Do people still use travel agents?

[ripjerry95]

Hi-I would love to be a travel agent but it almost seems as though it is a dying industry. With being able to book yourself what is the benefit of using a TA?

 

 

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[gkrebs]

HMMM let me see.

 

They can rebate gratuities, pay for specialty restaurants, buy wine for the cabin and be someone who can fight for you if your cruise gets cancelled like my first one did

[jimmy2x]

Anywhere from 8-12 percent savings is sufficient reason for me.;)

[KittyCat1Million]

You say you would love to be a travel agent. Well the industry isn't dead but I do hope you realize you won't make much money being a travel agent, especially since all your clients will be looking for you to hand them out freebies.

[novicetraveller]

Hi-I would love to be a travel agent but it almost seems as though it is a dying industry. With being able to book yourself what is the benefit of using a TA?

 

 

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Like with most industries, it is a cut throat area to be in and you will need to have a competitive edge over the other TA's and even the cruise lines themselves. You will get good customers and you will get customers who will be very demanding. You might get the odd bad customer here and there.

 

You will need to ask yourself the following questions:

 

What is / are your USP(s)?

Where will you get an income from on days / weeks when you don't get any customers?

If the customer starts demanding their money back, how will you handle the situation?

Are you prepared to make no or little commission in order to secure a booking?

What else are you going to provide other than Cruising Holidays?

If a customer is stranded somewhere, and it is 2am in the morning, are you prepared to take the phone call and do everything to get the customer home if the Cruise Line has abandoned the customer? (Not saying this will ever happen, but if you are faced with the situation).

What are your motives for becoming a TA? Free cruises after meeting certain targets? Bringing in a comfortable income?

 

Don't let me put you off becoming a TA. Some of the things I have raised are something to think about.

[ripjerry95]

My motivation is wanting a career change. Could be just a pipe dream. I was just curious.

 

 

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[Lionesss]

We booked thru a TA that works at a "National" travel agency, and we always book here.

I always just leave a message when I want something done, and she does it.

She has got us money back when cruises have gone down in price, Chanpage, free meals.

As long as it is good, we will keep going back.

Sea Ya

[yolanda1]

Judging by various comments on CC relating to Travel Agents, it appears that in the US there can be benefits to booking with a TA, so lots of people still do it. Here in the UK however, there aren't many (if any) benefits, so perhaps there is a higher percentage of online bookers?

[JasonV1]

I *only* use a TA for the perks. Don't get me wrong, I like her, but without that 8-12% back in the form of onboard credits/grats/specialty restaurants I would simply book myself.

 

In my defense, I make it easy for her. When I book I know exactly what I want down to the cabin. When I send her the request it has everything she needs to deliver the quote without asking me additional questions. She may not be making much money off my booking, but it doesn't take much effort or time to book my cruise.

 

I too considered a side job as a TA just because of my interest in cruising but it just isn't worth it given that the cruise bidding website has shown me how it works these days. Unless you are prepared to give people a reason to book, you better have amazing marketing/networking skills to get business. A prime target would be people new to cruising, as these people are probably the ones who need assistance (unless they are really Internet savvy).

 

I still think a TA holds a purpose for people who don't want to bother with booking their travel, are booking complex travel plans, or simply resist/unfamiliar with the Internet. People on this board most likely don't *need* a TA, but we are far from the majority of the people on a given boat either.

[BND]

Hi-I would love to be a travel agent but it almost seems as though it is a dying industry. With being able to book yourself what is the benefit of using a TA?

 

 

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It is a dying industry. We have good friends who are TA's. When they started there were commissions from all across the travel industry. Now, airlines no longer pay them (which used to be a huge source of income for TA's). Cruiselines still pay them which is where all those deals cruisers get come from(obc, gifts) which means the TA"s are giving some or a lot of their commissions away to keep business going. Our friends do mostly corporate travel for my DH's company and a few others, but the companies do not require their employees to use them, they just recommend it. Their income has dropped dramatically in the last 5 years. They can't live on it so the wife has a full time job and her husband has retirement income, but they still make about 1/2 what they used to. They currently charge for each corporate trip, about $40 per booking just to make up for the fact that the commissions has basically dried up. We use them for our cruises because they are our good friends.

 

They would sell the business but it's basically worthless.

Edited September 6, 2013 by BND

[BND]

HMMM let me see.

 

They can rebate gratuities, pay for specialty restaurants, buy wine for the cabin and be someone who can fight for you if your cruise gets cancelled like my first one did

 

You mean give up their commissions/income to their clients, so its not a great deal for the TA's.

[CleveRocks]

In the near future I'll be changing careers and opening a travel agency. I'm never going to capture the folks who are okay with going to the Internet and booking things themselves. The niche I'll be targeting are those who desire advice and counsel about where to go and what to do while there.

 

Someone who knows they want to sail on Allure of the Seas on a western Caribbean itinerary won't be my target. My target will be someone who is looking for "a cruise" but isn't sure about the dizzying array of options (in their view) and wants guidance about which line, which ship, which itinerary, etc. Or someone who doesn't know what they want, they just want sun and fun.

 

I'm going to target affluent folks, and I'm going to rely on local networking and personal service.

[PattyG12]

I also wanted to do that but decided I would never make the money I wanted. That said, a GOOD travel agent is worth their weight in gold. I have a super wonderful TA and can't imagine giving her up. She handles all the details for me and then gives me Pre Paid gratuities most of the time. She also has my information so nothing slips through the cracks.

[cathep]

I've thought about it, too, but decided I won't make as much as I currently make. Plus, helping family members try to plan trips told me I wouldn't be good as a TA. You spend hours and sometimes days researching only to have them say, "oh, I didn't actually want to do what I told you to research. I've decided to do this instead." Ugh! And as a person who enjoys researching every last detail so I know I'm getting my money's worth, I think those who just say "I want a cruise" would drive me batty with their indecision.

 

As it is, I only use a TA for cruises and when I have to pay full price for something - booking spring break at a Disney hotel, for example. I use a national company for cruises and a friend for stuff like the Disney hotel so she can at least get some benefit out of my paying rack rates.

 

And if I ever became a travel agent, then I'd be doing what I love as a job and then it would take away my enjoyment. Not sure I want to ever do that.

[ERIE 13]

Anyone know what percent of the total cost of the cruise does the travel agent receive from the cruise line.

[Toddcan]

Anyone know what percent of the total cost of the cruise does the travel agent receive from the cruise line.

 

I too looked at being a TA part time. The commission is 10-18%, but I was told the average is more along the low end - 10-12%. Where TAs can make good commision is travel insurance and 3rd party excursions.

 

To put it bluntly, you won't make any money off the hard core cruise critic member - they will only use a TA if they get perks accounting for 6-10% of the cost of the cruise. Do the math.

 

You can make money off the more affluent casual cruiser who books the suites, and just wants someone to "Take care of it for me". Problem is - how will you find them? They likely go to a big box online, or brick and mortar national agency.

 

I don't think stand alone independants stand a chance any more.

[voyager89]

I do, only for the sake of having someone to talk to face to face. They dont give me ANYTHING for free AT ALL. They gave me 5% discount on my second cruise just because the attention I received on my first cruise with them was beyond terrible. Did not affected my cruise at all, but I made sure they knew how poorly customer service I got. I only came back to the same agency because the actual owner invited us lunch to discuss about it and offer himself as our new TA, on top of the 5% discount.

 

But no, we dont get any paid gratuities or OBC or credits or freebies or specialty restaurants or nothing. Maybe for our next cruise we will book directly with Royal since other than the face to face factor, we get no other benefits.

[onlyonetrevorfrancis]

You mean give up their commissions/income to their clients, so its not a great deal for the TA's.

 

This is what i can't get my head around, to me the whole thing seems flawed.

 

Unless I'm mistaken the American way of selling cruises seems to me that the cruise lines must inflate the price by 15 - 20% so that commission can be paid to a middle man (TA) in the first place who then has to give most of his commission back to the customer to actually sell the product. This commission which is given to the TA and partly given back in 'freebies' to the customer has to be built into the price surely by the cruise line:confused:

 

The customer is then happy that part of the uplift in cost that the cruise line has added to pay the TA is then given back to him in meals and bottles of wine etc even though collectively we are all paying for the TA's commission anyway.

 

Whilst all this is going on the TA who is making next to nothing out of it is custodian of $1000's of dollars of the customers money whilst running what appears to be an unsustainable business by having to pay customers to purchase.... scary :eek:

 

Clearly this works for a great deal of people on here but I just can't get my head round it.

[gkrebs]

 

Whilst all this is going on the TA who is making next to nothing out of it is custodian of $1000's of dollars of the customers money whilst running what appears to be an unsustainable business by having to pay customers to purchase.... scary :eek:

 

Clearly this works for a great deal of people on here but I just can't get my head round it.

 

I don't know about the TA's in other countries, but I think your saying that the TA's are custodians of your money and working their tails off. If that's what your inferring, in the US a reputable TA is not the custodian of your money. All billing is done by the cruise line and not the TA and therefor gets no benefit even from that.

 

To the others who get stuff from their TA's, for gratuities and specialty restaurants, does it show up as an obc or what? Are they rebating it to you right away or after the cruise? Im asking because I want to tell my TA (family member) how to do this? Rather have gratuities paid or an OBC then 2 bottles of wine. Thanks in advance

[tispwisp]

I *only* use a TA for the perks. Don't get me wrong, I like her, but without that 8-12% back in the form of onboard credits/grats/specialty restaurants I would simply book myself.

 

In my defense, I make it easy for her. When I book I know exactly what I want down to the cabin. When I send her the request it has everything she needs to deliver the quote without asking me additional questions. She may not be making much money off my booking, but it doesn't take much effort or time to book my cruise.

 

I too considered a side job as a TA just because of my interest in cruising but it just isn't worth it given that the cruise bidding website has shown me how it works these days. Unless you are prepared to give people a reason to book, you better have amazing marketing/networking skills to get business. A prime target would be people new to cruising, as these people are probably the ones who need assistance (unless they are really Internet savvy).

 

I still think a TA holds a purpose for people who don't want to bother with booking their travel, are booking complex travel plans, or simply resist/unfamiliar with the Internet. People on this board most likely don't *need* a TA, but we are far from the majority of the people on a given boat either.

 

Bingo. I could've written this post almost exactly. We use an online TA only for perks. But I know exactly the ship, cabin, sailing, everything that I want. So our bookings really are easy for them.

 

I actually did try to sell travel for a bit, but the people who didn't know what they wanted to do drove me crazy! :o I would take so much time to share my knowledge and match them up to the cruise line that I think would suit them best and A. they either went with a cheaper on line agency or B. They went with the cheapest cruise possible even though I knew it would not be a good fit for them. As a result with B. they said cruising was awful. What can you do? It just got so frustrating. I now just book for us.

[Crusing Nut]

We use a wonderful cruise agency. They notify us of any deals they have going.

When a group goes, they search for flights, hotels and makes arrangements to get to and from the ports. We use them when we know which cruise we want. They have never steered us wrong.

[OCruisers]

We always use our long time travel agent! :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[BND]

We use a wonderful cruise agency. They notify us of any deals they have going.

When a group goes, they search for flights, hotels and makes arrangements to get to and from the ports. We use them when we know which cruise we want. They have never steered us wrong.

 

They obviously do group bookings which benefits them more than you. If a TA books a certain number of cabins in one booking, they get one for free. I want to add to what I posted earlier. The huge internet TA's are making some money obviously but it's because of the sheer volume they do and as I said above, group bookings make them more. I wouldn't use a TA that bundled me into a group. Our friends who are TA's obviously do all you stated above, but then, that's their job. The point is, I hope no one goes into the business of being a TA for any other reason than it's something they like to do, like a hobby, because you won't make very much.

 

It can also be a pretty thankless job. Just think of all the posters here who complain about everything.

Edited September 6, 2013 by BND

[SHayesShip]

FYI -To further clarify. It is not 10 to 18% of the total price of the cruise. It is 10% to 18% of the base price of the cruise. The cruise line has what is called NCF - non-commissionable fares plus taxes and fees included in the total cruise fare that they do not pay commission on. A 3-4 day cruise can have base fares as low as $19 to $50 per person plus NCF and taxes of as much as $149 per person. Using this example: Total price per person is $199 - $398 for the cabin but cm is paid only on $100 (Base Fare) which at 16% is only $16. The higher priced the cabin the higher the base fare. However, on 14 day cruises or longer the NCF's and taxes and fees can be $500 per person or higher while the base fare on special can be as low as $500 per person. Some of the transatlantic cruises in an inside cabin can go for this as low as $999 per person totaling $1,998. If base is $1000 x 16% cm then cm is $160.

Of course the higher category the cabin the higher the base fare.

 

I too looked at being a TA part time. The commission is 10-18%, but I was told the average is more along the low end - 10-12%. Where TAs can make good commision is travel insurance and 3rd party excursions.

 

To put it bluntly, you won't make any money off the hard core cruise critic member - they will only use a TA if they get perks accounting for 6-10% of the cost of the cruise. Do the math.

 

You can make money off the more affluent casual cruiser who books the suites, and just wants someone to "Take care of it for me". Problem is - how will you find them? They likely go to a big box online, or brick and mortar national agency.

 

I don't think stand alone independants stand a chance any more.

[LBcruzman]

In the near future I'll be changing careers and opening a travel agency. I'm never going to capture the folks who are okay with going to the Internet and booking things themselves. The niche I'll be targeting are those who desire advice and counsel about where to go and what to do while there.

 

Someone who knows they want to sail on Allure of the Seas on a western Caribbean itinerary won't be my target. My target will be someone who is looking for "a cruise" but isn't sure about the dizzying array of options (in their view) and wants guidance about which line, which ship, which itinerary, etc. Or someone who doesn't know what they want, they just want sun and fun.

 

I'm going to target affluent folks, and I'm going to rely on local networking and personal service.

 

You better really enjoy it then because you won't be making much money.