Should I be disappointed in my Travel Agent?

[weregoingcruising]

My expierence booking group rate with TA the Capt. club upgrade dosen't apply.

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

I've always taken the position that I won't work for free so my expectation is that no one will work for free for me. We've pretty low maintenance and will make the booking ourselves with Celebrity, getting the room we want, and available perks from Celebrity. We then shop the booking and move the booking to the Travel Agent that gives us the best deal.

 

If we then ask the T.A. to follow pricing, make shore excursion reservations, speciality restaurant reservations, and hold our hand through the process, I would expect they need to be compensated for that. I would.

 

For those who expect the T.A. to give up more than 10% when their commission won't be 15%, I suspect they will find themselves de-marketed by their T.A.

 

A deal has to be fair for both parties, the T.A. needs to be paid too.

 

I wasn't expecting her to work for free or was I trying to make it so she got less. When I booked thru her I asked if the price from Celebrity went down would she be able to rebook it at the lower price. She said yes but would not monitor the price. All well & good. I monitored the price. When I saw it was dropped by $50 PP ($100 for the 2 of us) I emailed her. She rebooked it and kept $80 (that's 80%) of the savings for herself. I only got $20 off my booking. If it stands as is. I hope she is satisfied with that $80 extra dollars. It will be the last money she sees from me.

[WpgCruise]

Just me, but I would have a discussion with the T.A. to learn why on a $100

price decrease you only ended up with a $20 discount.

 

Were you in a group booking or some other program that limited options ?

 

OTOH if you feel taken advantage of, probably best to end the relationship and move on.

[DZalumni]

Correct, you can't get the one category upgrade to a C1 and only pay for a C2 (believe me, I've tried on several occasions :D) - it's excluded from the CC offer, along with FVs and a few others (see below for full details, copied from the X website ;)):

 

'One-category upgrade requests must be made at the time of booking and apply only for upgrades within the supercategory, depending on availability. Example of a supercategory upgrade in AquaClass: A2 to A1. Captain's Club one category upgrade excludes category 12, FV, SV, C1 and guarantee categories, Z, Y, X, XC, XA, W. This offer cannot be used with certain restricted fares including but not limited to travel agent and employee rates. Upgrades apply for one stateroom per cruise. Stateroom assignments only. Not valid on holiday sailings. Upgrades available from categories 11- A1 on all Celebrity ships except Celebrity Xpedition®. Offer valid for members who are Classic Level or higher at the time of booking.'

 

Our TA totally rocks. She got us an upgrade from A2 to A1 on a speciality cruise where the CC upgrade was restricted. She's willing to price adjust for us. Never gives OBC but always gives the best price & we always go Best so we don't need any extra OBC.

 

I always book with a TA, it's easier to have them advocate /communicate w/celebrity than you. Even the small TA's have a bigger voice w/Celebrity than a single passenger.

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

Just me, but I would have a discussion with the T.A. to learn why on a $100

price decrease you only ended up with a $20 discount.

 

Were you in a group booking or some other program that limited options ?

 

OTOH if you feel taken advantage of, probably best to end the relationship and move on.

 

I did have a discussion (Email) with her about it.... In my 1st post in this thread I said she replied...""sorry Ox Fan Cruiser. A lower fare results in lower profit. Still getting $75 on board credit from us so better than Celebrity's pricing.". "....

and if she doesn't fix this. I will move on to another TA. I plan on cruising a lot more.

[cdn_tbird]

I did have a discussion (Email) with her about it.... In my 1st post in this thread I said she replied...""sorry Ox Fan Cruiser. A lower fare results in lower profit. Still getting $75 on board credit from us so better than Celebrity's pricing.". "....

and if she doesn't fix this. I will move on to another TA. I plan on cruising a lot more.

 

If I were in your shoes, I would move on and if possible even cancel your cruise with her and rebook with a new TA.

 

In my opinion, based on her original reply about the discrepancy, she burned the bridge and probably already figures there won't be any future business from you.

 

At this point, if you needed her to do something else for you, do you honestly believe she'd come through or would you already be expecting the worst before you even asked?

[royalcruz]

My expierence booking group rate with TA the Capt. club upgrade dosen't apply.

 

If the TA has a group booked they can absolutely get you the group rate as well as the CC upgrade, but they have to call Celebrity for that and maybe they don't want to. This is what I mean by a great TA providing a high level of service, but it is very time consuming.

[royalcruz]

I did have a discussion (Email) with her about it.... In my 1st post in this thread I said she replied...""sorry Ox Fan Cruiser. A lower fare results in lower profit. Still getting $75 on board credit from us so better than Celebrity's pricing.". "....

and if she doesn't fix this. I will move on to another TA. I plan on cruising a lot more.

Ox Fan, I think that the wording that your TA used came across as rude, and if she had previously offered to honor price drops this is just plain wrong. "Sorry" doesn't sound like an apology in this case. If the OBC was really coming from the agency, she could have given you the price drop but explained that they would have to reduce the $75 OBC offer which was based on the original cruise fare. The commission was only reduced by $10-15 on this price drop, for heaven's sake.

 

Here's an example of polite and helpful customer service...

I was booked through an agent at one of the biggest online agencies. They had $20 discount pp, $75 OBC, and free gratuities for certain categories (which is of course based on price). There was a nice price drop of about $320 total, which I requested. The price dropped so much that they were no longer offering free gratuities for that category for new bookings, as I could see on their website, so I didn't expect to get a big price drop plus the gratuities at that point. In fact, the amenities were worth more than the original commission, so it's amazing that they could offer so much. The following was the response that I got...notice how words like please and appreciate and thank you go a long way....

"Thank you so much for your patience while adjusting your Cruise Fare. I truly appreciate it. I was able to lower the fare and also keep "One Guest" gratuities as Complimentary, however should the fare lower any more I may not be able to keep the one person as complimentary gratuities. I would just depend on the new fare. Please let me know if there are any questions."

:)

[villauk]

Our TA totally rocks. She got us an upgrade from A2 to A1 on a speciality cruise where the CC upgrade was restricted. She's willing to price adjust for us. Never gives OBC but always gives the best price & we always go Best so we don't need any extra OBC.

 

I always book with a TA, it's easier to have them advocate /communicate w/celebrity than you. Even the small TA's have a bigger voice w/Celebrity than a single passenger.

 

She probably took the hit in her commission, as you said, she never offers extra OBC so possibly has a little to play with. Still nice that she tries her best to offer you a good deal :).

 

It sounds like Ox Fan is more disappointed in the way the TA has handled the situation rather than the actual deal? Perhaps if the TA had discussed the options with her first, then an amicable agreement could have been reached?

[Happy2cruise]

My expierence booking group rate with TA the Capt. club upgrade dosen't apply.

Our experience has been the opposite. TA booked a group rate and also gave us the CC upgrade.

[Luvcrusn]

Our experience has been the opposite. TA booked a group rate and also gave us the ChC upgrade.

 

That was my experience. Gotta a lower rate from TA, I Even forgot to ask for the upgrade, remembered several months after booking, called TA to ask, fully expecting a no and they did it and kept all our perks! TA did it with a smile and a can do attitude,!

[villauk]

Definitely find another TA. We have a great one who we found sponsoring many X cruises on the cruise critic weekly top 25 cruise deal email. They had always delivered what was promised and have lowered prices when the price dropped. They make sure we get the most discount, senior, past passenger, resident, and I always ask for the 1 category upgrade. We usually do concierge and are able, for example, to book a c1 at a c2 price. In addition, for example our next cruise was priced at 1399 plus tax and port charges for a c2 and we had prepaid gratuities, classic beverage and $600 OBC. It pays to shop!!! We ,told friends who had booked directly with X, they switched to our TA (veteran cruisers but first time cruisers with X) and saved $400. Shop before you make that booking like someone else here said. My theory is, you are on the same ship, same cabin, same cruise...why pay more than you have to! Your concern should not be how much commission the TA is making, but how much is coming out of your wallet, Happy travels

 

That was my experience. Gotta a lower rate from TA, I Even forgot to ask for the upgrade, remembered several months after booking, called TA to ask, fully expecting a no and they did it and kept all our perks! TA did it with a smile and a can do attitude,!

 

But the poster was querying your above statement regarding being able to obtain a C1 cabin at a C2 rate. Hence me posting the official X T&C regarding the CC upgrade offer - a C1 is exempt. Additionally, it clearly states 'certain' TA rates are not combinable - not ALL. So it's quite possible to obtain both, depending on the sailing ;).

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

:):) Well, I have good news. My Travel Agent replied back today. She adjusted the price with me getting another $60 back. That make $80 all together. I am now a happy cruiser again. :):)

[FlorenceItaly]

:):) Well, I have good news. My Travel Agent replied back today. She adjusted the price with me getting another $60 back. That make $80 all together. I am now a happy cruiser again. :):)

 

Wonderful! I wonder if she reads Cruise Critic ;)?

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

Wonderful! I wonder if she reads Cruise Critic ;)?

 

Could be. She is part of what seems to be a fairly large travel agency that specializes in Cruises.

[Luvcrusn]

But the poster was querying your above statement regarding being able to obtain a C1 cabin at a C2 rate. Hence me posting the official X T&C regarding the CC upgrade offer - a C1 is exempt. Additionally, it clearly states 'certain' TA rates are not combinable - not ALL. So it's quite possible to obtain both, depending on the sailing ;).

 

 

Thanks for the info. As I stated (I think?) in another post, the C1 for C2 was an example of upgrade, not one we actually asked for or received. I should have said C2 for C3, since that was what we requested and received. We never would ask for a C1 since we don't care for the noise or vibrations at the back of the ship although I know a lot of my fellow cruisers really enjoy the larger verandas and great views there. I never read the fine print TC. Good to know! I guess my poorly expressed long winded point was it pays to shop!

[ShawninFL]

We booked a Transatlantic cruise with a 2D cabin price of $1549. She gave us a discount and $75 cabin credit. The agency seems to be a major one. I noticed that Celebrity's price dropped to $1499. So for the 2 of us the price dropped $100. I asked her (by Email) to rebook it. She did and sent the new confirmation showing our cost went down only $20. I emailed back and she said replied, "sorry Ox Fan Cruiser. A lower fare results in lower profit. Still getting $75 on board credit from us so better than Celebrity's pricing.".

This is the 3rd cruise we booked thru her this year.

What should I do?

 

The TA is may be telling you the truth that after everything is adjusted with the lower fare, you're really only saving $20 p.p. (though that does seem a bit low); however, before making any change to your reservation, she should have explained everything to you. I took a transatlantic 3 years ago that had probably 5 price reductions. Each time we repriced at the lower fare, the on board credit that was being provided by the cruise agency also reduced. So if we were saving $100 p.p. on the fare, but the OBC reduced by $50 we really only realized a savings of $75 p.p. Still more money in my pocket and worth the change.

 

As for booking with the cruise line, to me, is leaving money on the table. There are very few bookings in which a TA can't beat the cruise line's price whether it is a lower fare, added onboard credit, prepaid gratuities or specialty restaurant visits. And there's no need to book with the cruise line first and transfer to an agent unless it's one of those too good to be true deals that just need to be book immediately before they disappear in a few hours. Just contact a few agents and find out what they can do and book it directly with the one that gives you the best deal.

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

I checked Celebrity.com again... The price of my cruise dropped another $200 per person. I contacted my TA and she matched that price and I still have my OBC. Ox Fan is a happy Cruiser!:)