Travel Agent charge for Group Booking

[Cruiseskier]

Received a very good price from a travel agent on a Celebrity cruise as part of a group.  When final payment was made, $200 of the final amount was charged to the travel agent and not Celebrity cruises.  The final/total price was as quoted but $200 of the final price as mention was charged to the TA.  Has anyone experience this practice?

[basenji56]

1 minute ago, Cruiseskier said:

Received a very good price from a travel agent on a Celebrity cruise as part of a group.  When final payment was made, $200 of the final amount was charged to the travel agent and not Celebrity cruises.  The final/total price was as quoted but $200 of the final price as mention was charged to the TA.  Has anyone experience this practice?

Yes. Very common.

[Cruise Gopher]

You need a new TA. 
 

This should never happen. 

[jelayne]

I have had group pricing from a TA and every $ was paid direct to Celebrity. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I have organized several group cruises and not a dime went to the TA except for her regular commission.  It all went to Celebrity.

[miched]

Some do charge a fee.   I booked once with a double A airline.  They changed  $25 pp for the booking and any changes after that I made.   If I change my cabin to a different location it was $25     If I asked for the reduced price it was $25.   I used them once and done 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Ipeeinthepools]

3 hours ago, Cruiseskier said:

Received a very good price from a travel agent on a Celebrity cruise as part of a group.  When final payment was made, $200 of the final amount was charged to the travel agent and not Celebrity cruises.  The final/total price was as quoted but $200 of the final price as mention was charged to the TA.  Has anyone experience this practice?

 

Just a good lesson to get all of your quotes in writing so you can see these sort of fees.  I would never use a TA charged fees over and above the commission from the cruise line.  It may still be a good deal, only you can judge.

[guitarboy53]

This recently happened to me. I found a really great rate on a weekly travel email that I receive and it directed me to an online travel agency. After booking and paying in full, a couple days later I was charged $198 as a booking fee. I immediately emailed my contact at the company and she promised to get this refunded. I guess the lesson here is get everything in writing and be cautious of companies that you haven't worked with before. 

[the penguins]

8 hours ago, miched said:

Some do charge a fee.   I booked once with a double A airline.  They changed  $25 pp for the booking and any changes after that I made.   If I change my cabin to a different location it was $25     If I asked for the reduced price it was $25.   I used them once and done 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

In the case of the original poster there was no extra fee. The price paid was the price quoted it's just that the total was split into 2 parts. I don't see the issue.

[BazingAu]

If that is included in the total price you were quoted, I don’t see an issue. I assume you comparison shopped and they gave you a good deal, even with the fee included. However, just make sure you’re 100% paid up with the cruise line. I’ve seen posts where the TA forgets to route the final payment and the reservation gets cancelled.

 

I ended up paying $25 in a recent booking to a TA, but it was included in the quote, and they did offset it with a $25 extra OBC. They said it was due to all the cancellations they’ve gotten during the pandemic and restart, so they have at least the minimum to keep their lights on/pay administrative costs if people were to cancel and not rebook. Even with the fee, they were right in line with other quotes I got (and much lower than direct with cruise line after all the bonuses and OBC).

[Cruise Gopher]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

In the case of the original poster there was no extra fee. The price paid was the price quoted it's just that the total was split into 2 parts. I don't see the issue.

The agent jacked up the rate to take a portion for themselves. So if the cruise cost quoted was $1,200 and in reality the cruise line only was charging $1,000, then the agent took $200 as a fee.

[Jeremiah1212]

A TA can charge whatever they want for their service. The high volume agencies typically don't. Small agencies are more likely to do it. If this is in reference to a specific group traveling together opposed to just a group discount, I would say it's pretty common to charge. It's a lot of work. 

[maxsales]

17 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

You need a new TA. 
 

This should never happen. 

wrong this happens frequently especially if the travel agents group has added extras like transportation, shore excursion or an on board gathering.  

[maxsales]

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

In the case of the original poster there was no extra fee. The price paid was the price quoted it's just that the total was split into 2 parts. I don't see the issue.

Yes someone that actually reads and understands the post prior to responding

[Cruiseskier]

Thanks for all the responses.  As I mentioned the total price was exactly as quoted and Celebrity was paid in full.  I just never experienced this situation and wanted to know if it was common.  The bottom line price for us was still a lot lower then other travel agents.

[Baron Barracuda]

If you cancel what happens to the $200 ?????

[NHCRUISIN]

Just curious, if they gave you a price and you were happy with the price and booked, why do you care how the money is divided ?

[Cruiseskier]

This was the first time in over 25 cruises that I saw the charges spilt.  I wanted to know if it was common practice.  I don't know what will happen to the $200 if we have to cancel since I wasn't aware of the spilt until I saw it on my credit card statement.  

[jagoffee]

3 hours ago, NHCRUISIN said:

Just curious, if they gave you a price and you were happy with the price and booked, why do you care how the money is divided ?

I would.  I would never pay part of my cruise fare to a TA.  Call me paranoid. I recall some years ago that some customers got shafted when a TA went out of business.  
 

i would also consider it unethical if the booking invoice did not make that distinction.

 

IMO it is time for a new TA.