Travel agency poll

[Bridge Maven]

I love my travel agent! She takes care of booking, price drops, better cabins, etc. And, God forbid, if something goes wrong, shes right there, getting things set right.

 

 

Tuggers, if I had ever used a travel agent that was as competent as this one, I would probably still be using her.

[wvufan]

We book directly with Celebrity (usually onboard booking) and transfer to our TA before final payment. We almost always let her know soon ofter we book that we will be transfering the booking. Sometimes there is a time sensitive incentive available and we transfer sooner.

 

We have used several TAs over the years, but have been very happy with the one we have used for the last 10 cruises or so. Often she can find coupons or other reductions not apparent on the website. We also know we have an advocate if needed.

 

If they weren't compensated by their commission, we would pay a fee for their service.

 

Lois, they don't discount the price, but do offer obc (or other perks) based on the commissionable cost of the cruise. Over the years, we have gotten well over $1000 in obc.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[teajak]

Tuggers, if I had ever used a travel agent that was as competent as this one, I would probably still be using her.

We have one just as good and use her for the same reasons for 15 years.Love her.:D

[Can'tstopcruising]

You know, over the years I have read on these boards about wonderful travel agents who really look out for their clients. It is too bad that the Cruise Critic people don't allow recommendations. I would love to know the names of these travel agents. My experience is that I did all the work, handed over the booking, watched for all the reductions. The only thing the travel agents did was collect their commissions! So I stopped using them.

[ChucktownSteve]

Nope. I get an OBC and the amount is based on the type of accommodation(s) I book. When I book a standard cabin on RCI, I get a small OBC. When I book a PH on Celebrity, the OBC is much much much much larger.

 

If you did your homework for a future cruise and booked while onboard, you'd get OBC from Celebrity. Then when you get home you have 60 days to transfer it to a TA who will give you an additional OBC. Just make sure the TA's OBC isn't a pass through from Celebrity because that's not combinable.

 

I just booked an inside while onboard. I received a three category upgrade and $300 Celebrity OBC. Then I transferred to a NJ online TA and got another $275 OBC. Plus since they happened to have a block of cabins on the ship, at final payment I'll be transferred into their block. I'll receive a free bottle of Champaign and free coupons (not discounts).

 

I've also already received a slight price reduction of $100 because we're not at final payment.

[LionCat]

I live in Italy. We can't book directly with X. Therefore, we book with online TA in US. I think we can book with local TA if we find one that sells Celebrity.

 

I really want to book directly with Celebrity. I know that Italians are not major customers of X, but at least please let us book online directly on Celebrity website.

[cruzyduzy]

You know' date=' over the years I have read on these boards about wonderful travel agents who really look out for their clients. It is too bad that the Cruise Critic people don't allow recommendations. I would love to know the names of these travel agents. My experience is that I did all the work, handed over the booking, watched for all the reductions. The only thing the travel agents did was collect their commissions! So I stopped using them.[/quote']

 

I so agree with this. I have tried several different TA's and have not found one worth keeping yet. The one I have now seems to have a communication deficit, so I'm still on the search.

:(

[Friend100]

Maybe a Travel Agent is good for those cruisers not on cruisecritic? My wild guess is there are still many cruisers (casual or sophisticated) who don't participate in online forum like CC. A good and knowledgeable TA is who they will go to for some advice.

[Project_gal]

I use a travel agent because I usually book suites, and the OBC is very very nice. When you book a suite directly with Celebrity, you DO NOT get an OBC.

 

 

Yet another difference in the UK! We always get good OBC booking a suite direct with Celebrity/Azamara.

 

Sue

[yooper57]

You know' date=' over the years I have read on these boards about wonderful travel agents who really look out for their clients. It is too bad that the Cruise Critic people don't allow recommendations. I would love to know the names of these travel agents. My experience is that I did all the work, handed over the booking, watched for all the reductions. The only thing the travel agents did was collect their commissions! So I stopped using them.[/quote']

Ditto! Book through cruise lines on my own.

[Bridge Maven]

A few years ago I booked our cruise from Barcelona to the Greek Isles directly with the cruise line, a hotel room before and after the cruise directly with Hilton, and our flights directly with the airline. Our cruise left on a Tuesday, so we booked a Sunday night flight that was scheduled to land in Barcelona on Monday morning with plans to stay at a hotel in Barcelona the night before our cruise.

 

Our flight, which was scheduled to leave JFK at 6 PM, didn't board until 10 PM, and after four hours on the Tarmac the flight was canceled at 2 AM. I called the airline ASAP and was able to get on the same flight the following night so I would go directly from the airport to the cruise terminal instead of a hotel. Then I was able to call Hilton's 800 number and cancel our pre night hotel reservation without any penalty.

 

In this case time was of the essence because there were a number of people on our flight who were booked on the same cruise and by the time they tried to reschedule their flight for the following night no seats were availalbe. So they could not get to Barcelona in time and had to catch up with the ship in France.

 

What would a travel agent have been able to do for us in this situation? If it was a cruise only agency they wouldn't have handled anything beside the cruise, which wasn't an issue. If it was a full service agency, even if they had an emergency number where they could be reached at 2 AM, if I called them first instead of the airline that flight would have no more seats available by then.

[fleckle]

........ I called the airline ASAP and was able to get on the same flight the following night so I would go directly from the airport to the cruise terminal instead of a hotel..........

 

What would a travel agent have been able to do for us in this situation?...... .

A travel agent may have been able to get you out sooner by re-routing you a different way instead of making you wait around there another 24 hours to fly on the same airline.

 

But if you had computer access and some familiarity with airline routes, you could have searched for alternate routing options yourself without needing a travel agent to do it for you. Sometimes a friendly pilot or flight attendant can be very helpful in such a situation, suggesting options that might not occur to the average passenger.

 

The trouble with looking at the major travel sites online is that they only show the standard routing options, not all the creative, roundabout ways possible for getting from point A to point B. Another consideration would be whether you have travel insurance that would reimburse you for additional re-routing costs if you do your own re-routing. Many times booking last minute flights can be very expensive, a major reason why most passengers rely on the airline to transfer them rather than do their own re-booking.

[Bridge Maven]

A travel agent may have been able to get you out sooner by re-routing you a different way instead of making you wait around there another 24 hours to fly on the same airline.

 

But if you had computer access and some familiarity with airline routes, you could have searched for alternate routing options yourself without needing a travel agent to do it for you. Sometimes a friendly pilot or flight attendant can be very helpful in such a situation, suggesting options that might not occur to the average passenger.

 

The trouble with looking at the major travel sites online is that they only show the standard routing options, not all the creative, roundabout ways possible for getting from point A to point B. Another consideration would be whether you have travel insurance that would reimburse you for additional re-routing costs if you do your own re-routing. Many times booking last minute flights can be very expensive, a major reason why most passengers rely on the airline to transfer them rather than do their own re-booking.

 

Fleckle, when we took that cruise only Delta and American had non stop flights between JFK and Barcelona and they both left around the same time. Since our original flight wasn't cancelled until 2 AM I couldn't see any point in taking an earlier flight that would involve changing planes.

[cruiserssandr]

We have a friend who first introduced us to cruising in 2002 and she now has her own ageny.

[fleckle]

Fleckle, when we took that cruise only Delta and American had non stop flights between JFK and Barcelona and they both left around the same time. Since our original flight wasn't cancelled until 2 AM I couldn't see any point in taking an earlier flight that would involve changing planes.

Glad it worked out for you. In that situation I don't think I would have had the patience to sit around waiting in suspense in New York for another full day. I would have been worried about the possibility of the following night's flight getting canceled too, leaving us with no backup plan for getting to the ship on time.

 

Already being right there in the airport at 2 AM, we probably would have tried to book standby on an early morning flight to any nearby European city with good connections to Barcelona. Even when the earliest flights of the day are sold out, those are the ones most likely to have no shows.

 

For instance, if we could catch an early flight to London, then from London to Barcelona would be only a short hop (about 2 hours) on a route having frequent flights on multiple airlines.

 

I would not mind the inconvenience of changing planes if it meant we could already be in Barcelona, or at least already in Europe, instead of risking waiting around for another day and needing to start out from New York the following night.

 

So in answer to your earlier question, I guess there wouldn't be much a travel agent could do for us that we couldn't do for ourselves under those circumstances, especially since we would be right there and the travel agent would not. I notice nobody else has yet posted anything more that a travel agent could have done for them in that situation either.