LzyCruiser_NWA Posted December 12, 2019 #1 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fouremco Posted December 12, 2019 #2 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lienf Posted December 12, 2019 #3 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted December 12, 2019 #4 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phxazzcruisers Posted December 12, 2019 #5 Share Posted December 12, 2019 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fouremco Posted December 12, 2019 #6 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie201 Posted December 12, 2019 #7 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordoncruickshank Posted December 12, 2019 #8 Share Posted December 12, 2019 It happens all the time over here. Then you get to negotiate discounts with the TA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted December 12, 2019 #9 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted December 12, 2019 #10 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaBag Posted December 12, 2019 #11 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrk2cruise Posted December 12, 2019 #12 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMike Posted December 12, 2019 #13 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fouremco Posted December 12, 2019 #14 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelayne Posted December 12, 2019 #15 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Our TA frequently has group rates, so we get lower price and 8-10% refundable OBC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie201 Posted December 12, 2019 #16 Share Posted December 12, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadguy Posted December 13, 2019 #17 Share Posted December 13, 2019 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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