To use a TA or not to use a TA

What are the benefits of booking with a TA? (other than the extra 25 dollar obc in my case) I had to cancel a cruise within 24 hours of booking , and one particular TA company is taking 2-4 weeks to refund my credit card. Plus, they charged me 76.00 for insurance that I declined at booking. Why would I use a TA? Am I missing something?

What are the benefits of booking with a TA? (other than the extra 25 dollar obc in my case) I had to cancel a cruise within 24 hours of booking , and one particular TA company is taking 2-4 weeks to refund my credit card. Plus, they charged me 76.00 for insurance that I declined at booking. Why would I use a TA? Am I missing something?

The ideal way to use a TA is .. book directly with cruise line first.. right before final payment is due.. move it to a TA.. IF and only if.. they offer big OBC.. or other perks, the cruise line itself is not.. I had to move my cruise to the next week right after booking with an online TA.. had to pay 70.00 to do that:( I learned my lesson..

I prefer to go through my TA. She gets me better price and give me extra OBC. Example, just booked a trip for next Nov. Her price was $165 lower than NCL directly plus she gives me extra $250 OBC plus no booking fees with her.

I have only cruised 4x and each time I used a big box TA that had lower prices for the cruise and cabin, upgraded me and also had a big OBC and that is on top of the NCL perks being offered.

I tried going directly with an NCL cruise consultant and he and she couldn't come close to what I ended up with.

No fees either.

When my cruise got cancelled it was my TA calling NCL three times and talking to 4 different people to get me rebooked in the rooms/itinerary I wanted instead of me having to do it. This probably doesn't work as well with the big online TAs, but is wonderful when you have a TA who is a real person you actually know.

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To OP: Asking that is like asking how the cruises are without giving any more parameters like the cruise line, destination, etc. There is much variation between TAs as there is between cruise lines and ships.

For us our TA has always given about 10% of the total fare as a discount and/or OBC. They operate seven days a week and I can handle my business with a specific agent through email so I don't see any reason for booking direct. A good TA will get you the price drops etc just like a cruise line CSR would.

The ideal way to use a TA is .. book directly with cruise line first.. right before final payment is due.. move it to a TA..

With NCL you can only transfer reservation within 60 days of booking.

I have always used a TA. I typically get $50-$100 extra OBC. I have only had to change my cruise once, and there was no fee. Granted, the contract with the TA said they could charge a fee, but they didn't, as I am a good customer and do not chronically change my cruises. And twice, the TA offered the cruise at $125+ less than the cruiseline. TA's can often offer a reduced cabin fare because they block out a bunch of cabins at a group rate. Some TA's offer loyalty rewards and give you an OBC voucher to use on the next cruise you book through them (another $25).

Also, I have NEVER had a problems with my TA's in getting room changes, upgrades, or "rebooking" to take advantage of new perks.

I think it is a matter of personal preference; is it worth it to you to go through a third party to get extra OBC and occasionally reduced fare? For me it is. I always like a bargain and feel good when I know I got the lowest possible price and the most free perks and OBC.

What are the benefits of booking with a TA? (other than the extra 25 dollar obc in my case) I had to cancel a cruise within 24 hours of booking , and one particular TA company is taking 2-4 weeks to refund my credit card. Plus, they charged me 76.00 for insurance that I declined at booking. Why would I use a TA? Am I missing something?

WEll I do not know where you got your TA or how experienced and honest they are, but a good TA can be worth more than a simple $25 OBC. You notice I said a Good TA. Ask friends who they use. There is one benefit to booking on your own; you have complete control over your booking. There are many benefits to booking with a good TA. As for taking 2 to 4 weeks, which is it? If you just cancelled you would know how long. Have you been waiting for your refund? Normally the TA has no control over how long it takes for refunds. They do not see or use the money for anything. The charges go directly to the cruise line.There is something here that doesn't quite fit together.

I saved and gained basically nothing when booking through my TA..

However it did save me the long phone calls when I had a couple of price drops that I brought to my TA's attention...

I will also let her handle my Airline and Hotel arrangements when the time comes simply because its one less thing I have to worry about..

I know when the time comes to travel everything is taken care of....

I say don't use a TA. On my cruise prices dropped rapidly as the sail date approached, and even though we were well AFTER final payment date, everyone who booked directly could freely upgrade to better cabins at lower prices and even get some money returned. I went from inside to balcony, got money back and kept all my freebees.

Those that went through a TA were not so lucky. Most were stuck and maybe got $25 OBC at most. Great that the TA can get you an additional $25 OBC but the value we got from working directly with NCL was probably close to $800.

NCL wants to keep long-term happy passengers. A TA is most interested in their commission and its not in their best interest to get you lower prices after you are booked.

I've booked directly with cruise lines, transferred bookings to TAs and booked directly with TAs. To me, it just depends on who can provide the best price and/or extras at the time. I like booking with directly with NCL because it makes more information (payments made and the ability to make payments) available in my vacation summary. But when I can save hundreds of $$, get additional OBC and not have to pay any booking fees or cancellation fees, I have no problem giving up that convenience.

If you have a good TA they can probably get you the information you need almost as quickly as you can. Just a few days ago I called the TA for our upcoming cruise (I have found 2 TA companies that I deal with) and requested our amenity confirmation to make sure all promos and our prepaids were correct. I received it in less than an hour. When I booked this cruise with them I paid about $680.00 less than I would have going with NCL directly and received $50 in additional OBC.

I think it's beneficial to build a rapport with your TA, and a good TA will help out when a cruise line tells you no or when you're not exactly entitled to something, especially if the TA in turn has a good rapport with someone at the cruise line. Last week, the other TA I use did an awesome job for us that saved us over $2,400.00, got us an upgrade from a BA to an AA, and enabled us to keep our $200 OBC on our river cruise next year. We actually weren't supposed to get the new lower price we did as it was only for new bookings, but I emailed my TA any way to see if she could help and help she did! So basically, if you decide to use one, find a good one and don't let them go :D!!!

I have only been waiting 4 days for my refund and was told it could take 2-4 weeks. I understand that this is not the TA's fault but, charging your credit card immediately is kind of rude when anyone can get a refund within 24hours. This was an online TA company. Thanks for responses.

I have booked directly with NCL, and I have used a TA to book my cruises. At this point I will stick with my TA, because he wants my business, and he looks out for us. The price for a cruise is set across the board by NCL, but you can get additional perks going thru a TA, plus whatever perks NCL is offering at the time.

NCL wants you on board, they don't care how you get there.;)

I say don't use a TA. On my cruise prices dropped rapidly as the sail date approached, and even though we were well AFTER final payment date, everyone who booked directly could freely upgrade to better cabins at lower prices and even get some money returned. I went from inside to balcony, got money back and kept all my freebees.

 

Those that went through a TA were not so lucky. Most were stuck and maybe got $25 OBC at most. Great that the TA can get you an additional $25 OBC but the value we got from working directly with NCL was probably close to $800.

 

NCL wants to keep long-term happy passengers. A TA is most interested in their commission and its not in their best interest to get you lower prices after you are booked.

What the blank? Of course TAs are interested in the commission, but do you think, for one second they don't care about repeat busingess? Actually they probably care more than the cruise line cares. They build the client pool by referrals and offering top quality service. Without a client pool they would go out of business. As for lower price, how often has NCL called to tell you: guess what? We just dropped our prices so we are going to give you a better deal? never, some travel agents check periodically and will do what they can to help with an OBC or a better cabin. Whether you deal with one of not, is your choice but if you think building cliente loyality isn't important to them you are 100% wrong. I am glad you were able to save $800 after the final payment date, though that surprised me, good for you.

What are the benefits of booking with a TA? (other than the extra 25 dollar obc in my case) I had to cancel a cruise within 24 hours of booking , and one particular TA company is taking 2-4 weeks to refund my credit card. Plus, they charged me 76.00 for insurance that I declined at booking. Why would I use a TA? Am I missing something?

We also used TAs for many years- got some perks etc. However, over the past few years, stopped. Prefer the control of my reservation. Sometimes prior to the cruise prices drop, and I have actually gotten much better rates then original. Also, some of the on line TA's charge a fee if you cancel.

I do not feel the little credit or freebies from a TA are worth loosing my ability to adjust my reservation. The TA's have many clients and cannot check your reservation daily. We still get points on our credit card for additional "credit" without the use of any TA

As for lower price, how often has NCL called to tell you: guess what? We just dropped our prices so we are going to give you a better deal? never, some travel agents check periodically and will do what they can to help with an OBC or a better cabin.

While I'm still against booking direct, to be fair some really good and also really rare NCL PCCs do that for their clients.

But even with that, good TAs can offer better.

I have only been waiting 4 days for my refund and was told it could take 2-4 weeks. I understand that this is not the TA's fault but, charging your credit card immediately is kind of rude when anyone can get a refund within 24hours. This was an online TA company. Thanks for responses.

Thanks for the explanation. AS for being rude to charge your card, this is standard proceedure in any business. If you book a hotel room and give them your CC, you may be charged especially if it is a promo price of any kind. There are times when you book your air and you are charged immediated. I guess the answer is asking ahead of time: are you going to charge my card right now? As for the 2-4 weeks, normally that is just the time frame given when you are asking for the refund, but rarely, if ever will it take that long and the TA cen do nothing about it. It is better to tell you that, than to say it will take 3 days and 3 weeks later the refund has not shown up.

I understand your frustration but don't assume all agents work this way. Even on line, some can to good, others not. I will be honest, for me, an on line company would not be the answer. I want to hear a voice, the same voice everytime I need to contact someone and a person I can build a relationship with. Good luck in getting your refund soon. I am sure you will. It is too bad you had to have this happen.

As for the 2-4 weeks, normally that is just the time frame given when you are asking for the refund, but rarely, if ever will it take that long and the TA cen do nothing about it. It is better to tell you that, than to say it will take 3 days and 3 weeks later the refund has not shown up.

Refunds are also processed more slowly by the banks. So even if the TA enters a refund in his system immediately it can take six days or more to wind it's way through the system.

People often say "you charge me immediately, but a refund takes weeks!" but what they don't know is that immediate charge usually doesn't show up in the merchant's account for a while. Big companies may get it faster, but my little company takes 2 - 3 days (week days only) to get funds transferred into my bank. A payment on Friday doesn't show up until Tues or Wed, less the fees charged ($100 turns into about $96.70 deposited). When I post a refund, the $100 is deducted from me immediately, but the banking system will take it's time to get the funds into the account of the person I am refunding.

I say don't use a TA. On my cruise prices dropped rapidly as the sail date approached, and even though we were well AFTER final payment date, everyone who booked directly could freely upgrade to better cabins at lower prices and even get some money returned. I went from inside to balcony, got money back and kept all my freebees.

 

Those that went through a TA were not so lucky. Most were stuck and maybe got $25 OBC at most. Great that the TA can get you an additional $25 OBC but the value we got from working directly with NCL was probably close to $800.

 

NCL wants to keep long-term happy passengers. A TA is most interested in their commission and its not in their best interest to get you lower prices after you are booked.

That is false. A TA can do anything the cruise line can do. You must have had a bad TA. A good TA is interested in satisfied customers that come back and book again. Also a good TA will alert you to price drops something the cruise line will NEVER do.

I book through CAS because I usually get around 40% off the advertised price, but if booking with CAS wasn't an option, I would book with a TA and not directly with NCL.

nevermind

All I know is that for my upcoming cruise I compared NCL.com and two TAs. One TA basically just quoted the NCL.com pricing. The other TA provided prices at $40pp less than NCL.com and threw in a $125OBC that NCL.com didn't offer while still getting me the normal offered promos. Using the 2nd TA saved me $200 and he's provided excellent service.

BTW the charge showed up as "NCL RESERVATIONS USD MIAMI FL" and not the TA's company.

BTW the charge showed up as "NCL RESERVATIONS USD MIAMI FL" and not the TA's company.

Most proper TAs just relay the payment info to the cruise line, but there is at least one big online TA that charges customers directly. With smaller TAs there is much more variation.

While I'm still against booking direct, to be fair some really good and also really rare NCL PCCs do that for their clients.

 

But even with that, good TAs can offer better.

You are right,some really do care. I am retired from a very large hotel chain res center; When I first stated with them, I was a res agent; nothing more, but I took pride in helping the caller. As time went on, my caring paid off and others cared as well. The majority, I have to say, just wanted to book the hotel room. Actually this can be said about TAs as well. Many are not experienced travelers, are simply order takers and really do not care. A good travel agent can be worth his/her weight in gold. The same can be said for a really good PCC.

Our TA, who also happens to be a client of DW, specializes in cruises, and takes several cruises herself each year. In fact, she was with us on our very first cruise on NCL.