I booked a SS expedition cruise to Galapagos. What could a TA give me that I won't already get?

[Randyk47]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

Can you remember any of those deals? On this 100 pax expedition ship there doesn't seem to be a whole lot more to give. "My" SS guy did throw in another $350 OBC but I can't imagine even using the $1k one 🙂

@SSCAF001Someone helped me with a different line by throwing in her email address.

My external TA rebates about 10-12% of the published fare in cash.  Considering we favor 14-day plus cruises that can add up to a nice discount.  Typically,  depending on the length of the cruise, she also will give us a $200-$350 on board credit as a thank you.   

[clo]

1 minute ago, Randyk47 said:

My external TA rebates about 10-12% of the published fare in cash.

So you pay the "published fare"? Our SS fare for a 7 day trip was discounted by about $1k/pp from the published fare.

[Randyk47]

27 minutes ago, clo said:

So you pay the "published fare"? Our SS fare for a 7 day trip was discounted by about $1k/pp from the published fare.

OK.  Not sure I understand your question.  For simple math the best published fare or offer from SS is $10,000.   Our TA will typically discount via a refund $1,000 to $1,200 plus an on board credit of $200 plus or minus.   I have yet to find a company cruise line consultant who can or will match that.   Maybe that or will change with the pandemic impacts.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Randyk47

[Daveywavey70]

My OH started his own independent TA last year. SS seemed extremely keen to offer him regular “direct” client referrals. The process has been a bit slow due to the area manager leaving the company but they do seem quite keen on people using TAs and seem to offer better discounts, OBC etc.

[clo]

1 minute ago, Randyk47 said:

OK.  Not sure I understand your question.  For simple math the best published fare or offer from SS is $10,000.   Our TA will typically discount via a refund $1,000 to $1,200 plus an on board credit of $200 plus or minus.   I have yet to find a company cruise line consultant who can or will match that.   Maybe that will change with the pandemic impacts.

So the published fare for our cruise was $9900pp and we're paying $8660pp. And instead of a deposit of $4330, we paid $1000 and that's it until final payment. And we can cancel at 121 days out and get a full refund. As I mentioned,  I contacted SS after seeing one of those mass mailings we all get about travel in general not just cruises. It's an enormous company and likely qualifies as a TA.

[Randyk47]

5 minutes ago, clo said:

So the published fare for our cruise was $9900pp and we're paying $8660pp. And instead of a deposit of $4330, we paid $1000 and that's it until final payment. And we can cancel at 121 days out and get a full refund. As I mentioned,  I contacted SS after seeing one of those mass mailings we all get about travel in general not just cruises. It's an enormous company and likely qualifies as a TA.

Then you did very well.   

Edited July 23, 2020 by Randyk47

[clo]

1 minute ago, Randyk47 said:

Then you did very good.

LOL. We're going to be paying for a week what we paid for almost a month that included an escorted land tour of Argentinian and Chilean Patagonia and a cruise of the Chilean fjords, Antarctica and the Falklands 🙂 I have a feeling this trip is going to cost us going forward so glad we did good. 🙂

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

I was speaking more of using the land based cruise consultants and taking up their time.   

Ah, got it.

[soccergang]

The price you receive from SS should be the same as the travel agent.  Why not help a local small business in the process?  We used to book directly, but felt that it would be good to help someone out in our own community.

[cruiseej]

2 hours ago, soccergang said:

The price you receive from SS should be the same as the travel agent.  Why not help a local small business in the process?  We used to book directly, but felt that it would be good to help someone out in our own community.

 

If you pick the right TA, the price you get from a TA will be less than what you get from he cruise line. They probably can't discount the actual cruise price, but may give you a significant onboard credit, or cash-back (a share of their commission).

 

Here's another example of having a good TA experienced with the luxury cruise lines. We were booked on a SS cruise this winter that SS recently cancelled. We were offered a 110% future cruise credit or cash refund. We wanted to book the same cruise for December 2021, but we didn't want to accept the future cruise credit because then we wouldn't be able to cancel that cruise should we wish to next year and get our money back. So we told our TA to decline the FCC, make a new booking for next year, and shift our prepayment from the cancelled cruise to the one next year. I just found out that she was able to do that and get an additional 10% off from SS (basically the same as the 110% cruise credit, but this way it's refundable for cash). So that's roughly a $5,000 discount, which will nearly pay for the business class air upgrade option. I don't know how our TA got that deal from SS, but I feel confident I wouldn't have gotten that if I booked direct with SS.