Cruiseline discount to travel agents

[MARIANH]

There is a report in the British Press ( so it must be true ;)) that " cruise lines" have reduced substantially ( to 5%) the discount they give to T/As. It is alleged that this resulted in a very big T/A in the UK going to the wall last week. It is further speculated that with this much reduced margin, others will follow. Does anyone know if all cruise lines( and specifically Seabourn) have reduced their discounts to T/As. And is this move confined to the UK?

 

If this is a universal move, presumably this will reduce competition and the opportunity for "deals".

[markham]

Further to the question of whether any cuts to travel agents' commissions are underway, I would expect any such move to mean that more travel agents will specialize and/or go to the wall. Then assuming the remaining ones are doing a good job delivering passenger interest and numbers to individual cruise lines, those travel agents will be in a stronger position to renegotiate their commissions.

 

Why do I say this? I do not believe that cruise lines are good at sales at all. Never have been and I could never understand why anyone would book directly. Cruise lines simply don't know their customers, as do travel agents, either. They make think otherwise in connection with beefing up their websites but the demographic that books cruises wants a lot more than that- reliability, single point of contact, perspective on other cruise lines, and generally impartial advice etc. I have a great relationship with my travel agent and I would be loath to pass it up.

 

So to my mind, it's "the more things change, the more they stay the same", especially in the luxury market where standards must be sustained and relationships reinforced.

 

I am looking forward to hearing what's what from those in the know.

 

Happy future cruise bookings!

[Roxburgh]

Booking cruises is going to go the same way as the rest of the travel industry. A great many - if not most - people book flights/hotels themselves and online. Why is a cruise line going to continue paying a substantial commission when they can move to a direct booking model and keep that money for themselves?

[OrpingtonT]

Why do I say this? I do not believe that cruise lines are good at sales at all. Never have been and I could never understand why anyone would book directly. Cruise lines simply don't know their customers, as do travel agents, either. They make think otherwise in connection with beefing up their websites but the demographic that books cruises wants a lot more than that- reliability, single point of contact, perspective on other cruise lines, and generally impartial advice etc. I have a great relationship with my travel agent and I would be loath to pass it up.

 

 

I am afraid I don't agree with that at all. Only one reason makes me use a travel agent and that is the sharing of their commission. My dealings with booking directly with Regent persuades me that I get far better responses to my questions from Regent than I do from a TA who simply rings up Regent to ask. I have had a remarkable personal service from the staff at Southampton from the MD, Graham Sadler, downwards. I confess I don't seek advice on other cruise lines, so unless a TA can offer a good discount from the Regent fare I shall book direct with my good friends at Regent's Southampton HQ.

[Host Dan]

Booking cruises is going to go the same way as the rest of the travel industry. A great many - if not most - people book flights/hotels themselves and online. Why is a cruise line going to continue paying a substantial commission when they can move to a direct booking model and keep that money for themselves?

Ah, but remember when the "R" ships approached the market that way?

 

Host Dan

[xplrcrzn]

Ah, but remember when the "R" ships approached the market that way?

 

Host Dan

 

Yes, but that was 10 years ago and 9/11 intervened.

[wripro]

So much more can go wrong with a cruise than with a hotel booking. Who's going to fight for you if you book directly with the cruise line? A good TA does a lot more than just book. They advise, provide amenities, straighten out problems, help in emergencies etc. And since their services cost you nothing I can't understand why one wouldn't use one.

[lord of the seas]

Seabourn still offer the same commission to a TA

Cunard has reduced the commission to 5% for the TA as has a few other lines.

[Roxburgh]

So much more can go wrong with a cruise than with a hotel booking. Who's going to fight for you if you book directly with the cruise line? A good TA does a lot more than just book. They advise, provide amenities, straighten out problems, help in emergencies etc. And since their services cost you nothing I can't understand why one wouldn't use one.

 

They cost nothing to you but they do cost the cruise lines. If TAs wish to avoid the direct sales model they have to offer value to the cruise line.

[markham]

That's exactly the point!

 

Travel agents do offer value to the luxury cruise lines by delivering sales to them. These lines cannot do as much for themselves as airlines do by putting up on their websites slash 'em fares, "enhanced business class", "wow- now we have ****bucks coffee!", "gold star speedy check-in" for the torment that is air travel today. The same applies to the low quality mass market "pile 'em high, sell 'em (literally!) cheap cruise lines.

 

No, the luxury cruise business is more than book 'em cheap or fast. This segment wants to hear what their TAs say about the top 5-6 lines of the smaller ship segment and the 5-6 lines that offer large ship but premium class sections/dining rooms/amenities. There is nothing much to say about airlines, as such, whereas the quality and depth of the premium cruise lines' dining, accommodations, ports, excursions, transfers, specific ships and above all ship-board service are all differentiators that the best travel agents can discuss with authority year on year. They can name names and be very specific. What they do, based on this information flow to/from the market, is the delivery of sales to the better cruise lines at the expense- fewer sales- to the run of the mill lines and/or those which don't want to pay commissions (Host Dan's point).

 

As far as hotels are concerned, they are much like airlines, and I suppose that people choose them based on loyalty programs and price. They are both commodities and have been commoditized- ie this is what I will pay for staying at your hotel and if the price is too high I will scale down. Who cares so much anyway when the brands speak for themselves with their top line hotel and then just below something with "garden" or such attached and then below that something that sounds flatter- something that sounds like an own store supermarket brand. So when you choose on price your overall experience is managed according to what the brand offers. After all, most of the day is spent in the location so that's what counts. Obviously this is not so with cruise ships.

 

Anyway, I think that the low end of the cruise market is airline and hotel-like anyway. Book online and you are off! But when you are spending a few hundred dollars/euros/sterling per day on a luxury product the advice of a specialist is worth paying for. That's why I doubt that competitive luxury end cruise lines get the point and will not pare back their commissions to the top business developing agents. They are too useful to them.

 

Lastly, I like a couple of Wripro's points: Who is going to stand by you in a dispute with a cruise line if you book directly? Who is going to help direct a cruise line's management about perceived good and bad cruise line/ship performance in an impartial way? Clearly, that's the role the better and busier top end agents have now. Cruise lines would be foolish to mess with a good thing at the luxury end.

 

Think of it this way: Whatever advice these travel agents offer while delivering business to the cruise line can be contrasted with the costs of outside consultants engaged on a project basis. They don't come cheap (either) and no luxury goods and few large consumer companies would dare do without consulting.

[San Jose King]

The following comments apply to booking made in the United States using an accredited travel agent.

Not all travel agents are created equal and not all travel agencies are treated the same by cruise lines when it applies to commissions and benefits.

There are many high volume agencies who receive commission overrides based on their bookings. Many of these agencies reserve groups long before the general public has the same opportunity. Agency group booking are further discounted and may even include free cabins to be used as the agency sees fit.

That leaves a lot of wiggle room when it comes to pricing.

I have always found that booking through a reputable travel agent who specializes in cruising gets me the best price.