Do TA's honor price drop?

[patterson3]

If I were to transfer my booking to a TA and Celebrity drops the rate before final payment is due, do TA's also lower the price to correspond to the new rate? Or does it depend on the TA?

[dzcruisers]

Ask your TA. Most do and do it with no extra charge. Some charge for changes. It's avery good question but one only the individual TA can answer.

[Gonzo70]

One other factor is if you are receiving perks such a OBC from the TA and you get a price drop, your perks may decrease (as their commission is going down).

[BBsails]

An important factor to consider is whether your TA is open 24/7. What if you see a price drop at 9:00pm on a Friday night, and your TA isn't available until Monday morning? The drop may have disappeared by then. Having said that, we do use a TA and have never missed a price drop because of that.

 

I saw recently on CC that someone recommended taking a screen shot of the web page showing the price drop to show to your TA if you're unable to reach him/her. I have no idea if the drop would be honored in this circumstance or not.

 

Bon Voyage

Betsy

[texkan]

I watch the prices and then contact the TA. TA contacts Celebrity for lower fare.

[patterson3]

Thanks for the advice!

[natshala]

If you see a price drop and can't reach TA, place a "courtesy hold" on it online. Then, when you reach the TA, s/he can contact Celebrity and (with your permission--they called me) book or make appropriate changes.

[BBsails]

Seems like a good idea, natshala. Is it possible to put a courtesy hold on a cruise that you've already booked through Celebrity and subsequently transferred to a TA?

 

Betsy

[Bridge Maven]

One other thing to consider is that some travel agents will honor price drops as long as the price doesn't go below a specified number. For example a number of years ago we booked a cabin that was $1,500 per person. When I asked about price drops before making a reservation the TA said she would do it as long as the price didn't go below $1,200 per person because her commission would be to low if it did. BTW - this was a local office of a very large travel agency.

[tcook052]

One other thing to consider is that some travel agents will honor price drops as long as the price doesn't go below a specified number. For example a number of years ago we booked a cabin that was $1,500 per person. When I asked about price drops before making a reservation the TA said she would do it as long as the price didn't go below $1,200 per person because her commission would be to low if it did. BTW - this was a local office of a very large travel agency.

 

16 years in the business and that's the first time I've heard that one.

 

FWIW as a TA I proactively check for price drops pre-final payment as a happy customer is a repeat customer. ;)

[TMLAalum]

Didn't realize that the shopping-club affiliated TA we booked thru charged $25 to rebook at a lower price! Even with that fee and commensurate reduction in OBC, we netted $215 savings.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Seems like a good idea, natshala. Is it possible to put a courtesy hold on a cruise that you've already booked through Celebrity and subsequently transferred to a TA?

 

If I understand the maneuver correctly, you cound book the came cruise, same cabin class, not the same cabin. After the new booking is secure, uou could then cancel the first booking. You might not be able to get the original cabin again-- if it's waitlisted, someone might have a prior claim and would be able to get it between the time you cancel the first booking and ask to change cabins. If the cabin location is popular (Sweet Sixteen or aft C1 on M-class, suites) there's a greater risk. If it's a common garden-variety type of cabin, you should be able to reclaim it.

[zoncom]

No real rules on this. Booked once with probably biggest online agency. Big price drop on my booked cruise. Agent said no. I canceled, went elsewhere. Couple months ago at another large agency I had booked with really large OBC, saw a $500 drop on Insides no less. Canceled, rebooked same cabin with $50 per cabin cancellation fee and reduction of OBC. I had some resistance from the agent on this so used another agent when rebooking, same agency.

[Bridge Maven]

One other thing to consider is that some travel agents will honor price drops as long as the price doesn't go below a specified number. For example a number of years ago we booked a cabin that was $1,500 per person. When I asked about price drops before making a reservation the TA said she would do it as long as the price didn't go below $1,200 per person because her commission would be to low if it did. BTW - this was a local office of a very large travel agency.

 

I meant to include this in my previous post quoted above...Even though I didn't think it was likely that the cruise fare would drop by more than $300 per person I didn't want to take that chance so I decided to book that cruise directly through Celebrity. After I made our final payment, I saw that Celebrity was offering a very good senior citizen fare for only $1,000 per person so I called Celebrity and was able to get that rate with the price difference credited to my credit card. In fact, my final payment and that credit were in the same credit card bill. Therefore, it wound up costing us considerably less for that cruise than if I booked it through that TA. Of course, that was before Celebrity changed its policy about price drops after final payment.

[dmk]

I did this recently. I was on a cruise in March and saw that the price of my next cruise had gone down drastically. I spoke to the Future cruise agent on board. She actually suggested to me to make a brand new booking while on board. I cancelled the old booking when I got home. Then my TA picked up my new cruise:)

[Tucker in Texas]

As several have mentioned, it all depends on the agent. You need to ask questions up front. Will they get it for you? Any charge to change? Any change in promised OBC if you get a drop? How many price drops will they let you pursue?

 

One "trick" they will do is when you point out a price drop, they will tell you that you aren't eligible for it BUT, such a nice TA, they got you an upgrade. What they have done is upgrade you to a cabin that is now selling for what you originally booked yours for because the price on the "upgrade" has dropped to what you booked yours for. Commission stays the same for them.

 

I agree with OP, losing a few bucks in commission is not worth losing a repeat customer (and, maybe, his friends).

 

Tucker im Texas

[Bridge Maven]

16 years in the business and that's the first time I've heard that one.

 

FWIW as a TA I proactively check for price drops pre-final payment as a happy customer is a repeat customer. ;)

 

 

tcook, I don't know if that was a company policy or something that just this local branch of it did. However, I do know that about five years ago if you walked into that office you always had to wait because it was so busy with people of all ages. Now there is always someone available to talk to a walk in and most of its clients are rather elderly.

[tcook052]

tcook, I don't know if that was a company policy or something that just this local branch of it did. However, I do know that about five years ago if you walked into that office you always had to wait because it was so busy with people of all ages. Now there is always someone available to talk to a walk in and most of its clients are rather elderly.

 

Yes, interesting indeed. I'm a firm believer in cosmic karma as what goes around, comes around.