The Value of FCC

[Pcardad]

18 hours ago, Pcardad said:

 

That is excellent news and apparently different than in the USA as I was told by 2 different people yesterday that you only get credit for the nights if you chose the FCC. I am in the process of verifying this with a third person. Make sure you get it in writing just to be on the safe side.

 

I would be interested in seeing that email if you are OK with posting it...everyone I talk to is denying credit for nights UNLESS you take the FCC. I am wondering if it is different outside the USA.

[DaveFr]

20 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

Going back to my opening post. I think I may have to give credit where credit is due (pardon the pun)

Regent today sent us an e-mail confirming cancellation of our August Baltic cruise. The expected choice of 100% refund or 125% FCC was made. In addition we were told that the cancelled cruise days would count on our Seven Seas Society record. 

But in addition to the above, the issue that I covered in my opening post was directly covered by Regent. They identified two very similar cruises, including the one I had noted in my opening post, to our cancelled cruise next year. They correctly noted that even with 125% FCC we would lose out and thus offered us a no further payment due deal if we take either of these cruises.

We will be considering carefully with our TA

 

30 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

 

I would be interested in seeing that email if you are OK with posting it...everyone I talk to is denying credit for nights UNLESS you take the FCC. I am wondering if it is different outside the USA.

My reading of Belfast Taxman‘s post is that he did use the 125% FCC but Regent would give him a booking on one of two similar cruises for no additional payment since the FCC would not completely cover the additional fare over what he originally paid when booking the August 2020 cruise. Thus, I see no difference in the policy of awarding reward nights for canceled cruises between the US and other areas.

 

Dave

[Pcardad]

I agree - it could definitely be read that way. I just wasn't sure and if I have learned one thing on this forum it is BE SURE OF YOUR FACTS or you will get it from all sides. 😃

[Belfast Taxman]

pcardad

i do apologise, I really did not mean to cause confusion, but yes it does appear that we have to take the future Baltic cruise with no additional cost to us (whereas even with a 125% FCC there would have been an extra £1,000 to pay including the pre-cruise package and flights) in order to get the original, now cancelled, cruise included on our Regent Seven Seas society account.

[GOARMY]

Belfast Taxman and pcardad:

 

Concerning getting Silver Sea Society credits for nights NOT sailed--

 

I just made another check of our Account summary.  That confirmed, again, that we were given credit for a 03/14/2020 Splendor San Diego-Miami (16 days) cruise which Regent canceled on 03/13/2020.   We were in San Diego at the time. We are U.S. citizens--if this makes a difference.  Opted for a full Refund, not FCCs.  (That refund has been received.)

 

Maybe this was a one-off thing regarding the 16-days being added to our Account due to the abrupt ending to that cruise after we were already at the embarkation location waiting at Regent's assigned hotel.  Whatever. 

 

Every little bit helps on the way to Titanium. 

 

GOARMY!

 

 

 

[greykitty]

Question - how much does it cost Regent/NCLH to actually pass along those nights' credits to people in the overall scheme of things?  From what I've read in the forums the increased benefits per tier are nice, but didn't seem to me to be very costly to the cruse line in reality vis a vis retaining customers.

 

I was just thinking it might be 'nice' for the lines to be pretty generous with this type of benefits in general right now.  If cruising recovers, won't really impact the bottom line that much, while making the passengers feel valued during this challenging time, and if things go really sour - well, won't make a difference what tier a customer was in and how many nights cruising they had.  

 

Am I misreading the situation?

[BBWC]

53 minutes ago, GOARMY said:

Belfast Taxman and pcardad:

 

Concerning getting Silver Sea Society credits for nights NOT sailed--

 

I just made another check of our Account summary.  That confirmed, again, that we were given credit for a 03/14/2020 Splendor San Diego-Miami (16 days) cruise which Regent canceled on 03/13/2020.   We were in San Diego at the time. We are U.S. citizens--if this makes a difference.  Opted for a full Refund, not FCCs.  (That refund has been received.)

 

Maybe this was a one-off thing regarding the 16-days being added to our Account due to the abrupt ending to that cruise after we were already at the embarkation location waiting at Regent's assigned hotel.  Whatever. 

 

Every little bit helps on the way to Titanium. 

 

GOARMY!

 

 

 

I think it had something to do with the abrupt cancellation of your cruise. Regent cancelled three cruises we had booked in April and May and, since we chose the refund, we did not get the nights credited (which is fine, we were aware of this prior to cancellation). Luckily, we made Titanium just prior to all of the troubles.

[GOARMY]

greykitty:

 

Am in agreement with your take on this.  With the all-inclusive nature (mostly) of a Regent cruise, benefits of varying Tiers are at the margin.  There are, however, one or two aspects which have had cash implications for us.  One is that "free" laundry benefit which increases in coverage with the Tier level; the other is a one-time Pass from paying for an air deviation.  As for other aspects, like leather baggage tags and "special Tier social activities"--not a big deal.  There are (or were until COVID-19) plenty of opportunities for social gatherings with Ship's personnel with yet-more wine and champagne in abundance. 

 

We just feel fortunate to be healthy enough to enjoy cruising.  Hopefully, will stay that way until cruising resumes. 

 

GOARMY!

 

  

[Pcardad]

I am aware that certain accommodations have been made for people who travelled to the point of embarkation only to be denied boarding.

 

I will ask about how accounting treats swapping a cancelled cruise for a future cruise...I suspect it is done with FCC and therefore you get the nights.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

I did not get the SSS points for our March 14th cruise. I got a cash refund. I was disappointed. On our way to Platinum. 
sheila 

[ccruzer123]

Just checked my points for our cancelled May cruise and we were not given credit.  We took the FCC and immediately booked  a cruise for November 2020.   Regent told my travel agent that we would be getting the credits since we took the FCC and had made the final payment.  Thought the points had been listed at one time, but I guess I was dreaming.

[Kwaj girl]

59 minutes ago, az2sea said:

Just checked my points for our cancelled May cruise and we were not given credit.  We took the FCC and immediately booked  a cruise for November 2020.   Regent told my travel agent that we would be getting the credits since we took the FCC and had made the final payment.  Thought the points had been listed at one time, but I guess I was dreaming.

 

We did not get our nights yet either.   Our May cruise was on Navigator. We also took that FCC and applied it toward '21 WC. 

Patience.....

[Pcardad]

They are way behind on updating nights...they will get it done.

[flossie009]

An observation regarding the value of Future Cruise Credits when cashed in for part payment on a cruise.

 

If your Travel Agent offers a discount (UK) or a rebate (US) then presumably the FCC element is non-commissionable; therefore your TA will not include the FCC in the calculation of the discount/rebate they offer on the new cruise.

 

So if your TA normally offers a 10% discount/rebate then a Regent 125% FCC actually has a value of only 112.5%.

.......................... or is my maths deceiving me? 

 

 

It also follows that the hard-working TAs will be receiving less commission on cruises paid for in part or in full using Future Cruise Credits.

Perhaps @Pcardad can confirm whether that is correct or not. 

Edited June 19, 2020 by flossie009

[rallydave]

16 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

So if your TA normally offers a 10% discount/rebate then a Regent 125% FCC actually has a value of only 112.5%.

.......................... or is my maths deceiving me? 

 

Well, think a bit difficult to calculate as with the larger FCC you have to spend more for the cruise than you got in FCC and your reduction is in the amount of rebate you get so that is the lesser cash.  You still get the full 125% to pay for the cruise as long as you buy a more expensive one.  So you would lose 20% of what your commision would have been with the 100 FCC but, to calculate a value of the FCC it all depends on how much you actually pay so not sure how to get to your 112%

 

And the percentage will vary depending on the actual amount of the cruise you book so probably better to look at what the value of the extra 25% is and then say you lose 10% of that from the rebate and that dollar figure as a percentage of what the dollar value of the FCC ends up would be your loss.  Don't believe it would get to approx 1/2 of the 25% but perhaps.

 

Would not use percentage because as the price of the new cruise varies so would the percentage.

[Pcardad]

The FCC is commissionable.

[SusieQft]

25 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

The FCC is commissionable.

That is good.  Both the 100% part and the 25% part?

[Pcardad]

Just the 100%.

[DaisyUK]

That's interesting. I was categorically told by a Regent person that TAs receive ZERO commission on FCCs (in the UK at least)..

[mrlevin]

28 minutes ago, DaisyUK said:

That's interesting. I was categorically told by a Regent person that TAs receive ZERO commission on FCCs (in the UK at least)..

 

Daisy, look at the UK FAQ section.  In USA agents get the standard commission on the cancelled cruise AND the commission on the 100% portion of the FCC.  Here is the applicable FAQ:

 

Quote

Q) Is commission protected?

A) Yes, commissions are protected on the bookings canceled due to the suspension of operations and on the 100% Future Cruise Credit provided. Bonus 25% Future Cruise Credits are non-commissionable and only applicable against cruise and inclusive air. For example, for guests who take advantage of the 100% Future Cruise Credit and Bonus 25% Future Cruise Credit, our partners will receive their standard commission on the bookings canceled by the temporary suspension of operations and on the 100% portion of the Future Cruise Credit, but the bonus 25% would not be commissionable. Commission is capped at once for the original cancellation and once when the FCC is applied for the same clients.

Edited June 19, 2020 by mrlevin

[DaisyUK]

Ah, thank you. It would seem that TAs, as well as customers, are much better taken care of in the US!

[flossie009]

Yes, we do not have that statement about protection of commission on the UK version of the website.

 

Certainly on the invoice received from our TA today the FCC is included in the non-commissionable element of the invoice. Hence my post #89 above.

It thus appears that the “devaluation” of customer’s FCCs and the reduction of commissions to TAs is not an issue in North America, but does appear to be in the UK.

We will double check with our TA and Regent(UK)

 

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by flossie009

[Travelcat2]

30 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

 

Daisy, look at the UK FAQ section.  In USA agents get the standard commission on the cancelled cruise AND the commission on the 100% portion of the FCC.  Here is the applicable FAQ:

 

 

The way that you explained it is correct for the U.S.  TA’s are not being left out when we take FCC’s.  

[DaisyUK]

On 6/17/2020 at 7:41 AM, DaisyUK said:

SusieQft - an update... our 30 Aug cruise was officially cancelled last night, and they seem to be offering us the 125% FCC, plus Seven Seas loyalty credit for nights we would have sailed. We think this is beyond generous and we are very happy with their offer.

Uh-oh, I was mistaken. We are only getting the 125% on part of the cruise cost. We booked a cruise in June which we canceled  for 100% FCC. We then used the FCC to book another cruise this year, which has just been canceled by Regent and which was more expensive than the original cruise. Regent have given us 125% FCC on the difference in cost between the 2 cruises, and 100% FCC on the original balance. That's fair enough, albeit disappointing!

[pappy1022]

On 6/19/2020 at 3:53 PM, Pcardad said:

Just the 100%.

So TA's get the commission on the original cruise cost, which they would have received if the ship sailed when scheduled. They do not get any additional percentage of the 25% customer bonus. What if the rescheduled cruise costs more than the original cruise? Do they get commission on the new cruise cost or stay with the original cruise cost that was cancelled?