Gratuties from TA - Do you just ask?

[Swampduck]

It's a big warehouse store and you buy an annual membership that allows you the privilege to shop. I believe that's as far as the mods will let me go to describe it.

 

They are all over the US & UK. I once stopped at the one in Southampton, UK prior to an Eclipse cruise and purchased my cruise wine.

 

 

If you could see our puzzled faces... event the mod's would laugh!! Ok I think I will have to work this one out! thanks :')

[Swampduck]

whoohoo... finally, thanks Sanger. Now i'll go and investigate it... TBH we have never heard of it... I think I better hide my purse though:D

[texanaust]

I can see where you are coming from with this, but we always book balconies and our last one was CC. 99% of the time, I do all the work and then just contact them with what I've seen and wanting to book.:halo: It actually shouldn't come down to the amount of £'s & Pence that a person spends.. a return customer is a return customer.

 

With me, I like to know who and the type of company I am dealing with, so there are no surprises, but I also think that loyalty could be acknowledged in some way.

 

Generally, agents that do a decent amount of business get 16% commission (US based agents). This 16% does not include the NCCF charges, so that makes the rate about 13% of total fare. Depending on the business setup, the agent will have to give a part of this remaining commission to the agency itself to cover overhead, etc. Out of the part the agent keeps, comes the onboard credit or other 'gifts' that people receive. It all depends on the agency and agent as to how much they are willing to forego of that remaining amount.

 

The more you spend, the more inclined they are to part with some of their 'wages.' Generally the same amount of work is involved booking an inside or a suite. Of course the expectation is that suites are more demanding-not always the case!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

It depends a lot on what you book and how much you spend. If you are booking only the cheapest inside cabins, the TA is probably only making $60-$70 total. He/she would be unable to give you anything on that sort of commission, especially if you are needing to make lots of changes, etc. Sometimes more benefits are forthcoming if the TA can book you into an existing group that the Agency has created.

That is very true , our TA made $89CAD in commission for 2 people on a cruise that cost $719 CAD pp

I do not expect anything

[pizzalady1]

If you could see our puzzled faces... event the mod's would laugh!! Ok I think I will have to work this one out! thanks :')

 

Take a look at the last paragraph in post #24 to help you figure it out.:)

[suekay]

I'm curious if people in the UK can get a no foreign transaction fee credit card.

 

In the US a great deal of them now offer this benefit.

 

One could save 6-7% on cruising by booking with a certain US big box travel agent if you paid in USD. (via OBC or other rebates)

Yes. Halifax Clarity and the Post Office credit cards have no foreign transaction fee . We have them purely for holidays

[griffy116]

I'm in the U.S. and don't use a 'big box' travel agent. I do, however, use a TA that specializes in cruises. In fact, he only deals in cruises. We get an OBC and he usually sends some sort of treat, through the cruise line to our cabin during the cruise. It might be wine or cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, but we get something special. We've been using the same TA for quite some time. I've also never failed to make some sort of change to the reservation because we book very early (usually a year in advance) and when a price change happens, i call to ask for the reduction in price. I've never been charged for a change to the reservation either. On only one cruise has he said that because of the ridiculous amount of a drop in price, he couldn't offer the OBC if we made the change. The change was far more beneficial so on that particular cruise, we did not get an OBC from him.

[cdn_tbird]

It is the store that you need a membership with and has Kirkland brands

 

The perk depends on which cruise line you're booking. For X it's now a cash card instead of OBC. We're getting a $400 one for our C1 stateroom. Won't go to waste for us, but I know some other posters complained about the change from OBC.

[Jim_Iain]

While I have used the company that now issues a cash card, I now use smaller TA's that offer OBC. We always use suites and getting a $1,000 cash card would be hard for us to redeem.

 

I usually book directly with Celebrity then e-mail my 2-3 TA's and ask how much they are willing to offer for a transfer of the booking. They always answer quickly and the transfer is done effortlessly.

[sandancer]

Well, I asked this morning and got the answer I didn't want.. a big fat NO. There are no extra's. They only give perks once a year at a certain event.

When I said about how many cruises booked & customers that i've sent their way, I was told they have lots of customers in the same boat !

They must like to hold onto their commission, which is grand. But it's nice to be nice and showing some sort of loyalty gratitude, I'm sure wouldn't break the bank.

 

 

It is very rare to find UK based TA offering OBC. The only time we have ever received it was when booking with a US company and at the moment that's not an option with current rates of exchange.

 

 

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