OBC if we pay early?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

To me this is a bit alarming. We have not received an email although we have a cruise for March 16, 2025. Paying off early will not change you rate code and or penalty so your start date of when penalties start would remain the same.

I do think HAL is grasping for ideas to bring money in but only $100 to me is a slap in the face if my cruise total is $7000. I can make far more money in interest on that money till I need to give it to HAL. It would make more sense to do like they did during covid and offer a discount on the fare. Then those with a more expensive cruise do not get cheated. It would be fair compensation and gets them money in the bank. But does getting this money early really solve their cash flow problem??

[NCTribeFan]

I didn't get the offer.  My January cruise is due 10/15.  Maybe I'll call my PPC and see if I'll get the $100 OBC if I go ahead and pay it now.  My pitiful bank account won't earn $100 this year, let alone in two weeks! 😉

[FlaMariner]

Smart move by HAL....only takes a few folks (say 5-10% or less? of the folks) to say yes to make it a worthy direct mail offer. 

 

Some folks will bite.  

 

Some folks buy water on the ship.  Some do not.  Different strokes for different folks.  

[Haljo1935]

On 9/28/2023 at 4:47 PM, jjfarns said:

We got the same offer for our upcoming January 2024 cruise with a PIF date 10/26/2023. Offer says the $100 OBC is available if we pay by 10/31/23. No brainer for us. Just picked up a $100 OBC for paying on time...

Would you mind looking at the bottom of your new invoice details (the one you got after you made the payment) and see if it says anything about being nonrefundable as of now?

Since you aren't yet at either of the dates you mentioned, it should still show refund % w/dates.

That answers the move to/becomes nonrefundable question. Thanks!

[NCTribeFan]

I finally heard back from my PCC this afternoon.   She said I'd get the OBC if I paid by 10/31.  Since I had to pay it off by 10/15 anyway, I went ahead and just did that (I had $700 in AARP Gift Cards, so didn't have a huge balance to put on my CC anyway).

 

My new invoice does NOT show $100 more in OBC than I had to start.  I'll have to contact her again.

 

I booked while on Rotterdam last spring and booked a NR fare, so can't help anyone needing to know if it converts a refundable deposit to NR.

[habenicd]

This was a no-brainer for us.  Our final payment date is Nov. 6.  So, if we pay a whole week early, by Oct 31, we get the credit. Also, we have a group of several couples going that all booked together but only one couple received the e-mailed offer.  However, when I called HAL to just go ahead pay our final payment (to get current AMEX offer applied too) I was told that we would receive the OBC credit for paying before 10/31 in spite of not having received a notification email.  Also, the notification e-mail our friends received says the credit will not show up until after Nov 30, and that part makes absolutely no sense to me.  Why does it take a full month?

[KAKcruiser]

We had the offer for early payment last year.  We were told the OBC would show up after January 31 and, sure enough, it did.

[shadow 123]

On 9/28/2023 at 3:26 PM, Mary229 said:

I encountered this once and was warned by my TA and, at the time, confirmed with HAL.  Things can and do change - YMMV

On my cruise this year the price  decreased by $1,300. I told my travel agent to transfer that money to my cruise for next year in 2024.  Holland America took that money and paid the insurance with it. So I am not eligible to any of that money back should I cancel in 2024. Soooooo, What I'm saying is, I would never give Holland America anymore money upfront than I have to. Never again

[NCTribeFan]

OK, so maybe my OBC won't show up until later.  I paid my balance on Wednesday; it was due 10/15.  Where will I see that?  I never see OBC online.  Will they send a new invoice?

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, NCTribeFan said:

OK, so maybe my OBC won't show up until later.  I paid my balance on Wednesday; it was due 10/15.  Where will I see that?  I never see OBC online.  Will they send a new invoice?

You'll need to request a new invoice. And if you have a TA, it will go to them and they will need to send it to you.

[billco]

We are sailing on a 22 day January 29, 2004 Antarctica cruise with a final payment due date of October 31.

 

We recently got an email with this offer: "We look forward to welcoming you aboard your upcoming cruise! To show our appreciation, we’d like to extend a special offer. Receive a bonus $100 Onboard Credit on or before November 30 when you pay your remaining cruise fare balance in full by October 31."

 

Among the terms: "One (1) $100 OBC per stateroom. OBC can be applied while on the cruise portion of Alaska Cruisetours only, is in USD and is non-refundable, non-transferable, and has no cash value.

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by billco

[GatorMomInNC]

I got this offer on a cruise I booked with a $1 deposit.  My sister is considering going and if she goes I may go with her, figured only a $1 so I booked it. I assumed I got the offer because I used the $1 deposit and am holding up the room for so many months with no "real" deposit down, no incentive to complete the booking for a while.