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Best Travel Agent Perks


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Hi Everyone,

 

Everytime I cruise I use the same travel agent. He does a great job in organizing the trip, but I never seem to get a special "perks" from booking with him. Have any of you recieved these perks? What are they and what is the best agent to book with?

 

I typically book 7 - 9 night cruises on RCCL, Canival, or Princess.

 

Thanks.

 

R

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TA perks can run the gamut from 1) reduced pricing (from the cut in their commission that they take), 2) on board credits (OBC), and 3) stateroom gifts. The latter can be anything from (IMO) useless logo'd trinkets -- a cruiseline beach towel -- to bottle(s) of wine.

 

For me, the best perk is the best price combined with the best service. If they feel the need to make it even better, a nice OBC is welcome. After that, keep your frames/bags/towels/and coupon books, thank you.

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i do not understand the purpose of using a ta. i have booked with a ta on every cruise and have had no problems. however, this time there were some issues that i had questions about. each time i called my ta, she could not answer my questions. she had to call carnival to get the answer. one issue regarding wether an obc that was given after final payment was not resolved to my satisfaction. it has been back and forth about wether it would be refundable if not used on the cruise. since the amount is quite large, i asked if the ta could get it in writing and she said she could not. why wouldn't i just deal with the cruise line and get answers on the spot?

 

madi

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i do not understand the purpose of using a ta. i have booked with a ta on every cruise and have had no problems. however, this time there were some issues that i had questions about. each time i called my ta, she could not answer my questions. she had to call carnival to get the answer. one issue regarding wether an obc that was given after final payment was not resolved to my satisfaction. it has been back and forth about wether it would be refundable if not used on the cruise. since the amount is quite large, i asked if the ta could get it in writing and she said she could not. why wouldn't i just deal with the cruise line and get answers on the spot?

 

madi

 

No you will never get an OBC amount refunded. It is cash to be used on the ship, not a discount on the ticket price. Two totally different things. The obc can be used on your final bill. I doubt it would be more than you will be spending.

 

Of course you could book thru the cruiseline. Any agent, depending on the specific question, might need to check with the cruiseline. It is not that big of a deal. If you are not satisfied with your TA's service, just find one that deals with cruises only. They might be more familiar with all the lines to answer more questions for you "on the spot".

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Hi Everyone,

 

Everytime I cruise I use the same travel agent. He does a great job in organizing the trip, but I never seem to get a special "perks" from booking with him. Have any of you recieved these perks? What are they and what is the best agent to book with?

 

I typically book 7 - 9 night cruises on RCCL, Canival, or Princess.

 

Thanks.

 

R

 

You can look at the service you get from your TA as the "perk". OR... if you are like us and know exactly what you want (ship,room choice,eating arrangements, hotels, transportation etc) before you book, you can go to a large web TA who books only cruises. We use a web TA for all our land and cruise vacations. Because she is large and has access to many brokers, we get some great cash obc's. Depending on the cruise length and cost, we have received obc's from $250 to $500. ( Does a great job in reducing our final bill.) So even if we can't get a discount on the price of the cruise, we do well enough. If you are dealing with a smaller TA, they often don't have the quantity of sales that permit them to offer anything more than the bottle of wine or free shuttle.

It's a very personal decision as far as using brick and mortar TA's vs the web sites. We used a local TA for a couple of large group family cruises. But since we are familiar with the process of booking just for us, we use the web TA. She offers good service, talks via phone with me often and offers us great perks due to our loyalty.

 

Sorry we cannot recommend any TA's on Cruise critic.

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No you will never get an OBC amount refunded. It is cash to be used on the ship, not a discount on the ticket price. Two totally different things. The obc can be used on your final bill. I doubt it would be more than you will be spending.

 

INCORRECT...... there are 2 types of OBC one being non refundable, and 1 being refundable. Non refundable will be the ones that are due to a rate reduction after final payment has been made and the other REFUNDABLE is if someone purchases an OBC as a gift or you do so yourself. I know this for fact as our TA gave us one as a gift and we had one due to a lower rate.... and we had stock holders OBC. Because we did not use all the OBC's on our S & S bill, the cruiseline had a check for $50.00 attached to our final bill at end of cruise. A nice surprise ! :rolleyes:

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Every Cruise i have done, we have booked directly with the company. I have helped alot of my family members as well doing it this way.

 

We have found that we can control our own upgrades. I have heard alot of bad stories about others who's TA didn't request the upgrade and they were out.

 

I love the research!!

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INCORRECT...... there are 2 types of OBC one being non refundable, and 1 being refundable. Non refundable will be the ones that are due to a rate reduction after final payment has been made and the other REFUNDABLE is if someone purchases an OBC as a gift or you do so yourself. I know this for fact as our TA gave us one as a gift and we had one due to a lower rate.... and we had stock holders OBC. Because we did not use all the OBC's on our S & S bill, the cruiseline had a check for $50.00 attached to our final bill at end of cruise. A nice surprise ! :rolleyes:

 

 

The previous poster was referring to the non refundable kind of OBC. So no , she wouldn't get it refunded.

In your case, perhaps because you are a stockholder you received that particular OBC back. Heck, considering the drop in cruise stock prices as of late, you can consider yourself lucky!

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With 100 shares of RCCL you get obc depending on how long the cruise short 5 nights or less $50.00, 7 nights $100.00...we have not been on a longer cruise yet so I'm not sure if the credit goes up on 10 or more nights or not !:D Very good deal and the stock is a great investment.

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I have read that you can request "cash" at the purser's office from your OBC line to use in the casino. Whether you spend it there or not is your business - but just another way to "get yur money back" in case you don't eat it up with tips, shore excursions, drinks, souveniors, etc. Correct me if

I am wrong. By the way, on cruises of 14 days or longer - RCCL gives shareholders $ 250 OBC per cruise/per booking. There is no limit on the number of times you

can use this benefit.

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  • 8 years later...
With 100 shares of RCCL you get obc depending on how long the cruise short 5 nights or less $50.00, 7 nights $100.00...we have not been on a longer cruise yet so I'm not sure if the credit goes up on 10 or more nights or not !:D Very good deal and the stock is a great investment.

 

Actually NOT a good investment - if you don't watch it. Currently (Jan 2017) you'll pay about $9,000 for 100 shs. It yield just over 2% in dividends but it LOST 18% in value in last year. Hence you lost $1620 while trying for $100-$250 OBCs.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The TA we use doesn't give OBC but they often have really great group rates, and those sailings also come with perks. Our cruise this summer comes with an 8% rebate (paid after the cruise), a speciality dining credit, soda packages, activity credits to use on the private island stop and a free spa treatment. Even without the extras, the fare alone was lower than I've seen for anything comparable.

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  • 1 month later...

Our on line TA rebates us anywhere from 8-12 percent of the commissionable fare in the form of an OBC.

 

From time to time we get a little extra. IF the agency has group booking we may get a small OBC for that or minor cabin upgrade. Once we have had a free excursion-all day with a great restaurant lunch included.

 

Other....she as given us customer feedback on other ship/cruise line. She has made us aware of other attractive offers when we contact her to make late booking.

 

She also co-ordinated a move over offer from Princess that provided us with a free 14 day cruise plus an upgraded cabin simply for changing the date our cruise.

 

Very happy with her and with her agency.

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Our on line TA rebates us anywhere from 8-12 percent of the commissionable fare in the form of an OBC.

 

From time to time we get a little extra. IF the agency has group booking we may get a small OBC for that or minor cabin upgrade. If you are doing a group booking, depending on the size you are entitled to compensation either in OBC or upgrade or flat our reimbursement. With 8 cabins or more you should get one berth free. Once we have had a free excursion-all day with a great restaurant lunch included.

 

Other....she as given us customer feedback on other ship/cruise line. She has made us aware of other attractive offers when we contact her to make late booking. This is her job. If she didn't do this she wouldn't be doing her job. Like going to a restaurant and asking the waiter what was his favorite meal and why.

 

She also co-ordinated a move over offer from Princess that provided us with a free 14 day cruise plus an upgraded cabin simply for changing the date our cruise. Princess called her and asked if you wanted this offer and they did all the work. She just said yes.

 

Very happy with her and with her agency.

 

It sounds like she is doing her basic job and taking credit for work other people are doing. Seriously, on the move over offer Princess calls, do you want it yes or no. If yes they move you and your TA says thanks. All your TA did was answer the phone and give her Princess the date.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Actually NOT a good investment - if you don't watch it. Currently (Jan 2017) you'll pay about $9,000 for 100 shs. It yield just over 2% in dividends but it LOST 18% in value in last year. Hence you lost $1620 while trying for $100-$250 OBCs.

 

Actually, as of today 8/11 closing price, they are up to 117.

 

So your 100 shares would have made $1700 this year so far. So a return of 18.8% over 8 months.

 

I wish I had seen this in Jan and bought some stock. :D

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Actually, as of today 8/11 closing price, they are up to 117.

 

So your 100 shares would have made $1700 this year so far. So a return of 18.8% over 8 months.

 

I wish I had seen this in Jan and bought some stock. :D

 

You'd only make money if you SOLD it on 8/11. The whole SM is up. And if you sold it, you wouldn't get the OBC. Just saying....;)

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OBC that comes from a TA can and will be refunded. OBC from the cruise line cannot. I always get it from my TA, plus wine packages, picture packages etc.

 

Your statement about OBC from the cruise line not being able to be refunded is not true, at least not where Princess is concerned. It all depends on the OBC involved. For example, the Veterans' OBC most certainly is refundable.

 

Tom

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Your statement about OBC from the cruise line not being able to be refunded is not true, at least not where Princess is concerned. It all depends on the OBC involved. For example, the Veterans' OBC most certainly is refundable.

 

Tom

 

I've never r had the Veterans Credit and it CANNOT BE USED IN THE Casino. Since it seems to be up to $250 for the cabin, my guess is most would use it for gratuities first and then any other credit from cruise line (usually minimal). ANY OBC purchased by an agent IS refundable. (at least on RCI). Haven't been on Princess in a while. The principal is that someone other than the cruise line PAID for that OBC out of their commissions.

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