British passengers booking with American travel agent, have you??

[chelsea_gal]

My sister who lives in London books all the time with a Canadian TA and gets great deals , OBC etc and plus the Canadian dollar currency rate is doing great to the UK pound. so she is double happy. Her bookings are backed by ABTA so she has no worries at all. She also says that her TA provides all sorts of additional help and advice on North America and cruises that a UK TA has not provided in the past. So go ahead and book with a North American TA and have no to fear.

[long_shot45]

On your next cruise you need to talk to a yank face to face and I know they would be more than happy to share information about TA's with you.

[Cotswold Eagle]

My sister who lives in London books all the time with a Canadian TA....Her bookings are backed by ABTA so she has no worries at all.

 

I'm curious - how can a Canadian TA offer ABTA protection?

[villauk]

I'm curious - how can a Canadian TA offer ABTA protection?

 

David,

 

I thought exactly the same thing as ABTA stands for Association of British Travel Agents :confused:.

 

 

OP

 

I do use US TAs for booking some of my cruises - it depends on what offers are available at that particular time. The difference in T&C usually outweighs everything else i.e. refundable deposits, moving cabins without being charged, GTYs - you are able to change cabin allocations, price drops, upgrades....the list goes on and on. N.b. I book independent flights, transfers and hotels, so wouldn't be covered by ATOL anyway ;).

 

It is not illegal to book via a US TA. As a previous poster stated, they know exactly where you reside due to your booking details, C&A no. etc. Princess and some other companies do not allow you to book anywhere else (IMHO, monopoly to keep prices high in particular countries where they are able to do so - after all, it is a business); most TAs state on their website if they are not able to take bookings for those particular cruiselines from other countries ;).

 

You can also purchase NCC in US$ while you are onboard ;).

[PORT ROYAL]

On your next cruise you need to talk to a yank face to face and I know they would be more than happy to share information about TA's with you.

 

 

Also on the next cruise consider joining the CC Meet/Mingle gathering, where this and other money saving topics can be openly discussed, among like minded cruisers.:D;)

[UKcruisefan69]

I book independent flights, transfers and hotels, so wouldn't be covered by ATOL anyway ;).

 

Same here, I suspect most type of traveler who is researching outside their country of residence are also the type of traveler who books DIY anyhow.

 

(IMHO, monopoly to keep prices high in particular countries where they are able to do so - after all, it is a business)

 

Exactly, which tbh, stinks but there you go. The majority though are just hoping for customer apathy to not to shop around in which case it's fair enough.

[sassmofi]

Interesting read. I am an American expat in the UK. It is good to know the differences when booking in each country as I am hoping to make a booking for this year.

[chelsea_gal]

I'm curious - how can a Canadian TA offer ABTA protection?

 

sorry my sister said

 

iATA

[SadmanCruiser]

You can also purchase NCC in US$ while you are onboard ;).

 

Unless you have a cruise booked in the UK - we have found that we could only get NCC's in the currency paid for the cruise we are on.

 

It does vary by a bit by LA, but if you have a US agent they will assign to them.

 

Pete

[Elizanessie]

Unless you have a cruise booked in the UK - we have found that we could only get NCC's in the currency paid for the cruise we are on.

 

It does vary by a bit by LA, but if you have a US agent they will assign to them.

 

Pete

 

When you purchase the NCC you state on the form for it (or tell the LA), that you wish to opt out of the NCC going to the TA you used for the cruise you are on.

 

You can then purchase your NCC in dollars.

[setsail]

Thank you everyone for ur replies, soooo interesting and helpful, I realise that we are probably not allowed to mention and travel agent names but how would I know a good US travel agent from a bad one? Also do they negotiate prices as they do in UK? I literally have no idea, thanks

 

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Forums mobile app

 

Just take a look on CC up top under find a cruise

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/shipshop/

[Host Kat]

Thank you everyone for ur replies, soooo interesting and helpful, I realise that we are probably not allowed to mention and travel agent names but how would I know a good US travel agent from a bad one? Also do they negotiate prices as they do in UK? I literally have no idea, thanks

 

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Kat

[springaussie]

Most Royal cruises starting from Sydney this season have been cheaper to buy thru Australian Travel Agents then US, UK etc.

[nomad098]

N.b. I book independent flights, transfers and hotels, so wouldn't be covered by ATOL anyway ;).

 

 

Hi there

 

just for your information if you book independent flights they can still be covered by ATOL flight only if the airline holds a ATOL certification and will get you home in the event of airline faliure

 

There is also a EU passenger rights for travel from the EU these rights now apply to cruises within the EU

heres a link

http://ec.europa.eu/news/transport/100708_en.htm

 

Heres a link to ATOL

https://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1080&pagetype=70&gid=2506&faqid=1363

 

hope this helps

 

Damon

[madelk]

Most Royal cruises starting from Sydney this season have been cheaper to buy thru Australian Travel Agents then US, UK etc.

 

That's an interesting observation - I found that in February this year I saved over 40% by booking through an online TA in the US for an Australian domestic voyage and that's without any C&A loyalty discount - I had orignally booked on board with loyalty OBC but it wasn't worth keeping when the price dropped and RC wouldn't honour it without cancellig. So even if the exchange rate moves it'll take the entire economy to fall over for me to be worse off! I also went to rebook my Christmas cruise and found that the price for the exact same ship, cabin and itinerary was double in 2014 that which we paid for 2013 and I was trying to book at the same time of year (Feb).

 

I contacted a couple of US TAs and was knocked back before I found one that would accept my booking and within their booking process they ask for country of residence and you have to explicitly tick the box that you are not US and then pick the correct country so for those saying it's illegal - pretty sure it's going to be ok. Interestingly enough this TA is based in Florida but has an Australian freecall number which redirects to Florida at no charge - I've found my new RC TA. :)