USING OBC FOR SHORE EXCURSIONS

[AJCM]

Hi

 

We have considerable OBC for our upcoming May cruise. It appears I can only pre-book excursions online by credit card; with no scope to apply our OBC to a booking.

I contacted Seabourn Australia and this was confirmed. I queried whether  there is scope to book and pay now; then cancel and re-book using OBC once on board. Although she seemed unsure, she said I could try but the moment I cancel, we'll be replaced by those at the top of any waitlist. If so, this will not work in our favour.

 

Does anyone have any real life experience of using this process as a work around for OBC; as there seems to be little scope to otherwise use OBC once on board (other than spa, fine wine, retreat or jewellery).

[cruiseej]

You don't actually cancel and rebook the excursions. You just ask them to reverse the prepaid charges into refundable credit and to apply your non-refundable OBC. You can't do this in advance; you have to go to Seabourn Square onboard to request this. (Then check back the next day to see if they got it done correctly! Usually, it' fine, but sometimes I've had it take 2 or 3 tries to get it correct if there are any complications with excursions Seabourn canceled or issue a partial credit for.) If you end up with unused refundable credit at the end of your cruise, you'll get a credit card refund shortly after the end of your cruise. 

[jjs217]

Lots of experience with this situation - every time we cruise with Seabourn.  Like cruiseej said, just go to Seabourn Square and you can get your OBC paid back to your credit card.

[frantic36]

14 hours ago, AJCM said:

I contacted Seabourn Australia and this was confirmed. I queried whether  there is scope to book and pay now; then cancel and re-book using OBC once on board. Although she seemed unsure, she said I could try but the moment I cancel, we'll be replaced by those at the top of any waitlist. If so, this will not work in our favour.

 

As a fellow Australian I can confirm it is exactly as @cruiseej stated. The staff at Seabourn Australia are nice but there are quite a few new ones in the last year or so and they quote from the book and aren't familiar with how it works when actually on the ship.

 

I'm on Sojourn at the moment so I can check for you they still do it this way. I do private tours so am not familiar with current practice but other friends tell me they do this for tours they absolutely want to pre-book so they don't miss out.

 

Edited January 19 by frantic36

[skybluewaters]

12 hours ago, cruiseej said:

Then check back the next day to see if they got it done correctly!

 

It also shows up on your Seabourn Source app under the "Account" tab, so you can save yourself a trip to the Square

[whystayhome]

We do this frequently, but when we have unused refundable OBC, I go to Seabourn Square the night before we get off the ship and ask for my refund in cash.  Works every time.

 

Linda

[rallydave]

On 1/19/2024 at 10:23 AM, jjs217 said:

Lots of experience with this situation - every time we cruise with Seabourn.  Like cruiseej said, just go to Seabourn Square and you can get your OBC paid back to your credit card.

If you crave your credit card points/miles, take the credit in refundable OBC and make sure you don't overuse your non refundable and like others said go to the square and get cash in USD back.  Then take it home deposit and pa your credit card bill.  This way you get points/miles without an actual spend.  Works every time.

[Sunprince]

Do they pay it back to your credit card dollar for dollar if your home currency is not US$. Otherwise the credit will hit your statement at a less favourable currency exchange rate than the original charge to your card. So you are out $ in the end, not a lot but still not dollar for dollar credit.

[rallydave]

17 minutes ago, Sunprince said:

Do they pay it back to your credit card dollar for dollar if your home currency is not US$. Otherwise the credit will hit your statement at a less favourable currency exchange rate than the original charge to your card. So you are out $ in the end, not a lot but still not dollar for dollar credit.

?? If your home currency is not usd your card will be charged in usd and converted to your currency using the best exchange rate

 

a credit will work the same way so your risk is changed exchange rate between purchase and credit so you have an equal risk in getting a little more or less 

 

the ship is usd so this is the only way this can wirk

[Sunprince]

2 hours ago, rallydave said:

?? If your home currency is not usd your card will be charged in usd and converted to your currency using the best exchange rate

 

a credit will work the same way so your risk is changed exchange rate between purchase and credit so you have an equal risk in getting a little more or less 

The currency exchange rate banks/credit card companies use for “credits” is less favorable to the customer than the rate used for a “charge”.  So for ex, if your card was charged an exchange rate of 1.25 per dollar for the charge and then the same transaction was immediately credited (without the actual exchange rate fluctuating),  it would be credited at a lower exchange rate, say 1.23 per dollar. There is always a difference in the buy vs sell rate for foreign currency transactions.  So you are “shorted” on the credit side. 

Edited January 28 by Sunprince

[rallydave]

16 minutes ago, Sunprince said:

The currency exchange rate banks/credit card companies use for “credits” is less favorable to the customer than the rate used for a “charge”.  So for ex, if your card was charged an exchange rate of 1.25 per dollar for the charge and then the same transaction was immediately credited (without the actual exchange rate fluctuating),  it would be credited at a lower exchange rate, say 1.23 per dollar. There is always a difference in the buy vs sell rate for foreign currency transactions.  So you are “shorted” on the credit side. 

Since I have never had a credit vs debit for a foreign currency transaction can’t say for sure how it would work if I got the credit here in us 

 

just another reason to take your credit from seabourn in cash