Making Payments Before Final Payment Date

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, kdr69 said:

Give it now or give it later your still giving it. I dont think putting it in a savings acct is gonna make a whole lot of difference in 12 months.

Savings accounts don't make money.

[J13C85]

14 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

I had been making monthly payment for my last two cruises ( I book them about 1-2 years out). Even though I can make the final lump sum ( with a big gasp), I just prefer to make monthly payments.  So far, I have never cancelled a cruise before final payment, so I am not concerned about how the monies paid get back to me should I cancel

I think this is an interesting discussion. I agree with those who say when you pay early you are essentially giving Princess an interest free loan.

 

That said, we also tend to book over a year out and we make monthly payments using a credit card that gives us cash back. Idea is charge the monthly payment and then pay off card each month to avoid going into debt (we have one card that pays 2% cash back and we use it solely for our cruise). When we made final payment for this cruise we had $0 additional debt and had pulled in over $300 in cash back. For us, it is less painful to amortize the payments over a year and jyst add them to our monthly budget as opposed to paying all at once.

 

Everyone is different (I had a boss who used to say "That is why they make so many different kinds of cars. If we were all the same they would only need to make one kind.") and these choices are extremely personal but this is what works for us.

[Thrak]

On our recent cruise(s) I paid in several installments using gift cards. I didn't do it to make my life easier. I did it to may my TA's life easier. I paid off around $30k in cruises and a flight using nothing but gift cards I bought at a 10% discount. Each gift card had to be manually given (over the phone) to a Princess rep and it was a pain in the butt. I didn't want my TA to have to try to do a zillion gift cards in one shot. I knew that, unless something catastrophic happened, we were doing the trip. I kept digital copies (in two different forms and on two different computers) of all the gift cards including the PIN information "just in case" as I knew any refunds would be to those cards rather than in another form. (Actually, I also kept printed copies as well. I thought "why not" be super extra safe.)

 

Oh, I also buy the gift cards using a credit card that gives me generous "points" that can be used to pay off pretty much any charge on the card. (Originally, it only covered "travel related" purchases but, these days, it covers pretty much any purchase.)

Edited December 8, 2023 by Thrak

[Pine Man]

2 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Savings accounts don't make money.

They sure do in the UK!

[Honolulu Blue]

5 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Savings accounts don't make money.

 

2 hours ago, Pine Man said:

They sure do in the UK!

Most do in the USA too, though it depends on where and how much is being stored  It also depends on when. Three years ago, most low-risk savings accounts were yielding nothing or almost nothing. Since then, we've had a broad, worldwide inflationary spike and interest rates have followed in most places.

[Thrak]

Most savings accounts in the USA make such a pathetic amount of interest it's essentially not worth mentioning. However, I can remember a time when I had very little money but actually had $2,500 "extra" (gift from my mother in law to my wife) and we put it in a CD. (I know, $2,500 isn't much...) At that time the interest rates (something like 12%) were soooooooooooo good that, even on that piddly little $2,500 investment, we received $50/month interest! Ohhhhh, how I miss those days!

[EllieinNJ]

I usually wait until final payment, even with gift cards but now I have an Amex offer that has to be used by February for my November sailing so I will put in the $1000 (or $2000 if they accept both our offers).

[beg3yrs]

21 hours ago, Thrak said:

Most savings accounts in the USA make such a pathetic amount of interest it's essentially not worth mentioning. However, I can remember a time when I had very little money but actually had $2,500 "extra" (gift from my mother in law to my wife) and we put it in a CD. (I know, $2,500 isn't much...) At that time the interest rates (something like 12%) were soooooooooooo good that, even on that piddly little $2,500 investment, we received $50/month interest! Ohhhhh, how I miss those days!

Unless you needed a mortgage ...

[iamaqt2]

On 12/7/2023 at 7:18 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

I do this all the time. Especially if I'm using gift cards.

That's great if you know you'll take the cruise.   But those gift cards are non refundable if you need to cancel for some reason.  I recently learned that lesson the hard way.

[Rick&Jeannie]

8 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

That's great if you know you'll take the cruise.   But those gift cards are non refundable if you need to cancel for some reason.  I recently learned that lesson the hard way.

I'd be interested in hearing your details of why you say they are not refundable. Plenty of people here on CC have stated that all you need to do is keep the original documents so that you can "keep track" of the funds comingback to the gift card. That doesn't sound "non-refundable" to me. Now, if you mean that you simply can't "return" a gift card for some reason, then yes, you are correct.  Quite a lot of the "regulars" here on CC take many cruises, so that simply is not a concern. 

[iamaqt2]

3 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'd be interested in hearing your details of why you say they are not refundable. Plenty of people here on CC have stated that all you need to do is keep the original documents so that you can "keep track" of the funds comingback to the gift card. That doesn't sound "non-refundable" to me. Now, if you mean that you simply can't "return" a gift card for some reason, then yes, you are correct.  Quite a lot of the "regulars" here on CC take many cruises, so that simply is not a concern. 

I had used a gift card to make my deposit and needed to cancel the cruise.  I was told that the funds would be returned to the card.  But when they were not, I called to investigate and was basically told sorry, nothing they could do as it was non refundable.

[Outerdog]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:01 PM, Thrak said:

Each gift card had to be manually given (over the phone) to a Princess rep and it was a pain in the butt. I didn't want my TA to have to try to do a zillion gift cards in one shot.

 

You can make payments directly to Princess when your booking is owned by a TA?

[Boiler Cruiser]

On 12/7/2023 at 8:55 AM, STREETKING said:

We have booked a 16-day Hawaiian cruise sailing in January 2025. I would like to start making payments but wasn't sure if I should do this or wait for the final payment date. Is there any disadvantage to starting to prepay before final payment ?

Won't Princess only provide a "refund" in the form of a cruise credit is you pay early and decide not to go for any reason?

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

You can make payments directly to Princess when your booking is owned by a TA?

No. Once you turn your cruise over to a TA, the TA is the one that makes the payments for you. Princess won't talk to you about your $$.

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

I had used a gift card to make my deposit and needed to cancel the cruise.  I was told that the funds would be returned to the card.  But when they were not, I called to investigate and was basically told sorry, nothing they could do as it was non refundable.

Sounds like it was your deposit that was non-refundable (many fares are that way). You would not have gotten your deposit back regardless of the method of payment.

[MacMadame]

The refundable fare goes back to the payment method used to make it. So my deposit (it's refundable) and excursions (refundable) will go to my CC and the rest of the fare will go to the Princess GCs. The problem for me is that I don't cruise regularly so if I end up with thousands of dollars on GCs, I'm not sure what I would use them for. Does Princess go to the Galapagos? LOL

[frugaltravel]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:41 AM, startedwithamouse said:

Wait.

 

You're giving Princess free money, money you could be investing. 

 

 

Depending on the dollar amount and the length of time, I would not invest the money but save it in a high-yield savings account.

 

In my case, I plan to pay my cruise off several months early because my credit card has an incentive with Princess cruises that if I charge a certain amount by a certain time I will get $175 statement credit. Different strokes for different folks.

Edited December 12, 2023 by frugaltravel

[caribill]

On 12/7/2023 at 8:19 AM, coo359a2 said:

I would make partial payment on all our pre pandemic cruises and then have a smaller final payment due.  Once the pandemic started and cruises were being cancelled, it was taking longer to get back  whatever pre payments you had made - either paid in full or with more than just the normal deposit.  I decided at that time that when cruising  started back, I would only make the $200 deposit and wait to pay in full on the due date.  That way, if anything else happened in the world, I would only be waiting for $200 refund versus several $1000.

 

In my case I had a cruise booked pre-pandemic and had paid 95% of it before final payment.

 

When it was cancelled due to the pandemic, Princess offered 100% of the deposit extra (plus the deposit itself) as FCCs. I assume Princess figured that a $100 deposit that resulted in a $200 FCC was good PR.

 

As a result of having almost fully paid for that cruise, the extra OBC was basically enough for a free cruise.

[Ellipooh]

Isn’t there a valid insurance-related reason to wait for Final Payment?

 

I’ve always gotten by with Princess insurance, but my next two cruises are solo and abroad, so I’ve signed up for a 3d party policy with extra medical, delay, cancellation, repatriation, etc. Since I’m being charged for the insurance based on monies spent toward the cruise at the time those monies are spent, I was advised to wait to apply my collection of Gift Cards to my account. 
 

Was that incorrect advice?

[frugaltravel]

1 hour ago, Ellipooh said:

Isn’t there a valid insurance-related reason to wait for Final Payment?

 

I’ve always gotten by with Princess insurance, but my next two cruises are solo and abroad, so I’ve signed up for a 3d party policy with extra medical, delay, cancellation, repatriation, etc. Since I’m being charged for the insurance based on monies spent toward the cruise at the time those monies are spent, I was advised to wait to apply my collection of Gift Cards to my account. 
 

Was that incorrect advice?

I would base insurance on the total trip price regardless of when you pay.  Otherwise are you saying the money you paid for a deposit wouldn't be covered just like payments before final payment? I am 99% certain travel insurance doesn't work that way. You insure the total trip price regardless of when payments are made. 

[beg3yrs]

22 hours ago, MacMadame said:

The refundable fare goes back to the payment method used to make it. So my deposit (it's refundable) and excursions (refundable) will go to my CC and the rest of the fare will go to the Princess GCs. The problem for me is that I don't cruise regularly so if I end up with thousands of dollars on GCs, I'm not sure what I would use them for. Does Princess go to the Galapagos? LOL

Princess does not go to the Galapagos. I wish they did as the Galapagos is on our short list to visit soon.

 

Princess gift cards are easily transferable as they're not registered to any particular person. They even can be sold, probably for a discount. Do you have any relatives or friends going on a Princess cruise? As their name says, they are great gifts.

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

Princess does not go to the Galapagos. I wish they did as the Galapagos is on our short list to visit soon.

 

Princess gift cards are easily transferable as they're not registered to any particular person. They even can be sold, probably for a discount. Do you have any relatives or friends going on a Princess cruise? As their name says, they are great gifts.

That's exactly why you need to "protect" those documents until they are used or the cruise is over.  As far as Princess is concerned, they are just like cash.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

Princess does not go to the Galapagos. I wish they did as the Galapagos is on our short list to visit soon.

 

In 2008 Princess did have a cruisetour that did include the Galapagos.

 

The cruise part ended in Guayaquil. The tour part then had a flight to the Galapagos and (depending on the date) a four day or three day Galapagos experience that visited multiple islands.

[nasa1974]

I purchase Princess Gift Cards from my local grocery store chain. For every $50 I get 10 cents off a gallon of gas up to 30 gallons. My truck holds 36 gallons. We had 4 cruises booked for 2020 and late 2018 through 2019 I purchased $10,000 in gift cards. Those cruises were cancelled, and my gift cards had full refunds. I kept each gift card used with the cruise folder, so it was easy to check when each card got refunded. I am now using those gift cards for current cruises booked. I purchased those gift cards with a credit card that gave me cash back on those purchases. It works for me but maybe not for everyone. There is a little more paperwork, time and effort involved to keep track of everything. 

[frugaltravel]

33 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

I purchase Princess Gift Cards from my local grocery store chain. For every $50 I get 10 cents off a gallon of gas up to 30 gallons. My truck holds 36 gallons. We had 4 cruises booked for 2020 and late 2018 through 2019 I purchased $10,000 in gift cards. Those cruises were cancelled, and my gift cards had full refunds. I kept each gift card used with the cruise folder, so it was easy to check when each card got refunded. I am now using those gift cards for current cruises booked. I purchased those gift cards with a credit card that gave me cash back

6% back on your gas purchase plus cash back using your credit card. Sounds like you know how to work the system well. I do it a lot as well.