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Another question about travel agents


sjde
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Someone on another thread criticized online TAs because many were newbies or part time. Personally I wouldn't care if they were part time.  

 

I am surprised to be getting quotes from TAs that don't offer any perks like on board credit. And this was a local TA who specializes in cruises , not an online TA. 

 

We are planning several trips  and none have impressed me so far (messing up the date or itinerary I asked for, quoting me higher than what I can get by doing it myself-2 of them- , not seeming very knowledgeable,  not answering back on my initial query, etc). I may just go back to doing it on my own. Or maybe I need to go through ten to find a good one-the top 10%! The 4 or 5 so far had all been recommended too .

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If you can "do it on your own" then you need only look for a simple booking TA with 7% to 10% back in OBC or other form.  My membership warehouse travel division gives me back about 8% in the form of a gift card which I then use to buy groceries at the warehouse store - thus good as cash to me.  There are probably other TAs out there that give another couple of % back, but since I only take one cruise per year, it's not worth my time and effort to search them out.

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I am not sure I completely understand your post but will try to answer what seems to be your issue.  As a very long time (over 40 years) and extensive world cruiser we have long advocated that it makes sense (both financially and service wise) to shop around among reputable cruise/travel agencies for the best overall deals.  One could certainly criticize or praise various online agencies, small local agencies, large local agencies, big box stores,etc.   But in the final analysis it come down to doing your homework and spending some times shopping around, asking questions (of the agencies and agents) and ultimately making your own decision.  As you have found, getting quotes will get you numbers all over the place (this is why you shop around).  There is a pretty popular online service that lets folks post a particular cruise and then have multiple cruise/travel agencies bid on the cruise.  It is an interesting concept because one can stay anonymous and get all kinds of bids.  We have done this on a few cruises and many of the agencies who bid were not even in the proper ball park....which is again why you need to shop around and develop your own short list of acceptable agencies.

 

Some might ask is it worth all the trouble/time or should one just book direct with the cruise line.  I can tell you that based on my own experience over many years that we probably average a 10% savings (when looking at the overall booking package) vs booking direct with any cruise line.  Since we tend to book longer more exotic cruises our dollar savings can often be measured in the thousands of dollars.  Somebody booking a 7 day Caribbean cruise will not generally see those kind of savings but they can still expect to save hundreds of dollars.

 

Hank

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Thanks for the insight NantahalCruiser and Hlitner.

I guess I'm just disappointed. Someone elsewhere said generally, in his experience,  TAs give excellent service or a great deal but not both.  Since I'm used to doing it on my own , and usually  find pretty good deals,  I was hoping for service,  since we were planning a world cruise, something we'd never done before. 

Then,  planning another shorter cruise,  I was hoping for a deal, but not only was her price $1000 more than online, she offered no OBC either. She was very responsive-i have to give her that! 

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Once we have decided on a cruise it takes me less than 3 minutes to put it up on a bidding board in order to get competitive quotes.   We do not always go with the absolute lowest bid. 

 

We have used this method in the past to ball park our on line TA's number.  As long as the prices were in line we booked with our usual on line TA.  Unfortunately she has left the business.

Edited by iancal
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What NantahalaCruiser cruiser said. We also use the one she uses and have for several

years. In 2009, we used an agency which was owned and operated by our

old neighbor and one of her employees screwed us up. NEVER AGAIN. Since, then we

always go to our very rewarding Big Box which you can do online or call in.

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For a cruise on 2019 we booked directly with the cruise line for the very first time.We initially called for info and the person who answered had the same surname as us.It was his first day on the job and we were the first to book with him and it was wonderful.

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I wouldnt go for those travel agents. I mean seriously, you can get all the information online, on their website or on a hot line. Last time we tried to call on our travel agent we only lost time 

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Speaking of travel agents, the last time I spoke to the one we generally use (he called after I e-mailed a question I had after reading the cruisecritic boards), he sounded desperate as to how long his agency (he is the president) could last. He said he has a lot of work with cancellations and rebooking and no income. He said he has lost his savings and hopes not to lose his home.

 

I e-mailed him to ask the physical address. I sent him a small check as a token of our appreciation for all he has done for us over the years. On our last scheduled cruise, which of course he was never compensated for, he even did extra work helping us with HAL EZ Air. We have also sent for the catalog of an American river cruise line that was touted on one of these boards, and I asked if they booked them in case we find something that works for us. (Like every one else, we need to travel.) And he said he did.

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Travel Agent "deals" are very misunderstood. I can't even remember how many times I've heard family or friends say they need to find one because "they can get a bundle deal". Believing that a combined airfare and hotel is some sort of secret deal. It depends highly on what you are buying. Even the people who do get "deals" don't often give you the full scoop. It's like saying "this car dealer is the best, they gave me a free $2000 Macbook Pro!". You're curious to know what dealer it is as you are in the market for a new car too! Oh, they bought a Corvette? I was looking for a Corolla.

 

As with anything, it pays to shop around and compare prices. There very well are TA deals to be had. There are also deals to be had on many other sources too. Don't expect your mass-market, interior room cruise is going to net you a bottle of wine and a $500 OBC like a 14 day suite on a premium line would. 

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We typically only use 1 TA AND we only use them when we book 1 cruise line. It is a large online TA. But they offer significant savings over booking directly with this 1 cruise line.

 

it doesn’t surprise me that online TAs vs local TAs have better prices but worse service. They are two different businesses. A bit like shopping at Walmart vs a locally owned store. Walmart and online TAs are successful due to the volume of their sales and can negotiate better deals with the cruise line. But you are just a booking number. Local TAs don’t have the same volume but you are a person with a name that they have met and know

 

We are fine with online TAs when we get a nice discount. And the one I use has provided perfectly good service. Booked the right cruise, handled and price drops I found, made sure my final payment was made on time, and made sure I had all the documents I needed. 

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