Travel Agents & Gift Cards...

[Rick&Jeannie]

I just bought a couple more gift cards this AM and passed them along to our TA for application to cruise fare.  Afterwards, I was thinking about the whole money trail and where the money is flowing.  While we've cruised a fair amount...this is the first time we've gone through a TA.  How does a TA make any money when the client pays the cruise fare with gift cards?  I hope they are not being short-changed, but I cannot see how they get any benefit in me being a client if I pay with GCs.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

The gift cards are processed by the cruise line as a payment, not an adjustment to the fare. The agent still makes their commission off the base fare as usual in this situation. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Ah...good to know.  I wasn't thinking about commission amounts!

[wrongwaywatson]

It's no different than if you paid by a credit card.  The commission is paid to the agent after you sail

[cometjr]

Does anyone know if I can change my payment method after the cruise has been paid in full, meaning can I go back and use gift cards to pay for the cruise and get the money refunded back to my credit card? Thanks!

[annlee]

Unfortunately, no.