Do All TA's give gifts?

[Sprocket]

Received flowers on our return, from our brick and mortar TA after our first cruise. And 2 bottles of wine and PG dinner on my last cruise from an online TA, as well as a great price.

 

Used a different brick and mortar TA (price) for our cruise to Mexico earlier this year. After we booked 2 other couples decided to book with the same TA and come with us, did not receive so much as a thank you for the extra bookings, and she works in the same building as I do.:confused:

 

I think I will stay with my online TA... I found her thru one of the recommended sites on this board.

 

Bev

[Brad98]

We booked with an online TA and when we received our comfirming email, it said that we will receive 2 bottles of wine, dinner of 2 in th Pinnacle and a cruise video.

 

We won't look at gift horse in the mouth! and we also got a fantastic deal. Happy cruising. Regards Me.

[Charliesmom]

More important to me than wine or photos or specialty restaurant meals is accessibility of the TA within the firm. I like a good price, too. For 25 years I had an agent with whom I always paid full price. (and always got a bottle of wine). After finding CruiseCritic, I learned that discounts were available and used an agent that advertised on CC. Since then I have used two other on-line agencies. I found one last year that had the best price and gives great service. I notice on subsequent bookings that we pay about $75.00 to $100.00 more than the cheapest price I can find, but she always gets me my Amex Platinum card shipboard credit, so it more than makes up the difference. AND she is always available by phone or by email. She also sends a bottle of wine.

 

Roberta

[HeatherInFlorida]

I think once, long ago, we had some sparkling wine and fruit in our cabin. That's the only gift we've ever received from any T/A, land or internet-based.

 

Not important to me at all. The bottom line is all that counts and then we can decide whether we want the Pinnacle Grill, the bathrobes, etc., etc.

 

Now if they start throwing in port charges, prepay our gratuities, stuff like that ... I would switch for that!!!:D .

 

Actually, I've switched anyway but that's a tale for another day!

[cruznon]

No they don't.

In the past, I found the cruises, booked them myself, then turned booking over to my B&M TA. (All she did was call when the doc came.) After no extra service given and not even a sign of appreciation of my business( bottle of wine,et.) I decided I can do this myself. I now book online or through cruise lines--after lots of comparison shopping.

[caribbeanchickie]

Our first cruise we used a local TA and received NADA!!! :rolleyes:

2nd cruise we used a Online TA and received 3 bottles of wine ( 2 red 1 white) and 2 coke cards. What a surprise that was. :D

Since I don't usually drink wine, DH brought a bottle to dinner one night to share with our table mates. :D

I later found out through this wonderful board that we could have exchanged the red wine for white or OBC. :eek: We know better for next time.

 

Upon our return home we received a lovely email from the TA hoping we had a great time and to please let him know how our trip was. We are using him again!!!

[Juanita462]

We used a B&M TA for a long cruise that cost $24,000 - the rack rate for the cruise - I had to do all the researching myself and she didn't go to bat for us when DH needed aisle seats on the flight - I made the many phone calls and finally got advice here on CC that helped us get what we needed. We didn't get anything from her at all - I thought she could have sprung for a small gift from her large commission.

 

Needless to say we no longer use her and for our last cruise we got shipboard credit and a lovely floral arrangment sent to our house when we got home from our current TA. For our next cruise we will get OBC, 2 bottles of wine and the pinnacle grill. If we pay full price and the work is minimal then yes, I think a gift is in order.

 

We always tell our TA to let us know of really good specials that come along but they never do - any that we book are always found by us by checking constantly. I would have thought they would let us know as it is more business, but maybe they are too busy?

[Sunshine91]

Our very first cruise was an award incentive from John's work - we didn't pay for it. No gifts.

All of the others, we went into the TA's office knowing exactly which voyage we wanted - all she had to do was help us choose a cabin & book the cruise. The only time we received anything was a bottle of wine on this past Noordam trip. I can't drink wine (but I'll drink anything else ;) ) & John doesn't drink at all. We brought the bottle home & I gave it to a friend. She really enjoyed it.

Does it matter - not in the least. :)

[Royalpair]

Our first cruise was for our 25th anniversary, and we took our two kids along. We booked a balcony cabin to Alaska on a crisetour. I was a ittle dissapointed the TA did nothing, not even a few flowers. It was a special occasion, and I felt we spent a bit of money! I remember for our honeymoon in Hawii, the travel agent sent us champagne, pinapple and hawiian mugs to our first hotel room. I felt this current TA was basically useless. We went in with our cruise basically picked out, and later found our own OBC, so from now on I think we'll look online first.

[AAAAmerican]

So much so.. and I have never gotten a Dr Pepper yet or even a Root Beer.:cool:

 

I am low maintenance. I know what I want, when booking. I have more cruise experience than many agents and certainly spend enough time on CC to gleam anything I may want to know. I do not make special requests. All I need are my docs and the cabin and I am a happy camper.

 

I have never received a gift from a T/A nor do I expect one.

[ekerr19]

Well, I think it's a nice gesture. I will admit that the usual token Sutter Home White Zinfandel is not something I would drink or hoist off someone who appreciates good wine, lol!

 

We feel we get good pricing from our TA, we've used the same agency for almost all our cruises but the first two, so maybe it is a matter of showing appreciation for having booked about 15 cruises through them, when we obviously have other choices. I may be able to save a few dollars on certain voyages, but my TA is so responsive to any of our requests, I really don't consider booking elsewhere - it would have to be quite a big price difference, and even then she will usually be able to match most legitimate pricing.

 

On our last voyage, (we booked three VC cabins) and received 3 bottles of wine, dinner for six in the Pinnacle Grill on any night we chose, chocolate covered stawberries, a floral arrangement, 2 soda cards for our kids along with the HAL soda cup for each - and shipboard credit of about $150.

 

We did not pay any more for our cruise than was advertised - even with online and deep discount online agencies. My TA calls me after every cruise and we chat about things we liked and things we did, she wants to know what we recommed as far as any excursions etc. and how we felt the ship, cabin etc. compares to others.

 

When I email asking for information on certain sailings, pricing for cabins etc., I have a response within 30 minutes or so - she knows which cabins we prefer and will hold one if the sailing is fairly full so we have time to review the pricing and decide.

 

I did have one experience booking and subsequently cancelling through an online agency. After inital contact, I was never able to get this individual by phone, only voicemail - and all emails went unanswered. I finally had to fax my cancellation request to the agency. This is not customer service, and no amount of "savings" will likely persuade me to book with them again.

 

I may consider an online agency if I have the recommendation of someone I trust who has had good experience with an online agency, but at this point, I don't feel the need to change something that works.

[Aramis1932]

I've never considered a TA gift a marketing ploy. It really started decades ago with the tradition of the Bon Voyage gift for long ocean liner voyages/crossings and carried over when cruises averaged 14-days. The usual Bon Voyage gift was a flower arrangement in the stateroom or a specially chosen bottle of wine presented at dinner for a particular celebration such as a wedding anniverary or birthday.

 

Today online travel agencies and B&M agencies may both be members of consortiums. The consortiums list the cruises (group space they have secured) which offer special perks, the most common being a Pinnacle Grill meal for one evening, OBC and picture frame on HAL. These perks won't be offered for EVERY sailing. This is a promotion, not a gift from the travel agent though it seems some travel agents pass it off as such.

 

Now it's expected to receive a gift on a 3-day cruise to the Bahamas yet isn't on a 2-week escorted tour of Europe?

 

In 1980 I started in the travel business and was very fortunate to work with the best group of travel agents that I would ever meet. To this day I still use their tricks of the trade.

That same year, our office had arranged an afternoon wine/cheese reception and tour of the Rotterdam while in port, for our best clients. I remember walking past the cabins. All the doors were open, ready for the passengers with music playing from the cabin radios. The suites had personalized stationery. Just before we left the ship, there were stewards lined up all in a row wearing pill-box hats and white gloves waiting to escort the arriving passengers to their cabins. They all waved to us with huge smiles, saying in sing-song voices "good-bye, good-bye!" I vowed to sail on that ship asap but had to wait until 1997!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Laura, I think your agent has obviously done very well by you and can't imagine switching for a few $$$ here or there. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

But your agent is also an online agent. So there are online agents and online agents just like anything else. I was thrilled with my online TA for 6 years (even though they never gave me any goodies:o ), but all of a sudden the you know what hit the you know what and we "broke up":( .

 

But I always feel that gifts or no gifts, internet or not, if you're overall happy with your agent, stick with them!!!:)

[ekerr19]

Laura, I think your agent has obviously done very well by you and can't imagine switching for a few $$$ here or there. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

But your agent is also an online agent. So there are online agents and online agents just like anything else. I was thrilled with my online TA for 6 years (even though they never gave me any goodies:o ), but all of a sudden the you know what hit the you know what and we "broke up":( .

 

But I always feel that gifts or no gifts, internet or not, if you're overall happy with your agent, stick with them!!!:)

 

Heather - You know, I didn't realize that they are online too, but you are right, lol!!! I'm with you - I don't want to fix it if it still works - but you know if we can get a better substantial deal elsewhere, I'm pretty open. I just like having the response time as quickly as I do and the little perks are a nice touch. I don't "need" them, but it's sort of nice to be appreciated. :) The best for us last cruise was dinner in the Pinnacle - we had my nephew's b-day dinner there and it was just so perfect. My sister was so happy with the whole evening.

[DougandEric]

Agent gifts are nice but not what I'm looking for. Sometime she sends a gift, other times not. I don't expect it and would never change agents just because I didn't get a gift. I'd rather have someone I know I can trust, who looks after my interests and someone I have a relationship with who knows what I like and dislike. Since my agent is a small independent, I know the cost of the gift eats into her profits. I've also sent my agent gifts (chocolates that she loves) from time to time.

 

I did use other agents twice - much to my regret - I felt like I was cheating on my TA (I confessed!) Won't happen again.

 

Doug

[missygirl]

We have used the same TA in my area for years and never received any gifts, really never expected any. Earlier this year while she was trying to find us a good price for an Alaska cruise my husband dealt with her and wasn't very happy. When we decided to cruise to the caribbean we went with an internet travel agency. Upon arrival we had a $50 room credit, 8 souvenir glasses and a free 6x8 photo. This along with the great prices they offered will make them our new travel agency, we were very happy with them.

 

Missygirl:)

[grannynurse]

We booked a 17 day transatlantic with our then regular TA in 2003. To make a long story short after much aggravation and after we made final payment she called and asked if we didn't mind, she would not send a thank you gift as it would eat into her commission. I didn't care about the gift, but was upset with her attitude and unprofessional tacky behavior , and never used her again. We are much happier with our current Travel Angel who is worth his weight in gold.

GN

[JLC@SD]

We booked a 17 day transatlantic with our then regular TA in 2003. To make a long story short after much aggravation and after we made final payment she called and asked if we didn't mind, she would not send a thank you gift as it would eat into her commission. I didn't care about the gift, but was upset with her attitude and unprofessional tacky behavior , and never used her again. We are much happier with our current Travel Angel who is worth his weight in gold.

GN

obviously your TA didn't care about keeping a good client.

 

Our TA show her appreciation with a bottle of wine delivered to our room, not expensive and very much appreciated..........as we continue to work with her.:)

[gizmo]

I don't care if a TA sends a gift or not. I would never not book with a

TA because I didn't receive any type of gift. It is very nice if I receive one, but if I don't I do not think any less of them. I have used both local brick and mortor and internet TA's and received a gift from both, but most of the time there is no gift.

[newmexicoNita]

We booked a 17 day transatlantic with our then regular TA in 2003. To make a long story short after much aggravation and after we made final payment she called and asked if we didn't mind, she would not send a thank you gift as it would eat into her commission. I didn't care about the gift, but was upset with her attitude and unprofessional tacky behavior , and never used her again. We are much happier with our current Travel Angel who is worth his weight in gold.

GN

I don't blame you for not using her again, I wouldn't have either. Like you said, not because of no gift but the way it was handled. I guess too many people forget "it isn't what you say, but the way you say it" Of course I don't know what kind of commission split she is working on, but a 17 day cruise certainly would be a nice one and a $25 bottle of wine wouldn't hurt.

 

Again, the best gift I can give my clients is service, good advise and a smile no matter how hard sale was but a little something is still nice. NMnita

[martini cruiser]

Best gift ever, an agent who cares! An agent who helped her client get home when there was a death in the family. When a flight was cancelled re-booked us out of a near by city so that the cruise wasn't missed. Or maybe it was the agent who overnighted a clients passport to the cruise departure city after it had been left at home. Somehow I don't see an on line agency doing that. This same agent always checks and re checks to make sure the best price is obtained

 

PS- They always give a gift, a very nice photo album that is peronalized for each cruise.

[Toad]

Thanks all, I think my curiosity has been satisfied! I agree with most, I will take great service any day over a gift, unless of course the gift was a FREE CRUISE!