Price drop after final payment

[JerrySueW]

On 12/3/2021 at 4:02 PM, JerrySueW said:

We were able to get a price reduction after final payment but it had to be done as new booking because of a change in promotions. (That was 4 weeks ago and I’m still waiting for the refund.) I really think it depends on who you talk to, there are lots of new employees who don’t have all the answers. Fortunately, I have a great TA who doesn’t give up easily. The price has dropped again this week but I haven’t worked up the nerve to ask her to try again!

Update: Instead of refunding the price reduction to my credit card as promised, Princess reduced the FCC applied to the fare (from a 2020 cancelled cruise) and left a balance on my account which must be used by 12/31/22, the original expiration date of the FCC. I have a cruise booked for 01/05/23 and the Princess representative said she could not apply the balance to that cruise because of the expiration date (even though there are other FCCs on the account that had been extended to that date). TA is trying to work through the resolutions department to get things ironed out. The Princess rep suggested that we could "just take a short cruise" to use the balance this year. Not going too far on $425...

[mjmalino]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

 

 

So is the difference that PVP / CVP can do it within Princess (don't have to ask) whereas TAs cannot? Perhaps tied to commission??

 

Bottom line now that I'm having a mini-suite-- book the lowest room you want and hope for an upgrade. For me that's mid aft or mid forward balcony hope for mid ship deluxe or premium balcony. 

Just to clear the air (and I apologize if I am not supposed to say this, but given the response, I felt it was necessary to state) but I am a TA. I did have to call Princess for this given that it is after final payment and on top of the price reduction there is a bit of a commission recall because of it, but between our cabin and our sons', it still made sense. Personally, if a client called me 2 weeks prior to travel and said that their cruise fare dropped and asked me if I would contact Princess about a reduction, I would do it, even with the recall, but that is me. Also, there have been times that I  have called and only been offered OBC after price reduction.

[Steelers36]

42 minutes ago, mjmalino said:

Just to clear the air (and I apologize if I am not supposed to say this, but given the response, I felt it was necessary to state) but I am a TA. I did have to call Princess for this given that it is after final payment and on top of the price reduction there is a bit of a commission recall because of it, but between our cabin and our sons', it still made sense. Personally, if a client called me 2 weeks prior to travel and said that their cruise fare dropped and asked me if I would contact Princess about a reduction, I would do it, even with the recall, but that is me. Also, there have been times that I  have called and only been offered OBC after price reduction.

Appreciate the "behind the curtain" view.  I would honestly only expect them to only offer some OBC at a late-date price drop.  

 

IDK if you are a discounting TA, but I know the commission can be low depending on discount amount and when I have a major savings, not only a commission "hit", but there is additional work for the TA.  I tend to share some of my savings back in a gift because the margin is very thin on my bookings.

 

PS - It has been obvious you are a TA from past postings and other TA's on here do self-identify.  Of course there is no real name, agency name, nor contact info, so I don't see the problem.  In fact, it is best if a TA self-declares, IMO.

 

[pms4104]

While it may be great that people are getting fare adjustments after final payment, I wouldn't think Princess has the financial stability to continue this practice indefinitely.  

[Ombud]

@mjmalino thank you for clearing the air. I wouldn't blame a TA if they didn't want to reduce their commission after being on unemployment for 20 months. PVPs might get points but not commission and although they are shut down sometimes (12/24/21 - 1/3/22) they still have a company to come back to

[disneyochem]

Booked a 10-day January Mexican Riviera on the Ruby directly with Princess earlier this year.  I’m one of those people who check fares daily but it wasn’t until I read this thread that one could get a price reduction/upgrade/OBC after final payment that I decided to try.

 

Just used the chat feature this morning about our cruise.  Asked for an upgrade or OBC since the fare had dropped substantially. Was refunded $350 to our credit card—kept the same room, Princess Plus promotions (OBC, specialty dining, etc) and casino credits!
 

Nice to get more $$ to book other cruises!

[caribill]

17 hours ago, JerrySueW said:

left a balance on my account which must be used by 12/31/22, the original expiration date of the FCC. I have a cruise booked for 01/05/23 and the Princess representative said she could not apply the balance to that cruise because of the expiration date (even though there are other FCCs on the account that had been extended to that date).

 

Sometimes when it gets closer to the expiration date it gets easier to have the date extended.

[Waynetor]

I wanted to re-fare 7 cruises in Jan and Feb today.  I used the 'chat' option and was told they they could do each one individually.  Then she noticed I had a TA and said I would have to go through the agent.  I sent agent details but have not heard back yet.

 

Of those that got the re-fares, have any of you done this through an agent? 

[Steelers36]

37 minutes ago, Waynetor said:

I wanted to re-fare 7 cruises in Jan and Feb today.  I used the 'chat' option and was told they they could do each one individually.  Then she noticed I had a TA and said I would have to go through the agent.  I sent agent details but have not heard back yet.

 

Of those that got the re-fares, have any of you done this through an agent? 

Anyone booking with a TA must use the TA for any re-faring, applying payments, cabin changes.  Anything related to the actual cabin, the pricing, and payments/credits.  You can use Princess for Q&A, booking services, EZ-Air, and so forth.

 

[Shelly97060]

3 hours ago, Waynetor said:

 

Of those that got the re-fares, have any of you done this through an agent? 

 Yes 

[Gretchendz]

On 12/6/2021 at 4:28 PM, CruzDayz said:

Update, I had to rebook but I saved $762. Is it worth it with the hold times? I was on the phone for almost four hours on Saturday only to find out that Princess doesn’t have a dept. open on weekends to transfer funds. Please call back on Monday. Called at 8:00am this morning and finished at 11:15 with hold times. She also said that she couldn’t transfer my stock. I know that they could but I already resubmitted it. I have over 60 days until my cruise so no hurry. The  old price reduction game just isn’t fun anymore. On a happy note the cruise went down another $54 while I was on hold. That is the second time this has happened on this cruise. So what started out at $2373 way back in April is now $1072 with the Best Value package and platinum insurance. Also stock and group credit on top of that. I think that the cruise lines are hurting bad. I did lose a lot of OBC along the way but that is money that I never saw, I look at bottom line out of pocket. Now I wait for my Credit Card to be credited.  
I don’t see how the people with many cruises booked keep up with it. 

 

Ha! Good for you. To answer your question about how people with many cruises do it...they have their TAs wait on hold for them 🙂

[Gretchendz]

By the way, there were several questions in this thread regarding TAs being able to rebook or refare after final payment.

 

I always rebook or refare for clients when possible. Most TAs I know do the same. Yes-it does lower the commission and we yes we wait on hold for hours sometimes, but many of us prefer giving good service to repeat clients who may refer others to us, even if we lose some commission.

 

However, because most TAs nowadays are independent contractors, I cannot speak for all.

 

Also, re rebooking vs refaring.  If it requires a rebooking, you might lose your specific cabin in the process. That matters to some people, but not at all to others.  It's just important to know ahead of time. Also, as others have commented, you might lose OBC or other perks that were in your initial booking. It's just important to be aware.

[CruzDayz]

1 hour ago, Gretchendz said:

 

Ha! Good for you. To answer your question about how people with many cruises do it...they have their TAs wait on hold for them 🙂

I did that too, but they had me on the phone with them for the first few hours. I loved the old days when you called and someone picked up the phone. 🙂 I had another $58 drop at 63 days out and I just let it go. 

[sunsetme]

anyone able to get credit based on medical professionals discount rate? I booked a cabin for 944 now 850pp using this rate.

[Waynetor]

My agent came through today with refaring 7 voyages in Jan and Feb.  For three voyages I moved up from base fare to best value with its current specialty dining.   After paying for those updates, I still got about $2,000 back on credit card.

 

Agent was reluctant at first but I pointed out that Princess chat was going to allow it if I did not have an agent and I knew others were getting the refare.  She said she was on phone for 3 hours.   

[CruzDayz]

16 minutes ago, Waynetor said:

My agent came through today with refaring 7 voyages in Jan and Feb.  For three voyages I moved up from base fare to best value with its current specialty dining.   After paying for those updates, I still got about $2,000 back on credit card.

 

Agent was reluctant at first but I pointed out that Princess chat was going to allow it if I did not have an agent and I knew others were getting the refare.  She said she was on phone for 3 hours.   

Wow! You owe her a bottle of wine and a box of candy. Nice job. 😊

[voljeep]

yep, just re-fared ... again - cruise is less than 2 weeks away now. emailed PVP on Tuesday, she was off Wednesday, and got the email notification earlier today.  This was a cruise booked at the medical professional rate promotion ...

 

no 'monies' to change hands - price drop applied as FCC to future cruise as all cruise fare on this cruise was paid by FCC's 

 

works for us as we have a cruise booked for November 2022 that still has cruise fare due 

[californiagirl]

I would like to say thank you to all of you on this thread.  My fare dropped by more than half for my Feb 19, Majestic Princess cruise.  I used live chat and they refunded the entire difference to my original form of payment.  I had requested either a refund or onboard credit.  She gave me the refund.  I had originally booked on the medical provider discount.  

[CruzDayz]

2 hours ago, californiagirl said:

I would like to say thank you to all of you on this thread.  My fare dropped by more than half for my Feb 19, Majestic Princess cruise.  I used live chat and they refunded the entire difference to my original form of payment.  I had requested either a refund or onboard credit.  She gave me the refund.  I had originally booked on the medical provider discount.  

That is wonderful.  I went from $2373 with no insurance to $1073 with insurance on my Feb 12 cruise. I don’t want to talk about how many hours I put in just because of an inexperienced agent in the beginning. I finally had all money back yesterday and when I went over everything I had $180 too much credit. Even though my dad always told me to keep quiet when something like that happens, 😊 I went on chat and asked why I was over. He came back on after about five minutes and said he was told that after they went over my notes about what I went through this was a goodwill credit. How cool is that?

I really do believe that all of the cruise lines are trying hard. I never did play the book and cancel game that so many did for credit.  I was just trying to get a price break on one cruise. 
Thanks for working in the medical field. 😊

 

[rj59]

Since the platinum Princess insurance offers cancellation with no penalty for any reason now, could it be possible to just cancel the cruise under PVP and rebook and use the FCC for the first cruise later? Or just use threat of cancellation as leverage if they don't adjust the fare or offer OBC? 

[minnesotasisu]

I am about 40 days out and I noticed a $762 drop on my cruise for the same class stateroom plus the addition of the Best.Sale.Ever. I called Costco Travel who I booked with and they contacted Princess and I was given the price savings of $762. I also got the specialty dining addon (worth $60 total) but lost $50 in OBC. In addition my Costco gift card was reduced by $70 but I still came out way ahead. It doesn't hurt to ask. 

[jwattle]

15 hours ago, rj59 said:

Since the platinum Princess insurance offers cancellation with no penalty for any reason now, could it be possible to just cancel the cruise under PVP and rebook and use the FCC for the first cruise later? Or just use threat of cancellation as leverage if they don't adjust the fare or offer OBC? 

You would be out the cost of the insurance if you cancel USING the insurance...

[chubbypiggy]

19 hours ago, CruzDayz said:

That is wonderful.  I went from $2373 with no insurance to $1073 with insurance on my Feb 12 cruise. I don’t want to talk about how many hours I put in just because of an inexperienced agent in the beginning. I finally had all money back yesterday and when I went over everything I had $180 too much credit. Even though my dad always told me to keep quiet when something like that happens, 😊 I went on chat and asked why I was over. He came back on after about five minutes and said he was told that after they went over my notes about what I went through this was a goodwill credit. How cool is that?

I really do believe that all of the cruise lines are trying hard. I never did play the book and cancel game that so many did for credit.  I was just trying to get a price break on one cruise. 
Thanks for working in the medical field. 😊

 

How long did it take for you to get your refunds after your refare adjustment?  My cruise fare was reduced after final payment and my TA told me according to the Princess agent, the refund will take 4-6 weeks for it to be credited back to my credit card and Princess gift cards. 

 

This is the 2nd time I requested an adjustment after my final payment (1st adjustment for $600, and this adjustment for $400).  My cruise is 56 days away.  The Princess agent told my TA to let me know this adjustment will be my last adjustment regardless of whether the price goes down more.  The Princess agent said she had just marked my cruise booking as a "non-refundable deposit" booking,  so to not allowed me to get further reductions.  I won't be surprised the fare will drop a lot more.

[Mt Lassen]

I refared my upcoming cruise on the Majestic four times after the final payment date. The first time I used chat and asked for OBC, but he said it couldn't be done. The refund was back to my credit card in three days. The second one I called and the agent was able to apply the fare reduction as OBC. The third and fourth ones I used chat. Once again the chat agent said it couldn't be applied as OBC. After three weeks I hadn't received a refund. I called and asked to have it applied as OBC. The OBC showed up in my onboard account immediately. There was never any comment about not being allowed any further reductions.

[chubbypiggy]

1 hour ago, Mt Lassen said:

I refared my upcoming cruise on the Majestic four times after the final payment date. The first time I used chat and asked for OBC, but he said it couldn't be done. The refund was back to my credit card in three days. The second one I called and the agent was able to apply the fare reduction as OBC. The third and fourth ones I used chat. Once again the chat agent said it couldn't be applied as OBC. After three weeks I hadn't received a refund. I called and asked to have it applied as OBC. The OBC showed up in my onboard account immediately. There was never any comment about not being allowed any further reductions.

Sounds like you booked directly with Princess.  I wonder if it is because I booked through a TA.  For my 1st adjustment, my TA called Princess and refared.  Adjusted 3 weeks ago and no credit showing on my credit card account yet.  The 2nd adjustment was done last week, this time, my TA used Princess Chat.  The agent on the Chat agreed to adjusted the price again but informed my TA that will be the last adjustment and the Princess Chat agent changed my booking to "non-refundable deposit" meaning no further price adjustment.