Elite Status "The Easy Way"

[hoosier_done_it]

I've seen various posts where folks are denigrated or praised for earning their Elite Status the easy way.

 

How would someone (not that I would ;) ;) ) earn Elite Status "the easy way"?

[CaptainKlutz]

Coastals (FKA "Repositioning" cruises) are one way.

 

We did a 1-day as well between Seattle and Vancouver; that counted as a cruise...Of course, we've also done our fair share of 10 and 15-day cruises as well.

 

We did make Elite by # of cruises, not days although it only sped up the process by 2 cruises. After our upcoming trip to Hawaii, we'll have it by both days and cruises.

[hoosier_done_it]

Coastals (FKA "Repositioning" cruises) are one way.

 

We did a 1-day as well between Seattle and Vancouver; that counted as a cruise...Of course, we've also done our fair share of 10 and 15-day cruises as well.

 

We did make Elite by # of cruises, not days although it only sped up the process by 2 cruises. After our upcoming trip to Hawaii, we'll have it by both days and cruises.

 

Thanks. That helps. I was also wondering if the Princess Charge Card was what they were talking about.

[CaptainKlutz]

Thanks. That helps. I was also wondering if the Princess Charge Card was what they were talking about.

 

Whoah! 2 I can answer in one day!

 

The Princess charge card is from Barclay's Bank. It's a point per dollar spent except for Princess purchases and then you get 2 for 1.

 

We just traded 60,000 points for a $750 credit which they actually did without having a booking number; I don't think we even needed to have a cruise upcoming although I cashed them in over the phone. The website wanted a booking number.

 

We use the card for any purchase over $100...but I also pay it off each month. :D

[IECalCruiser]

I've seen various posts where folks are denigrated or praised for earning their Elite Status the easy way.

 

 

 

How would someone (not that I would ;) ;) ) earn Elite Status "the easy way"?

You can sail solo in a full suite on the one day repos between Seattle and Vancouver that Princess does to satisfy the requirements of the PVSA. You get one additional cruise credit for paying for a suite and one additional cruise credit for paying the single supplement. You can be Elite after cruising only five days. A Vista suite on the May 2 cruise on the Golden is $299/person plus $160 in port fees. One cruise would cost $678 so you could potentially become Elite for less than $3,500. Of course that is only practical if you live near Seattle/Vancouver.

 

Even cheaper, you could sail on the one day cruises in an inside on eight cruises and become Elite with 16 cruise credits. The May 2 cruise would cost $218 so you could become a Elite for less than $1,800.

 

The costs above assume future cruises would cost the same as the May 2 cruise on the Golden and above prices are some of the cheapest I have seen. Even with slightly higher fares you can probably become Elite fairly in expensively if you want to.

 

There was a post last year from a couple who lived in the area. I believe they wanted to become Elite before a later long cruise and they did two of the one days and each booked a suite of their own. One of the ships actually gave them the first night complementary dinner that is only supposed to be on cruises of six days or longer and they both got mini-bar set-ups on both cruises. Princess does about two of these cruises in the spring and an additional two in the fall. This option has been available for quite some time. What I think a lot of people are complaining about recently is the offering of shorter 3/4/5 day cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles and Houston.

 

 

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[FritzG]

We're doing it the long way. Our fall TA will be our 15th Princess cruise, and we will be hitting 151 days, too. Too many of our cruises were 14-16 day TA's.

[Wehwalt]

I did a three cruises in four days last September, twice Seattle-Vancouver (flying back), the second one day was in a suite, and then Vancouver-San Francisco. That got me fifteen cruise credits and Elite. But as I had done 76 days, each solo, and thus paid for 152 nights, effectively, I feel I got there fairly by anyone's standards.

[Colo Cruiser]

What many people forget when they mention that someone got to the Elite level the easy way is the other easy way..

 

The other way is to take a travel agent course, take a test and be

awarded the Commodore level and Elite without ever having to sail on a Princess ship or any ship for that matter.

[moonhunter]

We haven't done the easy way. We live 20 miles from Ft. Canaveral but don't really enjoy caribbean cruises ( we live at the beach). But we have taken several transatlantics and one LA tonTahiti and back cruise. Our next cruise will be this April thru the canal and then to Alaska. We added the Alaska part mostly because that would get us to elite.

[RickEk]

What many people forget when they mention that someone got to the Elite level the easy way is the other easy way..

 

The other way is to take a travel agent course, take a test and be

awarded the Commodore level and Elite without ever having to sail on a Princess ship or any ship for that matter.

 

Yeah, but they're only Elite for their graduation cruise... next cruise, they'll be Gold.

[kath00]

Yeah, but they're only Elite for their graduation cruise... next cruise, they'll be Gold.

 

Not true. Elite for as long as you are active as a TA.

 

However, it is HARDLY the easy way. You need to watch and take tests on 20+ videos on line and actually stay active booking cruises. I find it a wee bit offensive that people say you just "sign up to be a TA" and that's it.

 

:rolleyes:

[LMaxwell]

Would someone mind giving a quick run down of the tier levels and is it points per cruise, per day, per $ amount spent? A brief explanation or link to the program would be helpful for us not familiar with Princess yet.

[Renmar]

We're doing it the long way. Our fall TA will be our 15th Princess cruise, and we will be hitting 151 days, too. Too many of our cruises were 14-16 day TA's.

 

We are on the same TA and it will be our 14th cruise and 151 days at the end of it so I think we made it the hard way as well.

Although, cruising is hardly the "hard way". :)

 

Theo

[PunkiC]

I guess you could say we did it the "easy" way as we did do a lot of Pacific Coastals to qualify, but, since we did it while we still worked, it seemed far from easy. Squeezing out long weekends where we would fly to Vancouver, cruise to LA or SFO, and then fly back, to rush back to work that morning hardly seemed easy while we were doing it.

 

We are, however, very glad we did it as we retired shortly after achieving Elite status and now are most inclined to take cruises that are 14+ days. We are now so locked into the Princess perks, that we rarely even look at anything but Princes when we go to plan a trip.

 

We will be doing two more coastals this May with two other Elite couples, just for fun. We will also be joined by our son and his girlfriend on one of them, so that should be lots of fun.

[critterchick]

What many people forget when they mention that someone got to the Elite level the easy way is the other easy way..

 

The other way is to take a travel agent course, take a test and be

awarded the Commodore level and Elite without ever having to sail on a Princess ship or any ship for that matter.

 

Actually, it's a lot more than "a" course or "a" test, and one is not Elite upon completion of the training. Commodore status gets you the Elite perks, but your Captain's Circle status continues to be based on your actual cruising history. If you fail to do the annual re-qualification or stop working as a TA, you get demoted.

Edited April 3, 2014 by critterchick

[caribill]

Would someone mind giving a quick run down of the tier levels and is it points per cruise, per day, per $ amount spent? A brief explanation or link to the program would be helpful for us not familiar with Princess yet.

 

Here is the link. https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/jsp/memberShipBenefitsForProspect.jsp

 

It is based on number of days cruised or cruise points, whichever gets you there faster.

 

1 cruise point for being on any length Princess cruise

1 additional point if in a suite

1 additional point if traveling solo in a cabin and having to pay the extra cost of doing do

 

(the link information only says cruises, but the reality is cruise points)

[Wehwalt]

 

We are, however, very glad we did it as we retired shortly after achieving Elite status and now are most inclined to take cruises that are 14+ days. We are now so locked into the Princess perks, that we rarely even look at anything but Princes when we go to plan a trip.

 

We will be doing two more coastals this May with two other Elite couples, just for fun. We will also be joined by our son and his girlfriend on one of them, so that should be lots of fun.

 

If it is the Star/Grand Vancouver-San Fran roundtrip, I will see you there.

 

What you said is what Princess wants to hear. Remember, this is marketing, not a competition. Princess wants as many people committed to it and booking cruises as it can get, consistent with keeping value to the Elite perks by having some sort of hurdle.

[pablo222]

You need to watch and take tests on 20+ videos on line

 

...or slip a few bucks to someone who already has.

[Grego]

This all shows that the original intent of the program has been bastardized and they don't care. Kind of the same attitude they have toward folks showing up in the MDR on Formal Nights and letting them in.

Time for a change in the program to reflect real commitment to sailing with Princess.

[timetravler]

I agree with Grego. Count days cruising, NOT the number of cruises. Once again the purpose of elite status is to show your loyalty.

[Kmkub]

We reached platinum on our 32nd cruise day. We're still young enough, so we're hoping to be elite by the time we retire.

 

It sure was fun seeing that platinum envelope in our mailbox on the last day of our last cruise!

 

It does seem odd to me that someone could reach elite status after only cruising for 16 days.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Kmkub

[Dreamer333]

I guess you could say we did it the "easy" way as we did do a lot of Pacific Coastals to qualify, but, since we did it while we still worked, it seemed far from easy. Squeezing out long weekends where we would fly to Vancouver, cruise to LA or SFO, and then fly back, to rush back to work that morning hardly seemed easy while we were doing it.

 

We are, however, very glad we did it as we retired shortly after achieving Elite status and now are most inclined to take cruises that are 14+ days. We are now so locked into the Princess perks, that we rarely even look at anything but Princes when we go to plan a trip.

 

We will be doing two more coastals this May with two other Elite couples, just for fun. We will also be joined by our son and his girlfriend on one of them, so that should be lots of fun.

 

 

I agree very much with you. Working full time while juggling kids, money, schedules, getting vacation time approved, etc is definitely not "easy" (although a wonderful problem to have).

I think Princess is very smart for rewarding their passengers for each cruise.

And PunkiC is a perfect example because after they retired, they continued to be loyal to Princess.

[Kmkub]

I agree very much with you. Working full time while juggling kids, money, schedules, getting vacation time approved, etc is definitely not "easy"

 

Easy is relative - the "hard" way (the way we'll get it done) is 15 cruises (most being 7 days) over the course of 20-25 years.

[PrincessLuver]

This all shows that the original intent of the program has been bastardized and they don't care. Kind of the same attitude they have toward folks showing up in the MDR on Formal Nights and letting them in.

Time for a change in the program to reflect real commitment to sailing with Princess.

 

Loyalty programs were only mean to get repeat customers. Most programs in the travel industry are changing and they are based on "what can you do for me today....not what you did for me yesterday." Airlines are stating to award Elite status based on money customers spend now not how many miles they fly. Credit card companies are also offering elite benefits for just owning their card....Chase UA MP card (free baggage, early boarding, passes to airline lounges)....AMEX....HHonors Gold status.....even if you have never stayed at a Hilton brand hotel....the times are changing and hopefully Princess will base it's reward program on the amount of money a customer spends on a cruise and not the number of cruises they have taken.....this would be rewarding true loyalty....:)

[happytalk44]

We made Elite at 11 cruises by number of days. So, we did it the "expensive" way. :D