Dollars vs Pounds

[Jaydog]

Please add my thanks to everyone on this board for this little tip. I am a very happy bunny too now. I have just rung Cunard, got a rate of £1.89 (100USD = £53), just purchased $1000 for £530. We are on the QM2 med cruise on QM2 on 14th May.

[SeaMatesNYC]

Here's something to try, if you have a U.S. based credit card. Ask Cunard to charge £100 to your credit card. (Don't know if the U.S. reps can do that.) If they could and gave you $189 OBC, when the card company processed the £ charge, they would convert to say $1.50 or $150 for a £100 charge. You've just bought $189 for $150. A very nice currency arbitrage. I'm off to talk with my currency trading desk...might make a business of this.;)

[2irisheyes]

SeaMatesNYC

You've only written 3+ lines and my brain hurts already. Surely if it is a US based cc it will be $$ anyway - now I'm confusing myself. But here's a good idea, why don't you try it and let us all know how you get on (or your trader).

[rjms74]

seamatesnyc, Just a note to mention that you can only purchase on board credit - at least in the UK - if you have a booking reference.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

RJMS74

[Norfolk Brit]

SeaMatesNYC

You've only written 3+ lines and my brain hurts already. Surely if it is a US based cc it will be $$ anyway - now I'm confusing myself.

 

Oh, I've cracked it and I'm just a cat (note to shipscat: the cat). All Michael has to do is send me the money, I'll kindly bank it, then get the dollars on his behalf, using my UK credit card. Sorted.

 

Sir Martin:cool:

[SeaMatesNYC]

Oh, I've cracked it and I'm just a cat (note to shipscat: the cat). All Michael has to do is send me the money, I'll kindly bank it, then get the dollars on his behalf, using my UK credit card. Sorted.

 

Sir Martin:cool:

 

Marti, I'll pass on that offer. But I do have some CDOs and MBSs I could sell you. How 'bout that?

 

Michael

[SeaMatesNYC]

seamatesnyc, Just a note to mention that you can only purchase on board credit - at least in the UK - if you have a booking reference.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

RJMS74

 

Yeah, we figured that out. My currency trader called in to Cunard with a £10,000,000 bid for dollars and ended up talking to a janitor at Royal Bank of Scotland.

 

Michael

[Stowgate Resident]

Please add my thanks to everyone on this board for this little tip. I am a very happy bunny too now. I have just rung Cunard, got a rate of £1.89 (100USD = £53), just purchased $1000 for £530. We are on the QM2 med cruise on QM2 on 14th May.

I have just rung Cunard UK and the person I spoke to said: - that I could buy OBC, that I would just hand over Sterling, but she couldn't tell me the exchange rate, it would be the same as we would get on board, that it wasn't variable or dependant on when your cruise was booked, that it wasn't really worth my while buying in advance. She did eventually say that I could speak to "someone in finance", but I would need to ring tomorrow because they all go home at 5pm.

We are first-time cruisers and this originally seemed a really good way of improving our spending power on board. You all lost me with the references to the casino, changing chips for cash etc. but I thought I had understood the basic concept. Have I got it all wrong? If not, could someone please give me an idiots guide to OBC and making the most of the currency exchange rate? Where did I go wrong? We sail on QM2 on 25th May, so any help would be appreciated. Valerie & Andrew

[Norfolk Brit]

Valerie, I suggest you ring again tomorrow, at which point you will get a different person who, hopefully, will tell you the same as the rest of us have been told. Cunard customer service is fairly notorious for its ability to give ten different answers to the same question, depending on who you speak to.

 

Hope you are successful, and they haven't changed this rather delightful little idea.

 

Mary

[SueOverend]

Valerie,

 

I agree - ring again. We bought $2000 of on board credit for £1060 a few weeks ago. The rate worked out to around $1.89 = £1. All gone through on my credit card, although there will be no receipt from Cunard with confirmation. The lady I dealt with gave me an authorisation code as proof and confirmed the transaction. Just hope the balance is $2000 when we board in November!!

 

Sue

[Brit abroad]

I have literally just put the phone down from Cunard Reservations and bought $575 of onboard/online credit for £304.75. Also purchased a bottle of Perrier Jouet champers for £27.50 for 'Sailaway', which i thought was also pretty good value as this is only a couple of quid above best UK RRP!

 

Initially the reservations clerk seemed a bit reluctant to quote exchange rates, saying instead that she would prefer me to simply state how many $'s I wished to purchase and then she would tell me how much that would cost in Sterling?! When I pointed out that I felt it was important that I knew the exchange rate first to ensure that a) i was getting a decent exchange rate:o b) only purchased what I could actually afford & c) be able to check that I was actually getting charged the correct amount, there was a bit of a long weary sigh, followed by confirmation that the exchange rate was 1.88:D.

 

Interestingly when I just got my calculator out to double check the maths, the $'s I seem to have purchased is almost a couple up in my favour - don't ask me why, but under the circumstances I feel disinclined to probe further!

 

When I asked for a receipt I was told that Cunard never send out receipts for OBC, so when I asked how I would know that I had recieved the correct amount of credit the by now even more weary reservations clerk sighed that I would receive a card stating my onboard credit on embarkation and that should tally with my debit card statement!

 

So there you have it, all very wonderful and hope this Cunard exchange rate remains as quoted long enough to get a few drinks in at the CC on 31st May & beyond!;)

 

 

 

Anyway just thought fellow Brits would like to know that this favourable rate as of 30 mins ago is still in place - happy days!

[Gilllizzie]

We booked last week for a T/A at the end of August. In spite of reading these posts, I couldn't believe it would be true, but Called Cunard this morning and bought OBC for £53 per $100. It works out as 1.88 dollars to the GBP, whilst the exchange rate today is 1.5 dollars to the pound. Wow! Thanks to the posters who have made my cash go so much further.

[tillypink]

Hi all

 

I would also like to confirm that I received $1.889 to £1 yesterday. It will certainly make our onboard finances go much further. Thanks for this very valuable information.

 

I would like to add that I have found out a lot of useful tips from this site that are not provided by Cunard so I'm glad I've found you.:D

 

Tillypink

[Stowgate Resident]

Many thanks to those of you who recommended re-trying to purchase OBC in response to my previous post. The young lady, Sienna, with whom I dealt this time was very pleasant, and extremely helpful, and I was able to purchase $500 dollars for £265 - an exchange rate with which I was very satisfied.

I had no idea how much we would spend on a TA, but I was told that once we had spent the pre-purchased OBC any further expenditure would simply be added to our account and be settled at the end of the voyage. Sienna did confirm that we could spend OBC in the Casino if we wished, but that any surplus is non-refundable.

Once again, many thanks. I am finding these message boards very useful as a first timer on the high seas! Valerie

[Devon Bloke]

I have literally just put the phone down from Cunard Reservations...

 

... the exchange rate was 1.88:D.

 

So there you have it, all very wonderful and hope this Cunard exchange rate remains as quoted long enough to get a few drinks in at the CC on 31st May & beyond!;)

 

Anyway just thought fellow Brits would like to know that this favourable rate as of 30 mins ago is still in place - happy days!

 

 

And I have just done the same - and got the same rate.

 

I'm on the same sailing as Brit Abroad (May 31 NYC to S'hampton - note our role call) See you in the bar!

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[southwestie]

We got $1.89 a few weeks back, you have to make sure you spend it all though, (easy enough) it cant be carried forward to the next cruise and make sure its spilt between 2 of you.

 

great deal though:)

[Brit abroad]

We got $1.89 a few weeks back, you have to make sure you spend it all though, (easy enough) it cant be carried forward to the next cruise and make sure its spilt between 2 of you.

 

great deal though:)

 

 

Thanks for the caution Rob6852! I did pick up on the 'use it or loose it' scenario, hence I have only purchased OBC to the value of just over half what we spent on our last TA, so feeling confident that there will be nothing left in the pot at the end of the crossing - I wish!:rolleyes:

[southwestie]

Thanks for the caution Rob6852! I did pick up on the 'use it or loose it' scenario, hence I have only purchased OBC to the value of just over half what we spent on our last TA, so feeling confident that there will be nothing left in the pot at the end of the crossing - I wish!:rolleyes:

 

 

Someone said that if you have some over, change it up in the casino, or just buy martinis:eek:

[cruiseluvva]

I, too, also purchased some US dollars in OBC for our trip on the Queen Ma4y 2 in August 2009 which we booked a few weeks ago. The rate was very favourable at US$1.88 to the £. This will be great for spending in the bars and shops on board!

 

Kind regards.

 

KathyW

 

I also got $1.88=£1 about a month ago for my B2B in July. It was too good an opportunity to pass by. Also for my Princess cruise last month.

[Laconia]

We got $1.89 a few weeks back, you have to make sure you spend it all though, (easy enough) it cant be carried forward to the next cruise and make sure its spilt between 2 of you.

 

great deal though:)

 

 

You can always transfer spending between accounts at the Purser's Office. And you can obtain cash at the Casino for a 3% charge. Therefore it is worth buying more than you require if you are staying in New York, so that you have dollars at this exchange rate when you are there.

[Glenndale]

Thank you so much for posting this information. I have managed to get an exchange rate of $1.89 today.

Definitely worth doing.:)

[lexilexi07]

We have booked a b2b in June, we have bought OBC for the outward and the return, we definitely plan to spend all of it but is it easy enough to transfer the money onto our return account just in case?

[liketravel]

Hi all late comming in but I saw this log in its infancy back at the start; I have been trying to find you again all evening.

Perhaps some of you have already cruised !! with your pre booked OBC.

Has any one purched OBC in advance recently? I note the $ is going up against the £ in recent weeks; just wondering what Cunard are selling at now.

We sail on the QV next month so I am trying to get focused - this seems to be the must thing to do we never knew about it before reading this forum. However in recent years we have had the fortune of the $ being + - $2 to £1.

 

Kind regards

 

Liketravel

[cheza]

Hi Likeatravel, we are on your cruise too & I recognise you name from very early on in the roll call.

 

My DH got our obc last a week last friday & got 1.89, which is a really good rate for us brits with the dollar being so low. It was very easy to do over the phone.

 

Look forward to seeing you back on the roll call.

 

Chez

 

:-)

[SueOverend]

We have booked a b2b in June, we have bought OBC for the outward and the return, we definitely plan to spend all of it but is it easy enough to transfer the money onto our return account just in case?

 

I've already checked this out with Cunard - you cannot transfer any balance to your next trip. We have therefore purchased two different OBC's for our B2B trips and if we have any left we will cash up in the casino and pay the 3%. It is highly unlikely that we will have anything left!!