Price Differential on different Cunard sites

[intel]

I am not sure where this is leading to. Australia has not experienced the problems of UK tas' gpoing broke. The monies paid for deposit etc are lodged in a Trust Account for onward payment to the provider and on top of that you have insurance shd the provider go belly up. I would have expecyed that in the UK the expenses of operating a business would come out of their margins.

Incidentially VTG used by Pushka payments are sent direct to the shipping company and your CC is debited directly by them. How safe is this. No involvement directly by the TA

[Pushka]

Incidentially VTG used by Pushka payments are sent direct to the shipping company and your CC is debited directly by them. How safe is this. No involvement directly by the TA

 

Exactly. That's how many of them operate. Booking looking good right now - into personaliser and ready to go and a pending deposit on the credit card made.

Cunard recognises my past trips so all good.

[glojo]

I am not sure where this is leading to. Australia has not experienced the problems of UK tas' gpoing broke. The monies paid for deposit etc are lodged in a Trust Account for onward payment to the provider and on top of that you have insurance shd the provider go belly up. I would have expecyed that in the UK the expenses of operating a business would come out of their margins.

Incidentially VTG used by Pushka payments are sent direct to the shipping company and your CC is debited directly by them. How safe is this. No involvement directly by the TA

What I am trying hard to highlight and failing miserably is to point out that different countries have different overheads but those with a mission to try and get one price fits all are just refusing to listen.

 

A Travel Agency is a business that has to make a profit to survive, the only way it makes a profit is by selling goods at a price that takes this into account. I am guessing that Cunard are a VERY small fish in this pond but the same rules must apply.

 

Am I correct when I say that Cunard will not undercut the prices set by a travel agent?

 

My experience when booking a cruise in the UK was that the cruise price itself was exactly the same whether I booked with Cunard or a Travel Agent?? This must be by agreement although by contacting multiple agents I did find a variation in 'perks'

 

I have no idea what the cost of living is in other countries, I have NO idea what taxes and other financial restraints are imposed on businesses by various governments but what I do know is they are different and until Cunard take on the selling of ALL their suites, cabins, berths, rooms or any other name folks insist upon then surely different countries will have different overheads that will see a variation in price?

 

My thoughts on this is that if we can buy direct from Cunard then in the 21st Century WHY can't they take this on and do away completely with using travel agents and then sell their holidays at one price Worldwide be it in euros, dollars or stirling?

 

We can suggest that UK travel agents sell their product any way we want but until we can write legislation then they have to comply with the law of the land ooops..... Scrub round that as Europe now dictates what our laws are or are not. Bottom line must be... we are where we are. It is a fact of life that the same goods sold in one country will possibly not be priced the same in any other location.

[Pushka]

Hi glojo. The price differentials originally occurred on two Cunard websites. One in Australia and one in the USA. Both owned by Carnival.

[glojo]

Hi glojo. The price differentials originally occurred on two Cunard websites. One in Australia and one in the USA. Both owned by Carnival.

Is the US Cunard price the same as the US travel agent?

 

Is the Australian Cunard price the same as the Australian travel agent?

[Pushka]

The US travel site is cheaper than the us Cunard site due to obc and past passenger credit. I haven't priced an Australian TA as I don't use them.

[glojo]

The US travel site is cheaper than the us Cunard site due to obc and past passenger credit. I haven't priced an Australian TA as I don't use them.

 

You are saying EXACTLY the same thing as I said

 

My experience when booking a cruise in the UK was that the cruise price itself was exactly the same whether I booked with Cunard or a Travel Agent?? This must be by agreement although by contacting multiple agents I did find a variation in 'perks'

 

Onboard credit and past passenger credit being a few of the 'perks' that can be found by due diligence when shopping around BUT..... That is not what is being discussed. On top of what you have listed I also got a free holiday to the value of £1800 BUT the price for the actual cruise was the exact same price I would have paid had I book with Cunard UK. The cruise price from the travel agent was the exact same price to the penny as that advertised by Cunard UK (Carnival)!

[Pushka]

The bottom line is that people are paying thousands of dollars less for the exact cabin, exact cruise, purchased at the same time, simply because they live in a particular country but from the same corporate website.

 

I started this thread and THIS is what I am discussing. :). You have gone on a bit of an explanatory tangent.

[Whitemarsh]

I'm just thinking that this time around the excitement isn't there. Even on these forums, no roll call. Bookings still freely available. etc etc. just a feeling.

 

I quoted you from another thread, but I thought the conversation was more appropriate on this one, as you're talking about the cost of the cruise.

 

The recent NZ circumnavigation had no roll-call to speak of, I think there was one but it had a just a few posts. From what I have heard, the ship was pretty much booked out so you can't judge the popularity of a cruise by the roll-calls.

 

However, you can by the availability of cabins, and you're right, the 2014 circumnavigation of OZ is still wide open with availability in every category. That is different to last time, as you know. And, I was surprised they announced another circumnavigation within two years of the last one.

 

I'm sure that this one will sell out eventually and it will be awesome. There are probably a lot of people last time who missed out and will book this one.

[balf]

Insurance is for that purpose. And it's usually the cruise line that takes the money from the credit card not the online TA. The credit card company can also be contacted. Credit cards with hold a percentage of every transaction for situations like this.

 

In UK the insurance company would not cover the loss if Cunard went bust, they would direct you to ATOL if you had a fly package or ABTA for a no fly.

 

David.

[Norfolk Brit]

In UK the insurance company would not cover the loss if Cunard went bust, they would direct you to ATOL if you had a fly package or ABTA for a no fly.

 

David.

 

Most basic policies wouldn't cover, but some premium travel insurance policies (often named independent traveller or similar) sold in the UK do cover for insolvency, plus consequential loss.

 

Mary

[Pushka]

I think its pretty safe and in any event I have free cancellation up to 90 days prior now. That is something that is impossible in Australia. :(

 

You know why there is no buzz Whitemarsh? You aren't travelling on it.

[intel]

I will try again for our UK friend. Forget all about Travel Agents, OBCs', perks, etc. If I was to book a cruise say, SYD/SOU on Cunard Queen Victoria leaving next year which we are considering I would pay more after converting $AU into $US or GBP through Cunard if I booked the same cabin if I booked through their US or UK sites direct. The cabin numbers are exact I have checked them. As I suggested leave aside the other bits, what Pushka and I are trying to establish why should we pay more than you if you booked in the US or UK than us. That represents 25/30% more that would have to agree is over the top.

Can some one answer the question???? with justification.