What (if anything) does your TA give you for booking with them

[wwinfl91]

I have been using an online travel agency for most of our cruises and on most of them we haven't gotten anything. They did arrange for us to go on a nice tour one time on a cruise up the east coast of the US ending in Montreal. We booked our first cruise with AAA and they had a bottle of wine delivered to us the first night of the cruise.

 

I just wonder what others are getting or not getting from their TA's.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[eandj]

Depends on the agent. Our agent always has some kind of gift basket and a bottle of wine waiting in our room.

[Sandi149]

Our TA had a bottle of champagne waiting for us on the 2nd night. Some will send you something, some won't. It's very good business for them to do that.

[TeaBag]

Does an OBC count?

[cuyahoga11]

My PVP gives me a good price and great service and that beats a gift anyday.

[Sandi149]

Does an OBC count?

 

Yup, it sure does. :D

 

Btw, I like your screen name.....very cute. :p

[pms4104]

My PVP gives me a good price and great service and that beats a gift anyday.

Indeed ... great price and superb service worth way more to me than a gift or geegaw.

[Barbee524]

We've gotten wine and on-board credits. And always great service which is the reason we use the same agent. The gifts on-board are just a bonus, we would use her without them.

[Plant]

Our TA gives us better prices, some OBC, incredible service, follow up if we have a problem (only once) and "something special" in the cabin. She knows that we don't like wine or champagne and our "something special" is something we want and will enjoy drinking :D .

 

There's really nothing better than a good TA, IMO!

[JanineM]

A great price! And this next cruise we're getting a small OBC as a thank you for referring another passenger.

 

Like others, I'd rather have a lower price and then choose how to spend those extra bucks. I could probably buy a couple of bottles of rum or a meal at Chops for what they spend on a wine delivered to the stateroom!

[flvol77]

we have learn to "work" the system and have nothing less than $150 shipboard credit on a 7 day cruise and my TA price can't be beat - IMO that beats a bottle of wine anyday.

[spongerob]

Indeed ... great price and superb service worth way more to me than a gift or geegaw.

You bet, I can use the savings to buy something I really like, not some plonk that probably wouldn't fetch more than $8 a bottle if purchased locally.

[isujim]

My local TA that I have used for the last 11 cruises and the next 4 booked always sends us a bottle of wine.........For the Mariner cruise in 2005 she sent us 6 bottles.......it was like our own Wine and Dine......:)

[pajammies]

So... are some of you saying you can negotiate an OBC with your TA?

[packercruising]

We get the priviledge of cruising with Green Bay Packer! :cool: On our Alaska cruise the TA had a nice bottle of wine and a fruit basket waiting for us.

 

I have never dealt with an online TA but it would seem that live and in person would be much better. Maybe that is why the AAA experience was better.:)

[pajammies]

One more question:) Would that come out of the TA's comission? I would feel bad asking for OBC if they get paid less because of it.

[KruznKel]

We have received OBC.. bottle of champagne and choc covered strawberries.. that is what we get with booking a group cruise thru CC.. not all groups get this.. depends on the group you book with.. most receive some sort of perk..

[mielyse]

To answer your question pajammies, yes it does come out of their commission. On our next cruise aboard the WindSpirit my wife got them to include trip insurance, $250 total for both of us, $$350 OBC and all taxes and port charges which were about another $350 i believe. That is darn near $1000 dollars extra in commission that we would have paid them had she not shopped and haggled with them. Even at that, they wouldn't book it if they still were not making money so don't feel bad at all. Take your time and shop prices and extras with a number of different TA's to get the best deal for you. Again, if we had just gone with the original quote, they would have made another $1000. Much better in my pocket than theirs. Good Luck and Happy Cruising.

[lvtotrvl1]

To answer your question pajammies, yes it does come out of their commission. On our next cruise aboard the WindSpirit my wife got them to include trip insurance, $250 total for both of us, $$350 OBC and all taxes and port charges which were about another $350 i believe. That is darn near $1000 dollars extra in commission that we would have paid them had she not shopped and haggled with them. Even at that, they wouldn't book it if they still were not making money so don't feel bad at all. Take your time and shop prices and extras with a number of different TA's to get the best deal for you. Again, if we had just gone with the original quote, they would have made another $1000. Much better in my pocket than theirs. Good Luck and Happy Cruising.

 

I really would love to know what business you are in so I can ask you to work for free also.

[mikedw]

We do a lot of escorted groups where we include things that come out of our commissions. These are usually higher end trips, but for regular run of the mill cruises, we sometimes give out what I call trinkets, bags, fanny packs, and things like that. We are a business and we have to make a profit or we won't be in business. We provide outstanding customer service and we a lot of repeat clientile. I've talked to agents before who consider this business more of a hobby and make next to nothing in the process. We've been in business for over 30 years and our quite successful where as some agencies don't last to long because the agents running them don't understand the basics of running a business.

 

Take care,

 

Michael

[romy]

My new online TA saved us $1400 for our upcoming cruise.:D Can't ask for much better than that! $75 OBC, coupon book and overall great service.

 

Previous TA who's booking I canceled got me the same rate as the cruise line and rarely bothered to return my calls or emails.

 

My point is if you aren't happy with current TA or price, keep looking! My new TA held current booking while I had to contact previous TA to cancel 1st booking. Be prepared if you do this however as you'll need another deposit and will have to wait for the 1st deposit to be refunded. Kind of a screwy way the cruise line handles it, but for a $1400 savings, worth the hassle.

 

If you would like her name, include your email here and I'll provide it to you.

 

Happy Sailing!

Romy

[pajammies]

I really would love to know what business you are in so I can ask you to work for free also.

 

So then do you think asking for a credit of $50-$100 is wrong. Would that be something a TA could do or does that take most of their commission away from them?

[lvtotrvl1]

To answer your question pajammies, yes it does come out of their commission. On our next cruise aboard the WindSpirit my wife got them to include trip insurance, $250 total for both of us, $$350 OBC and all taxes and port charges which were about another $350 i believe. That is darn near $1000 dollars extra in commission that we would have paid them had she not shopped and haggled with them. Even at that, they wouldn't book it if they still were not making money so don't feel bad at all. Take your time and shop prices and extras with a number of different TA's to get the best deal for you. Again, if we had just gone with the original quote, they would have made another $1000. Much better in my pocket than theirs. Good Luck and Happy Cruising.

 

Just checked the prices on your cruise...Right now if you were to book the owners suite and the agency is a high producer who recives the highest commission rate...the agency would receive $911.68. Not sure what the pricing was when you booked, or what category...but basically that agency did not make anything on your cruise..The OBC's may have been something the cruiseline did.

[mielyse]

I am in construction and my business is bidding against other contractors for the clients business. I am constantly cutting profit to secure a contract. That is what business is about. Obviously if they were able to take about $1000 out of their commission and still book it, then they are making money. That also tells me that their profit margins are huge if they are able to do this for a two person cruise. I just checked the normal asking price for the same cruise and that is $3546 for two people. That is a 28% profit, which is huge. In my business we are happy to get 10%. Why wouldn't you shop for the best possible deal that you could get? Just curious.

[lvtotrvl1]

So then do you think asking for a credit of $50-$100 is wrong. Would that be something a TA could so or does that take most of their commission away from them?

 

Many times the cruiselines are offering the OBC and not the TA. I can't tell you if I think asking for an OBC is wrong..I have my own opinions on that. On a low price cruise, that may be all the commission the agent is getting, and they have to make their own decision..On a higher price cruise they have to weigh the benefits. I think the attitude the poster had about the 1000.00 is wrong...