Moving our Reservation

To sum up a very long story, If I move my booking from my current TA to another TA, would I loose the promotions I had with our original TA?

Would that be the same if I moved my booking back to Princess? Even if I explained how things went wrong with original TA?

(we are a little upset at our TA, we found out she was not honest with us. However, for our Alaska cruise we have AIBP, if we move would we loose this?) Trying to find out if it's worth it to move the booking or just leave it alone.

Thanks!

To sum up a very long story, If I move my booking from my current TA to another TA, would I loose the promotions I had with our original TA?

 

Would that be the same if I moved my booking back to Princess? Even if I explained how things went wrong with original TA?

 

(we are a little upset at our TA, we found out she was not honest with us. However, for our Alaska cruise we have AIBP, if we move would we loose this?) Trying to find out if it's worth it to move the booking or just leave it alone.

 

Thanks!

Excellent question, I would love to know this also (for future reference). I just typed this so it would go back to the top of the page:D.

You should only loose your benefits if you cancel and re-book. By simply changing the point of contact for your reservation shouldn't cost you anything you gained when you booked the cruise. Look at it this way, your booking number won't change, only the person you authorize to act on your behalf. Happy Cruising!! [emoji6]

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I think you have to discuss this with Princess, and maybe have a conference call with Princess and the TA. You need to find out from Princess if the AIBP is a current offer and would you lose it if you cancelled and rebooked. I think you have to move the booking back to Princess before you can move it to another TA, and the current TA has to agree. Going through these steps might nudge the current TA into doing the right thing, and you could ditch them after the cruise. EM

If your TA provided any of the promo you would lose that.

If your TA has any cancelation fees you would have to pay those.

As long as the booking is not canceled or changed/modified you would keep the AIBP.

Would it not depend on the origin of the promotions/perks? If the promos come from Princess, you will keep them (assuming you do not have to cancel & rebook). If the promos - such as a discount - come from the TA, I assume you will lose them.

There are no perks I am loosing from original TA. New TA has OBC that enticed me to move to them instead of going right back to Princess. I was just confused about our original promotion (AIBP).

So its possible you cannot move from TA to TA? I would have to ask Princess?

You can move from TA to TA. I've done it on occasion. You just have to provide Princess with a letter requesting the transfer. Include your booking number, ship, date of cruise and request that it be moved from one TA to the other. I would give your current TA a heads up as they may want to match the OBC or provide another amenity. You would also find out if they impose a fee for this transfer.

There are no perks I am loosing from original TA. New TA has OBC that enticed me to move to them instead of going right back to Princess. I was just confused about our original promotion (AIBP).

 

So its possible you cannot move from TA to TA? I would have to ask Princess?

As the others have said, you won't loose your AIBP by changing out your TA. But if the original TA is giving you sort of OBC or anything else, you will loose those unless the new TA is willing to offer you the same. However it appears your most concerned about the drink package and that is safe.. UNLESS.. you have to cancel and re-book. And if that's the case, I would just find a way to get through this booking without marking a change with your TA.

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If your TA provided any of the promo you would lose that.

 

If your TA has any cancelation fees you would have to pay those.

 

As long as the booking is not canceled or changed/modified you would keep the AIBP.

Well said.

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If you go to your cruise personalizer for a particular cruise and click on the "onboard reservations". Go to the bottom of the page and if you have AIBP it will be listed. Moving your res from one TA to another or back to Princess will not cancel the AIBP but you can always go look on the cruise personalizer under the onboard reservations.

There are no perks I am loosing from original TA. New TA has OBC that enticed me to move to them instead of going right back to Princess. I was just confused about our original promotion (AIBP).

So its possible you cannot move from TA to TA? I would have to ask Princess?

You will not loose your AIBP. It is a little harder to move from TA to TA. I do it all the time moving my booking from Princess to my TA, but this is slightly different. The only drawback is if your original TA has a cancel fee.

Your new TA should be able to help you through the process. If they can't, I'd question their experience.

Please let us know the outcome of this. I would love to know the answer.

Thank You,

Tony

You will not loose your AIBP. It is a little harder to move from TA to TA. I do it all the time moving my booking from Princess to my TA, but this is slightly different. The only drawback is if your original TA has a cancel fee.

 

Your new TA should be able to help you through the process. If they can't, I'd question their experience.

Thank you. I will just call the new TA and explain the situation. I just wanted to make sure this was a legitimate thing to do as I have never done this before and wasn't sure if I had to get permission from Princess or not.

You have all been a great help. Thanks!

Please let us know the outcome of this. I would love to know the answer.

Thank You,

Tony

I definitely will Tony. Thanks for the support.

...we are a little upset at our TA, we found out she was not honest with us...

Without naming the TA in what way were they dishonest? Not sure how they could be? I'm curious if I have been getting short stick on bookings because I haven't been asking the right questions etc.

Without naming the TA in what way were they dishonest? Not sure how they could be? I'm curious if I have been getting short stick on bookings because I haven't been asking the right questions etc.

Yes I won't name them, and the reason I say she was Dishonest is this: We were quoted our trip to Alaska for 200 less than Princess. Thats 400. that is a lot for us. We decided to go ahead and book with her. About 2 weeks ago DH and I were going over our finances for 2017. As I looked over the invoice I noticed she had Tax & Port charges at 1200.00. I called her and she said, yes its 600.pp. I was shocked, so I called Princess, they said it's 250.pp. I emailed my TA so I could get everything in writing, this is her comment;

Princess enters into their booking program differently than we do adding the port charges to the base rate. It all comes out to the same figure but most definitely confuses our customers when they combine it.

Huh?

So why did I book with you if I am literally paying More than what Princess quoted me.. (they have a fee to book with them) ..

I could be wrong, so I don't want to argue.. DH and I decided to just slowly back away from her. And this is where we stand now.

I would never call her a liar, or saying she is wrong, so I just say she wasnt totally honest with us all the way around..

Your present T.A. is just telling you that since you booked with their agency it is THEIR POLICY to charge you more. That is a con artist message.

I am guessing they also have a charge per person to cancel with them.

It most likely will be $100. per person because they have spent their time booking your cruise. So you have to pay their penalty. Lots of private companies have a change of mind cancellation rates. So always look for them.

You never know when you have to cancel.

Call Princess to tell them what your T.A. has written to you and fax it to Princess. Princess needs to know about your T.A. and bad business deal you made with that T.A. Talk to a Resolution dept. person at Princess. They will help you better than another T.A.Co. who may know that other T.A. Co. and may not want to deal with your problem.

I don't think that the Princess Cruise line company will want to do business with a con artist travel agency. Lucy R.

Princess enters into their booking program differently than we do adding the port charges to the base rate. It all comes out to the same figure but most definitely confuses our customers when they combine it.

 

Not knowing the whole numbers.... I can tell you that Princess does break down the numbers different than many travel agents do. You need to look at the final number to figure out if you are getting a discount or not.

If you are paying the same as Princess, I would definitely move to a different agent.

...We were quoted our trip to Alaska for 200 less than Princess. Thats 400. that is a lot for us. We decided to go ahead and book with her. About 2 weeks ago DH and I were going over our finances for 2017. As I looked over the invoice I noticed she had Tax & Port charges at 1200.00. I called her and she said, yes its 600.pp. I was shocked, so I called Princess, they said it's 250.pp.

Thanks for the explanation. As "Coral" noted they do sometimes break the stuff down differently but that's quite a discrepancy. So far I don't think I haven't been swindled that way.

When we book we use a number of different online sites and Princess to compare prices before we contact the travel agent. If they can't match or beat the lowest TOTAL price they don't get the business. Lowest total price also includes any fees they impose and OBC etc gets figured in. We are fine with getting OBC or bottles wine etc to offset any differences so the TA is in complete control to match or beat any price we have found.

Michelle,

Your TA is not being dishonest, she just isn't taking the time to correctly explain terminology to you.

1. Port Fees & Taxes are not the same as Port Charges. (They might also be called by different names but those are the two most common ones). This is very confusing to a lot of people, so don't feel bad.

2. Port Fees & Taxes are not included in the advertised or quoted prices, and they are charged per person, regardless of how many people are on the ship. In your case, you said Princess told you they are $250, and that sounds about right for an Alaskan cruise. These costs are readily visible and stated (although in small print) on booking sites, including the Princess site.

3. Port Charges, however, are much less visible. By law, they must be included in any quoted fare. These charges are usually things like docking fees that the entire ship incurs and which are then approximated on a per person basis when figuring out the fare. But the cruise line can lump anything in this category that they choose to. It does not matter much to you as a passenger, because all you see is 'fare', but it matters to a TA because the cruise line does not pay commission on these charges, which is why you may also see them called NCF, which is Non-Commissionable Fare.

4. Because of how commissions are calculated, many, if not most TAs, show them broken out separately on an invoice, and that is what your TA meant when she mentioned 'it all comes out the same figure'.

That said, your TA could do much better for you. For one thing, charging a booking fee is not a universal or even common practice. So you should definitely find a different TA for your next booking. Secondly, she could be giving you a discount on the fare, especially since she charges a booking fee. Here is what I think has happened to you using (mostly) made-up numbers :

Princess website:

Fare: $1900

Tax/fees: $ 250

Total: $2150

Your TA:

Fare: $1550

Port/NCF $ 600 (consisting of $250 Tax & Fees plus $350 NCF/Port)

Booking: $50

Total: $2200

I hope that helps explain what your TA didn't.

Whether you want to move your booking or not, that you must decide. My gut level is to advise you to keep the booking but ask the Current TA to meet the new TA's OBC or give some discount to you.

Most TAs will give up a booking if their client is unhappy, because none of them want unhappy clients. But they own your booking, and will keep the booking fee they have charged, so at a minimum that would be a loss to you. And while I would like to think it doesn't happen, I have read where exasperated TAs simply cancel a booking when asked to release it back to the cruise line. That would be disastrous for you.

And for what it's worth, next time you shop for a good discount TA, this is the sort of pricing quote you should see using the above example. Some TAs give OBC instead of a discount on the price, but you should see something along these lines.

Princess:

Fare: $1900

Tax/fees: $ 250

Total: $2150

Discount TA:

Fare: $1550

Discount ($155)

Port/NCF $ 600 (consisting of $250 Tax & Fees plus $350 NCF/Port)

Booking : $0

Total: $1995

Thanks for the explanation, recently on a cruise I received a quote on board and saw the non commission. I thought they were adding an additional cost, and did not understand Thanks again.

Your present T.A. is just telling you that since you booked with their agency it is THEIR POLICY to charge you more. That is a con artist message.

 

I am guessing they also have a charge per person to cancel with them.

It most likely will be $100. per person because they have spent their time booking your cruise. So you have to pay their penalty. Lots of private companies have a change of mind cancellation rates. So always look for them.

You never know when you have to cancel.

 

Call Princess to tell them what your T.A. has written to you and fax it to Princess. Princess needs to know about your T.A. and bad business deal you made with that T.A. Talk to a Resolution dept. person at Princess. They will help you better than another T.A.Co. who may know that other T.A. Co. and may not want to deal with your problem.

 

I don't think that the Princess Cruise line company will want to do business with a con artist travel agency. Lucy R.

Thank You Lucy. I will do that.. I know she doesnt mean to not give me the whole truth, but she wont make it right. Thats why I want to move. :(

I just want to thank you so much for taking the time to write this explanation. I do understand better. Thank You!! I just want to get away from this company as I dont feel she was upfront about everything and It was my fault too for not looking over everything when we made the deposit. We really thought we were saving 400. and when I thanked her for helping us save so much money, she really should have told me that she was gonna throw that 400 back into Port & Tax fees. But why would she? I would have said, umm no thanks.. LOL

Again, thank you all, I have Never used a TA before and this has been a learning experience for sure. I will politely let her know about the OBC we have been offered by the new TA and see what she says. If they wont match or come close, maybe Ill just call Princess and have them take the booking back.

Michelle,

Glad it helped. Do let us know how the negotiations turn out, too.