What does your TA do for you?

I have a good friend who is a travel agent and I've used quite a bit. However, it never really seems like I get a better deal going through her or anything I couldn't get on my own. Pretty much whatever royal is offering is what I'll get. So my question, is what does your TA offer you to make you use them?

OBC and excellent service. The ability to make a booking or change by sending an email and not dealing with Royal's website or staying on hold for a long time.

If your TA isn't providing at least an 8% OBC, then you need to be shopping around.

I've only used a TA twice, on my first two cruises years ago, and wasn't impressed at all (two different TA companies). Since then, I've acted as my own TA and don't have to deal with a 3rd party and I'm much happier that way.

Great service, some OBC, depending on the booking, and a bottle of wine. I don't think Canadian TA's have quite the same profit margin's to work with, so the 8% OBC cited by a previous poster isn't realistic here.

Just a comment on the 8% number.

I work as an agent. If I gave that amount (I'm assuming you're calculating 8% of the cruise fare, minus taxes), I'd end up not only making $0, but I'd have to actually take out of my own account and pay the client.

I work under a franchisee. Commission is paid on cruise fare minus what is called non commissionable. That amount varies depending on length of the cruise. Then the main agency takes a percentage. The remaining amount is paid to my franchisee. She then takes a cut of the commission and pays me the balance.

So, if I were to give 8%, I'd actually go broke. Our home agency does a lot of business, so our percentage is decent, but after paying off two levels of people, my amount is reduced. I work as hard as I can for my clients, and often work with groups to offer OBC or other promotions. But a flat 8% number would not be something I could continue to do (and that's only me personally).

I have seen amounts being offered by large "big box" type places and since I can calculate the amounts, I know what they are giving back as a percentage of their take. I don't know how they pay their "agents" but they are definitely working on extremely large volumes so perhaps they can do that. Smaller agents (or people like me that work under a franchisee's license) might not be able to all the time.

We always get OBC and an additional discount (at least 8%) on our Princess and Uniworld cruises from our on-line TA.

I do most of the research but I can count on her going to bat for us with both cruise lines. We had a 10 day cruise reserved on the Royal Princess when Princess had an unpublicized (which I learned about from a posting on cruise critic) special that offered a 20 day B2B for $10 cheaper than the single cruise :eek:. Unfortunately, our cabin wasn't included (nor any of the others in the general vicinity) but the price was so good we were willing to give it up. She was amazed at the pricing, got on the phone right away to Princess, and managed to get them to agree to let us retain the same cabin. We leave on Sunday!

Since TA's in Canada started to charge fees for everything related travel and cruising . I now do my own bookings of cruises and or airfare .

Will buy trip cancellation from a local TA if cruise line doesn't or can't sell in Canada (Celebrity).

I've only used a TA twice, on my first two cruises years ago, and wasn't impressed at all (two different TA companies). Since then, I've acted as my own TA and don't have to deal with a 3rd party and I'm much happier that way.

I feel the same way. The most recent cruise for us was booked straight through Royal and it was the most seamless experience ever. Every time we have booked through a TA, something goes wrong.

I feel the same way. The most recent cruise for us was booked straight through Royal and it was the most seamless experience ever. Every time we have booked through a TA, something goes wrong.

That's not to say there are not good TA's out there. My parents seem quite pleased with theirs (who books most of our trips despite the glitches). I just had a good experience booking direct and will probably continue to do so unless/until I run into a problem.

Depends on the length of the cruise as our TA knows that since we are 5 Star Mariners on HAL we do get 2 free Pinnacle dinners each.

So shorter cruises (14 days) she gives us shipboard credit and a good bottle of wine.

On longer cruises (21 days or more) she gives us shipboard credit, a good bottle of wine and another free dinner each for the Pinnacle.

Since TA's in Canada started to charge fees for everything related travel and cruising...

Maybe it varies from province to province, but mine doesn't. Can't say which one since it's not allowed, but they are a major online travel website, with specific Cruise TA offices.

My TA gives me 10 to 15% off what Princess is offering, plus some OBC. All that and she does a great job.

Followups on all details, books hotels and usually offers amenities that we can't get on our own, on board credit, is our advocate with cruise lines, helps us save money by using milestones correctly and a countless number of items.

Like all professionals not all TA's are created equally. Some are poor, others OK, some excellent and some outstanding.

Mine is outstanding.

Keith

...I work as an agent....

 

...

Janet, thank you for explaining how this works. Consider me informed. :)

As far as our TA is concerned, once we got a bottle of wine in our cabin without asking. Once we got $50.00 OBC after asking. We have never received a discounted fare. However (and I won't go into details), she recently moved heaven and earth to make something happen concerning our upcoming cruise; it wasn't "supposed" to be able to work out, but she made it work. We gave her a bottle of wine. :)

We prefer using a TA and letting her deal with any potential problems that may arise.

We have been using a TA for our last few cruises. The TA is great for sourcing car services etc... we have been caught a few times in bad weather, delayed flights with no TA to help us. Now we can travel worry free as we know our TA is on it and will get us there. And before anyone says anything, yes we do fly in with at least 1 day cushion, now we try for two days.

We also get access to bulk sales and of course the OBC. Took a while to hand over the control, love control, but it was worth it in the end.

The big issue....are you talking about a true travel agent or an assembly line order taker.

One provides a service, the other just takes your order and sometimes gives you a discount. If all you need is your order filled, go for that. But if you want someone who can provide knowledge, expertise, personal attention and more, then get a real agent.

So....what's important -- TO YOU??

The big issue....are you talking about a true travel agent or an assembly line order taker.

 

One provides a service, the other just takes your order and sometimes gives you a discount. If all you need is your order filled, go for that. But if you want someone who can provide knowledge, expertise, personal attention and more, then get a real agent.

 

So....what's important -- TO YOU??

Good points. We're very low maintenance cruisers. When I contact my TAs, I tell them the itinerary, the cruise line, the ship, and the cabin category and I ask for a quote. I will often ask if they have a block of rooms and if they can suggest a different sailing date. But, that's the extent of 'personal attention' we require. My TAs know they have one chance, I won't be going back in forth playing one agent against another. But, to be honest, I don't always take the lowest bid as I like to remain in good standing with both TAs.

Oh, we book our own hotel rooms. We drive to the port so we don't need rental cars or air tickets.

To answer your question, the first two cruises we took we booked directly with the cruise lines. We got the same level of service from the cruise lines as we did from our two discounting TAs. Why should I pay 12 to 15% more for the same product/service?

We always get OBC and an additional discount (at least 8%) on our Princess and Uniworld cruises from our on-line TA.

 

I do most of the research but I can count on her going to bat for us with both cruise lines. We had a 10 day cruise reserved on the Royal Princess when Princess had an unpublicized (which I learned about from a posting on cruise critic) special that offered a 20 day B2B for $10 cheaper than the single cruise :eek:. Unfortunately, our cabin wasn't included (nor any of the others in the general vicinity) but the price was so good we were willing to give it up. She was amazed at the pricing, got on the phone right away to Princess, and managed to get them to agree to let us retain the same cabin. We leave on Sunday!

Wow....... you made out great.

Have a wonderful cruise.

Travel safely.

Not much.

That's why I prefer to use a Cruise Consultant with the line, generally they can get more done too.

We usually book through RCL to pick up whatever they are offering when they are having a sale, then within the next 60 days we switch our booking over to our online TA and pick up 50.00 obc, a dinner for two, and pre-paid gratuities. The only problem we have ever had was when hurricane Sandy hit and our flights to Europe were cancelled one day before leaving, one phone call to the TA and we were rebooked on a different airline out of LAX and a different airline out of CDG with no extra charges from choice air. Not sure how the cruise line would of handled it but our TA was great.

We do all the work. We do not expect much from our TA other than a rebate of 8-12 percent of the commissionable fare. We get good service for our requirements.

We do not need hand holding. We travel often and use the web for our travel bookings. Nor do we need a new best friend. For us it is about the bottom line price AND a level of service that suits our requirements. We also do not need to physically meet with our TA. On line is just fine with us as we understand the lower overhead/higher OBC equation. We actually prefer dealing with an on line agency because they have much better business hours.

Our TA does not charge for repricing or cabin changes. This does not happen very often since we invariably book inside the cancellation window.

Our TA answers e-mails and phone calls promptly. He also monitors all our bookings for price drops. If there are any he gets them for us. We don't get them very often because we usually get the best deal by booking early. He often gives us additional OBCs;

The big issue....are you talking about a true travel agent or an assembly line order taker.

 

One provides a service, the other just takes your order and sometimes gives you a discount. If all you need is your order filled, go for that. But if you want someone who can provide knowledge, expertise, personal attention and more, then get a real agent.

 

 

 

I agree with you. My sister is an agent and she provides everything you stated.

Just found a decent (so far) Travel Agent through a Facebook Friend. Even though he is across the country, he seems to be involved with his business. He checks for price drops, he has found OBC. And recently he was able to change an error in our booking. (one birthday was off by 2 days) The Cruise Line would have charged us for correcting the error. If his work continues to be excellent, I know we will probably be repeat customers of his.