A good OBC

[niceneasy]

I booked a cruise directly and will transfer to a TA prior to final payment.

 

How do you determine a good OBC from a TA?

Do you base it on the total fare? cruise fare?

What % would you consider fair?

TA responses are welcomed.

[niceneasy]

This is basically a reduction in cruise fare. So please share your thoughts.

[jjeffjb]

I think a good OBC is 10% of the total cost before taxes and fees.

[biker1972]

Other possible deals might include pre-paid gratuities or free insurance which might be the best deal if the TA gets a commission for the insurance sale. ( They give you a higher value without going into their own pocket). Explore the options with them :).

[Booyakasha]

I think a good OBC is 10% of the total cost before taxes and fees.

 

So if I book a suite for about $7K I should expect a $700 OBC?

 

Thanks,

 

B.

[patseacruiser]

I believe the poster said 10% before taxes and fees. Just a word of caution here when it comes to free insurance. My friends 'bit' on that perk once and that insurance is not purchased until final payment and usually does not preclude pre-existing conditions so read the fine print.

[Phxazzcruisers]

I have never seen a $700.00 OBC on a Celebrity Curise.

[jd1966]

Any OBC is a good OBC. Some are just better than others......

[rolfecms]

Any OBC is a good OBC. Some are just better than others......

 

How times have changed: We went on 12-night Western Med cruise for our honeymoon in 1998 (before the internet became widely available). Paid $2,500 pp for an ocean view room not including airfare. Got a bottle of wine from our TA as a thank you. :eek:

[Born to Cruise]

I booked a cruise directly and will transfer to a TA prior to final payment.

 

How do you determine a good OBC from a TA?

Do you base it on the total fare? cruise fare?

What % would you consider fair?

TA responses are welcomed.

 

I used to be a part owner of a travel agency in the early 80's. At that time cruiselines paid a 10 % commission to travel agents. Actually it went to the agency and the agents were paid a salary. I suppose with all of these online agencies things may be different now. I still doubt if the commission is more than ten percent though. So lets assume it is only ten percent then the agent would just be giving you her total commission which I find rather unlikely. Most I ever received from a travel agent was a bottle of wine or flowers in the cabin in my ten or so cruises. I hope a current agent follows up on my posting. Just curious is all.

 

JoAnne

[ssCRUISERS]

10% from your TA before taxes and port fees and don't forget to buy 100 shares of RCL for the shareholders credit.

Next cruise 14 days paid $4000 before port and taxes will get $400 from TA and $250 form Celebrity. Pays for our wine and Martini bar bill :)

Don't leave home without it.

[eandj]

Our TA regularly offers us a 7-8% obc. But we have been loyal to her for years. Many TA's won't go that high. A 10% (before taxes) obc is VERY rare. :confused:

If and When the price of the cruise drops, if enough, we agree to 8% of the new lower cost. Or my TA would be paying me for the obc above her commission. ie: our Med cruise dropped 4 times, saving us $2,200. I would not expect my TA to give us the same obc as quoted at initial booking. We still got almost $600 obc. We appreciate each other and we both end up smiling.;)

[Whasup]

Can anyone give a "hint" to which TA is currently giving a good promo for OBC?

 

Thanks!;)

[rolfecms]

One thing to keep in mind is that very often certain fees (like port charges) will be included in the cruise price that is quoted to you by the cruise line. The TA's only get paid on the 'commissionable' portion of the cruise amount, which does not include these extra charges.

 

So, if you see a cruise price of $999 (prior to taxes) that may actually contain perhaps $100 of port charges, which brings the commissionable portion to $899. So 10% of this fare would be $89.90 instead of $99.90.

 

As such it's wise to ask what the commissionable portion of the price is so you can know whether you're getting a fair OBC.

[Peelboy]

May I assume if I book it through Celebrity directly I will not receive any OBC?

 

OBC you are talking about is a kickback from travel agent to the customer. Can I negotiate OBC with Celebrity directly while booking?

[patseacruiser]

OBC that you are talking about is the rebating of the travel agent's commission and you will not get it booking direct nor will the cruiseline negotiate with you either. Not only does the fare include taxes but it also includes a non-commissionable fare in that too which may be another couple hundred dollars.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

May I assume if I book it through Celebrity directly I will not receive any OBC?

 

OBC you are talking about is a kickback from travel agent to the customer. Can I negotiate OBC with Celebrity directly while booking?

 

Celebrity will offer various specials that include OBC, and is combinable with whatever the TA is offering. We booked our next cruise while onboard our last and got $100 OBC from X (among other things), then transferred the booking to our TA for an additional $175. This was on a price of $2000 (not including port fees, etc.) We considered taking a price drop to $1700, which would have lowered the TA's OBC to $150, so she's offering around 9%. (We upgraded to a nicer cabin for the same price instead.)

 

It is verboten to discuss specific TA's, so I won't even hint.

[julia]

The OBC's from the online agency that I always use is in the form of "points" that are based on your cruise fare These points can purchase OBCs in dollars OR gifts. Since I will have the shareholder credits in dollars, I've elected to use our upcoming points for 4 bottles of wine on the Solstice. :)

[pacheco18]

I am loyal to one great TA because she gives me a very healthy OBC (around 9% of the cruise price including taxes and fees on an upcoming cruise - much higher if I exclude taxes and fees) when I book Celebrity - no price reductions allowed so the OBC is all she can do. She gives up part of her commission and keeps my business and gets many referrals. You can get a sense of what TA's will give you in OBC by going on the site where TA's compete for cruises. Ask for quotes on a specific cruise and the amount of OBC they offer will be listed. Agencies that are really good and do volume business will be the ones who give you the most.

 

I simply do not understand booking directly with the cruise line. I get objective advice, the benefit of any price reduction, a great OBC and an advocate for me if I have a problem with the cruise line.

[luvtocook]

On our recent Feb cruise on Equinox, we had shareholder OBC of $200, ALL gratuities paid by TA PLUS OBC from TA for $175. The cruise was 11 nts so the grats were more than $250, VERY nice perks.

[Host Walt]

Can anyone give a "hint" to which TA is currently giving a good promo for OBC?

 

Thanks!;)

Just so you (and others) know, we do not permit posts about specific TA's on our boards.

 

From our Community Guidelines:

There shall be no third-party recommendation of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted.

 

Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice.

 

This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information.

[pacheco18]

As Host Walt points out, we are prohibited from giving out recommendations.

 

The best way to find a good TA who gives a generous OBC on your own is to shop around for a pariicular cruise and compare apples to apples. The site that lets TA's compete for bids (don't think I'm allowed to name it - the post that did was removed) is a simple way to find out which TA's are the most generous. That's how I found my TA and one other poster mentioned she did the same.

 

Using a Celebrity Cruise as your comparison really makes it simple, since TA's cannot discount the price - they can only give OBCs or similar as incentives for you to book with them.

 

Also, the next time you cruise, ask your fellow passengers for names of their TA's, especially if you learn that someone got a better deal than you did.

 

Good luck

[niceneasy]

Thank you for your responses. The board seems to have alot of interesting suggestions. I would weigh service with OBC and not let the perks be the determining factor.

 

Some questions that I would ask TA before choosing.

1) Are there fees for making any changes to the reservation?

2) Any cancellation fees or penalties from the TA?

3) Can I get price reduction after final payment? Any fee for that service?

 

Any other ideas?

[pacheco18]

None at all in my case

I can make changes and I get the benefit of any price reduction (which might affect my OBC)

My TA wants me to be happy.

She thrives on repeat business and referrals

[cruie4ever]

I believe the poster said 10% before taxes and fees. Just a word of caution here when it comes to free insurance. My friends 'bit' on that perk once and that insurance is not purchased until final payment and usually does not preclude pre-existing conditions so read the fine print.

\

 

We know the agency that gives this free travel ins & you are correct that it does not cover pre existing medical conditions. What we do is take out a $1000 each trip cancellation policy for $71.90 which includes medical ,med vac ,luggage ie from Global Travel Shield (a American Express underwitten travel ins co). We do this because at 71 the ins premium costs are getting far too high . We also cover ourselves with the yearly American Express travel medical & the price is very reasonable for the yearly coverage.Actually I buy it monthly so I only pay for what we need .It also starts coverage 150 miles from home .I wouldn't travel with out it . We get $100K ea medical ,$100k ea medical evacuation & $100K ea accidental dismemberment . American Express also carries a auto policy that will insure a rental car for up to 41 days at $75000 coverage .Cost to us is $15.95 on our Amex CC when we rent .It is well worth the peace of mind & it is fullc coverage .We also take their air flight ins . In order to get these you must pre arrange with AMEX & get the ins contracts ,so when you charge with your AMEX CC you are covered seemlessly.

 

From this same Travel Agent we get our OBCs .We also buy open bookings aboard a Celebrity cruise at $200 (for both of us ) & we can use this amount as a future cruise deposit & Celebrity will give us $100 ,$200 or ,$300 OBCs depending on the cruise length .

 

The most we have done in OBCs combined was $500 on a 14 night cruise