Is it unreasonable to expect flowers/bottle of wine from TA?

[tall traveler]

I have been using the same TA for years and have never received a thing from her. I had the nerve, to suggest the last time we booked with her that she send us a small bouquet of flowers or bottle of wine due to our long relationship. She said "of course". Nothing appeared and she has lost my business.

[tall traveler]

I have been using the same TA for years and have never received a thing from her. I had the nerve, to suggest the last time we booked with her that she send us a small bouquet of flowers or bottle of wine due to our long relationship. She said "of course". Nothing appeared and she has lost my business.

[Big Al B.]

We used to receive a bottle of wine, but I think that at one point, the commissions that the TA's make was lowered on many things. That may be why they no longer do that.

[hammybee]

Passengers want the best price. Passengers want the best perks. Passengers want the best service. And sooner or later, most passengers get what they paid for.

 

So yeah, I think it unreasonable to blow-off a good T/A relationship over a bottle of cheap wine or bouquet of flowers or even a PG dinner.

[Randyk47]

Hmmm....I don't "expect" anything from our various TA's. We long time ago gave up on brick and mortar TA's as we don't need assistance other than booking the cruise. The Internet TA's we now use don't, as a rule, give out extras and that's just fine with us as we're looking for the best fare not a bottle of wine or flowers. We could buy more wine than we'd ever come close to consuming on a cruise with the savings we've gotten on line.

[tprime76]

I have never received any onboard 'perks' from our TA in the time we have been working with him (6 cruises in 4 years, 4 trips to vegas and an all inclusive). What I have received, however, is his knowledge of when the lowest prices hit, suggestions on vacations and 'night before' hotel stays and quick calls when our flights change. When there have been problems with our flights, he has always quickly found us a way around it. Is it more expensive than shopping online? Probably. I wouldn't trade that small amount of money or gifts for the trust I have in him that he will make sure we are taken care of.

 

I am not saying that there aren't TAs out there that provide great service and send you off with wine and flowers, however I am not willing to quit a relationship with a good one to look. He provides us with a great service and whatever commission he gets for the work is justified.

[jhannah]

Well, only in the same way it's unreasonable to expect any gift. By definition, a gift is something freely given by one to another. If one is asked to be given something, then it is not a gift, IMO.

 

Let's face it; if we get flowers and wine it's US who are paying for them. The TA is taking some out of his/her commission, but we're still the ones footing the bill. I don't expect anything from my TA but good service and as good a price as I can get for what I want.

[Copper10-8]

We have used the same TA for close to ten years and she has been great. We have received her knowledge, assistance and small gifts (travel bags) during that time but never any "on board gifts". We don't expect that and receiving (or not receiving) flowers and/or a bottle of wine from her certainly does not make or break our cruise experience. It's just no big thing to us, having a great time onboard is:)

[mike35]

Good grief, why in the world would anyone "expect" a professional, who earns his/her living from increasingly meager commissions, to provide wine, flowers, or any other perk? Actually, we always bring our long-term TA a gift from one of our ports-of-call to show our appreciation for his continuous oustanding and "beyond and above" service. It's comforting to us to know that he goes out of his way to find us the best deals, most unique tours, advice based on his personal experiences all over the world, etc.

 

Mike

[bdcbbq]

Expecting a gift from a TA is like expecting a gift from your cabin steward because you were easy folks to take care of. I sure don't expect a TA to "tip" me for doing business with them. In fact, if I get great service I should be the tipping them.

[Sailorgirlseattle]

We got a thank you gift from our TA after the first cruise we booked. I was completely, and pleasantly, shocked. It's not something I would ever expect. I'm going back to her because she has bent over backward for us, and is sooooo nice about it all, AND she knows her stuff.

 

That said, surprises in the cabin are WONDERFUL. My folks had a bottle of wine delivered for us on our last cruise. It was sooo unexpected and wonderful. We drank it on our balcony while touring the Hubbard Glacier and munching on cheese and crackes. Perfect.

[OceanLiner]

We have used the same brick and morter TA for over 20 years with only intermitant and dissapointing use of on-line services or AMEX. Her knowledge, contacts, and ability to interceed has been beyond all value. We have long since stopped trying to shop for the cheapest rate and we look for the best value. Oddly enough the cost of using our TA is always with 1-2% of any other cost that I can find!On our last HAL cruise she sent us a picture frame and it was a very nice gesture. But I would never expect a gift, there is no reason to expect anything but excellent service.PS On our last 10 night Volendam, I called our TA and gave her the general guidelines of what we wanted to do. Then I sat down with our 10 year old and gave hime the literature to HAL, DCL, Princess, Celeb, and RCL. He was given the date range and budget figures, and all the web sites. He spent several days defining which cruise would meet our needs and then called the TA, worked out the details and logistics, and booked our cruise. A great learning experience that I think that was the best gift the TA could possibly give. BTW - did you notice that even a 10 year old could see the value of HAL over the other lines?

[dakrewser]

Give me the best price you can and I'll buy my own wine, thanks!

[kryos]

I have been using the same TA for years and have never received a thing from her. I had the nerve, to suggest the last time we booked with her that she send us a small bouquet of flowers or bottle of wine due to our long relationship. She said "of course". Nothing appeared and she has lost my business.

Is she a discount TA? If you are getting steeply discounted cruises, then believe me ... there is no money left in her small commission override to buy you flowers. However, a bottle of wine ... the cruise line pretty much supplies a few bottles of wine to TAs to give to their clients. Be aware, though, it's the cheap stuff ... $10 per bottle.

 

I wouldn't necessarily say your TA is bad. I would price out the next cruise with a few of them and see if she's giving you a really good deal. If she is, then I wouldn't be too concerned about a bottle of wine or flowers. The money in your pocket, in the form of savings, is much better. You can always buy your own flower arrangement.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[jagsfan]

Horrors......thank goodness no one asked me for flowers or wine when I

was a working travel agent as well as managing the office. I was responsible

for the bottom line, and as commissions deteriorated, it became harder and

harder to keep salaries high enough to keep the best professional agents.

What we offered was professional caring service by trained experienced

agents, free delivery of tickets, willingness to meet clients after hours or on

weekends, and the best value for their money. We did provide travel bags

back when profits warranted, but no cruise line ever provided us with wine

to pass on to clients or even to drink ourselves. A good travel agent is like

a good CPA...there is should be respect for the knowledge and ability of the person serving you, and a fiduciary relationship that requires your trust.

Those of you who still stick with your brick and mortar agent, thank you from

all of us, past and present.

[babyher]

We have received a few bottles of wine and other little gifts in the past . they arte nice gestures and we appreciate them.

 

But we certainly don't expect them, and would much rather have the best service and possible price than some trinket.

[Dabbler]

Well I tell you I would die if I didn't have my TA. She has been in bussiness for longer that I have been alive :) She knows all the in's and out's. She will find me those secret first class or business class tickest for 50 bucks more or get me into some swank hotels for dirt cheap. She also does the gift thing on the ships for me, A bottle of wine and so forth. I don't travel much but she looks after me. My parents also use her.

 

Like the old saying "A good TA is hard to find"

[kryos]

We have received a few bottles of wine and other little gifts in the past . they arte nice gestures and we appreciate them.

 

But we certainly don't expect them, and would much rather have the best service and possible price than some trinket.

What really impresses me with a travel agent ... far more so than a lousy bottle of wine in my stateroom ... is when the TA calls me ... not emails, but calls ... to make sure I had a good trip and to get my opinions on the ship and the cruise. That action tells me she cares and the effort to do that requires so much more of a TA than punching a few buttons on her computer to order me a cheap bottle of wine.

 

Often it's the free things that make the biggest impression on customers ... giving a bit of your time, even your off-hours time by calling a client in the evenings when he or she is available to talk ... that cement customer relationships, and make that customer return to the same TA time after time ... even when there is no bottle of cheap wine waiting in the stateroom at embarkation.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[bdcbbq]

What really impresses me with a travel agent ... far more so than a lousy bottle of wine in my stateroom ... is when the TA calls me ... not emails, but calls ... to make sure I had a good trip and to get my opinions on the ship and the cruise. That action tells me she cares and the effort to do that requires so much more of a TA than punching a few buttons on her computer to order me a cheap bottle of wine.

 

Often it's the free things that make the biggest impression on customers ... giving a bit of your time, even your off-hours time by calling a client in the evenings when he or she is available to talk ... that cement customer relationships, and make that customer return to the same TA time after time ... even when there is no bottle of cheap wine waiting in the stateroom at embarkation.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

When we booked our cruise the TA seemed bored and barely interested in our business. We used our credit union's agency. I wasn't impressed with her service. We went in told her what we were looking for, she tried to steer us away from HAL, but we had all ready researched enough that we knew what cruise we were looking at (Veendam-Holiday-Tampa). No follow-up call, no have a great trip, nada. Not that we needed anything, but it is highly unlikely we will go back to her. I'm not sure if I will use the agency again, try our AAA Club agency, or book on my own. I'm fairly conficent to book on my own which is probably what I will do, for at least any U.S based trips. Non North America travel, I would seek a TA until I had been overseas at least a couple of times.

[Cruiseoften]

I have been using the same TA for years and have never received a thing from her. I had the nerve, to suggest the last time we booked with her that she send us a small bouquet of flowers or bottle of wine due to our long relationship. She said "of course". Nothing appeared and she has lost my business.

 

No applause for your 'nerve'. :( :(

 

Said TA obviously looked after you well or you wouldn't have used her for years.

 

Tell me, did you ever give her a gift or even send her a postcard??? Probably not! :rolleyes:

 

Only spoiled kids expect gifts! :eek:

[hammybee]

[quote name=Cruiseoften

 

Only spoiled kids expect gifts! :eek:[/quote]

 

Yeesh. This was cold but I agree with you 100%.

[Chivalrygirl]

:cool: On our recent back to back cruise on the Statendam, 7 night Alaska and then the 28 night back to Auckland. On entering our cabin in Vancouver for our return to Auckland can you imagine our surprise and delight to find that the HAL representative in NZ sent all Kiwis whose bookings had gone through them, four bottles of wine from them and PG vouchers from our Travel Agents. Quite frankly we were all really excited at this totally unexpected gesture and extremely grateful. However does not mean we would be looking for a repeat performance if we are lucky enough to save enough to sail HAL once more. :D

[SarahQ]

IMHO, the answer is yes, based on the wording of your question.

 

Is it unreasonable to expect a gift? In certain situations, I don't think it is (obviously, I don't agree with Cruiseoften's statement above)...to expect a gitft from your TA, it mostly likely is unreasonable.

 

I don't expect anything from the professionals I deal with except for great service. If I don't get that, they don't get my business any longer. That said, if I do receive a gift, I find it a nice gesture - and it does tend to garner some goodwill, if my expectations are already being met.

 

Many posters have already explained the reasoning behind why many agents these days no longer give the gifts they may have at one time; however, I actually think now its more important than ever for bricks & mortar agents to go above and beyond for their customers. After all, if there are no personal, special touches, its just as easy (and usually cheaper) to book through an online agent.

 

Of course you can often save more than the price of a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers by booking through an online agency, but as you can read from the posters who have received gifts, it has certainly left an impression on them.

 

So, is it unreasonable to expect a gift? Probably. Should more TA's consider providing small gifts to passengers to engender goodwill? Probably - its good business sense, especially in today's very competitive market. Today's low margin cruise booking can always turn into tomorrow's higher margin land-based vacation booking.

[Sea King]

the only thing I want from my TA is complete service

 

the problem becomes defining "complete service"

 

IMO that means trying to get the cain I want; doing the best job possible to make sure I have the dining room seating I prefer; watching the prices and if they significantly drop before final payment, trying to "get in there" and fight to get me a discount; making sure the documents are correct when they come in; handling the plane reservations and ticketing

 

I for one am not looking for gifts .. on the other hand, won't refuse a nice bottle wine either:)

[49holding]

i have never received a TA gift for booking a cruise ever. My cruises did not take up much of the TA's time,I did all the leg work, told her the specific room #. I did get a price drop once but that was me notifying her of the price drop change. When booking a cruise now I bypass the TA and just use RCL's agents. The best was over 6 years a go my parents booked and paid for a very expensive 7 nite Bermuda cruise plus insurance ... over 20K...high season in July... for 17 people. This was to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. The TA knew of the the circumstances and never sent flowers/cgamoagne...nothing. That TA never got any business for my parents again or the rest of us..