Seabourn Referral Problem

[Cruising Kangaroo]

Recently, my wife and I booked our first Seabourn cruise. We were referred by a family member under Seabourn's Referral Program. When the bookings were sent to Seabourn Australia for allocating the $250 On Board Credit (OBC), Seabourn accepted the claim from the referring booking but denied the OBC to us, on the grounds that our travel agent had given us a discounted or "special" fare. 

 

We argued that our (Australian) travel agent's offer and pricing were completely separate from Seabourn's Referral Program but they would not budge. 

 

So if you are booking a Seabourn cruise in Australia, be aware that, if your travel agent discounts the fare, Seabourn could deny you any additional advertised benefits. 

 

After checking the Referral Program terms and conditions, I discovered that the referral OBC will be denied if you receive "third party OBC".  I take this to mean OBC provided by a party other than Seabourn, and that is most obviously your travel agent. We did not receive any OBC from our TA. There is no mention in the Referral Program conditions that a discounted fare from your travel agent will affect your eligibility for the Referral program OBC.

 

I referred this decision to Seabourn's head office and their response was that because we had received a discounted fare, we were not eligible for the Referral Program OBC. Something to be aware of.

 

[cruising kirby]

Have you booked one of Seabourns discounted fares ( which may not combine with referral OBC) or has your travel agent discounted your fare specifically for you?  
 

If you have booked a “last minute” fare from Seabourn, or another heavily discounted market fare, it might have a booking condition that prevents it being combined with referral OBC

 

Check with your travel agent who should be able to explain

[johng75370]

12 hours ago, Cruising Kangaroo said:

After checking the Referral Program terms and conditions, I discovered that the referral OBC will be denied if you receive "third party OBC".  I take this to mean OBC provided by a party other than Seabourn, and that is most obviously your travel agent. We did not receive any OBC from our TA.

The third party can be anyone, not just travel agent.  We’ve had this situation where getting the American Express “cruise privileges” benefits ($300 OBC) negates getting the $250 referral OBC.  

[Cruising Kangaroo]

Thanks for the comments. I would be interested to hear if anyone has received the Referral Program OBC as well as a cruise fare discounted by their travel agent. We did not receive any OBC, just a discounted fare.

[dalliowner]

we always get a discount from TA and have always received our OBC from Seabourn. I think it depends on who provides the TA discount , some times this comes from Seabourn  although the TA is reluctant to tell you this. Our TA in the the UK always gives approx 10pc discount, this comes our of their share from Seabourn.

[FlyingScotSailors]

On 9/15/2024 at 12:37 AM, Cruising Kangaroo said:

I discovered that the referral OBC will be denied if you receive "third party OBC".  I take this to mean OBC provided by a party other than Seabourn

Seabourn defines "third party OBC" to mean OBC that actually comes from Seabourn but is presented as coming from another party, usually your travel agent.  If it is a Seabourn OBC that is being passed through the TA, the referral credit is not combinable.  If the TA is paying for the OBC, it should be combined.

 

We have had a travel-agent-consortium payed-for OBC combined with the referral OBC.  In addition, Carnival Corp shareholder OBC is also combinable.  Any rebate or commission-sharing fare reduction provided by your TA is between you and the TA; it should not affect Seabourn's actions.

 

However, Seabourn will sometimes give certain TAs a block of rooms for a particular sailing at what must be a large discount; we have not booked any such cruise, but looking at the package prices, the TA's cost has to be much lower than Seabourn's published price.  If this is the type of "discounted special fare" you have booked, Seabourn may treat it differently than a TA simply sharing the commission with you, and deny referral OBC.

 

 

 

[margbem]

We have some onboard credit from Seabourn for a special birthday on our next cruise and also we have the referral credit, plus our stockholder credit. We book through a UK agent who also gives us 10% discount.

[Cruising Kangaroo]

Yes, it seems that regardless of the (discounted) fare or OBC received by the referring party, Seabourn will honor the Referral Program OBC, but if the referred party receives OBC or a discounted fare, then Seabourn will refuse to honor the Referral Program bonus. At  least we now know. Thanks for your comments.