HA Pricing Question

[ICUQT]

I use a local travel agency who is connected with one of the larger national travel agencies. Over the years a receive advertisements in post card type format which I usually just trash. The one I got over this past weekend caught my attention because it was for Holland America Alaska & Europe cruises. I opened it and it advertised three for each location and showed price for only verandah (starting). Curiosity got the better of me and when I got the opportunity I went to the HA site and checked for the cruise pricing for Europe only. On the HA site I looked at the price before I put in my star status and once entered there was no change. For the three cruises I checked there was a $100-300 discounted price on the fare that the Travel Agency offered. The agency was also giving a $50-75 per cabin OBC. So that is the background here’s the question. Say I wanted to eliminate my TA (which I am not) and I called HA PCC and said hey I would like to book with you and I have this advertisement from the XYZ Travel Agency for (details) this cruise I am interested in would you honor it? I just cut out the middleman (agency) and are willing to book directly so will you honor the same discounted price & OBC? My gut feeling is that HA would not honor it because of contractual obligations to the XYZ Travel Agency. But I am thinking of all the similar advertisements that I get in the mail that offer some type of reduce rate or OBC that I can not get from my local agency if anyone has any success with this type of pricing request made directly to HA.

 

bob

[SilvertoGold]

Standard HAL reply is that HAL cannot march a travel agency's pricing/perks.

 

You can usually book through the HAL PCC and then transfer the booking to the TA and get the pricing and perks.

Not sure why some do this, but I hope someone will come along and explain that!

I suppose if you book all the time through a PCC, it does keep you in the loop with them and they get credit for the booking (which is good for them) even if you transfer to a TA.

Edited April 20, 2015 by SilvertoGold

[tlund]

It's possible that the agency set up a group with group pricing and group amenities (OBC). Because of this, they can offer fares and amenities that may not necessarily be offered through the cruise line. So, if you call HAL, you won't get the same pricing unless HAL is offering it to everyone.