Did Your Price Drop Lower your OBC from TA?

[honeywell]

Getting closer to sailing date and the price drop are starting to occur. Just curious - if you have taken advantage of a price drop AND are/have used a TA with OBC, did they alter your OBC when the price changed? I am guessing they do, but curious to know first hand experiences?....

[silentbob007]

Yes for me. :)

[gerig]

Getting closer to sailing date and the price drop are starting to occur. Just curious - if you have taken advantage of a price drop AND are/have used a TA with OBC, did they alter your OBC when the price changed? I am guessing they do, but curious to know first hand experiences?....

 

 

But that's okay the price drop was a much bigger factor

[bbrad8]

The price you pay (after all price drops) reduces the TA's commission, thus your OBC will be reduced as well. The $$ amount is up to your TA!

 

Bruce

[cruisin4kicks]

The price you pay (after all price drops) reduces the TA's commission, thus your OBC will be reduced as well. The $$ amount is up to your TA!

 

Bruce

What Bruce said.

 

Tim

[kyriecat]

Depends on the TA. Some will but some won't. The ones that don't usually have a service charge if you make a change to your booking, including for price drops. For my last one, I save about 20% due to a price drop and got to keep my OBC but had to pay a $39 "service fee".

[petesweet]

That was one of the questions I asked when I "interviewed" a number of online travel agents. The one I selected lowered my OBC by $18 for each $100 price drop. But no charge for making the change.

[wolfcathorse]

yes, she did but I didn't mind. I understand how she gives perks and it only stands to reason that if I call her to have her apply a price drop, she's going to have to reduce her perks as well.

[honeywell]

So far my price drop is only $86 so am thinking it might be a wash. Will call and ask!:)

[newcruiser9591]

Please excuse my ignorance but are you saying that if the price drops (for a cruise on which you are booked and have paid for) that you only have to pay the new decreased price? We have never cruised before and my TA did not tell me anything about this.

[honeywell]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! No ignorance, just a good question from a new cruiser. Part of the "inside knowledge" you will learn here!

 

RCCL is one of the cruise lines that allow you to capture the new price if the price of the cruise goes down - even after final payment has been made - and the new price isn't for "new bookings only". Your TA has the ability to say if they will or won't honor the price drop, and if there is a penalty of some sort. Keep checking your cruise by entering a "pretend" booking on RCCL's website - if you see a drop call your TA right away!

[newcruiser9591]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! No ignorance, just a good question from a new cruiser. Part of the "inside knowledge" you will learn here!

 

RCCL is one of the cruise lines that allow you to capture the new price if the price of the cruise goes down - even after final payment has been made - and the new price isn't for "new bookings only". Your TA has the ability to say if they will or won't honor the price drop, and if there is a penalty of some sort. Keep checking your cruise by entering a "pretend" booking on RCCL's website - if you see a drop call your TA right away!

 

Thanks for the info on this - I will keep returning the RCCL website periodically to check to prices.

[kc320]

When I used an online TA who gave OBC, my OBC went away completely after a price drop...they did not charge for making the change so it ended up a wash....

[long4theocean]

One thing to be aware of that I have found is if you have air through Royal Caribbean, we did have a price drop but it also changed the air price by $160.00. So with one change they said that we owed another $20.00. I told them to forget it and put it back the way it orginally was, why would we ask for a refund and then they change it so we owe more. Different price codes quotes the air at different prices apparently.

[madforcruising]

Yep,

everytime my cruise price drops the given perk by TA changes as well.

[Clarea]

Yes for me too, but as others have said, the price drop was much greater than the OBC reduction.

[mpbmark]

One thing to be aware of that I have found is if you have air through Royal Caribbean, we did have a price drop but it also changed the air price by $160.00. So with one change they said that we owed another $20.00. I told them to forget it and put it back the way it orginally was, why would we ask for a refund and then they change it so we owe more. Different price codes quotes the air at different prices apparently.

 

This happened to us as well. We have taken advantage of the lower cabin price, but the lower air price was not an option for us. Some friends booked the cruise after we did and received the lower price for both the cruise and the air. When I tried to do the same, RCCL stated I could obtain the lower cruise price but the cost for changing the air arrangements more than offset the new price. I kept the same arrangements.

 

Also, as the price of the cabin dropped, the TA OBC was also reduced.

[karena1]

yes, my OBC from the TA dropped by $50, but I saved $200 pp so it did not matter.

[katiel53]

Our OBC didn't change on one cruise because the agent factored in that there would be a price drop. Another cruise the agent told us that we would lose part of our OBC for every $100 our price dropped.

 

We were ok with that and even though we lost a small amount, it didn't bother us. That though, is one of the first things we ask an agent before transferring our booking. That along with do you have service fees, cancellation fees and do you lower prices when the cruiseline shows lower prices?

 

So far,we have been pretty lucky. Only once have we been lied to and that cost me quite a bit of money. Just beware if you have a group cruise and book on the site that competes for your business and you get an agent from CT. HE LIES big time.

[katiel53]

Sorry, double post. Just be sure to ask the right questions when transferring or booking with an agent.

[firefly333]

My TA only gave us $50 OBC, so when we got a $50 pp price drop, they did not change the $50 OBC they were giving us, but had the price dropped a lot, it wouldnt have surprised me had they taken away our OBC.