Question regarding TA's honoring HAL vouchers

[Golfgrl1911]

Can anyone who's received an HAL voucher in the past tell me about their experiences redeeming them with on-line TA's? We got one each (for 2 of us) for 25% of the price of our previous cabin for a future cruise after our 7 night cruise was shortened to 5 nights this past September (clearly not the fault of HAL but mother nature). That meant $138.00 off the next cabin per person and was the deciding factor for booking our upcoming cruise in September 2005 almost a year early. The origional TA I booked with for the first cruise said that the online price was not valid for use with a voucher and was willing to honor at a price that was exactly $138.00 more per person for the cabin. That seemed bogus to me so I contacted another on-line agency that said they would be more than happy to honor the voucher with the online price but add on a $7.50 pp charge for booking over the phone....no problem. NOW they have (4 months later) confirmed the vouchers are valid but are charging 20% of the value of the vouchers for honoring them! What's up with this! I'm still getting a good value, but aren't these vouchers just like cash?? Isn't HAL sending them the full amount of the voucher? Why are they charging me $27.00 pp for me to use them? I specifically remember asking the TA if I would get 100% redemption and she said yes. There is no mention in their contract stating that this is a policy to deduct 20% off vouchers from cruiselines. Help me understand folks.........Nancy

[dakrewser]

Can anyone who's received an HAL voucher in the past tell me about their experiences redeeming them with on-line TA's? We got one each (for 2 of us) for 25% of the price of our previous cabin for a future cruise after our 7 night cruise was shortened to 5 nights this past September (clearly not the fault of HAL but mother nature). That meant $138.00 off the next cabin per person and was the deciding factor for booking our upcoming cruise in September 2005 almost a year early. The origional TA I booked with for the first cruise said that the online price was not valid for use with a voucher and was willing to honor at a price that was exactly $138.00 more per person for the cabin. That seemed bogus to me so I contacted another on-line agency that said they would be more than happy to honor the voucher with the online price but add on a $7.50 pp charge for booking over the phone....no problem. NOW they have (4 months later) confirmed the vouchers are valid but are charging 20% of the value of the vouchers for honoring them! What's up with this! I'm still getting a good value, but aren't these vouchers just like cash?? Isn't HAL sending them the full amount of the voucher? Why are they charging me $27.00 pp for me to use them? I specifically remember asking the TA if I would get 100% redemption and she said yes. There is no mention in their contract stating that this is a policy to deduct 20% off vouchers from cruiselines. Help me understand folks.........Nancy

 

Remember that the TA isn't a HAL employee and really doesn't want to do the paperwork required to honor the voucher. Tell them, in no uncertain terms, to honor their agreement or you'll move your reservation to another TA. Get a quote from a local, bricks & mortar TA to have some bargaining power. Go with the local TA if their within reason. Less headache, easier to get to with a baseball bat, if they need persuasion. :rolleyes: (that's a joke, folks, really!)

[the2ofus]

Golfgirl,

I had a similar experience with icruise. They said it is their policy "not to accept vouchers, although they do accept coupons(???)". When I insisted that the HAL voucher represented real dollars and all they had to do was receive it from me and send it to HAL to get their money, they said the $$ value was higher than their $175 maximum. Huh??

 

Their price for our Oct. 05 cruise was low enough that we still booked the cruise through icruise.

 

My dear, dear DH suggested that we will just book our 2006, 20th anniversary cruise early enough to use the voucher for that one. Hooray, TWO cruises to look forward to!! :D :D

[KAKcruiser]

I booked my cruise directly with HAL, sent them the vouchers and then had a travel agent take over the booking. This worked out fine.

[richnorto]

That was my suggestion. HAL seems to have the same rates as Travel agents. Work directly through Hal, and no service charges, fees, fines, etc. You might even try to work with them if you find a better rate somewhere else... I don't know, but they might rather keep the TA fee and give you the discount?... Just a thought, Anyone out there tried to work with Hal on honoring other rates for their cruises?:confused:

[Golfgrl1911]

My bad...as the younger set says....I pulled out the contract last night and reread it (it's been safely tucked away for 4 months)...it has a paragraph on coupons & certificates that states because I am getting my cruise at a "deep discount" they will redeem 80% of the certificate. Thankfully I made copies of the "voucher" and on it the word certificate is used several times. You'd think that with Lisa being an attorney & me being corporate we'd have noticed this! So once again, I learn a valuable lesson... as the saying goes.."you're never to old"! As I stated in my earlier post, I am getting a phenominal deal for my SS cabin so I will roll over and accept the fact that it's all about profit....Sorry I jumped the gun and got you all involved for nothing.:o I now know that the words coupon, certificate & voucher are all one and the same in the cruise industry, and since Lisa & I got a $50.00 pp shipboard credit I have informed her that hers is now gone and I now have $45.00 to spend freely for myself!:D Thanks for all your input gang. Sorry again! Nancy

[kryos]

Can anyone who's received an HAL voucher in the past tell me about their experiences redeeming them with on-line TA's?

This is one of the disadvantages of dealing with online agencies. The upside of the online agencies is that you generally get better pricing on the cruise, even without the voucher.

 

I have the exact same voucher that you do. I was on that cruise aboard the Zuiderdam last September as well. When I do HAL bookings, I always go through a brick and mortar travel agent, because he happens to have an "in" with HAL. He does a couple of major group bookings with them each year. I just booked the Amsterdam's Hawaii/South Pacific cruise last month and had no trouble whatsoever in redeeming my Zuiderdam voucher as a credit toward the total price of the cruise.

 

The onlines will generally charge you a "service charge" to redeem them, but then ... you will usually get a better overall price through them.

 

Just my opinion ... it's probably a wash ...

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Stevesan]

..Sorry I jumped the gun and got you all involved for nothing.:o I now know that the words coupon, certificate & voucher are all one and the same in the cruise industry, and since Lisa & I got a $50.00 pp shipboard credit I have informed her that hers is now gone and I now have $45.00 to spend freely for myself!:D Thanks for all your input gang. Sorry again! Nancy

 

There is absolutely no need for an apology. These boards are for sharing information. Odds are that many readers of your post are not aware of the multitude of techniques TAs use to gain financial advantage. Your example is good to know about.

[Sea Island Lady]

Get a quote from a local, bricks & mortar TA to have some bargaining power.

That was my suggestion. HAL seems to have the same rates as Travel agents.

So true about getting a bricks & mortar TA!

Not true about HAL having the same prices as TA's (at least not B&M TA's.)

 

We find a discounted online price (icruise, Cruises N More) that we feel comfortable with. I call my B&M TA and she matches the price. In the case of our upcoming HAL cruise, she was $300 pp less than HAL!

 

This is actually the first cruise we have booked that we did not use a voucher or coupon because we booked so late, no coupons were available. However, the pricing that HAL has on their cruises is far less than other lines we have cruised with (matching similar cabins), so we feel that along with the TA discounted price, we are getting a bargain without using a coupon. :) Our TA has always accepted the coupons and vouchers in addition to the discounted fare. Not only that, she has called to let us know of Senior discounts, etc.

[dakrewser]

Sorry I jumped the gun and got you all involved for nothing.:o

 

No need to apologize Nancy - we all learned something from your experience.

 

-dave

[Ziggy7]

Wow I sure learned alot of good info here, guess they are right when they say its never too late to teach an old dog new tricks :) Thanks! :p

[Golfgrl1911]

Thanks all! I just hate drama and felt that if I'd just read the fine print all the worry could have been eliviated! But you all are right about learning experiences. I can't tell you how many times I've learned just from reading this board. Guess that's why it's my favorite place to hang & read! Have a great weekend. Nancy

 

p.s. List of things to be learned from this:

1. READ THE FINE PRINT!:eek:

2. The value of the dollar is not what you may expect.:mad:

3. Nancy gets excited easily when she feels she's not getting the "full deal"!:(

4. Many words can equal one meaning (according to an on-line agency's contract). bottom line - PROFIT:confused:

5. Lisa will suffer financially so that Nancy can "feel" she's still getting a deal.:D