Transfering booking for a travel agent.

[LzyCruiser_NWA]

I booked our upcoming cruise for europe directly with celebrity but found out that if i transferred it to a big box club travel agent I could get their giftcards also.

Any downside to doing so except I'd have to go through them to get price drops later on right?

 

Also, could I still use celebrity choice air?

[Fouremco]

We always book with a Big Box TA from the outset, but transferring an existing booking to them has no inherent problems, and you can still use Choice Air.

 

Yes, you'd have to go to them for price drops, but that's no different than having to go to Celebrity. Either way, you'll need to pick up the phone and request a refare. I've done it with the BB TA without difficulty. 

[lienf]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

We always book with a Big Box TA from the outset, but transferring an existing booking to them has no inherent problems, and you can still use Choice Air.

 

Yes, you'd have to go to them for price drops, but that's no different than having to go to Celebrity. Either way, you'll need to pick up the phone and request a refare. I've done it with the BB TA without difficulty. 

The BB here that you may be referring to is showing different prices than Celebrity for the cruise we have booked in April. For example the Celebrity price is approximately $300 less with $200 U.S. to spend on board if I read it correctly. If I booked with Celebrity and then transfer to my TA I would get an additional $600 $C. This would be for a 1B cabin. It might be worth checking with Celebrity and some TA’s to see where the pricing would net out. Just my opinion. 

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, LzyCruiser_NWA said:

I booked our upcoming cruise for europe directly with celebrity but found out that if i transferred it to a big box club travel agent I could get their giftcards also.

Any downside to doing so except I'd have to go through them to get price drops later on right?

 

Also, could I still use celebrity choice air?

How long ago did you book your cruise? You only have 60 days to transfer (from the time of booking) your booking from Celebrity to a TA. 

[Phxazzcruisers]

There is no downside that we know of.  We always boo our cruises on board a current cruise to get the benefits of the perks for booking on board and then transfer to our TA.  As davekathy said above, the only is that this transfer must be done within 60 days of booking. 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Phxazzcruisers

[Fouremco]

9 minutes ago, lienf said:

The BB here that you may be referring to is showing different prices than Celebrity for the cruise we have booked in April. For example the Celebrity price is approximately $300 less with $200 U.S. to spend on board if I read it correctly. If I booked with Celebrity and then transfer to my TA I would get an additional $600 $C. This would be for a 1B cabin. It might be worth checking with Celebrity and some TA’s to see where the pricing would net out. Just my opinion. 

For every cruise I've looked at, the BB's price is identical to Celebrity's, as are any promotional perks. There's no advantage either way from that perspective. However, if you book with the BB or transfer a booking to them, you will also receive a cash card representing approximately 8% of the cruise fare, and depending on your BB membership type, an additional 2% cash back as part of your annual pay out. So, no OBC from the BB if you are sailing with Celebrity (other than whatever promo perks you get from Celebrity), whereas with HAL, the BB gives you OBC instead of the cash card.

[Josie201]

We booked an open passage for a cruise TBD in 2021-2022.  Do I need to transfer this to. TA now?   Not sure how they could assess perks etc.  

[Gordoncruickshank]

It happens all the time over here. Then you get to negotiate discounts with the TA.

[davekathy]

12 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

We booked an open passage for a cruise TBD in 2021-2022.  Do I need to transfer this to. TA now?   Not sure how they could assess perks etc.  

I would call Celebrity's existing reservation department at 1-888-751-7804 and ask them since you haven't chosen a specific sail date yet. 

[Jim_Iain]

15 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

We booked an open passage for a cruise TBD in 2021-2022.  Do I need to transfer this to. TA now?   Not sure how they could assess perks etc.  

No.    You hold onto it until you make a booking and then you send to TA you choose.    I believe you have one year to use.  

[TeaBag]

Check your certificate for the open passage.  Ours says the booking has to be made by Dec 31 and we only bought it in Oct.  I'm still waiting for dates to be announced for 2022, so I'm not pleased at all about this.  Wish we hadn't bought them.

[wrk2cruise]

28 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

We booked an open passage for a cruise TBD in 2021-2022.  Do I need to transfer this to. TA now?   Not sure how they could assess perks etc.  

 

Check your open passage type.  Some were issued recently before the new seasons were released.  These required naming a sailing before 12/31/2019.

[MightyMike]

The only downside is that a named travel agent might be less responsive than Celebrity direct.

 

We have done both and appreciate the onboard credits travel agents add.

 

The one time I appreciated being booked directly with Celebrity is when I saw a room that I wanted open up in the evening. I called Celebrity and since they had the reservation, they swapped rooms right then. If I would have been booked with a travel agent, the room might have been taken before my first opportunity to contact the agent the next morning.

[Fouremco]

11 minutes ago, MightyMike said:

The only downside is that a named travel agent might be less responsive than Celebrity direct.

 

We have done both and appreciate the onboard credits travel agents add.

 

The one time I appreciated being booked directly with Celebrity is when I saw a room that I wanted open up in the evening. I called Celebrity and since they had the reservation, they swapped rooms right then. If I would have been booked with a travel agent, the room might have been taken before my first opportunity to contact the agent the next morning.

You could also have put a hold on it online and then booked it the following day with your TA.

[jelayne]

Our TA frequently has group rates, so we get lower price and 8-10% refundable OBC.

[Josie201]

Thank everyone.  I will call.  This was advertised as for a cruise in 2021/22 and itineraries aren’t even out yet.  But I’ll see what they say.  

[nomadguy]

Well, I used a lot of TAs but recently went with a BB TA. Downsides -

limited hours of operation

can only use Visa (I'm an AMEX loyalist as I receive airline status by charging everything to AMEX... which I'm kicking myself for having booked my next TWO cruises with BB)

never get the same agent (or experience as some agents are much more helpful than others)

 

would I do it again? Um, probably not. I'll still use a TA but one that accepts AMEX as well as Visa!