NOTHING extra from well-known large bricks & mortar TA!

[gaechann]

Hi there!

 

Yesterday I paid my final payment on our next cruise which I originally booked using a Next Cruise Certificate directly with Royal Caribbean. I transferred it to our local large bricks & mortar Travel Agent and really, all they've done is take our money and arranged assistance for my Mum at embarkment - which I could easily have done myself!

 

All in all they've received over $4500 from us and yet had nothing to give us in return! You read about overseas passengers getting all these wonderful extras from their travel agents but here, you're lucky if they remember your name!

 

After handing over more than $10,000 during the past 12 months it seems that I'm much better off sticking with the cruiseline instead of giving my hard-earned to a travel agent!:eek:

 

Is it just me or have others been disappointed with the lack of appreciation shown by our local travel agents?

 

Gae

[cruisine21]

Hi there!

 

All in all they've received over $4500 from us and yet had nothing to give us in return! You read about overseas passengers getting all these wonderful extras from their travel agents but here, you're lucky if they remember your name!

 

 

 

Gae

I booked a RC cruise last year with my niece who was a travel agent. I wouldn't do it again because I didn't get anything extra. Though when my mum and dad booked with her they got an upgrade to a suite. No such luck with me though.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Is it just me or have others been disappointed with the lack of appreciation shown by our local travel agents?

 

I would find a better travel agent!!.

 

As ours gives us lanyards etc...

[icat2000]

I don't care about a lanyard. I won't use an Australian TA anymore. There is no benefit to me. I stick with the cruise line.

[rkmw]

we use an online TA and they normally beat the cruise line price and get OBC and if they are having a sale you get more OBC and we get lanyards too

[Sweet on the sea]

I definately agree. I use an online travel agent, I get a pretty good price but no extras. They also dont honour price drops. I am wondering if I book direct with RCI australia will they honour price drops like our American friends get? It would be nice to get the OBC that some get too!

[The_Big_M]

It's pretty much the same in most other countries.

 

It's only the US where you get significant benefits from TAs, because there is so much more competition. There's a lot more cruise business there than here...

[mr walker]

All in all they've received over $4500 from us ....

 

and sent it on to RC to pay for your cruise, well most of it I guess. How did you miss out - you didn't pay anymore, right. The fact you elected to gift the TA some of RC's money in the hope of getting something extra didn't work out. Please don't let that lessen your cruise experience.

Happy cruising.

[Royalty X]

and sent it on to RC to pay for your cruise, well most of it I guess. How did you miss out - you didn't pay anymore, right. The fact you elected to gift the TA some of RC's money in the hope of getting something extra didn't work out. Please don't let that lessen your cruise experience.

Happy cruising.

Sorry, but Mr Walker is right with this one. This isn't the U.S.

[The_Big_M]

Is it just me or have others been disappointed with the lack of appreciation shown by our local travel agents?

 

Gae

 

No, not really. They do the service I expect, and I don't expect heaps of bonuses from them, it's not that environment.

 

I get disappointed if they mess things up, or are hard to sort things out with.

 

I appreciate if I get something extra, but I'm not disappointed if I don't.

[fishtaco]

I don't care about a lanyard. I won't use an Australian TA anymore. There is no benefit to me. I stick with the cruise line.

 

+1

 

You are better off sticking with the cruise line booking as you at least can manage your own booking.

 

Australian Cruise T/A,s are for beginners only who dont realize you can book direct!

[The_Big_M]

+1

 

You are better off sticking with the cruise line booking as you at least can manage your own booking.

 

Australian Cruise T/A,s are for beginners only who dont realize you can book direct!

 

You may not get bonuses often, but you sometimes get slightly better pricing from a TA.

[fishtaco]

You may not get bonuses often, but you sometimes get slightly better pricing from a TA.

 

On their block cabins maybe and just "maybe" which then puts you out of cabin choice/location freedom you get by booking direct in advance.

[Brossy]

My t/a gives me a loyalty discount (not much, but on my Hawaii cruise our total cabin cost is $200 cheaper than any other t/a). We get lanyards and they also print my tickets, bag tags etc and send them to me in a travel folder. I have also received price drops from them as well.

[happyaussies]

On our first few cruises we went with a TA and have now, with the last few cruises, booked directly with cruiseline. I found TA really doesn't do anything more than what we can do ourselves directly.

 

Ok TA gives you a lanyard (one is enough..lol!), maybe some OBC (but we get some by purchasing a future cruise letter) and they print your tickets....so what!

 

Direct booking for us from now on.

[SadieN]

TA's on this side of the pond (Ontario, California, USA) aren't as generous as they seem. True some do get discounts, but how much are they paying?

 

When we book with a TA we do not expect the gimmes. What we do expect is help when we run into a tricky situation on vacation.

 

Any 'gimmees' from a TA either come from their commission or booking into an exsisting group.

[avalon007]

There was a thread similar to this not that long ago.

 

What many people don't realise is that the T/A owner only gets a small percentage as their commission from the cruise line, it can be just a few percent.

 

Take into account the wages the agency has to pay, rental etc, then add on the lost time wasted with people that ask for complicated booking quotes from 3 different travel agents at once, then ignore all but the cheapest & it's a wonder they can stay in business.

 

They don't make a killing on your booking, they just earn a living, T/A's aren't the most highly paid people in the workforce.

 

You didn't give them $4500, they sent the majority of that money to the cruise line.

 

I just spent over $20 000 with my T/A & I don't expect anything other than they facilitate price drops I qualify for by contacting Royal etc, which they always do.

 

Do you expect your motor mechanic to give you a tank full of free fuel or new tyres when you spend a few grand on your car repairs?

 

It's nice to get something for free, that's true, but it shouldn't be expected.

 

Royal don't give you any OBC if you book through them either, unless you happen to book during a special sale.

 

The best way to gets perks is to be loyal to one cruise company for a while & join their loyalty program so next cruise you get some freebies, then book on board for your next cruise as many cruise lines offer OBC with these bookings. :)

[AussieVisi2r]

TA's are hopeless!!! I used one for the first time (on a cruise) this year as they promised me that they would beat RCCL prices - by a decent amount. But they couldn't tell me how much until I transfered the bookings and they could work it out.

Ok. I trusted them. It was a huge booking ($40,000 plus - multi cruises). And yes, i checked, they would equal all RCCL things - ie fees etc.

 

When they came back and told me they would beat the RCCL by over $1500, I was VERY excited. Then I looked carefully and saw that the final cost was more.

Why?....Amex fees!!!!! I fought them (very hard) as RCCL do NOT charge a credit card fee. I won that but the discount was re calculated and I only got a discount of a few hundred dollars.

 

So they got a huge commission and I got a tiny discount. Yes I know a few hundred dollars is great - but not when you think about their commission.

 

It's the principal. It will not happen again.

 

Raina

[Royalty X]

TA's are hopeless!!! I used one for the first time (on a cruise) this year as they promised me that they would beat RCCL prices - by a decent amount. But they couldn't tell me how much until I transfered the bookings and they could work it out.

Ok. I trusted them. It was a huge booking ($40,000 plus - multi cruises). And yes, i checked, they would equal all RCCL things - ie fees etc.

 

When they came back and told me they would beat the RCCL by over $1500, I was VERY excited. Then I looked carefully and saw that the final cost was more.

Why?....Amex fees!!!!! I fought them (very hard) as RCCL do NOT charge a credit card fee. I won that but the discount was re calculated and I only got a discount of a few hundred dollars.

 

So they got a huge commission and I got a tiny discount. Yes I know a few hundred dollars is great - but not when you think about their commission.

 

It's the principal. It will not happen again.

 

Raina

Once again, I think you're overestimating the amount of commission TAs make. Let me get this straight though, you got a discount, right? :rolleyes:

[The_Big_M]

On their block cabins maybe and just "maybe" which then puts you out of cabin choice/location freedom you get by booking direct in advance.

 

Actually, no, not just limited cabins. Last AU booking I made with a TA I got a decent discount (about 10% off what Celebrity were charging), plus chose my own cabin and all other choices I had through booking through Celebrity directly.

 

I'm not saying booking through a TA is always better - and they often have extra cancellation conditions - but pointing out it does have other benefits sometimes.

[Xcitdcruiser]

Actually, no, not just limited cabins. Last AU booking I made with a TA I got a decent discount (about 10% off what Celebrity were charging), plus chose my own cabin and all other choices I had through booking through Celebrity directly.

 

I'm not saying booking through a TA is always better - and they often have extra cancellation conditions - but pointing out it does have other benefits sometimes.

 

This worked out the same for me. TA was able to offer a couple of hundred off what Celebrity were charging, i negotiated the credit card surcharge & was able to select the desired cabin.

 

Of course, none of this would have been possible had i not done my research..

[gaechann]

and sent it on to RC to pay for your cruise, well most of it I guess. How did you miss out - you didn't pay anymore, right. The fact you elected to gift the TA some of RC's money in the hope of getting something extra didn't work out. Please don't let that lessen your cruise experience.

Happy cruising.

 

I WILL have a great cruise thanks! The main reason I used a TA was because it's so difficult to get through to the cruiseline and then when you do, you often seem to know more about their product than the person in the call centre.

 

But, unless you try both, you really don't know. That being the case, I'll try booking direct next time.

 

Thanks all for your comments!

[Royalty X]

I WILL have a great cruise thanks! The main reason I used a TA was because it's so difficult to get through to the cruiseline and then when you do, you often seem to know more about their product than the person in the call centre.

 

But, unless you try both, you really don't know. That being the case, I'll try booking direct next time.

 

Thanks all for your comments!

I honestly don't understand though. So, you say you don't want to have to deal direct with the cruise line cos it takes so long to get through on the phone, hence why you went to an agent. They did the work and you weren't charged anymore than what you would've paid direct with the cruise line. So that worked out how you wanted. They did a good job and would've earned (minimal) commission from the cruise line, which covers their time spent on the phone on your behalf and their organisation of it. But you're prepared to not use an agent again because they didn't throw in any extras? I don't get it! Why do the work when you don't have to?

[AussieVisi2r]

...... Why do the work when you don't have to?

 

In my case they didn't even do the booking. I did it then transfered it across.

 

R

[Royalty X]

In my case they didn't even do the booking. I did it then transfered it across.

 

R

So had you already paid in full when you transferred it over or just deposited?