Princess Flash Rates & Onboard Credits ???

[KathiSF]

Yesterday a friend and I booked 7 Cabins on the August 4 - 10 day Regal Princess cruise to Alaska out of San Francisco. My TA got us a GREAT rate - but had a hard time with the referral credits and said the share the wealth coupons would not be honored because he gave us a "Flash" rate.

 

Question 1 - What is a "Flash Rate"? Is it true we can't use the Share the Wealth coupons with it? Will I loose my coupons if we fill them in and Princess doesn't honor them?

 

Question 2 - What happened to my $25.00? :mad: Before I booked the cruise I had $200.00 in unused Cruise Credits and $50.00 in unused onboard credits. Now I show $100 applied and $100 balance cruise credits, $75.00 applied onboard credits [all of the above looks right to me because I used a future cruise deposit for this 10 day inside cabin trip.] The problem is: now there is only $25.00 left in balance cruise credits. I'm thinking Princess won't let me use the prior "onboard" credits of $50.00 because of the "Flash" rate. But what happened to the extra $25.00???

 

Thanks for your help.

 

PS I know when you tell me I'll feel sooo stupid - but what does "DH" mean? ("Dear Hubby"?:D )

[spongerob]

The ladies all say it's for "Dear Husband", but we really know they're thinking Dunder Head, or Dick____. DW doesn't necessarily mean Dear Wife, either...:)

 

Since you've booked after final payments are due, the rules change with regards to the various incentive programs. Remember, these are designed primarily to encourage people to book early.

[cherylandtk]

Kathi, I may be slow here, but I am not following your math. You had $200 FCC and now show 100 applied and 100 still in the bank. OK, fine.

 

You had 50 onboard credit, and show 75 applied, so you have gained $25?. Perhaps from a TA credit for this trip? Since you said the Share the Wealth cannot be applied, maybe Princess is limiting the amounts or types of OBC that you can use or apply to this trip. Even so, you had 50 in the bank, now have 25, so you only "used" 25 but have an OBC of 75 applied? So I am not understanding your question.

[Coral]

I could be wrong but doesn't Referral Credit come off the cost of the cruise, as opposed to onboard credit?

[Toto2Kansas]

Coral, you are totally correct.

From the Princess website on referral credits:

"You can refer up to two people in a household. They will each receive a $25 discount off their first Princess cruise. After they sail, you will also receive $25 for each of those referrals, up to $50 maximum for the new household you have brought to Princess. You need not travel together. Referral Rewards will not be applicable to certain fares such as Travel Agent, Interline, Corporate Affiliate and Friends & Family rates."

[KathiSF]

Thanks all for the speedy replies.

Coral & Toto2Kansas –

I called Princess before we booked anything to see how the referral credits worked and did what they said. Basically refer the new princess cruisers on the Princess site – then have the “new” cruisers tell the TA they were referred by us. Princess assured us that both parties would get $25.00 of the cost of this cruise for each referral. ($25.00 for each of them and $125.00 total for us for three new adults and 2 new children). Our TA had not heard of the Princess Referral Program and had to call Princess about it. He came back to us and said He wasn’t supposed to give referral credits because the rate he quoted was a “Flash” rate. There was a big song and dance “… only for you… blah blah blah…” finally he gave us the referral credits for the adults only.

 

I told him I needed to use $100.00 in unused cruise credits so I could give my friends the share the wealth coupons. He was able to apply the cruise credit to my cost but told me Princess would not honor the share the wealth coupons because everyone booked using the “Flash” rate.

 

Cherylandtk –

I know this is confusing; let me try to say it again. Thanks for bearing with me. Princess was supposed to give me $75.00 in onboard credits because I booked a 10 day cruise in an inside cabin using the $100.00 cruise credit deposit I put down on my cruise last month. What I expected to see was $125.00 in onboard credits ($50 already in my account + new $75.00 for this booking.) I would have been ok with $75.00 applied to this cruise and $50.00 left for future cruise credits. I just don’t know what happened to the $25.00 in future cruise credits.

 

Spongerob -

I hope I don't sound too greedy. What I want is to get what is right. These bookings were all new bookings. People who were undecided on how to vacation this August decided to take this cruise because they heard me talking (directly or indirectly) about how great my cruise to Alaska was last month. This is my understanding of why Princess offers the referral bonuses and the share the wealth coupons. We deliberately tried to book everything at once to make it easier all around. I don’t understand why it became so difficult; what a “Flash” rate is, and where my missing $25.00 in future cruise credits went.

 

[Guest Snorkelbunny]

A Flash promotion is a special 24 hour promotion that must be paid for in full the day of the booking. A Flash is unique and the rules governing it are unlike other promotions. For example, there are no extensions for payment given and no name changes are permitted on the booking at any time or it cancels. You cannot use any other promotion combined with a Flash. It is much too good of a deal as is!

 

If you refer new cruisers they do indeed receive the $25 off on the cruise they book, but you as the one who referred them to Princess definitely do not receive $25 until after they complete their sailing.

 

As for the missing $25 onboard credit...I have no idea. Have your travel agent call Princess and get a detailed explanation of the account and exactly what money is being applied where. It's very likely that the Flash promo took away some of that onboard credit.

[KathiSF]

A Flash promotion is a special 24 hour promotion that must be paid for in full the day of the booking. A Flash is unique and the rules governing it are unlike other promotions. For example, there are no extensions for payment given and no name changes are permitted on the booking at any time or it cancels. You cannot use any other promotion combined with a Flash. It is much too good of a deal as is!

 

If you refer new cruisers they do indeed receive the $25 off on the cruise they book, but you as the one who referred them to Princess definitely do not receive $25 until after they complete their sailing.

 

As for the missing $25 onboard credit...I have no idea. Have your travel agent call Princess and get a detailed explanation of the account and exactly what money is being applied where. It's very likely that the Flash promo took away some of that onboard credit.

 

Thanks Snorkelbunny - The rate we got was very good and the TA did say we could not change names.

 

Princess actually did give us our referral bonus on this cruise because we are on the same cruise as the people that are new to Princess. (We did not have to wait for them to complete their sailing. It does say this on the Princess web too.)

 

I'll ask my TA tomorrow what happened to the onboard credit. They should have told me upfront if they wanted to do this instead of taking it behind my back. (If that is what they did.)

[cherylandtk]

Kathi--Now I get the Math!

 

Here is another possibility: The $75 credit from the cabin/length booking may just not be showing up in your account. These credits will usually show as a range in the online Capt. Circle acct. until you book a cruise, and then it "disappears" more often than not until you get to the ship..Or at least that is what I learned from these boards.

 

So your showing $75 could actually be your previous $50, plus one $25 referral credit. But why only one? Yes, this makes things clear as mud, but we have all learned to not believe the online Capt Circle data. As for how many and how much on the referral credits, you might have to call Princess for the details on that. I suspect that your TA, if unaware of the referral credits in the first place, might not understand the explanation.

 

So let us know how that phone call went today!

[joeyddog]

Where are flash promotions posted?

[Guest Snorkelbunny]

Flash promotions are posted on the Princess Mainframe, not publicly. Your TA will be able to find them.

[KathiSF]

Kathi--Now I get the Math!

 

Here is another possibility: The $75 credit from the cabin/length booking may just not be showing up in your account. These credits will usually show as a range in the online Capt. Circle acct. until you book a cruise, and then it "disappears" more often than not until you get to the ship..Or at least that is what I learned from these boards.

 

So your showing $75 could actually be your previous $50, plus one $25 referral credit. But why only one? Yes, this makes things clear as mud, but we have all learned to not believe the online Capt Circle data. As for how many and how much on the referral credits, you might have to call Princess for the details on that. I suspect that your TA, if unaware of the referral credits in the first place, might not understand the explanation.

 

So let us know how that phone call went today!

 

The information I was using was from the Captains Circle (I must have misspoke before).

 

I talked to my TA today and he really was confused. (He told me the $75.00 for me + the $75.00 for my cabinmate was the $125.00 total onboard credit. DUH:rolleyes: 75 + 75= 150.)

 

I'm going to call Princess next and see what they say. Wish me luck???