The following is a guest post from Lance at Money Life and More. Please feel free to check out his site!
Last month I booked my first real vacation since graduating college in 2009. YAY! My girlfriend and I, along with my parents, will be going on a 5 night Carnival cruise (EXCITED!) and did a lot of research to ensure we got the best price possible. I ended up booking their Early Saver fare which has some restrictions regarding cancellations but I don’t anticipate that being a problem for us. The Early Saver fare is guaranteed to be their lowest price and if I ever find a lower price until 48 hours before the cruise departs I just have to submit it and they will adjust my rate accordingly.
Finding the Fare
The key is that I have to find the prices after you book. My guess is that Carnival knows few people will probably check prices for cruises after they book so they figure they can offer this perk without losing too much money. I am not normal though. I probably check the fare once every other week to make sure they haven’t gone down and when I checked this past week I was pleasantly surprised because they did.
So what did I do? I called Carnival to see what I had to do to get the new lower price. The representative was very nice but said she could not help me on the phone. I had to go to their website, fill out a form with the details of where I found the fare, how much it was, submit it and wait. This was irritating but was yet another step Carnival uses to deter people for filing for a lower price. I filled the form out and got an email saying that my file would be reviewed and it could take up to 7 to 10 days to hear back.
I was happy when I opened my email the next morning and an email from Carnival was sitting in my inbox. It was an updated bill with the lower price applied to my fare. Overall, I was very happy with Carnival and how they handle their price protection for Early Saver fares. I understand why they have their process the way it is. It gives people like me the ability to claim the lower fares while others who don’t think it is worth their time can pay more.
Take Action
The main lesson to learn is you have to be proactive to get the best prices. Many products offer price protection but few will contact you as soon as fares go down. Be proactive and check prices up until the price protection is no longer available. Once you find a lower price make sure you follow the company’s steps and you will save some hard earned money! While we only saved $40 it didn’t take longer than 15 minutes which comes out to about $160 an hr for my time. In my opinion, that is well worth it. I plan to continue checking their website and hopefully I get some more money back before I depart for my first cruise ever.
Have you ever filed a price protection claim? Were you satisfied with the process? Any tips for going on our cruise?
Crystal’s Comments: We have taken two Carnival cruises so far and used Price Protection the second time. It gave us a $50 onboard credit overall, which was a nice plus. Yay for using offered perks!
I recently booked a cruise, but it’s with Royal Caribbean. I am not sure if they have price protection. I’ll have to check. If they don’t, I am able to cancel up until June, so if the price goes down and they won’t lower my price, I will just cancel and rebook.
Thanks for the info!
I’ve never really thought about signing up for that. I’ll have to look for that next time!
I used the price protection when I bought a dishwasher a couple years ago. I was able to save $70 because I checked prices after I purchased. You are right, most people do not check prices after they buy the product or service.
We always watch to see if prices have changed. I have gone back to the store numerous times to get money back on purchases. To me it is a great way to save money.
I’ve never been on a cruise but definately interested because my wife has been talking about it a lot. Thanks for the tips
Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely look into it when I book a cruise
@Call Me What You Want Even Cheap – That would stink if you had to go through all of that but it wouldn’t surprise me. Hopefully they would just refund you the difference.
@Michelle – I believe it is automatically included if you get the early saver rate.
@Krantcents – Was the price protection from the store or from your credit card? I agree that people rarely check prices afterward.
@Miss T – I’m glad some people keep the stores honesty
@Aaron Hung – I am so excited to go on my first cruise. Hopefully it is everything everyone tells me about them.
@Jessica – Where do you want to book a cruise to?
That’s great that you watched for price changes! I always mean to but I never do – but for something like this, now I definitely will. Your cruise sounds awesome!
We cruised with Carnival a few years back for our honeymoon and I signed up for the early saver fare with the protection. While I did check prices ours never went down, but we still got a great rate for booking so far in advance!
Nope, but I’ve found cheaper prices online and have called airlines and asked them to honor to cheaper flight offers.
@ Young Professional Finances – Glad I could help! Hopefully you save some money.
@ Jason – My rate went down but my parents booked a balcony room and their rate hasn’t dropped yet. I think it just depends on the cabin class you book and the demand.
@Jenna – Do the airlines give you a hard time with that?
Price matching or price reduction within a few weeks of purchase is something I always look into! I never thought to do it for a cruise fare, but for shopping at regular stores – I do this often, especially online. You can sometimes instantly price match. If you check with your credit card company, sometimes they will price match for you too!
Watching prices is essential to save money! I ordered a tv on Amazon and a week later it dropped $70 in price. Even though they do not have a price match guarantee, I sent an e-mail and they credited my card with the money.
I have also had a price drop on a Carnival cruise years ago. I did not purchase price protection but called to see what they could do for me. I had a screenshot of the price drop too. Eventually I was credited $360 for on board spending money. I didn’t even use it all on the cruise and at the end of my cruise, I was actually given a check for the remaining money.
I ordered an United airline ticket to have the price drop hours later. After talking to multiple representatives, I was told to request a refund and rebook the ticket. I saved $150. It is the smart thing to do. Don’t take no for an answer, speak to whoever will listen and see what they’ll do for you. Most companies want a positive reputation and will do what they can to keep the customer happy.
@ From Shopping to Saving – I thought I remembered seeing something about price protection with my credit card. I’m going to have to look into that.
@ Kara – Luckily my prices didn’t drop immediately after I made a large purchase other than this cruise. I’ll have to make sure I keep up with my new large purchases to make sure I can’t get some money back.
I’ve cruised several times and on several different cruise lines. I always enjoy it. I’m sure you’ll have fun. I guess the one thing to pay attention to is how much you are spending. The cruise lines don’t use cash on board. You just show your room key. It’s easy to spend more than you think you have. Tips on most cruise lines are automatically added to everything you do, plus about $10 per day, per person for an overall tip for the staff.
Some lines, and I think Carnival is one, you are able to review your bill thru the tv in your room. Always a good thing to do at the end of each day.
That $40 will come in handy!
Nice savings! I did exactly the same thing recently with a Royal Carribean trip I took this spring. Sometimes it takes being a little extra active but that extra savings can go towards off setting costs elsewhere. The mentality that you should just take a price and lock it in to just have a spot never really sat well with me
I think the biggest take away is def following directions from the site you are buying from – you don’t want to end up at your ships port with bad information or having to pay more or worse get left behind!
@Crystal – Depends on how you bought it and what kind of ticket you bought.
@ Roberta – Thanks for the tips! I’ll keep them in mind when cruising.
@ Nunzio Bruno – Extra savings are always nice. I’ve never heard anyone complain for having some extra money.
Do I ever have some tips for you! I have so many, I even wrote an ebook on it. If you are interested, you can click through to my website, and there you will find a link to my book on Amazon. Cruising is my passion and I know a lot about it! In fact, I just got back from my most recent cruise four days ago and I’ve been mopey ever since
Now, here’s a freebie tip (also in my book, but it’s the most important thing I’ll ever tell you about a cruise): GET TRAVEL INSURANCE! You do not ever know what might happen to keep you from going on your cruise. Yes, you can get all your money back up until final payment date, and then they start keeping some of it, until eventually, when you get down to the last few weeks, they keep it all no matter what has happened to keep you from cruising, whether it’s your fault OR NOT!! They expect that any knowledgeable traveler will have protected themselves as they should….it’s up to you!
Have fun on your cruise!
Now this is why it’s smart to take advantage of deals and offers. When you pay attention and actually go through the steps to get what you pay for, you’ll end up with benefits that otherwise wouldn’t be taken advantage of. When I went on the one and only cruise I’ve ever been on, my family got group deals on excursions on the islands we docked at. Make sure to do this as well and you’ll save some money doing fun things at each place!
@ Georgene Harkness – Thanks, I’ll look into the boo and travel insurance!
@ Kelly – I haven’t booked any excursions yet but will be looking into them. Are there any category of excursions you would recommend/avoid for the Carribbean?
[...] Thanks to Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff for hosting my guest post Price Protection – How I Saved $40 on My Carnival Cruise. [...]
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