Transfering to another Travel Agency, also changing cruise ship and date.

[A2Mich]

Yes

 

 

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Excellent. Is there any chance, when you have some time, to explain how OBC is determined by TA’s and cruise lines? If you’re not allowed to answer, I understand. Thank you for any insight you can offer us.

 

 

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[Jimbo]

Excellent. Is there any chance, when you have some time, to explain how OBC is determined by TA’s and cruise lines? If you’re not allowed to answer, I understand. Thank you for any insight you can offer us.

 

 

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:lips-sealed: penny on a dollar.

[A2Mich]

:lips-sealed: penny on a dollar.

 

 

 

I’m still waiting on an answer from my own travel agent as well. Your theory doesn’t seem to hold up in real world experiences.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Excellent. Is there any chance, when you have some time, to explain how OBC is determined by TA’s and cruise lines? If you’re not allowed to answer, I understand. Thank you for any insight you can offer us.

We get about 5% of the total price of the cruise.

[Jimbo]

I’m still waiting on an answer from my own travel agent as well. Your theory doesn’t seem to hold up in real world experiences.

 

 

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Penny on a dollar of their commission is what the give back to the their clients.

[A2Mich]

We get about 5% of the total price of the cruise.

 

 

 

Thanks Bob. I was just curious if there is some type of formula/matrix that is used to determine it, or if the amount from the cruise line is based on sales of particular sailings, etc. There seems to be no logical pattern.

 

 

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[Jimbo]

We get about 5% of the total price of the cruise.

 

You aren't including the percentage of what the owner of the business takes are you? You are just counting what you receive as an agent.

 

Overall it's probably between 10 to 12 percent...........agencies that sell alot of cruises are on the high end of that scale.

Some of the total price though like taxes and fees and port charges are non-commissionale.

 

Jimbo:)

Edited January 28, 2018 by Jimbo

[Ourusualbeach]

I’m still waiting on an answer from my own travel agent as well. Your theory doesn’t seem to hold up in real world experiences.

 

 

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There is no set answer. Any OBC that is not part of a cruise line promotion comes directly out of the commission that the agent receives.

 

High volume on line retailers with low overhead probably offer the most. Many travel agents do not offer anything as they are working for a travel agent that is a franchisee with a storefront and higher costs. A certain % comes off the top that goes to head office for marketing fee, then that balance is split with the franchisee or agency owner. Also don’t forget that commission is not paid on the full amount.

[Clarea]

Thanks Bob. I was just curious if there is some type of formula/matrix that is used to determine it, or if the amount from the cruise line is based on sales of particular sailings, etc. There seems to be no logical pattern.

No forumla, each agency/agent can do their own thing.

[Clarea]

You aren't including the percentage of what the owner of the business takes are you? You are just counting what you receive as an agent. ... /quote]

Correct, I'm looking at the total cruise fare vs the OBC we get back.

[A2Mich]

No forumla, each agency/agent can do their own thing.

 

 

 

And that’s what I thought. I’m not sure about what the cruise lines themselves offer.

 

Jimbo is under the impression that OBC seems to be strictly correlated to amount of booking, and I have not found that to be the case.

 

 

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[dolfansam]

OBC varies depending on what the agency allows. If I am only going to make $45 on a sale, I am not going to give you $50. Many of the commissions are under $100 so there is not a lot flexibility. When a lead comes thru the agency it is much less than when someone comes to me. If you are nice to me, I will be nice to you, but all OBC offers have to be ok’d by Agency. I do send all my clients gifts on the ship and to their house.

 

 

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[Jimbo]

 

Jimbo is under the impression that OBC seems to be strictly correlated to amount of booking, and I have not found that to be the case.

 

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:rolleyes:..oh geezzz, I have booked all these cruises and have no idea about that...yeah okay.

[Jimbo]

If you are nice to me, I will be nice to you, but all OBC offers have to be ok’d by Agency. I do send all my clients gifts on the ship and to their house.

 

 

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And how is a client nice to you ? Explain?

[A2Mich]

:rolleyes:..oh geezzz, I have booked all these cruises and have no idea about that...yeah okay.

 

 

 

Well then explain to me exactly why my two most recent RCI cruises which, again, are about $500 in total cost between each other, have a $400 difference in OBC, and why you seem to have one travel agency offering you a considerable amount of OBC, and another one offering you next to nothing. So no, you have very little idea about it. I’ve booked and been on about 10 cruises myself, and there has been no correlation in OBC with regard to how much the cruise booking itself cost.

 

 

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[Jimbo]

Well then explain to me exactly why my two most recent RCI cruises which, again, are about $500 in total cost between each other, have a $400 difference in OBC, and why you seem to have one travel agency offering you a considerable amount of OBC, and another one offering you next to nothing. So no, you have very little idea about it. I’ve booked and been on about 10 cruises myself, and there has been no correlation in OBC with regard to how much the cruise booking itself cost.

 

 

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Like dolfansam said " "if you are nice to me, I will be nice to you"

 

 

I guess you weren't nice to one of the agents when you booked one of the cruises?

 

 

Jimbo:)

[A2Mich]

Like dolfansam said " "if you are nice to me, I will be nice to you"

 

 

 

 

 

I guess you weren't nice to one of the agents when you booked one of the cruises?

 

 

 

 

 

Jimbo:)

 

 

 

As I stated before, they were all booked WITH THE SAME PERSON.

 

 

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[Jimbo]

As I stated before, they were all booked WITH THE SAME PERSON.

 

 

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Well you did something wrong to piss them off.

[A2Mich]

Well you did something wrong to piss them off.

 

 

 

Umm...it’s an office of 2 people. So all of a sudden, she offers several hundred dollars of OBC, and last time nothing? You make yourself sound more foolish with every post you make...

 

 

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[Jimbo]

Umm...it’s an office of 2 people. So all of a sudden, she offers several hundred dollars of OBC, and last time nothing? You make yourself sound more foolish with every post you make...

 

 

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Sorry if you took it that way, I was referring to dolfansam statement above as to how she gives out perks(OBC). "if you are nice to me, I will be nice to you" by giving you more perks.

 

 

It's fine you are dealing with a 2 person operation. If you are more comfortable that way that's fine. They just aren't selling as many cruises as the big companies. Granted they might have less overhead maybe., but maybe not.

 

 

But the larger companies in most times have a much larger percentage of the commission to give back to their customers.

 

 

I think since you have booked 10 cruises with the same travel agency, next time you book something branch out and get some quotes from the larger companies and see for yourself what you might be missing.

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by Jimbo

[/url]

penny on a dollar.

I’m still waiting on an answer from my own travel agent as well. Your theory doesn’t seem to hold up in real world experiences.

 

 

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I was just stating what I was offered for the $10,000.00 reservation I attempted to change my reservation too. Perk $ 100.00 OBC

 

Jimbo:)

[A2Mich]

No worries Jimbo. You and I have both had different experiences. My 2 person TA office is a franchised part of a large TA Network, so she is able to get the group pricing, etc, and likely does have lower overhead. Her office is run from her home, and has no “storefront” as her sales are all online/phone based. When we booked our current cruise, we booked onboard through Next Cruise and transferred the booking to her right away. We are not planning to book onboard this time, as we might try out NCL for our next one, and will shop travel agents. We have also considered giving Carnival another try, as we haven’t been on a Carny cruise in about 12 years. Their pricing, however, tends to be very close to RCI, and in some cases, even higher for a comparable itinerary, for what may or may not be a vastly different experience.

 

 

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[js]

We have also considered giving Carnival another try, as we haven’t been on a Carny cruise in about 12 years. Their pricing, however, tends to be very close to RCI, and in some cases, even higher for a comparable itinerary, for what may or may not be a vastly different experience.

 

 

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I agree with this statement. Im not loyal to any line and shop around for TAs although I have used mine from a big cruise internet site for the last few years for 2 cruises a year.

 

Anyway, My last CCL sailed was Breeze two years ago. I had Vista Havana Cabana booked for next month. On top of my cabin, I had booked spa passes for two and alcohol package for two. The cost of that booking was higher than MSC Seaside Yacht Club. I stalked the MSC site and constantly watched for a YC cabin to open as it got closer to final payment. One opened and I booked it. I canceled my Vista cruise and still saved money with the loss of my ES rate deposit. So, yes, I agree with you. The CCL newer ships and cabin classes when adding on extras can come in line with NCL, RCCL and MSC (where I am getting two included alcohol and spa passes with my YC booking).

 

 

 

 

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[payitforward]

Excellent. Is there any chance, when you have some time, to explain how OBC is determined by TA’s and cruise lines? If you’re not allowed to answer, I understand. Thank you for any insight you can offer us.

 

 

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Let me do my best here.

There are different sources of on board credit. For example, a lot of the RCCL "sales" come with a certain dollar amount of on board credit. This can range for $50 - $500 depending on the sale and the cabin booked. Then, there are "group" reservations. Even if you are not personally sailing with a group, the larger cruise agencies have group space on many sailings. With this space, they can usually offer additional OBC, spa treatments or dining at specialty restaurants. The type of OBC Jimbo seems to want is "good will" credit offered by his agency. This comes directly out of the agency's bottom line. With what he is asking for on his current reservation, most agencies would actually be paying HIM for the privilege of being his travel agent. (Talk about being treated unfairly! Who's treating WHO unfairly?) Obviously this isn't a business model that works for most companies. However, some of the "big box" agencies rebate all of their commission despite the cruise lines telling agents this is not allowed. They do this to get you to purchase their memberships, shop in their stores, etc. They can also afford to do this because they hire "call takers" who make minimum wage as opposed to professional travel planners. I would guess they also get some kind of volume "incentives" at year end that might make up for the loss. I hope this helps to clear things up. Basically, the system is designed so that most agencies should offer you the exact same thing. The agencies that offer much more than this are the places I described above. People are welcome to book with whatever agency works for them. However, don't expect the same level of experience, expertise or customer service from any agency that is paying you to book your travel, and don't complain when you don't get it.

 

Also, as someone said earlier, don't believe that agencies make a commission on your entire cruise fare. There is a dollar amount built into every fare that is non-commissionable. This also varies.

[A2Mich]

Let me do my best here.

 

There are different sources of on board credit. For example, a lot of the RCCL "sales" come with a certain dollar amount of on board credit. This can range for $50 - $500 depending on the sale and the cabin booked. Then, there are "group" reservations. Even if you are not personally sailing with a group, the larger cruise agencies have group space on many sailings. With this space, they can usually offer additional OBC, spa treatments or dining at specialty restaurants. The type of OBC Jimbo seems to want is "good will" credit offered by his agency. This comes directly out of the agency's bottom line. With what he is asking for on his current reservation, most agencies would actually be paying HIM for the privilege of being his travel agent. (Talk about being treated unfairly! Who's treating WHO unfairly?) Obviously this isn't a business model that works for most companies. However, some of the "big box" agencies rebate all of their commission despite the cruise lines telling agents this is not allowed. They do this to get you to purchase their memberships, shop in their stores, etc. They can also afford to do this because they hire "call takers" who make minimum wage as opposed to professional travel planners. I would guess they also get some kind of volume "incentives" at year end that might make up for the loss. I hope this helps to clear things up. Basically, the system is designed so that most agencies should offer you the exact same thing. The agencies that offer much more than this are the places I described above. People are welcome to book with whatever agency works for them. However, don't expect the same level of experience, expertise or customer service from any agency that is paying you to book your travel, and don't complain when you don't get it.

 

 

 

Also, as someone said earlier, don't believe that agencies make a commission on your entire cruise fare. There is a dollar amount built into every fare that is non-commissionable. This also varies.

 

 

 

Thank you for your explanation, and this is mostly how I understood things to be. I knew that OBC had at least two sources (from the cruise line themselves, and rebated out of the TA’s commission). I do know that only a portion of the fare is commissionsble, and that part does not include any of the taxes that we pay. My point of disagreement with Jimbo was based on his assertion that OBC was directly related to the amount of the booking itself, on which I have not found that to be consistent in my experience. His experience may very well be different than mine. Maybe his assertion was that what the TA can offer back is directly correlated to the amount of the booking, which makes perfect sense being based on a percentage. Part of my point was that I have seen cruise line sales where some sailing dates will offer varying amounts of OBC depending on cabin category booked, where the very same itinerary next sailing may not offer any at all. So, while I think Jimbo’s assertion may be theoretically correct in how maximum amounts can be calculated, the execution of it in reality doesn’t always work out the same.

 

 

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