Transferring direct booking to a TA

[Csardas]

Chatting to fellow passengers recently and they told me they'd transferred a direct booking with Cunard to a travel agent. The conversation moved on so I didn't get an opportunity to ask why they would bother and any possible advantages to doing so. Anyone done this? (UK booking)

[BigMac1953]

Yes!

We always transfer ours to a well known internet based agent, who discounts the price and offers a wee bit more OBC.

 

Stewart

[luckymal]

5 minutes ago, Csardas said:

Chatting to fellow passengers recently and they told me they'd transferred a direct booking with Cunard to a travel agent. The conversation moved on so I didn't get an opportunity to ask why they would bother and any possible advantages to doing so. Anyone done this? (UK booking)

 

If you book a cruise while on ship and put down a deposit, you can ask them to put it thro’ your own travel agent.  Your Travel Agent  may give you discount on the price you have paid.

Any questions you may have after would have go thro’ your agent and not Cunard.

You could save a fair bit of money.🍷🥃

[Underwatr]

Yes (US booking). There may be a limited window in which to accomplish this, and if the promotion under which you booked is no longer available to the travel agent the pricing may not be what you expect.

It's definitely easier if you refer to the travel agent who booked the cruise you're on.

I generally save 8-10% by referring the booking to my TA, but I get all of the benefits (onboard credit) of booking onboard.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Underwatr

[MarkBearSF]

As others have mentioned, using one's own TA often provides extra perks like OBC or gratuities. Doing so also puts someone on your side should there be a dispute with the line.  I think it's policy (and perhaps law in the US) that the line will not directly offer any promotions or pricing that is not also available through a travel agent.

Because of a difficult situation on a group cruise recently, I demurred on using the agency on the current cruise (especially awkward as the host just popped in to the office when I was booking) and left it with Cunard initially. Upon my return last week, I transferred it to my usual TA. Following her instructions, it took a simple email to Cunard with the details of the booking and the new agent's info. It took a day (or less).

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by MarkBearSF