This is going hurt , Canadian dollar dropping

[richstowe]

I am updating my own post

Just bought $350 US OBC for 362.50 Cdn. Heck of a lot better then converting on my credit card or at the bank.

 

This was at the Celebrity's Bon Voyage / Gifts department (800 242 6374) .I was told any unused amount will be placed back on my credit card.

Waited a few days for this OBC to appear on my booking. I called the Bon Voyage department today.

The snot (not because of what he said but how he said it) told me the funds are there and wouldn't appear on the booking..

I asked him to confirm it and he sent me my invoice which says it is a purchase of 362.50 in Canadian dollars for OBC .

I asked where it says that this is $350 US . After telling me "Well don't you know how much you purchased ?":mad:,

he said that they will know this onboard and "No Sir, as I already told you, there is nothing I can send you!".

Little snot !

Edited January 31, 2014 by richstowe

[robtulipe]

Buffalo is a 3 hour drive going across GTA

The day I want to go it is $300 US on JetBlue, $188 on Southwest , for a direct flight , fly out of Toronto , is $225 on AC .

I can get a flight back from Rome direct on Air Transat for under $500 , but have to stay in Rome for 4 nights , or $514 with BA with one stop

This is better then FCO to Buff at $600 13 hours flight and then 3 hour drive

 

Clearing custom in Toronto is really easy now, it took 5 mins in April, that last I crossed at Niagara Falls it was over an hour wait in the car

 

I usually find cheaper flights out over Toronto for the last couple of years

 

Well you said in your earlier post cheapest one way to FLL out of YYZ was $260 and with AC you pay $25 per checked bag. Our Southwest to/return from FLL for our B2B cruises we leave for next week was $120US each way which was paid for when CAD was almost at par and like I said that included two checked bags each. We never have taken more than 10 or 15 minutes to cross over to the US at Niagara Falls/Lewiston and I've rarely been able to clear US customs at Pearson or any Cdn airport at anywhere close to 5 minutes as there is always a line up when I have travel either on business or vacation using these. For our flight to Sydney, AU from Pearson last year which was through SFO it was the typical zoo at US customs.

Sorry it didn't work out for you but as I suspected you were doing a TA when you said you needed a one way and you are correct as it is better to return from overseas to YYZ rather than BUF. I also knew it was a bit of a drive with you being in Cobourg, ON. On our last TA we did the next cruise also and then stayed in the UK so we were gone for six weeks. I had my sister drop us off at BUF for the flight to San Juan which by the way cost $127 US and she picked us up at Pearson so our car wasn't at an airport for that length of time and she lives about a half hour closer to both so that worked well for us. We're about 1 1/4 hrs from BUF and I prefer it over Pearson even though that airport is slightly closer to our home. BUF has much cheaper parking right at the airport and I can get a stay, park and fly package for $80, $90 with tax in, which includes three weeks parking and each additional week is only $10.

We fly out of there for all of our flights to US and we do this often. Got direct flight on SW to San Diego for the Century Hawaii cruise we came back from last month and got both going and return flights for $270US total price again including free checked bags. AC out of YYZ was almost double that price plus they had a $50 fee for luggage both ways.

Edited January 31, 2014 by robtulipe

[dandee2]

Don't know if Syracuse is too far but I got the following:

SYR - FLL @ 121$ on JetBlue and MCO-SYR @ 157$

 

What happen if you don't use all of the OBC that we got from booking with the TA? Use it or loose it?

 

Thanks

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Don't know if Syracuse is too far but I got the following:

SYR - FLL @ 121$ on JetBlue and MCO-SYR @ 157$

 

What happen if you don't use all of the OBC that we got from booking with the TA? Use it or loose it?

 

Thanks

 

Syr is about a 4 hour drive , flight back from is about $600, so it wash on cost, 4 hrs compared to 1-1/2 hour

[RickT]

Not sure why you are panicking, book quick before they change the Canadian prices and you'll be locked in to your fare in CAD$. We've already booked March 2015 and are happy about the price we got.

 

The panicking part is the fear that I'll wake up one morning and find out they've adjusted the exchange rate and I haven't booked anything :eek:

 

I've got a future cruise certificate with a US based TA and Celebrity tells me I need to have the TA release it back to Celebrity in order to apply it to a cruise. I just e-mailed that TA and asked (I also mentioned the reason, when the $'s were comparable they were worth dealing with).

 

Hopefully I'll get this done shortly.

 

Rick

[smtcan]

We just booked the Century Singapore to Rome for 2015 somewhat earlier than we would ordinarily have done because the Canadian$ price was only $50 more than US at the moment. We have usually booked with a US online TA, but this time we booked directly with Celebrity. We had some Open Passages in CAD that we have held for several years, so figured this was the time to use them.

 

Regarding flights, we just flew WestJet to Fort Lauderdale. Their price from Toronto was almost exactly the same as the best deal we could find from Buffalo, and the driving is much better for us, especially at this time of year. Customs at Pearson was quick and easy, and WestJet do not charge for the first checked bag. We have used Buffalo in the past, but recently haven't found any bargains.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

One thing I hate about Westjet, air Canada is not much better, the 7am flight to FLL is $312, 5:30 pm is $263

[robtulipe]

Regarding flights, we just flew WestJet to Fort Lauderdale. Their price from Toronto was almost exactly the same as the best deal we could find from Buffalo, and the driving is much better for us, especially at this time of year. Customs at Pearson was quick and easy, and WestJet do not charge for the first checked bag. We have used Buffalo in the past, but recently haven't found any bargains.

 

I guess you weren't very lucky in your search.

I just did a search for a one way flight to FLL from both Toronto on Westjet and Buffalo on Southwest for the period Wed. March 26 to Tuesday Apr.1 which were the random dates I selected.

Westjet ranged from $203 to $303CAD.

Southwest ranged from $109 to $165USD and the cheapest included the direct non-stop flights. Even with the exchange BUF flights were much cheaper on every single day.

Here's another point to consider, the taxes and fees portion of those fares were $99CAD out of YYZ and $18USD out of Buffalo so that makes it even that much harder for Pearson to be cheaper.

When you combine the cheaper fares with the fact that BUF has much cheaper parking, both on site at the airport, $40 per week with coupon on BUF airport website and $70 at Pearson Value lots and off site, cheaper Stay, Park and Fly hotel packages, $80 at nearby Econolodge with three weeks of parking included and a cheaper sales tax rate for all of these it's BUF that the typically offers the best cost.

Edited February 1, 2014 by robtulipe

[maritimer2]

I have purchased two separate $150 OBC but have not yet received an email medicating that this has been authorized! Has anyone else had this issue? One was on Sunday and one was done on Tuesday.

 

snow bunny

 

Yes, they are extremely slow to post. I contacted them and was advised this is done by hand. What not electronically?!!!! :eek:I purchased several at different times and have only received some of the email confirmations. :(

[maritimer2]

Hi Miss Jad,

 

Yes, but there is a 5% surcharge. Hope this is helpful !

 

Andy,

 

You mean 5% if they are OBC not casino credits right?

[robtulipe]

Andy,

 

You mean 5% if they are OBC not casino credits right?

Yes, but take note that to purchase casino credit online X charges your credit card that 5% so a $25USD casino credit is billed at $26.25USD and the same 5% extra is billed when paying in CAD which takes away some from any benefit received from the favourable exchange rate.:(

Edited February 3, 2014 by robtulipe

[maritimer2]

Yes, but take note that to purchase casino credit online X charges your credit card that 5% so a $25USD casino credit is billed at $26.25USD and the same 5% extra is billed when paying in CAD which takes away some from any benefit received from the favourable exchange rate.:(

 

Ouch! My mistake! That one really hurt! Just looked at my online visa.. Wanted $75 US in Casino credit paid $90.57CAD lesson learned.....:(. Hope this helps others not do the same. 5% then 1.15 exchange rate.........:eek: this mostly because I have a reservation that was made in US dollars a year ago.

 

So the moral of the story... always use cash when playing at the casino.

Edited February 5, 2014 by maritimer2

[RickT]

Crap... trying to book a new cruise in Canadian $ and am running into problems using my Future Cruise Certificate (purchased while onboard in 2012). The Certificate was in US $ and Captains Club is telling me it can only be applied towards a cruise booked in US $.

 

I've asked them if it can simply be applied dollar for dollar or perhaps applied as an additional shipboard credit and am being told no.

 

I'll probably send them an e-mail but wondering if anyone else has run into this and perhaps has found a solution.

 

I know the certificate doesn't expire however I wouldn't mind getting the $200 shipboard credit that comes with it now rather than wait until the exchange rate is more favourable.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We have $cdn one, makes it very hard to book with US travel agents

[Fouremco]

Crap... trying to book a new cruise in Canadian $ and am running into problems using my Future Cruise Certificate (purchased while onboard in 2012). The Certificate was in US $ and Captains Club is telling me it can only be applied towards a cruise booked in US $.

 

I've asked them if it can simply be applied dollar for dollar or perhaps applied as an additional shipboard credit and am being told no.

 

I'll probably send them an e-mail but wondering if anyone else has run into this and perhaps has found a solution.

 

I know the certificate doesn't expire however I wouldn't mind getting the $200 shipboard credit that comes with it now rather than wait until the exchange rate is more favourable.

 

We have $cdn one, makes it very hard to book with US travel agents

Can you two just trade certificates?

[RickT]

Can you two just trade certificates?

 

I doubt it... but if they ever respond to me I'll have to ask (especially if I don't like their answer).

[SusieV]

The rules are that Passages are supposed to be both transferrable and refundable to Canadians because of our laws. But I don't think you can convert a $USD Passage to $CDN.

 

Our US travel agent accepts bookings in both currencies, so we book with whatever is advantageous at the time.

[smtcan]

We have held certificates in CAD for several years, and hadn't used them because we typically got better deals booking with a US TA in $US. For our current booking it was more advantageous to use CAD, so we have at last used the certificates. We did ask a couple of times in the past if they could be changed to US, but were told this was not possible.

 

Sheila

[The_Big_M]

Can you two just trade certificates?

 

<grin>

 

The certificates themselves are not switchable as they are bookings made under the relevant country's terms and you can't transfer bookings between regions.

[AE_Collector]

We always keep both Canadian and US FCC deposits. That said, we needed all we had for back to back cruises last November booked in Canadian $. They promptly refunded our US deposits to our US card and billed us for new deposits in Canadian $ on our Canadian card. No problem at all.

 

Terry

Edited February 7, 2014 by AE_Collector

[RickT]

We always keep both Canadian and US FCC deposits. That said, we needed all we had for back to back cruises last November booked in Canadian $. They promptly refunded our US deposits to our US card and billed us for new deposits in Canadian $ on our Canadian card. No problem at all.

 

Terry

 

Good to know..... will ask about that tomorrow....

[RickT]

Quick update. I received a call from Ana who said she would be able to help. They are going to cancel my US $ certificate and refund the money to my credit card. They will then sell me a Cdn $ certificate which I can then use for my new booking :D

 

Nice to know, too bad I wasn't able to get that answer when I called yesterday.

[The_Big_M]

Interesting - it's not something they've often done in the past.

[sunviking90]

I purchased $9 x $25 OBC off of the website over almost 2 months ago when it was showing a price of $25.90 per. I received a confirmation email but it did not state the price. It never showed up on my CC and today I get an email verifying my OBC and they have charged me $251.10, which is $27.90 per $25 us! It took them over a month to put this through and now they've charged me a higher price. Do you think if I call them they'll reduce the charge?

Edited April 5, 2014 by sunviking90

[ERLEC]

I booked my Celebrity cruise this week and the 500$ deposit on my credit card reflected 566$CDN. Enough for me to decide on asking to have a US$ credit card. That card will be linked to my bank account in US$ so I won't have to worry anymore with the currency conversion.