Best way to book?

[anjo]

Hi Everyone,

Do I book myself online, Travel Agent, or PVP?

Pros and Cons of each?

If there are Price drops, who is most likely to be able to apply them?  and who can give upgrades? not that I expect either.😉

Thanks, Anjo.

(Looking at Circumnavigation of Australia,  Princess October 2024, so plenty of time, as not even scheduled  yet.)

 

 

 

 

[Aus Traveller]

Often travel agents can give a bit of an incentive in the way of an on-board credit. We have sometimes received $100, but it might only be $5. If you have a good agent, you can get better personal service. However, a disadvantage with some agents, is that they charge a cancellation fee in addition to that charged by the cruise line. We have often booked direct and had no problems.

 

From what others have been posting, a good PVP could be the way to go. However, if you are interested in the around Australia, I would not be hoping for a price drop. This itinerary is very popular and sells out quickly. There is no need to drop the price to sell cabins.

[Aus Traveller]

Irene, I would love to hear from you. We will be on the 26th June cruise together. 🙂 My address is   peterandevon  at   bigpond  dot  com

Edited May 7, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[MMDown Under]

2 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Who is PVP?  Do they work for cruise line?

I have always booked direct in the past

Pandemic makes for a whole new ball game!

Observations since Covid - when passengers were off loaded in Perth, where their ship unexpectantly ended their voyage, ones who had booked their air through cruise line were looked after for return flights to their home.  All other passengers were on their own.  Imagine trying to book flights under those conditions.  

Check covid refund conditions.  US Govt has better conditions than Aust conditions.

The last cruise I booked through an English Company, full insurance was included.  Now it is not! 

Don't make assumptions.  It took my girlfriend years to get a business class refund from Air Canada.  

 

[Aus Traveller]

PVPs work for the cruise line. It is someone you can contact directly.

[MMDown Under]

11 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

PVPs work for the cruise line. It is someone you can contact directly.

Thanks  I thought so as I have one emailing me regularly 

[Cbtours]

46 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Irene, I would love to hear from you. We will be on the 26th June cruise together. 🙂 My address is   peterandevon  at   bigpond  dot  com

Ok my test email not working so

im interpreting incorrect

send me one imw1608@gmail.com if you like 

[Aus Traveller]

17 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

Ok my test email not working so

im interpreting incorrect

send me one imw1608@gmail.com if you like 

I received your email. Thanks.

[losfp]

IMO, if you have a good agent, then book through your agent as they will do the chasing around, sitting on hold to the lines, and able to quickly make arrangements if you have cancellations, change of plans etc.  We've used the same agent since 2002 and she is fantastic.

 

However, not every agent is a good agent, and if you don't have one, then book direct.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We started using a PVP late last year when we decided to book the 2024 world cruise. So far she's been very good. 

 

Prior to that we mostly booked online direct with the cruise lines, although we did use an online TA a couple of times for last minute deals as they had the best fares.

 

For Princess we'll probably stick with our PVP from now on.

[Ozwoody]

Just now, losfp said:

IMO, if you have a good agent, then book through your agent as they will do the chasing around, sitting on hold to the lines, and able to quickly make arrangements if you have cancellations, change of plans etc.  We've used the same agent since 2002 and she is fantastic.

 

However, not every agent is a good agent, and if you don't have one, then book direct.

Yes good advise, we have had the same experience with our TA. He looks after us, watching for changes that maybe advantage to us puts on hold contacts us, if yes he swaps booking.

We have received upgrades with a drop in price, because of his diligence.

He also doesn't charge cancelation fees, only holds fees that princess charges, which he doesn't have control of.

 

[Aus Traveller]

22 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Yes good advise, we have had the same experience with our TA. He looks after us, watching for changes that maybe advantage to us puts on hold contacts us, if yes he swaps booking.

We have received upgrades with a drop in price, because of his diligence.

He also doesn't charge cancelation fees, only holds fees that princess charges, which he doesn't have control of.

 

Your TA sounds excellent. Hold onto him.

[Ozwoody]

24 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Your TA sounds excellent. Hold onto him.

We intend to, we had another originally he was all action until something was amiss, then he vaporized.😡

Been using this one about 9 years.

 

 

[arxcards]

42 minutes ago, losfp said:

IMO, if you have a good agent, then book through your agent as they will do the chasing around, sitting on hold to the lines, and able to quickly make arrangements if you have cancellations, change of plans etc.  We've used the same agent since 2002 and she is fantastic.

 

However, not every agent is a good agent, and if you don't have one, then book direct.

I wouldn't trade my agent for anyone. I often send through my requests on Sunday to get in early for Monday, only to find my booking info is sitting in my email a few hours later on Sunday evening.

 

For anything simple, it is easy to book online, but if you have problems you could be chatting to a different person each time. I am not sure how the PVP thing works, as not so long ago, everyone at P&O was named Kylie.

 

For the more complex stuff, I work out my own itinerary, but email it to my TA to book. Not so much for the time it saves and the list of booking references, but having a single point of contact if anything goes wrong. A few months after the pandemic hit, a packaged trip included a cancelled cruise. Within a couple of days, all of the cruise, hotel, flight, transfer bookings were organised for refunds. Even tougher, when the pandemic hit, the same agents were making on-the-run changes to bookings to get people home amid closed borders and cancelled flights.

 

With not much happening in the travel sector over the past 2 years, a majority of agents were displaced, and some agencies closed. Some have returned to the industry, and others have moved on. With that in mind, I think there are less bad agents but plenty of inexperienced ones out there, but it is also the same in the cruise line call centres.

[SuitesRbest]

I like to book direct, we keep full control of the booking.

• Refunds and so forth are always harder get when through agents 
• Changes to booking generally are easier.
• Rebook and cancelling excisions due to price changes are easier. 

 

[MicCanberra]

We use various methods, depending  on whichever way we find best, horses for courses

[M-H-B]

How do you find PVP's? 

[Aus Traveller]

58 minutes ago, M-H-B said:

How do you find PVP's? 

I suggest you get a recommendation from someone. Some PVPs are good and some are not.

[Mareblu]

Our TA of many years is like a member of our family.  I couldn't recount all the instances she's tirelessly  advocated for us, always refusing to take "no" for an answer.  I have on occasions contacted cruise lines direct when a cruise we've booked has later been advertised at a lesser price (half, one time) and been politely informed that the price would remain as the price we booked.  Our TA has had those decisions reversed, so that once we enjoyed a wonderful Oceania cruise at half the price we booked it.  Her knowledge, and therefore her advice, are both the products of years of dedicated service, and a passion for travel and all it entails.  We always research and book our own overseas and local accommodation and transfers, and our intra-Europe flights.  Ditto for researching future cruises, mainly itinerary-driven.   For our international flights and cruise bookings, we don't hesitate in contacting our TA.  There's a saying in the industry:  "without an Agent, you're on your own".

[Hogbay]

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

.  There's a saying in the industry:  "without an Agent, you're on your own".

Yep plenty of them shut up shop and took the money .your example is not the norm of the industry. You are extremely lucky. 

[arxcards]

4 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

Yep plenty of them shut up shop and took the money .your example is not the norm of the industry. You are extremely lucky. 

From those I know of, I think those that shut up shop without paying refunds were in the minority. 

[Mareblu]

3 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Yep plenty of them shut up shop and took the money .your example is not the norm of the industry. You are extremely lucky. 

That is a generalisation, not always a wise observation.  I can only (and did above) speak for our experience.  I do know that TAs took a huge hit with COVID, and many only survived for as long as they did, keeping staff in  employment, btw, through Jobkeeper.  It couldn't last forever;  there's no such thing as a bottomless moneypit, but it was an innovative and generous scheme to keep food on the table for many families, young and old.  I doubt that TAs could simply take those funds without employment records.  I recall reading that "Hardly Normal" was a different story.  Made a profit and didn't return the grant.  I also doubt that any TAs could have made a profit during COVID.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

That is a generalisation, not always a wise observation.  I can only (and did above) speak for our experience.  I do know that TAs took a huge hit with COVID, and many only survived for as long as they did, keeping staff in  employment, btw, through Jobkeeper.  It couldn't last forever;  there's no such thing as a bottomless moneypit, but it was an innovative and generous scheme to keep food on the table for many families, young and old.  I doubt that TAs could simply take those funds without employment records.  I recall reading that "Hardly Normal" was a different story.  Made a profit and didn't return the grant.  I also doubt that any TAs could have made a profit during COVID.

Apparently Harvey Norman repaid $6.02million of the $22 million they received. Better than nothing, but ...... I'll say no more.

[Mareblu]

58 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Apparently Harvey Norman repaid $6.02million of the $22 million they received. Better than nothing, but ...... I'll say no more.

Yes, you were right to correct me.  I do know that they repaid a small proportion of the grant.  Still, though......I'll say no more either🙂

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

Yes, you were right to correct me.  I do know that they repaid a small proportion of the grant.  Still, though......I'll say no more either🙂

I didn't intend to correct you, just add to the information you posted. 🙂