Move reservation over to TA?

[RDC1]

7 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

I get all you are getting plus 8% - 12% more off the total cruise fare.

That is where you are overpaying.

Booking direct with Princess is no where close to the best deal. 

It is full retail.

Yes but if you get 10% off the top or 10% in rebates it is economically the same.

 

I have talked to TA that are "experts" that have promised great deals.  I have found that in the end that the big box total value is as good as anyone.  I prefer where anyone that answer the phone can execute my instructions and not need the unique "expert" that may or may not be accessible at a given instance.  

[Ep010835]

15 hours ago, lightink2 said:

Thank you - that’s very helpful. I don’t have a TA but I’ll start looking for one who specializes in cruises. Princess gave us $900 in on-board credit so that’s the price to beat.

 

 

I think you may be missing the point Thrak made. Any OBC given to you by the TA will stack with the Princess OBC. You get both. The TA doesn't "beat" the OBC provided by Princess but adds an additional amount. For example, on an upcoming cruise, Princess put $1150 into our OBC account. When I transferred it to the TA, they added an additional $1400 in OBC so we are sitting on $2550 in total OBC for this sailing. 

 

We WILL find a way to spend the $1150 provided by Princess. The $1400 from the TA is another matter entirely. While the Princess OBC is non-refundable, the TA OBC is fully refundable. I don't anticipate dipping into that amount much if at all. (But it's there if we need it.) This means that a check will arrive in my mailbox 3 weeks or so after getting home for the full amount of the unused portion of the TA provided OBC. 

 

And, I find appealing the idea of receiving a 2% rebate from my TA for ALL of my cruise, and other, expenditures throughout the year. Kind of a "Bonus OBC", if you will. Based on completed and planned cruises during 2019, that's an additional $1500 or so. Not much better than "free money"!

 

Nice!! 😀 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Ep010835

[Colo Cruiser]

Just now, RDC1 said:

Yes but if you get 10% off the top or 10% in rebates it is economically the same.

 

I have talked to TA that are "experts" that have promised great deals.  I have found that in the end that the big box total value is as good as anyone.  I prefer where anyone that answer the phone can execute my instructions and not need the unique "expert" that may or may not be accessible at a given instance.  

Where are you getting the 10% from?

 

[RDC1]

Just now, Colo Cruiser said:

Where are you getting the 10% from?

 

Used the 10% as just a mention that 10% off the top or 10% in rebates it is still that same, could have used 20% or 30% just as easily.

[Colo Cruiser]

15 hours ago, lightink2 said:

Thank you - that’s very helpful. I don’t have a TA but I’ll start looking for one who specializes in cruises. Princess gave us $900 in on-board credit so that’s the price to beat.

 

We get the $900 OBC plus the 8% to 12% additional off the price of the cruise when we use out TA.

[Colo Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

Used the 10% as just a mention that 10% off the top or 10% in rebates it is still that same, could have used 20% or 30% just as easily.

You lost me.

All I am saying is using a TA (well ours anyway) you get ALL you are getting (promo OBC etc) plus the additional percentage off the cruise price given by the TA.

If you book direct you are missing out on that additional percentage.

 

I don't like playing the additional OBC game from other TA's.

I would just rather get all the money off up front.

[Thrak]

43 minutes ago, lightink2 said:

They also were explicit to keep calling back for lower fares & incentives. I asked if that was because the cruise was newly listed on line & she said yes, now is highest price.

 

Not always the case. I have booked most of our cruises waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in advance and then watched as the price went up and up and up.

[lightink2]

Ha!😄

[Thrak]

39 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

I prefer where anyone that answer the phone can execute my instructions and not need the unique "expert" that may or may not be accessible at a given instance.

 

That's one reason we really like our TA. I've called him after business hours. I got voice mail. The voice mail gets transferred to his cell. It was 6:30 PM here in California. My TA called me back within 5 minutes. He was in Chicago and it was 8:30 PM there. I consider that pretty darn good service.

[happy cruzer]

Also always ask about fees to book or cancel charged by the TA.  I have one that does charge a cancelation fee, only book with them at the very last minute if they have the best deal.  Otherwise I have another one that is usually as good with no fees.

 

Also when we cruised in inside cabins at very low rates, we never used a TA because there was not much they offered.  I agree $50 is not enough to give up control of being able to deal directly with the cruise line.

[dickinson]

One thing not mentioned is that if you use a TA that discounts the fare (not one who gives it all as OBC) then your travel insurance costs less because your price of cruise is less.  More savings!

[Ep010835]

2 hours ago, dickinson said:

One thing not mentioned is that if you use a TA that discounts the fare (not one who gives it all as OBC) then your travel insurance costs less because your price of cruise is less.  More savings!

 

Excellent thought. 

[RDC1]

21 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

You lost me.

All I am saying is using a TA (well ours anyway) you get ALL you are getting (promo OBC etc) plus the additional percentage off the cruise price given by the TA.

If you book direct you are missing out on that additional percentage.

 

I don't like playing the additional OBC game from other TA's.

I would just rather get all the money off up front.

let me put it this way instead of just plugging in a percentage. x$ discount = x$ rebate. I actually prefer the rebate because I get 2% of the full pre rebate fare at the end of the year and I use my airline cc where my points is another 2-3% in value. I would money through that all day long charge it on the cc and then get it rebates back, building points along the way.

 

in the end the value we seem to be getting, your discount and my rebates are similar 8-12%. but in return for waiting I get 2% more plus cc points on the rebates amount.

Edited April 3, 2019 by RDC1

[Thrak]

5 hours ago, dickinson said:

One thing not mentioned is that if you use a TA that discounts the fare (not one who gives it all as OBC) then your travel insurance costs less because your price of cruise is less.  More savings!

 

Not if you use the Princess insurance. Princess gets paid the full amount. The discount comes from the TA.

[Colo Cruiser]

16 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

let me put it this way instead of just plugging in a percentage. x$ discount = x$ rebate. I actually prefer the rebate because I get 2% of the full pre rebate fare at the end of the year and I use my airline cc where my points is another 2-3% in value. I would money through that all day long charge it on the cc and then get it rebates back, building points along the way.

 

in the end the value we seem to be getting, your discount and my rebates are similar 8-12%. but in return for waiting I get 2% more plus cc points on the rebates amount.

Got it.......

Guess if I used my Costco Citi Bank card I could get the additional 2% or so in a rebate but I would rather use my Chase United Club card visa for the miles.

[RDC1]

15 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Got it.......

Guess if I used my Costco Citi Bank card I could get the additional 2% or so in a rebate but I would rather use my Chase United Club card visa for the miles.

I use chase United club since they dropped the travel coverage with the standard united. get the extra 2% From premier membership. Worth the investment.