How much was your OBC from your TA?

[patseacruiser]

Some may have groups that they booked much earlier so prices are much less compared to if they booked you individually today.

[ondeckatsea]

It seems to be a thing of the past. Years ago it was normal to receive a bottle of wine from the TA. That's gone. We haven't seen one for years. Once or twice we received a $100 cabin credit which was appreciated. Last year I booked a Mediterrean cruise for my husband and me and 3 of our friends. It was very expensive and we also booked the flights through the travel agent. I did all the research and everything but the ticketing. We received absolutely nothing. We had been booking with this agency for 20 years. We were never picky or critical and I thought ideal customers. This year we have a new agent and have booked one twelve night and two fourteen night cruises with her, one of which is another Mediterrean. It was the lack of appreciation for all the business we had given her that turned us off.

[lysolqn]

The discussion about how much (or how little!) OBC people have received is certainly interesting but unless we're comparing apples to apples, it's of little more than just conversational value which is making some folks feel triumphant and others sorely disappointed. Considering our own experience and that of many who've posted to this thread, I suspect OBC is as much a function of a specific cruise and accommodations chosen as it is a function of a travel agent's generosity or lack thereof. The only truly reliable way to judge how great an OBC deal is, is to compare OBC received by pax who occupy the very same category of accommodations on the very same ship on the very same sailing. Otherwise, there's really no standard by which to judge and so far, while the numbers have been great for some and less great for others, we've yet to see that specific comparison.

[jagoffee]

As to how often people get on board only to find no OBC? Just read through several past threads here. Someone from our office has witnessed it on every cruise they have been on in the past two years.

 

As far as putting in a dispute with your credit card company, good luck. As most agencies have Celebrity process your credit cards, you really have no recourse having them go to bat for you.

 

After I posted it the first time, no one said what they did and if they would be willing to give up 50% of their income. Everyone thinks you deserve an OBC or some gift. Try that with your doctor or the next time you buy a car.

 

Again I don't blame anyone for trying to get the best deal from someone, but those days will soon be over when the cruiselines eliminate commission and Celebrity and Royal follow Carnival's lead and stop allowing people to transfer to a TA more than 30 days from booking.

 

Those who give up their income and only deal in volume may be the Wal-marts of the world, but there are still many people who shop at the Nordstom's of TAs and they pay for the privilege to do it.

 

Telling you what a person who pays for a TA's advice versus one who doesn't is considered by CC to be a solicitation so it is not allowed. Just know that there are far more TA's who don't want or seek out a poster on cruise critic as a client. And there are far more who do not know about it than there are that do.

 

Will be waiting for those who say the deserve an OBC to fess up what they do and just how much of their salary they have given up in the last year.

 

Do you honestly think it is better for the TA for people to just leave their bookings with Celebrity instead of the TA accepting the booking and benefiting the passenger with some OBC? As I said previously I do not view it as the TA giving up some of their salary. I view it as the TA getting a bonus that they would not have received otherwise. Those TAs that do not wish to accept a booking under those conditions has a right to refuse the booking. It is not really a lose of salary when they do not have the booking, is it?

[Yahtic]

$400 obc plus free travel insurance

[mek]

As to how often people get on board only to find no OBC? Just read through several past threads here. Someone from our office has witnessed it on every cruise they have been on in the past two years.

 

As far as putting in a dispute with your credit card company, good luck. As most agencies have Celebrity process your credit cards, you really have no recourse having them go to bat for you.

 

 

You are so mistaken concerning this point. Amex will and has gone to bat for me on several occasions - not specifically on Celebrity, but with major companies - foreign and domestic and I have always had the issue resolved the way I expected.

[alivenwell]

Booked C1 through "warehouse club" and received $190.00.

[oceanqueen571]

$400 obc plus free travel insurance

 

You received $400 OBC for a 7 day Caribbean cruise from your TA? I am wondering if the price of the cruise went down that amount and you received it as an OBC.

 

It would be nice to have a real explanation. In addition, your agent only gets a % of that commission going to the agency.

 

I had a $700 OBC and an upgrade to CC when my cruise cost went down in price as a difference in cost. And BTW, due to very bad weather at that time, a TA is your best friend when you are having trouble getting to the ship. Ask many of the passengers that boarded Summit's 12/19 sailing days late due to a blizzard.

[testifyoncruises]

Do you honestly think it is better for the TA for people to just leave their bookings with Celebrity instead of the TA accepting the booking and benefiting the passenger with some OBC?

Yes I do for most cruisers. Most cruisers are just not as saavy as those who use cruise critic and as much as they would like to think so they do not represent the majority. Not by a longshot.

 

I don't blame someone who knows what that they are doing to shop around for the best they can get, but for the casual reader and lurker, know that with that there is always a risk of it not being there and being unable to receive any service other than that from a transactional agent or order taker.

 

I can tell you that I sat in on a TA advisory board recently and I know for a fact that RCI/Celebrity have plans to allow the discontinuing of transfers from direct to a TA within a period of time just as Carnival did last year. With Carnival you have 30 days. Soon the same sort of policy will be in place with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

[ivycruise]

Yes I do for most cruisers. Most cruisers are just not as saavy as those who use cruise critic and as much as they would like to think so they do not represent the majority. Not by a longshot.

 

I don't blame someone who knows what that they are doing to shop around for the best they can get, but for the casual reader and lurker, know that with that there is always a risk of it not being there and being unable to receive any service other than that from a transactional agent or order taker.

 

I can tell you that I sat in on a TA advisory board recently and I know for a fact that RCI/Celebrity have plans to allow the discontinuing of transfers from direct to a TA within a period of time just as Carnival did last year. With Carnival you have 30 days. Soon the same sort of policy will be in place with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

 

Well, that's interesting. I had not heard that Carnival was doing what you outline so I called my TA. They are a large warehouse club who provides travel services. I asked them if I had to transfer my Carnival booking to them within 30 days. They called Carnival and validated that as long as the booking is not paid in full, it can be transferred to the TA.

[testifyoncruises]

Well, that's interesting. I had not heard that Carnival was doing what you outline so I called my TA. They are a large warehouse club who provides travel services. I asked them if I had to transfer my Carnival booking to them within 30 days. They called Carnival and validated that as long as the booking is not paid in full, it can be transferred to the TA.

Then go ahead and try it with Carnival. I promise you the policy has been in effect for almost a year now: no transfers may be made after 30 days of a direct booking.

[jagoffee]

Yes I do for most cruisers. Most cruisers are just not as saavy as those who use cruise critic and as much as they would like to think so they do not represent the majority. Not by a longshot.

 

I don't blame someone who knows what that they are doing to shop around for the best they can get, but for the casual reader and lurker, know that with that there is always a risk of it not being there and being unable to receive any service other than that from a transactional agent or order taker.

 

I can tell you that I sat in on a TA advisory board recently and I know for a fact that RCI/Celebrity have plans to allow the discontinuing of transfers from direct to a TA within a period of time just as Carnival did last year. With Carnival you have 30 days. Soon the same sort of policy will be in place with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

 

Thanks for responding. I still fail to see what benefit it is to the TA if most cruisers just book directly with Celebrity. As you said, I doubt if this ever becomes the majority. Perhaps your point is that most customers do not have the knowledge to book direct and/or the cruise staff are not as qualified to help as a TA.

 

You prediction about the upcoming limitation of transferring after a certain period of time does make sense and I think that you are probably correct. I suspect the customer service support for a direct booking for the cruise line is greater than it is for a booking via a TA. The cruise line would expect the TA to aborp the cost of supporing the booking as a way to earn the commission. In a way, transferring the booking to a TA for the TA and customer to share the commission (via the TA's commission and the customer's OBC) has no benefit for the cruise lines. It just lowers the cruise line's margins.

 

This will not eliminate the OBC for use. It will just push the decision to earlier in the process. Those that really like to control their booking up until final payment will need to make a decision has to what is more important. I can certainly see why it might make the TA more critical in the overall process.

[testifyoncruises]

Thanks for responding. I still fail to see what benefit it is to the TA if most cruisers just book directly with Celebrity.

Without getting into detail that might be construed as a solicitation. Offering OBC is a M.O. of a volume seller. They are moving truck loads of product and do earn a bonus on the back end for the amount of product they move. They run on very low margins and can afford to entice a sale by offering an OBC.

 

However a small agency cannot afford to, but they make it up in service. Most agencies will offer a gift of around 10% of their profit. Say a commission is $500 for a booking, they will give a gift worth about $50. The average commission an agency earns is about 9-11% the total price of a cruise fare a client pays which includes all taxes, fees and non-commissionable items.

 

For that type of agency to offer a higher OBC, they would become the transacational agent only. Remember, most clients will call with many many questions. (They are not the normal minority of Cruise Critic posters). Each question takes up time. Each stateroom change, each price drop (Before today) took up time. You may be able to do in minutes yourself, but there is an entire back-end process so the agency that gets paid that has to be done and that does take up time. Would you be willing to have that OBC eaten up each time you asked a question or made a change? As said before, most transactional agents are nothing more than order takers. You better know exactly what you want and not expect anything else in the way of service.

 

For those people, it would be better to leave the booking with Celebrity because you would spend more in time that you would actually make in commission.

 

Does that make sense?

 

Again I blame no one for going for the best deal but to the casual reader or lurker, there are risks that must be considered. Our agency did make several calls to the OBC providers during events like fog in the Gulf Coast delaying several ships one weekend, to the earthquake in Chile to the Ash Cloud in Europe. The assistance available ran from non-existent to dismal.

 

For some people just having someone else making all the calls to airlines, insurance providers, cruselines is worth the time it would take to do that all yourself.

[mek]

 

 

Again I blame no one for going for the best deal but to the casual reader or lurker, there are risks that must be considered. Our agency did make several calls to the OBC providers during events like fog in the Gulf Coast delaying several ships one weekend, to the earthquake in Chile to the Ash Cloud in Europe. The assistance available ran from non-existent to dismal.

 

For some people just having someone else making all the calls to airlines, insurance providers, cruselines is worth the time it would take to do that all yourself.

 

At the same time please don't give the occasional travelers and lurkers to whom you refer, the impression that just because they use a full service TA, they are guaranteed to have all problems resolved if they run into an emergency. Not everyone got home from Europe several weeks ago or made it to their ships in Chile, etc. even with the assistance of their TA's. Granted, some did and perhaps others simply felt better because they had someone to talk to, but bottom line - those who use full service TA's can wind up in the same boat,(no pun intended), as those who don't if "you know what" hits the fan.

[SeaCod]

Booked a Summit cruise to Bermuda today with our online TA. OBC equals 11% of total cost of cruise. I'll keep booking with our online TA as we get very good service and have had thousands of dollars in OBC credits since we started booking with them a few years ago.

[Reba 954]

My DH and I cruise once a year. We have always booked our cruises and been quite satisfied. I just became a member of cruise critic this year and after reading this post and many others, decided to call a few TA's in my area. I called 6 and only one offered me a OBC. I gave all TA the same info... 7 day cruise on Eclipse in C1 category....It was the LAST agent that offered me the $225 OBC....and that is who we booked with. This really made me wonder why one agent would offer and all the others wouldn't???? But I will now use this TA from here forward, for everything I can send her way. And THANKS...to CC for giving me the tools to work with:D

[jagoffee]

 

 

 

Does that make sense?

 

 

 

For some people just having someone else making all the calls to airlines, insurance providers, cruselines is worth the time it would take to do that all yourself.

 

Yes, it does make sense. Thank you.

[labeachcomber]

 

For that type of agency to offer a higher OBC, they would become the transacational agent only. Remember, most clients will call with many many questions. (They are not the normal minority of Cruise Critic posters). Each question takes up time. Each stateroom change, each price drop (Before today) took up time. You may be able to do in minutes yourself, but there is an entire back-end process so the agency that gets paid that has to be done and that does take up time. Would you be willing to have that OBC eaten up each time you asked a question or made a change? As said before, most transactional agents are nothing more than order takers. You better know exactly what you want and not expect anything else in the way of service.

 

For those people, it would be better to leave the booking with Celebrity because you would spend more in time that you would actually make in commission.

 

Does that make sense?

 

At the same time please don't give the occasional travelers and lurkers to whom you refer, the impression that just because they use a full service TA, they are guaranteed to have all problems resolved if they run into an emergency. Not everyone got home from Europe several weeks ago or made it to their ships in Chile, etc. even with the assistance of their TA's. Granted, some did and perhaps others simply felt better because they had someone to talk to, but bottom line - those who use full service TA's can wind up in the same boat,(no pun intended), as those who don't if "you know what" hits the fan.

 

I think the difference is all about perspective. Leaving the booking with Celebrity would be better for some TAs, but of course not for the cruiser. For the cruiser, it's obviously beneficial to shop around and find a TA who is going to give you OBC. As has been discussed, you'll usually end up with a transactional agent if you find someone online. For the smaller "more exclusive" TA, he/she might not want to take your booking because maybe he only makes $75 off your transaction if he needs to give you a lot of OBC. And then he has to pray that you don't ask tons and tons of questions and make lots of requests, because he then thinks that your $75 was not worth it. If the TA is busy enough and able to make a decent living based off of his "no OBC" bookings, then kudos to him and let him leave my $75 to somebody else. I would imagine in this tough travel economy, that any kind of booking for a TA would be worthy of some attention, but apparently there are some TAs out there that will turn their nose up to those cruisers seeking some kind of kickback.

 

mek, great point. That's what I had said earlier as well. Even if a cruiser makes the decision to go with one of these full service TAs, they are not immune to problems. I'm curious as to how testifyoncruises went about "testing" the services of these transactional agents in times of crisis. Did he do a "Secret Shopper" kind of thing and call up agencies and pretend to be stranded somewhere or in a bind? Unless you had a booking with these transactional agents, I'm not sure how you figure out whether or not they would help you.

 

It seems like there are a lot of people on these boards that got OBC and the TA is somebody in their hometown and has an actual brick and mortar shop. Are these TAs not considered full service then? I'm sure that it's a generality to say that only transactional agents offer OBC, and that if you are a TA that does so then you are not going to give full service to your clients.

[hulamoon]

I have found the only one I can depend upon while traveling is myself. Even the time difference of most travel agencies can work against the most service oriented TA being able to help.

 

If a flight gets cancelled, I found I better be in the que, on the phone and on the internet at the same time if I want to get rescheduled.

 

The best OBC? HMMM Doesn't price have something to do with it? I figure OBC is as good as a better price I figure how it works out per diem.

[patseacruiser]

Well I have a friend who booked a cruise to the Med through the cruise line. When she was flying Greece decided to go on strike. Unfortunately the cruise line closed at 5 so she had no one to help her with her flights. She called me and I was able to re-route her multiple times while she was still in the air and get her a wheelchair waiting for her to whisk her over to a separate terminal because if she would have walked she would never have made it. So even though I didn't book her there is something to be said sometimes for the good old TA instead of the big agencies that aren't open while you're traveling. I was up until at least 4 am working with her.

[testifyoncruises]

I would imagine in this tough travel economy, that any kind of booking for a TA would be worthy of some attention, but apparently there are some TAs out there that will turn their nose up to those cruisers seeking some kind of kickback.

What tough travel economy? No TA I know is going to work for the equivalent of minimum wage to make that $75 you speak while providing the service that the transactional agents cannot provide.

 

In general most bookings require at a minimum of 12 hours of work between the research, back-end, constant changes, pre-pricing, invoicing, payments, questions about shore excursions, transfers, hotels, and on and on. So for your $75 example, an agent would work for less than minimum wage. Be my guest if someone wants to do that.

 

Just know that yes there are some bookings that are not worth many agent's time for the money they will earn.

[mafig]

What tough travel economy? No TA I know is going to work for the equivalent of minimum wage to make that $75 you speak while providing the service that the transactional agents cannot provide.

 

In general most bookings require at a minimum of 12 hours of work between the research, back-end, constant changes, pre-pricing, invoicing, payments, questions about shore excursions, transfers, hotels, and on and on. So for your $75 example, an agent would work for less than minimum wage. Be my guest if someone wants to do that.

 

Just know that yes there are some bookings that are not worth many agent's time for the money they will earn.

 

 

I really don't think that a booking that's transferred from the cruiseline requires 12 hours. The research has already been done....the cruise is booked!

 

Also, the TA that turns his nose up on that booking also turns his nose up on future bookings and referrals.

 

My first cruise was in an inside. I have to admit the TA was very helpful for the small amount she probably got. I booked my next cruise with her also. Then I discovered Cruise Critic and found out that the cruiseline was offering a "buy an inside, get an outside" special. It was pretty hard for her to find it:confused:, but here, I, with one cruise under my belt, walked her through it. :eek: Then I said "well maybe others who are booked in insides can benefit too." Well, she replied "most of my clients book balconies." sniff, sniff, picture a turned up nose and a shake of the head.

 

Pretty funny cause she lost my future business and I always book at least a balcony or a mini suite and sometimes a suite now. She lost my business and business of other people who I've turned on to cruising. And last year she went out of business.

[Peelboy]

Very interesting discussion. As a newbie, I was shocked to hear:

 

1. OBC of about 10% or anything in that ballpark of the cruise price.

 

2. A cruise reservation from front to back end requires 12 hours of work.

 

3. cruising has become a game of gratuity and rebate via OBC.

[mek]

I really don't think that a booking that's transferred from the cruiseline requires 12 hours. The research has already been done....the cruise is booked!

 

Also, the TA that turns his nose up on that booking also turns his nose up on future bookings and referrals.

 

My first cruise was in an inside. I have to admit the TA was very helpful for the small amount she probably got. I booked my next cruise with her also. Then I discovered Cruise Critic and found out that the cruiseline was offering a "buy an inside, get an outside" special. It was pretty hard for her to find it:confused:, but here, I, with one cruise under my belt, walked her through it. :eek: Then I said "well maybe others who are booked in insides can benefit too." Well, she replied "most of my clients book balconies." sniff, sniff, picture a turned up nose and a shake of the head.

 

Pretty funny cause she lost my future business and I always book at least a balcony or a mini suite and sometimes a suite now. She lost my business and business of other people who I've turned on to cruising. And last year she went out of business.

 

I really have to agree with you on this one. I generally go on 3 cruises a year and I help all of my friends and family plan vacations. By the time they are ready to book all they do is contact a TA, make a deposit and it's a done deal - no hand holding, questions about shore excursions, hotels, flights - you name it. I've been in sales all of my life and I personally would never pass up the opportunity to make a new contact - and yes, through the years I have given up a part of substantial commissions to make a deal that would pay off in the long run. Did I ever get burned - of course, but that is the way it goes. Networking is still the name of the game - it's a shame some people still don't get it and then they wonder why they struggle.

[1Puglvr]

Reading posts on CC helped me make most of my choices. I did most the work myself with that said I take responsibility if I made a mistake. I am new at this and learn something new everyday. It is up to me to have fun:)

 

Ship Board Credits Offered: $142.00

Welcome aboard wine and chocolate-covered strawberries

Private wine appreciation seminar

Private food and wine pairing seminar

Private Taste of the Vineyards wine-pairing luncheon

Introduction to Enomatic wine tasting

Private behind-the-scenes culinary tour

Private "Walk Around the World" wine tasting seminar

Private sommelier tour of the two-story GrandWineTower

 

Don't think I will attend all the seminars but some should be nice.