Cruise Agents....what do they do or what don't they do?

[kathy49]

I have recently run across a "cruise agent" that will not book any air. They require the passengers to go into the booking and do EZ air if that is their choice. If other air passenger books with airline.  I always thought a cruise agent would help with any travel that is associated with the cruise ie air/pre post hotels/transfers etc. Is this normal for passengers to be booking their own air if it is part of an air/sea package with the cruise line. Have things changed that much?

[1025cruise]

Depends on the agent. If they only do cruises, they might not want to do air. In a lot of cases there is no commission on air. Now, if the passenger wants to do the cruise line package, I would expect the agent to assist with that.

[kathy49]

yes the $$ to be made are in the actual cruise booking but if the air is thru the cruise line then the agent should be doing that booking. All I can figure is it is some very discount broker that sells with very low profit margin. A good full service agent is worth the extra $$ for a cruise booking in my opinion. In this case passenger goes in and books EZ air...does not inform agent and is late paying for the air and entire booking cancelled. So not the agents problem but not a good way to do business.

[jsn55]

Interesting ... my cruise agent doesn't book air either ... when she wants to fly somewhere, I do it for her!  Well, I find what she wants and send her a link so she can book it.  She was a friend first, we are on a travel forum together .   I'll bet this cruise agent you're referring to got burned once somehow ... but I don't think I'd do biz with an agent I didn't know who refused to book air, even with the cruiseline, doesn't make much sense. I understand that booking air can be very easy, or very complex , and can take a lot of time.  I sometimes book two one-way tix on different airlines, one with miles, one with cash ... and almost any combination you can think of.  Then there are the upgrades ... I enjoy playing the points & miles game and I love to win.  Like a $900 first class flight to Beijing, the best one ever.

Edited June 15, 2023 by jsn55

[LHT28]

some cruise only  agencies  do not have  IATA certifications to book air

 It costs  them $$$ to get the proper  documents to do this

 

No problem booking cruises

[Hlitner]

We generally use one of two favored high volume cruise agencies.  Since we book a lot of cruises, we have developed a pretty good relationship with these agencies/agents.  Our favorite agent, who has all kinds of continuing ed certifications (for land,sea and air) does not like to get involved in air, and we agree!  The problem is that I always look at many different air options in terms of flights, airlines, airports, schedules, etc.   

 

My message to the OP may not be what they want to hear.  We are now in an era when most travel is Do It Yourself (DIY) on the Internet!  Even when we book our cruises (always done through agencies that give us decent on board credits and other amenities you do not get when booking direct with a cruise line) we often do it through the online booking engine of our favored cruise agencies.  

 

For those not willing to do the "work" and/or homework, there are options,  You can book directly with some cruise lines who will arrange your air, hotels, and cruises.  And you will generally pay dearly for this service (when compared to doing it on your own).  Most cruise lines charge about twice the price for hotels than booking the same hotel on your own.  And even with transfers, a private transfer (or even a taxi) is often less expensive (and faster) that cruise line transfers.

 

So to answer the OP's final question, YES, things have changed in the travel/cruise world.  We are now in a world of smartphones (almost a necessity for international travel), apps, social media, etc.  As an example, we are in the process of putting together a lengthy cruise/land trip for next year.  We already booked the associated 35 day cruise (using our favorite cruise agent) which will debark us in Trieste, Italy!  I am now looking at options for a few week self-driving trip that will likely involve Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria!  But that may change as DW and I look at maps, roads, and land options.  Once we decide when and where we want to end our trip, I will look at the various air options.  All my "work" will be done online without the help of any travel agent.  It is all so much fun :).

 

Hank

[jsn55]

38 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We generally use one of two favored high volume cruise agencies.  Since we book a lot of cruises, we have developed a pretty good relationship with these agencies/agents.  Our favorite agent, who has all kinds of continuing ed certifications (for land,sea and air) does not like to get involved in air, and we agree!  The problem is that I always look at many different air options in terms of flights, airlines, airports, schedules, etc.   

 

My message to the OP may not be what they want to hear.  We are now in an era when most travel is Do It Yourself (DIY) on the Internet!  Even when we book our cruises (always done through agencies that give us decent on board credits and other amenities you do not get when booking direct with a cruise line) we often do it through the online booking engine of our favored cruise agencies.  

 

For those not willing to do the "work" and/or homework, there are options,  You can book directly with some cruise lines who will arrange your air, hotels, and cruises.  And you will generally pay dearly for this service (when compared to doing it on your own).  Most cruise lines charge about twice the price for hotels than booking the same hotel on your own.  And even with transfers, a private transfer (or even a taxi) is often less expensive (and faster) that cruise line transfers.

 

So to answer the OP's final question, YES, things have changed in the travel/cruise world.  We are now in a world of smartphones (almost a necessity for international travel), apps, social media, etc.  As an example, we are in the process of putting together a lengthy cruise/land trip for next year.  We already booked the associated 35 day cruise (using our favorite cruise agent) which will debark us in Trieste, Italy!  I am now looking at options for a few week self-driving trip that will likely involve Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria!  But that may change as DW and I look at maps, roads, and land options.  Once we decide when and where we want to end our trip, I will look at the various air options.  All my "work" will be done online without the help of any travel agent.  It is all so much fun :).

 

Hank

I agree ... it's FUN planning travel online, for some of us.  If you're in Opatija on the Istrian Peninsula of Croatia, have a look at the Miramar Hotel ... one of our favorites ever.  We spent four days there and had something fascinating to do every minute.

Edited June 15, 2023 by jsn55

[Ashland]

We book our own air. No TA is going to be obsessed with checking prices as often as I do and also responding when there has been a change which affects our chosen seating. I actually enjoy booking our air.

[Hlitner]

10 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

I agree ... it's FUN planning travel online, for some of us.  If you're in Opatija on the Istrian Peninsula of Croatia, have a look at the Miramar Hotel ... one of our favorites ever.  We spent four days there and had something fascinating to do every minute.

Thanks for this post.  We had not even considered driving over to that part of Croatia...until we read your post :).  So now, I need to consider adding a few more days and making some route changes :).  We were thinking of going as far south as Split, so we could work our way up in that direction before heading into Slovenia.  Now we need to look at the eastern side of the Peninsula.

[KEN W]

2 hours ago, Ashland said:

We book our own air. No TA is going to be obsessed with checking prices as often as I do and also responding when there has been a change which affects our chosen seating. I actually enjoy booking our air.

 Yes.....I book air. Almost always on the Cruise line website. I want to book seats of my choice. Also it is almost always cheaper through the Line. Plus I can keep checking for lower costs and make a change easily.

[kathy49]

Okay well seems like this is the norm. I prefer doing it all myself ...I guess there are still fun service agents but you no doubt pay much more. Thanks for the replies.

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, kathy49 said:

Okay well seems like this is the norm. I prefer doing it all myself ...I guess there are still fun service agents but you no doubt pay much more. Thanks for the replies.

Who says you pay much more? At least from cruise lines, the cruise line is paying the commission.

[kathy49]

4 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Who says you pay much more? At least from cruise lines, the cruise line is paying the commission.

not written in stone but many really full service agent do charge fees for their service. I still say that if a cruiser is booking the air thru the cruise line a good agent would have no problem booking that for them...if they want to do their own air and have agent check 15 permutations on flights etc. okay different story.

[MCC retired]

19 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Who says you pay much more? At least from cruise lines, the cruise line is paying the commission.

Most every Cruise Line Air has been non commissionable to TA's for many years now.

[jsn55]

1 hour ago, kathy49 said:

not written in stone but many really full service agent do charge fees for their service. I still say that if a cruiser is booking the air thru the cruise line a good agent would have no problem booking that for them...if they want to do their own air and have agent check 15 permutations on flights etc. okay different story.

It's important to differentiate a real travel advisor (as they prefer to be called now) and an online booking service.  While the OBS call themselves travel agents, they just take bookings and add no value.  After the airlines stopped paying commissions to TAs, there was an informal rule that a TA would charge a fee to book air only ... but would be happy to book air along with a cruise.  I wouldn't expect anyone to work for free, so this always made sense to me.  I have no idea where the 'you pay more to a (full) service agent' comes from.  My TA always saves me money booking cruises, she's able to negotiate lots of included goodies.  With air fares changing every 5 seconds, it would be impossible to know if a TA charges more for an air booking.

[kathy49]

I was a travel agent (thats what we were not advisors) for many years but that was over 15 years ago. Things were changing fast.  Yes for someone to sit down at your desk and plan a trip (not just book a cruise) but something involving air/hotel and sightseeing many agencies in our area charged fees which seem justified for a complex booking.  The money in the business is commission from a cruise or expensive land tour....not that real detailed itinerary planning etc. I got out of the business as the benefits went away and it became order taking. Now it is mostly do it yourself.  A good cruise only agency will negotiate discount or group rates but even then you have to monitor your booking as often sales are put on and undercut the agency rate. With all these drink and other package add ons even booking a simple cruise can be complicated/

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, kathy49 said:

not written in stone but many really full service agent do charge fees for their service. I still say that if a cruiser is booking the air thru the cruise line a good agent would have no problem booking that for them...if they want to do their own air and have agent check 15 permutations on flights etc. okay different story.

Booking  air  the TA does not get commission  from the airline or the cruise line   so some will charge a fee to do so

They may just suck it up if you are booking a high priced cruise

 

Time is money in any business  where they  get commissions

 

Time wasters & tire kickers  take up time they could spend on people actually wanting to book something

JMO

[kathy49]

7 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Booking  air  the TA does not get commission  from the airline or the cruise line   so some will charge a fee to do so

They may just suck it up if you are booking a high priced cruise

 

Time is money in any business  where they  get commissions

 

Time wasters & tire kickers  take up time they could spend on people actually wanting to book something

JMO

Know "tire kickers" all too well!!!

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Booking  air  the TA does not get commission  from the airline or the cruise line   so some will charge a fee to do so

They may just suck it up if you are booking a high priced cruise

 

Time is money in any business  where they  get commissions

 

Time wasters & tire kickers  take up time they could spend on people actually wanting to book something

JMO

The TA we use books cruise air with no extra fee. He realizes he in a service industry, and it is competitive.

[LHT28]

26 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

The TA we use books cruise air with no extra fee. He realizes he in a service industry, and it is competitive.

As I said  some will  waive the fee 

If you book with the same agency  they will treat you well compared to "tire kickers"

 

 There is  no SOP   shop around  for the  TA  that works best for your needs

 

[ontheweb]

54 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

As I said  some will  waive the fee 

If you book with the same agency  they will treat you well compared to "tire kickers"

 

 There is  no SOP   shop around  for the  TA  that works best for your needs

 

And once you have found one that works well for you, stick with him or her.

[jsn55]

22 hours ago, LHT28 said:

As I said  some will  waive the fee 

If you book with the same agency  they will treat you well compared to "tire kickers"

 

 There is  no SOP   shop around  for the  TA  that works best for your needs

 

I agree ... today's ignorant mentality of 'cheapest' everything results in many trips that aren't as enjoyable as they could be.  

[KEN W]

The other thing about booking it through the cruise line is that when you book it, the payment for the air is due when you make the final cruise payment. That's if you only make a deposit. It you book the air through other travel agencies or with the airline, you have to make the payment when you book it. 

[ontheweb]

19 minutes ago, KEN W said:

The other thing about booking it through the cruise line is that when you book it, the payment for the air is due when you make the final cruise payment. That's if you only make a deposit. It you book the air through other travel agencies or with the airline, you have to make the payment when you book it. 

And when something happens like Covid to cancel your cruise, you do not need to get a refund from more than the cruise line. In fact, as you wrote if the airfare is not yet paid, obviously there is not even a need for that to be a refund to chase. (Going by our experience with a cruise cancelled with Princess and Princess EZ Air in 2020.)

[horseymike]

Maybe booking airline tickets is a no win situation for a travel agent , think about it , no commission and when something goes wrong ( and these days it does with regularity ) the travel agent has to try and deal with the mess created by cancellations or delays of flights , not to mention seat assignments.