Obc

[imcpa]

I have a cruise on hold for 2012 by booking directly with PG. I have seen a few comments about using a TA to get an OBC. Is this true? Is there always an OBC available? PG did not offer any such thing when we put it on hold. Thanks so much for the help.

[Familygoboston]

I don't know the answer to your question; but my TA sent a brochure last spring offering an OBC for Oct 11 sailing. We booked an Oct 12 sailing with them- but no OBC. Possibly, they are offered closer to the sailing date? I'm frustrated with this too; feels a little bait and switch to me.

I like my TA, but once when I mentioned to the owner that I book my own cruises with the mass markets he said" if you book luxury cruises with us you will get OBC" ; so it makes me wonder where is my OBC?:rolleyes:

[Emdee]

There are different ways to get money back

 

Some sellers of Luxury cruises offer them as pre cruise credits - a type of rebating - usually between 5-10% . My regular agent usually gives me this.

 

If you have an AMEX Platinum some cruise lines especially luxury ones offer credits. You can check the AMEX Plat website for the offerings. I know the Plat costs money but if you do 1 or two luxury cruises a year it more than pays for itself. The AMEX Plat credit on the PG for example was encashable which was great for us.

 

Other TA s- largely the big groups ( Ensemble/ virtuoso etc) tend to offer their own OBC. Usually around $300. sometimes $200. The could also offer excursions or special events in place of these credits.

 

Finally this year the PG has been very generous with OBC. I dont know if that will continue going forward as they seem to be filling the bus quite adequately.

[loungelizard61]

Emdee - Would you mind emailing me at liz.cpa at gmail dot com? I have a question about the Amex card that is probably not allowed or off topic.

 

Liz

[markser]

I thought that PG only offers OBCs closer to sailing time for cruises that aren't filling up rapidly.

 

I use an online travel agency that sends me a "rebate" check for a specified percentage of the cost of the trip when it sends my travel documents right before the trip. The percentage has ranged from 5 to 10 percent, depending on the cruise line or tour company.

 

I do not expect any OBCs for my PG cruise next year, although I will ask about it if I see that PG starts offering them for my sailing.

[Emdee]

If thePG offers OBC on your sailing and you are already booked the likelihood is you will get it.

This is what happened to us this year. We booked before the OBC offering and then we were given it in addition. The icing on the cake was that we were able to get a further group discount. Thank you Mtn Driver!!

[FlightMedic555]

There appear to be three processes to get an OBC. The most obvious is when PG offers the OBC for all cruisers. You can see when this happens by looking at their website.

 

Some TA's will reach into their own pocket and provide the OBC. My TA did this, only $200, when I told her that I had seen an online TA that offered this. Obviously if your TA is sending you a rebate check then there would probably not be an OBC provided by your TA. I believe that PG does not want their cruise fare discounted hence the only difference between booking with one TA or another is service and potential OBC supplied by the TA.

 

Lastly, when I booked the January 2012 Australia/Tahiti cruise I was not at all sure that I could actually scheudule the time off for the cruise. The cancellation penalty from PG is $100 per person and when I balked at that my TA called PG and while they would not offer to waive the penalty they did offer a $75 per person OBC. Not a lot but better than nothing. I think this means that even if PG is not offering an OBC for your cruise date you can ask your TA to inquire on your behalf.

[Cruise Control 84]

I have a cruise on hold for 2012 by booking directly with PG. I have seen a few comments about using a TA to get an OBC. Is this true? Is there always an OBC available? PG did not offer any such thing when we put it on hold. Thanks so much for the help.

 

Our family of 12 booked through a travel agent. We had 4 rooms and each room received a $200.00 OBC.