We "lost" potentially $17,000 by booking directly with Viking instead of using a travel agent

[BigAl666]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

 

How I wish this was the case.  After now 8 Viking cruises, we have tried to email back the person that booked us or call them and they are gone from Viking.  Or, they just don't respond.  You are lucky that you have been able to maintain the same Viking agent.

I'm delighted to find out that having a non-responsive agent isn't something that only happened to me (but also sorry it happened to others as well). I used the same agent for a number of cruises, but then he just stopped responding to calls or emails - and he is still there after 4+ years. I didn't think I was being a terrible nuisance, but ...

[BigAl666]

1 hour ago, Squawkman said:

This is just one reason I have been using the same Viking agent for several years. One big one is the “welcome back” discount if you book any cruise within 2 weeks of disembarkation - something I understand TAs can’t do. And there’s personal attention for anything Viking including rebooking for additional savings, etc. For example, if I have an issue, I call him first and he’ll best transfer me to the appropriate place for resolution if he can’t resolve it himself. Another example - when we were quarantined for Covid, he called or texted us every day to see how we were and how we were being treated. Yes, I know I can book with him and transfer to a TA, but having him involved throughout the booking is worth more to us than a few hundred OBC.

I think that's terrific, and if I had an agent that provided that level of service I would definitely agree - but I haven't found one, in 12 cruises to date and 5 booked in the future.

 

Luckily, I haven't required that degree of proactivity, but if I found such an agent I would definitely stick with him/her - and recommend them to others.

 

I didn't know about the "welcome back" discount, which is certainly nice - but as I book 12+ months in advance it wouldn't apply to me.

[Squawkman]

3 hours ago, BigAl666 said:

 

I didn't know about the "welcome back" discount, which is certainly nice - but as I book 12+ months in advance it wouldn't apply to me.

It would apply. You just have to make the booking within 2 weeks of disembarkation - you can take the cruise anytime. You get an additional $200 per person OBC above any other discounts for each cruise booked. The amount is the same for river or ocean and long or short cruise. If you’re interested, I can email you his name and extension.

[longterm]

On 11/6/2023 at 3:04 PM, MikeyB said:

I should add why.

Transferring your booking to a TA hands the total responsibility of your booking over to a third party.

They are then "in theory" the people you need to speak to about any inquiries you have.  Including payments.

Makes sense in that they need to do something in order to earn an inflated commision.

And, yes, it is inflated if they can turn over to me as much as $1K! 

Only one reason: for the onboard credits.

 

We just did our 2nd Grand European river cruise, and it was nice to have $600 each in onboard credits--some from our TA, some from Viking. 

As to whether they get an inflated commission, I don't know, and it doesn't affect us either way, so it's a win-win for us.

 

An interesting thing about using agents: on our last trip to South Africa, which we booked through an excellent safari tour company, I asked one of the lodges about rates for an upcoming year, and whether it'd be cheaper for us to book directly through them, since our next trip was going to be a little less complicated. He told me the rate to the safari booking agent was as good, if not better, than what he could offer me.

Then, when we built our house a couple of years ago, we selected the house plan from the builder, signed a contract with them. I assumed that, since we didn't use a realtor, we didn't need to involve one; surprisingly, the builder actually preferred our using a realtor, which meant they had to pay her; we ended up using a realtor, who did absolutely nothing but who got something (probably not 3%) from the builder.

 

So I think that sometimes companies like Viking (or builders) prefer dealing with agents because they know the ins and outs and make things easier overall for them. 

[MikeyB]

2 hours ago, longterm said:

Only one reason: for the onboard credits.

 

So I think that sometimes companies like Viking (or builders) prefer dealing with agents because they know the ins and outs and make things easier overall for them. 

You are making two different and opposite arguments.

I agree that the only reason to book a cruise either with Viking and then transferring to a TA is the OBC.  And please note that my TA gives it to me as a refundable credit. I have received a check for the unused credit from Viking many times.

I don't agree with your last statement.  I expect (sometimes foolishly) that Viking knows more about their product than a third party who sells different cruise lines.  If I call my TA and ask some question, she will likely have to call Viking.  That doesn't make things easier.

In fact, after you book a cruise thru Viking and transfer the booking to a TA, the TA then must call Viking for the sole purpose of transferring a booking.  That does not make Vikings time for efficient.

[longterm]

6 hours ago, MikeyB said:

I don't agree with your last statement. 

You don't have to agree with me, but that doesn't make me wrong. 🙂

 

[Breckski]

33 minutes ago, longterm said:

You don't have to agree with me, but that doesn't make me wrong. 🙂

 

The discussion about Viking wanting to be the agent or not is simple to me.  Viking would rather be the agent.  I'm certain Viking views their travel agents as a profit center to the business.  I feel certain they accumulate the total cost of that department/division and compare that to what would have been paid to outside agencies.  If they can squeeze an additional $200/cabin (compared to the commission they have to pay outside agents), that would be quite a lot of gravy in a year.  

[MikeyB]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

You don't have to agree with me, but that doesn't make me wrong. 🙂

 

Actually, I might agree with you and we could both be wrong.

[netpj]

@millybess We are also from Toronto and will be embarking on our first Viking cruise (32 days) in January.  Out of curisosity, you mentioned in your post you transfer your booking to your TA, presumably in Toronto?  Do you receive the OBC from your TA that was referred to at the beginning of this post?  We are curious as we have not received anything from our TA despite doing a lot of business with this person over the years so were wondering if the OBC potential is somehow geo-restricted!  Thanks..

Edited November 10, 2023 by netpj
grammar

[duquephart]

18 minutes ago, netpj said:

@millybess We are also from Toronto and will be embarking on our first Viking cruise (32 days) in January.  Out of curisosity, you mentioned in your post you transfer your booking to your TA, presumably in Toronto?  Do you receive the OBC from your TA that was referred to at the beginning of this post?  We are curious as we have not received anything from our TA despite doing a lot of business with this person over the years so were wondering if the OBC potential is somehow geo-restricted!  Thanks..

 

More likely restricted by a TA who doesn't want to decrease their commission.

[millybess]

26 minutes ago, netpj said:

@millybess We are also from Toronto and will be embarking on our first Viking cruise (32 days) in January.  Out of curisosity, you mentioned in your post you transfer your booking to your TA, presumably in Toronto?  Do you receive the OBC from your TA that was referred to at the beginning of this post?  We are curious as we have not received anything from our TA despite doing a lot of business with this person over the years so were wondering if the OBC potential is somehow geo-restricted!  Thanks..

Our TA is in Vancouver. She provides refundable OBC which we can see credited to our account once we embark. No, it’s not geo-restricted. 

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, netpj said:

@millybess We are also from Toronto and will be embarking on our first Viking cruise (32 days) in January.  Out of curisosity, you mentioned in your post you transfer your booking to your TA, presumably in Toronto?  Do you receive the OBC from your TA that was referred to at the beginning of this post?  We are curious as we have not received anything from our TA despite doing a lot of business with this person over the years so were wondering if the OBC potential is somehow geo-restricted!  Thanks..

 

You need to interview your TA's before you give them your booking.

 

I am NOT saying that a TA does not deserve their commission, nor am I suggesting that any TA should give up any of their commission, BUT, some do.

 

We cannot talk about specific TA's or companies here on CC, but know there are many TA's that do give credits and benefits for doing business with them and many that do not.

 

You have to ask.

 

We book different travel arrangements - cruise or land based - with different TA's because they offer different things.

 

We have also had TA's that want to charge us an upfront research fee even to talk to us about an itinerary.  The range of TA's is huge now.

 

Before you book your next cruise, call and interview some TA's and then decide where you want to drop your booking.

 

We ONLY use the TA for the cash or OBC value, as we book directly with the cruise line first and get everything in place that we want, and then transfer the booking.

 

We book our air ourselves, we book our shore excursions ourselves too.

[Peregrina651]

From the Cruise Critic Guidelines:

 

Travel Agent Recommendations

There shall be no third-party recommendation (whether positive or negative in content) of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted.

Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice.

This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information.

Cruise Critic will remove violations of the "third-party recommendation" guideline without warning. Additional posts may result in permanent suspension of your posting privileges.

[Host Kat]

And on that note, this thread is locked.