Travel Agent Booking Fees

[Croooser]

4 hours ago, SATaxman said:

Thanks. I will try to find this bidding site.

We have found 3 different agencies that provide incentives. 1 via an email to someone on this board who lists her email in her sig. 2 via a website that offers to have TAs compete for your business. All 3 are large well established agencies that provide roughly the same $ incentive ... On O that means a rebate check either after final payment or after cruise is completed. In addition, 2 of them belong to Virtuoso which sometimes adds PPG on top of TA incentives, not in place of.

 

HTH

[emd138]

I have been using the same person for years, and they don't charge an initial fee, but they do if I change the booking....it is still much less than what you mentioned, though.  I just had to change one because my husband's employer approved his vacation, and then took it back.  Unreal, and my anger is with his employer. 

 

They do provide perks.  I book lower end cabins, and shorter (7-10 day) cruises, for perspective.  

[ak1004]

13 hours ago, thebsinmiss said:

In our Canadian province the cruise agent we used does not charge us any fees for the cruise advice/booking.  My understanding is they make a commission from the cruise line, likely based on the dollar cost of booked cruise (cruise, drink package upgrade, O tours booked beyond SM credits etc...)  I'm sure they also get compensated to a small degree if they sell you trip interruption/cancelation/medical insurance plans but that is a guess on my part. They are doing the work/taking work off our plate so they deserve their compensation. 

 

Our agent does charge a flat fee to search flights/book flights etc which is understandable to me. We booked our flights ourselves as the key for us was direct flights only and there were only 2 options form our airport so it was relatively easy.

 

One other point, I have seen posts referencing some cruise agents offering rebates (on board credits or picking up gratuities or picking up drink upgrade)  As far as I know that is not available from any Canadian travel agent/planner. 

 

I would never pay any fee for any service provided by a TA. In fact, I would run away. They get their commissions from the cruise line and/or the airline.

 

There are many TAs in Ontario who provide perks, but it is less common in Canada. We switched to US based TA who provides us 10-12% rebate on every single cruise. They can book in USD or CAD, based on your preference.

Edited April 2 by ak1004

[rebeccac]

It is true that it used to be unheard of for TAs to charge a fee to the client and while there are still many many who don't it is becoming more prevalent.  Certainly, there are plenty of TAs who still charge no fee, but from talking to a friend of mine who is a TA, I can understand the temptation.  There are so many clients who are just kicking tires and after the TA spends time on researching cruises and coming up with a proposal, the client ghosts them and there is no compensation for the time spent.  

 

All that being said, my TA still does not charge a fee.  I use them for the personal service and any deals or perks I may get, I just consider a nice extra bonus.  

[ak1004]

38 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

It is true that it used to be unheard of for TAs to charge a fee to the client and while there are still many many who don't it is becoming more prevalent.  Certainly, there are plenty of TAs who still charge no fee, but from talking to a friend of mine who is a TA, I can understand the temptation.  There are so many clients who are just kicking tires and after the TA spends time on researching cruises and coming up with a proposal, the client ghosts them and there is no compensation for the time spent.  

 

All that being said, my TA still does not charge a fee.  I use them for the personal service and any deals or perks I may get, I just consider a nice extra bonus.  

 

This is part of doing business. Isn't it the same with realtors and many other professions? 

[rebeccac]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

This is part of doing business. Isn't it the same with realtors and many other professions? 

 

Absolutely. 

 

Certainly TAs selling cruises should be able to make up for anyone who doesn't book since cruise lines pay some of the better commissions.  However, hotels and many other land based options pay very little and airlines (unless being booked as part of a package) pay nothing.  

 

All I was saying is that I understand why the idea is becoming more common, not that I agree with it one way or the other.  I have been fortunate to have known my TA for a long time and by now they know what I like and don't like.  It is nice to have someone you can trust.  

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, rebeccac said:

All I was saying is that I understand why the idea is becoming more common, not that I agree with it one way or the other.  I have been fortunate to have known my TA for a long time and by now they know what I like and don't like.  It is nice to have someone you can trust.  

I guess I look at it from another angle  …. I get in touch with a TA and am giving them the opportunity to earn $$$ commission! I think they should give me a ‘fee free’ service for my business!

 

Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know!

[rebeccac]

1 minute ago, Vallesan said:

I guess I look at it from another angle  …. I get in touch with a TA and am giving them the opportunity to earn $$$ commission! I think they should give me a ‘fee free’ service for my business!

 

Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know!

 

You are not wrong, as long as you actually give them business (at least at some point).  The people I am referring to which cause some agents to charge fees are the ones that have no idea what they want, so the agents spend lots of time and multiple revisions trying to nail down the trip they want and then once the client seems to be happy, the agent never hears from again.  I can understand where the frustration of those sorts of people could make an agent at least consider charging a fee.  

 

Like I said, my agent doesn't charge a fee and I do believe there are plenty of good ones that don't, but as with many things these days, a small number of people can ruin things for everyone.  

[mnocket]

20 hours ago, SATaxman said:

Thanks. Sounds awful.

Yeah, I gave a well known bidding site a try once.  Waste of time.

 

I find that using the travel agency at a well-known big box store works well for me.  They give store credit for booking with them and I've never had a problem with the quality of service.

Edited April 2 by mnocket

[basor]

Our TA does not charge a fee for booking a cruise and the air, hotels, etc. that are part of a cruise.  They do charge a fee for booking air tickets alone since airlines do not pay a commission any longer.  They also charge a planning fee for putting together a DYI trip - say a 2 week trip to Italy including air, hotels, trains, tours etc.  This fee is then applied to the cost of the trip when actually booked.  This helps pay for their time to do all the research in the case the client does not book with the TA.  She told me that this keeps the tire kickers and people taking all her work and booking themselves away.  

[EJL2023]

6 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

I guess I look at it from another angle  …. I get in touch with a TA and am giving them the opportunity to earn $$$ commission! I think they should give me a ‘fee free’ service for my business!

 

Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know!

I agree. And on a cruise for me they really do very little if I’m being honest. I know what I want and know what rooms are available when I call them. I book my excursions directly with O. And in other instances I book on board and transfer and their involvement basically is facilitating final payment or changing rooms if that should arise. And I must say they are still rather cheap on their incentives when they have done very little to have earned the commission.  My personal experience.  And yea, perhaps time to find someone else. 

[ak1004]

27 minutes ago, basor said:

Our TA does not charge a fee for booking a cruise and the air, hotels, etc. that are part of a cruise.  They do charge a fee for booking air tickets alone since airlines do not pay a commission any longer.  They also charge a planning fee for putting together a DYI trip - say a 2 week trip to Italy including air, hotels, trains, tours etc.  This fee is then applied to the cost of the trip when actually booked.  This helps pay for their time to do all the research in the case the client does not book with the TA.  She told me that this keeps the tire kickers and people taking all her work and booking themselves away.  

 

This is completely understandable and acceptable - in fact, it's very generous of them to apply it to the cost of the trip.

[MarkWiltonM]

58 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

You are not wrong, as long as you actually give them business (at least at some point).  The people I am referring to which cause some agents to charge fees are the ones that have no idea what they want, so the agents spend lots of time and multiple revisions trying to nail down the trip they want and then once the client seems to be happy, the agent never hears from again.  I can understand where the frustration of those sorts of people could make an agent at least consider charging a fee.  

 

My TA must love me, because I always initially book my own cruise, either online or while on another cruise for the additional benefits, and then I transfer it to the TA simply to receive the extra benefits he provides; in my case, it's usually travel insurance. All the TA has ever had to do for me is collect final payment. And I think he gets a pretty nice commission from the cruise line.