Bait and Switch

Got the "Cool off this summer in Alaska" flyer in the mail today. Have never cruised Regent. Mostly Cunard. Was intrigued by the following printed statements:

"From Only $2,999"

"Florida Resident Special Offer"

"Free Roundtrip Air from Orlando"

Five sailings listed; 5/25, 6/1, 6/8, 6/15 and 6/28.

Called. The lowest CRUISE ONLY fares available ranged from $3,444 to $3,749.

"What about the Free Air?" I asked.

"Not available on these cruises," I was told.

"But it says, 'Free Roundtrip Air From Orlando," I responded.

Neither the agent or her supervisor could explain why this was printed on the flyer I received.

Is this typical for Regent?

Was this advertisement from Regent itself or a TA??

Does anyone have a florida address i could use?

Was this advertisement from Regent itself or a TA??

Regent.

Does anyone have a florida address i could use?

For what purpose? To be offered a deal that Regent will not honor?

Seeing this indeed was a mistake by Regent, call a knowledgeable TA to go to bat for you. Make sure your TA has clout with Regent. Its amazing what a good TA can do for you! (That is, if your serious on booking the cruise. if not, lease don't bother a busy travel professional)

Agree with Host Dan - if this is something you really want to pursue, get a good TA to contact them on your behalf. If you have the brochure, well, that's an advertised price and I'd believe they're legally obligated to honor it. (Caveat: I'm not a legal professional!)

Our TA has saved us thousands recently due to price adjustments - his agency fee is nothing compared to what he saves us. Money WELL spent.

But also as Dan said, if you were just dipping your toes in the water and weren't really serious about going, it's not right to waste a TA's time. That said - if that's something you're interested in, that's a heckuva deal for a Regent cruise. We did a week in Alaska a few years back and it was amazing.

Our TA has saved us thousands recently due to price adjustments - his agency fee is nothing compared to what he saves us. Money WELL spent.

 

Bill, are you serious about what I quoted?? You actually pay your TA for their services?? If true, absolutely shocked. We've got a great TA with great resources and contacts and rebates a minimum of 10% of the commissionable cruise fare and are extremely happy with them.

With the high commissions that R pays the TA, can only understand them extracting a fee from you should you cancel negating their commission.

Dave, not to drift too far off topic, our TA charges like $20 or so but I never even considered it an issue because of the OBCs we get, etc...frankly, I just never gave it much thought.

Actually we booked a cruise last year last minute and the fare sounded too good to be true. We tried to book at the advertised fare and was told it was not available despite the ad.

The TA was not experienced for Oceania (Regent's sister line) but I insisted if she went up the food chain and we were booked at the advertised rate.

I had kept the email. What was confused is the half price vs 2 for 1 was half the price in the ad and then there was 2 for one at the half price.

Bill, are you serious about what I quoted?? You actually pay your TA for their services?? If true, absolutely shocked. We've got a great TA with great resources and contacts and rebates a minimum of 10% of the commissionable cruise fare and are extremely happy with them.

 

With the high commissions that R pays the TA, can only understand them extracting a fee from you should you cancel negating their commission.

I totally agree. I can't imagine a TA charging for their services in this day & age of travel agency rebates. Our TA not only gets us the best deals (better than advertised), including OBC's, we also receive a healthy rebate cheque about 1 week before out departure. I would seriously consider finding a new TA.

Take a picture of the offer that you received and send it to your TA. Insist that Your TA contacts Regent and that they honour the offer. Do not deal with a Regent directly. They have no idea of what gets sent in the mail.

Why should you be required to go thru a TA to get an advertised price?

Dave, not to drift too far off topic, our TA charges like $20 or so but I never even considered it an issue because of the OBCs we get, etc...frankly, I just never gave it much thought.

Sorry but...$20??? Why bother? Never heard of a cruise TA charging anything.

I also have never heard of a TA charging for a cruise booking.

A TA might charge for airline bookings, but cruises??? I'll bet that $20 fee has cost the TA thousands in the long run!

Sorry but...$20??? Why bother? Never heard of a cruise TA charging anything.

Believe it. It happened to us. We were booking a Crystal cruise with a TA in California and when I saw the $50 charge for the TA I asked about it. They said it was a standard fee that they charged for their services. What? I told them I would not use them for the cruise.

Can you believe that? You know how much a cruise on Crystal costs. Why in the world would they risk losing that booking?

Anyway, they waived the fee to keep the booking but I have to tell you, I never used them again.

I can see them charging for a non-cruise vacation or an airline ticket. For land trips, agents put in a lot of work and if you cancel I can see a fee levied. For a cruise no, as they are taking your deposit which means you are serious. You may cancel the cruise in the allotted time without penalty but no respectable high end agency would charge you for that.

I would run not walk to a new agency.

Got the "Cool off this summer in Alaska" flyer in the mail today. Have never cruised Regent. Mostly Cunard. Was intrigued by the following printed statements:

 

 

 

"From Only $2,999"

 

 

 

"Florida Resident Special Offer"

 

 

 

"Free Roundtrip Air from Orlando"

 

 

 

Five sailings listed; 5/25, 6/1, 6/8, 6/15 and 6/28.

 

 

 

Called. The lowest CRUISE ONLY fares available ranged from $3,444 to $3,749.

 

 

 

"What about the Free Air?" I asked.

 

 

 

"Not available on these cruises," I was told.

 

 

 

"But it says, 'Free Roundtrip Air From Orlando," I responded.

 

 

 

Neither the agent or her supervisor could explain why this was printed on the flyer I received.

 

 

 

Is this typical for Regent?

Did you read the fine print? Sometimes there is a hidden code that needs to be entered on the reservation to get the price advertised.

It has happened to me, when they first started offering "free" internet, I had to give them the code "whychoose" in order for the agent to included it. Cunard line does that all the time, they send you an email with very good prices, but unless you enter the code hidden in the fine print, you can't get those prices even when calling Cunard reps.

Just my $.02.

Did you read the fine print? Sometimes there is a hidden code that needs to be entered on the reservation to get the price advertised.

It has happened to me, when they first started offering "free" internet, I had to give them the code "whychoose" in order for the agent to included it. Cunard line does that all the time, they send you an email with very good prices, but unless you enter the code hidden in the fine print, you can't get those prices even when calling Cunard reps.

Just my $.02.

In addition to the possibility of a code necessary, there are a couple more possibilities. Just noticed the first line says "From Only $2,999". Note the first word "From". This is a common advertising ploy where people think the price is $2,999 however, it is "From" meaning prices start there and there only needs to be one Suite available to make this a valid offer and it is possible that one suite is spoken for and the balance are at a higher price. Not unlike automobile advertisements where a very low price is offered and just below the offer a single stock number is listed and by the time most people call or go into the dealer, that specific car has already been sold.

There is also the possibility that this flyer did not come from Regent but, from some TA, Consolidator, etc. and is only valid from that supplier??

Normally companies look at offers like this with a fine tooth comb to be sure it is a valid offer and that any limitations are listed.