-
Sounds very chaotic!
None of these terms are enforceable for the Amex offer it either costs over £1500 or it doesn’t.
Someone has to spend quite a lot of money to find out whether your advice is correct…
I asked Abercrombie & **nt to price up flights & a hotel, and was asked “is this in relation to an Amex offer?”. They’re clearly not used to getting many requests. Not surprising given how awful their website is!
Asked for specific flights and a Four Seasons hotel, they said, 5 nights minimum and must include flights and accommodation, and I said that’s fine. Then it became flights, accommodation and sightseeing. Then they said to wait 48 hours while it processes as they “tailor make all itineraries” (aka rip you off to the highest possible degree).
Then they pull their final card… “There is a minimum deposit per booking of £1500, which must be 15% of the value of your booking. Therefore the minimum spend is £10,500”
It was too good to be true after all!
Not too different compared to my Trailfinders store visit experience about a decade ago, thinking I will save £100 on £1000+ Spend on Amex, with multiple cards to use! IT still felt rip-off and ended up doing NZ trip as DIY and it all went well in the end for us!
If the trailfinders one comes around again you can just buy TF gift cards with as many Amex cards as you have the offer on. They’re valid for a long time and ringfenced like all TF customer funds. I used 2 of them for my South Africa trip booked via them before the pandemc hit. TF ultimately refunded them back to gift cards without a blink (plus the remainder of my holiday costs back to my CC)
Ultimately I flogged the cards to my uncle to use for his cruise.
None of these terms are enforceable for the Amex offer it either costs over £1500 or it doesn’t.
Someone has to spend quite a lot of money to find out whether your advice is correct…
Well there’s the simple fact none of those terms are in the Amex offer T&C then A&K has to give all that information to Amex for them to know the transaction qualified or not and since when does that happen?
I seriously doubt anyone is getting 66% off just simply looking at the sort of holidays they sell but I’m sure you could get 10-20% off a great holiday.
Sounds very chaotic!
Indeed. I think they probably asked @executiveclubber re the Amex offer as they are likely getting a whole lot of similar unserious time wasting enquiries from a clientele that isn’t their usual market. Doesn’t seem at all “amateur” to have the measure of your customer.
For their real customers, I’m sure they will be pleased to get £1k off their trips.
None of these terms are enforceable for the Amex offer it either costs over £1500 or it doesn’t.
Someone has to spend quite a lot of money to find out whether your advice is correct…
Well there’s the simple fact none of those terms are in the Amex offer T&C then A&K has to give all that information to Amex for them to know the transaction qualified or not and since when does that happen?
I seriously doubt anyone is getting 66% off just simply looking at the sort of holidays they sell but I’m sure you could get 10-20% off a great holiday.
I agree that nobody is likely to be getting two thirds off their holiday but that’s clearly what many posters here were expecting. The idea of a £3050 holiday with £2k back on two cards brings out a lot of chancers, so A&K will rue this offer not having realised the forces it might unleash.
In respect of the T&Cs, A&K seem to be doing a good job of fighting people off at source and will probably do more.
None of these terms are enforceable for the Amex offer it either costs over £1500 or it doesn’t.
Someone has to spend quite a lot of money to find out whether your advice is correct…
Well there’s the simple fact none of those terms are in the Amex offer T&C then A&K has to give all that information to Amex for them to know the transaction qualified or not and since when does that happen?
I seriously doubt anyone is getting 66% off just simply looking at the sort of holidays they sell but I’m sure you could get 10-20% off a great holiday.
I agree that nobody is likely to be getting two thirds off their holiday but that’s clearly what many posters here were expecting. The idea of a £3050 holiday with £2k back on two cards brings out a lot of chancers, so A&K will rue this offer not having realised the forces it might unleash.
In respect of the T&Cs, A&K seem to be doing a good job of fighting people off at source and will probably do more.
I think if they had outlined the correct offer terms at source (e.g., the minimum £15k spend within the Amex offer terms) they wouldn’t need to do any fighting at all.
As I said somewhere above, they just need to go back to Amex, amend and/or relaunch – saves the fending phone calls!
None of these terms are enforceable for the Amex offer it either costs over £1500 or it doesn’t.
Someone has to spend quite a lot of money to find out whether your advice is correct…
Well there’s the simple fact none of those terms are in the Amex offer T&C then A&K has to give all that information to Amex for them to know the transaction qualified or not and since when does that happen?
I seriously doubt anyone is getting 66% off just simply looking at the sort of holidays they sell but I’m sure you could get 10-20% off a great holiday.
I agree that nobody is likely to be getting two thirds off their holiday but that’s clearly what many posters here were expecting. The idea of a £3050 holiday with £2k back on two cards brings out a lot of chancers, so A&K will rue this offer not having realised the forces it might unleash.
In respect of the T&Cs, A&K seem to be doing a good job of fighting people off at source and will probably do more.
Why am I chancer for wanting to benefit from an offer that promises exactly that?
You seem to be the most disagreeable character around here.
@smitrax – thank you. I’m not out to win any popularity prizes. I didn’t actually respond to any post by you, so not sure why you thought any comment was aimed at you, save on the basis of if the cap fits etc. Others appear to have understood the nature of the offer and the offeror, thus answering your question.
Well, I could actually do with some hotels booked through them and requested quotes which don’t seem to unreasonable (although they got the nights wrong and I’m estimating based on a bit of division and multiplication).
Let’s see what they come back with…
I could be booking two separate hotels with them if the prices are around right in which case I’ll ask to put one of them on my card and one on my partners supplementary card. Spoke to Amex and I can’t see any T&Cs that would mean we wouldn’t get £1k back on each booking. Anyone heard differently?
Well, I could actually do with some hotels booked through them and requested quotes which don’t seem to unreasonable (although they got the nights wrong and I’m estimating based on a bit of division and multiplication).
Let’s see what they come back with…
I could be booking two separate hotels with them if the prices are around right in which case I’ll ask to put one of them on my card and one on my partners supplementary card. Spoke to Amex and I can’t see any T&Cs that would mean we wouldn’t get £1k back on each booking. Anyone heard differently?
As I posted yesterday, I had this response from A&K in relation to the Amex offer:
Valid for Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal Cruises bookings made directly through the UK or via AMEX TLS UK. Minimum deposit payment £1,500. Valid on inclusive packages only, minimum 5 nights. Offer excludes A&K Villas. Not valid for hotel only or flight only bookings. Deposit and final balance must be paid by the same card holder.
Well, I could actually do with some hotels booked through them and requested quotes which don’t seem to unreasonable (although they got the nights wrong and I’m estimating based on a bit of division and multiplication).
Let’s see what they come back with…
I could be booking two separate hotels with them if the prices are around right in which case I’ll ask to put one of them on my card and one on my partners supplementary card. Spoke to Amex and I can’t see any T&Cs that would mean we wouldn’t get £1k back on each booking. Anyone heard differently?
As I posted yesterday, I had this response from A&K in relation to the Amex offer:
Valid for Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal Cruises bookings made directly through the UK or via AMEX TLS UK. Minimum deposit payment £1,500. Valid on inclusive packages only, minimum 5 nights. Offer excludes A&K Villas. Not valid for hotel only or flight only bookings. Deposit and final balance must be paid by the same card holder.
I don’t have the offer on my card. If I wanted to book something through A&K which doesn’t meet these additional T&C’s am I going to be blocked from using an Amex for the booking?
Well, I could actually do with some hotels booked through them and requested quotes which don’t seem to unreasonable (although they got the nights wrong and I’m estimating based on a bit of division and multiplication).
Let’s see what they come back with…
I could be booking two separate hotels with them if the prices are around right in which case I’ll ask to put one of them on my card and one on my partners supplementary card. Spoke to Amex and I can’t see any T&Cs that would mean we wouldn’t get £1k back on each booking. Anyone heard differently?
As I posted yesterday, I had this response from A&K in relation to the Amex offer:
Valid for Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal Cruises bookings made directly through the UK or via AMEX TLS UK. Minimum deposit payment £1,500. Valid on inclusive packages only, minimum 5 nights. Offer excludes A&K Villas. Not valid for hotel only or flight only bookings. Deposit and final balance must be paid by the same card holder.
So has the A&K Amex offer been updated to include this in the Ts and Cs now?
Other companies manage the minimum spend aspect of their offers well and their offers do not create as much confusion. A&K hasn’t even mentioned the minimum 15% deposit or the £10,500 figure mentioned somewhere above in that last little snippet.
What Abercrombie & Kent’s offer should have said was something along the lines of “Spend £10,500, get £1500 back” – it would appeal to those in the market for A&K holidays and it would stave off those who are not interested in spending that amount of money.
My saved offer hasn’t been updated.
A&K advertise 3 nights in Paris from £1055 per person. I don’t think it would make me a ‘chancer’ if I was to book that for a couple on a single card with an expectation that I would get the rebate.
If it can be cancelled, worth a punt?
They key is in the ‘from’. They can say they only have a limited amount of packages at that price (like one is enough). It’s how companies get away from advertising rules.
Surely they price city breaks up for each customer on demand. The website tells you the hotel the headline price is based on so you would just say you want to stay there (Hotel Pont Royal) and you are flexible as to the dates. You can book this hotel direct on its website for 280 euros per night in February. I don’t see how A&K could charge much more than two grand for 840 euros worth of hotel rooms and two eurostar tickets.
I’m not going to do this btw as I don’t want this particular break and I don’t want the admin if they won’t pay out.
@KevinC – A&K isn’t and doesn’t want to be an execution only travel agency which is how you are assuming the quote can’t be more than £x. They would as standard usually include transfers and sightseeing tours, local tickets/passes. They also want a substantial margin over and above any hotel commissions, ticket issuing fees etc. When you take £1k off, you might have a decent deal. They basically deal with customers who trust the name, want absolutely everything organised for them and are happy to pay handsomely for that.
My ‘chancer’ comment was really relating to the people clearly not understanding the nature of the beast, imagining that you could basically treat A&K like BAH, add the cost of a flight and hotel for £1501 and get a grand off.
Yes @JDB, I appreciate all that and you do get extras with the Paris trip. It’s not comparable to booking an easyJet package. Private transfers are included for instance and you get a walking tour.
All I’m trying to do is work out what the starting price is for a genuine A&K package and, using their own website as a resource, it seems to be three days in Paris for £2110 for two people. I don’t see why Amex wouldn’t process the rebate if you bought that.
If A&K don’t want to give the rebate on that package, they need to update the terms.
But the fact is that you can’t get that starting price as that starting price even if you are totally flexible as to dates might have been sold out by the time you call or the itinerary is priced.
@KevinC – yes, you should get the cashback on that, but as pointed out by others above, the price is “from £1055”. That may be the ‘starting price’ you are looking for but I’m fairly sure it’s a guide price only and maybe something of a come on price. For most people’s money, they aren’t really giving away £1k but rather less.
But the fact is that you can’t get that starting price as that starting price even if you are totally flexible as to dates might have been sold out by the time you call or the itinerary is priced.
if you can’t get a quote at or around that order of magnitude, then A&K should be updating their website, or be reported to the ASA.
They’ve clearly messed up with this offer, as even if they in effect make it impossible to trigger without a higher spend. They’re clearly fielding a lot of calls from people wanting to trigger Amex offer in low spend. Can’t be good use of their staff resources to have continually repeat the new t&c’s.
@ed_fly – I think you are being very unrealistic here. It’s really a trading standards issue rather than an ASA one but anyway retailers are incredibly adept at using ‘up to 70% off’ or ‘from’ prices within professional guidelines and lawfully. The A&K prices are very clearly shown to be indicative.
While I think A&K has been rather naive in framing this offer, they understandably had no idea it would attract customers essentially expecting a £1500 TV for £500 and I think those calling asking for quotes on that basis are equally naive. What made them think A&K was an OTA?
Your post suggests the offer terms have changed. Have they?
How can you prove that they haven’t sold that one package at that starting price to the person who called a day before you?
When the price is ‘from’, it’s just a guideline to tell you it can’t be lower, but at the other end of the spectrum the sky is the limit.
From the ASA website – ‘Do not use “from” and “up to” to exaggerate the availability or potential savings
Code rule 3.22 states that price claims such as “up to” and “from” must not exaggerate the availability or amount of benefits likely to be obtained by the consumer.
When assessing “up to” and “from” saving claims the ASA are likely to have regard to the CTSI Guidance For Traders on Pricing Practices. This guidance states that, when using “from” or “up to” to advertise a saving, marketers must ensure that a significant proportion of sale items are discounted at the maximum saving, and that these claims represent the true overall picture of the price promotion.
What is considered a “significant proportion” may depend on individual factors in each case and the ASA will consider this on a case-by-case basis. Historically, the ASA have considered that less than 10% is unlikely to be considered a significant proportion.’
Given that multiple packages on A&K are under advertised at under £3k per person, it would seem odd if every single one had been sold ‘the day before’.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
