Booking on foreign website to save money

[CalDisneyMomof2]

So I've become very interested about booking vacations through other countries' travel websites-similar to booking a Disney room through Expedia UK. I play around with Expedia's APP and plug in different countries and then head to my currency converter and see how different hotels would be the cheapest.

I'm booking an Alaskan cruise for next summer and the prices are a little hard to swallow on the typical Orbitz or direct through the cruise line. It dawned on me to check to see if I could book through a European site of some sort and NCL allows me to choose a country's site. I did a dummy search and sure enough when I tried it in Euros and converted it, it came out to $1000 less than booking through the US site(for my family of 4). It was also far less than British Pounds.

My question is, has anyone done this, outside Expedia UK? Anyone ever have any issues? I'm wondering what issues could arise? Is there any difference to doing this vs. booking through Expedia UK? Does it make a difference that it's a cruise vs. a hotel room?

Would love any input. Thanks!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Just wanted to update to say that I "booked" the cruise. It didn't ask for a credit card but said they would send a confirmation email to continue booking with credit card. It didn't say anything about NOT being a European resident. It actually listed the US when asking for nationality and address. After everything is said and done it's an $1,100 difference in price for my family of four to do a seven night cruise to Alaska with a balcony room through NCL.EU vs. NCL.com

I'm still very hesitant and nervous!

 

[fitnessmouse]

Yes i do it all the time. Just make sure to check about change and cancellation policies because in Europe they are more strict and can cost you

 

[mjkacmom]

AP us right. When booking through an overseas website, you can forget about canceling with no fees, upgrading, or having the cost lowered before final payment.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Thank you, both, for the heads up. I got the confirmation email and it says I must call (to Germany!) to give them my credit card information. I'm not even sure how much that would cost from my cell phone?

It was so much easier to book my Disney hotel room through Expedia UK- I could use my credit card on their website. I wonder why NCL doesn't have that option?

 

[hollypoast]

Interesting. I tried this when I booked our Disney cruise but couldn't find a way to do it. Congrats on your savings!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Interesting. I tried this when I booked our Disney cruise but couldn't find a way to do it. Congrats on your savings!

Disney gives you the option to pay by British Pounds or Euros but I priced it out and it wasn't any cheaper, in fact a little more expensive. I wish I could do a Disney cruise but my goodness, it's so expensive! I've never spent more than $5,000 on a vacation so going from that to $10,000 is quite the jump. In time!

I haven't booked yet because I'm still not quite sure what to do from here. I can wire the money, it says, but I'd rather do it by credit card. And that consists of calling Germany which I'm not sure how much that costs? It says toll free from land lines but I'm assuming that means European land lines?

 

[aejammers]

I haven't booked yet because I'm still not quite sure what to do from here. I can wire the money, it says, but I'd rather do it by credit card. And that consists of calling Germany which I'm not sure how much that costs? It says toll free from land lines but I'm assuming that means European land lines?

Well, it certainly isn't going to cost $1100 to call Germany.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Well, it certainly isn't going to cost $1100 to call Germany.

I about spit out my coffee! I realize it won't but I've heard horror stories of people's cell phone bills being ridiculous amounts for foreign phone calls. Who knows how long I'll be on hold for?! Could take 5 minutes or 2 hours

 

[Lynne G]

Maybe trying to call a NRC toll free from US and see if they can connect you?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Just talked to Verizon. $1.49 a minute. I can swallow that!

 

[scrapquitler]

So I've become very interested about booking vacations through other countries' travel websites-similar to booking a Disney room through Expedia UK. I play around with Expedia's APP and plug in different countries and then head to my currency converter and see how different hotels would be the cheapest.

I'm booking an Alaskan cruise for next summer and the prices are a little hard to swallow on the typical Orbitz or direct through the cruise line. It dawned on me to check to see if I could book through a European site of some sort and NCL allows me to choose a country's site. I did a dummy search and sure enough when I tried it in Euros and converted it, it came out to $1000 less than booking through the US site(for my family of 4). It was also far less than British Pounds.

My question is, has anyone done this, outside Expedia UK? Anyone ever have any issues? I'm wondering what issues could arise? Is there any difference to doing this vs. booking through Expedia UK? Does it make a difference that it's a cruise vs. a hotel room?

Would love any input. Thanks!

One thing I can think of: you might get hit with a foreign transaction fee on your credit card if the charge gets processed by the vendor outside of the US. And they might not use the same currency conversion rate that you see online.

Do make sure to see if there is any fine print that says the offer is only valid in the UK or to European residents or something to that effect.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

One thing I can think of: you might get hit with a foreign transaction fee on your credit card if the charge gets processed by the vendor outside of the US. And they might not use the same currency conversion rate that you see online.

Do make sure to see if there is any fine print that says the offer is only valid in the UK or to European residents or something to that effect.

I've booked through Expedia UK and used my Discover card when paying since they don't charge foreign transaction fees. Went super smooth after warning the credit card company that I'd be making the purchase. The currency converter was off by a few dollars but in my favor.

I didn't see anything in the fine print about only being a European resident. In fact, it asked what my nationality was before booking and United States was on there so it led me to believe that being a US resident was fine.

 

[kathy884]

Just talked to Verizon. $1.49 a minute. I can swallow that!

We have Verison too. If you think you'll be making a bunch of calls you can get an international plan. My calls were cell phone US to cell phone in Italy and the UK, but for $5 a month they changed that rate to .36 and .25 a minute. My son was abroad for about a month and a 1/2 and sure sometimes we skyped. But gosh having that option to call without totally breaking the bank was great and let me vicariously enjoy the trip sooo much. Almost as fun as being there lol. You can get that added for a prorated period.

Let us know how everything works out.

 

[johnsontrio]

Not sure if this is what you are asking.... I had been trying to book days that I needed at Hard Rock Hollywood, FL and was not able to do so because they only allowed booking within a 6 months time period. While we were on vacation in Mexico, I decided to see if I was able to book it using a third party. When I logged onto Booking.com I was able to book it and was also given the price in Mexican Pesos which turned out to be a very competitive price. Since then, all my emails from them and all my quotes are in pesos. Sometimes the price is better than the price I can find on other websites in US dollars, sometimes the same.

 

[manning]

try one of these. Costco sells one. Super cheap.

My wife calls Poland And is able to talk a long time.

 

[AnnaS]

Can you buy a $2 Europe/International calling card? We buy these all the time when we need to call Italy. We get about 90 minutes on it. If your calls are short, every time you call, the minutes get used up faster. We get them at our local card/newspaper store/shop.

 

[RedNoseMickey]

Just talked to Verizon. $1.49 a minute. I can swallow that!

You can use Skype, it will be much cheaper.

 

[Samaya]

Hi and happy to read that by being inquisitive you've made such a saving and as for calling Norwegian Cruise Line in Europe, if you've not already called then the Continental Europe web site quotes a toll free number of 00800 0310 21 21.

So as the previous poster stated why not try Skype as sometimes you can call Toll Free numbers across the world at no cost on Skype. You might need to add a prefix such as +44 then 00800 0310 21 21.

NCL lines open weekdays 9.00 a.m to 7.00 p.m. and Saturday 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Sunday - Closed.
But as that's European times it's best to call in the morning or at least before 1.00 p.m. EST.

I've called from the UK through Skype to a few USA free phone numbers and there was never a charge.

If you've not yet checked/compared the different T&C's for cancelling then check out item 6 on the EU site at...
http://www.ncl.eu/helpful-informati...ooking-conditions/booking-conditions-2015-16/
And for the US site..
http://www.ncl.com/about/cancellation-fee-schedule

Good luck with your purchase, hope you can seek out more vacation savings and have a wonderful cruise.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Hi and happy to read that by being inquisitive you've made such a saving and as for calling Norwegian Cruise Line in Europe, if you've not already called then the Continental Europe web site quotes a toll free number of 00800 0310 21 21.

So as the previous poster stated why not try Skype as sometimes you can call Toll Free numbers across the world at no cost on Skype. You might need to add a prefix such as +44 then 00800 0310 21 21.

NCL lines open weekdays 9.00 a.m to 7.00 p.m. and Saturday 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Sunday - Closed.
But as that's European times it's best to call in the morning or at least before 1.00 p.m. EST.

I've called from the UK through Skype to a few USA free phone numbers and there was never a charge.

If you've not yet checked/compared the different T&C's for cancelling then check out item 6 on the EU site at...
http://www.ncl.eu/helpful-informati...ooking-conditions/booking-conditions-2015-16/
And for the US site..
http://www.ncl.com/about/cancellation-fee-schedule

Good luck with your purchase, hope you can seek out more vacation savings and have a wonderful cruise.

Samaya, you are always so helpful! Thank you for all of that info. So from what I'm seeing, if I HAD to cancel over 31 days out it would just be 10% of the cost, which I think is also the deposit. So I'd lose out on the deposit.

I didn't end up paying but I'm still keeping it as an option. My husband is a little leery of booking a vacation over a year out...