Should I transfer my booking to TA?

[travlin]

I just booked a cruise by calling HAL directly. I have the transfers and hotels set as well. In the past, I have booked with and without a TA. Is there a reason to transfer my booking to my TA? I really like her, but she wasn't avaialble when I made the decision...two days ago. I didn't want to wait.

[doublebzz]

Its a personal decision. If the HAL rep spent time making your reservations, provided worthwhile advice and gave good service, then, essentially, giving his/her commission to a TA would present ethical problems for me.

[PathfinderEss]

I always get a little better price and great service from my TA, so I would switch the booking to her, but as doublebzz said it really is a personal choice.

[Hlitner]

We routinely use Cruise Agencies when we book HAL cruises for one very simple reason....we save money (sometimes thousands of dollars). So, to answer the OPs question, if you are interested in saving some money you might want to shop around among a few reputable cruise agencies and ask them what they can offer if you transfer your booking.

 

So here is a bit of a story. We have spent more then 300 days on HAL and had never booked direct with HAL nor had we heard from any of the HAL booking folks (some like to call these clerks Personal Cruise Counselors). A few months ago, while on the Oosterdam we did our first onboard booking because we wanted to hold a cabin on the Voyage of the Vikings cruise. Upon getting home and looking at various cost options we realized that it made no financial sense to take that HAL cruise (we could cruise on much better lines for less money). So we called HAL and cancelled. The next day we got two phone calls from HAL (the first time we have ever heard from HAL) and were assigned a PCC. I told the PCC that we would not book with her because HAL can never match the deals we get from cruise agencies. The PCC was friendly, admitted that she cannot match the offers, but said she would be happy to help with any booking and cheerfully transfer it to any agency. She explained that HAL likes to support agencies and has no issues on doing a transfer. Of course my question is why even bother with HAL if one is going to transfer the booking...but that is another issue.

 

Hank

Edited December 27, 2014 by Hlitner

[krazy4kruisin]

I had booked directly with HAL June 2014 full price for a balcony for our first cruise to Alaska for May 2015. Two weeks later was comparing prices with a major online TA that is used here on CC and saved myself about $2000. I called and canceled the booking with HAL and got the same cabin with some nice OBC's.

For me, it's all about the best deal that I can get.

[MUD]

We have booked with a TAs that saved us money. We have booked with TAs that didn't save money. We have booked directly.

Early in our cruising life we needed los\ts of advice and a TA was very helpful. It often took two days to bget questions answered because TA was busy 9low profit margin mans need for lots of clients). We migrated to online TAs that give good discounts. Great service on the front end but once again it took time to get any questions answwered. TA called cruise line and back to us. NOw we forsake the discount and go direct to the cruise like. Im am a high maintenance customer and the cruise line gives me an answer right away. HAL has been very accomodating, makes changes quickly, gives me the lower price when it goes down (no TA ever monitored this for us) and we get good service on flight ease.

[take us away]

We are true believers in using a TA as we usually get better fares, definitely get more OBC as they add to what HAL provides, they usually let us know about lower fares and they have been able to accommodate what we need. Once found a lower fare on an on-line booking site, sent the TA an email and he immediately matched the fare and the extra perks that were included - and apologized that he had missed it. The larger the agency, the better the 'deals' and more OBC as it seems to be a volume thing. We have used the same TA since 1982 as we are very satisfied.

 

MUD - we used to live in Woodbury and in Shoreview - where do you live??

Edited December 28, 2014 by take us away

[Krazy Kruizers]

JMO -- but I would transfer the booking to your TA.

We only book through a TA. Like the extra perks.

[knittinggirl]

We've used a TA all but once. With Royal Caribbean, they won't tell you anything about your booking if it's through a TA. Wondering if Holland America is the same.

 

If you book through a TA, can you transfer it back to Holland America? We had to do that on RCI with some open bookings when we tried to book outside regular office hours, and RCI wouldn't do it since all were booked via the travel agent.

[doublebzz]

We've used a TA all but once. With Royal Caribbean, they won't tell you anything about your booking if it's through a TA. Wondering if Holland America is the same.

 

If you book through a TA, can you transfer it back to Holland America? We had to do that on RCI with some open bookings when we tried to book outside regular office hours, and RCI wouldn't do it since all were booked via the travel agent.

 

HAL, if not all cruise lines, likely have the same policy.

 

I believe the issue the OP raises is more than the advantages of a direct booking over a TA or vice versa. To me, the issue is after a HAL cruise planner has expended considerable time with you planning your vacation, do you deprive that employee of a commission because you might a get a $100 shipboard credit by transferring the booking to a TA. Most of the postings don't address this issue.

[cruz chic]

We've used a TA all but once. With Royal Caribbean, they won't tell you anything about your booking if it's through a TA. Wondering if Holland America is the same.

 

If you book through a TA, can you transfer it back to Holland America? We had to do that on RCI with some open bookings when we tried to book outside regular office hours, and RCI wouldn't do it since all were booked via the travel agent.

 

If you've booked through a ta hal will not talk to you directly for most things. Some folks on this board have posted otherwise but when asked for examples they would not provide any.

[CowPrincess]

HAL, if not all cruise lines, likely have the same policy.

 

I believe the issue the OP raises is more than the advantages of a direct booking over a TA or vice versa. To me, the issue is after a HAL cruise planner has expended considerable time with you planning your vacation, do you deprive that employee of a commission because you might a get a $100 shipboard credit by transferring the booking to a TA. Most of the postings don't address this issue.

 

I asked my HAL PCC about this, because I didn't want to deprive him of any commission. The way it was explained to me is that the PCC gets some sort of points when the cruiser actually takes the cruise, even if the booking has been transferred from the PCC to a TA. Those points are used to calculate not-exactly-commission, but more along the lines of bonus money. The PCC earns a wage/salary, and then earns bonus money when the cruiser cruises, regardless of whether a TA ultimately ends up with the booking. From what I was told, the PCC gets the same # of points whether the booking is moved to a TA or remains with the PCC.

 

Whether or not that is the truth, I'm not sure, but that's what I was told. ;)

[doublebzz]

I asked my HAL PCC about this, because I didn't want to deprive him of any commission. The way it was explained to me is that the PCC gets some sort of points when the cruiser actually takes the cruise, even if the booking has been transferred from the PCC to a TA. Those points are used to calculate not-exactly-commission, but more along the lines of bonus money. The PCC earns a wage/salary, and then earns bonus money when the cruiser cruises, regardless of whether a TA ultimately ends up with the booking. From what I was told, the PCC gets the same # of points whether the booking is moved to a TA or remains with the PCC.

 

Whether or not that is the truth, I'm not sure, but that's what I was told. ;)

 

I have no reason to doubt you. However, my daughter happens to be a cruise planner for another cruise line. She gets a commission on each cabin sold. She tells me there is nothing more frustrating that working with a customer for a half hour on the phone only to have the customer say they will think it over and then book with a travel agent based on the advice my daughter had given them. Interestingly enough, my daughter says the company never presses her to push certain cabins or cruises but work for whats in the best interest of the customer. In this regard, there may be an advantage booking direct with the cruise line at least with my daughter's company.

[Hlitner]

I must admit that we are "touched" by those who are concerned about the welfare of their PCC (who in reality is as personal as any clerk working for any cruise line or airline). But when we book any cruise our concern is with our own welfare and we have no desire to pay more money so that a PCC, TA, or the man in the moon can make more commission. It is the same when we buy a new car. We could pay the salesman an extra few thousand (to pad his/her commission) but prefer to negotiate the best price.

 

I also wonder how many folks, who are concerned with the commission of their PCC, are also concerned with the commission of their realtor when buying/selling a home. I am trying to picture folks offering more money to the realtor so that they can make a nice commission :)

 

Hank

[cruz chic]

I must admit that we are "touched" by those who are concerned about the welfare of their PCC (who in reality is as personal as any clerk working for any cruise line or airline). But when we book any cruise our concern is with our own welfare and we have no desire to pay more money so that a PCC, TA, or the man in the moon can make more commission. It is the same when we buy a new car. We could pay the salesman an extra few thousand (to pad his/her commission) but prefer to negotiate the best price.

 

I also wonder how many folks, who are concerned with the commission of their PCC, are also concerned with the commission of their realtor when buying/selling a home. I am trying to picture folks offering more money to the realtor so that they can make a nice commission :)

 

Hank

 

So you are upset that people have a conscience? Alrighty.

[travlin]

I am the original poster. My booking conversation with HAL was pretty fast. I knew what I wanted because I had looked online, but I am not completely trusting of booking online. I did have to point out to the consultant the current promotion I had seen online. Otherwise, she quoted me a much higher price. Anyway, I didn't know how it worked with the HAL consultant and commission. Perhaps, I should just learn to book it myself online and then call my TA to see if she can get a better deal. In the end, no matter what, I am going to love my cruise! Thanks for all of the input! I learned a lot!

[richwmn]

I asked my HAL PCC about this, because I didn't want to deprive him of any commission. The way it was explained to me is that the PCC gets some sort of points when the cruiser actually takes the cruise, even if the booking has been transferred from the PCC to a TA. Those points are used to calculate not-exactly-commission, but more along the lines of bonus money. The PCC earns a wage/salary, and then earns bonus money when the cruiser cruises, regardless of whether a TA ultimately ends up with the booking. From what I was told, the PCC gets the same # of points whether the booking is moved to a TA or remains with the PCC.

 

Whether or not that is the truth, I'm not sure, but that's what I was told. ;)

 

I have no reason to doubt you. However, my daughter happens to be a cruise planner for another cruise line. She gets a commission on each cabin sold. She tells me there is nothing more frustrating that working with a customer for a half hour on the phone only to have the customer say they will think it over and then book with a travel agent based on the advice my daughter had given them. Interestingly enough, my daughter says the company never presses her to push certain cabins or cruises but work for whats in the best interest of the customer. In this regard, there may be an advantage booking direct with the cruise line at least with my daughter's company.

 

I also work with a PCC, and have been told multiple times the same thing as CowPrincess. I have also transferred two cruises to a TA after booking and my PCC had no problem whatsoever with it.

 

Other cruise lines may work it another way, but I firmly believe that the credit for the initial booking is all a HAL PCC needs to get whatever credit they need, to make quota or whatever.

[RMLincoln]

FWIW our last booking was our first with a HAL PCC instead of our usual on-line TA. PCC had more OBC and gave us PG dinners, also gave us assurance that if the prices dropped even after final payment he would work with us to get OBC or and upgrade. This is something our TA has never done for us when prices have dropped.

 

As it turned out the prices went up but we did get our better OBC and enjoyed our first PG dinner. Worked for us... this time. Not sure what we'll do next time, every time seems unique. m--

[cruz chic]

I am the original poster. My booking conversation with HAL was pretty fast. I knew what I wanted because I had looked online, but I am not completely trusting of booking online. I did have to point out to the consultant the current promotion I had seen online. Otherwise, she quoted me a much higher price. Anyway, I didn't know how it worked with the HAL consultant and commission. Perhaps, I should just learn to book it myself online and then call my TA to see if she can get a better deal. In the end, no matter what, I am going to love my cruise! Thanks for all of the input! I learned a lot!

 

I wonder why they cruiselines can't see current promos on their computers. It's so odd. I have a cruise booked with princess right now. I was completely surprised to see it go down $500 the other day and it wasn't a bad price to begin with. While I waffled on what to do ( I could cancel and be $200 plus ahead or try to strike a deal). It was after final payment. I was on the phone well over an hour on 2 days because they had a terrible time finding the price I was seeing.

[Hlitner]

So you are upset that people have a conscience? Alrighty.

 

I cannot speak for other folks who are happy to pay more then necessary, but] when it comes to travel the short answer is my conscience is very clear when I am not overpaying. One of my favorite "Cheers" episodes was one where Norm said "Its a Dog eat dog world and I am wearing Milk Bone underwear." The only time my conscience would bother me when booking a cruise is if I overpaid and took more money away from DDs inheritance :)

 

So if you are asking would I rather give money away to a stranger who calls themselves a PCC. or save it for DD...the answer is quite simple. But we certainly have no problem with others willing to contribute more to the bottom line of HAL or any other company of which we own stock :)

 

Hank

Edited December 29, 2014 by Hlitner

[jimmy2x]

I have to agree with the TA folks. Maybe if we were doing an extremely complex cruise, I'd feel differently. We are pretty much limited to the Caribbean due to medical reasons. After 15 or so cruises handholding is not necessary and we generally save between 10-12% off of HAL's rates.

[cruz chic]

I cannot speak for other folks who are happy to pay more then necessary, but] when it comes to travel the short answer is my conscience is very clear when I am not overpaying. One of my favorite "Cheers" episodes was one where Norm said "Its a Dog eat dog world and I am wearing Milk Bone underwear." The only time my conscience would bother me when booking a cruise is if I overpaid and took more money away from DDs inheritance :)

 

So if you are asking would I rather give money away to a stranger who calls themselves a PCC. or save it for DD...the answer is quite simple. But we certainly have no problem with others willing to contribute more to the bottom line of HAL or any other company of which we own stock :)

 

Hank

 

You've missed my point. I'm referring to your comment about posters worrying about transferring there booking to a ta and having angst regarding that.

 

Personally I'd rather have control over my booking then deal with a middleman that can't be reached when I need them. It is also not practical for posters that do not live in the USA to book this way. The exchange rate is too high and you never know when it's going to stabilize.

[iancal]

We book with a TA but we also maintain a US dollar bank account and a no admin fee credit card for foreign purchases. This card eliminates the 2.5 percent admin fx admin fee that most Canadian cards charge on foreign currency postings. Until recently we also had a US dollar Visa card. This allowed us to take advantage of cruise line pricing discrepancies and to buy at the most attractive rate notwithstanding future currency fluctuations.

 

I do not understand the 'in control' business'. We have as much control over our booking as we would if we booked directly with the cruise line. Sometimes more, since on more than one occasion our TA has brought our attention to a more competitive offer on a competing cruise line and thus saved us money. On the last cruise we booked our TA had to remind the RCI rep that we were entitled to a $200. discount on our balcony cabin because of our Celebrity status. Had we booked directly with RCI we would have missed this. For us, the benefits of a 'sharp' TA far outweigh booking directly with the cruise line.

Edited December 29, 2014 by iancal

[djhsolara]

We have almost always booked on our own through HAL. We like to be in control of our reservation and do not like to have to deal with a middle-person. If I have a question about my cruise, I'd sooner speak directly with HAL than have another person interpret what they hear. To me, the more ears that hear/interpret the information, the more chance there is that I'm not getting it all correctly.

 

We always compare with our local travel agents and we have never found a price better than what we could get ourselves. We only use a TA if we're going somewhere unfamiliar where we fear that we may need assistance once we're there.

 

To add on to another post...one time we saw a promo that they couldn't seem to locate. They had us send them a screen print and suddenly they were able to offer it to us without an issue.

 

And...to add on to yet another post...I am out for the best deal with everything that I do. While it may not necessarily "benefit" the salesperson the best, that is not my concern. When I built my house, I was concerned about what I was receiving...not the real estate agent's commission. When I buy a car, I'm concerned about the best price...not the salesperson's commission. If that makes me a bad person, so be it...but it also makes me a savvy consumer because since I can save in more places I can spend more in more places altogether.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[doublebzz]

 

And...to add on to yet another post...I am out for the best deal with everything that I do. While it may not necessarily "benefit" the salesperson the best, that is not my concern. When I built my house, I was concerned about what I was receiving...not the real estate agent's commission. When I buy a car, I'm concerned about the best price...not the salesperson's commission. If that makes me a bad person, so be it...but it also makes me a savvy consumer because since I can save in more places I can spend more in more places altogether.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

 

I believe most rational people, myself included, believe in your philosophy. There is a line that's crossed, however, when you "milk" a salesperson for information and assistance and have no intention of making the purchase from that person. This is not the case here but it does happen.