HAL New Reservation Transfer Policy 8 Apr 2019

[iancal]

HAL's communication policy appears to parallel their approach to their website design and performance.

 

I certainly cannot fault their decision.  Frankly, I am very surprised that they allow this at all.  Must be pressure from their agency partners.

Edited April 9, 2019 by iancal

[oceanmom]

The PCC's are still confused. Here is what I got in an email just now:

 

You are correct – bookings now have to be transferred 60days before the sail date.

 

 

[koolforkatz]

Wow, thanks to whoever started this thread. I have two reservations - one with Princess, one with HAL - that are both at about 55 days since booked. I had no idea either of these lines had started this policy. Just transferred both bookings to my TA. And, yes, it is definitely official with HAL. I just filled out a transfer form of theirs that specially states on it: 

 

Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made 
outside the Final Payment period and (b) the booking is not paid in full. 

 

Sorry, both lines are doing this now 😞 

[Mary229]

I didn’t read all responses so sorry for repetition. After reading this thread I did my transfer today.  Yes, it is 60 days and before final payment  They sent a fillable email form, I signed it, scanned it and emailed it back.  30 minutes from start to finish.   Form attached 

Reservation Transfer Request Form 082718.pdf

[Alberta Quilter]

13 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I didn’t read all responses so sorry for repetition. After reading this thread I did my transfer today.  Yes, it is 60 days and before final payment  They sent a fillable email form, I signed it, scanned it and emailed it back.  30 minutes from start to finish.   Form attached 

Reservation Transfer Request Form 082718.pdf 145.37 kB · 8 downloads

Thank you for posting the form.  I'll fill it out tomorrow and will send it in.

 

Has anyone heard yet about cruises booked more than 60 days ago - if they will be grandfathered?  I'm confused about the "proposal" to transfer such a cruise.  What does one put in their "proposal"?  I would have thought it would be more of a request.

[VennDiagram]

8 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Has anyone heard yet about cruises booked more than 60 days ago - if they will be grandfathered?  I'm confused about the "proposal" to transfer such a cruise.  What does one put in their "proposal"?  I would have thought it would be more of a request.

 

Personally I think that the start date for the 60-day clock should start when HAL makes it clear to its customers, and affect ONLY cruisers booked on or after that date.

 

Again, their communication is a big fail 😞

[bennybear]

5 hours ago, Dietemann said:

This was my experience yesterday. I had a cruise booked on board last October which I wanted to transfer after reading the new policy post. It took 11 minutes for someone to answer the # I usually have called to initiate a transfer. The person answering told me that they have a new policy which was initiated last Friday and explained to me what I had already read here. He also said "no grandfathering." So it took some gentle persuasion, several long holds while he talked to the "supervisor" and after a total of 37 minutes my cruise booking was transferred to my TA. She also, incidentally, did not know about the new policy, nobody had notified her.

 

So it is indeed official, but I hope for all that may be affected that HAL will indeed give all who have booked outside this 60 day window a bit more time. After all, Princess had to backtrack and be a bit more lenient for all who were caught by their new 60 day policy.

Yikes!  They have to give some notice!   We are currently travelling so no way  I can even address this!

[bennybear]

13 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

 

Personally I think that the start date for the 60-day clock should start when HAL makes it clear to its customers, and affect ONLY cruisers booked on or after that date.

 

Again, their communication is a big fail 😞

Totally Agree!  You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game with zero notification!  

[Cruising-along]

22 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Thank you for posting the form.  I'll fill it out tomorrow and will send it in.

 

Has anyone heard yet about cruises booked more than 60 days ago - if they will be grandfathered?  I'm confused about the "proposal" to transfer such a cruise.  What does one put in their "proposal"?  I would have thought it would be more of a request.

I really wish we knew too.  We have 3 cruises that would be (hopefully) grandfathered in.  That's a lot of extra OBC we will lose if HAL doesn't allow grandfathering.  We have one cruise that would fall within the 60 days of booking.  

[slidergirl]

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

I really wish we knew too.  We have 3 cruises that would be (hopefully) grandfathered in.  That's a lot of extra OBC we will lose if HAL doesn't allow grandfathering.  We have one cruise that would fall within the 60 days of booking.  

 

If you would have booked directly with the TA in the first place, you wouldn't be worrying...  

[Alberta Quilter]

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

I really wish we knew too.  We have 3 cruises that would be (hopefully) grandfathered in.  That's a lot of extra OBC we will lose if HAL doesn't allow grandfathering.  We have one cruise that would fall within the 60 days of booking.  

 

I have the opposite situation - one cruise booked last year and three that have been booked since late Feb/early Mar.   I actually had two booked last year but HAL made an itinerary change last week which required rebooking and with that, a new booking number.  So, that worked in my favour for the transfer.

[oceanmom]

I suspect my request to transfer bookings made in May 2018 have been transferred to the big box store although I have not been able to get through to Big Box Store to confirm.

 

I sent the transfer requests (one for us and one for the daughters) via email to the office that is managing the transfer requests. Now, three hours later, when I look at the booking on HAL and look at payment schedule, it says to contact "your booking agent" to see the payment schedule. Another booking I just made last week and have not sent a transfer request gives me a link to "Manage payments" in the same space.

 

There was no "proposal," Just a space to enter a "reason for transfer (for quality assurance purposes)."

Edited April 10, 2019 by oceanmom

[edgee]

21 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

f you would have booked directly with the TA in the first place, you wouldn't be worrying..

 

Smart of cruise lines to take a step toward putting an end to this gaming of the system. Commission is paid to TAs partially with the idea that they do work which the cruise line staff does not have to do. Booking with the cruise line staff and transferring to TAs at the last minute defeats that purpose.

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by edgee
clarity

[Tampa Girl]

12 hours ago, boards said:

No. that has never happened to us.  We have done better booking with the PCC than a TA in our city.   

 

Then you are booking with the wrong TA, as many others on this forum will tell you.  And if you don't get any better service or discount with a TA than with your PCC, why would one transfer after final payment to a TA?  None of this makes any sense to me.  

[Tampa Girl]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I didn’t read all responses so sorry for repetition. After reading this thread I did my transfer today.  Yes, it is 60 days and before final payment  They sent a fillable email form, I signed it, scanned it and emailed it back.  30 minutes from start to finish.   Form attached 

Reservation Transfer Request Form 082718.pdf 145.37 kB · 35 downloads

 

And, again, excuse my ignorance.  But . . . exactly what did you chance to lose by not being able to transfer to a TA?  What exactly did you gain by transferring?

[boards]

27 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Then you are booking with the wrong TA, as many others on this forum will tell you.  And if you don't get any better service or discount with a TA than with your PCC, why would one transfer after final payment to a TA?  None of this makes any sense to me.  

I am happy that you are so able to find a TA that you say gives you so much more than a PCC can, but I have dwelt with a number of TA's here , small and large but none of them have offered perks like some of you are saying you got.  I am happy for you.  Thank you for your kind comments.  

 

 

 

[richwmn]

I feel I must respond to slidergirl, Tampa Girl, and others. You ask why we want to book with a PCC then transfer. In a nutshell, it is allowed and many of us have a long term relationship (in my case over 10 years) with our PCC. I tend to book early and in general the price I get has been as good or better than TAs have been able to do later. What the TA provides is simply OBC. My PCC has been very good about refaring when needed, or adding perks.

While a TA may be able to get the same deals at the same time, I feel good about booking with my PCC. If it comes down to a choice between the PCC and the OBC, I guess the money will win out, but for right now we can use the PCC and transfer, so I will continue to do so - just a bit earlier.

The only problem I have with this change is that so far there has been no indication that cruises booked over 60 days ago will be given any consideration.

 

[edgee]

5 minutes ago, richwmn said:

I feel I must respond to slidergirl, Tampa Girl, and others. You ask why we want to book with a PCC then transfer. In a nutshell, it is allowed and many of us have a long term relationship (in my case over 10 years) with our PCC. I tend to book early and in general the price I get has been as good or better than TAs have been able to do later. What the TA provides is simply OBC. My PCC has been very good about refaring when needed, or adding perks.

While a TA may be able to get the same deals at the same time, I feel good about booking with my PCC. If it comes down to a choice between the PCC and the OBC, I guess the money will win out, but for right now we can use the PCC and transfer, so I will continue to do so - just a bit earlier.

The only problem I have with this change is that so far there has been no indication that cruises booked over 60 days ago will be given any consideration.

 

My TA provides me additional value/discount of between and 8 and 11 percent of the cruise price back in cruise credit or a cash rebate paid via check to me following final payment to the cruise line. I have had an ongoing relationship with her for 15 years and I get great service. 

[richwmn]

17 minutes ago, edgee said:

My TA provides me additional value/discount of between and 8 and 11 percent of the cruise price back in cruise credit or a cash rebate paid via check to me following final payment to the cruise line. I have had an ongoing relationship with her for 15 years and I get great service. 

I get the same 8 to 11 percent of the cruise price back after transfer, and I get good service from both my PCC and the agent I transfer it to.

[Randyk47]

29 minutes ago, edgee said:

My TA provides me additional value/discount of between and 8 and 11 percent of the cruise price back in cruise credit or a cash rebate paid via check to me following final payment to the cruise line. I have had an ongoing relationship with her for 15 years and I get great service. 

 

Same here.   

[tuolumne couple]

We book with our with our PCC for the best availability in staterooms, and future price reductions (sometimes this happens), then transfer the booking before final payment is due ( a future cruise deposit "holds" the cruise), and of course for more OBC. It's about the amount of money spent on the cruise, the amount of OBC you get. We  play by the "rules" that HAL set up we are not gaming the system.  If you change the "rules" some people will be a bit put out. It's is about flexibility in your booking (show me the money).   

[iancal]

We are in the same situation. We have a good TA who gives us great service and good rebates.

 

Why on earth would we bother booking with a cruise line CSR, PCC, or whatever they call themselves?  When we reserve we have the choice from whatever cabins are available.  There is no magic to this.  No different that booking a specific airline  airline seat. 

 

Are you implying that TA's do not have the same selection of unassigned  cabins as do the PCC's?

 

I have yet to hear anyone state exactly what tangible benefit a PCC adds that a good TA does not nor have I heard anyone state clearly exactly what extra control over their reservation  they get  by dealing with a PCC or CSR  that they can not get from a good TA-on line or B&M.

Edited April 10, 2019 by iancal

[richwmn]

What we are discussing here is just different ways of doing the same thing. Neither is right or wrong, just different. Many of us get the same 8 - 12 percent OBC. My PCC is happy, the TA tells me they are happy, and I get OBC. You take one person out of the loop, big deal. I will not change your opinion, and you will not change mine. The only thing that will change things is another change in policy by HAL (and other Cruise Lines) so that transfers are not allowed.

 

[tuolumne couple]

30 minutes ago, iancal said:

Are you implying that TA's do not have the same selection of unassigned  cabins as do the PCC's?

no, i am not implying anything,.Sometimes they have rooms that are not available elsewhere. i simply think that flexibility in booking was nice, especially if extra OBC  was available. I was speaking to that mainly. just new information to me as i was thinking of transferring my booking today. i wonder if it is too late. ...will know more tomorrow. My PCC is always impeccably aware of everything, as an FYI. We sometimes use a TA after booking with our PCC as transfer booking, but within 60 days going forward, it would appear. Happy to comply  🙂

[Mary229]

8 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

And, again, excuse my ignorance.  But . . . exactly what did you chance to lose by not being able to transfer to a TA?  What exactly did you gain by transferring?

My choice.  I make reservations onboard, massage them a bit then transfer them to my sister.   One of her hand selected agents does all the sale tracking and applies perks and sales.  Sometimes high volume agencies, like my sister's, have special perks for special customers.  Being the sister makes me a special customer.