Upsell - plus fee?

[Oceanwench]

Has anyone ever been offered an upsell - through your TA - and the agency wanted to add a "change" fee?

 

I had a message from my TA that an upsell was being offered by HAL to my daughter for an upcoming cruise. She told me the cost, then she said there would be a change fee added for the agency.

 

Not sure what that is about. DD had a guarantee to begin with and only got her assignment two days ago. There is no canceling and rebooking here - nothing changes except her cabin number, and I'm the one who prints her docs.

 

The same TA offered DH and me an upsell several weeks ago and did not ask for a change fee.

[Randyk47]

We've only been offered an up sell once and the TA didn't indicate there'd be any additional fee. Of course the up sell was a significant increase in our fare so obviously the TA was going to benefit from a higher commission so they were going to earn or collect more if we accepted. Since the up sell would have doubled our fare for the cruise we declined so I never saw any paperwork, etc., with fees.

[TMJplus1]

We got a fantastic upsell the day before our Eurodam cruise and there was no change fee. Different travel agents/agencies seem to charge differently for things. If the upsell was still a great deal, and the "change fee" was reasonable (I would consider "reasonable" to be less than $25), I would probably consider doing it.

[jmps]

If there is much of a fee at all I wouldn't use this TA again. I will start paying very close attention to ALL change fee info in choosing a TA from now on. Thanks for posting.

[jhannah]

I guess they're getting on the bandwagon with the banks and tacking on fees for everything they do (and can get away with.)

[cle1]

We have been offered upsells 4 times, and NEVER was an agency fee tacked on.

[treasure4two]

Last summer I asked CC about TAs charging additional fees for any type of changes, upsells or reductions and other than one out of about 50, never heard of a TA charging-poor customer service.After being with the same agency for 5 years, I changed because of the greedy TA-I talked to her supervisor and just got lip service. That old TA has since lost out on three crusies we booked, including a 17 day one HAL, and it has only been 3 months since I got back from the one she tried to charge me $300 for changes!!

[Oceanwench]

Thanks for all the replies.

The fee is more than $25 - but less than $50.

I spoke to the TA today and she claimed it's because of "changing the invoice."

I argued that according to their invoice, my daughter is just an H guarantee. That does not match what her cabin assignment is now.

So the TA said they have the lowest prices, so they money is charged because that is how they make "commission."

 

Turns out she did charge us the same fee when DH took an upsell for our cabin.

 

I will see what cabins are available for the upsell for my daughter, and I will make a decision based on that. However, I am going to find a new TA ...

[mrsltg]

I am sorry, Oceanwench. What a greedy, well, wench?!? I look forward to kicking back and laughing about this with you next week!

[Jade13]

Thanks for all the replies.

The fee is more than $25 - but less than $50.

I spoke to the TA today and she claimed it's because of "changing the invoice."

I argued that according to their invoice, my daughter is just an H guarantee. That does not match what her cabin assignment is now.

So the TA said they have the lowest prices, so they money is charged because that is how they make "commission."

 

Turns out she did charge us the same fee when DH took an upsell for our cabin.

 

I will see what cabins are available for the upsell for my daughter, and I will make a decision based on that. However, I am going to find a new TA ...

 

Some do, but it should be spelled out on your invoice. The now defunct CVC charged a $50.00 change fee and $75.00 cancellation fee. They were offering HAL cruises at a substantial discount. They did waive the change fee if canceling one cruise and booking another with them and last year did not charge us when our Celebrity cruise went down in price and did get us the new price too.

[Bakincakes]

Never heard of a TA getting commission on an upsell.:confused:

 

Sound like your TA is feeling the need for greed.

[Johanna7]

We cancelled a cruise last year with ours and she had done a considerable amount of work on it. It was before final payment. She never charged us a cent. Said it is part of the service. We have 2 cruise booking with that agency now. One is a month away, the other in the summer.

[singer123]

I am somewhat new to cruising, and I purchased an SS guarantee suite. It was my understanding that this meant we COULD be upgraded to the next level if it was available, and I thought it was just a "luck" thing. After reading this, I'm wondering--do I have to pay for it, and how do I find out about it? THANKS!!

[mrsltg]

I am somewhat new to cruising, and I purchased an SS guarantee suite. It was my understanding that this meant we COULD be upgraded to the next level if it was available, and I thought it was just a "luck" thing. After reading this, I'm wondering--do I have to pay for it, and how do I find out about it? THANKS!!

 

A guarantee is different than an upsell. You are guaranteed to get at least an SS suite. An upsell would/could occur if HAL places you in an SS and then calls you and says, "We have an SA available for you. We can upgrade you for $100/pp." Whether or not you take the upsell will have no impact on your guarantee. You'll still be in at least an SS.

 

Clear as mud, right?

[Oceanwench]

I am somewhat new to cruising, and I purchased an SS guarantee suite. It was my understanding that this meant we COULD be upgraded to the next level if it was available, and I thought it was just a "luck" thing. After reading this, I'm wondering--do I have to pay for it, and how do I find out about it? THANKS!!

 

I'm sorry -- I may have confused you with my first post.

 

I booked a guarantee for my daughter. When she got her cabin assignment, she had been upgraded several categories. [still an outside cabin.] That does not involved any cost or any fee from the agency.

 

But now, HAL is offering to move her to an even higher category [balcony] for a small fee. That is called an "upsell."

HAL contacted the TA to make the offer. She contacted me.

But she claims the agency has to "re-invoice" the reservation if we take the upsell - and they have to charge us a fee for their efforts.

[alcpa1]

When I was booking an upcoming cruise I did find several on line agencies that charged fees for every change possible. That included changing cabins within the same class. Most of these on line agencies were very clear about their policies and we took that into consideration when we chose our TA. Others were not so forthcoming and the extra fees were well hidden in the "fine" print. As consumers we must be proactive and ask.

Check your TA's website to verify their fees and if it is not posted ask to speak with a supervisor to remedy the situation.

[chrismch]

On our last cruise there were a few price changes and then we changed our cruise to a b2b. This meant rebooking at least 4 times with out TA with no extra fees.

[Randyk47]

I am somewhat new to cruising, and I purchased an SS guarantee suite. It was my understanding that this meant we COULD be upgraded to the next level if it was available, and I thought it was just a "luck" thing. After reading this, I'm wondering--do I have to pay for it, and how do I find out about it? THANKS!!

 

You will see folks here use terms like upgrade, up sell, or up buy. A true upgrade is an offer or a decision by the cruise line to move you to a higher cabin category and is free. An up sell is the cruise line coming to you through your TA or directly depending on how you booked the cruise and offering a higher category cabin at a price. That price can be a discount of the difference between the cabin categories or full fare difference. An up buy is where you decide you'd like a higher category cabin and you pay the difference between your category and the new category cabin.

[singer123]

Thanks everyone. I think I understand better now.

[Oceanwench]

When I was booking an upcoming cruise I did find several on line agencies that charged fees for every change possible. That included changing cabins within the same class. Most of these on line agencies were very clear about their policies and we took that into consideration when we chose our TA. Others were not so forthcoming and the extra fees were well hidden in the "fine" print. As consumers we must be proactive and ask.

Check your TA's website to verify their fees and if it is not posted ask to speak with a supervisor to remedy the situation.

 

I did find their policy and they do state that they charge for every change. :(

 

I did not look at that part of their policy when booking. We always book a specific cabin [DH needs HC accessible] and we have never been offered an upsell in all our years of cruising. Vista ships have just over 2 dozen HC cabins - smaller ships have fewer - and usually they are booked way in advance.

 

We're taken our kids a couple times and booked them guarantees - they received minimal upgrades [from an HH to a GG or some such thing] but never were offered an upsell.

 

The whole upsell thing is new to us, and while we are thrilled with the opportunity, I was just put off by the agency cashing in on it.

Particularly annoying is their charging for my daughter's upsell, given that she had a guarantee to start with, not a specific cabin.

 

I am now more aware of how this agency operates and will look elsewhere in the future!