Getaway Fares..............again

[Cosmic Rays]

For you well seasoned cruisers who know how these things work as a rule, I see that P&O have released Getaway Fares for July already!!

What does that tell us? Flagging sales or panic?

I'm looking at an EC balcony on Arcadia J308 7th July and the fare now is down to £1679 from £2200. Should I bite or wait until at least final payment date?

Any help would be appreciated please................

[Thejuggler]

Getaway fares aren't last minute fares, they are a cheaper fare which offer less choice and you pay upfront. I see them as comparing a low fare airline price or a fully scheduled price. Low fare means paying extra for seat bookings, luggage. Meals etc etc. if you don't need any of this you pay less.

 

Cunard offer Getaway fares for all their ex UK trips for this year.

[Oarsman55]

FWIW, I normally reckon on about £100 per person per day for a half-decent balcony. Can't tell you what this cruise will do, but I've been waiting for weeks for a Cunard cruise to come down to this level. A week ago it did and I pounced. It was obvious by checking availability that it wasn't selling well.

 

Saved a total of nearly £2,000 on the Vantage price. That's a LOT of money for the privilege of choosing your cabin, plus I enjoy waiting to see which cabin I'm allocated (always had an upgrade when booking guarantees in the past, we shall see this time). Got the dining time I wanted too. Payment in full was due anyway - what's not to like?

 

And it's caused by flagging sales leading to panic.:D

 

Peter

[davecttr]

FWIW, I normally reckon on about £100 per person per day for a half-decent balcony. Can't tell you what this cruise will do, but I've been waiting for weeks for a Cunard cruise to come down to this level. A week ago it did and I pounced. It was obvious by checking availability that it wasn't selling well.

 

Saved a total of nearly £2,000 on the Vantage price. That's a LOT of money for the privilege of choosing your cabin, plus I enjoy waiting to see which cabin I'm allocated (always had an upgrade when booking guarantees in the past, we shall see this time). Got the dining time I wanted too. Payment in full was due anyway - what's not to like?

 

And it's caused by flagging sales leading to panic.:D

 

Peter

Whats not to like is solos and families can't get getaway fares :mad::mad::mad:

 

solos can't even pay the getaway fare for two, only the vantage fare

[Oarsman55]

Whats not to like is solos and families can't get getaway fares :mad::mad::mad:

 

solos can't even pay the getaway fare for two, only the vantage fare

 

I agree that solos are treated very badly. Quite baffling that anyone is turning good business away in hard times.

 

As for families, it's understandable that they're excluded. Guarantee cabins are (presumably) allocated randomly by computer and this would be impossible if conditions, such as cabins to sleep three or four, were put into the equation. Presumably a family can book two cabins, though could not stipulate that the cabins, when allocated, were near each other.

 

Peter

[daiB]

I agree that solos are treated very badly. Quite baffling that anyone is turning good business away in hard times.

 

As for families, it's understandable that they're excluded. Guarantee cabins are (presumably) allocated randomly by computer and this would be impossible if conditions, such as cabins to sleep three or four, were put into the equation. Presumably a family can book two cabins, though could not stipulate that the cabins, when allocated, were near each other.

 

Peter

 

But it is not hard times for the cruise companies. People who go cruising clearly have money to spend. Total numbers are still rising as are the people taking 2/3 cruises a year according to the figures given in the past 2 weeks.

 

The reason that getaway fares are so restricted is to make them unavailable or unattractive so that P&O can say that they are a different product to justify having the 2 fares.

 

 

I find it much easier now as it is more transparent.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

[Oarsman55]

But it is not hard times for the cruise companies. People who go cruising clearly have money to spend. Total numbers are still rising as are the people taking 2/3 cruises a year according to the figures given in the past 2 weeks.

 

The reason that getaway fares are so restricted is to make them unavailable or unattractive so that P&O can say that they are a different product to justify having the 2 fares.

Dai

 

Total numbers of people cruising may be rising, but so are the number of ships. If all is well, why so much discounting in the last few years?

 

In what way are getaway fares restricted? Apart from the guarantee cabin aspect, and that's something I actually like and have benefitted from by way of good upgrades in the past, I see nothing to justify that claim.

 

Peter

[daiB]

Total numbers of people cruising may be rising, but so are the number of ships. If all is well, why so much discounting in the last few years?

 

In what way are getaway fares restricted? Apart from the guarantee cabin aspect, and that's something I actually like and have benefitted from by way of good upgrades in the past, I see nothing to justify that claim.

 

Peter

 

Ships did not go up last year

 

No OBC

 

No car parking/coach

 

No cabin choice

 

No dining choice

 

No singles

 

No families

 

No refund

 

Pay upfront

 

Is that enough

 

For you that may work, fine for others it does not but there is now clear choice. You know what you are going to get.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

[BrianI]

Dai,

You do get to choose your dining sitting and size of table on a Getaway. Just booked one.

No other options though

Brian

[Morgans]

We are a couple who have cruised many times with P & O and like the product BUT are very miffed because we can get a getaway fare but daughter in law , son in law and child can't. We had planned to go away together to the Med (5 passengers - 2 cabins) but can't justify the fact that our daughter will have to pay £1500 more than us plus extra for the baby who will cost £307. It's a huge difference for essentially the same product so we have moved to another cruise line for this year and P & O have lost 5 passengers. Will we see Vantage fares etc next year? It will be very interesting to see.

[Oarsman55]

We are a couple who have cruised many times with P & O and like the product BUT are very miffed because we can get a getaway fare but daughter in law , son in law and child can't. We had planned to go away together to the Med (5 passengers - 2 cabins) but can't justify the fact that our daughter will have to pay £1500 more than us plus extra for the baby who will cost £307. It's a huge difference for essentially the same product so we have moved to another cruise line for this year and P & O have lost 5 passengers. Will we see Vantage fares etc next year? It will be very interesting to see.

 

Well well, after reading Dai's vast list of the supposed disadvantages of Getaway fares, I'm amazed you actually want to book one.:D

 

And you don't appear to be the only one.

 

Peter

[davecttr]

All those cruisers booking 2 or 3 cruises per year should be ringing alarm bells for the cruise companies. What happens if they decide to cut down and drop a cruise - oops!

 

Then as the older ones die off or stop cruising the younger replacements might well have less disposable income and will take fewer cruises.

 

I can imagine there being chronic overcapacity problems in a few years time.

 

how do you deal with overcapacity? reduce the number of ships and/or discount prices.

 

ps I have been doing 4 cruises a year but from next year will be reducing to 3

 

Three P&O cruises this year but probably only one next year.

[tillybilly321]

Several people have mentioned the choices you get when booking Vantage fares as opposed to Getaway fares but I think that these are far less important to the younger cruisers.

 

The older cruisers like certain dinner sittings and particular cabins which the majority of younger cruisers couldn't care less about.

 

They are trying on one hand to encourage the next generation of cruisers and on the other hand, sting them for as much as they can. What they need to realise is that the younger generations are very fickle and have no loyalty to P&O or any cruise line for that matter. They will just go to the company that provides the best deal. I know we certainly will. Why should families and single cruisers not have the same choices as all the passengers.

 

I would think that P&O have spent the last few weeks answering the phone to couples canceling and re booking the getaway fares. When the savings can run into several hundreds, if not a thousand pounds, I would do exactly the same myself if I was able to.

 

Incidentally, on last years cruise we had free car parking and on board credit. This year it is one or the other so another loss for having the "benefits" of a Vantage Fare.

[Cosmic Rays]

I note today that the Getaway fares have dropped twice more since first advertised!!

[qm2lover]

Our Friends have recently cancelled their Vantage Fare and rebooked as a Getaway Fare.

They have lost their benefits, obc, etc and their deposit. But they are much much better off.

[Bispham Boo]

Our Friends have recently cancelled their Vantage Fare and rebooked as a Getaway Fare.

They have lost their benefits, obc, etc and their deposit. But they are much much better off.

 

How close to sailing can you cancel & rebook? We could now get an outside for £100 less than we've paid for an inside, even taking in to account the coach transfer. This is the first time we've booked in advance with P&O are we certainly won't be using Vantage fares next year. :(

[qm2lover]

Best to check with your TA or P&O direct, but I think you need to make the change BEFORE you pay the balance otherwise there are heavy cancellations charges.

But the Getaway fares are now appearing for cruises into July way before final payments are due. Our friend's cruise was in June and they rebooked it a week or so ago just before final payment.

[mr.swan]

I booked a P&O cruise the azura in November to sail on the 17th June and paid a deposit of around £340 for a outside cabin , under the slogan vantage fares , you have nothing to loose by booking early , if the price is lowered for your cruise you will receive the lower price amount back , by on board spends or upgrades etc ,full payment was due 3rd March which was paid . The price of the cruise came down a week after full payment but no upgrades or on board credits are eligible because the new lower prices for the same cruise , same food , same cabin grade , same itinerary etc , are being called getaway prices instead of vantage prices and a few conditions changed for the getaway fares as not to accept the price as lowered under the slogan nothing to loose .I got to choose my cabin number under the vantage fare at a cost of £600 more than the getaway price and paid in full before the getaway prices started and can not see any other advantage but the choice of my cabin number for this £600 as my insurance as requested by P&0 that customers must have would have covered me for the event of having to cancel if a emergency arose .If I booked a balcony the difference for two guests would have been £1000

ADVANTAGE FARES no DISADVANTAGE FARES . I cancelled my booking under vantage fares and was charged my deposit of £340 for doing so this would have been much more if I cancelled nearer to departure . Then I re booked under the new lower price getaway prices and got a balcony cabin instead of my original booking of a outside cabin and a re fund of £58 for around the same price paid earlier although I am only guaranteed a balcony and will not be allocated a cabin till two weeks before departure the conditions changed are very minor. Anyone who booked a standard balcony or higher grade will being paying at least £1000 more for two adults sharing a cabin on the vantage . I mean disadvantage booking and should consider cancelling and re booking or not to be to dissatisfied when learning the people in the next cabin have paid at least £1000 less than you , thanks to , as the slogan goes , you have nothing to loose by booking early advantage fares .I hope there is no replies to this post stating the slight difference in conditions of advantage and getaway prices

and justifying the price difference because it is obvious what P&0 are doing here and I believe it will be to there cost in the near future . Sack the juggler , past returning customers are not fools .I certainly will not be dealing with a company like this again , Vantage prices :) the juggler who dreamed this scam up will probably be advising throwing a free time share visit in with the advantage price next year . Happy sailing :( P.S a good slogan for getaway prices (get away from being left with paying the highest prices choose getaway

[daiB]

I booked a P&O cruise the azura in November to sail on the 17th June and paid a deposit of around £340 for a outside cabin , under the slogan vantage fares , you have nothing to loose by booking early , if the price is lowered for your cruise you will receive the lower price amount back , by on board spends or upgrades etc ,full payment was due 3rd March which I paid the price of the cruise did come down a week after my final payment but no upgrades or on board credits are eligible because the new lower prices for the same cruise , same food , same cabin grade , same itinerary etc , are being called getaway prices instead of vantage prices and a few conditions changed for the getaway fares as not to accept the price as lowered under the slogan nothing to loose .I got to choose my cabin number under the vantage fare at a cost of £600 more than the getaway price and paid in full before the getaway prices started and can not see any other advantage but the choice of my cabin number for this £600 as my insurance as requested by P&0 that customers must have would have covered me for the event of having to cancel if a emergency arose .If I booked a balcony the difference for two guests would have been £1000

ADVANTAGE FARES no DISADVANTE FARES . I cancelled my booking under vantage fares and was charged my deposit of £340 for doing so this would have been much more if I cancelled nearer to departure . Then I re booked under the new lower price getaway prices and got a balcony cabin instead of my original booking of a outside cabin and a re fund of £58 for around the same price paid earlier although I am only guaranteed a balcony and will not be alocated a cabin till two weeks before departure the conditions changed are very minor. Anyone who booked a standard balcony or higher grade will being paying at least £1000 more for two adults sharing a cabin on the vantage . I mean disadvantage booking and should consider cancelling and re booking or not to be to disatisfied when learning the people in the next cabin have paid atleast £1000 less than you , thanks to , as the slogan goes , you have nothing to loose by booking early advantage fares .I hope there is no replies to this post stating the slight difference in conditions of advantage and getaway prices

and justifying the price difference because it is obvious what P&0 are doing here and I beleive it will be to there cost in the near future . Sack the juggler , past returning customers are not fools .I certainly will not be dealing with a company like this again , Vantage prices :) the juggler who dreamed this scam up will probably be advising throwing a free time share visit in with the advantage price next year . Happy sailing :(

 

 

Reductions like this have been going on ever since i started cruising 12 years ago. All the cruise lines do it The USA was held up as best practice as you could get the difference from the company if your fare went down. However this was up until the "90" day ticker. After that time no rebate. Sound familiar. That effectively is what is happening here.

 

I am still astounded by people who come on here and complain that prices have come down near to the cruise. It happens and has always happened. Not for all cruises, but for some. Every year the same thing.

 

If a car is sold in a sale for £2000 less than the week before to people complain about it like the and threaten never to buy there again?

 

What about the sales after New Year when prices drop.

 

Sorry about the rant.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[mr.swan]

Several people have mentioned the choices you get when booking Vantage fares as opposed to Getaway fares but I think that these are far less important to the younger cruisers.

 

The older cruisers like certain dinner sittings and particular cabins which the majority of younger cruisers couldn't care less about.

 

They are trying on one hand to encourage the next generation of cruisers and on the other hand, sting them for as much as they can. What they need to realise is that the younger generations are very fickle and have no loyalty to P&O or any cruise line for that matter. They will just go to the company that provides the best deal. I know we certainly will. Why should families and single cruisers not have the same choices as all the passengers.

 

 

 

I would think that P&O have spent the last few weeks answering the phone to couples canceling and re booking the getaway fares. When the savings can run into several hundreds, if not a thousand pounds, I would do exactly the same myself if I was able to.

 

Incidentally, on last years cruise we had free car parking and on board credit. This year it is one or the other so another loss for having the "benefits" of a Vantage Fare.

 

I re booked with getaway prices and got , my time dinning option ,there is very little difference between the two methods ,I think the conditions have very slightly been altered .In my opinion the conditions have slightly been changed as to enable them not to be legally bound to there price drop promise . How could anyone talk about being loyal to a company pulling these strokes

[mr.swan]

Reductions like this have been going on ever since i started cruising 12 years ago. All the cruise lines do it The USA was held up as best practice as you could get the difference from the company if your fare went down. However this was up until the "90" day ticker. After that time no rebate. Sound familiar. That effectively is what is happening here.

 

I am still astounded by people who come on here and complain that prices have come down near to the cruise. It happens and has always happened. Not for all cruises, but for some. Every year the same thing.

 

If a car is sold in a sale for £2000 less than the week before to people complain about it like the and threaten never to buy there again?

 

What about the sales after New Year when prices drop.

 

Sorry about the rant.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

What planet are you living on Mr rant ? 3.5 months before the cruise sailing , not last minute price drops and you obviously missed the main point of the post Mr rant , Vantage fares ,I will repeat Vantage fares ,

how as a vantage fare got anything to do with buying a second hand car and no,no 90 day ticker thing Mr rant ,does this sound familiar I am astounded by some people who come on here and reply with a load of bull because they can not understand the point of a post , there is no mention in any conditions about 90 days and further more there was a gap of well over 100 days,so this is effectively not what is happening here.

It does not take much for anyone with a little cop on to see what is happening here Mr Rant .

Mr Rant I bought a very reasonable priced camcorder in the New Year sales ,happy sailing

[davecttr]

I think the basic problem with the Vantage fares is they were marketed with a price promise and it now appears likely that those fares will never be reduced and the promise kept. If a good number of Vantage fares were in fact reduced by a significant amount and extra obc etc given we would not be having this discussion.

 

However rather than reducing Vantage fares for those cruises with weak ticket sales thay have resorted to two devices. The first was to cancel the cruise and replace with several shorter ones giving them a bigger profit. The second was to introduce getaway fares 5 months before the cruise. This is hardly last minute and reveals Vantage fares for what they are, a marketing gimmick that P&O had no intention of honouring. You get to book the cabin you want? big deal, but hardly worth the hundreds of pounds difference in the price. Heck, even Thomson only reckon booking a specific cabin should cost £42 per cabin, not hundreds of pounds per person.

 

This is how they should handle pricing.

Allow cancellation and re-booking at a minimal admin cost up to the final payment date, such payment date should be subject to consumer law and be reasonable. 5 months out is not reasonable, I don't think 3 months is either. So the cruise line has the simple decision, do we hold the launch price until say 2 months out or reduce the price earlier to boost ticket sales. Note- it will be consumers responsibilty to check for any price reductions in a similar way to Princess etc.

[simonpjd]

Mr Swan you must be the rudest person posting in here. And your spelling and grammar is appalling.

[Oarsman55]

I think the basic problem with the Vantage fares is they were marketed with a price promise and it now appears likely that those fares will never be reduced and the promise kept. If a good number of Vantage fares were in fact reduced by a significant amount and extra obc etc given we would not be having this discussion.

 

However rather than reducing Vantage fares for those cruises with weak ticket sales thay have resorted to two devices. The first was to cancel the cruise and replace with several shorter ones giving them a bigger profit. The second was to introduce getaway fares 5 months before the cruise. This is hardly last minute and reveals Vantage fares for what they are, a marketing gimmick that P&O had no intention of honouring. You get to book the cabin you want? big deal, but hardly worth the hundreds of pounds difference in the price. Heck, even Thomson only reckon booking a specific cabin should cost £42 per cabin, not hundreds of pounds per person.

 

I agree. However, I've given up trying to get this point over to a certain wearer of rose-tinted spectacles. The only OBC etc that has been given were on those cruises booked before Vantage was introduced, and presumably only on those that weren't selling well. Good initial PR - recipients of this little bonus came on here and told us all about it.

 

You'll have to take my word for it that I predicted the outcome as soon as these were announced, but I put my money where my mouth is, waited until Getaway deals were introduced, despite being told several times they wouldn't be doing them this year, then booked. For me, the only advantage Vantage fares have is the ability to choose a cabin and that's not worth nearly £2,000 to me, or anyone in their right mind. Just book a decent guarantee grade to start with and you're unlikely to get a duff cabin. I am not going to cancel for an uninsured reason, I've saved many times over on the free parking and none of the other surplus-to-requirements items on Dai's list mean anything whatsoever to me, or most people. AND I GOT THE DINING TIME I WANTED. Sorry about the capitals, but this is my fourth Getaway booking and I've ALWAYS got what I wanted, plus decent upgrades into the bargain. That point seems to be constantly overlooked by a certain person.

 

I don't have a crystal ball, but this was a PR disaster waiting to happen. What will they come up with next year, assuming they learn that this year's unpleasant plan didn't work? And not only did it not work, but it alienated newbies, the very people they need to attract, the very people who were sucked in by price promises that weren't worth the paper they were written on.

 

BTW, I've never had a problem with last-minute discounting and don't see that as any different from a car/suit/name anything you like, that comes down in price later in the season. So at least Dai and I agree on one thing:D.

 

What really bugs me is the lack of empathy for those inexperienced people who were sucked in by deliberately misleading marketing.

 

Peter

[lancashire_cruisers]

I think the basic problem with the Vantage fares is they were marketed with a price promise and it now appears likely that those fares will never be reduced and the promise kept. If a good number of Vantage fares were in fact reduced by a significant amount and extra obc etc given we would not be having this discussion.

 

However rather than reducing Vantage fares for those cruises with weak ticket sales thay have resorted to two devices. The first was to cancel the cruise and replace with several shorter ones giving them a bigger profit. The second was to introduce getaway fares 5 months before the cruise. This is hardly last minute and reveals Vantage fares for what they are, a marketing gimmick that P&O had no intention of honouring. You get to book the cabin you want? big deal, but hardly worth the hundreds of pounds difference in the price. Heck, even Thomson only reckon booking a specific cabin should cost £42 per cabin, not hundreds of pounds per person.

 

This is how they should handle pricing.

Allow cancellation and re-booking at a minimal admin cost up to the final payment date, such payment date should be subject to consumer law and be reasonable. 5 months out is not reasonable, I don't think 3 months is either. So the cruise line has the simple decision, do we hold the launch price until say 2 months out or reduce the price earlier to boost ticket sales. Note- it will be consumers responsibilty to check for any price reductions in a similar way to Princess etc.

 

I haven't posted on this board for quite a while but have been following the various threads on Getaway/Vantage fares with interest.

 

We've cruised as a family with P&O for 11 years but not this year! The restriction of Getaway fares to couples only has been the tipping point for us and I refuse to be price gouged so that cheap deals can be offered to that group of cruiser.

 

We normally cruise a minimum of twice per year and all bar one of those cruises has been with P&O, but their discriminatory marketing strategy means that our cruising funds are spent elsewhere, which is a shame because we really enjoy the product that P&O provide.

 

LC