Best Travel Agencies for HAL Good Pricing/Perks

[DaveOKC]

10 hours ago, Fouremco said:

It might be different in the US, but in Canada the BB stores have no travel agents onsite. They have a website and a call centre, but no mortar and brick presence. I don't know how much travel-related information you'll be able to get at the store.

Thanks - I was wondering about this as we do not have a store in town (our first one opens in 2 days!).  

 

[syesmar]

On 5/12/2019 at 11:23 AM, DaveOKC said:

. . . 2.  How good is the big box on passing along "upsells"?  I use this often. . . .

 

In 10 HAL cruises either booked directly through an agency or transferred over to the agency from HAL (not the “big box” I believe is being referred to here, but various agencies who also have a large online presence), not once have I been contacted about an upsell.  I usually book within a 5-9 week window because I have flexibility with the air portion, so that may be part of the reason.  This time I’ve left my booking with HAL because I didn’t want to pay the agency’s booking fee and they weren’t offering any additional credit/rebate than what I was getting through HAL when it was said and done.  We’ll see what happens. . . .

[DaveOKC]

Just now, syesmar said:

In 10 HAL cruises either booked directly through an agency or transferred over to the agency from HAL (not the “big box” I believe is being referred to here, but various agencies who also have a large online presence), not once have I been contacted about an upsell.  I usually book within a 5-9 week window because I have flexibility with the air portion, so that may be part of the reason.  This time I’ve left my booking with HAL because I didn’t want to pay the agency’s booking fee and they weren’t offering any additional credit/rebate than what I was getting through HAL when it was said and done.  We’ll see what happens. . . .

 

It will be interesting to see what happens on this cruise for you.  I book through HAL and get upsells on 80% of my cruises.  Usually they happen about 2-4 weeks prior to sailing (the one I got in March was exactly 28 days prior to sailing and it was a great offer IMO ($99 to go from a Signature to a Neptune).

 

Please let us know your findings. 

[syesmar]

9 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

It will be interesting to see what happens on this cruise for you.  I book through HAL and get upsells on 80% of my cruises.  Usually they happen about 2-4 weeks prior to sailing (the one I got in March was exactly 28 days prior to sailing and it was a great offer IMO ($99 to go from a Signature to a Neptune).

 

Please let us know your findings. 

Will do!  I’ve read some of your posts about upsells.  I recall the funny story when you had called and then it ended up working out better later:>)  I may proactively call, though I do call the line for booked passengers occasionally to ask about pricing in different categories.  When you first called proactively, did you call the general HAL number or the specific upsell number?

Edited May 14, 2019 by syesmar

[JRG]

If you have made it to the Big Box deal in this game and have cruised with confidence,  then you've made it to second base and thats' a good thing in the cruise pricing game.

 

The next step is to think outside the Big Box.     It appears to me that the Big Box may be sharing the same search engine as the nefarious cruise-agencies that everybody keeps mentioning but not everybody

knows who they are exactly.   

 

Our approach is similar to what is described by H but I describe it as shopping for a cruise like the Car-Max commercial, or zoom, zoom zoom with all the details and pricing you need to make your buying decision after you've filtered in all your favorite cruiselines, ships, cabins,  etc. etc., instantly at your laptop.  When you are ready to go you call the number and tell them what you want and they put you on hold to process with the cruiseline (just like the Big Box) , they come back, done deal and you have an e-mail invoice in seconds.   No long term relationship there.

 

The whole program does not work if you're not watching the pricing frequently to familiarize yourself with the market.   If you are not doing this then forget about making it to third.   

 

I hope that this helps some folks save some money.    Cruising is great fun but cruising for super great values is funner.       You cannot book directly with HAL and score the deals we see unless you just get really lucky.

Edited May 14, 2019 by JRG

[DaveOKC]

3 hours ago, syesmar said:

Will do!  I’ve read some of your posts about upsells.  I recall the funny story when you had called and then it ended up working out better later:>)  I may proactively call, though I do call the line for booked passengers occasionally to ask about pricing in different categories.  When you first called proactively, did you call the general HAL number or the specific upsell number

I have tried two approaches - calling the upsell number directly and having my HAL PCC call her contacts.  Gernally speaking, neither approach works out most times, except for once my HAL PCC was able to get me an upsell just before it went out to everyone.  

 

It cannot hurt to call, but I would not expect much, as they follow a set of procedures it seems (like in my story - saying no two days prior to sending out an upsell email to everyone - which is a good example).

 

 

[Hlitner]

Since upsells have become a sub-topic...thought we would chime in with our experience.  Although we have made it all the way to 5 Star Mariners, we have only ever had 2 upsell offers.  These both came via our cruise agency (we do not book direct with HAL) and were both offers on our favorite HAL vessel, the Prinsendam.  The first time it happened was on our first Grand Med cruise (62 days) when we were working with a tight budget and had booked a lower category outside cabin.  As I recall our total cost for the cruise was about $19,000 (total cost for 2).  A few weeks before our cruise we received a phone call from our cruise agent who was actually laughing as she read the Fax they had received from HAL.  It was an upsell offer for $9,999 per person to move-up to a very large suite.  The upsell more then doubled the cost of our cruise.  After DW and I got up off the floor (Rolling on the Floor Laughing) we thought we would join in the fun so made a counter-offer of $5000 (total for 2).  We never got any response from HAL :).  On the cruise that large suite was empty (I guess they could not get anyone to take an upsell) so it was used for some of the Guest Entertainers.  

 

The 2nd offer came on another Grand Med cruise (we had again booked an outside cabin) to a Signature Suite.  Those suites are very nice on the Prinsendam so it did get our interest.  We declined the offer, and two weeks later HAL made a 2nd offer at a much lower cost.  We did not respond.  The following week (3 weeks prior to the cruise) our cruise agent called us and said they received  a third offer at an even lower price and we accepted the deal.  What a fantastic cabin!  So I guess one does not need to book direct with a PCC to get these upsell offers.

 

Hank

[Palm Bay Cruise Couple]

You might want to call a Holland America Cruise Consultant.  

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Since upsells have become a sub-topic...thought we would chime in with our experience.  Although we have made it all the way to 5 Star Mariners, we have only ever had 2 upsell offers.  These both came via our cruise agency (we do not book direct with HAL) and were both offers on our favorite HAL vessel, the Prinsendam.  The first time it happened was on our first Grand Med cruise (62 days) when we were working with a tight budget and had booked a lower category outside cabin.  As I recall our total cost for the cruise was about $19,000 (total cost for 2).  A few weeks before our cruise we received a phone call from our cruise agent who was actually laughing as she read the Fax they had received from HAL.  It was an upsell offer for $9,999 per person to move-up to a very large suite.  The upsell more then doubled the cost of our cruise.  After DW and I got up off the floor (Rolling on the Floor Laughing) we thought we would join in the fun so made a counter-offer of $5000 (total for 2).  We never got any response from HAL :).  On the cruise that large suite was empty (I guess they could not get anyone to take an upsell) so it was used for some of the Guest Entertainers.  

 

The 2nd offer came on another Grand Med cruise (we had again booked an outside cabin) to a Signature Suite.  Those suites are very nice on the Prinsendam so it did get our interest.  We declined the offer, and two weeks later HAL made a 2nd offer at a much lower cost.  We did not respond.  The following week (3 weeks prior to the cruise) our cruise agent called us and said they received  a third offer at an even lower price and we accepted the deal.  What a fantastic cabin!  So I guess one does not need to book direct with a PCC to get these upsell offers.

 

Hank

You do not have to book through a HAL PCC to get upsell offers - I have received them when I booked through a very traditional, nationwide agency).  I think the point being made is that not ALL TAs pass these offers on to the customer, likely due to the extra work and time it takes (I am guessing of course).  Sounds like you have a great TA!  

[SempreMare]

@richwmn, @Hlitner, @Cruising-along, @CruznRagtop, @Hawaiidan:  

 

Could you all please magically appear on my August Alaska cruise on the Westerdam? 

 

On sea days I would ply you with cocktails / mocktails or smoothies.  Then I'd ask all the questions I have now but can't ask here after just making a bunch of these phone calls! 

 

Maybe not all of you at the same time.  

 

My hand would cramp from taking notes!  ( I am a first-time HAL cruiser. ) 

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by SempreMare

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

You do not have to book through a HAL PCC to get upsell offers - I have received them when I booked through a very traditional, nationwide agency).  I think the point being made is that not ALL TAs pass these offers on to the customer, likely due to the extra work and time it takes (I am guessing of course).  Sounds like you have a great TA!  

Although it is not my agenda to defend travel/cruise agencies (in general) I have a difficult time accepting that a cruise agency (we only deal with reputable high volume cruise agencies) would not pass along upsell (or other) info they get from cruise lines.  Failure to act properly would eventually doom that agency once the word got out (and bad news does travel fast).  In fact your post made me smile as we have received 4 communications in the past week from two of our favored cruise agencies.  3 involved very minor itinerary changes in 2 booked cruises which were forwarded and the 4th involved a slight air schedule change on a cruise air deal.  

 

The Cruise Agency industry is very competitive and there are many customers like moi who expect the best service, prices, and amenities.  Failure to deliver would quickly drive us (and many others) to a competitor.  Considering that we often book over 100 cruise days a year, the agencies we use have a strong incentive to treat us well (and they do).  Since we currently have cruises booked with 5 different cruise lines, I cannot even imagine having to deal with each cruise line on an individual basis.  One of our favored agencies has 4 of our bookings and another favored agency has the 5th.  When any cruise line (including HAL) contacts us to seek our direct booking business my offer is always the same (for any cruise line).  "If you can match the deals I get from decent cruise agencies you can have my bookings."  In forty + years of extensive cruising it has never happened!

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

21 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

@richwmn, @Hlitner, @Cruising-along, @CruznRagtop, @Hawaiidan:  

 

Could you all please magically appear on my August Alaska cruise on the Westerdam? 

 

On sea days I would ply you with cocktails / mocktails or smoothies.  Then I'd ask all the questions I have now but can't ask here after just making a bunch of these phone calls! 

 

Maybe not all of you at the same time.  

 

My hand would cramp from taking notes!  ( I am a first-time HAL cruiser. ) 

 

ROFL!  We will be in Alaska in early August, but on a different cruise line.  Our simple advice to any cruiser is when it comes to cruise lines and booking strategies....keep an open mind.  That sound like common sense, but you would be amazed at how many do just the opposite.

 

Hank

[Cruising-along]

46 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

@richwmn, @Hlitner, @Cruising-along, @CruznRagtop, @Hawaiidan:  

 

Could you all please magically appear on my August Alaska cruise on the Westerdam? 

 

On sea days I would ply you with cocktails / mocktails or smoothies.  Then I'd ask all the questions I have now but can't ask here after just making a bunch of these phone calls! 

 

Maybe not all of you at the same time.  

 

My hand would cramp from taking notes!  ( I am a first-time HAL cruiser. ) 

 

What fun!  I will be on the Westerdam in 12 days 🙂  Hope to meet you on some future cruise!  

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, SempreMare said:

@richwmn, @Hlitner, @Cruising-along, @CruznRagtop, @Hawaiidan:  

 

Could you all please magically appear on my August Alaska cruise on the Westerdam? 

 

On sea days I would ply you with cocktails / mocktails or smoothies.  Then I'd ask all the questions I have now but can't ask here after just making a bunch of these phone calls! 

 

Maybe not all of you at the same time.  

 

My hand would cramp from taking notes!  ( I am a first-time HAL cruiser. ) 

 

Thanks! My Alaska for this year is in 20 days on Amsterdam. Hope to see you on a HAL cruise some day!

 

[JRG]

On 4/1/2019 at 6:19 AM, kantonburg said:

Being so new to this I didn't realize you could bring deals to the PCC after you made your booking.  On the plus side we have 8 months from today to sort these things out.

 

When you say big box store is that something like Costco or Sam's Club?

 

You're getting warmer.....have your membership i.d. ready just in case!

[SempreMare]

On 5/14/2019 at 7:10 PM, richwmn said:

Thanks! My Alaska for this year is in 20 days on Amsterdam. Hope to see you on a HAL cruise some day!

 

On 5/14/2019 at 6:33 PM, Cruising-along said:

What fun!  I will be on the Westerdam in 12 days 🙂  Hope to meet you on some future cruise!  

 

On 5/14/2019 at 6:09 PM, Hlitner said:

ROFL!  We will be in Alaska in early August, but on a different cruise line. 

 

What you all don't realize is the glaciers are melting and YOU NEED A SECOND ALASKA CRUISE THIS SUMMER.

 

/sniff

 

PS:  How many HAL cruises booked per month would you consider a good / great / extremely amazing  level for a single TA? 

[DoggyDaddy]

Just curious, what is the typical commission a TA gets on a cruise booking (in %). Does it vary depending on volume?

 

DD

[Randyk47]

1 hour ago, DoggyDaddy said:

Just curious, what is the typical commission a TA gets on a cruise booking (in %). Does it vary depending on volume?

 

DD

 

Mass market line commissions are in the 10-12% range.   There are other considerations given large agencies with high volume.   

[zentraveler]

On 5/12/2019 at 10:13 AM, oaktreerb said:

Big Box will not call or e-mail you for upsells.  You will still get your free upgrade if you tell them you will accept an upgrade.  You will need to call BB to request any price adjustments or to inquire if there are any upsells being offered.  BB customer service rep (TA) will call HAL to see what HAL can do for you.  

 

Sorry for such a simple question but what does "big box" refer to exactly?  Is it a large brick and mortar store that has a travel function or one of the big on-line cruise booking sites?  Or both?? Does it matter? Most of the threads discussion these issues refer to big box and not on-line. 

 

And another question: we booked through a large, on-line company and my agent mention "upgrades" which I now know mean "upsells".  I called her last week and called HAL to find out my options. That was not a  problem, but I often like to do that sort of thing myself. Can I call HAL directly with my booking number and ask about these?

Edited May 26, 2019 by zentraveler

[Randyk47]

3 hours ago, zentraveler said:

 

Sorry for such a simple question but what does "big box" refer to exactly?  Is it a large brick and mortar store that has a travel function or one of the big on-line cruise booking sites?  Or both?? Does it matter? Most of the threads discussion these issues refer to big box and not on-line. 

 

And another question: we booked through a large, on-line company and my agent mention "upgrades" which I now know mean "upsells".  I called her last week and called HAL to find out my options. That was not a  problem, but I often like to do that sort of thing myself. Can I call HAL directly with my booking number and ask about these?

 

In this useage “big box” refers to large retail warehouse like businesses.  The kind where relatively common items like mayonnaise or ketchup are sold in large quantities like a gallon or so sized jugs.  Cereal comes equally almost commercial sized containers and so on.  There usually is an annual membership requirement.  Online or internet based travel agencies are not “big box” agencies as such but indeed there are some that do significant business.  The differences come down to what the agencies offer in terms of services, incentives, discounts, etc.   There is actually quite a range.  

Edited May 27, 2019 by Randyk47

[richwmn]

4 hours ago, zentraveler said:

And another question: we booked through a large, on-line company and my agent mention "upgrades" which I now know mean "upsells".  I called her last week and called HAL to find out my options. That was not a  problem, but I often like to do that sort of thing myself. Can I call HAL directly with my booking number and ask about these?

Once you transfer a booking to a TA, that TA "owns" your reservation and HAL (for the most part) will not talk with you directly. Every now and then this rule is broken, but not very often and you shouldn't count on that being the case.

 

[DaveOKC]

14 hours ago, zentraveler said:

 

And another question: we booked through a large, on-line company and my agent mention "upgrades" which I now know mean "upsells".  I called her last week and called HAL to find out my options. That was not a  problem, but I often like to do that sort of thing myself. Can I call HAL directly with my booking number and ask about these?

Just to clarify - upgrades do not necessarily mean upsells.  An upsell is when the cruise line contacts you (usually through an email) either directly or through your TA, offering to move you up to a higher ranked cabin (usually a higher ranked category) for a set price.  I know my HAL PCC calls this a "paid upgrade".

 

An upgrade can also be a free one, where the cruiseline moves you "up" to a higher ranked cabin.  This can be due to the line just wanting to build customer goodwill when they have unsold better cabins, it can be when the customer complains about fares dropping after final payment and the line wants to keep them happy, or a variety of other reasons.

 

If you book through a TA, HAL normally will not discuss upgrades with you directly, but rather will ask you to work through your TA (understandable since they pay the TA to do this).  However, sometimes they do break this rule and will talk to you about it.  I guess it does not hurt to call and ask, as all they can do is say "no".

 

 

[RocketMan275]

18 hours ago, richwmn said:

Once you transfer a booking to a TA, that TA "owns" your reservation and HAL (for the most part) will not talk with you directly. Every now and then this rule is broken, but not very often and you shouldn't count on that being the case.

 

I've not had any issues talking with HAL even if my TA owns my reservation.  I received an upsell offer forwarded by my TA.  I called HAL for clarification on some points and they were more than willing to talk with me.  In fact, I asked about the "HAL won't talk if you've booked through a TA" and was told they could not change any aspect of the reservation that affected a TA commission but other than that, they could answer questions.  Specifically, I wanted to know if they accepted counter offers (they did not) and some process questions about upsells, etc.  FWIW, we declined the initial upsell offer but accepted a second and lower offer the next week.

[zentraveler]

19 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

 

In this useage “big box” refers to large retail warehouse like businesses.  The kind where relatively common items like mayonnaise or ketchup are sold in large quantities like a gallon or so sized jugs.  Cereal comes equally almost commercial sized containers and so on.  There usually is an annual membership requirement.  Online or internet based travel agencies are not “big box” agencies as such but indeed there are some that do significant business.  The differences come down to what the agencies offer in terms of services, incentives, discounts, etc.   There is actually quite a range.  

 

Thank you Randyk47! I certainly use big-box stores like the one you describe, for toilet paper and paper towels, but have honestly never thought of using them for travel although I do have a memory that they do that.  I was considering  "big box" a euphemism for big online consolidators so this is very useful so I know what I am reading about. Very helpful. 

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

I've not had any issues talking with HAL even if my TA owns my reservation.  I received an upsell offer forwarded by my TA.  I called HAL for clarification on some points and they were more than willing to talk with me.  In fact, I asked about the "HAL won't talk if you've booked through a TA" and was told they could not change any aspect of the reservation that affected a TA commission but other than that, they could answer questions.  Specifically, I wanted to know if they accepted counter offers (they did not) and some process questions about upsells, etc.  FWIW, we declined the initial upsell offer but accepted a second and lower offer the next week.

This just points to the inconsistency that is HAL Seattle. The stated policy is that once a booking is transferred, the TA has be contacted for any questions. As I stated in my original answer, that policy is not always followed.

I will ask you a question though. Why should HAL pay the TA if an employee of HAL is doing all the work? What benefit is the TA providing HAL for their commission, that is mostly passed on to you. Why should HAL not do as the airlines did many years ago and cut out travel agencies all together?

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by richwmn