Do all TAs give OBC?????

[happycruiser1942]

We have our second cruise booked and we did not receive any OBC the first time and nothing has been said about OBC for the second one, just wondering if all TA's give OBC?

[brn2crz]

No,they do not.And my best guess is..Few do..

You may have a TA you use a lot,that will.You may have larger companys that do.Some do to offset RCI's no discounting policey.Sometimes they run specials and promos..and sometimes they just need the business..

But no..its not an industry standard.

[PattyG12]

Just switched my current bookings to one that offered pre paid gratuities.

[robb01]

Nope, most don't

[happycruiser1942]

Thank you~

[crusinmama06]

Nope :( Which leads me to think that I need to keep my own bookings. ;)

[Leejnd4]

Happycruiser, many TA's do offer OBC. In my experience, the ones that offer the biggest OBC's are the TA's that specialize in dealing with educated cruisers who need little in the way of assistance in choosing and planning for thier cruise. If you know exactly what cruise you want, and do not need help in planning your pre- or post-cruise stays, air travel, etc, then there are TA's that will happily do your booking for you, and give you the maximum OBC allowable by RCI rules.

 

There are also TA's that specialize in providing full-service to their clients, helping them in researching, choosing, booking, planning and arranging for all their travel needs associated with the cruise. These TA's usually do not give OBC's, or if they do, they are small. This is understandable considering the greater amount of time they spend on your business.

 

As an experienced cruiser, I prefer to do all of my own research, planning, and booking. I transfer my booking to a TA at the last minute, and get the largest possible OBC. That works for me. :)

[NautiqueBelle]

Happycruiser, many TA's do offer OBC. In my experience, the ones that offer the biggest OBC's are the TA's that specialize in dealing with educated cruisers who need little in the way of assistance in choosing and planning for thier cruise. If you know exactly what cruise you want, and do not need help in planning your pre- or post-cruise stays, air travel, etc, then there are TA's that will happily do your booking for you, and give you the maximum OBC allowable by RCI rules.

 

There are also TA's that specialize in providing full-service to their clients, helping them in researching, choosing, booking, planning and arranging for all their travel needs associated with the cruise. These TA's usually do not give OBC's, or if they do, they are small. This is understandable considering the greater amount of time they spend on your business.

 

As an experienced cruiser, I prefer to do all of my own research, planning, and booking. I transfer my booking to a TA at the last minute, and get the largest possible OBC. That works for me. :)

 

DITTO !

[krmlaw]

Thats what I did too ... held my booking and transferred it at the last minute to a TA who gave us $100.

[Hotelfixer]

You know.....

I am starting to re-think this whole TA deal. I love mine, I really do. She even tried to hook me up with a nice lady. She books 30 or 40 flights a year for me and as many rental cars. I renovate hotels so I travel a lot.

 

In the last 18 months I have booked and paid for 18 different cruises through her. One cruise alone had 10 people. I also select the cruise and tell her to book it but I have never once recieved an OBC or even a cabin gift.

 

Wonder if I would be considered rude if I asked why not?

[karena1]

Thats what I did too ... held my booking and transferred it at the last minute to a TA who gave us $100.

 

 

me too. That is what I do. I book all my own cruises, then right before final payment I xfer to a TA that I found on the web, and she gives me a nice OBC - usually $150 on a 7 nighter. So it works for me - I control my reservation until the last minute and then get the OBC to transfer it.

[nycruiser80]

Also keep in mind the cost of your cruise. I am a TA and I always do my best to give OBC. Two nights ago I sold a cruise for 560 per person. The commission was 10% of the cruise fare MINUS the taxes, fuel surcharge, and admin fees. So my commission was 36.20 of which I split with my boss. In the end I will have made 18.10 gross therefore there is no way I could offer an OBC otherwise I would have worked for no money. Now these clients are new to me and were happy with the advise I gave them and they were annoyed I did not give them an OBC. I explained the situation to them and they seem okay about it but I know they are not happy.

 

You just have to keep in mind the price of your cruise. Is it 3,000 per person or is $300 per person? It makes a differance in what goodies you will get from a TA.

[familycruzer]

Most TAs dont offer anything extra. My last one did not even offer a $9 birthday cake for my son who was celebrating a birthday on board. If I was a TA if would be a small price to pay to keep a customer happy.

 

I went through many TAs until I found one that offers OBC for every cruise you transfer over to him. I am in PA he is in CT but I have nothing but praise for him for far.

[Leejnd4]

You know.....

I am starting to re-think this whole TA deal. I love mine, I really do. She even tried to hook me up with a nice lady. She books 30 or 40 flights a year for me and as many rental cars. I renovate hotels so I travel a lot.

 

In the last 18 months I have booked and paid for 18 different cruises through her. One cruise alone had 10 people. I also select the cruise and tell her to book it but I have never once recieved an OBC or even a cabin gift.

 

Wonder if I would be considered rude if I asked why not?

 

I would not consider it to be rude at all. Seems to me that you are giving her more than enough business for her to offer you some perks. Sometimes, TA's don't do this when they think you don't know that this is a standard industry practice, so they know they can get away with not offering it.

 

But it IS a standard industry practice, and you have every right to ask her about it. If she doesn't want to keep your business, she can say no...and then you might want to consider shopping around for a TA that will be a little more grateful for all the business you send their way.

[sas80]

You know.....

I am starting to re-think this whole TA deal. I love mine, I really do. She even tried to hook me up with a nice lady. She books 30 or 40 flights a year for me and as many rental cars. I renovate hotels so I travel a lot.

 

In the last 18 months I have booked and paid for 18 different cruises through her. One cruise alone had 10 people. I also select the cruise and tell her to book it but I have never once recieved an OBC or even a cabin gift.

 

Wonder if I would be considered rude if I asked why not?

 

All I have to say is a jaw dropping :eek: !!!!!

 

Your TA should have sent you on a free 14 night cruise by now!!!

 

I would definitely ask! Yikes!

[RosieRoo]

I used the same TA for 17 cruises and never received an OBC. And most of those cruises cost between $5000 and $8000. Thanks to a post I read here on CC by Leejnd4 I decided that since I do all the work maybe I should look around to see what other TA's were offering for my next cruise. I then went back to my regular TA with the quotes and showed him the OBC's that the other agencies were offering and guess what? He offered me the same in order to keep my business. Now it makes me wonder about all that money he had been making off of me in the past. Now I'm not so sure I want to use him anymore. I did all the work anyway, all he did was call the cruiseline to book the room. The last two cruises I booked I went directly through the cruiseline. Thanks to some other posters here I will see about transferring them to a TA for OBC when final payment comes around. Live and learn. Thanks to all the CC members who share their experiences here.

[DMickey28]

We, along with my family have booked a total of 10+ cruises with our TA. Our first one was a group of 5 rooms. We got bottles of wine and stuff that time. Nothing for anyone since then. Since RC doesn't discount our TA discounted our cruises this year 10% in the form of a rebate check sent after payment was made.

[irb33785]

Our TA sends wine to the cabin on expensive cruises; otherwise nothing. She provides us with peace of mind more than anything.

[spring162]

As an experienced cruiser, I prefer to do all of my own research, planning, and booking. I transfer my booking to a TA at the last minute, and get the largest possible OBC. That works for me. :)

 

I ended up booking our first cruise (7 rooms) by myself because the TA wasnt very helpful and surely never mentioned OBC which I had learned about here:D How do you transfer your reservation to a TA? Do you google TA's on line to find one who will give OBC?

[sas80]

I ended up booking our first cruise (7 rooms) by myself because the TA wasnt very helpful and surely never mentioned OBC which I had learned about here:D How do you transfer your reservation to a TA? Do you google TA's on line to find one who will give OBC?

 

I rarely read that people have good experiences with online TA's. Best to google TA's in your local area and then give them a call and speak with them personally.

[Wilda]

Nope, going on our 6th cruise and never gotten anything! And as a matter of fact, if we are not booking Princess I think she would rather not even have the booking:eek:

[nanfromatlanta]

Sometimes, TA's don't do this when they think you don't know that this is a standard industry practice, so they know they can get away with not offering it.

 

But it IS a standard industry practice, and you have every right to ask her about it. If she doesn't want to keep your business, she can say no...and then you might want to consider shopping around for a TA that will be a little more grateful for all the business you send their way.

 

 

I hate to differ with you. It is NOT standard industry practice. Please keep in mind that the OBC comes out of the commission paid to the TA by the cruise company. When I was a TA, I often provided a bottle of wine in the cabin or a small OBC. Far too many people feel that TA's make a ton of money booking cruises. That is far from the case. A good TA will go out of the way to satisfy the client and keep that client updated on any changes affecting their cruise. Many of us did not charge extra for changing bookings, honoring price drops or cancelling at the request of the client.

 

OBC's are a gift, just as a bottle of wine is a gift, as a thank you for doing business. It is not a standard industry practice. ;)

[Hotelfixer]

I often wondered what the commision was. Somewhat said ten percent. I think I would feel very cheap asking for an OBC.

 

My Xmas cruise cost a little under four grand so an on board credit of 100.00 would be me asking for 1/4 of her income. I would not feel good about that.

 

However last July a suite on the mariner was 8 grand and five balcony rooms on Carnival was about 16k. Thats not bad money for making a few phone calls. hummmmm

[Seatravelers]

Happycruiser, many TA's do offer OBC. In my experience, the ones that offer the biggest OBC's are the TA's that specialize in dealing with educated cruisers who need little in the way of assistance in choosing and planning for thier cruise. If you know exactly what cruise you want, and do not need help in planning your pre- or post-cruise stays, air travel, etc, then there are TA's that will happily do your booking for you, and give you the maximum OBC allowable by RCI rules.

 

There are also TA's that specialize in providing full-service to their clients, helping them in researching, choosing, booking, planning and arranging for all their travel needs associated with the cruise. These TA's usually do not give OBC's, or if they do, they are small. This is understandable considering the greater amount of time they spend on your business.

 

As an experienced cruiser, I prefer to do all of my own research, planning, and booking. I transfer my booking to a TA at the last minute, and get the largest possible OBC. That works for me. :)

 

Same here and we always get an OBC, amount based on price of cruise. Since we get junior suites or higher, the amount is nice indeed....

[Leejnd4]

I hate to differ with you. It is NOT standard industry practice. Please keep in mind that the OBC comes out of the commission paid to the TA by the cruise company. When I was a TA, I often provided a bottle of wine in the cabin or a small OBC. Far too many people feel that TA's make a ton of money booking cruises. That is far from the case. A good TA will go out of the way to satisfy the client and keep that client updated on any changes affecting their cruise. Many of us did not charge extra for changing bookings, honoring price drops or cancelling at the request of the client.

 

OBC's are a gift, just as a bottle of wine is a gift, as a thank you for doing business. It is not a standard industry practice. ;)

 

I respectfully disagree. I did not state the percentage of the practice...I do not have access to any statistics of that nature. But I can tell you that it most certainly is a common practice. Some online TA's actually describe their OBC offers right on their home page.

 

I used the term "standard" to mean the following (from Dictionary.com): usual, common, or customary: Chairs are standard furniture in American households.

 

Hence, OBC's, while not ALWAYS offered, would be considered a "standard practice" in that they are usual, common and customary among some TA's.

 

As for the whether or not a TA wants to offer one, or a client wants to ask for one, that is between the TA and their client. I completely understand why a full-service TA would choose not to offer OBC's to clients who require a great deal of their time and effort in booking their cruise. And if I was expecting a lot of time and effort from my TA, I wouldn't dream of asking.

 

On the other hand, clients like me, who want nothing more than to transfer the completed booking to a TA and need nothing more than the few minutes it takes from them to do the transfer, expect something in return for giving the TA my business. I have no need for all the other services that TA's offer. Consequently, I only give my business to TA's who offer OBC's as a "standard practice". :)

 

I don't ask my TA how much she makes. It's none of my business.