When Are Upsells/Upgrades Offerred ?

[curtdesilets]

Just curious from your experiences, when do they usually offer upsells? Is it a week before cruising? A month before?

 

On our first cruise with Oosterdam several years ago, we just had a budget priced ocean view cabin. Our TA offered us an upgrade/upsell for $200 pp to a suite, which we accepted. We were expecting a mid sized Signature Suite. Instead we got a huge Neptune Suite on the back of the ship. Our aft deck was a quarter of the back of the ship, about 400 square feet! We had access to the Neptune Lounge and all of the perks, for a ridiculously low price.

 

Doubt that will happen again, but who knows? The Upgrade Fairy might strike again. :D

[CruiserBruce]

Any time after final payment. Depending on a number of variables, centered around how the cruise is selling. No one hard and fast time.

 

By the way, if it is free, it is an upgrade. If you pay (as in your example, $200) it is an upsell.

Edited April 19, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[DaveOKC]

Just curious from your experiences, when do they usually offer upsells? Is it a week before cruising? A month before?

 

On our first cruise with Oosterdam several years ago, we just had a budget priced ocean view cabin. Our TA offered us an upgrade/upsell for $200 pp to a suite, which we accepted. We were expecting a mid sized Signature Suite. Instead we got a huge Neptune Suite on the back of the ship. Our aft deck was a quarter of the back of the ship, about 400 square feet! We had access to the Neptune Lounge and all of the perks, for a ridiculously low price.

 

Doubt that will happen again, but who knows? The Upgrade Fairy might strike again. :D

 

As already mentioned, upsells can occur at anytime, but it appears that they are most common around 2-3 weeks prior to sailing.

 

You should do your homework ahead of time and know the cabin categories that are higher than yours and how much you are willing to pay to move each level up.

 

One thing most people are not aware of and miss out on - often you can pick your cabin on these upsells. The selection may be limited, but sometimes there are some great locations/cabins available for the asking. Keep a deck plan of your ship handy in case of a call.

 

Plus, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to respond quickly to any offer, as they are on a first come, first served basis and the good deals sell out fast. If you have to wait very long to respond, likely the deal will be gone when you call back

[curtdesilets]

Any time after final payment. Depending on a number of variables, centered around how the cruise is selling. No one hard and fast time.

 

By the way, if it is free, it is an upgrade. If you pay (as in your example, $200) it is an upsell.

 

Yes, I realize this was an upsell. But it was quite a good deal nonetheless. :)

[jtl513]

Yes, I realize this was an upsell. But it was quite a good deal nonetheless. :)

The upgrade/upsell differentiation is just a convention that has been adopted on these boards. HAL doesn't use the term upsell, and TAs probably don't either. Edited April 19, 2014 by jtl513

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We got an upsell offer this week for a sailing that is one month away. Turned it down as want the cabin we booked.

[Windsailer]

I got an upsell offer last week for a cruise one month away. I was able to select my cabin. Went from a VF to a SS. It's critical to have the ship's deck plan in front of you when you're talking to your TA and she is talking to HAL. I had a choice of 4 SS cabins and wasn't enthused about the other three offered.

[liketraveling]

I got an upsell offer last week for a cruise one month away. I was able to select my cabin. Went from a VF to a SS. It's critical to have the ship's deck plan in front of you when you're talking to your TA and she is talking to HAL. I had a choice of 4 SS cabins and wasn't enthused about the other three offered.

 

I got an upsell offer 5 days before sailing, 3years ago on a 12 day repositioning from an H to a VB on the eurodam. Three hours later I got an upsell offer from a VB to an SS. I didn't take the offer from a VB to the SS.

[PathfinderEss]

Certainly an up sell/upgrade can happen anytime after final payment, but most happen within two weeks of the cruise. OP you are right, the upgrade/up sell fairy can always strike again.:D

[Carnevale]

We booked directly with HAL rather than via a TA. Are up sells/upgrades only thru a TA or might HAL offer it to us?

[Mumsysailor]

We booked directly with HAL rather than via a TA. Are up sells/upgrades only thru a TA or might HAL offer it to us?

 

We've booked direct with HAL and had upsell offers.

[mhurdle127]

We booked for an October 25th, 2014, sailing through Expedia/AARP with final payment due on August 1st. Are there any advantages to making the final payment earlier? Will we be subject to an upsell or upgrade offer?

[MobyandDick]

We booked for an October 25th, 2014, sailing through Expedia/AARP with final payment due on August 1st. Are there any advantages to making the final payment earlier? Will we be subject to an upsell or upgrade offer?

 

HAL's purpose is to make incremental income (by offering upsells) and will most probably not discriminitate which bookinging channel has been used.

[QueenGlassHalfFull]

We have cruised over 20 times with HAL and have never received an upgrade or upsell offer. The last 7 cruises have been in Neptune Suites so I understand why we haven't received offers on those cruises. The first 13+ cruises were in either a window cabin or verandah cabin - no upgrade or upsell offers. It is truly a mystery as to how the upgrade/upsell fairy works. Thank goodness we have always been happy with the original cabin that we booked (we don't do guarantees).

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We booked for an October 25th, 2014, sailing through Expedia/AARP with final payment due on August 1st. Are there any advantages to making the final payment earlier? Will we be subject to an upsell or upgrade offer?

 

IMO there is no advantage to making final payment prior to the due date. As for upsells/upgrades, it seems to be random at best.

[utahtea]

We booked directly with HAL rather than via a TA. Are up sells/upgrades only thru a TA or might HAL offer it to us?

 

We book only thru HAL and on our last cruise we kept getting emails offering upgrades. We were happy with what the reduced price we had received months before so never took them up on it.

 

Utahtea

[cbr663]

IMO there is no advantage to making final payment prior to the due date. As for upsells/upgrades, it seems to be random at best.

 

I agree with this. I think that booking a Guarantee will increase your chances of getting an upgrade. That is what we did and we received a wonderful upgrade. Just remember that you have to be okay with whatever cabin you are assigned. There are many cabins that HAL may consider an upgrade that you may not. Also remember that you should also be happy with any cabin in the Guarantee category. HAL is not obligated to place you in an upgrade just because you book a Guarantee.

 

An upsell is much more difficult to predict. Many upsells are limited to certain geographic areas or certain TAs. It makes sense that high volume TAs are rewarded with upsell offers for their clients. The TA looks great which encourages future bookings and the cruise line has a greater probability of actually booking the upsell. The cruise line wants to book its cabins as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

[Carnevale]

I'm very interested in this discussion as we are still debating whether to move our direct booking with HAL to a TA. If TAs get more upsell opportunities that would be a real advantage.

[serendipity1499]

We booked for an October 25th, 2014, sailing through Expedia/AARP with final payment due on August 1st. Are there any advantages to making the final payment earlier? Will we be subject to an upsell or upgrade offer?

 

Depends on if your cruise is full or not..That's something which can't be predicted..

 

I'm very interested in this discussion as we are still debating whether to move our direct booking with HAL to a TA. If TAs get more upsell opportunities that would be a real advantage.

 

We deal with a TA only because our fare is at least 9% to 12% less than the HAL fare.. Since we usually book with another couple our Reservation is usually normally marked "Do Not Upgrade" ..However when we have travelled alone we have occasionally been offered an upsell/upgrade..

 

What most people don't understand is; if the category you have booked has an over-sale problem & other categories above yours are open, then upgrades/upsells are generally offered.. But, doubt that HAL would offer an upsell if your category was wide open, unless they were trying to lure you into booking a higher cabin the next cruise..:D

 

HAL once offered us a Lanai for about $100 more per person & a Verandah for approx. $200 a person..We wanted to try the Lanai as we enjoy being out on the Promenade deck.. Our TA could not understand why we didn't take the Verandah.... We were hooked & the next time we cruise on a ship with a Lanai, we'll book one..;)

 

Betty

Edited April 23, 2014 by serendipity1499

[cbr663]

I'm very interested in this discussion as we are still debating whether to move our direct booking with HAL to a TA. If TAs get more upsell opportunities that would be a real advantage.

 

I don't think that anyone on this board can state for certain that as a general rule TAs receive more upsell opportunities. Remember that upsells are controlled by HAL and may not be offered at all if the ship is selling well.

 

When working with a TA, I think that it is important to understand that your TA is paid by commission. Some TAs work for larger companies who are able to offer cheaper prices because they buy a block of cabins and then accept the responsibility of selling them. This is a great way to save money if you are interested in the particular cruise being offered.

 

But, if your TA doesn't have access to a block of cabins, or doesn't have the huge volume to garner reduced prices (and the vast majority of TAs do not), then your TA you may also offer reduced prices by rebating back, or reducing their commissions. I don't like this practice. It usually means that any discount passed on to me is the result of the TA paying down the cost of the cruise out of his or her own pocket. I don't need a TA to subsidize the cost of my cruise.

 

Also, put yourself in your TA's shoes. You have 4 clients on a cruise - 2 of which have paid your TA price and that you will receive full commission on and 2 which have demanded reduced prices and that you will make little money on. An upsell opportunity comes across your desk - who are you going to contact first? Who do you think you would consider the most valuable client and offer the upsell to first? Some may throw the names in a hat, some may base it on total sailings but most imo will offer it to the clients who paid the full TA price.

 

The morale of the story - if you are working with a TA who offers you a discounted price, make sure that you ask how you are receiving that price. Ask your TA how he or she can offer a price that is lower than anyone else. A TA who is open and transparent will have no problem sharing this information with you.

[BumperII]

Just curious from your experiences, when do they usually offer upsells?

 

The short answer is that time when the cruise line figures it is in their best interests to do so.

 

The cruise lines like to sail with every stateroom filled. Empty staterooms don't spend money. Usually the highest priced and lowest price staterooms are booked first, so they use upgrades to fill in the blanks. This accomplishes another important function, it introduces the passengers to the more expensive services, and allows the cruise line to use unsold inventory to showcase what is avialable.

 

We took advantage of one upsell to a Neptune Suite on a seven day cruise last year. Needless to say, the experience changed DW's attitude about booking the cheap seats. :D

[Aruba]

I know that HAL doesn't use the phrase up-sell but I'm going to use it here to make my question more clear (hopefully).

Sometimes if I have booked a specific cabin I like in a particular category, such as Oceanview, I will request "Do Not Upgrade". For example, HAL considers the oceanview rooms on Lower Promenade deck to be an upgrade over oceanview rooms on Main Deck even though they're smaller -- that's not an upgrade I want. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in an up-sell (such as to Verandah) if the opportunity arose.

If your reservation is marked "Do Not Upgrade", does that also eliminate any chance of being offered an Upsell to a higher category -- for example, Oceanview to Verandah or Verandah to Suite?

[kazu]

I don't think that anyone on this board can state for certain that as a general rule TAs receive more upsell opportunities. Remember that upsells are controlled by HAL and may not be offered at all if the ship is selling well.

 

When working with a TA, I think that it is important to understand that your TA is paid by commission. Some TAs work for larger companies who are able to offer cheaper prices because they buy a block of cabins and then accept the responsibility of selling them. This is a great way to save money if you are interested in the particular cruise being offered.

 

But, if your TA doesn't have access to a block of cabins, or doesn't have the huge volume to garner reduced prices (and the vast majority of TAs do not), then your TA you may also offer reduced prices by rebating back, or reducing their commissions. I don't like this practice. It usually means that any discount passed on to me is the result of the TA paying down the cost of the cruise out of his or her own pocket. I don't need a TA to subsidize the cost of my cruise.

 

Also, put yourself in your TA's shoes. You have 4 clients on a cruise - 2 of which have paid your TA price and that you will receive full commission on and 2 which have demanded reduced prices and that you will make little money on. An upsell opportunity comes across your desk - who are you going to contact first? Who do you think you would consider the most valuable client and offer the upsell to first? Some may throw the names in a hat, some may base it on total sailings but most imo will offer it to the clients who paid the full TA price.

The morale of the story - if you are working with a TA who offers you a discounted price, make sure that you ask how you are receiving that price. Ask your TA how he or she can offer a price that is lower than anyone else. A TA who is open and transparent will have no problem sharing this information with you.

 

 

 

The bolding is mine. My TA no longer discounts but does give OBC. (but when discounting was permitted by HAL it was done) Frankly, I don't think it is any of my business how much money my TA makes or what commission they choose to reduce. I think my TA has worked out the numbers/or their company has so that they can offer a savings (whether by discount or obc) to their clients and still make money.

 

Having worked on commission myself in my previous life, my income was my business and no one else's. If I chose to make less income by granting a concession there was a reason for it :) I looked at the bigger picture. that being said, I never divulged the commission or 'lost' commission to a client. JMO though.

Edited April 23, 2014 by kazu

[CowPrincess]

Just curious from your experiences, when do they usually offer upsells? Is it a week before cruising? A month before?

 

We've had upsell offers at 4 weeks before sailing, and 3 days before sailing. Usually, though, it has been about 10 to 14 days pre-cruise, if I am remembering correctly.

[CowPrincess]

your TA you may also offer reduced prices by rebating back, or reducing their commissions. I don't like this practice. It usually means that any discount passed on to me is the result of the TA paying down the cost of the cruise out of his or her own pocket. I don't need a TA to subsidize the cost of my cruise.

 

if you are working with a TA who offers you a discounted price, make sure that you ask how you are receiving that price. Ask your TA how he or she can offer a price that is lower than anyone else. A TA who is open and transparent will have no problem sharing this information with you.

 

IMHO it is none of my business how anyone is compensated as long as the employee and employer have reached a mutually-agreeable arrangement. I would not go to the grocery store/bank/doctor's office and ask someone what their compensation arrangements are; why would that be acceptable with a TA?