how Thomson loyalty scheme works

[davecttr]

As told to me aboard Dream

 

1. All repeat cruisers get a nice cruise card with a brown image of what appears to be an alka seltzer tablet on it :rolleyes:

 

2. for each cruise there are a limited number of 'gifts' available. These are given to repeat cruisers depending on how many cruises they have done, based on the cruisers aboard that ship for that cruise.

 

so if you have only cruised a few times you might still get a gift if there are few 'many repeat' passengers aboard.

 

this contrasts with other cruise lines who give out their 'gifts' based on your number of cruises, irrespective of how many repeat customers are aboard.

 

simple eh! :confused::confused:

[kruzseeka]

I find it almost insulting dave. Why should loyalty be detrmined by other customers on board? How cheapskate! And I'd really love to know how they have suddenly come into this elusive information about how many cruises you've done....................:rolleyes: It's not so long ago they were telling us they didn't have that info and asking us to fill in cards. Do they ask how many cruises/how long they were ie how many nights spent on board? Do they have any means of verifying that? Where's the consistency, fairness or transparency in that?

 

What disturbs me most is it's potential to really upset people - can't Thomson see that could be counter-productive with such a hit and miss approach? Wooly thinking and hare-brained schemes come to mind. I have a real soft spot for Thomson but to have such a messy system in place is worse than none imo. Either that or treat everyone the same! They seem to have a capacity for shooting themselves in the foot.

 

I am more than impressed with other cruise lines' knowledge and awareness of me as a past passenger and in most cases that's after just one cruise with them! I had a birthday greetings from one (I know, neither here nor there - but they clearly have a computer keeping tabs on their customers), email acknowledgement of my current loyalty point standing from all (except Thomson!) and after a two-night cruise with one company the loyalty points were added as soon as I got home and credited to the next cruise which earned me a 5% discount on all obs and excursions booked. I didn't have to even ask! On Cunard for our first trip (and only so far) we had a half bottle of chilled sparkling wine in our cabin welcoming us as new crusiers with them. It's not much but it's the principle.

[Julessmiles]

As told to me aboard Dream

 

1. All repeat cruisers get a nice cruise card with a brown image of what appears to be an alka seltzer tablet on it :rolleyes:

 

2. for each cruise there are a limited number of 'gifts' available. These are given to repeat cruisers depending on how many cruises they have done, based on the cruisers aboard that ship for that cruise.

 

so if you have only cruised a few times you might still get a gift if there are few 'many repeat' passengers aboard.

 

this contrasts with other cruise lines who give out their 'gifts' based on your number of cruises, irrespective of how many repeat customers are aboard.

 

simple eh! :confused::confused:

 

How do they know how many cruises you have been on?

[WeeCountyMan]

We got £25.00 extra OBC last month on Celebration - no cruise card, just an advisory note to be taken to customer services for action.

[nancyneptune]

Agree with Kruzseeka. I don't know who is making the decisions at Thomson Cruises but they are certainly making one blunder after another.

They say they are listening to their customers....I don't think so !!!

They seem to be so set on saving money that they can't decide on a simple loyalty scheme that would treat all returning passengers equally.

 

I notice that the Transatlantic cruises are selling at knock down prices from London airports. There are no flights from Scotland on the Celebration for these cruises and very few flights for the Caribbean cruises on the Dream.

Another bad decision. Did Thomson think that everyone north of the border would quite happily head down to London, paying for internal flights and overnight accommodation to join their " platinum " cruises.

Sorry Thomson, we just booked with other cruise lines with more modern ships, proper loyalty schemes, better food, and more honest pricing.

[geomagot]

As told to me aboard Dream

 

1. All repeat cruisers get a nice cruise card with a brown image of what appears to be an alka seltzer tablet on it :rolleyes:

 

2. for each cruise there are a limited number of 'gifts' available. These are given to repeat cruisers depending on how many cruises they have done, based on the cruisers aboard that ship for that cruise.

 

so if you have only cruised a few times you might still get a gift if there are few 'many repeat' passengers aboard.

 

this contrasts with other cruise lines who give out their 'gifts' based on your number of cruises, irrespective of how many repeat customers are aboard.

 

simple eh! :confused::confused:

 

groan....yet another half baked thomsons scheme:confused:...... basically a loyalty scheme that is only a loyalty scheme if there aren't any other loyals on board ....not really encouraging much loyalty are they?:(

[davecttr]

groan....yet another half baked thomsons scheme:confused:...... basically a loyalty scheme that is only a loyalty scheme if there aren't any other loyals on board ....not really encouraging much loyalty are they?:(

i must say that I can't remember who told me so it might be a load of rubbish.

 

What I do know is on Majesty a couple of months ago i got a bottle of champers :) On Dream last week it was 20% off a meal in the grill. As much use to me as a catflap on a submarine as I had no intention of paying for a meal.

[gillhalfpint]

We had a bottle of wine in the cabin on Spirit while on Fire and Ice. We just started cruising in Jan 13 but thought it might be for the number of cruises booked in a 12 month period as we did go a little mad. Oct 13, Jan 14, May 14 and Aug 14.

 

We have just done Oct 14 (couldn't resist the price) and will be on Dream again Jan 15, but must admit we will have to slow down a bit now unless there are some last minute deals we cannot refuse!!

[Jakanne1]

As told to me aboard Dream

 

1. All repeat cruisers get a nice cruise card with a brown image of what appears to be an alka seltzer tablet on it :rolleyes:

 

 

simple eh! :confused::confused:

 

I thought I had lost my ship's card (it had slipped between the pages of a book in my bag) and went to Reception to report it and get another card. They took the new card from a pile in a box and it took 3 minutes to print a new one. As there had previously been discussions on FB about these new brown/blue cards I asked why the different colour and was it to identify anything. The reply was no, it was just what they had been sent and everyone got them. :)

[Jakanne1]

Well, I must just be lucky, because the first time I was on Spirit I got a bottle of sparkling. Second time on Spirit, nothing. Four times on Majesty two bottles, second and fourth time. Two times on Dream one bottle on second cruise. The interesting thing is that the first time on Dream I was with friends, not DH, and when I was on the second time with DH, the card was just addressed to me so someone must have known that DH was not a repeat customer on Dream. :rolleyes: I did share it with him though. :)

[joeholiday2]

It's bad really that they cannot sort out a better system. After all Richard Grey the CD on Spirit said last week that Thomson have the most repeat passengers of all the cruise lines around the world.

 

They will have all our data about how many cruises we have done, it's bad that we have to fill out that online embarkation form in order for them to recognise we are repeaters.

 

They need a proper club system like the other lines do, and proper rewards like percentages off onboard spend or even a percentage off the cost of the DP when you book. They really aren't taking it seriously.

 

BTW, we got £25 OBC last week on the Spirit. Our fourth cruise with them this year.

[mtt]

We have had loyalty gifts on all three cruises this year, good salon discount in feb on celebration, wine on spirit in april and champagne and 20% off al la carte restaurant in oct on spirit richard told us that the ships decide on the loyalty gifts, its something they do for repeat passengers

[paulssis]

this is all new to me. We have been on roughly 20 cruises with Thomsons over the last 12 years and have never been given anything for loyalty except once - which was a basket of fruit - all of which we could have got from the restaurant anyway. However, on saying that, I still love Thomsons cruises and will be off again in 3 weeks.

[Huddersfieldtourist]

this is all new to me. We have been on roughly 20 cruises with Thomsons over the last 12 years and have never been given anything for loyalty except once - which was a basket of fruit - all of which we could have got from the restaurant anyway. However, on saying that, I still love Thomsons cruises and will be off again in 3 weeks.

 

I would suggest that the issue is more to do with how/where you made those bookings.l am sure that Thomson is not deliberately ignoring your continued custom.

[kruzseeka]

I would suggest that the issue is more to do with how/where you made those bookings.l am sure that Thomson is not deliberately ignoring your continued custom.

 

You are probably right HT but as a repeat customer you should qualify however or wherever you make your booking. It's the inconsistencies which rub. Will you get anything, what will you get, how is that determined, who makes that decision, are they applying the same criteria consistently??? Its all so unprofessional - and my biggest big-hearted is that it's potentially divisive too. What a way to start your holiday to find you have been ignored when others with few cruises have been acknowledged. Now I'm playing devil's advocate here as I don't care whether I get anything or not. Loyalty perks are not what draw me to Thomson or any other cruise line. I just hate unfairness.

Edited November 12, 2014 by kruzseeka

[Huddersfieldtourist]

You are probably right HT but as a repeat customer you should qualify however or wherever you make your booking. It's the inconsistencies which rub. Will you get anything, what will you get, how is that determined, who makes that decision, are they applying the same criteria consistently??? Its all so unprofessional - and my biggest big-hearted is that it's potentially divisive too. What a way to start your holiday to find you have been ignored when others with few cruises have been acknowledged. Now I'm playing devil's advocate here as I don't care whether I get anything or not. Loyalty perks are not what draw me to Thomson or any other cruise line. I just hate unfairness.

 

I can only suggest that there is no formal scheme due to reasons such as those that seem to exclude paulssis earlier in the thread. There will be other reasons and because there is no formal scheme no one should be overly disappointed but I understand your concerns about how it could be perceived by those on board and the "fairness" of it.

Sadly it is unlikely to be possible to gain all historical data to create a scheme so that is why it is the way it is with all its potential plusses and minuses.

[Little Nell]

I am not sure if I have understood this correctly but does a loyalty scheme only kick in when you complete an embarkation form? Does it follow then that you would need to do more than one cruise on a particular Thomson ship to qualify to be regarded as a repeat customer eg Jakanne on the Majesty. Does it also follow that if you do one cruise on each of them this wouldn't count as repeat custom? In other words these forms relate to a particular ship and the information is not communicated across the fleet.

 

I was told by my TA that there was no loyalty scheme and when I insisted that people were being recognised as returning customers, she rang Head Office to be told that they are piloting a scheme and rewards are haphazard currently. She said there is an online form that you can complete but I can't access anything through my booking reference number because we changed our booking and the system doesn't allow us access to it, despite the fact we have a new booking reference number and our original booking has been cancelled.

 

I think technology issues are at the root of Thomson rewarding customers.

 

I expected considerable improvements to be made to their systems but this seems not to be the case. I can't see much improvement at all.

 

We had one cruise with Celebrity and are now recognised as repeat customers and eligible for some perks.

[Sheila49]

Filling in the embarkation form makes no difference. I've completed it twice with no recognition.

[kruzseeka]

I can only suggest that there is no formal scheme due to reasons such as those that seem to exclude paulssis earlier in the thread. There will be other reasons and because there is no formal scheme no one should be overly disappointed but I understand your concerns about how it could be perceived by those on board and the "fairness" of it.

Sadly it is unlikely to be possible to gain all historical data to create a scheme so that is why it is the way it is with all its potential plusses and minuses.

 

 

Sorry that 'big hearted' (which clearly made no sense) should have read 'bug bear' - grrrr.....predictive text :mad: but should have proof read my post more carefully! :confused:

 

Yes I see the problem. But without the historical info they either have to; draw a line under previous cruises and start from scratch from a particular date or get you to fill in a proper 'past cruises form' which becomes part of a data base and take your word for what you have done and either honour it - or at least some of it.

 

Incidentally, when I book with the 'other' TUI online cruise site - they pull up my info and say ....oh yes I can see you've done a lot of Thomson cruises. They seem to know.....................

 

There are two issues:

1. knowing about previous cruises and

2. what do you give as a loyalty reward

 

Anyway let's assume they sort #1 inasmuch as they have a consistent method of determining repeat passengers from here on in (or draw a line under historical cruises and start from 01.01.15 or whatever) then surely they have an obligation to decide on a scheme which treats people fairly - ie address #2 - not £25 obc for one, 20% off a Spa treatment, bottle of bubbly for another, fruit, the Grill, differences between ships, dependent on % of other repeat passengers on board .........or whatever else they dream up as a treat. Some of these perks are worthless to some passengers. A consistent obc is the fairest - I actually reckon it would cost them less to introduce a 5% discount on on board spend as the more you spend (to their benefit) the more you get knocked off your bill. It's not much by the way - you have to spend a fair bit to get £25 worth of discount.

[gillhalfpint]

I am not sure what the embarkation form is. I tend to shy away from the survey forms as all those little boxes do my head in. I have filled a couple in this year by crossing through most of it as not relevant to cruising both on the ship and the plane. Don't think I have completed anything like that on line. We had one bottle of fizz on Spirit Fire and Ice, but had done 4 cruises in 12 months at that time, even though we just started cruising in Jan 13. Felt special, but I can understand the unfairness of the system. Would agree that something with OBC would be better for all. Would think a computer system could sort by postcode to start finding repeat cruisers.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Filling in the embarkation form makes no difference. I've completed it twice with no recognition.

I didn't fill in the form Sheila and we had a tour of the bridge on Fire and Ice and a bottle of bubbly on the Majesty, both with little cards saying thank you for your loyalty.

 

I did try to fill it in before Fire and Ice and the email address was wrong, but it wouldn't let me change it. I informed Thomson and they changed the email address. When I asked the TA about filling it in, he old me not to bother!

Edited November 12, 2014 by CRUISIN LINDA

[Sheila49]

I didn't fill in the form Sheila and we had a tour of the bridge on Fire and Ice and a bottle of bubbly on the Majesty, both with little cards saying thank you for your loyalty.

 

I did try to fill it in before Fire and Ice and the email address was wrong, but it wouldn't let me change it. I informed Thomson and they changed the email address. When I asked the TA about filling it in, he old me not to bother!

 

I won't bother again Linda, maybe we'll get something then. Even the little card would be nice!

Edited November 12, 2014 by Sheila49

[maggie 57]

On our recent cruise(1st nov) we got the different card which I queried and was told it was to recognise repeat customers. I had filled in the embarkation form which I think came up when I went online to do to the API. That was our 3rd Thomson cruise this year and we didn't receive anything. I think in jan we got 20% of something. We've cruised 7 times in total with Thomson. Not over bothered about a loyalty scheme but do like fairness and consistency.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[nancyneptune]

We have done about twenty Thomson cruises over eleven years. Filled in forms. Received nothing.

 

On our last Thomson cruise we sat at a table with two couples who had cruised twice previously with Thomson. They had received sparking wine and a card in their cabins to welcome them back. Was pleased for them but still think it is a very unfair system.

 

After our first cruise with Fred we felt like VIPs. Even months later we still receive a magazine and and information about new destinations, offers etc.

Thats what I call customer service.

 

When Thomson swipe your card for the last time as you leave the ship it's out of sight out of mind.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Agree Nancy. After 3 cruises with Fred we are already on the second level.:)