A question for travel agents, past and present.

[Mousy]

I'm an agent, and all I need to do is log into the supplier web site, I put in the credit card info, hit confirm and it's instantly applied.

Now that being said, I prefer to do this the day before to avoid and web site errors, I would never want to be responsible for my client losing out due to "technical errors".

I usually  remind my clients a month in advance and then a week prior as well so no one is surprised.

[LisaLeone]

52 minutes ago, Mousy said:

I'm an agent, and all I need to do is log into the supplier web site, I put in the credit card info, hit confirm and it's instantly applied.

Now that being said, I prefer to do this the day before to avoid and web site errors, I would never want to be responsible for my client losing out due to "technical errors".

I usually  remind my clients a month in advance and then a week prior as well so no one is surprised.

Thank you, Mousy. I appreciate your input, as well as the other TAs, past and present. I'm sure this time has been extremely challenging for those in the industry. I hope for clear sailing soon!

[Mousy]

48 minutes ago, LisaLeone said:

Thank you, Mousy. I appreciate your input, as well as the other TAs, past and present. I'm sure this time has been extremely challenging for those in the industry. I hope for clear sailing soon!

Thank you!  It certainly was a challenging few weeks, but everyone is home now, which was a first priority! 
 

 

[LisaLeone]

8 hours ago, RETNAVY1996 said:

Here is another concern you might have with your TA, do they charge a fee if you cancel or change your plans?  Your cruise will most likely not be officially cancelled until after final payment is due.  If you do not make final payment then the cruise line I think will just cancel your cruise and if it was a non refundable deposit between the TA and RCCL you might not get anything.

 

i would see if I could change something now with the current program at no additional cost.  

 

Thank you for the word of caution. As long as it is before final payment, and it will be, I will receive FCC. 

[ipeeinthepool]

Just one more question:  Do they TA's have an incentive for you to make final payment and then having the cruise cancelled by Royal?  I thought that I've read that the TA's were protected when the cruise is cancelled by Royal, I'm assuming that this means that the TA's get their commission for the cancelled cruises?  I'm assuming that the TA's don't receive a commission when you cancel the cruise ahead of final payment.  Is this true?

[LisaLeone]

3 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

Just one more question:  Do they TA's have an incentive for you to make final payment and then having the cruise cancelled by Royal?  I thought that I've read that the TA's were protected when the cruise is cancelled by Royal, I'm assuming that this means that the TA's get their commission for the cancelled cruises?  I'm assuming that the TA's don't receive a commission when you cancel the cruise ahead of final payment.  Is this true?

I would love to know the answer as well. My TA waited a week to cancel another cruise (I had to follow up) and has encouraged me to make final payment on the one I originally wrote about in this post. Hence, why I have loss confidence and why I posted here for unbiased guidance. 

Live and learn. Challenging times for TAs no doubt.

[Ken at the beach]

50 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

Just one more question:  Do they TA's have an incentive for you to make final payment and then having the cruise cancelled by Royal?  I thought that I've read that the TA's were protected when the cruise is cancelled by Royal, I'm assuming that this means that the TA's get their commission for the cancelled cruises?  I'm assuming that the TA's don't receive a commission when you cancel the cruise ahead of final payment.  Is this true?

The cruise must be past final payment for TA’s to receive commission. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[ipeeinthepool]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The cruise must be past final payment for TA’s to receive commission. 

 

So the TA's have an incentive for cruisers to make the final payment.  I'm not sure that's always in our best interest.

[Ken at the beach]

4 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

So the TA's have an incentive for cruisers to make the final payment.  I'm not sure that's always in our best interest.

Any TA’s that did that certainly would not be in business long.  A TA’s responsibility is to advise the client of all the options available and possible ramifications and let the clients make an informed decision. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[dani negreanu]

20 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

TA's generally add a week to two to the cruise lines date so that they can confirm with the client that they do indeed want to go ahead and make final payment and also to allow time to react in case a credit card is declined. 

 

That's what my agent does, and, from experience, it's a good policy.

 

I'm using Diners card (since I get flight points from it), and it's a "difficult" card to use -- sometimes it goes through, and sometimes the agent has to try several times until confirmed.

 

Errors happen, IT down happens, sickness and vacation time happens -- it's a good thing to take at least 10-14 days ahead of the FP date.