Royal Caribbean Group Extends "Cruise with Confidence" Policy Through September 1, Cancellations Up To 48 Hours Prior To Sailing With Full Credit.

To address expanding global travel restrictions and provide peace of mind in guest travel planning, Royal Caribbean Group is extending its “Cruise with Confidence” cancellation policy through Sept. 1, 2020. The updated policy enhances planning flexibility by allowing cancellations up to 48 hours prior to sailing for any reason. Guests will receive a full credit for their fare, usable on any future sailing of choice in 2020 or 2021.

“Guests are reacting positively to our ‘Cruise with Confidence’ policy,” says company chairman and CEO Richard Fain, “because it enables them to make informed decisions and to better manage complicated travel plans during this unprecedented time of uncertainty.”
The extension applies to both new and existing cruise bookings. In addition to easing concerns of booked guests, Fain says the policy enhances consumer confidence to schedule new bookings, knowing last-minute travel adjustments will incur no penalty.

“We want our guests to feel they can safely keep their existing cruise bookings or schedule new sailings,” says Fain, “because this policy gives them more freedom and flexibility.”
The policy applies to all cruises with sailing dates on or before Sept. 1, 2020, and applies to the company’s global brands Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara. For individual brand policy details and for information on the Silversea policy, please visit the respective brand websites: Azamara: www.azamara.com/cruise-with-confidence, Celebrity: www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-with-confidence, Royal Caribbean: www.loyaltoyoualways.com/service/cruisewithconfidence1/ and Silversea: www.silversea.com/temporary-amendment-to-cancellation-policy.html.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) is a global cruise vacation company that controls and operates four global brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea Cruises. We are also a 50% joint venture owner of the German brand TUI Cruises and a 49% shareholder in the Spanish brand Pullmantur Cruceros. Together these brands operate a combined total of 61 ships with an additional 17 on order as of December 31, 2019. They operate diverse itineraries around the world that call on all seven continents. Additional information can be found on www.royalcaribbean.com, www.celebritycruises.com, www.azamara.com, www.silversea.com, www.tuicruises.com, www.pullmantur.es, or www.rclinvestor.com.

Travelore Tips To Help Armchair Travelers Satisfy Their Wanderlust From The Comfort And Safety Of Home

As the coronavirus outbreak grounds global adventurers, we’ve gathered a few ideas to help reluctant armchair travelers satisfy their wanderlust from the comfort and safety of home.

Tip 1: Revisit favorite vacation settings through books and movies.

• Leading Irish tour operator CIE Tours has hit “pause” on its guided vacations, but Ireland’s rich literary legacy will keep travelers endlessly inspired until they can visit again. C.S. Lewis based much of his fantasy land in “The Chronicles of Narnia” on County Down’s Mourne Mountains, while James Joyce captured Dublin life in “Ulysses” and “Dubliners.” Film buffs can revel in spectacular Irish scenery in movies from “The Quiet Man,” set in Connemara, to “The Secret of Roan Inish,” filmed in rugged Donegal.
  
• Fans of Pebble Beach Resorts and the central California coast will recognize iconic backdrops like Cypress Point and 17 Mile Drive in Hitchcock’s classic thriller “Vertigo.” Both landmarks are also captured, along with shots of Pebble Beach Golf Links and The Lodge at Pebble Beach, in the original “Parent Trap” (1961). Binge-watch both seasons of HBO’s “Big Little Lies” for familiar sights of Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel Highlands and Big Sur.
• Six towns in Westchester County, New York—Tarrytown, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Ardsley and White Plains—serve as backdrops in the 2016 movie adaptation of “The Girl on the Train.” Westchester landmarks like John Jay Homestead and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation were also featured in the Robert De Niro-Billy Crystal crime comedy “Analyze That.” And 2020 is the perfect time to revisit Westchester native Washington Irving’s beloved tale, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” on the 200^th anniversary of its publication.

• The Adirondack setting of Lake Placid’s Whiteface Lodge has long inspired artists and writers and “The Adirondack Reader,” edited by Paul Jamieson, celebrates four centuries of the best from the region. Local resident Russell Banks has set several of his novels in the area, including “Cloudsplitter,” a fictionalized account of abolitionist John Brown.

Tip 2: Travel the world via online simulations and livestreams.

• That bucket-list golf vacation is temporarily benched, but golfers can still play the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Links via an online simulation. Or, they can just soak up the scenery at the 18^th hole—the most famous finishing hole in golf—thanks to a  live cam that captures the crashing surf and spectacular mountain backdrop.
  
• A  collection of webcams at Westchester County’s Wolf Conservation Center (South Salem, NY) invites virtual visitors to witness the private lives of "Ambassador" wolves Atka, Alawa, Zephyr and Nikai, and seven elusive packs of critically endangered red and Mexican gray wolves. Earthcam ranked the collection among the 25 Most Interesting Webcams in 2018.
  
• Also in Westchester, the world-class Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah, NY) has adapted its spring schedule of concerts from a live to virtual audience. Coming up in April are composer-pianist  Vijay Iyer, jazz pianist  Aaron Diehl, and composer-pianist  Conrad Tao. All three livestreams will be hosted, free of charge, on Caramoor’s YouTube channel.
  
• Until CIE Tours can take them there again, would-be travelers to Europe can virtually hop the pond to view some of Europe’s most famous sites, from the  Trevi Fountain in Rome to Scotland’s  Loch Ness.
  

Tip 3:  Buy a gift card now to enjoy later in person at your favorite vacation retreat.

• Gift cards for Scottsdale, Arizona’s  Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa come in $50-$600 increments and can be redeemed throughout the resort, from its signature restaurant, elements, to world-class Sanctuary Spa.
  
• Pebble Beach Resorts gift cards, starting at $25, can be applied to lodging, green fees, food and beverage, spa treatments, and merchandise and apparel at any of the legendary California resort’s shops and online.
  
• The all-suite Adirondack-style Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid, New York, offers gift cards ($25 minimum) redeemable for resort merchandise, spa treatments and other services and room accommodations.
  
• Buy a Marriott gift card, ranging from $25 to $2,000, and enjoy an all-suite beachfront getaway at Florida’s  Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa when the world is once again open to travel.

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Marriott Shows Rates With Taxes And ALL Fees With Price Transparency Checkbox

Ritz Carlton San Francisco

Oh cool, the Ritz Carlton is only $250 per night. Oh wait, never mind. With taxes, resort fees and everything else, it’s in the mid $300’s, and there goes that. It only took a pandemic, a $250 billion dollar bailout proposal and years of IT support, but Marriott Bonvoy has finally handed customers exactly what they wanted, or at least – something they wanted.

A simple button, which shows ‘all in’ hotel pricing.

It’s not going to keynote any CES address, but Marriott Bonvoy has added a button to its website, and Bonvoy mobile app, which allows potential guests to see all in pricing for their stays, rather than the ever frustrating pricing before taxes, and those unforgivable resort fees.

Yes, finally, the price you see will be the price you get. You’ll just need to make one tap first.

If you don’t search hotels frequently, you may be less familiar, but hotels think it’s fun to lure you in with a price which doesn’t actually exist, by hiding a significant amount of taxes and fees until the final booking screen, in hopes that you just give in to the great powers of persuasion.

They’d rather disappoint you when you’re ready to press book than have you scroll on by because it looks pricey. This happens with virtually every online travel agency, and also on direct bookings with all hotel chains. Here are a few examples of this brilliant Bonvoy button in action.

Here’s the old frustrating way of searching…

Ooh, this looks like a great price, but…

Where it’s not the price you pay, just a price you see. But there’s hope…

They’ve done it. By selecting “show rates with taxes and all fees” you’re actually able to see what you’ll pay per night without hassle. Bravo, Bonvoy! Go forth…

As you can plainly see, you see a price, and then it’s not until you’re excited and ready to book, that they show you the meat factory. You realize you’re actually looking at something $50-$100 more per night, and that changes the proposition entirely. Ugh.

Nonetheless, Marriott has finally cracked the code, and may be the first hotel group to increase their TripAdvisor ratings by half a star before guests even arrive, by not frustrating them endlessly before they do. This works on both desktop web and mobile app.

If you’re on the Marriott Bonvoy mobile app, just tap the settings in the top right corner, which brings up the selection tool where you can select the all inclusive pricing.

This is one small button for Marriott, but one giant leap for travel booking kind. In a global crisis, every little helps, and Marriott is making it a lot more fun to look for hotels, knowing that the hassle of finding out hidden fees awaits is behind you. One tap, and it’s the price you actually pay. It’s the button we finally deserve…

Source: https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/marriott-shows-rates-with-taxes-and-all-fees-price-transparency-checkbox/

Marriott Is Lastly Updating (Downgrading) Members Accounts Based On 2019 Activity: Check Your Status!

After several weeks of waiting Marriott appears to now be in the process of eventually updating those members accounts who qualified for a lower status in 2019 and also adjusted the Lifetime counters.

Marriott Rewards has traditionally offered status extensions for those whose nights temporarily dropped and allowed for years members to buy back the status using points, but this has been discontinued.

You can access Marriott Bonvoy here.

READ MORE: Marriott Bonvoy Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions

Status downgrades usually take place during the first week or March based on observations on how Marriott Rewards used to deal with them in the past but this year it took substantially longer.

Some members including myself were able to enjoy the status they held last year a bit longer before it dropped off though in my case I didn’t profit at all from this as I didn’t stay anywhere.

For some members it might be important that the Lifetime Status counter is also updated now:

The minimum years of status are important for members who are focusing on Lifetime Marriott Rewards status and you need 5 years of Gold for Lifetime Gold as well as 10 years as Platinum for Lifetime Platinum.

I need ~ 150 more nights for this task. Should be easy to clock those in as I don’t plan to stay much with Hyatt this year after they already extended my Globalist status until February of 2022. I guess the fact that Marriott seems to despise it’s customers will bring them some business after all. I do like the legacy SPG brands though.

Conclusion

I was Titanium last year and could have renewed that status with 10 more nights but didn’t bother as the differences between Platinum and Titanium are marginal based on my experience in 2018 / 2019.

You should check if your status has updated yet. John told me his status of the Lifetime Titanium account is still Ambassador despite not qualifying anywhere near the required level last year.

by

 Sebastian Powell

Source: https://loyaltylobby.com/ 

Unprecedented American Upgrade Opportunity To Paris From All Over The U.S. For Travel Later This Year + 2021 (4+ Seats / 63% Off)

While we’re all grounded right now, we don’t have to ground all future aspirations. Look forward to highly unusual Upgrade Opportunities bookable now for travel later this year and next year.

Flash Deal Summary

American Airlines has been notoriously stingy when it came to confirmable availability of mileage upgrades, with few exceptions. Not any more.

If you already have American miles, or can transfer Marriott points to American Airlines, given the coach fare (including co-pay) is often as low as $1,100 round-trip, and normal Business Class fares start at ~$3,500 to Europe, you can use American miles to save $2,400+ (63%) on your next premium travel booking, for travel later this year + 2021.

Deal Routes

Pick from numerous possibilities.

From New York

To Paris

Deal Availability

Fly at other times and pay double or triple.

Days Available	13+	9 TO 12	4 TO 8

2020
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC

2021
JAN

    4 Seats

 

  2 Seats

 

 1 Seat

How to Book

After you get a sense of “where good availability is” (perhaps using our survey), call American and confirm that the flights/dates you want are available for the upgrade using miles, and book it.

If the upgrade on the flights/dates you want is not available, have the agent check other dates/flights.

This cannot be done online. Call 1-800-433-7300.

Get Miles

Don’t have any or enough American miles? No problem. Just buy American miles when they go on sale, or transfer Marriott points, and you too can save big.

Source: https://www.firstclassflyer.com/