Booking Direct vs Booking W/ TA

[BlindCreek]

Just a heads up, not only is mentioning TAs against the rules here, soliciting in either direction for TA referrals by email is also against the rules. You might not have been aware of that.

 

 

 

I wasn't aware. Thanks for the heads up.

 

 

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[Ken the cruiser]

Very interested in hearing what you're able to do.. Thank you.

We've now decided not to call our PCC for a few reasons. First, we just got finished "rebooking" the B2B in question onboard and got an additional $300 OBC per leg which now gives us $600 per leg as we booked the cruises with GO BEST. Second, our PCC just got our $100 military perk reapplied to our "new" bookings which the onboard booking agent said couldn't be combined with a cruise "booked" onboard. And finally and most importantly, we really like our PCC and if Celebrity decided to pass because giving us an additional $500+ OBC per leg would not be worth it to them, we wouldn't transfer the bookings anyway.

 

The reason being, unlike other cruise lines, our Celebrity PCC would loose out on getting any credit for the initial bookings which would really stink for him after all the effort he has put into originally booking the B2B 8 months ago. Besides, for us since we have GO BEST on the B2B cruises and the current OBC we have will pay for all of our excursions, we're not sure what we would use the extra OBC for anyway. But, in all reality, we really like our PCC and don't want to jeopardize that relationship as he has done so much above and beyond for us over the years. Sorry for not having a more positive answer for you.

[Hlitner]

Reading the last post reminded me of a very elderly lade we know who always buys her cars (every 2 years) from the same car dealer and salesman. She really likes that salesman, who is almost as old as she is...and has been selling her cars for over forty years. She happily pays the full sticker price (and gets a pretty lousy trade in allowance) but she is happy because she does not want to hurt the feelings of her old salesman.

 

Personally, I am not running a welfare program for PCCs, cruise agencies or travel agencies. Purchasing a cruise is simply a business transaction. If a PCC can beat the deal I can get from another source then they would get my business. But the reality is that PCCs (for any cruise line) cannot beat (or even match) the deals from high volume agencies...and this is by deliberate design. The cruise lines depend on these agencies for a large majority of all their bookings...and they have no desire to bite the hand that feeds.

 

We are frequent cruisers (often more than 100 days a year) and have had several agents/agencies try to get our business (which generates very nice annual commissions). And we simply tell the agents that they can have our business if they offer us the best deal. And our loyalty is only as good as the last deal. In simple terms, you want to make thousands of dollars commission per year off me....you will compete for the business. We are not in the welfare or charity business....but simply want to buy a product at the best overall price (when considering OBCs and other amenities).

 

Hank

[Ken the cruiser]

Reading the last post reminded me of a very elderly lade we know who always buys her cars (every 2 years) from the same car dealer and salesman. She really likes that salesman, who is almost as old as she is...and has been selling her cars for over forty years. She happily pays the full sticker price (and gets a pretty lousy trade in allowance) but she is happy because she does not want to hurt the feelings of her old salesman.

 

Personally, I am not running a welfare program for PCCs, cruise agencies or travel agencies. Purchasing a cruise is simply a business transaction. If a PCC can beat the deal I can get from another source then they would get my business. But the reality is that PCCs (for any cruise line) cannot beat (or even match) the deals from high volume agencies...and this is by deliberate design. The cruise lines depend on these agencies for a large majority of all their bookings...and they have no desire to bite the hand that feeds.

 

We are frequent cruisers (often more than 100 days a year) and have had several agents/agencies try to get our business (which generates very nice annual commissions). And we simply tell the agents that they can have our business if they offer us the best deal. And our loyalty is only as good as the last deal. In simple terms, you want to make thousands of dollars commission per year off me....you will compete for the business. We are not in the welfare or charity business....but simply want to buy a product at the best overall price (when considering OBCs and other amenities).

 

Hank

Thank you so much Hank for your insight. First of all, I was just responding to Shadow9612's request and why we chose not to bargain with X for more OBC. But since you decided to "look down your nose at us" as to how we manage our cruises, let me respond.

 

No, on second thought, I think I'll pass. You have a wonderful day and I hope all of your TAs continue to give you the service you deserve. I'll just say for us the bottom line is not always the driving force. I could give you examples of why booking sometimes with a PCC has paid off in big dividends for us, but what would be the purpose. You would just come back by saying one of your many TAs would have done the same and much more. I doubt it, but my guess is you're the type of person that never admits they are wrong. For us sometimes it's just nice being "the elderly lady" in the crowd.

Edited November 20, 2017 by Ken the cruiser

[Shadow9612]

We've now decided not to call our PCC for a few reasons. First, we just got finished "rebooking" the B2B in question onboard and got an additional $300 OBC per leg which now gives us $600 per leg as we booked the cruises with GO BEST. Second, our PCC just got our $100 military perk reapplied to our "new" bookings which the onboard booking agent said couldn't be combined with a cruise "booked" onboard. And finally and most importantly, we really like our PCC and if Celebrity decided to pass because giving us an additional $500+ OBC per leg would not be worth it to them, we wouldn't transfer the bookings anyway.

 

The reason being, unlike other cruise lines, our Celebrity PCC would loose out on getting any credit for the initial bookings which would really stink for him after all the effort he has put into originally booking the B2B 8 months ago. Besides, for us since we have GO BEST on the B2B cruises and the current OBC we have will pay for all of our excursions, we're not sure what we would use the extra OBC for anyway. But, in all reality, we really like our PCC and don't want to jeopardize that relationship as he has done so much above and beyond for us over the years. Sorry for not having a more positive answer for you.

 

Thank you for the update. No need to apologize.

 

I am often amazed at the OBC deals I hear people have received from online big box TA's. Here in Canada I haven't been able to find OBC benefits as large as the ones I hear some people get in the US.

 

I was interested to hear more in your case since I've never used a celebrity PCC but like the idea of them potentially matching what we find elsewhere.

 

I can totally relate to you wanting to stay with your PCC in appreciation for all that they do regularly for you. I have a travel agent I use locally on a regular basis, and I do remain loyal to them for all the hard work they do behind the scenes between my cruises. That personal Extra Touch is worth more to me then $50 extra OBC. Having said that, I am honestly intrigued and curious when I do hear about people getting thousands of dollars of OBC!

[Kamloops50]

Thank you for the update. No need to apologize.

 

I am often amazed at the OBC deals I hear people have received from online big box TA's. Here in Canada I haven't been able to find OBC benefits as large as the ones I hear some people get in the US.

 

I was interested to hear more in your case since I've never used a celebrity PCC but like the idea of them potentially matching what we find elsewhere.

 

I can totally relate to you wanting to stay with your PCC in appreciation for all that they do regularly for you. I have a travel agent I use locally on a regular basis, and I do remain loyal to them for all the hard work they do behind the scenes between my cruises. That personal Extra Touch is worth more to me then $50 extra OBC. Having said that, I am honestly intrigued and curious when I do hear about people getting thousands of dollars of OBC!

 

I’ve of people getting thousands of $ of OBC. Never got it myself.

The most we ever got was $1200. Due to cruise offer , FCD and shareholders credit.

[Ken the cruiser]

Thank you for the update. No need to apologize.

I am often amazed at the OBC deals I hear people have received from online big box TA's. Here in Canada I haven't been able to find OBC benefits as large as the ones I hear some people get in the US.

I was interested to hear more in your case since I've never used a celebrity PCC but like the idea of them potentially matching what we find elsewhere.

I can totally relate to you wanting to stay with your PCC in appreciation for all that they do regularly for you. I have a travel agent I use locally on a regular basis, and I do remain loyal to them for all the hard work they do behind the scenes between my cruises. That personal Extra Touch is worth more to me then $50 extra OBC. Having said that, I am honestly intrigued and curious when I do hear about people getting thousands of dollars of OBC!

When we first started cruising 5 years ago and booked directly with the cruise line, we never received any perks from promotional sales. Basically, we would just book a cruise a few months out and be done with it. Then, after booking our 5th cruise a little over a year out, I noticed on HAL's website, there was a new sale and I contacted our PCC and asked if we qualified for that sale. She said yes and subsequently posted the perks as well as the price reduction to our booking. From that point on, we book as early as possible and monitor the applicable cruise line websites watching for cost effective sales. Now when we go on a HAL cruise, we usually have $1,100 in OBC, free gratuities, an Internet package and sometimes even a beverage package.

 

When it comes to using a TA, it depends on which cruise line we're booking with. However, with the new one we just found that gives cash rebates just prior to setting sail, we might be funneling more of our cruises through them IF their level of service is also top quality.

 

If I could give one piece of advice to those that like to cruise on lines owned by either Carnival or Norwegian, buy 100 shares of their stock (if you can afford it) to get up to $250 OBC when you cruise on one of their ships. As we cruise between 3-5 times a year on their ships, it's been a nice perk. We checked into getting RCI stock as well, but they are too restrictive in issuing their OBC perk.