Final payment due

What is the average amount of time when final payment is due? I understand that Viking wants final payment very soon after booking.

Judy from SW Florida

What is the average amount of time when final payment is due? I understand that Viking wants final payment very soon after booking.

Difficult to give a simple answer to that one as each company has its own terms and special offers which can all affect the timing of the final payment.

However, if you ignore any discounts for early payment in full or special conditions for bookings made close to departure date then I'd say that 60-90 days would be what you are looking at in most cases.

Even with Viking in the USA, it is still worth asking about delaying the full payment as there are occasional reports of them being willing to do this (outside the USA Viking are also typically 90 days or less).

I just looked at our invoices. Looks like 3 months for both Tauck and Uniworld.

Thanks so very much for that information. My assumptions were so totally wrong then as I had hesitated in booking a cruise over a year in advance because I didn't want to make full payment out that far. Thanks again.

Judy in SW Florida

Thanks so very much for that information. My assumptions were so totally wrong then as I had hesitated in booking a cruise over a year in advance because I didn't want to make full payment out that far. Thanks again.

Just make sure when comparing that the prices you look at are for the later final payment, especially if you are taking advantage of a 'special offer' as many will have different payment terms to the standard prices.

90 days for Avalon, with all my promotions and discounts intact and unaffected.

Sometimes you are offered a "better" discount if you pay in full. We saved quite a bit when we did that with Uniworld for our trip to Russia.

Fran

Grand Circle and Vantage offer a 10% discount if paid in full a year in advance. Otherwise there is a sliding scale of savings when payment is received later.

Avalon's final payment is due 90 days before sailing and there is no additional discount for paying in full earlier. Of course, you are still more than welcome to pay in full whenever you choose. I use this method of installments to ease the hit on my credit card. I like having everything completely paid off way before I sail.

Sometimes you are offered a "better" discount if you pay in full. We saved quite a bit when we did that with Uniworld for our trip to Russia.

Yes, we were offered an additional $500 off our upcoming Egypt cruise, but decided it wasn't worth tying that money up that long. One reason I would never book Viking is their crazy payment policies.

One reason I would never book Viking is their crazy payment policies.

Ditto

One reason I would never book Viking is their crazy payment policies.

Friends booked with Viking, and requested a later final payment date - which they were given. However, this has come back to bite them, as our CDN $ has dropped so much that it has cost them a significant amount more for the final payment.

If they had paid in full with the original date, it would have worked out in their favour.

Fran

The OP resides in Florida so does not have "Currency" fluctuations issues.

Friends booked with Viking, and requested a later final payment date - which they were given. However, this has come back to bite them, as our CDN $ has dropped so much that it has cost them a significant amount more for the final payment.

 

If they had paid in full with the original date, it would have worked out in their favour.

 

Fran

Did they get 60 or 90 days? Or was the special favor still earlier than the industry standard?

Friends booked with Viking, and requested a later final payment date - which they were given. However, this has come back to bite them, as our CDN $ has dropped so much that it has cost them a significant amount more for the final payment.

 

If they had paid in full with the original date, it would have worked out in their favour.

 

Fran

Yeah Fran, I hear you. I've often speculated on US/CDN currency for my cruises, and sometimes win, sometimes lose. Right now we're just losing, aren't we? Can it get much worse? I remember my first ever cruise, booked in USD, when the CD$ was at $.65. That really hurt!

It would seem that the Australian dollar mirrors that of Canada. When we booked Tauck in 2011 our dollar was at times as high as $1.12US and we decided to make the final payment at 90 days but in 2014 with the Aussie dollar starting to fall we made periodic payments on their web site to try and get the best value for "our" dollar. As I've said a number of times in 2011 Tauck's prices to Aussies was cheaper than what it was offering to its US customers.

Given the current state of our dollar, when I last looked it was around .77 cents US, we won't be taking any further Tauck offerings for quite a while. Unless of course we get a visit from the Lotto fairy.

Did they get 60 or 90 days? Or was the special favor still earlier than the industry standard?

It was still earlier than industry standard. They did their homework and picked Viking. They said it ticked all the boxes for them.

They were aware of the early payment (did a presentation on river cruising at my church and did mention this) so thought the extension of an extra few months before final payment was a good idea... then our dollar tanked.

Fran

Yeah Fran, I hear you. I've often speculated on US/CDN currency for my cruises, and sometimes win, sometimes lose. Right now we're just losing, aren't we? Can it get much worse? I remember my first ever cruise, booked in USD, when the CD$ was at $.65. That really hurt!

It does hurt... We have the final payment due at the end of March for our October cruise When we booked, we did get a 10% discount as a Canadian customer - but then our dollar dropped even more. Am hoping the downward slide has stopped.

I have earned the voucher for the free trip - and really want to go to China - so booked. Glad we did, as Viking's website shows all trips in October are completely sold out.

Fran

We like Vantage, since there cruises/tours are just as nice as Viking and always cheaper. Futher, you don't have to pay in full so early.

Vantage's final payment is about 90 days before departure.