Saving on Wine Packages!!!

[Daveth10]

This may have been covered elsewhere but I want to let people in UK know how to get Wine Packages at a cheaper price. Ring Cunard customer services on FREEPHONE 0800 0523841 and say most carefully that you wish to purchase a Wine Package AS A GIFT (you can say for your partner / companion). You will then be charged to your credit or debit card in £ using an exchange rate of 1.54 USD to GBP rather than the current 1.33. I purchased yesterday 12 bottles from the Captains Collection for £321.50 which is a considerable saving. Works out at £26.80 per bottle.:)

[andhow]

This may have been covered elsewhere but I want to let people in UK know how to get Wine Packages at a cheaper price. Ring Cunard customer services on FREEPHONE 0800 0523841 and say most carefully that you wish to purchase a Wine Package AS A GIFT (you can say for your partner / companion). You will then be charged to your credit or debit card in £ using an exchange rate of 1.54 USD to GBP rather than the current 1.33. I purchased yesterday 12 bottles from the Captains Collection for £321.50 which is a considerable saving. Works out at £26.80 per bottle.:)

 

No need to say it's a gift - just buy it for yourself. Works also for on-board credit which you can use for nearly anything whilst you're there.

 

andhow

[Daveth10]

Some people have failed to get the 1.54 exchange rate unless bought as a gift.

[rakkor]

I think most of the failures to get the 1.54 exchange rate was down to the Cunard reps charging OBC in $ direct to the users credit card rather than in Sterling - I know I never said my Wine package was a gift, not my OBC either for that matter - I just asked how much $100 OBC would cost me for my upcoming cruise and was told £64ish

[North West Newbie]

I don't believe the agent has control on what currency one's card is charged; it is basically down to what "product" one purchases. All "gifts" so to speak are billed in GBP even though they may have a USD value. I suspect those who have encountered difficulties have spoken to an agent who understandably has taken the obvious route of using the "onboard credit" purchase link on their computer which will charge in USD not realising that there was another way of achieving pretty much the same objective.

 

I too was successful today. Initially I was told that I could purchase onboard credit but would be charged the USD amount to my card and my bank would apply the currency conversion.

 

I politely queried this and the agent quickly discovered that there was an alternative method of purchasing onboard credit which was listed under the "gifts" section of her computer listing along with items such as wine packages, flowers etc. The "product" to purchase is a fixed $100 USD for £64.95 and so if one requires more, then it is simply a case of purchasing multiples of the $100 USD product and you will be charged multiples of £64.95. There is no need to say that you want to purchase a gift per-se rather the product you want to purchase is listed in the gifts section.

 

There is certainly a significant saving at current exchange rates but do be aware that it is a case of "use it or lose it" as any surplus is not refundable.

 

It's also worth noting that there is no credit card surcharge when purchasing any of these "extras".