What does a Travel Agent Bring to the Table?

[blutfort]

I see a lot of posts about using travel agents on this board. I've always booked through NCL.com except for our first cruise that was a group booking. My question is why? Is it cheaper through a travel agent? I can't imagine it is easier. Are there perks?

 

Thanks in advance for the answer.

[gma_pat]

Group booking rate and 150 OBC... and some wine to sweeten the pot.... that was on top of the NCL OBC

[disfan13]

There are lots of reasons. Most folks have no idea what to expect or want to be bothered booking their vacations. Most folks on cruise critic do not like travel agents,by hey like to have control over their bookings. My clients have as much control as they wish when booking with me.

Then there is supporting ( in most cases ) a small business. You are getting the same pricing unless you are with a group.

 

Many travel agents give back a good portion of their commissions just to get a sale. If someone comes to me and asks for a better price, or to discount I send them on their way. That's not why I'm in business.

 

Many TA'S love what they do and love giving advise, their thoughts, headring what a great time their clients had etc.

[bonvoyagie]

I use a TA - a real one as opposed to those on the internet - because I started crusing before the internet took off and the only way you could book a cruise was through a TA I continue with it. I guess I enjoy the face to face human contact with a travel expert. Over the years he has gotten to know what we like and dislike and makes suggestions as to where we can travel next. He has put together complete packages for us when we cruised around HI - he lets us choose our own excursions as he had not done the cruise before. On our AK cruises he has made reccomendtions as to things to do in each port - and on our last cruise he wanted to know more about a couple of the tours we did that he had not.

 

A good TA is like a good concerge they try to make the most of your vacation.

[www3traveler]

I have used a travel agent for all 17 of my cruises. He knows why likes and dislikes. He takes care of the travel arrangements to and from home. He can and will handle any problem- delayed flights. He does not care if I book a cruise and then change my mind. I consider him one of my best friends. I always give him detailed notes which he says helps him to help his other clients. I would not have it any other way.

[eap1986]

I get anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000 airline miles per cabin through my TA. Plus he does all the hard work when booking for my whole family (the one I booked the other day, for example, was a combination of balconies and inside rooms for 14 people, 2 people per room). He made certain we got the best possible rates while grouping our cabins on the same deck. And finally, he watches for price drops so I don't have to :D

[rvsullivan]

If you do your homework before you hire a travel agent, they can be wonderful.

If you understand their policies regarding changes and cancellations before you book, they can be wonderful.

Most do not do their homework before they hire a TA, yes, I said hire, they are working for you. They are not your friend and most are not cruise experts! If you can find a good one that actually knows what they are doing, they can make your whole experience wonderful. If they cannot do all of the above and make sure they are working for you and not doing you a favor, you should book yourself.

Read through this and other boards and look at the horror stories. They get paid good money by the cruise line to be cruise EXPERTS. Most appear to be far from experts.

Good luck.

[blutfort]

Thanks for the insight. I guess I'd never considered they could recommend a cruise itinerary. That would shine a whole new light on their function. I had kind of assumed that they were just sitting on the other side of the desk driving the mouse to NCL for me. Making me wonder why.

I also never thought about supporting the local business. I try to do that with a lot of stuff. I guess the "intangible"ness of a cruise ticket made it a lot less obvious to me.

[Hockey19]

TA's represent you to the cruise line. How many postings have your read about people spending countless hours dealing with issues with the cruise line (or airline or???) You are paying for a service -which costs you nothing. If all goes well, they make money, you get treated well and life goes on. If something happens, they take the lead (if they are good). They advocate for you and remove you from the problem. Local TA vs. a 1-800 or national is a question of choice and sometimes price. You need to make a price/value decision. We are loyal TA users but have switched when we were over time disappointed. We have also used NCL direct as well as national providers. Over time, our preference has been for quality experienced local hands to support our cruise experience.

[AttilaTheFun]

Usually lower pricing and added amenities like onboard credits. NCL can never have a better price or amenity than a travel agent, so that's a rational enough reason for me. As long as you find an agency that is responsive, helpful, and has policies that jive with you, i personally think a travel agent is always the way to go. Many people on these boards disagree, but they might be leaving money/benefits on the table by booking direct with NCL.

[Hopes4]

I see a lot of posts about using travel agents on this board. I've always booked through NCL.com except for our first cruise that was a group booking.

My question is why? For me, The first time I booked with a TA was for price. I stay because A- I had no problems and got everything I promised. B - when getting information on different cruises and many, MANY prices - booking for 7 families, multiple sizes and cabin categories, getting prices often in 2 or three categories for each family, my TA had the patience of a saint.

Is it cheaper through a travel agent?

Heck yeah. Booking in with their group got us a better rate to begin with and more OBC than currently available booking through NCL, and I still got the dash sail's lower deposits.

I can't imagine it is easier.

Much easier than me doing all that research myself online. May have been just as easy as a good PCC.

Are there perks?

In this past booking, aside from the great rates and OBC, I was given extra OBC for having all my family book through them. Also, since she knows I planned this all, she is great about keeping me informed with any problems on any of our ressies.

 

Thanks in advance for the answer.

 

It's all a matter of choice and what you feel comfortable with.when my original TA left, I tried another and he was fine, when I had to do this last group, I found him rude. I got another agent ASAP and adore her.

 

There are great TAs and PCC's, just as there are awful ones. If you find someone you like, stick with them.

[Uri1961]

I booked my 12 day european cruise with a TA a few years ago and it was great, I got a 500 OBC.

[cherrycola]

We booked through a travel agent, a real one that we could meet face to face, not some online agency.

With our travel agent, we could earn airline miles.

We've done group bookings for our first cruise, so it was great to have an agent to handle all of the paperworks for all of us, and ensuring that we could book rooms nearby to each other.

On our last cruise, we let our travel agent know that we are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. When we get on board, we received a card that we can present to the dining room. The servers then sang a song for us, and we get complimentary happy anniversary cake and chocolate covered strawberries.

Those are nice perks for us, so we would still continue using our travel agent for booking our future cruises.

[Cruisenmike711]

I've used a TA to book my last three vacations. Unfortunately, over this past summer, my mother passed away. We had a cruise booked several weeks later as well as a Disney vacation in October. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, and emailed my TA. He looked into what options were available to me if I wished to cancel the cruise, as well as price me out several different options for adding my father to our Disney trip. In the end, we went on the cruise, and found a $50 OBC awaiting us as a gift from him. And he readjusted my entire Disney trip to now include my father.

 

It's the rough times that a really good TA will help you out big time, and can really come through for you.

[SuiteCruiser]

I think a good TA is a perfect match for those who don't want control of their booking. I find the best deals going, it takes a TON of research, but I enjoy it. I would pay far more if I went to a "brick and mortar" TA. I now sail through CAS, so my cruise is mostly comped, and I usually get my airfare free through frequent flyer miles (promotions and checking for lowest mile costs), as well as my hotels, so I don't think a TA would do me any good.

 

My TA next month on Epic is costing me taxes, port charges and DSC for instance. (PLUS my casino donations!)

 

I believe that a TA can be awesome for other people though. I like the hunt, the research and the puzzles too much to give it up.

[familyof4cruising]

I hate giving my booking to a TA because I do like control, BUT getting a better price and or an amazing OBC is worth not having control.

[Warmer Climes]

I love my TA. I started with another one who was useless, but have booked with my excellent one many times since. She is a very experienced cruiser and has been on most ships we consider. She gives excellent advice about what cruises fit our family. She has an excellent rapport with the cruise lines we have booked through her, and knows who to call to get information. If I need to know something, I call her and she calls the cruise line and calls me right back. She is an expert on cabin selection and loyalty perks and suite perks. I have booked a cruise online before I found her so obviously I could do that, but she offers great service that you don't get online. Another thing she does is calls before we cruise to wish us bon voyage and when we get back to get our feedback. Can you tell I like her?:)

 

Barb

[Medtech2]

TA's represent you to the cruise line. How many postings have your read about people spending countless hours dealing with issues with the cruise line (or airline or???) You are paying for a service -which costs you nothing. If all goes well, they make money, you get treated well and life goes on. If something happens, they take the lead (if they are good). They advocate for you and remove you from the problem. Local TA vs. a 1-800 or national is a question of choice and sometimes price. You need to make a price/value decision. We are loyal TA users but have switched when we were over time disappointed. We have also used NCL direct as well as national providers. Over time, our preference has been for quality experienced local hands to support our cruise experience.

It definitely depends on the TA. The last one I used was for a trip for my son to go out west to go to a Boy Scout camp and then visit relatives. He was 14. The airline bumped him from the flight home after my BIL dropped him off. The TA would not do anything!!!

 

I had my son on my cell phone with Delta on my work phone at the same time to at least get them to give him a food voucher! He was upset. I was upset. The TA's response was she got us the ticket but it was not her problem! I still feel anger about it when I think of her cavalier response and he just turned 22.

 

On the otherhand I used a local cruise only TA to set up a trip for my parents and she was a dream. She handled everything and, since my brothers and I were splitting the cost, she called them and got their share directly from them.

 

Even so, I now use a PCC because I have so many cruise specific questions...

[jingle5616]

Wow, such various opinions. This is mine. If I had to use NCL reservation people and system, I would no longer cruise with NCL. I've had more bad experiences with their telephone help than good. It's has been that bad. The on board experience is SO much better than the shore side experience. I can say the NCL's web site isn't as bad as it once was.

 

I use a National internet travel agency who has met most of my expectations.

 

1. To make the reservation at a rate almost always lower than what NCL's web site is quoting.

 

2. Provide me with OBC, dinners, wine, or prepaid services charges. Not necessarily all of them at the same time, but in many cases a combination of them.

 

3. Make changes when I call and want changes made, such as price reductions, room upgrades, etc.

 

I can't say I haven't had problems with the internet agency a time or two, but the difference is they have always been able to fix the problem. NCL's folks are so constrained, that if you happen to fall outside of their small box of capability you are S.O.L. I know my opinion of NCL's shore people is pretty blistering, but it is well deserved to the point where I just refuse to even call them anymore......and happily so.

 

Lower price, extra stuff and dealing with pleasant people who actually want my business......it's a no brainer for us.

[LegallyBlonder]

I think it's a generational thing, honestly. I would guess that very few people under the age of 40 use a travel agent at this point. As stated above, you had no choice but to use a travel agent back in the day (and by "back in the day", I mean 90s and before). Younger generations are more comfortable with the internet, and used to doing everything online.

[NYGirl1002]

My travel agent brought zip, nada, zero to the table. The reason I originally used her was for my Carnival cruise in 2009 as she had a group going and we got a good rate. But if you didn't go on her group cruises she was pretty much worthless. She never even gave me a bottle of wine.

 

I used her for a couple of Disney trips as it was easier than doing all the work.

 

I have to say now that I booked directly with my PCC I feel so much better.

[DevCruise]

We booked a trip directly through NCL for our honeymoon in January. Had a wonderful PCC that I still use to this day. My wife found an online site with what we later found out was a TA group booking for the same cruise for $500pp off.

 

So I called up the TA that my wife spoke to and she was nice, friendly, and helpful for the initial phone call. Told her we already had a reservation and that my PCC said this could be easily transferred. The TA I spoke to said it was really hard to transfer them and insisted on just booking it direct and making us cancel the direct NCL reservation. After we got this done, she acted like she didn't really want to talk to us. I wanted to make monthly payments so as to not have a big payment at the end. She made us feel like this was a big hassle and because I had booked through her and not NCL, I couldn't make payments through the NCL website.

 

Also found out she knew nothing about booking excursions and I had to figure that out on my own.

 

Told her I wanted travel insurance and she told me I didn't need to worry about that until final payment as everything was refundable. Found out after booking my next two cruises through NCL direct that if you don't get the insurance within 15 days or so of booking that you can't get the "cancel for any reason" clause.

 

Maybe there are some good TAs out there, but the one I used definitely wasn't one of them.

[disfan13]

I think it's a generational thing, honestly. I would guess that very few people under the age of 40 use a travel agent at this point. As stated above, you had no choice but to use a travel agent back in the day (and by "back in the day", I mean 90s and before). Younger generations are more comfortable with the internet, and used to doing everything online.

 

This is not true. About 75% of my repeat clients are under 40.

 

And FYI by using an online travel sight - you are still using a travel agent. ;) Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz are travel agents. The difference between them and your local folks are - just that - they are big. I provide concierge services to my clients. You can not get that through the big guys.

[cherrycola]

I'm under 40, and I used travel agent :)

Being a software developer, I'm quite savy with the internet, and usually book other travel arrangements myself (hotels, flights), but with cruises I just prefer to have a TA. Everyone has their preferences of course. One thing I wanted to add is that our TA would remind us of to pay off the final balance one week before it's due, she also reminds us to do online check in. I've read a thread somewhere in this board that someone's booking got cancelled due to not making final payment in time, so I'm kinda glad to have a TA in that case.

[disfan13]

I'm under 40, and I used travel agent :)

Being a software developer, I'm quite savy with the internet, and usually book other travel arrangements myself (hotels, flights), but with cruises I just prefer to have a TA. Everyone has their preferences of course. One thing I wanted to add is that our TA would remind us of to pay off the final balance one week before it's due, she also reminds us to do online check in. I've read a thread somewhere in this board that someone's booking got cancelled due to not making final payment in time, so I'm kinda glad to have a TA in that case.

 

I learned in the beginning to remind my clients 10 days prior to final payment. Like I said earlier - my clients canb do as much or as little as they want. And thank you for using a TA :)