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Reducing the "Discount"?!?


molymoo
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I recently received an email from a Viking agent who booked one of our cruises some time ago.  It was a general “If I can assist you in planning future cruises …” communication and I nearly deleted it when a “reminder” in the middle of the text caught my eye:

You have a $200pp past traveler discount off your next cruise that will drop to $100pp next month.”

 

This was a surprise to me.  Did I miss something?  I generally get a lot of Viking news here as you are all quite good at keeping abreast of all of the latest developments … but this was news.

 

I will say that this disappoints me … Viking has slowly been discontinuing the few benefits they once had for their repeat customers.  When we first started with Viking they made a big deal out of being a “Viking Explorer”.  There was a phone number that was unique to the “Explorers” and of course we had free access to Viking (custom) air at no additional cost, and the $200 pp discount on new cruises booked.  There is no more “special” number, custom air is not free … and now apparently $100 pp.  Has anyone else heard about this new upcoming change?

 

We will be on our 12th Viking cruise later this month and numbers 13 and 14 are booked but I am having a difficult time getting excited about the possibility of booking any more in the future.  We are locked into the “school” calendars so our choices are limited anyway … maybe it’s time to look for adventure elsewhere. 

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Most of the popular 2019 cruises are almost full.  It may be they don't need to entice people to be repeat customers.  They could become like DCL Castaway club.  The only advantage is that bookings open earlier for members depending on the level you are with the club once the itineraries are released.  

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The policy is nothing new.  It is clearly stated on their website that if you book in so many days of your cruise it is $200.  If it is longer than that then the discount is $100.  Since this agent booked your cruise some time ago, it could be just a policy to send a reminder at a certain time.  If you have booked 2 cruises since then, you probably received the maximum discount for them.  I don't work for Viking but I assume that if you book a cruise within the time period from your last cruise ending, you will always get the discount maximum.  If you don't always use the same agent, the new one may not be aware of that.  When I booked my last cruise, I got the $100 off and then my agent looked and said no, wait you've booked in the allotted time so you get a $200 discount for being a returning customer.

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5 minutes ago, Dauntless said:

The policy is nothing new.  It is clearly stated on their website that if you book in so many days of your cruise it is $200.  If it is longer than that then the discount is $100.  Since this agent booked your cruise some time ago, it could be just a policy to send a reminder at a certain time.  If you have booked 2 cruises since then, you probably received the maximum discount for them.  I don't work for Viking but I assume that if you book a cruise within the time period from your last cruise ending, you will always get the discount maximum.  If you don't always use the same agent, the new one may not be aware of that.  When I booked my last cruise, I got the $100 off and then my agent looked and said no, wait you've booked in the allotted time so you get a $200 discount for being a returning customer.

 

Molymoo, I was going to say the same thing. I think you got the e-mail simply because you were on someone's mailing list. And as Dauntless has pointed out, it does drop to $100 after a certain amount of time.

 

Here's what it says on the website:

 

Travel Credit On Your Next Trip

Viking would like to encourage you to join us again by offering credit on your upcoming travel with Viking Cruises. Whether you choose the rivers or oceans for your next journey, you will receive travel credits according to the amount of time that has elapsed since your last Viking voyage. If you reserve within one year, you receive $200 per passenger in travel credit; if you reserve within two years, you receive $100.*

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Molymoo, I was going to say the same thing. I think you got the e-mail simply because you were on someone's mailing list. And as Dauntless has pointed out, it does drop to $100 after a certain amount of time.

 

Here's what it says on the website:

 

Travel Credit On Your Next Trip

Viking would like to encourage you to join us again by offering credit on your upcoming travel with Viking Cruises. Whether you choose the rivers or oceans for your next journey, you will receive travel credits according to the amount of time that has elapsed since your last Viking voyage. If you reserve within one year, you receive $200 per passenger in travel credit; if you reserve within two years, you receive $100.*

 

 

 

 

I will stand corrected then ... I guess we have always either booked within a short period of time or while on a cruise.  That cruise was booked in March of 2017.

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1 hour ago, molymoo said:

I will stand corrected then ... I guess we have always either booked within a short period of time or while on a cruise.  That cruise was booked in March of 2017.

 

Not corrected as much as thinking that you have been mislead by auto-generated e-mails that are only telling half a story..

 

We just booked a cruise and I have been getting some really strange e-mails from Viking, as if this were our first cruise, and they are all addressed to my husband, not me and not to both of us (which I find insulting since I'm the one making the reservations). One was from Karine. One was "Introducing My Viking Journey," which we are already enrolled in using exactly the same address as the e-mail was sent to. Obviously, these are auto-generated because why else would they be sending me an e-mail suggesting that we extend our journey for a cruise that leaves in three weeks that was booked and paid for in full just 5 days ago and whose flights were ticketed even before we the ink was dry on the e-pay transfer, so it is a bit late for us to be considering an extension !!!  I've decided to laugh at these silly things; there is nothing less personal than a barrage of auto-generated e-mail.

 

 

 

Edited by Peregrina651
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