Travel Agent vs Direct Booking

[Shekim]

We will take our first cruise Feb 2005. I ended up booking with a TA because that's what everyone said to do. But when I talked to the cruise line they said that the benefit of booking with the cruise line is if the prices go down they can adjust the price. Will a TA not be able to do that? Should I cancel my reservation with the TA and book directly?

[lougee1043]

shekim

 

a ta will also reduce the price if it goes down but what you have to remember is that you are not your tas only customer-- they cannot check all their prices of all their clients on a daily basis --the final responsibilty is yours- you should monitor your cruise through the cruise line web site and if you see a lower price call your ta and ask him/her to contact the cruise line for the lower price. they do it all the time -----by the way you can most llikely get a cheaper price from an on line ta and when you find one ask them to take over the booking and you willl get a credit ----the ta that i use is cruisequick --you can check them out on the money saving tips board by doing a search

[Shekim]

So I can "sell" my reservation to whom ever? If I find a lower price, then what? I checked online vs direct vs TA but they were all the same price. And I'm very anal about prices...I check often and call when I find the price has been reduced. If the direct route can offer the same as a TA (either local or online) what is the benefit of using a TA. I just want to make sure I can maximize my dollar.

[serene56]

Not all agents will offer you that price reduction after final payment. You have to ask upfront.

 

If you find the price cheaper- tell your agent. (most agents also will not give you a price reduction on other agencies--especially after final payment)

 

If the agent cant beat the price then you transfer the booking. But befoer you do ask the new agent all the important stuff....if you find it cheaper up til sailing will they refund you the difference. A few charge for that service also.

 

Its up to you to watch the price on your agents web page and the cruise lines page. If you see the price come down on those sites you should get a refund. I learned the hard way and lost hundreds of dollars on my Victory cruise. Never again will that happen to me.

[HighRoller]

I would not recommend booking directly with the cruise line because the pricing isn't usually that great...find a good high volume TA that will upfront tell you they will adjust pricing after final payment and/or negotiate additional onboard cruise credit if the money can't be refunded...remember NO TA can guaratee to be able to do either for one simple reason...it's at teh cruise lines discreation to honour the reduction which that information is passed on to your TA to inform you. Also make sure you deal with A TA that doesn't charge admin fee's for docs, cancellations or rebookings.

[BaumD]

Both Carnival and RCCL have just announced that the big online TA's will no longer be able to discount their pricing by rebating commission to their clients.They are trying to put the Big TA's, the little Mom & Pop TA's and the cruiseline website on the same level.

[HighRoller]

BaumD yes I read the same press release yesterday morning, however it will never happen according to the way RCCI and CCL plan to enforce it....just watch and see how big on-line TA's will manoeuver around this one...you'll be receiving rebate checks back from them or they will be buying you onboard casino credits...More than one way to string a cat, and this attempt to stronghold Big TA's and pax that benefit from there prcing will not be completely enforceable...just stand back and watch after Sept 16 for RCCI and Jan 1/05 for CCL.

 

Press Release:

 

Royal Caribbean says No to Advertised Rebating

With a warning that, "Rebating is damaging to our distribution

system," Royal Caribbean late this afternoon announced,

"Effective August 16, 2004, any agency that advertises either

Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises or Cruise/tours at any price

point other than a published pricing program or contracted

promotional fare will be subject to a reduction in the co-op

support provided by the cruise lines and other effects such as a

reduction in the base commission paid on all future cruises

booked by that agency."

 

Royal added, "Advertisements shall include, but not be limited to,

TV, radio, newspaper, catalogs, direct mail, and all on-line

vehicles such as search engines, websites, e-mail, pop-ups, and

banners. Our existing marketing policies with respect to group

bookings will remain, for the time being, unchanged."

 

The release also quoted Royal Caribbean International and

Celebrity Cruises President and COO Jack Williams: "Royal

Caribbean has always believed that our agency partners work

hard for their commissions and should keep them. As part of our

2005 planning process, we are reviewing everything from

compensation to group policies to our new, dedicated sales

coverage."

 

Reaction to Carnival's Fight Against Rebators

Since Carnival made its announcement yesterday that effective

January 1, 2005, any agencies advertising non-Carnival-

approved rates and promotions will receive a reduction in their

agency compensation, there have been murmurs that some

lawsuits by agents are a possibility because of restraint of trade

and pricing.

 

"This is a litigious society," comments Carnival CEO Bob

Dickinson. "It wouldn't surprise me that someone may want to

challenge us on some point. Good luck to them. We think they

would have an extraordinary uphill battle."

 

Carnival's argument? "Basically the best analogy I can give you

is we have a brand and our colors are red, white, and blue. And

we spell Carnival with a C. So if somebody on the Internet said

our colors are red, blue, and yellow, and Carnival is spelled with

a K, we would be very, very upset. That has a negative rub-off

on the image of our brands."

 

But can't one make an analogy with car dealerships, where

rebating is rampant? "Car dealers buy the product from the

manufacturer," says Dickinson. "They basically own it. You can

charge whatever price you want if you own it. Travel agents are

the agents of the consumer; they don't own our product, but they

in effect act as a broker between the consumer and the supplier

on that basis. There is a considerable amount of legal precedent

for this."

 

When asked about the possibility of eliminating rebating that

goes on offline, Dickinson said: "That type of rebating between

consenting adults is impossible to monitor or police. Say I went

to Jack's Travel, and they gave me $799 and will throw in a

bottle of champagne or a limo ride to the airport. We're not in

that business. And that doesn't create the price focus that we're

talking about, because that's all offline and nobody sees that.

We're not focusing so much on rebating as focusing on having

our authorized pricing in the public medium. We're trying to get

the consumer to feel comfortable that pricing isn't an issue with

Carnival. Couples can sit down at a table on the Imagination and

not worry that they paid more for the same category of cabin on

the cruise than the couple next to them."

[cruisead]

After final payment, it's not the travel agent who doesn't give the price reduction like one poster says, it's the cruise lines that won't give the reduction. If there's a reduction in price after final payment, you can press the cruise line to give you some sort of compensation, but it usually comes in the form of room credit and not outright cash.