Travel Agent Commission

[CrusinCyndi]

We are paid in full for our upcoming cruise in August on the Carnival Dream.

 

I have been able to get 2 price drops since then which is cool !

 

My TA had given us OBC before the price drops. Now with this latest price drop she is pulling the OBC she was going to give us.

 

So my question is: Do TA's get their commission when the cruise is booked or when final payment is made?

 

If after they get their commission, if there is a price drop that Carnival approves, does Carnival take back commission?

 

Just curious.

[bury me at sea]

My TA says his commission is reduced with each price drop. He submits them for me anyway. It's a small agency in a small town. That's all I know.

[smeyer418]

We are paid in full for our upcoming cruise in August on the Carnival Dream.

 

I have been able to get 2 price drops since then which is cool !

 

My TA had given us OBC before the price drops. Now with this latest price drop she is pulling the OBC she was going to give us.

 

So my question is: Do TA's get their commission when the cruise is booked or when final payment is made?

 

If after they get their commission, if there is a price drop that Carnival approves, does Carnival take back commission?

 

Just curious.

 

 

they get paid the commission on the fare less NCF(noncommissionable fare). They get paid generally after final payment, however if the fare drops and the fare is adjusted they have to pay back any overage. Its charged back to them: its removed from future commissions.

[LzyCruiser_NWA]

We are paid in full for our upcoming cruise in August on the Carnival Dream.

 

I have been able to get 2 price drops since then which is cool !

 

My TA had given us OBC before the price drops. Now with this latest price drop she is pulling the OBC she was going to give us.

 

So my question is: Do TA's get their commission when the cruise is booked or when final payment is made?

 

If after they get their commission, if there is a price drop that Carnival approves, does Carnival take back commission?

 

Just curious.

 

From what I gather, Carnival pays the TA a % based on your fare.

So if your fare keeps dropping, their commission also drops.

 

Prob what your agent did initially was to entice you to book with the TA was to "share" part of his/her commission with you by the way of OBC but due to the price drops the TA's piece of the pie is smaller so no more OBC.

 

My guess :)

[buddylover]

The "perks" a TA offers is off their commissions....if the fare drops, thus less commission received by TA, so they may be in a position to have earned nothing or a negative amount (maybe don't have margin of $$ earned after price drop to give out OBC too). We have been in the same position using a TA also....price dropped, they would have given it to us, however also would remove some offered "perks".....so just kept it as is, as we were happy with the pricing and perks when we booked....C'est La Vie was our attitude. That is the downside of using a TA (but you also probably received some perks that CCL didn't offer when booked??)

Edited June 21, 2014 by buddylover

[JWGrayson]

they get paid the commission on the fare less NCF(noncommissionable fare). They get paid generally after final payment, however if the fare drops and the fare is adjusted they have to pay back any overage. Its charged back to them: its removed from future commissions.

 

Exactly, they get 16% of the NCF. If the price is adjusted down after final payment, then the commission amount if affected and some funds must be returned. John

[rwest898]

That is interesting because I always go through my TA. However, on my last cruise I had made final payment and I saw the price has dropped. When I asked my TA about it she said I wasn't able to take advantage of it. I thought it was because final payment had been made, which made me question whether it was a good idea going through a TA, as opposed to going to Carnival or booking myself online.

[hftmrock]

That is interesting because I always go through my TA. However, on my last cruise I had made final payment and I saw the price has dropped. When I asked my TA about it she said I wasn't able to take advantage of it. I thought it was because final payment had been made, which made me question whether it was a good idea going through a TA, as opposed to going to Carnival or booking myself online.

 

 

if you didnt book early saver then your TA is correct. You cant get price drops after final payment unless you book early saver

[riffatsea]

@rwest898,

The only time you are eligible for price drops after final payment is if your original booking was an Early Saver booking. All others only get price drops before final payment.

[rwest898]

To be honest I'm not sure. However, we always book a year out. Our cruise was on the Breeze Sept 2013 and we made reservations in April 2012. I imagine it was a Early Saver rate.

[Linerguy]

More than likely, this lowest price drop is based on a promotion that doesn't include OBC (in most cases, it's the cruise line offering OBC, not the agency).

 

And yes, when there's a price drop the TA's commission goes down. However, it doesn't come off future commissions, Carnival simply sends out a 'Commission Recall' letter to the agency, and they send it back...might be sent back in the form of a check or electronically.

[katiel53]

To be honest I'm not sure. However, we always book a year out. Our cruise was on the Breeze Sept 2013 and we made reservations in April 2012. I imagine it was a Early Saver rate.

 

Just because you booked a year out doesn't mean you booked ESA. Many times, unless you specifically tell a TA that is what you want, you won't be booked that fare. There are two main reasons. The first is that there are restrictions that the agent will tell you, but people only listen to the bottom line so they don't listen to what the agent is saying, so if a change needs to be made, i.e. date, passengers in room that involve a penalty, many clients say they weren't ever told. 2- If the price goes down and most times the good ones come after final payment, the agency gets a recall commission, which mean the agency loses money and has to pay it back.

 

In the case of an agent giving OBC, the credit gets reduced because the commission gets reduced and some clients complain about that too! For agents, many times, unless the client fully understands ESA, it can be a nightmare,

 

Also, to the person who posted that agencies get 16% commission, I don't agree. Some agencies, i.e. small agencies that don't book a lot of a cruise line cruises, may get less whereas those booking thousand of them get a higher commission. I know this was the case a few years ago, but if it has changed, I'm sure an agent will correct me.

[kkimber2]

I'm wondering if my TA is doing the same. We booked a group and got 16 cabins so that should be 2 free berths correct, well he is telling me that it won't be available until we get back from our cruise which makes no sense.