To TA or Not Ta

[VanDyklings]

I've done a fair bit of traveling and this is my fourth cruise, but the first I've left in the hands of a travel agent. I've not been very impressed with the TA and I'm left with the troubling suspicion that I might have done better myself.

 

I like the pre-planning of a trip and love extensive research (which is part of my day job), so maybe I'm being overly critical. What do you think? Do you prefer to do the details yourself, or would you rather leave in the hands of a TA? And, if you like the TA route, what would you say are the red flags for a bad TA and the green flags for a good TA?

[jlp20]

>...this is my fourth cruise, but the first I've left in the hands of a travel agent...what would you say are the red flags for a bad TA and the green flags for a good TA?

 

If you have already picked a T/A, why ask now?

 

In any event, a T/A is like any other service business. Some excellent, some horrible with the rest in the middle. Ignore plaques on the wall and signs in the windows. Go by word of mouth recomendations and ask all your questions before you pay. ALWAYS PAY WITH A CREDIT CARD.

[VanDyklings]

>...this is my fourth cruise, but the first I've left in the hands of a travel agent...what would you say are the red flags for a bad TA and the green flags for a good TA?

 

If you have already picked a T/A, why ask now?

_____________________

Presumably, this won't be my last vacation. ;)

[negc]

If you think of a TA as merely an order taker, you are probably as well off just doing everything on your own. However, if you value professional travel advice, an advocate for you if something goes wrong before, during or after your cruise, and value your time, it makes a lot of sense to find and use a good travel agent. Ask friends for recommendations, talk to local agents in your area, and compare the services and fees, if any, that may be involved if you use a particular agent or agency. There are many good or great TAs out there, and some who are mediocre or worse. If you find a good one, latch on to him or her and you won't be sorry.

[Ray-Barbara]

Although we use a TA in setting up our cruises, we do most of the preliminary work before we call herfor advise and to book the trip. After she books our cruise, she then checks to see if the prices goes down, sends us updates as to itenerary changes, etc. We also call her for advise as she has been on many, many cruises and knows the best agendas, ships, etc. In turn, we give her a copy of our travel photos which she uses in promoting her cruises. We have found the best TA in Kansas City, MO and plan to us her in the future. I say, if you can find a good TA, don't let her go, they are worth having on your side.

Ray and Barbara

[chasetf]

We usually use our chosen TA but always check the web for princing. In every case she has been able to match or get very close to the lowest price we can find. It is nice having the peace of mind knowing she will stay on top of getting the dinning reservations, cabin selection, tickets..... all taken care of. :D

The only time we haven't used her is jumping on someone's advertised special (like through the newspaper) or booking a last minute offer directly with the cruise line.....

[jpsartin]

We have only used a TA once in the last several years and were screwed over so bad that it ruined the cruise. I thought that I could save some money by reading her posts on this and other boards. I realized that she was just using these boards to advertise her false knowledge of cruising and who she said that she knew at the cruises lines. It was all BS.

Since then, we have taken several cruise that we have arranged ourselves and saved thousands of dollars. I know that there are good TAs out there but we careful who you choose, because there is a lot of BS on these cruise boards.

[Coral]

The TA will always save me money off of booking direct with Princess - plus, they provide great service.

[sandij]

We have used the same TA for many years and many cruises, even followed her to a different comany. We do our homework first though, after deciding where we want to go I get comparison prices from on line services and from the cruise line we have selected, then I email the Ta for her prices. She almost always beats the other prices or adds on board credits to the deal. I feel safer but who knows what I would do if the prices were a lot better elsewhere.

[98Charlie]

We do our own grunt work searching for cruises - check out options based on CC reviews and board messages - then checking out prices via internet. When we are hooked on a certain cruise we call our TA who is with an on-line agency and tell her what we want.

 

TA finalizes booking and we have always gotten what we wanted with her. Only time we were ever disappointed with a cruise was when we booked with a local TA here in Columbus who is part of a national travel agency. Ended up with a cabin on the Norway with two beds that could not be pushed together - no way, no how. Had a great, interesting time on our Norway cruise but never went back to that local TA again.

 

Dianne