Viking "Risk-Free" Guarantee - Some Pitfalls

[toolworker]

I've learned a lot since taking the "Risk'Free" Guarantee vouchers earlier this month, and wanted to share some of it.

 

If you take the vouchers, be careful to understand all the terms. That's hard because the website says "Other restrictions may apply; please call for details." They're not online, you can't get them in writing, and no one told us until we ran afoul of them. So most of what I say here is verbal from Viking, FWIW. The details that are online include the vouchers being nonrefundable (unless Risk-Free Guarantee applies to the new booking) and losing any excess voucher value that isn't used on the booking. (Vouchers can be applied to pre-paid add-ons until departure.)

 

Here's what I've learned:

 

1. It's taking Viking a while to issue the vouchers. (They mostly say 2 - 3 weeks but one agent said up to 21 business days.) If you rebook before they are issued you have to put up cash for the deposit and any payments due. Once the vouchers are issued and applied the cash will be refunded.
2. If you have vouchers and book a cruise a long time off, Viking will apply the vouchers immediately unless you tell them not to. (Check this carefully; a different agent told me they would apply them in any event.) So if you book a 2023 cruise, which is not covered under RFG, be careful not to apply the vouchers because once applied they are nonrefundable.
3. On the good side, TravelGuard told us that we can insure a booking paid with vouchers, because they represent money we originally paid. Please check this before relying on it, but I mention it because others have posted that TripMate will not do that. Of course, TravelGuard premiums are not refundable (though they sometimes will roll a policy over to a rebooking); Viking's TripMate premiums are voucher-refundable under RFG.

 

We cancelled to switch to a cruise leaving in April, and wanted to book this month because of availability and to be covered by Risk-Free Guarantee #4, which was to expire January 31. (An agent told me it is now extended to April 2, but that's not on the website yet.) So we had to put up cash for the new cruise fare. (See #1 above.)

 

We want to add air under Air Plus, which is unavailable within 65 days before departure. So we would need to put up even more cash, including airfare.

 

At this point I'm considering cancelling the new booking. But we have to wait for the vouchers to apply, because if we cancel now it's a cash booking with penalties. And then to get the full value of our vouchers back we will need to book add-ons which we would immediately cancel; otherwise we'd lose any unapplied voucher value. (#3)

 

If we cancel, we'd like to book a cruise further off (carefully - see #2). But the ones we want in 2022 are fully booked. If we book a 2023 cruise RFG won't apply to it, so the vouchers become nonrefundable. In that case we would pay cash, giving us the option to cancel for a penalty, and only apply the vouchers close to the departure date (and before their 24 month expiration).

 

RFG looked so flexible. It's not.

Edited February 15, 2022 by CC Help Jenn
member req

[toolworker]

Another detail:

 

5. RFG vouchers expire 24 months from issue. So it might pay to wait as long as possible before cancelling, to extend the expiration date. This wouldn't prevent booking a replacement cruise; you'd just have to put down a cash deposit and get it back when you apply the vouchers - which you might want to defer (#2 above).

[dreamercruise]

Thank you, toolworker for taking time explaining and sharing important information about Viking’s mysterious FCC and RFG.

[Selion]

21 hours ago, toolworker said:

TravelGuard told us that we can insure a booking paid with vouchers, because they represent money we originally paid. Please check this before relying on it

That's good to know, in case we need to cancel our March cruise and rebook.

[dreamercruise]

For booking any new cruise that sails in 2023 or later without RFG provision, I would not apply RFG voucher even I can postpone applying the voucher until final payment date,, because the final payment date is usually quite early.  For me, 1-2 yrs is a long time to risk a nonrefundable voucher.  The penalty schedule (which starts as late as 120 days before sail) for 100% cash payment is not as bad.  Therefore, if I use RFG voucher to book a new cruise in 2023/2024, I would book very close to sailing date.

[toolworker]

7 hours ago, dreamercruise said:

For booking any new cruise that sails in 2023 or later without RFG provision, I would not apply RFG voucher even I can postpone applying the voucher until final payment date,, because the final payment date is usually quite early.  For me, 1-2 yrs is a long time to risk a nonrefundable voucher.  The penalty schedule (which starts as late as 120 days before sail) for 100% cash payment is not as bad.  Therefore, if I use RFG voucher to book a new cruise in 2023/2024, I would book very close to sailing date.

That makes sense. And I need to take back some of what I said above. 

 

It may not be possible to make a booking and then apply vouchers later on. We received our voucher emails today and they said "This voucher can be used on any new Viking cruise and will be applied at booking." That sounds like the application can't be deferred at all.

 

I've gotten several other answers to this. My TA said they have to be applied by final payment date. A Viking agent said they are currently allowing them to be applied to an existing booking but that is an exception and may be removed at any time. (He didn't seem very sharp though.)

 

This is just another example of the morass of rules for these vouchers that I keep finding out about. I wish we'd paid the penalty and gotten most of our money back.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, toolworker said:

That makes sense. And I need to take back some of what I said above. 

 

It may not be possible to make a booking and then apply vouchers later on. We received our voucher emails today and they said "This voucher can be used on any new Viking cruise and will be applied at booking." That sounds like the application can't be deferred at all.

 

I've gotten several other answers to this. My TA said they have to be applied by final payment date. A Viking agent said they are currently allowing them to be applied to an existing booking but that is an exception and may be removed at any time. (He didn't seem very sharp though.)

 

This is just another example of the morass of rules for these vouchers that I keep finding out about. I wish we'd paid the penalty and gotten most of our money back.

 

Correct, the vouchers can only be made on a new booking. If you try to apply vouchers to an existing booking, it is not new.

 

You can hold off booking until just before sailing, while that will work currently, pre-COVID most Viking cruises were sold out well before sailing, some up to over 1-year in advance. I have no doubt, we will return to those days within the next 12 to 24 months.

[toolworker]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Correct, the vouchers can only be made on a new booking. If you try to apply vouchers to an existing booking, it is not new.

I got a fourth answer to this, from a Viking agent that seems very knowledgeable, on the phone with my TA. He said that under current policy we can apply RFG vouchers to any booking up to 31 days before departure. But that could change.

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

You can hold off booking until just before sailing, while that will work currently, pre-COVID most Viking cruises were sold out well before sailing, some up to over 1-year in advance. I have no doubt, we will return to those days within the next 12 to 24 months.

We're not far from it now. The fall 2022 cruise we may want to change to is now sold out after August.

 

And BTW, after close of business tonight, Jan. 31, the current RFG (#4) was extended for bookings made through February.

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, toolworker said:

I got a fourth answer to this, from a Viking agent that seems very knowledgeable, on the phone with my TA. He said that under current policy we can apply RFG vouchers to any booking up to 31 days before departure. But that could change.

We're not far from it now. The fall 2022 cruise we may want to change to is now sold out after August.

 

And BTW, after close of business tonight, Jan. 31, the current RFG (#4) was extended for bookings made through February.

 

If you read a number of threads on this Board you will find many pax that get multiple answers from different employees at the US Office in L/A. Personally, I would base my decision on the written terms included with the FCV.

 

Our original FCV from Feb 2020 didn't state it must be used on a "New" booking, but both subsequent FCV's have included that it must be used on a "New" booking.

 

While we have always found Viking reasonably responsive to the customer, I base my decisions on what is written. If they did accept using FCV on an existing cruise, bonus, but I certainly wouldn't base my decison on having that option available.

[jonthomas]

Very difficult to navigate through all the rules and changes. 

 

Im with those that say, use up your FCVs before they are worthless and that may be sooner than you think. 

[toolworker]

On 2/1/2022 at 8:09 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

If you read a number of threads on this Board you will find many pax that get multiple answers from different employees at the US Office in L/A. Personally, I would base my decision on the written terms included with the FCV.

Ain't that the truth! I've talked to some really sharp agents and some who didn't know what was stated on the website.

I had been told that if we cancel a cruise booked with vouchers, we only get back the value of the booking, even if the vouchers were more. That's what the website says. My TA was told no, we get back the full value of the vouchers. My guess is that the latter is true right now, but it's an internal policy that we can't get in writing and may not be in effect when we try to invoke it. So I will tell my TA, before cancelling, to have the agent note that policy in the record, and then email Viking stating what we were told. And that's still not a guarantee.

Vouchers are never a good thing. Occasionally they're the least bad, but they are still bad, and almost always worse than they look at first glance.

[KBs mum]

31 minutes ago, toolworker said:

Vouchers are never a good thing. Occasionally they're the least bad, but they are still bad, and almost always worse than they look at first glance.

Sums it up. 

In god we trust, the rest pay cash. 

[JerryInIL]

If you cancel a cruise without RFG and rebook, do you lose the deposit?

[toolworker]

The RFG policy is at https://www.vikingcruises.com/risk-free-guarantee.html. If your booking is covered and you cancel, you choose vouchers for 100% or whatever standard cash cancellation penalty applies at the time. FWIW if I had to do it over again I would pay the 20% penalty instead of taking the vouchers, which are not risk-free due to all the terms and conditions.

 

If the cancelled cruise is not covered by RFG then the standard penalties apply.

 

All that said, there are unpublished policies, so you or your TA should talk to an agent, bearing in mind that different agents say different things at different times.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, JerryInIL said:

If you cancel a cruise without RFG and rebook, do you lose the deposit?

 

If you cancel a cruise not covered by the RFG you are subject to the regular Viking cancellation terms. These are outlined on your Pax Statement and also the Terms & Conditions they attach with each booking.

 

The cancellation terms vary with the length of a cruise, with cruises > 35 days having different terms. 

[jonthomas]

Our recent experience has taught us to use up the FCVs as quickly as you can.

When you go to use them expect to lose, lose and lose some more. I have even written to Hagen, had their resolution dept look at what they can do for us.

It all resulted in NOTHING. So that is my message. If you do better than we have, consider yourself fortunate. It is the exception to the rule not the norm and Viking has many rules, that are ever changing to suit themselves and their bottom line.

Edited February 11, 2022 by jonthomas

[toolworker]

The more I think about this, the more I feel the Risk-Free Guarantee web page is misleading.

 

It says "The ultimate flexibility: You have 24 months to select your new cruise date." But the flexibility has been far from ultimate. We rushed into a rebook because RFG was expiring (it was extended), and it turned out not to work for us. We had to make full cash payment because the vouchers take up to a month to issue. So now we are waiting half a month and counting for the cash payment to be refunded so we can cancel and wait three weeks for vouchers to be issued to apply on the fall re-rebook. Because of Viking's delays, we may have to make full cash payment on the fall cruise, which will be uncomfortable for some in our group.

I understand we pushed the envelope here, but the "ultimate flexibility" was a huge factor in our taking vouchers in the first place. And yes, the page does link to a page of terms and conditions, with multiple other potential traps, but the delays aren't in there.

Also I think there's a restriction on how close to sailing you can book with the vouchers. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by toolworker

[BQEC]

IMHO Risk Free refers to Viking’s risk not the passenger’s risks. No vendor is at risk when your money is in their voucher. 

[KBs mum]

On 2/10/2022 at 11:08 PM, JerryInIL said:

If you cancel a cruise without RFG and rebook, do you lose the deposit?

Probably 

[KBs mum]

On 2/11/2022 at 6:49 PM, toolworker said:

The more I think about this, the more I feel the Risk-Free Guarantee web page is misleading.

 

It says "The ultimate flexibility: You have 24 months to select your new cruise date." But the flexibility has been far from ultimate. We rushed into a rebook because RFG was expiring (it was extended), and it turned out not to work for us. We had to make full cash payment because the vouchers take up to a month to issue. So now we are waiting half a month and counting for the cash payment to be refunded so we can cancel and wait three weeks for vouchers to be issued to apply on the fall re-rebook. Because of Viking's delays, we may have to make full cash payment on the fall cruise, which will be uncomfortable for some in our group.

I understand we pushed the envelope here, but the "ultimate flexibility" was a huge factor in our taking vouchers in the first place. And yes, the page does link to a page of terms and conditions, with multiple other potential traps, but the delays aren't in there.

Also I think there's a restriction on how close to sailing you can book with the vouchers. 

 

Another case of didn't make sure to read and understand all the conditions before accepting 

 

On 2/10/2022 at 9:50 PM, toolworker said:

Vouchers are never a good thing. Occasionally they're the least bad, but they are still bad, and almost always worse than they look at first glance.

Sums it up, regardless of circumstances or vendor, vouchers should only be accepted if a cash refund or payment is not contractually obliged 

[toolworker]

1 hour ago, KBs mum said:

 

Another case of didn't make sure to read and understand all the conditions before accepting 

Can't say I don't deserve that. But it's not possible to understand all the conditions, because some of them are internal to Viking and can only be obtained verbally.

For example, the vouchers say they can be applied to a new booking. But multiple agents have told my TA and me that they can be applied to an existing booking, but only up to 30 days before sailing. Then yesterday an agent said they could be applied closer in.

The written terms say any unused portion of a voucher's value is lost. We are cancelling a booking that currently uses only a portion of a voucher, because we didn't add air yet. So what happens? A Viking agent told us that we get a new voucher for the full amount of the old voucher. But it's not in writing.

So one has to decide whether to ignore all that and just rely on the public written conditions, or to try to take advantage of the policies written internally and just do our best to document them, including asking the agent to make a note in the record of what they told us.

[KBs mum]

30 minutes ago, toolworker said:

Can't say I don't deserve that. But it's not possible to understand all the conditions, because some of them are internal to Viking and can only be obtained verbally.

For example, the vouchers say they can be applied to a new booking. But multiple agents have told my TA and me that they can be applied to an existing booking, but only up to 30 days before sailing. Then yesterday an agent said they could be applied closer in.

The written terms say any unused portion of a voucher's value is lost. We are cancelling a booking that currently uses only a portion of a voucher, because we didn't add air yet. So what happens? A Viking agent told us that we get a new voucher for the full amount of the old voucher. But it's not in writing.

So one has to decide whether to ignore all that and just rely on the public written conditions, or to try to take advantage of the policies written internally and just do our best to document them, including asking the agent to make a note in the record of what they told us.

If it will stand up in court it can be relied upon, the method of documentation required depends upon the jurisdiction concerned

[toolworker]

1 hour ago, KBs mum said:

If it will stand up in court it can be relied upon, the method of documentation required depends upon the jurisdiction concerned

That's why my TA gets me on the line with the agent, I ask the agent to note in the record any provision that we plan to reply on, I take notes, email my TA with my understanding of what we heard, and ask her to confirm by email.

 

All this is in order to take advantage of something that "Viking is offering ... so that you can plan your voyage with peace of mind."

 

BTW - and a little OT - two agents have told me that if a pax tests positive onboard, they will be tossed off the ship at the next port with no further assistance from Viking, and subject to restrictions of whatever country they happen to land in. (Viking's website says this is only done if required by "the destination where the ship is located.") I recommend Travel Guard Preferred insurance with the medical upgrade that includes hospital of choice.

 

Speaking of insurance - and back on topic - the RFG terms say "If you have purchased the Viking Travel Protection Plan and you believe that you have a covered reason under the plan, you have the option to file a claim. If you file a claim, this voucher will be voided." Does anyone know how this would operate? One possible reading is that if you have to cancel a cruise paid by voucher, and you want to try to make a claim under the TPP before taking a new voucher, you lose the right to a new voucher even if your claim is denied.

Edit: There's a long discussion of the testing positive policy in another thread. I haven't read it all, but someone said they saw on the website that pax would be quarantined on board. Someone else said that an agent told them that it is up to the ship, and even if the port country wants you to debark, you can ask the ship's doctor to keep you on board. Another case of contradictory written and verbal information.

Edited February 13, 2022 by toolworker

[longterm]

We had a really interesting experience with vouchers and re-booking:

 

We had done a river cruise but never any ocean cruises, so we selected the cheapest Viking ocean cruise as a test. It was a 5-day cruise in the Caribbean, included Cozumel, Belize, a couple of other stops.

We were scheduled for early 2020 (before Covid had shut everything down); I got an email offering us a nice upgrade to an 11-day cruise, $1500 in cash, and a suite, if we were willing to get bumped and take a later cruise. Sure, I thought, why not? So we opted for December 2020.

Then Covid. Our cruise got cancelled. 

When I called to find out when we'd be re-scheduled, I was told that our "move-over" deal wasn't going to apply to the re-booking, and that all we'd get was a trip of the value we'd originally paid. No fair, I argued vociferously--we agreed to be bumped so that we'd get a better cruise and a suite, and we wanted what we were told we would get.

I argued with 2 or 3 different employees, going up the chain on the phone. Finally, someone suggested that I contact the division that offered these "move-over" deals. When I did, the rep immediately gave me the same deal on the subsequent cruise, which we finally took this last December.

 

I was just about to write off Viking forever, but they made good on the offer and we had a great time. Score one for Viking; they did the right thing!

[jonthomas]

We were not so lucky. Same as you, when moving the FCVs to another sailing, we lost all our promos, citing NO "move over", even though it was for prepaid gratuities and non redeemable OBCs, which would have been spent on board. Now we have nothing. 

 

Went up the chain, twice, but no luck. Cruise is March of 2022. Viking wants payment this March. 

 

Cant wait to get it done. Will not sail Viking again.