Choosing a Travel Agent

[ALD18]

Historically we have always did all of the legwork and booked our travels directly with the providers.  We enjoy doing it this way and its part of the adventure.  With all of the current bureaucratic changes (Egypt/India/Brazil and apparently more to come visas, upcoming ETIAS, closure of Norwegian Fjords) we are seriously thinking of starting to use a travel agent to help us avoid or assist in the underlying pitfalls we may miss in the details.  We would like to still do all of the research and basically drop where/when/who we want to go with on an agents desk and have them book it all.  Then utilize their knowledge to insure we don't miss any of the details such as above before we go.  I recently stopped by a local travel agent and they were move than willing to assist in such a fashion, but also added they charge an additional $113 per person, per booking to do so.  I found that rather odd.  So putting out my feelers to see what others do.  Do you use local agents, would me nice for face to face discussions?  Online or US based agents, seems to be high turnover personnel wise?  Or do rely on the providers booking/service agents to provide you with the details?  Understand you cannot name names or discuss details about actual travel agents on this forum, but just getting a feel on how you prefer to do it.  Thanks🙂

[LHT28]

Some agents with  take the fee off your booking  once you commit

 People  waste the  agents  time  then go book with someone  else  so some agencies  implemented a fee  for their time & research

 

I do all my own research & check on what documents are needed 

Sometimes I book direct  sometimes with an agent

 

You can ask family & friends  to refer you to someone  or just keep shopping around

 

 

[Fouremco]

If you have historically done all of the legwork and things have gone smoothly, I'd suggest that you continue to do so. You are obviously aware of the issues with Egypt, India, Brazil and ETIAS and are probably as up to date as most TA's, thanks to the CC community. There's no reason to believe that cruising is going to get more complex in the days ahead.

 

Your plan to do all of the legwork and then drop it on your TA is exactly what I do. Like you, I enjoy doing all of the legwork and see that as an integral part of the adventure. I do extensive research that culminates in making a booking with my TA. I know in advance what ship, cruise, date, cabin, etc., etc.. I've never tested them on their knowledge of visas and the like as this has been an integral part of my travel research for many years, predating our first cruises.

 

I could just as easily book directly with the cruise line, but my TA gives perks that work out to ± 10% of the booking fee. While on a cruise line's website recently, looking at cabin availability for a cruise that I was going to book, I saw that a cabin we like but had not been available the day before was now free. Rather than possibly lose it, I booked it right away on the cruise line website, then transferred the booking to my TA. The net result was a preferred cabin and perks worth slightly over $1,000.

 

My TA's major drawback is that it only offers bookings on 10 cruise lines and only one river cruise line. Fortunately our "go to" lines are covered. The other is that you seldom speak to the same agent twice when you phone in. This hasn't posed a problem for us, given my independent streak, but it can be disconcerting for those wanting to build a rapport with a personal travel agent.

 

[lx200gps]

We've been customers of the big online and brick & mortar cruise agency for a number of years. I do all our research in nauseating detail and simply contact our longtime dedicated TA with all the details, right down to the specific cabin we want to book. We never waste her time having her do the research for us, I suspect I know far more about Princess than she does so she has little to do but make the reservation. She's been our dedicated rep for along time and has been tremendous, always available and helpful. We usually book a year's worth of cruises during their big annual sale and save about 10% in the form of significant OBC, though I recently discovered a stupidly good deal on a Canada/New England trip on Princess out of Boston myself and had her book it for us independent of their sale.

 

There are few advantages to using them over doing it myself. In addition to the sale OBC and small additional OBC for the booking, we accumulate their "frequent sailor" points which ends up as a free hotel night every other year or so. They don't apply large charges to make the booking for us, a few $$$s here and there. As soon as I identify the specific cabin we want, I contact her and she has it booked for us with in hours, obviating the need for me to book it myself then transfer it to her. I guess the other huge advantage to using this TA is that I don't have to deal with Princess myself and have literally never had to sit on hold for hours with an issue.

Edited September 27, 2023 by lx200gps

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, lx200gps said:

As soon as I identify the specific cabin we want, I contact her and she has it booked for us with in hours, obviating the need for me to book it myself then transfer it to her.

Speaking from experience, in the time that it takes you to reach out to your TA and for your TA to action your request, someone else might have snatched it up if it's a very desirable cabin that has just come open. That's why I book it immediately and then transfer the booking to my TA in the very infrequent occasions that this situation has occurred. The transfer process is very quick and easy, and probably takes no more of my time than you phoning your TA and giving her all of the booking details. And even the best and most diligent of TA's aren't absolutely available 24/7.

[JJK2008]

12 hours ago, ALD18 said:

Historically we have always did all of the legwork and booked our travels directly with the providers.  We enjoy doing it this way and its part of the adventure.  With all of the current bureaucratic changes (Egypt/India/Brazil and apparently more to come visas, upcoming ETIAS, closure of Norwegian Fjords) we are seriously thinking of starting to use a travel agent to help us avoid or assist in the underlying pitfalls we may miss in the details.  We would like to still do all of the research and basically drop where/when/who we want to go with on an agents desk and have them book it all.  Then utilize their knowledge to insure we don't miss any of the details such as above before we go.  I recently stopped by a local travel agent and they were move than willing to assist in such a fashion, but also added they charge an additional $113 per person, per booking to do so.  I found that rather odd.  So putting out my feelers to see what others do.  Do you use local agents, would me nice for face to face discussions?  Online or US based agents, seems to be high turnover personnel wise?  Or do rely on the providers booking/service agents to provide you with the details?  Understand you cannot name names or discuss details about actual travel agents on this forum, but just getting a feel on how you prefer to do it.  Thanks🙂

To use a TA or not is of course your choice. Keep in mind (many don't realize this) that if you use a TA, then the TA is the customer of the airline, CruiseLine, et., al. You are a third party. If something goes wrong or needs attention, and you booked with a TA, you MUST go through the TA to resolve the issue, since the TA is the customer, NOT you. We experienced this first-hand many years ago. Since that time, we make and booked all of our own travel arrangements. Yes, we may be losing out on some perks, but should an issue arise (which they often do) we like to be able to contact the CruiseLine, airline or whatever and resolve it ourselves. Again, it is your choice but for us, having control of the matter works of us. Good Luck.  

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, JJK2008 said:

To use a TA or not is of course your choice. Keep in mind (many don't realize this) that if you use a TA, then the TA is the customer of the airline, CruiseLine, et., al. You are a third party. If something goes wrong or needs attention, and you booked with a TA, you MUST go through the TA to resolve the issue, since the TA is the customer, NOT you. We experienced this first-hand many years ago. Since that time, we make and booked all of our own travel arrangements. Yes, we may be losing out on some perks, but should an issue arise (which they often do) we like to be able to contact the CruiseLine, airline or whatever and resolve it ourselves. Again, it is your choice but for us, having control of the matter works of us. Good Luck.  

 

This is certainly something to consider.  We typically cruise with Viking Ocean and River.  We will transfer the booking to a TA after we have made all the arrangements directly with Viking including Viking Air.  With Viking Air we can call Viking and sidestep the TA which is what we like.  Also with Viking Air if something goes wrong, we deal directly with Viking and they monitor the situation.  We don't have to work with the TA.  

We also book air on our own if it is advantageous such as cancellation for a small fee, etc.

 

We don't tend to book our air directly through a TA for the reason I am quoting here.

 

Stated before, we enjoy the process of research and booking, but transfer to the TA for the financial perks. 

[lx200gps]

11 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Speaking from experience, in the time that it takes you to reach out to your TA and for your TA to action your request, someone else might have snatched it up if it's a very desirable cabin that has just come open. That's why I book it immediately and then transfer the booking to my TA in the very infrequent occasions that this situation has occurred. The transfer process is very quick and easy, and probably takes no more of my time than you phoning your TA and giving her all of the booking details. And even the best and most diligent of TA's aren't absolutely available 24/7.

Understand. I always give her our desired cabin and one or two alternates, but so far, in the relatively few cruises she has worked for us, (~20?) we have never needed the alternate, as the one we wanted was always available. Still, I may talk to her and see what she says about me booking it myself then handing it over to her.  Given that your experience is that it doesn't amount to extra work for her, I'm sure she won't mind. Thanks for the advice ;o)

[Fouremco]

12 hours ago, JJK2008 said:

Yes, we may be losing out on some perks, but should an issue arise (which they often do) we like to be able to contact the CruiseLine, airline or whatever and resolve it ourselves.

In my experience, one of the big benefits of having a TA is that if an issue arises, they will take care of it for you. The time it takes to do so can be quite significant at times, and I'm quite happy not having to spend my own time when my TA can handle it for me.

 

From your post, it sounds like you had an issue "many years ago" with a particular TA. It's too bad that the experience soured you on TA's, as good ones are a pleasure to do business with. And the perks are quite a nice bonus. That said, I'm pleased for you that having direct control enables you to stay in your comfort zone.

[ALD18]

Find it intriguing to hear the various scenarios other use.  Our process is sort of a hybrid of all of it.  I think we are going to continue "doing it ourselves" instead of employing a TA.  I actually went in and "interviewed" an agent the other day with the "we find everything and you book it for us" and she answered all the questions ok, except the $113 per person per booking part.  I questioned that since we had done ALL the legwork in the research field if those fees could/would be waived and she said no.  Asked if she/they had 24/7 phone support in the event of issues and she said no to that too.  Only support was 9:00-17:00 EST time in Canada on weekdays.  We have an issue outside of that we were on our own until that time frame opened up.  I think we are going to continue on our own, but start leaning more on the actual cruise line contacts we have established.  They have always been helpful and respond quickly to questions we have.  Guess we may give up some "perks" that TA may provide, but $226 per booking for a $10-100 perk doesn't work for us.  Thanks to all for your experiences and advise, appreciate it. 

[CANDYAPPLE]

      Last year, used a great travel agent. Spur of the moment just before New Year this past December, booked a cruise directly with Celebrity, in order to take advantage of their "last minute sale" Called the travel agent to get booking transferred to her. However, because it was in less than 90 days to sail date, and paid in full at time of booking, Celebrity would not allow a transfer!

 

Just an FYI.

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, CANDYAPPLE said:

      Last year, used a great travel agent. Spur of the moment just before New Year this past December, booked a cruise directly with Celebrity, in order to take advantage of their "last minute sale" Called the travel agent to get booking transferred to her. However, because it was in less than 90 days to sail date, and paid in full at time of booking, Celebrity would not allow a transfer!

 

Just an FYI.

 

That is odd...  we just came back from a booking that we made two weeks prior to sailing, we paid the cruise line in full, then transferred to our TA.  We got OBC and a rebate from our TA for this booking and all this happened days before sailing.

[CANDYAPPLE]

Which cruise line was it with?

 

Ken

[CDNPolar]

3 hours ago, CANDYAPPLE said:

Which cruise line was it with?

 

Ken

Viking River

[Fouremco]

Different lines, different rules. Celebrity is quite clear about when you can and can't transfer a cruise:

 

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/faqs/reservation-transfers

 

CC contains many broadly stated posts on transferring bookings that make the conditions appear to be universal. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and one needs to check with the specific line in which you are interested.

[CANDYAPPLE]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Different lines, different rules. Celebrity is quite clear about when you can and can't transfer a cruise:

 

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/faqs/reservation-transfers

 

CC contains many broadly stated posts on transferring bookings that make the conditions appear to be universal. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and one needs to check with the specific line in which you are interested.

Thank You for clarifying that information.

 

Ken

[YYCTrips]

I would Highly recommend using a travel agent, they are helpful and are always willing to help. I used one for my last few cruises and would recommend her to anyone. 

[Dr. Pam]

OK.... so I will add my $.02  Cdn.....Oops $0.05 🤪 my bad!

 

I also research and book my cruises on my own through the cruiseline and then shop around with the US big cruise agencies.  THe OBC that they offer is amazing!  However, I do not need hand holding onboard.  

 

Pam

[ArgoNereus]

We are frequent cruisers (10X per year) and have used many different agents over the years.

We will not pay an agency for booking our cruise when that is the easiest part.

We expect to get OBC for using an agency.

The only time we actually had to get in touch with an agency (during Covid cancellations) the agent did not answer the phone nor responded to emails.

We have used US on line agencies because of better pricing or OBC.

We have used a Canadian franchise TA that gives travel points at 1% of the cruise price.

We have used the big box TA and received gift certificates.

While on board we have found that the cruise companies charge CDN cruiser at a higher exchange rate than charging the US price to a CDN credit card.

There is no easy answer.

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, ArgoNereus said:

While on board we have found that the cruise companies charge CDN cruiser at a higher exchange rate than charging the US price to a CDN credit card.

 

Holland America is actually known for a much better exchange rate than the credit cards.  Not sure if this applies to other Carnival Corp lines.

[JJK2008]

On 10/3/2023 at 8:55 AM, ALD18 said:

Find it intriguing to hear the various scenarios other use.  Our process is sort of a hybrid of all of it.  I think we are going to continue "doing it ourselves" instead of employing a TA.  I actually went in and "interviewed" an agent the other day with the "we find everything and you book it for us" and she answered all the questions ok, except the $113 per person per booking part.  I questioned that since we had done ALL the legwork in the research field if those fees could/would be waived and she said no.  Asked if she/they had 24/7 phone support in the event of issues and she said no to that too.  Only support was 9:00-17:00 EST time in Canada on weekdays.  We have an issue outside of that we were on our own until that time frame opened up.  I think we are going to continue on our own, but start leaning more on the actual cruise line contacts we have established.  They have always been helpful and respond quickly to questions we have.  Guess we may give up some "perks" that TA may provide, but $226 per booking for a $10-100 perk doesn't work for us.  Thanks to all for your experiences and advise, appreciate it. 

Couldn't agree more. There are many here on CC who swear by using a TA. In our years of travel, 99% of the time we do all our own bookings directly with the cruise line, airline, hotel, etc. Many don't realize that if you book through a TA, the TA is the customer of the cruise line. You as the passenger are a customer of the TA. If an issue arises (which they often do) the cruise line will not even talk to you. You MUST go through the TA since the TA is the customer NOT you. This has come as a shock to many who have become agitated when a problem arises, and the cruise line won't even talk to them. While I'm sure there are many really good TA's out there, not all are created equal. For us it is a personal choice to book direct. We like the personal touch. This is not for everyone. To each their own.   

Edited March 10 by JJK2008
repeat info

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, JJK2008 said:

Couldn't agree more. There are many here on CC who swear by using a TA. In our years of travel, 99% of the time we do all our own bookings directly with the cruise line, airline, hotel, etc. Many don't realize that if you book through a TA, the TA is the customer of the cruise line. You as the passenger are a customer of the TA. If an issue arises (which they often do) the cruise line will not even talk to you. You MUST go through the TA since the TA is the customer NOT you. This has come as a shock to many who have become agitated when a problem arises, and the cruise line won't even talk to them. While I'm sure there are many really good TA's out there, not all are created equal. For us it is a personal choice to book direct. We like the personal touch. This is not for everyone. To each their own.   

If a problem arises, why would I want to talk directly to the cruise line, sitting on hold for hours for the privilege of being disconnected in the middle of the call? I would much rather our excellent Travel Agent handle that for us ;o) Yes, if you have a bad TA, the ability to deal with the cruise line is important, but for those of us with excellent TAs, I don't understand the driving need to deal with a cruise line directly.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

If a problem arises, why would I want to talk directly to the cruise line, sitting on hold for hours for the privilege of being disconnected in the middle of the call? I would much rather our excellent Travel Agent handle that for us ;o) Yes, if you have a bad TA, the ability to deal with the cruise line is important, but for those of us with excellent TAs, I don't understand the driving need to deal with a cruise line directly.

I couldn't agree more. This was particularly evident during the pandemic, especially during the early months. My TA explained the situation for each affected cruise, provided the options and took the necessary steps. Of course, there are good and not so good TA's, and if you don't have a good one, you might as well do it yourself if you have the time and knowledge.

[CDNPolar]

I have said many times before, we know what we want, cabin location, port or starboard, so we book and work out the details direct with the cruise line, and then we move the booking to our TA for the OBC, coupons, and cheque at the end of the year.

 

Our preferred cruise line Viking, does allow us - if we pay for their Air Plus program - to still call ourselves to arrange our air, and we do without the TA being involved.

 

For everything else, because we know Viking so well, we really don't have any issues that come up, but if we do, we email our TA and she deals with it.