travel agent on board credit: is it refundable?

[chamima]

We had been wondering the same thing, so on the first leg of a B2B we designated a tip for our stateroom attendant.

He thanked us profusely and verified that he did indeed receive the full amount we had specified for him.

 

 

 

Thank you !

[BEAV]

We had been wondering the same thing, so on the first leg of a B2B we designated a tip for our stateroom attendant.

He thanked us profusely and verified that he did indeed receive the full amount we had specified for him.

 

We had the same experience last week. Went to Guest Relations, filled out a form designating a specified amount to go to our stateroom attendant, and he acknowledged receiving it from us.

[Luvcrusn]

On our next cruise we have $500 OBC from Celebrity and $195 refundable OBC from the TA. When charges begin appearing on your shipboard account, which OBC "pool" are they working off of first...the Celebrity or TA OBC?

 

They will use OBN (on board non-refundable) first. Then Refundable. Any refundable OBC will be credited back to your credit card, or if you wish to go to Guest Relations on disembarkation morning, they'll hand you cash (we did this on our last cruise).

[georgetheblue]

2023. Update to the question of TA OBC refundable.  My TA just emailed me the answer. 

Their onboard credit is non refundable but check when onboard.  Each cruise line may treat it differently.  

[doghog]

7 minutes ago, georgetheblue said:

2023. Update to the question of TA OBC refundable.  My TA just emailed me the answer. 

Their onboard credit is non refundable but check when onboard.  Each cruise line may treat it differently.  

6 years. How time flies.  My understanding on TA OBC it's up to the TA if the OBC is to refundable or non-refundable.  Not the cruise line. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by doghog

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, doghog said:

6 years. How time flies.  My understanding on TA OBC it's up to the TA if the OBC is to refundable or non-refundable.  Not the cruise line. 

I think you are correct.

[wrk2cruise]

OBC from my TA is almost always refundable.  There have be 1 or 2 sailings where a small portion of it ($100) wasn't.  He explained that it was due to a joint marketing program with Celebrity.    I always ask during the booking process.

[doghog]

1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

OBC from my TA is almost always refundable.  There have be 1 or 2 sailings where a small portion of it ($100) wasn't.  He explained that it was due to a joint marketing program with Celebrity.    I always ask during the booking process.

Small portion. Maydew me laugh. That's usually the total OBC I get from a TA. 

[wrk2cruise]

10 minutes ago, doghog said:

Small portion. Maydew me laugh. That's usually the total OBC I get from a TA. 

 

I average just about 8% of my total invoice price from my TA.

[doghog]

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

I average just about 8% of my total invoice price from my TA.

Now I'm really jealous. 

[jagoffee]

8 hours ago, georgetheblue said:

2023. Update to the question of TA OBC refundable.  My TA just emailed me the answer. 

Their onboard credit is non refundable but check when onboard.  Each cruise line may treat it differently.  

Time for a new TA.

[bjahil47]

OBC we receive from our TA is always refundable

[the penguins]

On 3/11/2017 at 8:21 PM, CruisersTimesThree said:

 

My husband is a sucker for a couple of massages when we cruise.

My son traveled with us, so his gratuities came out of it.

A few bingo games (those aren't cheap!)

Like I said previously a nice chunk of it in the end went for extra gratuities to the butler and staff.

I think I purchased a pocketbook, some liquor to take home and several colognes/perfumes.

It just added up without you even realizing it.

When we booked the cruise they were running a special where they doubled your OBC, so we originally had $600, but then another $600 was added by Celebrity because of major screw-ups with their website and our reservation.

None of the OBC was refundable, so it was use it or lose it.

Just  convert it to cash playing Roulette in the Casino. We do this on every cruise.

[Whinenowine]

This was actually a point of contention with a TA I used to book a cruise last month.  I usually use a certain (not to be mentioned) website that gets me multiple TA pricings per cruise for me to compare. And every single time the TA has offered me a choice of OBC or a discount on the cruise price (less that $100-ish minimum OBC amount).  When I chose OBC it was always in my account pretty quickly, allowing me to use it to book excursions and specialty dining before they're sold out.

 

In this instance, AFTER booking via the TA I was told the OBC wouldn't hit my account until I was onboard, and that it would be non-refundable. So that meant I had to use cash to book my excursions in advance, and then once the cruise started I'd have several thousand dollars of non-refundable OBC for which I had no use.  To their credit, after several hours of discussions with Celebrity while on board they agreed to swap the payment method for the excursions to OBC and refund our credit card....but it was a time suck for both them and us.  Never going to use that TA again, and I let them know it.

[jagoffee]

3 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

This was actually a point of contention with a TA I used to book a cruise last month.  I usually use a certain (not to be mentioned) website that gets me multiple TA pricings per cruise for me to compare. And every single time the TA has offered me a choice of OBC or a discount on the cruise price (less that $100-ish minimum OBC amount).  When I chose OBC it was always in my account pretty quickly, allowing me to use it to book excursions and specialty dining before they're sold out.

 

In this instance, AFTER booking via the TA I was told the OBC wouldn't hit my account until I was onboard, and that it would be non-refundable. So that meant I had to use cash to book my excursions in advance, and then once the cruise started I'd have several thousand dollars of non-refundable OBC for which I had no use.  To their credit, after several hours of discussions with Celebrity while on board they agreed to swap the payment method for the excursions to OBC and refund our credit card....but it was a time suck for both them and us.  Never going to use that TA again, and I let them know it.

Over the years, I have used several different TAs.  OBC from Celebrity shows up on my Celebrity account and it an be used for advanced purchases.  However OBC from my TA has always been refundable and has never shown on my account until after I was on board.  Therefore I could not use it in advance.  (This is OBC that is given to me as a sharing of the commission). 
 

Could you be confusing the advanced TA OBC on your account with a different cruise line?  Or perhaps the OBC was actually from Celebrity?  You might want to confirm before you book you next cruise.

 

This is my experiences.

[Jeremiah1212]

There is not a blanket statement correct answer. It depends. TA OBC can be a mix of both depending on how the agency obtained the credit. 

[Whinenowine]

3 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Over the years, I have used several different TAs.  OBC from Celebrity shows up on my Celebrity account and it an be used for advanced purchases.  However OBC from my TA has always been refundable and has never shown on my account until after I was on board.  Therefore I could not use it in advance.  (This is OBC that is given to me as a sharing of the commission). 
 

Could you be confusing the advanced TA OBC on your account with a different cruise line?  Or perhaps the OBC was actually from Celebrity?  You might want to confirm before you book you next cruise.

 

This is my experiences.

The X and AMEX OBC hit immediately, as expected.  But the TA OBC didn't hit until embarkation. Long story short, I'd never have used this TA had I known that.  My second and third choice TAs offered the OBC upfront....but then again, who knows what would really have happened...as I didn't use them.

[doghog]

4 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

The X and AMEX OBC hit immediately, as expected.  But the TA OBC didn't hit until embarkation. Long story short, I'd never have used this TA had I known that.  My second and third choice TAs offered the OBC upfront....but then again, who knows what would really have happened...as I didn't use them.

Any TA we have used their OBC offer was upfront but their OBC never showed up in our Celebrity CP pre cruise. Took at at least a day or two to show up on our onboard account.