Exceptional Initiative Expanded

[History&Wine]

"The Exceptional Initiative will now be providing credits to guests who have lost deposits, and Travel Advisors who have lost commissions under Crystal Cruises’ former ownership, regardless of the ship."

 

This has been clarified.  Travel advisors are not eligible to apply for credits.  However, TAs will receive full commission on new bookings.  Should a client apply a $5,000 credit to a $10,000 booking, advisors will receive a commission on $10,000 even though the client only paid $5,000 for the sailing.

 

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/NicheLuxury/articles/Crystal-Clarifies-Lost-Advisor-Commission-Statement

[bitob]

2 hours ago, History&Wine said:

"The Exceptional Initiative will now be providing credits to guests who have lost deposits, and Travel Advisors who have lost commissions under Crystal Cruises’ former ownership, regardless of the ship."

 

This has been clarified.  Travel advisors are not eligible to apply for credits.  However, TAs will receive full commission on new bookings.  Should a client apply a $5,000 credit to a $10,000 booking, advisors will receive a commission on $10,000 even though the client only paid $5,000 for the sailing.

 

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/NicheLuxury/articles/Crystal-Clarifies-Lost-Advisor-Commission-Statement

Interesting way to try to attract TAs who are not promoting Crystal because of lost funds.  Kind of like tipping in a restaurant -- if they give you a free entree do you tip on the actual cost on the bill or the service received for serving 2 entrees which would have resulted in a higher bill.  I would think most TAs would expect commission on the actual cost of the cruise 

[Keith1010]

2 hours ago, History&Wine said:

"The Exceptional Initiative will now be providing credits to guests who have lost deposits, and Travel Advisors who have lost commissions under Crystal Cruises’ former ownership, regardless of the ship."

 

This has been clarified.  Travel advisors are not eligible to apply for credits.  However, TAs will receive full commission on new bookings.  Should a client apply a $5,000 credit to a $10,000 booking, advisors will receive a commission on $10,000 even though the client only paid $5,000 for the sailing.

 

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/NicheLuxury/articles/Crystal-Clarifies-Lost-Advisor-Commission-Statement

 

This is a good move.When the program first came out while I am sure the TA's were happy for their clients the reduction in overall cruise fares was impacting their commission. In many cases this was for cruise already booked.So the TA was penalized.  So this is a nice approach.  At the same time there are cases where the program is resulting in more bookings which is certain a positive for the TA's.

 

Thanks for posting this.

Keith

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

 

This is a good move.When the program first came out while I am sure the TA's were happy for their clients the reduction in overall cruise fares was impacting their commission. In many cases this was for cruise already booked.So the TA was penalized.  So this is a nice approach.  At the same time there are cases where the program is resulting in more bookings which is certain a positive for the TA's.

 

Thanks for posting this.

Keith

Actually the full commission has been protected since the EI programme started. We booked fairly early for 2024 and the full commission was reported on the Agent Copy invoice.

 

This is actually not new. With a few notable exceptions, all the lines fully protected agent commissions through Covid, paying full commissions where owed on cancelled sailings, and protecting commissions on replacement cruises booked using the FCCs issued to clients for Covid-cancelled cruises.

[happy cruising]

I received the clarification below on this which does not make sense to me … does this make sense to any of you? What does this really mean?

 

Although the front end commission remains protected, they are doing so for all the added paperwork and effort required by the agency for re-adjustments. They do not mention however that the bonus commission originally tied in with getting agents to re-book with Crystal once again has been lost.

[Keith1010]

On 7/11/2023 at 2:15 PM, happy cruising said:

I received the clarification below on this which does not make sense to me … does this make sense to any of you? What does this really mean?

 

Although the front end commission remains protected, they are doing so for all the added paperwork and effort required by the agency for re-adjustments. They do not mention however that the bonus commission originally tied in with getting agents to re-book with Crystal once again has been lost.

I have read this over a few times since you post it and it seem to make sense to me although in the end as a guest rather than a TA It's something I would think a guest would not need to understand.

 

My simple understanding is they are commissioning this before the adjustment is made for the voucher recognizing all the work the TA does. At the same time if I am understanding what you were told the initial bonus program which I believe provided higher than normal commissions has ended but that applies to all bookings regardless of whether or not it involves a voucher.

 

May I ask what is unclear about this?

 

Keith 

[Roland4]

8 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I have read this over a few times since you post it and it seem to make sense to me although in the end as a guest rather than a TA It's something I would think a guest would not need to understand.

 

My simple understanding is they are commissioning this before the adjustment is made for the voucher recognizing all the work the TA does. At the same time if I am understanding what you were told the initial bonus program which I believe provided higher than normal commissions has ended but that applies to all bookings regardless of whether or not it involves a voucher.

 

May I ask what is unclear about this?

 

Keith 

I suspect Crystal commission-protected the EI in order to avoid further antagonizing the agent community. Given the significant dollars that I suspect even one 20% tranche represents, deducting the commission would be a significant hit to the TA. An EI voucher of $10K at 15% would be a "hit" of $1,500.00 off the commission if the commission was paid "net" of the EI voucher. I actually expected them do exactly that and was pleasantly surprised that they paid on the "gross" rather than the "net".

[happy cruising]

What I really wanted to know was: if I received an exceptional Initiative credit which reduced my cruise fare by $900 does my agent receive commission on the full fare or on the full cruise fare minus $900? Is the commission exactly the same or is the commission reduced? 

[Keith1010]

24 minutes ago, happy cruising said:

What I really wanted to know was: if I received an exceptional Initiative credit which reduced my cruise fare by $900 does my agent receive commission on the full fare or on the full cruise fare minus $900? Is the commission exactly the same or is the commission reduced? 

My understanding is under the new program they receive the commission for the full fare. That was not my understanding for the original program but Larry believes it was.  

 

Keith.

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, happy cruising said:

What I really wanted to know was: if I received an exceptional Initiative credit which reduced my cruise fare by $900 does my agent receive commission on the full fare or on the full cruise fare minus $900? Is the commission exactly the same or is the commission reduced? 

Commission is paid on the full fare, net of the Administration Fees (formerly the P,S & H charges). The EI voucher does not affect the commission received.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Roland4

[happy cruising]

Thanks Roland4!