What is a Travel Agent's job exactly?

[hollowgirl]

I ask what a TA is supposed to provide for their client because so far I have had to do a lot of things I assumed a TA would cover. I will not mention names as I don't want to throw them under a bus but so far I have had to handle my own

1. Customer  service issues with cancelling excursions

2. Watch out for my own price decreases 

3. Book my own specialty and my time dining which couldn't be done online because RC cap you at 6 guests and we have a party of 7

4. Follow up on refunds with the cruise line directly.

 

So other than making the initial booking and getting us OBC my TA has had me do all of the above, even when I directly asked if they could handle it for me.

 

 

[sparks1093]

15 minutes ago, hollowgirl said:

I ask what a TA is supposed to provide for their client because so far I have had to do a lot of things I assumed a TA would cover. I will not mention names as I don't want to throw them under a bus but so far I have had to handle my own

1. Customer  service issues with cancelling excursions

2. Watch out for my own price decreases 

3. Book my own specialty and my time dining which couldn't be done online because RC cap you at 6 guests and we have a party of 7

4. Follow up on refunds with the cruise line directly.

 

So other than making the initial booking and getting us OBC my TA has had me do all of the above, even when I directly asked if they could handle it for me.

 

 

Unless you are dealing with a very full-service travel agent excursions and onboard activities are the responsibility of the guest. Every TA handles #2 differently and I suspect that again, this is something that most will let the guest do (although many will try to get the price adjustment if asked to). If you are talking about following up on refunds for cancelled excursions then that would be your responsibility since you made the reservation. (I don't think TA's get anything for making those types of arrangements.) The best thing to do when starting a relationship with a professional like a TA is to go over the expectations of what will be provided and who does what so there are no surprises.

[hollowgirl]

5 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Unless you are dealing with a very full-service travel agent excursions and onboard activities are the responsibility of the guest. Every TA handles #2 differently and I suspect that again, this is something that most will let the guest do (although many will try to get the price adjustment if asked to). If you are talking about following up on refunds for cancelled excursions then that would be your responsibility since you made the reservation. (I don't think TA's get anything for making those types of arrangements.) The best thing to do when starting a relationship with a professional like a TA is to go over the expectations of what will be provided and who does what so there are no surprises.

I guess my expectations were based on

#1 The service my Sister's TA provides her (should have gone with her but mine offered OBC)

#2 my experience with TAs planning my Disney vacations where they handle everything from fast passes to dining etc. 

I will know better what to expect for next cruise. 

Also the refunds I mentioned are a result from me finding a lower price for one of our 3 cabins. The TA handled the refund request so I don't understand why it's my job to follow up on it. It's been. Beyond a month since request. 

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by hollowgirl

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Unless you are dealing with a very full-service travel agent excursions and onboard activities are the responsibility of the guest. Every TA handles #2 differently and I suspect that again, this is something that most will let the guest do (although many will try to get the price adjustment if asked to)

 

hollowgirl,

 

sparks1093's post states what I have experienced.  I have never asked my TA to make shore excursion bookings UNLESS it is a shore excursion that her agency is offering for their clients.  If a cancellation then needs to be made for that tour, she would then handle that.  

 

I do a better job than she in watching for falling prices on my booking.  (But, being qualified by the cruise line for that price reduction without having to cancel and rebook is a usually a problem.)  She does an excellent job in informing me of upgrade/upsell opportunities.  

 

When I have not been able to find acceptable air to/from a port (particularly for international flights) and the cruise line's air is either not acceptable or not available, she has been able to find very acceptable air pricing by going through the travel industry consortium that her agency is a member.  

 

If problems occur before sailing, during the trip, or post-trip, her services are those of an ombudsman.  

 

What do these services cost me?  Nothing.  Plus, I receive whatever benefits her agency offers for my particular cruise.  Seems not to be true for many, but for me, it is an absolute no-brainer to use a travel agent to help me plan a trip.  

[navybankerteacher]

A travel agent’s job really depends upon what that travel agent indicates he/she will do for the customer.
 

 I recall an angry traveler at the Trevi Fountain in Rome   loudly talking with her companion about how her agent had let her down by not advising that the fountain would be empty because of a major reconstruction project - saying that there was no point in her having come all the way from Civita Vecchia.

[shipgeeks]

My expectations for a travel agency and agent:

1.  A very comprehensive website showing every cruise on every cruise line that they handle.  In addition to dates and itineraries, it will show starting prices for every category of cabin, deck plans, ship information, and automatically indicate which discount, if any, will provide the best price, based on our personal data (veteran/senior/repeat passenger).   It's easy to find the right cruise.

2.  We have the same agent every time we book.  He will have our data stored to enable him to make the booking including our personal info as well as our dining preferences, bed setup, etc.  We will trust him to get the cabin we want, and to set everything up accurately, so there will no hassles or mistakes to deal with later.

As cruisers who do our own research and know our preferences, this works perfectly for us.

 

We know that we are responsible for doing the checkin, and for booking excursions, etc.

Knowing that all the arrangements are done right initially, we've never had any reason to go back and pursue price decreases, changes of plans, cancellations, etc.

 

I think the point is that an agent for something like a Disney vacation probably benefits from booking as many extras as the client can be talked into, whereas a cruise agent does not.  

 

 

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

We have the same agent every time we book.  He will have our data stored to enable him to make the booking including our personal info as well as our dining preferences, bed setup, etc.

 

As do I.  When my agent left her agency and went to a competing new agency, there was a no-compete clause in her contract with the previous agency that required me not to use her services for one year.  My account had been assigned to another agent in her former agency.  I knew that agent; I did not care for that agent based on what I knew about her.  I then chose another agent to handle an existing reservation (a very experienced one).  This agent did OK, what was expected.  But, nothing more before or after the cruise.  

 

20 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I recall an angry traveler at the Trevi Fountain in Rome   loudly talking with her companion about how her agent had let her down by not advising that the fountain would be empty because of a major reconstruction project - saying that there was no point in her having come all the way from Civita Vecchia.

 

😲    Like there is nothing else in Rome?  These morons live among us!  

[awestover89]

It really depends on an agent to agent basis, but it also generally depends on what your agent gets from you, i.e. how much they are getting paid for your booking and how much work is required of them.
 

Imagine three different travel agents, A, B, and C. Travel agent A charges you a $100 service fee, and doesn't offer any bonus OBC. Travel agent B has no service fee, gives $50 OBC, and is with a massive big box agency. Travel agent C is offering you $200 OBC and charges no service fee. You are booking a $2,000 balcony cabin, and the commission paid to a travel agent is $250. Agent A is earning $350 total from working with you, and might have fewer total clients. Agent B earns $200 dollars (the OBC is paid out of pocket by the agency/from their commission) and probably has thousands of clients. Agent C only earns $50 from your booking, and probably has either a bunch of clients, or is generally not a well received agent and has to offer big benefits to draw in clients.

Of those three agents, in general, you should expect the best service from agent A. There are trade offs for every benefit you get; an agent offering a large amount of OBC may refuse to honor a price drop, because then their commission could drop negative.