Two for one deal.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes Poss, I've done this several times. In fact my upcoming Alaskan adventure will be one of the few times I won't be doing that, alas!

[Travel2Learn]

RallyDave, after decades with American Express, I called to tell them when my husband died. His work was international. We were good customers! Instead of saying something nice, the rep said, "Oh that's the legal department." She hung up and canceled our cards. Legal immediately got nasty. Visa and Mastercard through my bank have provided excellent service and perks, even phoned when my card number was stolen and overnighted a new card. The latest Chase card does not charge transaction fees for currency conversion. Having known how Citi operates internationally, I will NOT do business with them either. ...Sorry to be backing up a few postings...

[rallydave]

RallyDave, after decades with American Express, I called to tell them when my husband died. His work was international. We were good customers! Instead of saying something nice, the rep said, "Oh that's the legal department." She hung up and canceled our cards. Legal immediately got nasty. Visa and Mastercard through my bank have provided excellent service and perks, even phoned when my card number was stolen and overnighted a new card. The latest Chase card does not charge transaction fees for currency conversion. Having known how Citi operates internationally, I will NOT do business with them either. ...Sorry to be backing up a few postings...

 

Really sorry to hear that but, not surprised after a conversation I had with them today regarding changing my payment date. Nothing they could do but, suggested one thing. Tried to do that but, after the first few things worked got stuck and her suggestion was worthless. I'll just live with what they changed as it isn't too bad but, will think twice when my annual dues payment comes up next year. Couldn't agree more about Citi. Got a card to churn some Hilton points and once I get the points, the card will sit in a drawer and never be used again. Website is awful and customer service is less than useless. Really like our Chase Sapphire Preferred and no issues so far in almost a year. Best thing to do is take advantage of the good card offers and then let them lapse or simply cut them up.

[Swyre]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

I intend to book a trip to the Carribean for next February so I'll phone a couple of agents and see what they can do for me.

 

Rik

[Gilly]

Swyre, remember, things are done slightly differently on this side of the Atlantic.

 

Following a recent flurry of conversation about this very topic in an earlier thread, we investigated a few cruise specialists to transfer the booking we made on board Voyager recently. If I tell you that on Thursday last week, my dh picked up the phone and booked directly with Regent (for the fifth time) you'll guess how successful his investigations were.

 

Uk travel agents are not like US ones and Regent doesn't cut them the same deals, as one explained in a lengthy conversation. He actually told my dh that we could get a better deal booking direct. It pained him to say that, he admitted!

[charltonkerry]

I agree Gilly, over here it is a totally different ball game, I think as I proved on the previous thread, the only way you can get big discounts is to book via the Internet with a US travel company, if you punt around in the UK then discounts / on board credits are not forthcoming for the reasons you state.

Regards

Kerry

[Gilly]

Kerry, it was, as you know, your experience which prompted our investigation and the conversations we had with "cruise specialists", most of which were really focused on the mass market lines and, ahem, less demanding clients ;-). ( referring to ourselves here!). The most interesting one was an agent who did book some luxury cruise lines, but who said that Regent in particular just wouldn't offer him enough flexibility to make it worthwhile. He told my dh that we would have loved our business, that it really hurt to turn away such comparatively high spending clients but ultimately, booking directly with Regent would offer us more flexibility and security - and would cost us hardly anything more to do so.

 

I might add that our "complex" travel needs were simply a couple of independent days pre cruise and specific flight requests so we can optimise frequent flyer points and shareholder discounts ;-). Hardly rocket science, I'd have thought, but as I mentioned, these agents were really geared towards booking short Mediterranean or Caribbean trips.

 

To Regent's credit, making our booking with them has always been a delight. Their Southampton staff are charming and very helpful and we were able to sort everything out in a few minutes. We haven't given up completely on looking for a better deal, but have recognised that any positives might well be cancelled out by a few negatives. When we are spending ££££s on our holiday, it seems a little silly to risk it all to save a few pennies. It's hard to put a price on peace of mind.

[Swyre]

Can you folks point me at the previous thread?

 

To be honest I couldn't be bothered with dealing with agents across the pond. I'll give a couple of specialists this side a call but if they can't offer much I'm not all that bothered. After all, I can get the cruise half price thro' Regent so there's not much point in being greedy!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Swyre, the "half price" is completely standard--not a hot deal. They do it this way so that, if a cruise sells very well, they can reduce the discount. But they have never, or at least not in a long time, sold a cruise at full price.

[tallship]

Gilly- for several years, UK pricing has been much, much lower on several cruises than what is offered in the US. We discovered this on our last cruise where our friends received nearly 25%-30% lower fare even after conversion. Also, the cruise we were on 2 years ago, a friend from the UK paid almost 40% less. Both times these folks had booked with agencies that sell a lot of Regent cruises but I have noticed that even Regent offers substantial savings in this market.

[charltonkerry]

Gilly, I agree with all you say, think very importantly also you got to consider the consumer rights between the 2 companies, which I believe the British ones protect the public more. It wasn't the actual cost of the cruise that made me look into this, but it was the obc and cash back incentives that where being discussed, it appeared to me from reading the posts that these where only offered across the pond with nothing being offered over here, it seems from our checks then this is indeed the case.

 

Tallships, when I done my comparisons on the other thread, the prices quoted for the actual cruise where identical when I used the bank conversion rates, how ever I only investigated one or two cruises, so it wasn't a comprehensive revue.

 

Regards

Kerry

[Gilly]

Rik, I'm sorry but I can't seem to find the thread - perhaps Kerry can help? In the discussion, he outlined the results of his investigations very fully but ultimately reached the same conclusion that most of us UK based cc'ers have, ie that it's difficult to make comparisons. I notice Orpington T commented elsewhere that he too is happy with the Regent UK office and the excellent customer service they deliver time and again. This is exactly as we've found and though we could have saved a little by booking with the aforementioned TA, we'd have been on our own if things go awry. By booking direct with Regent, rest assured that you need have no worries!

 

I have an example from our last cruise, a couple of months ago. Whilst in Sydney, we had a problem with our room at the Four Seasons. Not a major problem, but one which involved changing rooms in the middle of the night and one which the hotel handled abysmally. The following morning (actually the day of our departure) we spoke to both hotel manager and Regent's agent in Sydney, who agreed that our experience had not been acceptable and to leave it with them, bearing in mind the booking (and therefore the contract) was with Regent, not us. We, of course, we more concerned with packing our bags and boarding our lovely ship. After such a night we really didn't want to be having discussions about whose fault etc so we just left it in their hands and moved right along.

 

No sooner had we boarded the ship than a note was delivered. Would one of us call at Reception, where there was a letter for us. We did - and found a full refund in cash for our room. Not only had the agent resolved the issue for us, Regent had organised an instant refund and within a couple of hours all was satisfactorily dealt with. Had we booked independently, we would have still been dealing with it, I'm sure - these things take time nd quite a few emails to sort out and we really wouldn't have wanted to spend our first days on the ship bothering with all of that. My guess is, we'd have simply chalked it up to experience.

 

So, we remain happy Regent travellers, in spite of a lack of OBC!

[newlondon]

Actually Gilly it was my thread from 4/6 entitled obc and Ta rebates; due to my inability to navigate technology as you do I'm afraid you'll have to look it up.

[room010]

Regent charges a 100% surcharge to solo passengers so of course 2 people can travel for the same price as one.

[charltonkerry]

Newlondon, it certainly was your thread which I accidentally seemed to hijack, for which I belatedly apologise for, hopefully this will work, but being a genuine Luddite I won't guarantee it.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1607035

 

This should lead directly to the aforementioned thread re although you might have to cut and paste it. I must be better than I thought I was, the linked actually worked for me.

 

Regards

Kerry

[Gilly]

Spot on! Now I wonder why/how I couldn't find that? Duh!

Thanks, Kerry and New London. I knew it was here somewhere...

 

Oh and yes, you're correct, Tallship, there are times when we get better deals over here ( and times when we don't!). Cruise pricing will remain one of the dark arts for me ;-)

[newlondon]

Kerry, don't feel at all hijacked:)