Booking through US TA

[heathermk57]

Hi.

Has anybody booked through a US travel agent? We're looking at a Celebrity cruise in October and have a good deal from a US TA but having the jitters about any hidden pitfalls that we should be aware of.

 

Any advice or experiences very gratefully received. Thank you.:)

[jsy44]

We did exactly this. Got a fab online deal on Celebrity. We did our own flights and transfers and saved a packet.

Go for it!

[John Bull]

Many cruise lines will accept bookings through US agents only for those with a US or Canadian address. Though jsy's reply suggests this doesn't include Celebrity.

 

A few caveats:

 

Your money isn't safe-guarded by ABTA or IATA or anyone else if it all goes belly-up. Or the US agency runs off with your money. So pay only by credit card. This may add 2% to 4% to the cost.

 

The price quoted by the US agency won't include taxes or port fees or anything else that must, by law, be included in a UK agent's quote. This too will nibble away at the savings, so ask about these costs.

 

Your payment will of course be in USD. So you'll lose a little in exchange fees and/or rates. And after paying your deposit you'll be at risk from exchange rate fluctuations up to final payment time - this can be to your disadvantage, or to your advantage.

 

Cancellation terms are much more generous than booking in the UK, including full refund of deposit up to final payment time. But there's no real advantage - to get sensible airfares you need to book them early & that kinda commits you unless you need to cancel for an insured reason.

 

Booking through a US agency used to save a bundle, now its not so clear-cut. But well worth doing the maths.

 

Good luck

 

JB :)

[insidecabin]

In the US most payments are made DIRECT to the cruise line so your money is safe from the TA going under but use a CC in case the cruise line goes under.

 

On our last booking the travel agent split the cost, Cruise line took their bit and the TA took their(comissions) bit as a seperate payment

 

if you get the right card the cost will be quite low.

Nationwide are only 1% off the visa rate which is close to the spot rate.

Nothing on EU bookings which are sometimes cheaper than both UK&US.

 

 

Most TA do quote the final cost, but most of the the web sites don't.

 

check the terms of the TA not all are full refund.

[heathermk57]

Thank you all for your helpful replies.

 

The TA gave us a full breakdown of the price which includes taxes and fees, so that was very good.

 

I read a bit about Australians being told they would be denied boarding if they booked via US agents, but somebody thought this might be a ploy to scare them off the better deals. :eek:

 

There is no air travel involved with the cruise we're looking at as it is out of Harwich, but the big attraction is that doing it this way enables us to get a package that is not available in the UK (not sure how much I can say on the boards :o).

 

Thanks again, DH will want to do much research before we go for this (he is way more cautious - perhaps wiser? - than me!) and your comments are really helpful. :)

[BobTheCruiser]

You can say quite a lot just don't mention agents.

 

There is only one cruise in Oct without flying

sometime the over 55 is regional or there are other discounts.

 

If the deal is good you can check US prices direct by changing region on the celebrity web site.

 

currently direct with celebrity US is about the same as UK.

[heatherbelle]

I have used a Us TA for all of Disney cruises and they are great. You can cancel right up to final payment, change your sailing date and change cabins usually with no cost. Plus usually not sure about your cruise line, they will claim and price drops up to final payment, but you have to watch for them and then tell your TA and some cruise lines will offer extra OBC or upgrades after final payment. Not all of them will.

 

So long as you pay by CC you will be fine. Our US TA passes the money straight over to the cruise line and I can see it on my online booking.

 

There is cruise site where you can ask TA's to compete for your business too. Don't know if you have tried one of those to see what extra perks they are willing to give you.

[heathermk57]

I have used a Us TA for all of Disney cruises and they are great. You can cancel right up to final payment, change your sailing date and change cabins usually with no cost. Plus usually not sure about your cruise line, they will claim and price drops up to final payment, but you have to watch for them and then tell your TA and some cruise lines will offer extra OBC or upgrades after final payment. Not all of them will.

 

So long as you pay by CC you will be fine. Our US TA passes the money straight over to the cruise line and I can see it on my online booking.

 

There is cruise site where you can ask TA's to compete for your business too. Don't know if you have tried one of those to see what extra perks they are willing to give you.

 

No, I didn't know about that one! Might try that as the price between the UK and US is roughly the same but there is a drinks package available to US customers which adds quite a bit of value overall. Thanks for the tips.

[kiwicruiser55]

I booked our first cruise through a TA in US, and I am using them again for this years cruise. There is a freephone number to call them from most countries, I rang them for the first cruise to Alaska but this time just emailed the agent. They are very efficient and polite.

 

I am a Staffordshire lass, lived in Aussie and have had citizenship since the 70's and now live in NZ for the excellent fly fishing!! So hope you don't mind me posting on UK cruisers site!!

 

Head to UK for 10 weeks mid May, hope all the snow is gone by then.

[heathermk57]

I booked our first cruise through a TA in US, and I am using them again for this years cruise. There is a freephone number to call them from most countries, I rang them for the first cruise to Alaska but this time just emailed the agent. They are very efficient and polite.

 

I am a Staffordshire lass, lived in Aussie and have had citizenship since the 70's and now live in NZ for the excellent fly fishing!! So hope you don't mind me posting on UK cruisers site!!

 

Head to UK for 10 weeks mid May, hope all the snow is gone by then.

 

You can be sure we'll have great weather in the UK about then, as I'm off to the Algarve for some sunshine! :D

[elcano]

Most of my cruises have been bought through a well known US TA and it has been fine. I´ve booked them from Spain, UK and Norway ( I move for work reasons ) and never I had a problem. Several lines officially prohibit this, but there are some tricks to avoid it. And after all, you are buying a cabin and spending your holiday/money on their ships!!!

[heathermk57]

Most of my cruises have been bought through a well known US TA and it has been fine. I´ve booked them from Spain, UK and Norway ( I move for work reasons ) and never I had a problem. Several lines officially prohibit this, but there are some tricks to avoid it. And after all, you are buying a cabin and spending your holiday/money on their ships!!!

 

Thanks for this. We went ahead and booked. Got the desired promotion together with some OBC from the TA. All seems to be fine, I've read and re-read the T's & C's and can't find anything that refers to US Citizens only.

 

Roll on October! ;)