Does your TA charge a service fee, and if so how much?

[flagger]

I was wondering if anyone uses a TA that charges a service fee and if so how much do they charge?

[DMorris]

My current one doesn't charge a Svc Fee but they charge a cancellation fee of $50pp if you don't rebook a new cruise.

 

My old and future TA doesn't charge anything extra.

[Longboysfan]

No TA should be charging a service fee for a cruise.

They get a % of the booking from the line.

[snausman]

My TA doesn't charge any fees either. For changing a cruise or for cancelling a cruise.

 

Laura

[Coco Creek]

Any TA that charged me a service or cancellation fee would be my ex-TA.

[janandjon]

$15 processing and handling fee. But that does not matter.

 

The bottom line is all that counts ---how they get there ? Who cares!:confused:

[Canadianhey!]

My TA does not charge and also usually sends a bottle of wine to our table. That bottle of wine is what keeps me with him. I give him alot of business and that bottle of wine shows me that he really appreciate my business

[muffin]

My online TA has you join a "club" sort of thing for $19.00. This is a one time ever charge. There is a $ 35.00 charge to change the booking, if prices go down, if you want to cancel and get your deposit back, request stateroom upgrade etc etc. This $35.00 is for the stateroom, not per person. I do not begrudge them that fee....it also stops people asking for a whole new booking to save $20.00. Once we cancelled a booking and rebooked on another cruise...gave us a complimentary change. Their bottom line is so much better than anywhere else I have gone, that I am happy to deal with them. Have done 3 major cruises and everthing has gone like clockwork.

[travelntreats]

My TA charges a $50.00 p/p cancellation fee UNLESS we rebook another cruise within a year.... they give me good service and sometimes a gift... no qualms here with their cancellation fee as they do deserve to get something for their time, phone calls, paperwork, etc. as far as I am concerned. I also make sure that I call them when I return to give them a report of our cruise as well as a Thank You for their excellent service ! On the christmas holidays I also send them a small token of appreciation i.e. $25.00 gift card that they really appreciate !

[BrendaJ]

I used to have a travel agent that charged a $65 service fee per ticket for any airline tickets they booked, since the airlines stopped paying commissions for air tickets (this is in Canada).

 

I can certainly understand a travel agency charging for their time when some people waste hours of an agent's time getting information and then book elsewhere.

 

I could maybe see a service charge per booking, particularly if the basic cost of the trip is so low that the commission is nominal. We did a $16,000 booking with my old agent and didn't even receive a bottle of wine in the cabin. My old agent would have charged me a $390 service charge to book six air tickets for the same flight when I had provided her with the airline flight numbers, dates and times. That seems crazy for something I could do online myself in a few minutes. Small wonder that agency ended up going out of business.

 

My current agent does not charge us any fees (all we book is cruises with her - I book any flights not cruise related myself online). Although I do my own cruise research and know what I want when I e-mail her, her knowledge and responsiveness to requests earn her my respect and repeat business. If her agency started charging a small fee for her work, I would probably pay it without grumbling. Then again, our cruises are never less than $1,200 per person, so the commissions are probably fairly decent anyways.

[travelntreats]

If her agency started charging a small fee for her work, I would probably pay it without grumbling. Then again, our cruises are never less than $1,200 per person, so the commissions are probably fairly decent anyways.

But again, if that $1200.00 p/p includes the port charges and taxes, they are not making as much as you may think after deducting those items from your noted per person cost of $1200.00, before commission is paid.

[Sky Sweet]

During the past two years I have booked all of our cruises directly through the cruise line but when we did use a TA we had two different scenarios.

 

Our original TA did not charge any fees in addition to what the cruise line did but did not save us any money either. She was, however, very professional and responsive.

 

We then tried a TA who offered better rates because she had a "key account" with Celebrity. However, she charges cancellation fees, as well as fees for any change to the original reservation.

 

That TA also refused to provide what I consider basic service such as giving me some type of receipt when we made our final payment. When I asked I was told that it is company policy not to do so and since my payment will appear as a charge on my next credit card bill I didn't need it. She was also very hard to reach and it would sometime take days for her to return my calls.

 

I personally enjoy dealing directly with the cruise line because all issues are handling instantaneously and any changes or receipts are in my e-mail by the time I get off the phone.

 

However, if I was ever to use a TA again I would choose my original one, even though their rates were the same as Celebrity.

 

I know some people will do anything to save money on a cruise, which is how she stays in business, but I have learned that when you use the services of a discount TA you frequently get what you pay for.

[Wildcatllamas]

I have booked all four of my cruises through one TA. Two of them were for a group and two were on my own. I had booked my group cruise in February and then decided to look at doing a B2B. I researched it and liked the price I was seeing. When I booked with her the price was now $150 higher. I complained and eventually she brought it down to what Celebrity was quoting me. On the group one it is $225 higher.:eek: Now I don't mind a service charge but I would prefer that it is disclosed to me. Since I have to go through her to be added to the group (no discount from posted fares) I have left it but am planning on let folks know what is going on with her.

Barb

[travelntreats]

I certainly would be asking what the additional fees are and why were those fees not disclosed to you before booking ! Something does not add up with your TA.

[Woodmnky]

No service fee. No cancellation fee. Nearly the lowest price, OBC and good customer service. These are the reasons why I will always check with my TA before going with someone else.

[Hypo]

No fees plus we receive 10% back in OBC on the commissionable fare.

 

Hypo

[flagger]

I will say that service charges (either included in the price of the quote or as an additional flat rate) are becoming more and more the norm for TAs even for cruises. There are many passengers that will have one TA do all the research and then take that same fare to a different TA because of an OBC.

 

When people ask their TA to get them a lower fare they are also asking their TA to earn less money.

 

Posters on CruiseCritic spend more of their time researching cruises than the average passenger and also many TAs so I would expect that they would balk at a service charge, but I have seen it coming up far more frequently.

[snausman]

The reason I LOVE my TA was that I have been traveling the last couple of days. Just got home last night and had a email from my TA telling me she found a lower price for us on our upcoming cruise of $400.00. I did not have to find it she checks daily. Thats a wonderful TA.

 

Laura

[98Charlie]

Our TA is with one of the major onlines. Their fee is $19 or $20 and it is always applied then credited back (ie waived).

 

Charlie

[DMorris]

The reason I LOVE my TA was that I have been traveling the last couple of days. Just got home last night and had a email from my TA telling me she found a lower price for us on our upcoming cruise of $400.00. I did not have to find it she checks daily. Thats a wonderful TA.

 

Laura

 

That is a great TA... I have never had a TA find a lower price for us... I always find it and have to ask the TA about lowering our fare.

[terrydtx]

The reason I LOVE my TA was that I have been traveling the last couple of days. Just got home last night and had a email from my TA telling me she found a lower price for us on our upcoming cruise of $400.00. I did not have to find it she checks daily. That's a wonderful TA.

 

Laura

 

My fantastic TA does the same for us and when we boarded our Century cruise last month we had a $50 OBC and 2 bottles of wine waiting for us, do not think I will changing TA's any time soon:D

[DMorris]

snausman and terrydtx... wish we could share TA info on here... I picked a not so good TA this cruise.

[Wildcatllamas]

I wish we could mention who the good and bad TA are as well. Working in the hotel industry I know that TA only get a 10% commission which is nothing for the work that they do sometimes. So I don't mind paying a reasonable service charge. But everything with this one is lumped under taxes and fees. When she and I were discussing the cruise I called her on she was claiming those were port charges. I was on cell with Celebrity with the TA on speaker on my land line. The Celebrity rep said no port charges were added on as separate fees. TA was left stammering. Now out of 4 cruises she hasn't offered anything other than what the cruiseline offers. A bottle of wine or even a thank you would be nice. But as the expression goes "I'm not even getting kissed".;) Since I have been looking at doing a family reunion cruise I can guarantee I won't be using her to put it together.

Barb

[snausman]

My fantastic TA does the same for us and when we boarded our Century cruise last month we had a $50 OBC and 2 bottles of wine waiting for us, do not think I will changing TA's any time soon:D

 

My TA also gives us OBC, the amount just depends on the length of the cruise. No, I WILL NOT be changing TA anytime soon either.

 

Laura

[HARP]

I was wondering if anyone uses a TA that charges a service fee and if so how much do they charge?

 

 

I tried the online agents and they are not for me. I changed to a small TA company and get much better service. No fees and usually a gift in your room. Can't beat the little extra things he does for us. Thanks George.

Harp :)