No Travel Agents

[sanger727]

I don't think that TAs booking cruises will ever disappear. Yes, I could see the cruise lines theoretically cutting TA commissions. But as pointed out, this would have to turn into the industry standard.  If one cruise line decided to stop offering TA commissions then TAs would simply route their business to other cruise lines. If this were to happen then obviously TA booking perks would disappear and they would start charging fees to the consumers. For some people who see a large value to a TA due to the information and ability to fight on their behalf they may be willing to pay the fees. There could still be benefits to using a TA if they are able to get you access to a group rate that you couldn't get on your own. I sometimes use a TA and sometimes don't. I've never done business with a TA where their service was so much better than a direct booking that I would pay more to use them. If they get me a discount I use them, if they don't I direct book. 

[ilikeanswers]

I don't think cruise lines will stop using TA but I do wonder if TAs that specialise in cruises only might be something that might disappear🤔. This pandemic may make TAs rethink being so narrow focused.

[drsel]

I read on a travel agent industry magazine that for most of the main cruise lines, the commission varied from 10 to 16%, depending on the cabin category..

So I assume 10% for insides, 12% for Ocean views, 14% for balconies and 16% for suites?

 

This is applicable for the large travel agents with huge volumes

 

 

[gerryuk]

Many posters are saying that cruise lines would have to employ zillions more staff if they got rid of the travel agents and the cruise lines wouldn't save any money, i don't get this.

My cruise line of choice is Costa, although i am British, i live on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. When i book a cruise online i have the choice of booking through Costas Spanish site and pay in Euros or Costas English site and pay in pound sterling.

When i find the cruise i want, it takes a split second to book the room and pay online. I get a email conformation a couple of minutes later, there is no human interaction with this booking. I can then buy drinks packages and any other trimmings i want online for the cruise, again apart from me there is no human involved with this. A week or so before the cruise i get emailed all the paperwork including labels for my luggage, this is done automatically, no human is involved in this. Once on the ship the more i spend the more loyalty points i get, my points are given to me online a couple of weeks after the cruise is finished, again no human is involved with this, that's what computers are for. 

So i have done a couple of weeks cruising with Costa, apart from interacting with staff on the ship, i have had no other interaction with any staff on land. Of course Costa like other lines have staffed call centres where i can call if something is a miss, and of course they have I T and computer programmers to update their sites, but these staff are already in situ. 

If cruise lines did away with travel agents why do people seem to think that it would cost them more, as they would have to take on a army of new staff?

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, drsel said:

I read on a travel agent industry magazine that for most of the main cruise lines, the commission varied from 10 to 16%, depending on the cabin category..

So I assume 10% for insides, 12% for Ocean views, 14% for balconies and 16% for suites?

 

This is applicable for the large travel agents with huge volumes

 

 

Some  agencies also pay a consortium  to get better commission  rates

 The rate of commission is usually the the same  for insides as higher categories

volume is the key

10%  of $500 fare  is not really much in the grand scheme   as others have pointed out  there are other factors  taken into  account  so the commissionable rate my be only $300  in the end

JMO

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

Many posters are saying that cruise lines would have to employ zillions more staff if they got rid of the travel agents and the cruise lines wouldn't save any money, i don't get this.

My cruise line of choice is Costa, although i am British, i live on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. When i book a cruise online i have the choice of booking through Costas Spanish site and pay in Euros or Costas English site and pay in pound sterling.

When i find the cruise i want, it takes a split second to book the room and pay online. I get a email conformation a couple of minutes later, there is no human interaction with this booking. I can then buy drinks packages and any other trimmings i want online for the cruise, again apart from me there is no human involved with this. A week or so before the cruise i get emailed all the paperwork including labels for my luggage, this is done automatically, no human is involved in this.

 

 So you do not think any humans  input the cruises into the system or the IT dept  to keep the programs up to date 

If you could only book online as you are proposing  they would need bigger/better computer systems to handle the extra  bookings

good luck

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

37 minutes ago, drsel said:

I read on a travel agent industry magazine that for most of the main cruise lines, the commission varied from 10 to 16%, depending on the cabin category..

So I assume 10% for insides, 12% for Ocean views, 14% for balconies and 16% for suites?

 

This is applicable for the large travel agents with huge volumes

 

 

Our preferred cruise line pays commissions on a sliding scale related primarily to volume of business/bookings rather by cabin category. This is one of the reasons why it is worth identifying/using top sellers of your preferred line's cruises.

[sanger727]

29 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

Many posters are saying that cruise lines would have to employ zillions more staff if they got rid of the travel agents and the cruise lines wouldn't save any money, i don't get this.

My cruise line of choice is Costa, although i am British, i live on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. When i book a cruise online i have the choice of booking through Costas Spanish site and pay in Euros or Costas English site and pay in pound sterling.

When i find the cruise i want, it takes a split second to book the room and pay online. I get a email conformation a couple of minutes later, there is no human interaction with this booking. I can then buy drinks packages and any other trimmings i want online for the cruise, again apart from me there is no human involved with this. A week or so before the cruise i get emailed all the paperwork including labels for my luggage, this is done automatically, no human is involved in this. Once on the ship the more i spend the more loyalty points i get, my points are given to me online a couple of weeks after the cruise is finished, again no human is involved with this, that's what computers are for. 

So i have done a couple of weeks cruising with Costa, apart from interacting with staff on the ship, i have had no other interaction with any staff on land. Of course Costa like other lines have staffed call centres where i can call if something is a miss, and of course they have I T and computer programmers to update their sites, but these staff are already in situ. 

If cruise lines did away with travel agents why do people seem to think that it would cost them more, as they would have to take on a army of new staff?

 

I believe the thinking is that the people who today call their TA and say that they would like to take a Caribbean cruise in May that goes to San Juan and Belize on a newer ship will now be calling the cruise line with that request. Which is a more complicated and time consuming request to find the itinerary the person is looking for and explain the room options and promo rates than simply booking a cruise. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

32 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

Many posters are saying that cruise lines would have to employ zillions more staff if they got rid of the travel agents and the cruise lines wouldn't save any money, i don't get this.

My cruise line of choice is Costa, although i am British, i live on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. When i book a cruise online i have the choice of booking through Costas Spanish site and pay in Euros or Costas English site and pay in pound sterling.

When i find the cruise i want, it takes a split second to book the room and pay online. I get a email conformation a couple of minutes later, there is no human interaction with this booking. I can then buy drinks packages and any other trimmings i want online for the cruise, again apart from me there is no human involved with this. A week or so before the cruise i get emailed all the paperwork including labels for my luggage, this is done automatically, no human is involved in this. Once on the ship the more i spend the more loyalty points i get, my points are given to me online a couple of weeks after the cruise is finished, again no human is involved with this, that's what computers are for. 

So i have done a couple of weeks cruising with Costa, apart from interacting with staff on the ship, i have had no other interaction with any staff on land. Of course Costa like other lines have staffed call centres where i can call if something is a miss, and of course they have I T and computer programmers to update their sites, but these staff are already in situ. 

If cruise lines did away with travel agents why do people seem to think that it would cost them more, as they would have to take on a army of new staff?

Marketing, Advertising, Inquiries from new cruisers (who may never actually book)....

Think it through!

As for your "ease" of booking direct online: In a 5 minute phone call (or email) to my TA, I can do a booking, receive every available cruise line perk AND, most importantly, come away with an added TA rebate or refundable SBC of approx 10% of the commissionable fare. 

Thus, for a 30 day balcony cruise on Oceania, that's easily $2k in my pocket for not DIY the booking.

[Flatbush Flyer]

9 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

I believe the thinking is that the people who today call their TA and say that they would like to take a Caribbean cruise in May that goes to San Juan and Belize on a newer ship will now be calling the cruise line with that request. Which is a more complicated and time consuming request to find the itinerary the person is looking for and explain the room options and promo rates than simply booking a cruise. 

...if they even book the cruise!

[drsel]

Some  agencies also pay a consortium  to get better commission  rates
 The rate of commission is usually the the same  for insides as higher categories
volume is the key
10%  of $500 fare  is not really much in the grand scheme   as others have pointed out  there are other factors  taken into  account  so the commissionable rate my be only $300  in the end
JMO

The 10 to 16% commission paid to Cruise agents is only on the base fare, excluding port fees and taxes.

[gerryuk]

57 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Marketing, Advertising, Inquiries from new cruisers (who may never actually book)....

Think it through!

 

All cruise lines have marketing , advertising departments and have staff to answer phone enquiries, many in different languages, nothing new there.  

[gerryuk]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

As for your "ease" of booking direct online: In a 5 minute phone call (or email) to my TA, I can do a booking, receive every available cruise line perk AND, most importantly, come away with an added TA rebate or refundable SBC of approx 10% of the commissionable fare. 

Thus, for a 30 day balcony cruise on Oceania, that's easily $2k in my pocket for not DIY the booking.

Ok i take your point about perks and other posters telling us they get freebies from travel agents, but you don't get them by booking online.

But hang on here a minute, who is paying for these perks?, who is paying for these freebies?, and who is paying you $2k by not booking direct? Nothing in life is free, somebody somewhere is having to pay this, freebies and perks don't grow on trees. 

A serious question, are those who book online and who don't use travel agents, subsidising those cruisers, who do?

 

 

[George C]

I prefer booking straight with cruise line, we tried a agent for last cruise and they were useless. I know there are good agents out there this wasn’t one of them. 

Edited August 5, 2020 by George C

[Flatbush Flyer]

10 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

All cruise lines have marketing , advertising departments and have staff to answer phone enquiries, many in different languages, nothing new there.  

What part do you not understand about the volume of inquiries now done by thousands of TAs worldwide. Are you suggesting that the  phone/web inquiries alone to those TAs could be absorbed by existing staff who already have a full plate? That's naive.

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

8 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

Ok i take your point about perks and other posters telling us they get freebies from travel agents, but you don't get them by booking online.

But hang on here a minute, who is paying for these perks?, who is paying for these freebies?, and who is paying you $2k by not booking direct? Nothing in life is free, somebody somewhere is having to pay this, freebies and perks don't grow on trees. 

A serious question, are those who book online and who don't use travel agents, subsidising those cruisers, who do?

 

 

Let's hope so!

 

Look: no matter how you slice it or dice it-

with no TA, no commission sharing.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Flatbush Flyer

[LHT28]

13 minutes ago, George C said:

I prefer booking straight with cruise line, we tried a agent for last cruise and they were useless.

 

Were they a true agent or an order taker?

 

[George C]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

 

Were they a true agent or an order taker?

 

They were a agent 

[gerryuk]

7 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

What part do you not understand about the volume of inquiries now done by thousands of TAs worldwide. Are you suggesting that the  phone/web inquiries alone to those TAs could be absorbed by existing staff who already have a full plate? That's naive.

 

And many of those enquires will be sorted by your travel agent who will phone the cruise line or check the web, though.

[sfaaa]

MSC is not very keen on using TAs in N America. It seems to be getting by OK.

[Charles4515]

Ok i take your point about perks and other posters telling us they get freebies from travel agents, but you don't get them by booking online.
But hang on here a minute, who is paying for these perks?, who is paying for these freebies?, and who is paying you $2k by not booking direct? Nothing in life is free, somebody somewhere is having to pay this, freebies and perks don't grow on trees. 
A serious question, are those who book online and who don't use travel agents, subsidising those cruisers, who do?
 
 

Why would we care? Duh.Those who could book online could use a travel agent. But those who use travel agents are not subsidizing those who book online.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[aungrl]

4 hours ago, gerryuk said:

Ok i take your point about perks and other posters telling us they get freebies from travel agents, but you don't get them by booking online.

But hang on here a minute, who is paying for these perks?, who is paying for these freebies?, and who is paying you $2k by not booking direct? Nothing in life is free, somebody somewhere is having to pay this, freebies and perks don't grow on trees. 

A serious question, are those who book online and who don't use travel agents, subsidising those cruisers, who do?

 

 

You might want to take a look at CruiseTruth.com.   The site is focused on luxury cruising/travel, but a lot of the information is applicable to cruising in general.  That site would suggest that yes, most definitely, anyone booking direct with the cruise line means the cruise line doesn't pay a commission on that booking, so those individuals are at least indirectly subsidizing others who use a TA and for whom the cruise line has to pay the commission.   

[rkacruiser]

This is an interesting thread to read.  Lots of good posts on both sides of the issue.

 

I know the benefits that I have received by using a travel agent for my cruise bookings.

 

Some travel agents offer more than others as I have discovered.  Those good people, working within the confines of their organization's policies for the cruise(s) that I want to book, that are not able to match the benefits/pricing/perks of another agency:  I don't blame.  They are doing the best that they can!  (And, I have seen that more than once.)  

 

What "slice of the pie" that I pay for a cruise my travel agent receives is of no concern for me.  What I am concerned about is a reservation that is accurately made, with help quickly available if issues arise and changes to the reservation need to be made, and an ombudsman type person to properly represent me with those issues.  

[lenquixote66]

My former TA gave gifts.For the first cruise booked a canvas bag.For the second cruise booked a quality pair of binoculars.For our third cruise with her a carryon .

[donaldsc]

11 hours ago, gerryuk said:

Ok i take your point about perks and other posters telling us they get freebies from travel agents, but you don't get them by booking online.

But hang on here a minute, who is paying for these perks?, who is paying for these freebies?, and who is paying you $2k by not booking direct? Nothing in life is free, somebody somewhere is having to pay this, freebies and perks don't grow on trees. 

A serious question, are those who book online and who don't use travel agents, subsidising those cruisers, who do?

 

 

 

I don't much care if the on line bookers are subsidizing my perks.  That is their problem and not mine.  You can use the same logic for people who buy stuff using coupons or stuff on sale or even people who do not believe in taking uneaten food from a restaurant in a doggy bag.

 

DON