New to Oceania and have a question

[mexicobob]

12 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If I was a TA, I wouldn't be able to afford to cruise! 👀

I will admit that, because I have found Oceania to be a perfect match for our cruise travel profile (i.e., including preferences, expectations and affordable value), I have spent a lot of time and energy on fully understanding their policies and practices.

Trust me- if you do decide that you want to try Oceania -particularly on a pricey itinerary, you should do the research on finding a top seller for Oceania. As aforementioned, the commission sharing alone can be quite a "chunk of change."

Thank you for the information. You may have convinced me to at least look into a travel agent that specializes in Oceania. I love doing research for our travels. Now I have something new to explore...…..a good Oceania travel agent. 

[clo]

18 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

the commission sharing alone can be quite a "chunk of change."

Indeed. I booked with O and then transferred to a recommended (by an anonymous source!) TA.  She's giving us the gratuities. $16/day x 2 pax x 14 days. Well, you know how to do the math.

[Flatbush Flyer]

44 minutes ago, mexicobob said:

Thank you for the information. You may have convinced me to at least look into a travel agent that specializes in Oceania. I love doing research for our travels. Now I have something new to explore...…..a good Oceania travel agent. 

BTW: When I refer to a "chunk of change," I'm talking about the possibility of far more than just gratuities.

 

The right Connoisseurs Club member TA should minimally be able to do 5-10% of the commissionable fare as refundable SBC or a rebate check. In some cases with smaller, independent TAs (and depending on the itinerary/cabin class), TA coverage of gratuities may make it into my stated percentage range.

 

But, some TAs belong to large consortia that have their own deals with cruise lines and certain itineraries may qualify for gratuities coverage from them. Likewise, the right TAs may qualify for an occasional allocation of "pass through" incentive funds/gratuities /etc that can end up in your pocket without touching the TA commission. In those cases, your goal is to get the gratuities plus 5-10% of the commissionable fare.

 

AND Oceania does do occasional rotating "quiet sales" with their preferred partners. That means at least a 4-5% price drop on many itineraries and even more on itineraries they're trying to fill.

 

While "all money is green," you do want to maximize the total value back to you.

 

Note as well that, once you hit an O loyalty level that comps gratuities, you may still want to get them covered by the TA (beyond any commission sharing). In those cases, O will give you an "in lieu" SBC of an extra approx. $250 per cabin.

 

This does all add up. And we haven't even talked about problem solving when there's a snafu. 

[drkitkat123]

BTW, this TA rebate thing seems to be unique to certain countries. I have never heard of it in Australia. Has anyone? Any experience in other countries?

[Flatbush Flyer]

19 minutes ago, drkitkat123 said:

BTW, this TA rebate thing seems to be unique to certain countries. I have never heard of it in Australia. Has anyone? Any experience in other countries?

While there are clearly distinctions between and among different countries regarding laws, policies, practices and traditions throughout the hospitality industry, I want to believe that wheelin'/dealin' knows no bounds. 

For me, having been born in Brooklyn makes that a cultural thing. After all, the first words taught to a Brooklyn toddler are "never pay retail."

[ORV]

13 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If I was a TA, I wouldn't be able to afford to cruise! 👀

 

Really? Rather presumptive of you to know what TAs can and can't afford. 

[ORV]

double. 

Edited January 21, 2020 by ORV

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 minutes ago, ORV said:

Really? Rather presumptive of you to know what TAs can and can't afford. 

Did you ever think that, perhaps, I was alluding to how bad I'd be at that profession?

[pinotlover]

Again, for clarity, one should not simultaneously talk about Travel Agencies and Travel Agents and call them both TAs at the same time! In Flatbush Flyers discussion one set of functions is done by the Agency while the other is done by the Agent!!! 

[Wishing on a star]

Yes. I think it is the agency that is OCC?  Anyhow, we also determined with help here on this board that we needed a good agency.  I tried one that has a presence online on YouTube,  and who has sailed Oceania a lot.  But no real perks.  Now, our agent has not sailed Oceania,  but thru his agency offered some valuable perks.  So we don’t have that personal expertise.  

we have sailed with Princess where you can really benefit from their Air.  But will be booking our own for Oceania.  Unless we are very surprised that we could come out better, after paying to customize our flights to arrive a few days before the cruise. 

 

One question...   if you book thru Oceania,  do you get your tickets and airline booking number so you can then use your Miles to upgrade?  Or does Oceania have that control until you fly?

 

[Paulchili]

7 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

if you book thru Oceania,  do you get your tickets and airline booking number so you can then use your Miles to upgrade?

Not all fares are up-gradable with miles. Oceania tickets will be the discount category and I doubt very much that would qualify for miles upgrades.

Others may have first hand experience.

[pinotlover]

The only time I used O Air, the tickets were not upgradable with miles and the cost of paying for an upgrade was near the price of a new ticket.

[Flatbush Flyer]

20 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Not all fares are up-gradable with miles. Oceania tickets will be the discount category and I doubt very much that would qualify for miles upgrades.

Others may have first hand experience.

Plus 1

If the booking codes used by O for your flights are not upgradeable, you are SOL for getting FF points upgrade.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks...  That was quick and candid!!!

[clo]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

we have sailed with Princess where you can really benefit from their Air.

Would you elaborate on that please? TIA

[StanandJim]

5 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Not all fares are up-gradable with miles. Oceania tickets will be the discount category and I doubt very much that would qualify for miles upgrades.

Others may have first hand experience.

We have upgraded Oceania Air 6 or 7 times with miles, but always while using an Air Deviation.

The key is in communicating to the Oceania Air Dept, during the initial Air Deviation Request, that an upgradeable class of ticket will be required.

FYI Oceania begins the process with a warning that the higher class of Ticket may bump up the cost considerably, but when the quotes roll in  there have always been two or three which were lower than we could have managed privately.

-Knowing that the Deviation Fee does not kick in until AFTER a Routing is accepted by us makes this process completely stress free. 

 

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, StanandJim said:

We have upgraded Oceania Air 6 or 7 times with miles, but always while using an Air Deviation.

The key is in communicating to the Oceania Air Dept, during the initial Air Deviation Request, that an upgradeable class of ticket will be required

Out of curiosity, did you have to pay extra for that upgradeable class of ticket (in addition to deviation)? 

If so, what was the average? Was it the same or different airlines each time?

[wally_bushy]

On 1/21/2020 at 1:56 PM, drkitkat123 said:

BTW, this TA rebate thing seems to be unique to certain countries. I have never heard of it in Australia. Has anyone? Any experience in other countries?

I hear you. The best we get is PPG (better than nothing)

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, wally_bushy said:

I hear you. The best we get is PPG (better than nothing)

I really find it hard to believe that the "bottom line" for your travel "deal" is non-negotiable?

Is it illegal (as in you've seen the law vs a TA telling you "it's just not done").

Perhaps you can do a future booking onboard (which gets you a first discount) and immediately e-mail 3 or more TAs in your home country simply stating- "I've booked this cruise at this price and with these Oceania perks. If I transfer this cruise to you, what will you add to the deal."

One of those TAs may surprise you, particularly if it's a "big ticket" cruise (e.g., $20-30k USD).

[Jay23]

I have never heard of TA Rebate in the UK.   

[Paulchili]

11 minutes ago, Jay23 said:

I have never heard of TA Rebate in the UK.   

Are there any perks UK TAs offer or simply charge the O's published fare (and O included perks)?

[pinotlover]

I believe I’ve read on these Boards that Travel Agency rebates are illegal in Australia. Different countries have different laws! 
 

Will Oceania allow one to us a TA from a different country?

Edited January 23, 2020 by pinotlover

[StanandJim]

11 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Out of curiosity, did you have to pay extra for that upgradeable class of ticket (in addition to deviation)? 

If so, what was the average? Was it the same or different airlines each time?

I suppose that at some point, either we or Oceania did pay extra for the higher class Ticket, but because we had restricted our request to only upgradeable tickets,  the cost of the upgrade per ticket was not broken down in that way..

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

48 minutes ago, Jay23 said:

I have never heard of TA Rebate in the UK.   

Perhaps you can be the trailblazer? 

 

What harm would be done if every UK person here on CC started asking for rebates or refundable SBC. Again, I'd be surprised if not a single TA was willing to add something to "the deal" (beyond PPG) on a "big ticket" cruise purchase.

 

If you can deal on a car or a house or a piece of art or whatever else, you should be able to deal on certain aspects of travel. I've seldom seen any product/service (not price regulated by law) that does not have what Brooklyn folks call the "parking lot price."

 

Though not the U.K., here's a great example of how "asking" never hurts:

 

For our upcoming (next week) cruise from Cape Town to Singapore, we decided to add a safari pre-cruise. After some comparison shopping we started to focus on the basic organization/pricing of safari offerings at a big box store to which we belong. But, we wanted a better quality of accommodations and some other specifics that were just not available for customization. It only took about 30 minutes to figure out who was their travel wholesaler for safaris. I contacted that Canadian based company and mentioned that I was intrigued by some of the packages I had seen they offer via big box stores and other entities but wondered if they ever do custom trips. The answer: "Sure, we have another division for that." 

 

After transferring to another person, we put together the perfect deal (even adding the multi-city flight arrangements for our cruise in addition to the internal South Africa flights). Having thus arrived at a mutually agreeable price for the package, our conversation turned to chit chat and I mentioned that I had found their offices by following the trail that started at the big box store. I then added: "We like that big box store because the cost of membership is easily recovered by the discounted products/services. It would be great if we could get that kind of discount on this custom trip from you."

 

Five seconds of silence from the other end of the line followed by: "If you're a member of that big box, we can drop 10% on everything but the air." 

 

Bottom line: It never hurts to ask.

[StanandJim]

35 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Will Oceania allow one to us a TA from a different country?

No, and there are VERY severe consequences for trying to do so (both for the Agent AND the passenger)