Extra OBC?

[MX-Drew]

14 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

Had this offer by email today - Cannot see how they are making much out of this

 

They’re not, I for one have cancelled two cruises, a 14 night and a 28 night cruise because of these offers. I will not be booking any further cruises with P&O.

[Harry Peterson]

I’m no defender of P&O’s pricing tactics, but isn’t this just a variation of the post-booking price drops that also annoy people? Or am I missing something?

[MX-Drew]

6 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I’m no defender of P&O’s pricing tactics, but isn’t this just a variation of the post-booking price drops that also annoy people? Or am I missing something?

You have asked and answered your own question.

It maybe a variation of a pricing method but as you say, both annoy people so it is time to take a stand.

I stand to be corrected as I have no direct experience but Saga have a price promise something along the lines of, if the price is reduced at anytime the price of your booking will be adjusted accordingly.

Why can’t more companies be like that? I understand it really only fits products that are booked like holidays and shows.

[Trevor Fountain]

22 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

If I were you I would get onto P&O and let them know how you feel, after what does an email cost?

Write to executive.correspondence@carnivalukgroup.com it can take a while for a reply but I have found a much better response.

I emailed them before I posted on here. Though I'm not holding my breath.

I'll give it another 24 hours, then it's emails to the top brass, c.c. Rip Off Britain and Watchdog.

[davecttr]

2 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

You have asked and answered your own question.

It maybe a variation of a pricing method but as you say, both annoy people so it is time to take a stand.

I stand to be corrected as I have no direct experience but Saga have a price promise something along the lines of, if the price is reduced at anytime the price of your booking will be adjusted accordingly.

Why can’t more companies be like that? I understand it really only fits products that are booked like holidays and shows.

Because it will reduce all their profits. I think here in the UK the consumer law does not require them to do that. Why would all their profits reduce? Over a decade ago my local pub landlord had this brilliant ides of introducing a happy hour from 5 to 6. Bad idea said I because all the other pubs will do the same and you will all end up making less profit. He went ahead anyway. Guess what happened 😉

 

In the present situation Carnival are desperate for profits so a blanket 'sale' would not work, they chose to make big reductions on certain cruise. I have been promised a £453 refund on a cruise next April but I have no idea why that cruise was chosen.

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

16 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

You have asked and answered your own question.

It maybe a variation of a pricing method but as you say, both annoy people so it is time to take a stand.

I stand to be corrected as I have no direct experience but Saga have a price promise something along the lines of, if the price is reduced at anytime the price of your booking will be adjusted accordingly.

Why can’t more companies be like that? I understand it really only fits products that are booked like holidays and shows.

Saga does indeed have a price promise, but it’s not quite what you might think (see below).  I agree that P&O should change their policy to encourage early bookings, but almost always in the past the very early prices have been the lowest.

 

Our Cruise Price Promise

Please note: This applies as long as the discounted holiday is the same package offered under the same terms of sale (which means the full terms that apply to your holiday contract, including your cabin grade and whether your cabin is allocated at the time of booking or at embarkation). Ad-hoc services are excluded. In calculating any possible saving due, we’ll take into consideration all offers and discounts that were applied at the time of booking and compare the overall price that you’ve been charged with the current price. We will pass on the value of the saving in the form of a higher-grade cabin, or other added value benefit.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Harry Peterson

[davecttr]

5 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Saga does indeed have a price promise, but it’s not quite what you might think (see below).  I agree that P&O should change their policy to encourage early bookings, but almost always in the past the very early prices have been the lowest.

 

Our Cruise Price Promise

Please note: This applies as long as the discounted holiday is the same package offered under the same terms of sale (which means the full terms that apply to your holiday contract, including your cabin grade and whether your cabin is allocated at the time of booking or at embarkation). Ad-hoc services are excluded. In calculating any possible saving due, we’ll take into consideration all offers and discounts that were applied at the time of booking and compare the overall price that you’ve been charged with the current price. We will pass on the value of the saving in the form of a higher-grade cabin, or other added value benefit.

... and the that benefit could be OBC which you have to spend with them anyway so they still get their hands on the money in some form.

[Harry Peterson]

2 minutes ago, davecttr said:

... and the that benefit could be OBC which you have to spend with them anyway so they still get their hands on the money in some form.

It could be even worse than that:

 

 “We will pass on the value of the saving in the form of a higher-grade cabin, or other added value benefit.”

 

Pretty vague weasel words there!

[terrierjohn]

38 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I’m no defender of P&O’s pricing tactics, but isn’t this just a variation of the post-booking price drops that also annoy people? Or am I missing something?

I imagine we all agree that we want cruising to continue, so its vitally important that P&O/Carnival begin to make profits again.

These marketing strategies are clearly intended to encourage people to make new bookings, which is important if P&O are to recover from the covid catastrophe.

[MX-Drew]

12 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I imagine we all agree that we want cruising to continue, so its vitally important that P&O/Carnival begin to make profits again.

These marketing strategies are clearly intended to encourage people to make new bookings, which is important if P&O are to recover from the covid catastrophe.

I completely agree that we want cruising to continue but by using this tactic (in my case) the cruise is the same price but an extra £460 OBC they have broken the final straw, (this was also an early booking for 2024) so my share of P&O’s profits will be going elsewhere and not just mine my families too which would have a knock on effect when it comes to recommendations. I’m sure I’m not the only who feels this way judging by this thread. So this could lead to the pub example from @Harry Peterson

[MX-Drew]

You couldn't make this up!!

 

I have just received an email with this as a header.

 

 

[wowzz]

Whilst I fully understand why people are annoyed by the extra obc being given, I fail to see why this is any different from the "fluid" pricing model that the majority of cruise lines use.  And, from P&O's point of view, offering a large amount of obc is an attractive marketing tactic, as the true cost is less than 50% of the actual obc.

As to waiting until after the final deposit date, again isn't that when cruise lines determine what incentives are needed in order to maximise final passenger numbers.

Again, I am not disputing why people are upset,  but an extra £400 obc ( which actually only costs P&O £200) on, say a £4000 cruise,  does not seem unreasonable when P&O need to do all they can to fill their ships.

[davecttr]

3 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

I completely agree that we want cruising to continue but by using this tactic (in my case) the cruise is the same price but an extra £460 OBC they have broken the final straw, (this was also an early booking for 2024) so my share of P&O’s profits will be going elsewhere and not just mine my families too which would have a knock on effect when it comes to recommendations. I’m sure I’m not the only who feels this way judging by this thread. So this could lead to the pub example from @Harry Peterson

Thanks - second try 😉

[zap99]

49 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Whilst I fully understand why people are annoyed by the extra obc being given, I fail to see why this is any different from the "fluid" pricing model that the majority of cruise lines use.  And, from P&O's point of view, offering a large amount of obc is an attractive marketing tactic, as the true cost is less than 50% of the actual obc.

As to waiting until after the final deposit date, again isn't that when cruise lines determine what incentives are needed in order to maximise final passenger numbers.

Again, I am not disputing why people are upset,  but an extra £400 obc ( which actually only costs P&O £200) on, say a £4000 cruise,  does not seem unreasonable when P&O need to do all they can to fill their ships.

It is underhand to do this promotion the day after final payment. If we book another P&O cruise it will be a late booking. Let's see what, if anything his lordship at Carnival house has to say, then to get emails advertising this new offer to new bookings is just incompententarism.

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, zap99 said:

It is underhand to do this promotion the day after final payment.

I think underhand is a bit strong.

Surely it has always been the case that prices drop after final payment date so as to fill up any remaining cabins. 

[MX-Drew]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Whilst I fully understand why people are annoyed by the extra obc being given, I fail to see why this is any different from the "fluid" pricing model that the majority of cruise lines use.  And, from P&O's point of view, offering a large amount of obc is an attractive marketing tactic, as the true cost is less than 50% of the actual obc.

As to waiting until after the final deposit date, again isn't that when cruise lines determine what incentives are needed in order to maximise final passenger numbers.

Again, I am not disputing why people are upset,  but an extra £400 obc ( which actually only costs P&O £200) on, say a £4000 cruise,  does not seem unreasonable when P&O need to do all they can to fill their ships.

I fully agree with your points for cruises past the final payment date but what about those that are in 2024 and the price is the same, but now low deposit offered (meaning P&O are already holding a large chunk of my money) plus an extra £460 OBC.

To my mind (obviously I may be biased) they are two different cases.

[MX-Drew]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Thanks - second try 😉

Whoops, sorry @davecttr

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

I fully agree with your points for cruises past the final payment date but what about those that are in 2024 and the price is the same, but now low deposit offered (meaning P&O are already holding a large chunk of my money) plus an extra £460 OBC.

To my mind (obviously I may be biased) they are two different cases.

Again, I just think that the extra obc is just a variation of fluid pricing,  but because obc is being used, P&O can offer £460 which obviously seems more attractive than lowering the cruise cost by £200.  The nett cost to P&O is the same.

[bbtablet]

5 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

I completely agree that we want cruising to continue but by using this tactic (in my case) the cruise is the same price but with an extra £460 OBC they have broken the final straw, (this was also an early booking for 2024) so my share of P&O’s profits will be going elsewhere and not just mine my families too which would have a knock on effect when it comes to recommendations.

I hope you will not be offended if I just point out that it is the camel's back that is broken by the final straw, not the straw itself.

I know - I'm a pedant and just can't stop myself!

[zap99]

40 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I think underhand is a bit strong.

Surely it has always been the case that prices drop after final payment date so as to fill up any remaining cabins. 

I can't say I have noticed that the day after final payment, also please remember that lady week OBC's were being thrown around like confetti to other P&O ships, but not Britannia. You will know the phrase ' fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me '. Or as Roger Daltrey sang. I won't get fooled again. I stick by underhand.

[Harry Peterson]

1 minute ago, bbtablet said:

I hope you will not be offended if I just point out that it is the camel's back that is broken by the final straw, not the straw itself.

I know - I'm a pedant and just can't stop myself!

Does ‘less than 100 MPs’ grate too?  Asking for a pedantic friend. 😇

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

It is underhand to do this promotion the day after final payment. If we book another P&O cruise it will be a late booking. Let's see what, if anything his lordship at Carnival house has to say, then to get emails advertising this new offer to new bookings is just incompententarism.

Not really incompetence Zap, as wowzz says it has been standard practise for years. 

Once a cruise line knows exactly how many customers have paid their final balance, they can quickly determine what level of incentives are needed to try and achieve the optimum number of passengers.

I imagine this happens all the time, in fact many US  lines make much more substantial discounts than these. Of course they do end up giving similar reductions to some existing bookings, but only the savvy ones who frequent these sort of forums. Which we all know is a very small percentage of total cruise passengers.

[Harry Peterson]

Anyone remember those delightful conversations around the dinner table a few years back when some bright spark decided to enlighten everyone with his story about how he booked a suite for 31 days for £99 at the last minute? And still got £900 OBC.

 

Maybe those happy times are returning……..

[zap99]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

Not really incompetence Zap, as wowzz says it has been standard practise for years. 

Once a cruise line knows exactly how many customers have paid their final balance, they can quickly determine what level of incentives are needed to try and achieve the optimum number of passengers.

I imagine this happens all the time, in fact many US  lines make much more substantial discounts than these. Of course they do end up giving similar reductions to some existing bookings, but only the savvy ones who frequent these sort of forums. Which we all know is a very small percentage of total cruise passengers.

By doing it this way and then rubbing their customer noses in it by sending them emails extolling the merits of this super offer has alienated at least one previously loyal customer, who has learnt his lesson. We will make the most of our October Cruise. 

[Britboys]

Pleased to say that this offer doesn't seem to be available on my forthcoming cruise... Aurora must be pretty much up to whatever the current sailing capacity is.