Pros and Cons of Booking Direct/TA

[Ali-in-Texas]

Just booked directly thru RCI. The person booking me put me in a more expensive room than requested. When asked if I would like the travel insurance I told him twice that I did not want it because I was going to read the policy before buying it. He added it on anyway.

Was not friendly at all.

 

When I received my confirmation email and called back they were closed for the day. Next time I will stick with the major travel agency that I booked with. They didn't make a single mistake last time I cruised.

[superjerryw]

I suppose I could make the reverse argument that travel agents make mistakes as well. In any case, I do agree that it's better to deal with a local travel agent. I think it's nice to be able to visit someone face to face in the event of a problem in lieu of trying to deal with a stranger on the phone.

[ckrobyn]

It sounds like your CSR at RCI wasn't listening to you - I would be pretty upset too :mad: Keep calling back, you can probably reverse the charges for insurance if you didn't even want it in the first place. As far as being booked in a more expensive cabin, this they can change for sure - providing the cabin you originally wanted is still available.

 

I generally use a TA, but for cruises I like to book directly with RCI so I can make whatever changes I want, whenever I want. When you book with a TA and you see a sale/special offer etc at night, most agencies are closed so you have to wait until regular business hours. When you book directly with RCI you can call them until pretty late at night and make the necessary changes. As well, if you see a cabin open up that you want, you can switch cabins on your reservation easily by calling RCI.