Why use a Travel Agent

[sonomaphil]

Joe,

 

Come on! "Be aware that you've actually been paying agents all along: the commissions they earned from travel suppliers were built into the price of the products and services you bought."

 

Joe, Nita, Ivan,

 

How come every one of you is online right now and I venture a guess has seen this yet all I hear is crickets from you????? All you do is pick and choose what you respond too????

 

None of you have the (well you know) to respond? Heck, Ivan, you posted it...did you read it????

 

Figured that. The truth hurts.

[yosh12]

Never said that travel agents don't work for their commissions. But it is incorrect to say that we pay nothing for your time. The people that foot the bill for commissions are the consumers, and we don't have a choice. Personally, I don't like the idea of being forced to pay for something that I don't value. Some customers may like that. And we know where travel agents stand--they have no objection at all to the customer paying them even when the customer sees no value added.

 

What exactly makes you think the cruise lines will lower their prices once they cut TAs out of the picture? Why would they want their $799 product sold for $650? So they have to sell 100x as many cruises to make up the loss they'd get hit with when they lose all their TA bookings?

 

You're dreaming my friend. Your cruise price isn't changing whether a TA is involved or not. Better get used to it.

[yosh12]

Joe, Nita, Ivan,

 

How come every one of you is online right now and I venture a guess has seen this yet all I hear is crickets from you????? All you do is pick and choose what you respond too????

 

None of you have the (well you know) to respond? Heck, Ivan, you posted it...did you read it????

 

Figured that. The truth hurts.

 

Well I'm not a travel agent, nor any of the people you mention above, but why would they waste their time responding to your posts?

 

For the record, my TA charges me a fee for every booking we plan with her. Ranges from $100-$250 depending on the trip. I pay it without question. I can also say I'm quite sure you're the type of customer she'd kindly walk to her front door and wouldn't waste her valuable time on. There's usually a line of customers behind me waiting for her advice and assistance.

[yosh12]

I am with you in the sense that I generally dont need a T/A for cruising advice, I'll get better info here for that. Same with most other travel. I tend to do a lot of my own homework.

 

 

Now that is the funniest thing I've read in a while. You'll get better info here than from a professional. Yea, OK! :rolleyes:

[sonomaphil]

Well I'm not a travel agent, nor any of the people you mention above, but why would they waste their time responding to your posts?

 

For the record, my TA charges me a fee for every booking we plan with her. Ranges from $100-$250 depending on the trip. I pay it without question. I can also say I'm quite sure you're the type of customer she'd kindly walk to her front door and wouldn't waste her valuable time on. There's usually a line of customers behind me waiting for her advice and assistance.

 

You pay a fee????? On top of the full cruise fare????? Wow, you like wasting money I guess.

 

And yes, in case you haven't noticed they spent a lot of time responding to my posts.....except when they can't defend themselves.

 

Sir, or madam...I just looked through your posts.....come on....your either a TA or your significant other is. How come 90% of all your post have to do with TA's?????

[Ivanova]

Joe, Nita, Ivan,

 

How come every one of you is online right now and I venture a guess has seen this yet all I hear is crickets from you????? All you do is pick and choose what you respond too????

 

None of you have the (well you know) to respond? Heck, Ivan, you posted it...did you read it????

 

Figured that. The truth hurts.

 

Sorry - walked away from the laptop for a few hours (I left my IE open, so I guess it showed me as being "here" even though I wasn't).

 

I'm not sure what you're looking for. Yes, the commission is built in .. if you use a TA then the TA is paid out of your cruise fare via a commission paid by the cruise line after the cruise is over ... the amount of commission varies, but it's built in ... but for those that book direct and never use a TA, don't expect to get a break or think that if all cruises were booked direct that the cruise fare would be lowered ... the cruise lines would keep what had once been allotted for commissions (be it to cover increased expenses, or feed the bottom line).

 

I don't think there will ever be agreement on the value of a TA, even between non-TAs ... there are always stories of "order takers" that clients never heard from again, as there are stories of how TAs saved a clients bacon (as well as thousands of dollars) that the client could not have done on their own ... so be it.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Well I'm not a travel agent, nor any of the people you mention above, but why would they waste their time responding to your posts?

 

For the record, my TA charges me a fee for every booking we plan with her. Ranges from $100-$250 depending on the trip. I pay it without question. I can also say I'm quite sure you're the type of customer she'd kindly walk to her front door and wouldn't waste her valuable time on. There's usually a line of customers behind me waiting for her advice and assistance.

 

I can't imagine what extra your agent supplies for a fee like that. I sure wouldn't pay anybody a fee for booking a cruise for us.

 

Bill

[sonomaphil]

Sorry - walked away from the laptop for a few hours (I left my IE open, so I guess it showed me as being "here" even though I wasn't).

 

I'm not sure what you're looking for. Yes, the commission is built in .. if you use a TA then the TA is paid out of your cruise fare via a commission paid by the cruise line after the cruise is over ... the amount of commission varies, but it's built in ... but for those that book direct and never use a TA, don't expect to get a break or think that if all cruises were booked direct that the cruise fare would be lowered ... the cruise lines would keep what had once been allotted for commissions (be it to cover increased expenses, or feed the bottom line).

 

I don't think there will ever be agreement on the value of a TA, even between non-TAs ... there are always stories of "order takers" that clients never heard from again, as there are stories of how TAs saved a clients bacon (as well as thousands of dollars) that the client could not have done on their own ... so be it.

 

Thank you...one of the best post on this silly thread so far.

 

But, you still say that the cruiseline is paying that TA. Let's face it...we as cruisers are paying the TA in the form of higher fares. No TA wants to admit that. No car salesman wants to admit it. No one in sales wants to admit it....but it is true.

 

If you like paying higher fees with a full service TA...great! Enjoy! But there are other options. And IF the cruise lines did go to a direct fare model....95% of all TA's would go out of business. You know the stats from the amount of TA's 20 years ago until today.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thank you...one of the best post on this silly thread so far.

 

But, you still say that the cruiseline is paying that TA. Let's face it...we as cruisers are paying the TA in the form of higher fares. No TA wants to admit that. No car salesman wants to admit it. No one in sales wants to admit it....but it is true.

 

If you like paying higher fees with a full service TA...great! Enjoy! But there are other options. And IF the cruise lines did go to a direct fare model....95% of all TA's would go out of business. You know the stats from the amount of TA's 20 years ago until today.

 

and if that did happen do you think the cruiselines are going to lower the prices? I sure don't.

 

The cruise market charges what the market will bear. If the commissions were out of the picture that would still be the case. If not why don't they charge the same for a cruise in January then they do in July?

 

Bill

[sonomaphil]

and if that did happen do you think the cruiselines are going to lower the prices? I sure don't.

 

The cruise market charges what the market will bear. If the commissions were out of the picture that would still be the case. If not why don't they charge the same for a cruise in January then they do in July?

 

Bill

 

I agree, the market is the market.

[jcanino]

Joe, Nita, Ivan,

 

How come every one of you is online right now and I venture a guess has seen this yet all I hear is crickets from you????? All you do is pick and choose what you respond too????

 

None of you have the (well you know) to respond? Heck, Ivan, you posted it...did you read it????

 

Figured that. The truth hurts.

 

First of all, at the time you wrote this message I was not online. The quote came from a newspaper journalist from Hawaii I believe. Does she have any travel industry background? do you believe everything you read in the newspaper?

[jcanino]

And yes, in case you haven't noticed they spent a lot of time responding to my posts.....except when they can't defend themselves.

 

Or we are relaxing getting ready to watch the 10:00 news. It may have been 7:00 PM where you are but it was 10:00 PM where I am (or don't you believe there is a difference in time zones).

[jcanino]

But, you still say that the cruiseline is paying that TA. Let's face it...we as cruisers are paying the TA in the form of higher fares. No TA wants to admit that. No car salesman wants to admit it. No one in sales wants to admit it....but it is true.

 

If you like paying higher fees with a full service TA...great! Enjoy! But there are other options. And IF the cruise lines did go to a direct fare model....95% of all TA's would go out of business. You know the stats from the amount of TA's 20 years ago until today.

 

Again you are comparing apples to oranges. Travel agents do not own the product they are selling while car dealers do. A car dealer actually owns his product.

 

I still can't believe that you think if travel agents went out of business cruise prices would drop. The cruise lines will have to increase their staff by about 500% to handle all the work that travel agents do. All those people are going to want to get paid by the cruise line. Oh wait! If you buy a cruise from them, the cruise line won't be paying their salary, you will! OH NO! We are back where we started from. You are still going to have to pay someone to sell you that cruise.

[jff50]

Well I'm not a travel agent, nor any of the people you mention above, but why would they waste their time responding to your posts?

 

For the record, my TA charges me a fee for every booking we plan with her. Ranges from $100-$250 depending on the trip. I pay it without question. I can also say I'm quite sure you're the type of customer she'd kindly walk to her front door and wouldn't waste her valuable time on. There's usually a line of customers behind me waiting for her advice and assistance.

You're not a travel agent, most of your posts relate to travel agents, and you pay extra compensation to your travel agent. I would guess that most of us do not share the same level of infatuation with our travel agents that you share with yours.

[jff50]

and if that did happen do you think the cruiselines are going to lower the prices? I sure don't.

 

The cruise market charges what the market will bear. If the commissions were out of the picture that would still be the case. If not why don't they charge the same for a cruise in January then they do in July?

 

Bill

None of us know if the cruise lines would lower prices. But I am pretty certain that what cruise lines want most of all is to sail with a full ship, and that they would like to sell out the ship as early as possible.

• It seems to me that cruise fares are at a historic low, relative to cruise line costs and costs of living. To me, that indicates that the cruise lines are trying to keep the entry cost (cruise fares) low.
  
• Cruise lines will practically give away cabins at the last minute in order to sail with a ful ship.
  
• The incremental cost of an additional passenger is very small and more than offset by the additional on board revenues.

So if the cruise lines think that it will help them fill up ships, and do it earlier, yes they will lower prices.

[jff50]

Jeff, take a Business 101 course. Look at the size of the businesses. Of course a travel agency has a lower cost structure. The cruise line's business model does not include hand holding and customer service at the initial level. If a problem gets to that level, then a separate Customer Service department steps in. Because of the lower cost structure, we can spend time with clients. We are sales agents, customer service agents, accounting and everything else rolled into one. A cruise line call center employee wants to get you off the phone as quickly as possible. They don't have time to explain things to you. That's why people come to place like this and take information from people that have no idea how the cruise industry is run and how things work in real life. A cruise line is set up to handle maybe 15% of all cruise business. If they have to double that to 30%, they are going to have to almost double their staff, salaries, employment expenses and overhead.

First of all, my name isn't Jeff.

Second, of all I took a variety of Business courses in getting my MBA.

Third, I don't want/need all the services provided by a full service travel agent. I am fine dealing with an order taker.

Fourth, I do not believe that a full service travel agent can have a lower cost structure than a larger cruise line or a larger travel agency that already has the infrastructure set up and functions as an order taker.

[jff50]

Now that is the funniest thing I've read in a while. You'll get better info here than from a professional. Yea, OK! :rolleyes:

This brings to mind a post that was on here not long ago--titled Princess "Commodores". Most of the posts were from travel agents that have gone through extensive training to sell Princess cruises. It was clear from that thread that even those travel agents that had the highest level of Princess training tended to know less about Princess than me (I have 17 cruises on Princess) or many of the other people that post here.

So, yea OK, I can get better information here than from a professional. I'll do my own research. All I need is someone to handle my booking--an order taker.

[sonomaphil]

First of all, at the time you wrote this message I was not online. The quote came from a newspaper journalist from Hawaii I believe. Does she have any travel industry background? do you believe everything you read in the newspaper?

 

That article was posted by a Travel Agent in this thread to support her position. What else am I supposed to think? I would assume that said travel agent agrees with the article.

[mikedw]

Again you are comparing apples to oranges. Travel agents do not own the product they are selling while car dealers do. A car dealer actually owns his product.

 

I still can't believe that you think if travel agents went out of business cruise prices would drop. The cruise lines will have to increase their staff by about 500% to handle all the work that travel agents do. All those people are going to want to get paid by the cruise line. Oh wait! If you buy a cruise from them, the cruise line won't be paying their salary, you will! OH NO! We are back where we started from. You are still going to have to pay someone to sell you that cruise.

 

A lot of travel agencies went out of business cause they relied to much on airline tickets. They wanted to take ta's out of the loop and our agency will only sell airline tickets to existing clients with a service fee. Try getting through to the airlines if you need to talk to a real person, even the special ta number can take forever to get through. Renaissance Cruise Line is a good example of a bad business model, they would not deal with any TA's and 9/11 sent them over the brink. TA's are a dedicated sales force for the Cruiselines, it's probably way over 80% of cruises are book through TA's and when you consider that only about 5% of the US population has cruised, they are not going to do anything to tick off there sales force.

[mikedw]

Order takers don't spend several hours with people going over all the possibilities to find out which one is the best fit for the customer. I have clients who I talk to for several weeks sometimes before they decide on what they want. Try calling a cruiseline and spending a hour or two on the phone with them. Also the posters who are saying they don't need the extra value that a TA offers are probably the same ones who won't buy travel insurance.

[yosh12]

You're not a travel agent, most of your posts relate to travel agents, and you pay extra compensation to your travel agent. I would guess that most of us do not share the same level of infatuation with our travel agents that you share with yours.

 

It's not infatuation. It's a respect for the job she does for us. I work with her all day long so I know she knows her stuff. And she's saved my a** quite a few times, which is worth any amount of extra I pay her if you ask me. She's actually the one who turned me on to this board due to a funny conversation we had about one of her clients one day. Someone else who thought they knew it all, and she had to put my stuff on hold while she figured out their mess for them.

 

I actually don't agree with all the TAs that are on here defending themselves to people like you. Why is it any of anyone's business how they operate? I wouldn't answer any of the questions found on here. If people think they can do it themselves, let them. If they don't see a value in what you do, who cares. And I wouldn't advise them either. Let them take all the advice from complete strangers and when things get screwed up & they have to find a TA to fix it for them, charge them a nice big fee to do so. :D

[yosh12]

You pay a fee????? On top of the full cruise fare????? Wow, you like wasting money I guess.

 

And yes, in case you haven't noticed they spent a lot of time responding to my posts.....except when they can't defend themselves.

 

Sir, or madam...I just looked through your posts.....come on....your either a TA or your significant other is. How come 90% of all your post have to do with TA's?????

 

As already explained in another post, my TA turned me on to this board one day while fixing a mess for one of her customers that they created for themselves based on info found on this board. What a surprise huh??

 

I work closely with my company's TA all day long. And I use her for my personal business now as well. If you can't figure out the value in using a professional, well, it's not my job to explain it to you.

 

One question to all the DIYers...how is spending hours online posting and reading answers from total strangers better than walking into an office and asking a travel professional for help? At least you know they know something about travel and the way the business works. I don't know any of you from a hole in the wall, and wouldn't take a bit of advice from you, right or wrong. Nor would i offer it up. Do I want to be responsible for messing something up for you? No. But I just don't get how asking strangers how to do things is the equivilant to "doing it yourself". You're still asking right???

[jff50]

Order takers don't spend several hours with people going over all the possibilities to find out which one is the best fit for the customer. I have clients who I talk to for several weeks sometimes before they decide on what they want. Try calling a cruiseline and spending a hour or two on the phone with them. Also the posters who are saying they don't need the extra value that a TA offers are probably the same ones who won't buy travel insurance.

You're correct. I generally don't buy travel insurance. Don't need it. Either have everything covered, or am willing to assume the risk. I know my needs, and have made an informed decision not to purchase. This differs from many of you that will tell me I need travel insurance without knowing my needs. By the way, consumer reports has reported that many/most people that buy travel insurance have bought more than they need. I would trust their analysis and objectivity far more than I would trust yours.

[sradogna]

Wow ... such a hotly contested topic.

 

I guess I don't understand why. Truly, with a little bit of research booking a cruise is no different than booking any landbased hotel and who uses a TA for that? Ok so the hotel moves but really still same difference.

 

I use a TA now only because we have no other choice ... it's the only way to get the best deal. I guess it boils down to there being two types of traveler; the ones that need hand-holding and the ones that don't. The ones that need it will pick a TA and convince themselves they could never do it alone and probably be loyal to that TA at a cost. The ones who don't need it will shop price and place their business with the 'order taker' who provides the lowest price.

 

Bottomline ... both will stay on a cruise ship in a cabin for their vacation and both will come home ... one will probably pay a bit more and one a bit less.

 

Neither decision is right or wrong ... just what's best for each individual.

 

As for those who are holding hope that all cruiselines will go the way of Celebrity and others and not allow lower fares, still the savy shopper can get a better deal by shopping for TA's who offer big incentives in the form of on board credits, etc. to book with them.

[sonomaphil]

One question to all the DIYers...how is spending hours online posting and reading answers from total strangers better than walking into an office and asking a travel professional for help? At least you know they know something about travel and the way the business works. I don't know any of you from a hole in the wall, and wouldn't take a bit of advice from you, right or wrong. Nor would i offer it up. Do I want to be responsible for messing something up for you? No. But I just don't get how asking strangers how to do things is the equivilant to "doing it yourself". You're still asking right???

 

 

You don't offer advise? Look over your previous posts. Most have a line that says "use a travel agent."

 

It's clear that you are not telling the whole truth about your relationship with or as a TA. Just be honest, you're giving all TA's a bad name by promoting your agenda without stating what you are.