How do you get a better deal than thru the Cruise line?

I have been looking at a cruise for a while now. We have finally (kind of) decided to book the cruise. I went to Holland America online and then called them for a price (no non-refundable stuff for me). It is a very good price I think, but to be sure I checked around at different cruise websites and even the discount ones are hundreds of dollars more than what HAL has listed. The online sites even asked if I was a past passenger and my age. None of the prices with the TA's are even close. I even went to my big box store, nothing!

I guess I will just book with Hal and then later turn it over to a TA I know who will give me a % off the rate I have.

My question is: Is it possible that Hal is giving the best rates for their cruises over TA's? How can TA's stay in business if a person can just go to the cruise website and get the best rate in town? (I don't mean pennies, I am talking hundreds of dollars on an inside cabin?)

I have been looking at a cruise for a while now. We have finally (kind of) decided to book the cruise. I went to Holland America online and then called them for a price (no non-refundable stuff for me). It is a very good price I think, but to be sure I checked around at different cruise websites and even the discount ones are hundreds of dollars more than what HAL has listed. The online sites even asked if I was a past passenger and my age. None of the prices with the TA's are even close. I even went to my big box store, nothing!

 

 

 

I guess I will just book with Hal and then later turn it over to a TA I know who will give me a % off the rate I have.

 

 

 

My question is: Is it possible that Hal is giving the best rates for their cruises over TA's? How can TA's stay in business if a person can just go to the cruise website and get the best rate in town? (I don't mean pennies, I am talking hundreds of dollars on an inside cabin?)

I would just say that with my Large Box TA I get the same rate and perks that HAL offers plus I get their SBC which is very lucrative? I am 5* with HAL and have used many avenues to book cruises over the years including a HAL PCC.

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TAs have 15% of your fare before taxes and fees to work with. I have a great PCC that is a superb comparative analyst of the different HAL promos and offers that helps me pin down the cruise and pricing/promos. With his understanding of the money involved, I usually transfer the booking to a TA before final payment. I most often use the big-box that rhymes with Roscoe, as they give you about 9% in OBC of your fare, which is refundable if not used since it's not from HAL. If you're an Executive member at Roscoe, travel bookings made after Sept 01 will pay a 2% bonus. They do have a $100 cancellation fee on cruises. I did read on this forum that the non-refundable deposit deals may not be transferable.

I use "Insure My Trip" for travel coverage. Nationwide has a cruise-specific policy that's very competitive.

TAs have 15% of your fare before taxes and fees to work with. I have a great PCC that is a superb comparative analyst of the different HAL promos and offers. With his understanding of the money involved, I usually transfer the booking to a TA before final payment. I most often use the big-box that rhymes with Roscoe, as they give you about 9% in OBC, which is refundable if not used since it's not from HAL. If you're an Executive member at Roscoe, travel bookings made after Sept 01 will pay a 2% bonus. They do have a $100 cancellation fee on cruises. I did read on this forum that the non-refundable deposit deals may not be transferable.

 

I use "Insure My Trip" for travel coverage. Nationwide has a cruise-specific policy that's very competitive.

Ditto, nice to know about the 2% as we are! We cover our Insurance's with our CC. Thx

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Ditto, nice to know about the 2% as we are! We cover our Insurance's with our CC. Thx

 

 

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Does your card cover medical/evac? FYI, the no-fee Roscoe visa pays anther 3% on all travel.

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Yes it covers Trip Interruption plus Med Evac., plus high points for travel, don't need another CC.

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We don't book with the cruise line. No point for us. Once we have decided we book with our on line TA. We get 8-12 percent rebated as OBC plus occasionally a little extra such as a complementary excursion.

Our TA will sometimes tell us about offers on other cruise lines/ships on the same itinerary that we may not be aware of. If asked, she will relate the comments of othe customers who have recently been on the ship(s).

For us, it is a win win.

Yes it covers Trip Interruption plus Med Evac., plus high points for travel, don't need another CC.

 

 

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Nor I, but you have me curious about which card....If i'm not being too forward.

It's thru Chase, check their site and listing of cards.

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It's thru Chase, check their site and listing of cards.

 

 

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There are several different Chase cards. I haven't found one, however, that give 3% off if you charge the cruise on their card. Since we are using the other big box card to charge our Grand Asia cruise, I will have to see if it provides med-evac coverage. We don't need the health insurance, and it doesn't cover cancel for any reason, so it is the CPP for us. However, that does not have good med-evac coverage.

Hfors - if you haven't found an online TA which can't better HAL's price, either you are getting a phenomenal price from HAL, which we have yet to get; or you have not found the right TA. Don't give up.

I have been looking at a cruise for a while now. We have finally (kind of) decided to book the cruise. I went to Holland America online and then called them for a price (no non-refundable stuff for me). It is a very good price I think, but to be sure I checked around at different cruise websites and even the discount ones are hundreds of dollars more than what HAL has listed. The online sites even asked if I was a past passenger and my age. None of the prices with the TA's are even close. I even went to my big box store, nothing!

 

I guess I will just book with Hal and then later turn it over to a TA I know who will give me a % off the rate I have.

 

My question is: Is it possible that Hal is giving the best rates for their cruises over TA's? How can TA's stay in business if a person can just go to the cruise website and get the best rate in town? (I don't mean pennies, I am talking hundreds of dollars on an inside cabin?)

Wow....I have never had HAL direct price lower that a TA. I sometimes book with HAL directly and save a few hundred by shopping TAs. I wonder if what you are experiencing is the new Non-refundable deposit rates policy?

Book it with HAL, then call your big box travel area in Seattle and transfer to them. You'll keep everything the same except get about 10% in the form of refundable on board credit. You can just take it home at the end.

TAs have 15% of your fare before taxes and fees to work with. I have a great PCC that is a superb comparative analyst of the different HAL promos and offers that helps me pin down the cruise and pricing/promos. With his understanding of the money involved, I usually transfer the booking to a TA before final payment. I most often use the big-box that rhymes with Roscoe, as they give you about 9% in OBC of your fare, which is refundable if not used since it's not from HAL. If you're an Executive member at Roscoe, travel bookings made after Sept 01 will pay a 2% bonus. They do have a $100 cancellation fee on cruises. I did read on this forum that the non-refundable deposit deals may not be transferable.

I use "Insure My Trip" for travel coverage. Nationwide has a cruise-specific policy that's very competitive.

We went with them also because of the OBC, which was as stated about 9%. HAL only wanted to give us a dinner for two at Pinnacle Grill.

It's thru Chase, check their site and listing of cards.

 

 

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How does changing from a PCC to TA affect the pay of the PCC?

Do they get credit for the booking and make the same or lose credit if you swap?

How does changing from a PCC to TA affect the pay of the PCC?

 

Do they get credit for the booking and make the same or lose credit if you swap?

I have been told by PCC's from both HAL and Princess that they do get the booking credit.

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Book it with HAL, then call your big box travel area in Seattle and transfer to them. You'll keep everything the same except get about 10% in the form of refundable on board credit. You can just take it home at the end.

This is what we do. Also for our next cruise they actually had a group rate they included us in, saving us approximately $1000 on the fare. We grabbed it. :D

If you're an Executive member at Roscoe, travel bookings made after Sept 01 will pay a 2% bonus. They do have a $100 cancellation fee on cruises. I did read on this forum that the non-refundable deposit deals may not be transferable./quote]

Nice to know, thanks.

Wow....I have never had HAL direct price lower that a TA. I sometimes book with HAL directly and save a few hundred by shopping TAs. I wonder if what you are experiencing is the new Non-refundable deposit rates policy?

No non-refundable fare. I checked with three different reps. (because of the thread about this very subject here on cc) and they all confirmed that it is NOT a non-refundable rate. One rep from HAL said it was a combination of mariner (we are 4*) and casino discount, but if I wanted a still lower rate I could do a non refundable and save about $200 more pp, which a non - refundable is not for me. (Maybe if it was just before final payment I would do it, but with this cruise being 1.5 years away, no way!

There are several different Chase cards. I haven't found one, however, that give 3% off if you charge the cruise on their card. Since we are using the other big box card to charge our Grand Asia cruise, I will have to see if it provides med-evac coverage. We don't need the health insurance, and it doesn't cover cancel for any reason, so it is the CPP for us. However, that does not have good med-evac coverage.

 

Hfors - if you haven't found an online TA which can't better HAL's price, either you are getting a phenomenal price from HAL, which we have yet to get; or you have not found the right TA. Don't give up.

I have Chase card and I get 3 points for every dollar spent on travel. Also, cancel insurance, med-vac. and a few other perks (such as free TSA precheck and certain airline lounges). While I can always get 1 cent per point in cash back, I normally use it on hotel rooms where I often save 2-3%. Thus, I get 6-9% back for my travel dollars.

Great deal IMO for cruisers and people who do alot of travel!

When TA's whether online or brick and mortar are rebating 8-10% of their approx 15% commission it is reminiscent of when agents were rebating airline commissions to large accounts....the airlines response ultimately was to say we must be paying you too much commission if you can afford to give half or more away in rebates....the ultimate end game was the airlines reduced agent commissions to ZERO. Of course right around the same time period the internet was exploding which made it even easier and less risky for the airlines to tell agents tough luck.

If the only way an agent gets your biz is by rebating half or more of their commission I suspect that one of these days the cruise lines will follow a similar logic that the commissions are too high. There are a lot of the remaining travel agencies who can ill afford to lose lucrative cruise commissions or remain in business by giving away half or more of their income.

I find it very strange that cruise lines let customers get info from cruise line employees, answer all their questions and requests, make the booking and then allow them to transfer the booking to an agent who has likely done nothing but reduce the ultimate yield that a direct booking could/should yield.

Some think it won't happen just as a lot of travel agents never ever thought the airlines would cut their commissions over similar practices...after all the airlines had promised agents for decades that they were all "partners in travel"....how'd that work out?

Agent commissions are a HUGE expense for cruise lines that i suspect a lot of the bean counters would like to reduce or eliminate.

Seems that a lot of passengers just love to brag online about how much commission rebates they have gotten. Maybe not all that wise.

How did you find out about the 2% bonus after Sept 1st for Executive members?

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There are several different Chase cards. I haven't found one, however, that give 3% off if you charge the cruise on their card.

Another poster addressed this, but just to be clear... The Chase card we are talking about (Reserve) offers 3% in POINTS, not 3% OFF. The 3% in points is applicable on all travel, not just cruises.

For those who use a HAL PCC for the initial booking, and then later transfer the booking to a TA in order to receive further benefits, who do you go to if something goes wrong with your booking (such as problems with included air and/or hotel)? Do you contact the HAL PCC or the TA?

How did you find out about the 2% bonus after Sept 1st for Executive members?

 

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It is on the travel portal web page of the big box retailer, toward the bottom of the page.

Another poster addressed this, but just to be clear... The Chase card we are talking about (Reserve) offers 3% in POINTS, not 3% OFF. The 3% in points is applicable on all travel, not just cruises.

 

 

 

For those who use a HAL PCC for the initial booking, and then later transfer the booking to a TA in order to receive further benefits, who do you go to if something goes wrong with your booking (such as problems with included air and/or hotel)? Do you contact the HAL PCC or the TA?

You go back thru the TA and they contact HAL. Once the booking transfers HAL will not talk to the original booker, that's our experience.

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