HAL's Revenue Department & Rules on QTY Assignments

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Lisa

 

 

 

You mention that "the system automatically charges penalties for moves other than the first assignment".

 

Could you explain this, please?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Pretty simple, when it is a guarantee and the system or a Hal rep assigns a cabin it is then if any moves after that the system sees it as a change after final and assesses penalty. This can even happen say if you had transfers on a booking and want to remove them, which btw Hal will let you do but the system sees this as a change and will charge a penalty. Almost all reps cannot remove this and often needs to be done by accounting and a supervisor . In this situation I am guessing that the same will fall true. Although the revenue department has the ability to make these changes without penalty . It is truly hard to say who said no in this situation but since it involved considerable more steps and people to be involved and the fact that they do not understand why someone would want to be downgraded also plays into this.

 

 

 

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[SilvertoGold]

Pretty simple, when it is a guarantee and the system or a Hal rep assigns a cabin it is then if any moves after that the system sees it as a change after final and assesses penalty. This can even happen say if you had transfers on a booking and want to remove them, which btw Hal will let you do but the system sees this as a change and will charge a penalty. Almost all reps cannot remove this and often needs to be done by accounting and a supervisor . In this situation I am guessing that the same will fall true. Although the revenue department has the ability to make these changes without penalty . It is truly hard to say who said no in this situation but since it involved considerable more steps and people to be involved and the fact that they do not understand why someone would want to be downgraded also plays into this.

 

 

 

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Thanks, Lisa, that makes sense.

 

Here is another question. (I love learning from you!)

 

..Booked under a Flash Sale which makes it more difficult to move after a cabin has been assigned. How does this work, please?

 

Appreciate it that you share your knowledge!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks, Lisa, that makes sense.

 

 

 

Here is another question. (I love learning from you!)

 

 

 

..Booked under a Flash Sale which makes it more difficult to move after a cabin has been assigned. How does this work, please?

 

 

 

Appreciate it that you share your knowledge!!

 

 

Thanks, Flash bookings are flagged that basically nothing can be changed, because of the reduced rate it is 100% nonrefundable once paid. Princess is actually a lot stricter with their Flash bookings not even allowing for someone to upgrade. So no upsell offers to Flash bookings. Hal however is quite good, basically when ever Hal can collect more money they are ok. If a Hal flash sale price gets reduced Hal will even give back passengers 50% of the difference in Ship Board Credit. That cannot be said for other Cruiseline's. That or the will upgrade you categories. If the higher category is the same or less than what one paid. So overall Hal is great dealing with in regards to Flash but this has to be done by a Pricing Specialist that has the authority. But a downgrade just is not possible.

 

 

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[Tampa Girl]

w

 

t.it has definitely gotten worse since they formed the new HAL Group with Princess and Seabourne..

 

 

What is this "new group" and when was it formed?

[sail7seas]

Lisa,

You are so generous in sharing your considerable knowledge and it is greatly appreciated. Your recent sharing with me was VERY helpful and I am grateful for it. Because of my insecurities at booking a new (to me) cruise line and sailing alone for the first time, I felt the need to 'follow my friends' but please know your help was generous and excellent.

 

[sail7seas]

What is this "new group" and when was it formed?

 

Princess, HAL and Seabourn headed by Stein Kruse.

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Lisa,

 

You are so generous in sharing your considerable knowledge and it is greatly appreciated. Your recent sharing with me was VERY helpful and I am grateful for it. Because of my insecurities at booking a new (to me) cruise line and sailing alone for the first time, I felt the need to 'follow my friends' but please know your help was generous and excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Sail [emoji4][emoji3]

 

 

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[SilvertoGold]

Thanks, Flash bookings are flagged that basically nothing can be changed, because of the reduced rate it is 100% nonrefundable once paid. Princess is actually a lot stricter with their Flash bookings not even allowing for someone to upgrade. So no upsell offers to Flash bookings. Hal however is quite good, basically when ever Hal can collect more money they are ok. If a Hal flash sale price gets reduced Hal will even give back passengers 50% of the difference in Ship Board Credit. That cannot be said for other Cruiseline's. That or the will upgrade you categories. If the higher category is the same or less than what one paid. So overall Hal is great dealing with in regards to Flash but this has to be done by a Pricing Specialist that has the authority. But a downgrade just is not possible.

 

 

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Excellent, Lisa! Thank you!

 

This is very interesting info and, for someone like me who books guarentees often on Flash Sales, of huge import!

 

Hope you will enjoy Vancouver and your cruise!!!

[Jade13]

My agent emailed me earlier that their HAL Rep was going to try every day even though they said no to downgrades.

 

I forgot about it for the rest of the day and had moved on.

 

So, I just went to print our boarding passes and see that they downgraded us to the requested cabin.

 

I wasn't expecting that at all so it was a complete surprise!

 

I haven't heard anything from our TA so not even sure they know yet, but I emailed her to thank her for all of her efforts, which paid off.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

My agent emailed me earlier that their HAL Rep was going to try every day even though they said no to downgrades.

 

 

 

I forgot about it for the rest of the day and had moved on.

 

 

 

So, I just went to print our boarding passes and see that they downgraded us to the requested cabin.

 

 

 

I wasn't expecting that at all so it was a complete surprise!

 

 

 

I haven't heard anything from our TA so not even sure they know yet, but I emailed her to thank her for all of her efforts, which paid off.

 

 

Good to hear [emoji106]🏻

Enjoy your cruise [emoji2]

 

 

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[Boatdrill]

If you want a particular cabin or spot on the ship then book it.

 

Agree 100%.

[sail7seas]

My agent emailed me earlier that their HAL Rep was going to try every day even though they said no to downgrades.

 

I forgot about it for the rest of the day and had moved on.

 

So, I just went to print our boarding passes and see that they downgraded us to the requested cabin.

 

I wasn't expecting that at all so it was a complete surprise!

 

I haven't heard anything from our TA so not even sure they know yet, but I emailed her to thank her for all of her efforts, which paid off.

 

Good news, Jade.

Happy for you. :)

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

[serendipity1499]

My agent emailed me earlier that their HAL Rep was going to try every day even though they said no to downgrades.

 

I forgot about it for the rest of the day and had moved on.

 

So, I just went to print our boarding passes and see that they downgraded us to the requested cabin.

 

I wasn't expecting that at all so it was a complete surprise!

 

I haven't heard anything from our TA so not even sure they know yet, but I emailed her to thank her for all of her efforts, which paid off.

 

That's good news Jade.. Enjoy your cruise!

[RDC1]

The cruise lines department that is responsible for assigning GTY rooms has a very specific mission, to maximize revenue.

 

To do this they have rather complex models based upon all of their prior booking information. They assign the rooms based upon the output of those models. They have a pretty good idea what they can or cannot sell at the last minute.

 

When you book a GTY you are agreeing to accept whatever room they assign you of the requested class or better.

 

If they were to allow those booking a GTY to start requesting room changes that would be both counter to the GTY concept, as well as mean an over ride of the program that allocates rooms in order to maximize revenue.

 

With any other slippery slope issue once you start where does it stop. If they easily agreed to change GTY assignments to open rooms then they are really changing the GTY program to mean any open room of the assign category or lower once the assignment is made. Certainly not in line with the terms of the GTY booking, nor is it in line with the purpose of the system they use to allocate rooms. They might do it once in a while, but they certainly do not want it to become common.

Edited May 14, 2015 by RDC1

[Caribbean Chris]

I will remember this when we make a decision to sail HAL again, or stick with Celebrity & Azamara.

Thoughts?

 

Have you found that Celebrity and Azamara will allow you to buy a guarantee and then pick and choose your cabin location preference? (Not intended to be sarcastic.)

 

I've bought guarantees on Celebrity three times over the years and been given no upgrades whatsoever, so stopped. HAL was much better, but why gamble? I book exactly what I want now on both HAL and Celebrity.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Caribbean Chris

[SilvertoGold]

[quote name='RDC1']The cruise lines department that is responsible for assigning GTY rooms has a very specific mission, to maximize revenue.

To do this they have rather complex models based upon all of their prior booking information. They assign the rooms based upon the output of those models. They have a pretty good idea what they can or cannot sell at the last minute.

When you book a GTY you are agreeing to accept whatever room they assign you of the requested class or better.

If they were to allow those booking a GTY to start requesting room changes that would be both counter to the GTY concept, as well as mean an over ride of the program that allocates rooms in order to maximize revenue.

With any other slippery slope issue once you start where does it stop. If they easily agreed to change GTY assignments to open rooms then they are really changing the GTY program to mean any open room of the assign category or lower once the assignment is made. Certainly not in line with the terms of the GTY booking, nor is it in line with the purpose of the system they use to allocate rooms. They might do it once in a while, but they certainly do not want it to become common.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for posting this. Very good info. Much appreciated.