TA cabin upgrade procedure

[flyfan33]

Hi. Just curious if anyone knows how TAs go about getting upgrades for clients? Our TA said that they have to wait until Princess goes through all of its list of guarantees and then its preferred club, etc. and then after all of that a TA can seek an upgrade -- I'm talking about complimentary upgrades, not paid ones. We booked a designated room in a designated category and the TA said not to bother with booking a guarantee, that he would mark the file with "upgrade request".

 

Also, I'm reading on this board about upgrades (complimentary) already being given for August cruises, etc. -- is this just for those people who book through Princess, or through TAs as well? Thanks.

[paul929207]

I have never heard that TA's have anything to do with the free upgrades that Princess gives out. Most reservations are marked "Upgrade requested", although some people have the cabin they want and have theirs marked "No Upgrade".

[LARGIN]

TA's have nothing to do with upgrades..

[ssbeagle]

TAs only mark the reservation with Upgrade Requested. They are not the ones who can actually grant the upgrade. That is up to Princess. Upgrades are not given until after final payment has been made. If they want to fill up a ship they will try to sell cabins and the ones that don't sell are usually what they will upgrade people to (maybe). Out of 24 cruises with Princess we have only been upgraded 3 times and they were spaced far apart. We always book the cabin we want but also request upgrade so if we don't get an upgrade we are happy where we are at.

[Colo Cruiser]

Computer generated. :)

[Pam in CA]

Our TA said that they have to wait until Princess goes through all of its list of guarantees and then its preferred club, etc. and then after all of that a TA can seek an upgrade -- I'm talking about complimentary upgrades, not paid ones.

Your TA is mis-informed; they have nothing to do with the complimentary upgrade process. They can mark your booking with either "Upgrade request" or "No upgrade" but that's it. Beware of the TA who tells you they've gotten you an upgrade; most likely, they've received a notice of a price reduction so they can get you in a higher cabin category for the same price as you were already paying. That IMHO is fraud; instead of taking credit for an upgrade, they should tell you about the price reduction and give you the choice.

[Toto2Kansas]

Your TA is mis-informed; they have nothing to do with the complimentary upgrade process. They can mark your booking with either "Upgrade request" or "No upgrade" but that's it. Beware of the TA who tells you they've gotten you an upgrade; most likely, they've received a notice of a price reduction so they can get you in a higher cabin category for the same price as you were already paying. That IMHO is fraud; instead of taking credit for an upgrade, they should tell you about the price reduction and give you the choice.

 

I'll second that bolded statement. Sounds like the TA is pulling a fast one here, they can not 'get you a complimentary upgrade', it has nothing to do with the TA at all. Just the luck of the computer draw.

Personally, I would be looking for a new TA FAST!

[sultan_sfo]

As usual, Pam, your entire post is accurate. Despite knowing all that we still call the TA and thank her for the upgrade just to make her "feel good"!

 

...

Beware of the TA who tells you they've gotten you an upgrade;

...

[rickdeni]

I am a TA and am Platinum on Princess and I have never had an upgrade. If a TA could get an upgrade I would have had some myself.

[flyfan33]

thanks to everyone for clearing this up. We had our suspicions... seems we must have a rookie TA, as this was not the only issue we had. Don't want to name the agency (very, very large, though). We do have a designated cabin, and at least we got him to move us from an undesirable one in the same category.

[tipup]

I think that the TA can help, like the old adage "A sqeeky wheel.....", I have a great TA and we have been upgraded 3 times with Princess.

[Toto2Kansas]

I think that the TA can help, like the old adage "A sqeeky wheel.....", I have a great TA and we have been upgraded 3 times with Princess.

 

Sorry, it's called 'luck', your TA had nothing at all to do with this. ;)

[LARGIN]

Sorry, it's called 'luck', your TA had nothing at all to do with this. ;)

 

Agree..

[Pam in CA]

I think that the TA can help, like the old adage "A sqeeky wheel.....", I have a great TA and we have been upgraded 3 times with Princess.

I have a GREAT TA and haven't been upgraded. To repeat, the TA has nothing to do with your upgrade(s); you've been lucky. A "squeeky wheel" can't do anything about a programmed algorithm, which is what is used to assign upgrades. When was the last time you yelled at your computer? Kick it? Did it work? If your TA claims to have gotten you an upgrade, find another TA because "great" as they are, they're lying.