Any reason not to transfer booking to a TA?

[canderson]

1 hour ago, cruisin lady ca said:

Something that you might consider when choosing a TA….Some TA’s do not participate in Celebrity’s Move Up Program. If that is something you want to have the ability to do, make sure you know whether or not they participate in it. 

Ours does, but to clarify, nothing requires the TA's direct participation.

 

[canderson]

1 hour ago, a1betpr said:

That's a good point, and I also think whether you are with a TA or not might somehow play into the upgrade algorithm.  But in any case we're booked into a Royal Suite so there's very little Moving Up we can really do.  😀

Don't think using a TA figures into it.  They're looking for additional incremental revenue.  But agree on options.  There's only 1 PH on Reflection, and the Reflection Suite is just too far from most regular venues for us apart from the theater, not to mention really oversized for 2 of us.

[Fly and Sail]

Are TA's being paid commission by the cruise lines when the booking is transferred over?

[wrk2cruise]

Yes Celebrity pays the TA commission.   I believe it is only paid after final payment is made and then it may actually be after the sailing date.   Since Celebrity is paying the TA to handle the booking that's why they won't deal with you if you call direct.  It's the TA's job to deal with you.

[canderson]

14 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

Are TA's being paid commission by the cruise lines when the booking is transferred over?

Definitely, else there would be no incentive to take them on.  I believe that one reason that the lines limit the amount of time for the transfer is to have a better chance of offloading questions, reservations and other issues that often come closer to sail date to the agency they will be paying to take over the reservation.  If they didn't, they would be on the hook for all of the customer service right up to the end, while still paying the agency.

 

 

[canderson]

Just now, wrk2cruise said:

Yes Celebrity pays the TA commission.   I believe it is only paid after final payment is made and then it may actually be after the sailing date.   Since Celebrity is paying the TA to handle the booking that's why they won't deal with you if you call direct.  It's the TA's job to deal with you.

Not at final - post-cruise.  It's why so many agencies were really hurting during the pandemic.  They could work and take reservations, but the income stream was a huge problem.

[edgee]

20 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

Is it against rules to direct email?

yes.

[Purplsmurf]

21 hours ago, cameoland said:

Did you try to book an All Included rate with the ALLABOARD100? I found that was the difference in getting it to work (found that info buried in the terms and conditions.)

It was booked AI. My guess is that maybe she would lose something by booking it for us that way? Who knows. She dropped the ball with our travel insurance on our recent cruise and I was upset with her so maybe it’s her way of getting back at us. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[ISABELLA]

On 8/24/2022 at 12:56 PM, a1betpr said:

First time Celebrity/veteran NCL and Princess cruiser here...I booked a cruise for Oct 2023 on the Equinox via the Celebrity website, as no one could match the price I got using the ALLABOARD100 promo code last week.  I am considering moving the booking to a large well-known TA for its platinum card benefits (hint hint!) that include an additional $300 OBC.  Is there any reason I should not do this?  Will this potentially mess something up, or would I be foolish not to transfer the reservation?  The Celebrity website currently shows that I have $1,300 in OBC for this cruise, which I am pretty sure is $600 too high, but I'd hate to lose that by transferring the booking.  Any insight appreciated!

I have been cruising for over 25 years and always had TAs ( small and large)  handling my bookings, but after pandemic shutdown, some TA are on shorter time work schdule and sometime it was hard for me to get in touch with them for time sensitive  issues, like cabin change or price change. So I booked last 4 cruises direct with X and it was easier to do changes when needed or dealing with FCC follow ups. This is just my 2 cents.