise credit/debit card usage. On longer trips, or if your onboard spend is high, they may attempt to take funds by card mid voyage, I'm not sure of the exact triggers here.

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

1 hour ago, rakkor said:

Here in the UK Cunard used to charge the OBC bought in GBP using their fixed exchange rate, which was the reason for me buying it, I think they gave $1.54 to the £ when the spot rate was nearer 1.20, but that has changed and the now just charge you in USD if I remember correctly so there would be no advantage and you'd still get the CC charges - Don't the do low/no fee credit cards in AUS, I have a Halifax Clarity and Nationwide Select specifically for foreign exchange which have no commission charges - The Halifax is good for cash withdrawls which the Nationwide doesn't do.

I remember that deal. I wondered if you could purchase a large amount, buy casino chips, cash out at the casino, convert back to sterling at my bank, and use the profit on the currency deal to pay for my cruise. In the end I only

used it to buy more champagne. It was a good deal for UK based passengers. I was sad when it stopped. 

[BigMac1953]

2 hours ago, rakkor said:

Here in the UK Cunard used to charge the OBC bought in GBP using their fixed exchange rate, which was the reason for me buying it, I think they gave $1.54 to the £ when the spot rate was nearer 1.20, but that has changed and the now just charge you in USD if I remember correctly so there would be no advantage and you'd still get the CC charges - Don't the do low/no fee credit cards in AUS, I have a Halifax Clarity and Nationwide Select specifically for foreign exchange which have no commission charges - The Halifax is good for cash withdrawls which the Nationwide doesn't do.

 

There was a time about 14/15 years ago, when although unpublicised, you got $2 = £1 if you purchased OBC in advance.

 

Unfortunately, this perk was ruined by greedy numpties who bought thousands and withdrew the cash on board, thus making an immediate 25/30% profit.

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

 

There was a time about 14/15 years ago, when although unpublicised, you got $2 = £1 if you purchased OBC in advance.

 

Unfortunately, this perk was ruined by greedy numpties who bought thousands and withdrew the cash on board, thus making an immediate 25/30% profit.

Yes, I remember that. It was great, but I wouldn’t have dreamt of misusing it.

[exlondoner]

37 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

 

There was a time about 14/15 years ago, when although unpublicised, you got $2 = £1 if you purchased OBC in advance.

 

Unfortunately, this perk was ruined by greedy numpties who bought thousands and withdrew the cash on board, thus making an immediate 25/30% profit.

At that time, because the exchange rate was so favourable and the wine list price quite low, NZ Cloudy Bay was discernibly less on board than in our local supermarket. Bizarre.

[resordanis]

Thanks all,

My CC does attract transaction fees. I think I will obviously lodge that card when boarding, pay over existing US dollars (have had for a while and good rate) and then purchase some more whilst in Sydney prior to cruise and pay before the end of the cruise.

As I said I have had reasonable OBC in the past, but not this time.

[NE John]

40 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Thanks all,

My CC does attract transaction fees. I think I will obviously lodge that card when boarding, pay over existing US dollars (have had for a while and good rate) and then purchase some more whilst in Sydney prior to cruise and pay before the end of the cruise.

As I said I have had reasonable OBC in the past, but not this time.

Can you reclaim unused OBC once stocked in your account? Use it or lose it?

[Victoria2]

7 hours ago, NE John said:

Can you reclaim unused OBC once stocked in your account? Use it or lose it?

Use it or lose it.

We had a truly enormous amount one particular trip. I got some new clothes, and and some friends and relatives got  rather nice Aspinall large pouches for Christmas. 🙂

[Pushpit]

8 hours ago, NE John said:

Can you reclaim unused OBC once stocked in your account? Use it or lose it?

If you add your own cash into OBC - as opposed to OBC from the package deal, shareholding and/or veteran status - then that cash OBC should be refundable at the end of the sailing. However there have been reports here where Cunard used the cash OBC up first, and then the package (etc) OBC - and that's caused problems since from Cunard's perspective it's only "their" OBC that is left and "their" OBC is not refundable.

 

Hence my suggestion above to be cautious on the payment timing.

[Winifred 22]

21 hours ago, Pushpit said:

If you add your own cash into OBC - as opposed to OBC from the package deal, shareholding and/or veteran status - then that cash OBC should be refundable at the end of the sailing. However there have been reports here where Cunard used the cash OBC up first, and then the package (etc) OBC - and that's caused problems since from Cunard's perspective it's only "their" OBC that is left and "their" OBC is not refundable.

 

Hence my suggestion above to be cautious on the payment timing.

I have heard too of that happening too so I would keep back any cash and just use to settle outstanding balance on the last night in cash. Lots of folk seem to do that.