Has a TA ever referred you to the Cruise Line for ...

[VistaRio]

It's a simple question:

Have you ever had a TA tell you to call the River Cruise company directly to arrange and discuss Air Travel for which you have paid during booking?

 

 

[Coral]

Yes - my cruise TA doesn't like dealing with air. She is a cruise specialist and does high volume. She gives good discounts and honestly, it is easier this way as she doesn't know my flight desires. I can easily convey cabin desires but not flight desires.

[VistaRio]

Coral, thank you for this.  Although I don't particularly "care"  I was surprised when they mentioned this because it contradicts conventional wisdom.  And then I quickly thought, "this is probably to my advantage..."

 

Might I ask what Crusie Line, and then secondarily whether your TA is one of the larger web presences or a smaller outfit?

 

 

 

 

[YoungDubFan]

My travel agent takes care of all arrangements. She does check with the cruise line for air prices but she can normally book cheaper flights not going through the cruise line. This may be because I don’t live in a gateway city.

[Daisi]

My TA took care of all arrangements, except booking the seats which I did directly on the airline site, even though Avalon had booked our air.  

 

I have heard that some lines will only talk with a TA if the TA initiates the booking.

[Coral]

52 minutes ago, VistaRio said:

Coral, thank you for this.  Although I don't particularly "care"  I was surprised when they mentioned this because it contradicts conventional wisdom.  And then I quickly thought, "this is probably to my advantage..."

 

Might I ask what Crusie Line, and then secondarily whether your TA is one of the larger web presences or a smaller outfit?

My TA is a high volume home based cruise agent who owns her own cruise agency franchise. She does have staff who assist her. It doesn't matter the cruise line. I honestly think she hates her doing her own air. She does discount heavily so I don't mind doing it.

 

I also have unique air needs that would be difficult to convey (I fly out of a regional airport and need enough time in O'Hare as they put regional jets in the worst possible area of the airport and if I go out of our slightly larger airport that is 1.5 hours away - I can't drive well at night and need to factor that in).

[Coral]

17 minutes ago, Daisi said:

My TA took care of all arrangements, except booking the seats which I did directly on the airline site, even though Avalon had booked our air.  

 

I have heard that some lines will only talk with a TA if the TA initiates the booking.

Not sure about river cruises but ocean cruises allow customers to call and speak with their air department.

 

My last river cruise, I ended up using FF miles. It sounded like Crystal doesn't provide cheap air options (according to people on their Ocean board). Some said "sometimes it is a little cheaper).

[Roz]

3 hours ago, YoungDubFan said:

My travel agent takes care of all arrangements. She does check with the cruise line for air prices but she can normally book cheaper flights not going through the cruise line. This may be because I don’t live in a gateway city.

 

Interesting, because I live in Nashville which would be similar to flying out of Columbus.  My TA was able to get me less expensive air thru Uniworld on all 3 of my river cruises.  For instance, last year I paid $651 thru Uniworld for Nashville to Amsterdam and Basel to Nashville.  Neither my TA nor I could come close to that.

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, Roz said:

 

Interesting, because I live in Nashville which would be similar to flying out of Columbus.  My TA was able to get me less expensive air thru Uniworld on all 3 of my river cruises.  For instance, last year I paid $651 thru Uniworld for Nashville to Amsterdam and Basel to Nashville.  Neither my TA nor I could come close to that.

My guess is it depends on the cruise line and if they are running any promos at the time.

 

A friend was choosing between AMA and Viking and went with Viking as they had an air promo at the time of booking. The cruise portion was about the same price.

[Roz]

1 minute ago, Coral said:

My guess is it depends on the cruise line and if they are running any promos at the time.

 

A friend was choosing between AMA and Viking and went with Viking as they had an air promo at the time of booking. The cruise portion was about the same price.

 

Viking seems to always have an air "promo".  I've never received a promotional air fare from Uniworld, but have been more than pleased with the fare offered.

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, Roz said:

 

Viking seems to always have an air "promo".  I've never received a promotional air fare from Uniworld, but have been more than pleased with the fare offered.

Yea they do - but it seems to differ from free to $400 or whatever.

 

Princess cruises has great air but some of the other cruise lines do not. I could fly to Europe for $500 this summer and business air is very reasonable also. I booked Business for under $2000 and on Delta's website it was listed at $8000. I know other lines don't have the same prices. I live near an airport that does not get good prices (regional airport - middle of nowhere).

 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Coral

[VistaRio]

Inclusive Air is a little like trading in your old vehicle when you buy a new one:

 

It's less hassle, but unless you really know the market, it is difficult to quantify what you are really being charged for the convenience.  This is not a knock on inclusive air in general, it can certainly be cheaper as a whole depending on circumstance.  But to truly cost it you need to know and include both the cruise (new car) and air (trade in) markets.

[Daisi]

1 hour ago, VistaRio said:

Inclusive Air is a little like trading in your old vehicle when you buy a new one:

 

It's less hassle, but unless you really know the market, it is difficult to quantify what you are really being charged for the convenience.  This is not a knock on inclusive air in general, it can certainly be cheaper as a whole depending on circumstance.  But to truly cost it you need to know and include both the cruise (new car) and air (trade in) markets.

 

Very true.  My TA mentioned at the initial booking that we "may" be interested in air, but since it was so far in advance, we would let them know later.  Both my TA & I kept checking pricing, when we got to one that seemed a good deal, we let Avalon see if they could beat it...and they did.  Otherwise, we would have been booking direct.  It was nice to have the choice, and we will be doing the same for our next cruise.  

 

We don't live near any major airport, it's a 2 hour bus trip to the closest one...fortunately for us, KLM has (included in the price of a ticket) a courier bus from the rail station, so 1 hr drive into the city, 2 hours on the bus, and then the flight.  It's going to be fun adding on the additional flight to Budapest next year!  We fly KLM because it's cheaper and better service than having to pay to get a bus to the airport and flying by the Canadian airline....forget about the cost for a train!