What are the advantages of booking through a Travel Agent?

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

I generally book vacations direct, myself. TAs seem to be popular among many of you...what are the advantages over booking direct?

[runner15km]

I just book two cruises with a TA. Same price as the cruise line but TA gave me 200.00 OBC for each cruise.

[AmyJA]

Cruises are the only travel that I use a TA. Love the OBC.

[kpd21880]

You all are successful getting OBC with booking a Royal Caribbean cruise via a TA? We routinely book our Celebrity bookings via a TA, as he typically gives us better pricing and throws in an extra perk and some OBC. But Royal sailings?? Nope. Same price as Royal and no OBC or perks. Tell me your secrets!

 

 

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[LisaAtlCruiser]

For a long time I booked directly with RCCL, but than started using a TA and love the extra OBC. I had not realized I could get that in combination with my shareholders benefit but I can. I had also misread this TA's Terms and conditions to think repricing a reservation would result in a change fee but I was wrong. Since then I use this TA and will never book direct again.

 

I do recommend a TA with long hours and easy to reach (even if not the same person) as sometimes there are sales and such where you want to talk with someone ASAP.

 

 

 

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[Fa-Li]

I booked a GS online for what I thought was a good price. Transferred the booking to my TA and she found a different sale, saved me $2k, got me obc, and gave me a specialty dining voucher. I love my TA!

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

I just changed my cabin four times in the past 24 hours. Only I can do that for myself.

 

:)

[firstsailor]

I just changed my cabin four times in the past 24 hours. Only I can do that for myself.

 

:)

 

That's not entirely true... I change cabins and rooms all the time. I mostly book Disney cruises but same idea. I am booking a Disney trip for a client right now (9:00pm on a Friday night)

 

What makes it hard sometimes when comparing TA's is that our commission comes from the booking agency-so RCCL in this case. Any OBC you are getting is coming right out of the agents pocket. Some bigger agencies who have more money coming in each month can offer bigger OBC. Agents with smaller agencies who work from home lets say, may offer smaller OBC because again, its directly out of pocket. It becomes a hot topic in Facebook groups and other places. Also remember a $10k trip will have more commission to the agent than a $3k trip, and likely a difference in what they offer.

Edited December 10, 2016 by firstsailor

[LisaT91403]

I used to book directly, but now use a TA because of the OBC. For our upcoming cruise, the perk was $190 OBC and a $75 dining credit. That comes out to be the equivalent of around 9% of our fare. When we did a Disney cruise, we got 8% cash back (as opposed to onboard credit).

 

The cruise fare is the same if we go direct with Royal or use the TA, so we opt for the 8-9% in value that we get from the TA. The TA is able to make any changes/requests that we ask for. They are also happy to do a 3-way call with Royal if there is something I want to discuss directly. And I still call Royal myself if I wish to discuss anything other than the actual booking itself (for example, I have called regarding entertainment reservations, dining, excursions, etc.)

[mollyeilis]

You all are successful getting OBC with booking a Royal Caribbean cruise via a TA? We routinely book our Celebrity bookings via a TA, as he typically gives us better pricing and throws in an extra perk and some OBC. But Royal sailings?? Nope. Same price as Royal and no OBC or perks. Tell me your secrets!

 

 

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Time to branch out!

 

I use a big box membership store's travel agency for the obc (or cash card for their store sent post-cruise, in the amount of basically 8% of the fare, for DCL) on Royal.

 

Only tradeoff is if I want to change my room I have to call them and then they do it for me, instead of me calling Royal directly. I'm cool with that. :)

[Clarea]

I generally book vacations direct, myself. TAs seem to be popular among many of you...what are the advantages over booking direct?

Besides the OBC mentioned, a good TA gives excellent service and saves me time. I email the TA a request and she is the one spending time on the phone with RC.

[GUT2407]

I generally book vacations direct, myself. TAs seem to be popular among many of you...what are the advantages over booking direct?

 

Might vary by where in the World you are booking, but to me, none.

[2hearted]

We booked the Freedom of the Seas for 9/10/17 with an OV cabin on Cruise.com for over $500 less than RCI for two people plus free gratuities and $50 OBC. I can't think of any reason to book directly with the cruise company. Check yourself.

 

 

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[riclop]

i generally book vacations direct, myself. Tas seem to be popular among many of you...what are the advantages over booking direct?

 

obc.

[goneclear]

The thing about a good TA is you build a relationship over time. I use my TA for everything now, Flights, hotels, cruises etc. She knows my prefered seating on aircraft, etc. A good TA is like a one stop shop, they will have your back covered when the crap hits the fan.

[H2Oregon]

Returned from a river cruise last month that we booked at a big box membership store. OBC of 250 and a cash card for 900 upon our return. Arrived home on a Wednesday and the cash card was in the mailbox Friday.

 

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[theboss7593]

I just changed my cabin four times in the past 24 hours. Only I can do that for myself.

 

:)

 

i hope that's not a serious reply.

[secret1122]

We generally get OBC to the amount of about 10% of the base cruise fare, plus prepaid gratuities, and specialty dining for two. We've never had a problem reserving our own dining, excursions, shows, etc. We also can easily make a change to the actual booking by simply calling the TA.

[Linawolf]

I don't get any of that from my TA. I think I need a change! Any suggestions?

 

 

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[Snooksi]

I just booked a CLS with a TA and the fare was 1K cheaper than listed on RCCL and I got $150 OBC. Others offered the same price as RCCL but $600-$950 in OBC and some offered specialty dining and a spa treatment on top of the OBC. i would rather the lower fare and the smaller amount of OBC but I did run the numbers and the TA I chose, saved me $50 over all the others when you factor in the OBC, etc.

 

Linawolf, we aren't allowed to name names or companies on the boards. The company online I use sends your cruise request out to various TAs and they all email their best offers to you, so you get to choose whoever has the best offers/price. Many of the big box online TAs show you on their website what their OBC/perks are. Just do an online search for a "cheap cruise" and tons will be listed.

[Wine-O]

I don't get any of that from my TA. I think I need a change! Any suggestions?

 

Yes, you need to change. Not allowed to name travel agents on this forum, but if you do an internet search, there are a lot of them out there. You should be able to get 10% of your cruise fare as OBC -- that's before port charges and taxes. The taxes are rolled into the cruise price, so a TA will separate them from the fare and give you around 10%.

[Desert Cruizers]

Contact your friends who you know uses a TA and ask them whom they recommend. I use our local TA and although she is a small office of 3, they are honest and never worry about our reservations. They are right there to jump in and handle any issues the cruise lines try to pull.

[Dianka25]

I don't see a price difference with my TA, she says the prices they get are the same as the site, but I have received free specialty dining vouchers and spa vouchers. I don't know what I will get until after final payment so it's always a nice little extra perk!

 

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[Clarea]

I don't see a price difference with my TA, she says the prices they get are the same as the site, but I have received free specialty dining vouchers and spa vouchers. I don't know what I will get until after final payment so it's always a nice little extra perk!

 

Most of the time our TA has the same exact pricing as RC too. However, sometimes the agency has reserved group space when the price was lower, so in that case we do get a price that's lower than RC's current price.

[southnam]

The thing about a good TA is you build a relationship over time. I use my TA for everything now, Flights, hotels, cruises etc. She knows my prefered seating on aircraft, etc. A good TA is like a one stop shop, they will have your back covered when the crap hits the fan.

Yes when crappie hits the fan they can fight RCI for you. I was on FoS Dec 2014 Cruise that was broken but didn't get compensated. No one on our Cruise got anything. My TA bugged her RCCL rep until they gave us $50. Better than nothing. As well, for price drops she is the one who contacts and spends time with RCCL and not me. Saves me time.

 

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