TA Rebates

[Travelcat2]

And so we go in a circle once again.

 

fluckey: no one is against giving information about TA rebates. Think that was done at for the first several pages of this thread. Posters who receive high rebates even made the fact known and sign with an email address to make it easy to contact them.

 

rlimbacher: I feel the same way as you do somewhat.

 

Obviously I disagree with rallydave and not just his objectionable personal insults. He seemingly fails to realize that Regent put a policy in place recently -- although a rather mild one (no advertising, etc.). It would be helpful if he read some of the cruise articles recently that talk about the trend to stop rebating (beginning with Carnival cruises). Since he states that he receives very high rebates, this would affect him.

 

My position was that enough is enough already. Does anyone think that Regent is happy about the high rebates they are reading about on this thread.

[gillianrose]

No, it's not 10-15% of the commission; it is 10-15% of the commissionable amount of the cruise. IOW, if the cruise costs $20K, and the value that the TA receives is 17% of say $18,000 or $3060, what we are saying is that the rebate is between $1800 (10% of $18000) and $2700 (15% of 18000) Would be surprised to get the 15% but, 10% is easily received from a number of TA's I am familiar with and more than likely a lot more. I myself would question a TA giving 15% or really anything much more than 10% but, that's just me. The TA has to make a living and the transaction needs to be fair and reasonable to both parties.

 

Don't consider your example of 10-15% of the commission value to be fair and reasonable either. This is simply one person's opinion.

 

The agencies that get 17% surely don't pass all that along to the individual travel agent who takes care of your cruise, do they? Real estate commissions (which are somewhat more flexible now) have traditionally hovered around 6%, and the listing agent usually gets about 25% of the ultimate real estate gross sales price, i.e. one fourth of the 6%. When that is on a $500,000 home, that means that the overall commission is $30,000, and (on average) the listing agent (the one the seller works with most closely) earns $7,500. If you expect to get 10% of the 6% commission you paid as seller, (i.e. $3,000 of the $30,000) it would come entirely from the listing agent's commission, the person closest to you in the transaction, the one who took your calls and advised you, is the one you are short-changing.

 

Do you not see a parallel here between that and your expectations of individual travel agents? I think you are asking for (& probably getting) far too large a rebate from the travel agent.

[fluckey]

I, for one, am quite happy about airline pricing today versus the model of forty or fifty years ago when the airline cartel in cahoots the FAA set prices. Fortunately I live near a major airport, but I can fly at a far, far lower cost today across country or around the world than I would have dreamed possible in those days. It is competition, which is always a good thing, that brought about lower prices.

 

TA commissions are certainly a major component of expense for Regent. Regent will certainly look to minimize them. TA's will look to maximize their share, whether they provide much in the way of service or not. But consumers will make the final decision. If Regent is able to eliminate TA rebates without adjusting their prices, then I and at least some other customers will be faced with an effective 12% increase in cruise cost. If Regent can make that stick, then more power to them and to the TA's. But we have choices with our travel/vacation dollars. For now, I'm quite happy to give my TA a fair, but not excessive share, of those dollars. For the services my TA provides, 3 to 5% or so on a Regent cruise is plenty enough.

[fluckey]

Gillianrose, I don't think you understand how the world works. If I'm getting a gigantic rebate from my travel agent, it is because we both think that is the right amount!

[cwn]

The agencies that get 17% surely don't pass all that along to the individual travel agent who takes care of your cruise, do they? Real estate commissions (which are somewhat more flexible now) have traditionally hovered around 6%, and the listing agent usually gets about 25% of the ultimate real estate gross sales price, i.e. one fourth of the 6%. When that is on a $500,000 home, that means that the overall commission is $30,000, and (on average) the listing agent (the one the seller works with most closely) earns $7,500. If you expect to get 10% of the 6% commission you paid as seller, (i.e. $3,000 of the $30,000) it would come entirely from the listing agent's commission, the person closest to you in the transaction, the one who took your calls and advised you, is the one you are short-changing.

 

Do you not see a parallel here between that and your expectations of individual travel agents? I think you are asking for (& probably getting) far too large a rebate from the travel agent.

 

Going down this road is off topic, but the standard real estate commission in our part of the country is 6%. In the 12 homes we have sold and 13 we have bought, when we have had an agent we have asked and received a reduced rate. If the agent is willing way not? It is bussiness deal.

 

I find it interesting that people are saying that Regent will follow suit with Carnival...hard to believe...I have sailed with both...lets hope Rgent doesn't become even more carnivalized in their bussiness model....but maybe they will since they are constantly filling my email, mail box and now voice mail with they constant marketing along with Carnival.

[WesW]

Hi Flukey, your posts on this thread demonstrate exceptional common (business) sense, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

CWN; also good points--real estate vs cruise, thanks.

 

Finally, am a big believer in transparency..this thread helps the Regent client understand the booking process. A plus IMO vs a risk.

[rallydave]

A fact? Okay -- prove it!

 

 

The proof is in the policy that Regent wrote as I have said at least twice on this thread just the same as the policy that Regent wrote about concierge as you stated. Period, end of discussion! This thread has run its' course and all the information is available to help newbies as well as experienced cruisers. Everyone can make up their own minds and go with whichever TA they choose, rebate or not!

[Travelcat2]

The proof is in the policy that Regent wrote as I have said at least twice on this thread just the same as the policy that Regent wrote about concierge as you stated. Period, end of discussion! This thread has run its' course and all the information is available to help newbies as well as experienced cruisers. Everyone can make up their own minds and go with whichever TA they choose, rebate or not!

 

The only one that can decide to end the thread is CruiseCritic. There were polite requests to end this thread a couple of pages ago. It would have been nice if you had listened.

[gillianrose]

Going down this road is off topic, but the standard real estate commission in our part of the country is 6%. In the 12 homes we have sold and 13 we have bought, when we have had an agent we have asked and received a reduced rate. If the agent is willing way not? It is bussiness deal.

 

But has the rate been 50% of the listing agent's 1/4 commission on the sales price?

[Travelcat2]

Om my goodness......TMI:eek:

[hondorner]

They would enforce it exactly as we did at American Airlines. If we found a travel agent rebating our product...

My point exactly. Agencies that want to do business a certain way will always find a way. Some agencies don't rebate until the client has returned home. Who's to say why that check was sent? Who's even to know a check was issued? Unless Regent could force agencies to open their books for audit, the only way the cruise line could know about a private business transaction between agency and client would be if one or the other makes it public. That can't happen on Cruise Critic because agencies cannot be identified. The only other way a cruise line knows about rebating is if the agency advertises it, and that is exactly what Prestige has announced they will enforce.

 

Since real estate transactions have been discussed, it's worth remembering the definition of fair market value -- that amount that a willing buyer accepts from a willing seller. Fluckey has it exactly right: "...it is because we both think that is the right amount!"

[HanaleiSailor]

Aloha all,

 

Did not want to post here again, but could not help myself. From the start of this thread, I thought the whole issue begged a simple question:

 

Do you think that the large rebate TAs and customers who demand large rebates will put luxury cruise TAs out of business?

 

And, if so, would this be a good or a bad thing for consumers?

 

I keep coming back to the airline analogy, thinking about all those years that we used to book " super discount fares" with online agencies when we lived in Asia.

 

Those days are gone, we now usually book directly though the airlines, and prices, overall, I think, have actually decreased . . .

[Travelcat2]

...the only way the cruise line could know about a private business transaction between agency and client would be if one or the other makes it public. That can't happen on Cruise Critic because agencies cannot be identified.

 

Don, maybe you don't read the Regent board enough. While it is against CruiseCritic guidelines, email addresses are given on a regular basis to share information about TA's. Most of the time the email addresses are written out like "name at yahoo dot com" . Other people have their email addresses in their signature and give information about the percentage their TA rebates. Anyone can find out the agency names.

 

While it is nice to say that agencies cannot be identified on CruiseCritic, unfortunately, this is not the case.

 

TA's will do what they need to do to keep customers and customers will continue to look for TA's who meet their needs....... unless or until Regent and other cruise lines enforce their policy. Perhaps Regent or Carnival will no longer allow TA's to book cruises if they do not adhere to policy.

 

And this thread goes on and on and on and on...........................

[tallship]

 

While it is nice to say that agencies cannot be identified on CruiseCritic, unfortunately, this is not the case.

 

Agree with you as so many times you steer newbies to your TA asking them to google Luxury Cruise Travel Agent....and this TA also gives back > 5% on numerous cruises

 

Really tiring that your attacks seem directed to a couple of folks on this board and wish both sides would depersonalize the discussion

 

I, for one will try to optimize service and value. Booking a Regent cruise is a non-trivial amount of my hard earned money