Past Guest Rate v. Early Saver Rate

[CruzerDeb]

What's the advantage to booking a cruising using the Past Guest Rate? I just booked my second cruise and used the Early Saver rate because it was cheaper.:confused:

[kimmi5207]

Early saver there are more restrictions. I believe you can't get a refund, if you cancel (get future sailing credit) and no name changes allowed on the booking ( for example if a person can't go you can't just substitute another person). I believe there is also a $50/pp cancellation fee if you change the dates/cancel (again, no cash refund).

 

On the other hand, you can get obc for price drops after final payment with ES. I believe you can just get a possible upgrade with past guest rate after final payment deadline.

 

I may be fuzzy on the details-one of the experts will be along shortly to correct me if I'm wrong.

[tak81288]

There are less restrictions if you need to cancel or make changes with the past guest rate.

[ready2cruzagain]

As other posters have stated there are a lot more restrictions with ES. If I am booking far out and think there might be a chance of cancelling then I will often book Past Guest then switch to ES right before ES disappears or when I know for sure. Of course if ES goes up in rate when I switch then I would have to pay the higher price.

[rockbock]

Normally ES rate plus the cost of insurance is still cheaper than the past guest rate, plus you get rate protection if you book ES. If you need to cancel, the vacation insurance will protect your deposit and any other money you spent.

 

Lots of people shy away from ES because they're too scared of losing their money. Most of these people aren't bright enough to realize that they might have spent more money to book Fun Saver, Past Guest, or some other rate plan without insurance, than it would have cost them to book ES with insurance.

 

That's not to say that you won't find great deals for past guests once you get clsoer to sailing, but if you want to book early to get your choice of rooms, ES is almost always going to be the best option.

[zqvol]

What's the advantage to booking a cruising using the Past Guest Rate? I just booked my second cruise and used the Early Saver rate because it was cheaper.:confused:

 

 

I never use ES, because I need the flexibility that it does not offer, so it is either a past guest, senior, resident or some combo.

[Jilpo]

On my last cruise on the Legend, the past guest rate was less than early saver, never did figure out why. And never looked after final payment.

[CRUISE4JANE]

I booked a year ago for my July cruise ES. I was happy at the time with my price. So far I have received $470 in price drops, plus $180 in OBCs. I did take out insurance just in case I had to cancel. Happy with my price drops and OBCs. I will always book ES. :) At least I know the cabin I booked is the cabin I will have instead of waiting to book and may not get the cabin I want. :)

[fishtaco]

The way things are looking from my perspective you are better off booking later with past guest privileges

 

I am not a past guest but My ES price was lower than past guest rate when I booked,now there is no ES the Summer Sale is on for past guests is cheaper than ES with free upgrades and OBC.

 

If choice of cabin is most important and you definitely know you will be going without change then ES is good for you because I am sure there will be promotions like Spring into summer or Summer sale is on all year and as a past guest you will save more and more.

 

If you think there is any possibility of one or more people in your party wanting to cancel then go past guest or book a cruise closer to cruise date with past guest privileges and save even more if a sale comes up.

[rockbock]

The way things are looking from my perspective you are better off booking later with past guest privileges

 

I am not a past guest but My ES price was lower than past guest rate when I booked,now there is no ES the Summer Sale is on for past guests is cheaper than ES with free upgrades and OBC.

 

If choice of cabin is most important and you definitely know you will be going without change then ES is good for you because I am sure there will be promotions like Spring into summer or Summer sale is on all year and as a past guest you will save more and more.

 

If you think there is any possibility of one or more people in your party wanting to cancel then go past guest or book a cruise closer to cruise date with past guest privileges and save even more if a sale comes up.

 

 

Why do you post advice when you have no clue what you're talking about?

 

There are no "past guest privileges" if you book a certain way. The only people who get "past guest privileges" are people who have had at least 10 Carnival cruises and they get those privileges regardless of how they book.

 

In almost all cases, the ES rate is cheaper that the Summer Sale (even after accounting for the OBC), past guest rate, military rate, etc. Quite frequently, the promtional sales (e.g., Summer Sale) are the worst rates available.

 

After Early Saver rates expire and the ship is trying to sell off the remaining cabins, sometimes the Fun Rate or Past Guest rate might drop to lower than the ES rate was. If this happens, ES customers get the price difference...but they also had the benefit of picking a better cabin because they booked early.

 

ANYBODY who plans to buy travel insurance would be stupid to NOT book ES, unless it's a last minute cruise and the ES rate isn't available.

 

People who don't plan to buy travel insurance should price out the cost of insurance and see what happens. For the cruise my family of 5 is taking in September, booking with the Summer Sale would have cost me $600 more than the ES rate. I booked with the ES rate and bought Travel Guard Gold insurance for $113 (that's the total for all five of us combined). So it cost me $487 less, I have insurance for just about any cancellation reason, and I will be credited for any price drops.

[RWolver672]

Normally ES rate plus the cost of insurance is still cheaper than the past guest rate, plus you get rate protection if you book ES. If you need to cancel, the vacation insurance will protect your deposit and any other money you spent.

 

Lots of people shy away from ES because they're too scared of losing their money. Most of these people aren't bright enough to realize that they might have spent more money to book Fun Saver, Past Guest, or some other rate plan without insurance, than it would have cost them to book ES with insurance.

 

That's not to say that you won't find great deals for past guests once you get clsoer to sailing, but if you want to book early to get your choice of rooms, ES is almost always going to be the best option.

 

I would have said not aware. ;) Personally we book a cabin on a specific deck and pay either past guest, military or state. We pay the downpayment, then wait until final payment is due. If the price drops from what it was when we booked, our TA honors the price drop. I don't want to have to keep checking every day and do a lot of paper work.

DW is notorious for checking prices after we've made a major purchase and finds that it was cheaper two weeks after we bought it. Once I've bought something, I'm done. No more searching. But that's just me. Everybody doesn't feel that way and more power to them if that's what they like doing.

 

Sorry for the color changes. Puter went berzerk!