Booking direct with Viking

[dwlmg]

We are currently booked on a Majestic Fjords cruise with Viking this June.  We intended to book an Alaska cruise while on board to get the on board booking incentives.  We received an email from Viking saying in effect - book now and we will give you the on-board booking incentives plus the current web incentives.  We now are booked on an Alaska cruise in 2021.  In reading posts on Cruise Critic, we learned that if you book with a cruise line, you can have the booking released/assigned to a travel agent prior to the cruise being paid in full and receive additional on-board cruise credit for doing so.  I think it part of an incentive to get travel agents to sell Viking and I think Viking would rather work with through a travel agent who has more knowledge and experience.  In any event, people who book direct with Viking should explore assigning the booking to a travel agent to serve as a go between with Viking.  We used an agent at AAA.  It is worth enough to cover an excursion or two.

[Peregrina651]

 

 

 

Keep in mind that  TAs are not obligated to give additional incentives nor are the obligated to give the full amount allowed by Viking (who very strongly control the pricing of their product). If you (generic) are going to move your booking at least find out what the TA is going to give you before you move it.

 

 

 

 

 

[twodjs]

Also, a certain big box travel service we use is not authorized to sell Viking Ocean, so can't take a transfer. 

[Krisval]

When we book a future cruise while onboard we tell the Viking agent the name of our travel agency and they put that in the record. We also email or text our travel agent and she confirms that she has it. Everyone wins.

[Peregrina651]

Kris, I didn't even need to tell them my TA's name.  They already had it and were putting it in her name. All they did was confirm with us that we wanted to do it that way. 

[Nippy Sweetie]

I book direct with Viking and negotiate any extras with them. I prefer to cut out the middle man. I've always been happy with the added extras and OBC from Viking. If you don't ask you don't get! 

[Respbj]

I book with Viking then transfer to my TA. Get some extra OBC plus another set of eyes on my trip.

[Squawkman]

17 hours ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

I book direct with Viking and negotiate any extras with them. I prefer to cut out the middle man. I've always been happy with the added extras and OBC from Viking. If you don't ask you don't get! 

Same here - we developed a relationship with a Viking agent who has been able to go the extra for us. I think of it as a little extra insurance worth forgoing a few extra bucks in OBC some TAs may get for you. We can always get the same or equivalent on board booking discounts from him if we book within 2 weeks of disembarking.

 

[stretchcruz]

I'm getting $1,600 in OBC for our upcoming back to back from my TA. Plus she got me $400 more OBC because our 2 days in Barcelona was changed to one. That's more than a few extra bucks to me.

[Squawkman]

3 minutes ago, stretchcruz said:

I'm getting $1,600 in OBC for our upcoming back to back from my TA. Plus she got me $400 more OBC because our 2 days in Barcelona was changed to one. That's more than a few extra bucks to me.

I can’t tell you what the net OBC “loss” would be without creating the same B2B itinerary for my Viking agent. There will be some less OBC, but having one reliable rep who know us for all Viking situations has value to us.

[CharTrav]

I’ve been dealing directly with a Viking TA for years. The one I had initially left Viking last year. Before she did, she passed me over to a very good friend of hers at Viking. And the quality of our relationship is the same. 

Edited February 29, 2020 by CharTrav

[stretchcruz]

We are doing Rome to Miami Oct 2020. I have a great relationship with my TA as well. Have booked over 20 cruises with her. As long as you are happy that's important. 

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

We are doing Rome to Miami Oct 2020. I have a great relationship with my TA as well. Have booked over 20 cruises with her. As long as you are happy that's important. 

Hi Stretchcruz - how right you are - "as long as you are happy".

We are on the same Rome to Miami Oct 2020 - let's hope the virus is contained or slowed by then 🙂

Regarding your travel agent that you have a long time relationship with, would you be able to contact me via my email?

kjstong@charter.net

We are the ones who visit Tucson regularly and have friends who live near Sabino (for reference).   See you in 7 months we hope!

[JVilleGal]

13 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

I'm getting $1,600 in OBC for our upcoming back to back from my TA. Plus she got me $400 more OBC because our 2 days in Barcelona was changed to one. That's more than a few extra bucks to me.

This is exactly what our TA does for us! 

[SempreMare]

On 2/28/2020 at 4:37 PM, Nippy Sweetie said:

I book direct with Viking and negotiate any extras with them. I prefer to cut out the middle man. I've always been happy with the added extras and OBC from Viking. If you don't ask you don't get! 

What are your negotiating secrets?    My Viking rep didn't give any extras when asked.  (I didn't try hard admittedly).

[SempreMare]

On 2/29/2020 at 7:00 AM, Respbj said:

I book with Viking then transfer to my TA. Get some extra OBC plus another set of eyes on my trip.

@Respbj, I'm curious...  how has "another set of eyes on your trip" helped you on previous trips? 

 

I have only been on 1 cruise but totally loved it (last August, HAL to Alaska), and now have several booked with Viking and HAL.   

 

However, so far I have been totally unimpressed by 2 travel agents I've worked with.    So slow to get back with me on time-sensitive questions or regular questions.    ex:  > 1 week.    I would have thought this level of spend would result in better service.     The discount doesn't seem worth the extra friction.   

 

In some ways cruising is an easier form of travel than DIY but in others it seems lots more complex than just planning a land-based trip because of not just needing to deal with TAs, but the more rigid cancellation policies and trying to figure out  what Travel insurance provides and does not provide, and for what cost.

 

I'm putting together a spreadsheet for next cruise I book to compare benefits of my Chase Sapphire Reserve card vs Travel Insured Insurance vs GeoBlue Trekker vs cruise trip insurance.  I'd tend to buy too much insurance but it's a new world as of 2020.  TravelInsuranceCompared@gmail.com

Edited March 3, 2020 by SempreMare

[Nippy Sweetie]

SempreMare no specific tips re bargaining. I really don't like intermediaries and travel agents aren't much use over here. I suppose I do take a very hard line and I'm quite happy to walk away if I don't feel I'm getting a good deal. In fact I have walked away before now. There are lots of other cruise lines or types of holiday available. I suspect my attitude permeates my call re potential booking. No need to be unpleasant when dealing with sales agents but don't be fobbed off either. If they start with, I'll need to speak to my manager etc then encourage them to do that or ask to speak to the manager yourself. The worst you can be is embarrassed and I'm past that! 

[Clay Clayton]

I think perhaps Viking offers more obc to non-US based passengers than they do us that live in the states. Like others, despite pretty stern requests, I was never able to get anything extra other than whatever promo I was calling about.  However, the TA we found offers the max OBC that Viking allows and has gone to bat with Viking for us at least once to help resolve an issue (of course I had to threaten to cancel to get that to take place-not sure whether that lit a fire under the TA or Biking or both). In any case, I agree that if you’re happy then great, but if you aren’t getting at least $600 obc On a 14 day cruise then you should look around. 

[Rawmac]

"I think perhaps Viking offers more obc to non-US based passengers than they do us that live in the states."

 

Wrong.  I read with wonder and amazement the amounts of OBC y'all seem able to garner from sources which we, on the east side of the pond, know nothing about.  Our travel agents seldom pass on any credits.  The only OBC we get is from an occasional promotion, or from shareholdings.  But we tend not to whine about it.

[Nippy Sweetie]

Free silver spirits package and gratuities included plus OBC helps me to make up my mind! 

[Clay Clayton]

Sorry, my bad, now I am wondering where NippySweetie lives where they negotiate the extra goodies and OBC? 

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, Nippy Sweetie said:

Free silver spirits package and gratuities included plus OBC helps me to make up my mind! 

So where do you live?  

[1985rz1]

On 3/2/2020 at 8:46 PM, SempreMare said:

@Respbj, I'm curious...  how has "another set of eyes on your trip" helped you on previous trips? 

......

However, so far I have been totally unimpressed by 2 travel agents I've worked with.    So slow to get back with me on time-sensitive questions or regular questions.    ex:  > 1 week. 

 

If we had this experience, we would be disappointed/unimpressed with our TA.  But our experience had been vastly different.  

 

Our TA routinely calls or emails within an hour, often minutes, of any email enquiry we have.  If we leave a voice mail...frequently she answers...we get a call back quickly.  She calls us when unadvertised specials occur, based on our interest.  Recently, she saved us $3,000 on an upcoming voyage,  when she saw an advertised sale that included our booked voyage and figured out how we could benefit from it. It was a time sensitive offer which required a yes/no response within minutes, and we got a morning call from her.

 

So yes, the "extra eyes" and fast response time have been extremely valuable and appreciated.  But she is a cruise specialist, not a routine TA from down the block, so that's what we would expect.

 

It seems like your tries at using a TA have not really worked for you, but I would encourage you to try again.

[Nippy Sweetie]

I'm in UK

[Clay Clayton]

55 minutes ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

I'm in UK

So that means your gratuities are already included in Viking’s advertised fare. And seems like usually Silver Spirits package I think I’ve been told.  
 

A little while back, someone on some thread somewhere on this forum did a comparison that showed that US Prices +gratuities +silver spirits was about the same total cost as what y’all in the UK get as an all inclusive price. Of course any discount or OBC that you’re getting would make your deal even better than what we get here in the US....where at least for me have only been discount promos from Viking direct-usually free or reduced air, stateroom upgrade (usually V to DV) and very very occasionally a real fare discount-so far in our three year Viking experience only  twice-once for the Santiago to Sydney segment of the WC a year ago (which we didn’t do) and a $1000 price reduction for our upcoming TA.  In both cases, these were relatively last minute and presumably to sell out the ship. The only other thing that I’ve heard about here in the US is the OBC that travel agents are allowed to offer. For us on a 14 day cruise, it pays our gratuities and leaves a little leftover.  We then either drink it or it shows up on our credit card as a credit after disembarking. 
 

I suspect that Viking is pretty careful that no matter where you are located that the price is generally the same....otherwise we might all be booking from Budapest or Kyoto or wherever the best deal is offered. 😊