Newby question: Booking SS through US agents?

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi, searched but didn't see an answer!

 

Shocked to see the price differential between US agents and UK agents for SS cruises.

 

Anything to stop UK based customers booking via the US agents?

 

Any first hand experience appreciated.

 

Jeff

[weintime]

:( Having the same feeling here in Australia...looking forward to seeing the replies also appreciate posts from Australian SS clients who book through US agents. :o

[duct tape]

Yes, I know Brits and Aussies who use US agents.

[Ravenscroft]

You can do it. We looked into this for our first cruise .The problem that we had was that it didn't work out any cheaper for some reason, never did quite get my head round why that was, as the agent gave us a good discount and was a top selling SS TA. The exchange rate was very unfavourable. In the end we stuck with Amex Platinum to get their OBC and the bottle of DP....

We also tried a different US TA to quote for our upcoming cruise with Seabourn but again, our UK agent - not Amex Plat this time - was able to give us a very good discount and beat the price.

 

All of that said, there are other advantages to booking with US agents, related to deposits and T's and C's.

[ct-andy]

Amex Platinum to get their OBC and the bottle of DP....

 

I thought SS stop giving a bottle of DP to AMEX PLAT?

[Ravenscroft]

:( Having the same feeling here in Australia...looking forward to seeing the replies also appreciate posts from Australian SS clients who book through US agents. :o

 

weintime, contact Ging..post 10 on this thread, she's Sydney based, her email is in her post

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1634239

[Ravenscroft]

I thought SS stop giving a bottle of DP to AMEX PLAT?

 

I havent got a clue what they do nowadays. I said we used them for our first cruise, which was a year ago. Haven't booked with them at all since then as we get a better discount with another TA, which far outweighs the OBC and the DP or not.

[Grandma Gilly]

You can definitely book SS through a US travel agent. However, I recently have found US and UK pricing to be the same. Some advantages of booking through the US - the refund of deposit should you have to cancel, if there is a price drop it will be honoured in the US.

[Drivingrain]

I thought SS stop giving a bottle of DP to AMEX PLAT?

 

Do you have a link of that report?

 

I just booked an Amex Centurion told me bottle of "premium champagne" was included and they mentioned DP by name over the phone.

[Wellseasoned]

You do still receive the DP and $300 shipboard credit when you use AMEX Platinum. Just had it again on the Cloud cruise. And you receive this no matter which TA you use, as long as you use the Platinum to pay for the cruise.

[Nigella]

Amex Platinum Europe - we deal with them in France and in England - still offer OBC and bottle of DP.

 

However, and if this has changed recently here in Europe I'd appreciate someone letting me know, to get those benefits here we must book either direct with Silversea and transfer the reservation to Amex Platinum Travel Service, OR book direct with the Plat Travel Service. We cannot book with a different TA and still get the benefits. And so I agree with the earlier post, it is often more beneficial for us to just bypass Amex and their benefits completely and get a great discount from a good cruise specialist TA.

 

As I say, if someone in England or France is reading this and has found this to be innacurate, please do let me know as Amex have always insisted that's the case.

 

And to take the thread back on topic, we too have found that recent quotes from US agents aren't working out any less expensive than the UK agent. But there's nothing to stop you booking SS through a US agent. (Not all cruise lines allow this).

[UKCruiseJeff]

As it happens - I was checking the Amex Plat UK site today and it doesn't say anything about these benefits. When I check the US site it says they are for cards registered in the US only.

 

Thanks to the posters for infor rebuying through US agents. Hopefuly we will hear some more success stories from non-US resdents.

[Nigella]

As it happens - I was checking the Amex Plat UK site today and it doesn't say anything about these benefits. When I check the US site it says they are for cards registered in the US only.

 

Thanks to the posters for infor rebuying through US agents. Hopefuly we will hear some more success stories from non-US resdents.

 

 

For some reason, Amex Europe seems to be rather secretive about card benefits! I know when I want to find out more information about hotel amenities I go to the Amex US FHR site for info before calling Amex.

You will already know about hotel benefits and airport lounge access etc, but we only found out about the cruise benefits from reading here at CC.

 

As you've seen on this thread, US cardholders can book via any TA and still get Platinum benefits. UK cardholders can't. Unless someone knows differently :confused:

 

We had a quote from them about a month ago for a forthcoming cruise and they were still offering the OBC and bottle of Dom Pérignon for UK Platinum cardholders. However they didn't discount anywhere close to the other agent we were getting prices from.

[wren2]

I was astonished at the difference when I compared the pricing. I have compared several cruises and the U.K. prices are hundreds of pounds more than the U.S. I have contacted my travel agent and will post further.:(

[Ravenscroft]

I was astonished at the difference when I compared the pricing. I have compared several cruises and the U.K. prices are hundreds of pounds more than the U.S. I have contacted my travel agent and will post further.:(

 

Because we've had no success with US TA quotes for either Seabourn or Silversea in the last 6 months, I'd be very interested to see the quotes you get. Obviously you can't give the names of any TA's involved but if you could list the USD price you're being quoted, suite type and the voyage number compared to your UK agent's best price for same, that would be very helpful.

Our most recent quote worked out £200 more to book with a US agent, who was allowing us a generous discount, than the price on the website. Our own TA gave us a big discount on the website price and it subsequently worked out much cheaper to book with her.

[ging466]

I always book with a US agent. The agents in Oz are too greedy and there's little discounting. The other issue we face in Oz is that the deposit is not refundable...well it is to a point but then the Oz TAs level all their admin charges which pretty much wipes out the deposit. If there's a price drop, too bad. In the US, the price drop is honoured.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[HDS]

I elected to pay for our b2b Silversea cruises in Australian dollars on my Australian mastercard as, according to Silversea Australia's publicity, "payments in foreign currency may incur fees by credit card providers".

 

Silversea directed my credit card payment to its UK account and I was charged a hefty conversion fee. Eventually the credit card provider and Silversea each refunded part of the foreign currency charge but no explanation or answer to my communications has come from Silversea.

 

The cruise was booked through an Australian TA. The direct debit for the deposit made to TA's bank account did not incur foreign currency converstion fees.

 

Anyone else had this problem?

[weintime]

Absolutely.:mad: We booked our 16day Baltic Cruise on board "The Wind" last year, then also booked 7 day Norwegian cruise "The Whisper" through SS Sydney office. Both these cruises were invoiced in US$...can't imagine why!!!! we finalised with a Australian TA...I rang SS Sydney to ask if we could have our invoices re done in AUD$ as on $23,000 I am going to pay about $700 in currency conv fees......Reply was... to do a Direct Transfer into SS Bank...however this meant that you lose your frequent flyer miles if you dont use your credit card...

Makes it difficult. This trip we plan to book on board again...however will tell them the invoice must be in AUD$.

Also with regard US Agents....I have been trying to get information from an agent in the US, who was recommended to me by a fellow CC member....however.....he just does not reply to my follow up emails. Just not sure what is the answer here. Perhaps as you are a fellow Aussie, we could share success in the future.:)

[ging466]

Also with regard US Agents....I have been trying to get information from an agent in the US, who was recommended to me by a fellow CC member....however.....he just does not reply to my follow up emails. Just not sure what is the answer here. Perhaps as you are a fellow Aussie, we could share success in the future.:)

 

Hi weintime

 

I have the same problem but the end result is good, i.e. nice discount. I usually just keep sending emails until I get a reply although I'm thinking about using a new TA next year.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[wren2]

Because we've had no success with US TA quotes for either Seabourn or Silversea in the last 6 months, I'd be very interested to see the quotes you get. Obviously you can't give the names of any TA's involved but if you could list the USD price you're being quoted, suite type and the voyage number compared to your UK agent's best price for same, that would be very helpful.

Our most recent quote worked out £200 more to book with a US agent, who was allowing us a generous discount, than the price on the website. Our own TA gave us a big discount on the website price and it subsequently worked out much cheaper to book with her.

 

I was looking at cruise 4220A and comparing the U.K./U.S. prices from the Silversea online site. For a Vista suite, the price is pounds 3,699 and for the U.S. price it is $3,699. I was told that SS allowed an air credit of $1500 on the U.S. price - Unrealistic in my opinion as consolidators are probably used. I note that this air credit has been cut back to $1000 for 2013 sailings. I was also told that the remainder of the difference was on currency rates - I cannot remember when the dollar has been as low as 1.4 to the pound.

[Ravenscroft]

I was looking at cruise 4220A and comparing the U.K./U.S. prices from the Silversea online site. For a Vista suite, the price is pounds 3,699 and for the U.S. price it is $3,699. I was told that SS allowed an air credit of $1500 on the U.S. price - Unrealistic in my opinion as consolidators are probably used. I note that this air credit has been cut back to $1000 for 2013 sailings. I was also told that the remainder of the difference was on currency rates - I cannot remember when the dollar has been as low as 1.4 to the pound.

 

It's good to know that there can be some instances when it works better to use a US TA! I'll continue to get quotes from them in the future, although as I said we've had several and it's never worked out favourably to use a US agent.

 

That said, of course, don't pay the online price, we get very generous discounts on the web prices from our UK TA (Amex platinum wasn't generous at all which is another reason we gave up on them!) so my advice to anyone is to always ask for their best price and go to more than one agent, preferably a cruise specialist, for a quote.

[Herman The Cat]

I've had the reverse experience--i.e., we're based in the US but booked with a UK agent.

 

Our US TA left his agency a few years ago and we were travelling with a friend from the UK who was very happy with his agent, so we contacted his UK TA for fares for a Caribbean cruise we were all taking. Based on the US/UK exchange rate at the time, the fare from the UK was a few hundred dollars cheaper. The UK fare also included air from the UK to Barbados, which we didn't need since we could get an inexpensive airfare to BGI from the US. That resulted in an additional reduction. The UK TA did tell us that since we were booking with a UK agent, no airfare offers would apply ("free air" was offered from the UK) and we would receive a credit for the air. So, if you book with a TA outside your country you have to book cruise-only.

 

In order to "hedge" the exchange rate, I put a 50% deposit down at the time of booking. I also did a few calculations to figure out what the "breakeven" exchange rate was. That is, if the USD/GBP exchange rate reached a certain level (i.e., got worse), that would be my trigger to pay the remaining 50%. At the time, my view was that the $ was weak and it would strengthen. If it did, that would also be the trigger for me to pay the remaining 50%. Throughout all of this, I kept an eye on exchange rates. The dollar did indeed strengthen and when it had strengthened by more than 10% I paid the remaining balance (which was in advance of any final payment deadlines).

 

I'm not sure, but I think that Silversea uses a constant/consistent exchange rate for each currency and they don't (and really can't) adjust it since the fares are set in advance. Perhaps they use an "average exchange rate" over a given period of time. The fares you get from overseas agents, based on your home currency, could be better or worse at any time. I can't remember my numbers specifically, but here is an example: the exchange at the time of booking was $1.65 buys one pound; the Silversea rate to get to breakeven was $1.80; I think I ended up with a rate of $1.50 to the pound. In addition, the UK agent wanted a wire transfer for the initial deposit rather than a credit card. No fee for a wire transfer, but there was a 5% fee to use a credit card. So I had to send a wire for the initial deposit. Since I paid in advance of the final payment deadline, I convinced them to take a credit card (with no fee) since they would have use of the cash until the final payment deadline. They agreed, but I made sure I gave them a credit card that doesn't charge a foreign currency transaction fee.

 

Now, given my profession, I did all the calculations and watched the exchange rate. The fares with a TA that is not in your country is really a roll of the dice based on the state of your currency at the time. If your home currency is weak and not at its high and you think it will strengthen before your final payment is due--and you don't need the airfare--it might be worth it. And it may seem cheaper today but by the time your final payment is due it may not be cheaper. And if your exchange rate is at a high vs. the USD that could be a problem too since your home currency may not strengthen and instead goes back to an average range. [ BTW, Someone mentioned Silversea uses airfare consolidators in the US but I don't think that's the case. They assume an average airfare to a destination.] There is a risk: currencies can be volatile over short periods of time and you may end up paying more for your cruise at the end of the day if you don't keep an eye on exchange rates. And rates can move very quickly.

 

In regard to Amex, we booked our upcoming cruise with our US agent and paid with Amex platinum so we are getting a SBC and we believe a bottle of DP.

 

So, the first cruise we booked with the UK TA we just paid and didn't really watch the rates. On the second cruise I did the above and paid 50% at booking and then 50% before the final payment. It saved a few hundred dollars per person. It was an interesting exercise, but remember when you get in touch with an overseas TA there are lots of time zone issues in regard to communication. Now we have a US TA that we are very happy with and we don't bother since our cruises have been mostly European and we've been interested in the Silversea airfare (which has been a better deal from the US unless you use miles).

 

Hope that helps!

[UKCruiseJeff]

I was looking at cruise 4220A and comparing the U.K./U.S. prices from the Silversea online site. For a Vista suite, the price is pounds 3,699 and for the U.S. price it is $3,699. I was told that SS allowed an air credit of $1500 on the U.S. price - Unrealistic in my opinion as consolidators are probably used. I note that this air credit has been cut back to $1000 for 2013 sailings. I was also told that the remainder of the difference was on currency rates - I cannot remember when the dollar has been as low as 1.4 to the pound.

 

I've found offers and been sent offers - particularly last minute offers - from US TAs that place cruises at a third of the cost to US cuastomers than to UK customers.

 

To be frank I'm finding it difficult as a basic principle to buy cruises from a company that is "taking the mick" however much I've loved the product and been loyal in the past. You can't happily do business with a company you feel is screwing you.

 

 

I understand all the economics of different markets but certainly this sounds anti-competitive and market fixing to me.

 

However ...... once I find a safe and stress-free way to buy from US TAs I will do!:)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks for your information.

 

What I find so confusing about the different experiences is that I personally know a large UK cruise agent. He tells me he resents the US / UK price differential and feels his business is harmed.

 

So there is certainly a general perception that SS make more of a pricing/offer effort for their larger US market than do for us in the UK. I also use to be able to get price protection - but no more!

[wren2]

You can definitely book SS through a US travel agent. However, I recently have found US and UK pricing to be the same. Some advantages of booking through the US - the refund of deposit should you have to cancel, if there is a price drop it will be honoured in the US.

 

Good to know that in the U.S., a price drop is honoured. Have really been put off booking too early with Silversea, as if at a later date they add incentives to fill their ships, these only apply to new bookings which I think is very unfair. Silversea have our deposits, know we are sailing but then penalise us for booking early. This is something that has only happened in the last few years.