Ausralians being taken advantage of by Princess Cruises

[Pushka]

It isn't just the price drops that makes booking with a USA Agent good; but if you want to cancel for a non insurable reason, they pay the deposit back, very quickly.

[woodyren]

They also, with some cruise lines anyway, can get you a cabin change within your category once your cabin is allocated if you book a guarantee. Apparently our British friends are not able to do this with their local TA's. Anyone know if you can do this if you book with an Aussie TA.

[Aussie Gal]

It isn't just the price drops that makes booking with a USA Agent good; but if you want to cancel for a non insurable reason, they pay the deposit back, very quickly.

 

Plus there is no charge for using a credit card when using a T.A. in the States. Here in Australia, the agents charge a fee for using a credit card which I feel is completely wrong.

 

Jennie

[Mothballs]

Plus there is no charge for using a credit card when using a T.A. in the States. Here in Australia, the agents charge a fee for using a credit card which I feel is completely wrong.

 

Jennie

I use an Aussie online TA that doesn't charge a credit card fee.

Elaine.

[rkmw]

Plus there is no charge for using a credit card when using a T.A. in the States. Here in Australia, the agents charge a fee for using a credit card which I feel is completely wrong.

 

Jennie

 

depends who you book with, some local TA's dont charge a fee for using your credit card

[Pushka]

Yes, all my Aussie TA's have charged for the credit card. Another :(

[Thorpe]

And some you can use Bpay or direct debit, so no credit card charge :)

[MMDown Under]

And some you can use Bpay or direct debit, so no credit card charge :)

 

Whilst I have used these methods in the past, to avoid credit card fees, I am now reluctant to do so, because of the state of the economy. I now prefer to pay by credit card (with no surcharge).

[mr walker]

Here in Australia, the agents charge a fee for using a credit card...

 

 

Not all... caution needs to be used in generalising all Aussie TA's in one category. And those that do, well they are passing on a merchant fee charged by cc company.

[Aussie Gal]

Yes, I agree that they are charging what the C.C. is passing on to them, but as they are doing big business, the charge would be negligible. Having been in small business, we know what the charges are and Visa and M/Card do not charge very much at all.

 

I am just pointing out that when we use our T.A. in the States there is no way that they are allowed to charge the C.C. fee as it is illegal over there.

 

Jennie

[Purples]

We received our first ever free air offer with Princess and were so excited - but when we went to book the price had dropped but we could not get that reduction - only the higher price - so thought about it overnight - then rang and it is not available now! So rather useless. We also will not book unless the price is comparable to US prices. Have done the paying double and will not again!

[Aus Traveller]

I am just pointing out that when we use our T.A. in the States there is no way that they are allowed to charge the C.C. fee as it is illegal over there.

 

Jennie

OK - the TAs in America don't charge CC fees as it is illegal there.:) Originally it was illegal to charge extra in Australia also, but that was changed many years ago.

 

When we pay the balance on a cruise invoice we sometimes deposit it directly into the bank account of the TA so there are no fees.

[Dizziedi]

Because of the slide in the dollar, we have reverted to using our local TA who doesn't charge the "Merchant" fee - he seems to prefer to get our business:)

 

Cheers

Di

[Gerko]

Sorry Jennie, you are wrong about the card charge being negligible to TAs. To give an example TAs get 10% commission but its only on the cruise fare. If I book an RCI cruise, that cruise fare may make up only 60% of the total price, the balance being taxes and non-commissionable costs. So for a $2000 cabin I will get 10% of maybe $1400, so about $140 commission. That equates to about 7% if calculated against the total cost. Now you wanna pay with your Amex because it gets you free insurance. Amex charge me 3% of the total, not the just the commissionable portion. So they are taking 3% from my 7% or just over 40% of my commission, as their fee. Do yu think losing 40% of your commission is negligible? I charge a 1% surcharge for any card, so am subsidising the costs, and also accept cheque, deposit, transfer or Bpay, none of which incur a fee.

[mr walker]

Gerko, thanks for that very clear explanation of the facts - that was exactly my understanding of how it works, not being in that business.

 

I suspect though that some will continue with their Aussie TA's are making a fortune ripping them off mantra.

 

I have paid thru local TA's on all 5 cruises I have taken. The 1st 4, with 2 different TA's I paid 1.5% cc fee - my choice as I elected to do that to utilise the included travel insurance, a 'service' available to me as I pay a card fee for a card with that feature.

 

My upcoming cruise, I didn't pay a cc fee, even when using my cc, as the TA offering the package we chose doesn't charge cc fees. They either absorb from their commission or offset somewhere else.

 

Happy cruising

[Aussieflyer]

<snip>

I suspect though that some will continue with their Aussie TA's are making a fortune ripping them off mantra.

<snip>

 

Not all posters here have pointed the finger at TAs - the original thread title was concerning the cruise lines employing discriminatory pricing practices. This includes things like identifying your IP address and only allowing you to see pricing in $AU to not allowing you to buy a cruise from the company's overseas site. Posts then brought up the difference in using overseas online TAs and local ones.

The original screen shots are from princess.com and princess.com.au.

[Aussie Gal]

Not all posters here have pointed the finger at TAs - the original thread title was concerning the cruise lines employing discriminatory pricing practices. This includes things like identifying your IP address and only allowing you to see pricing in $AU to not allowing you to buy a cruise from the company's overseas site. Posts then brought up the difference in using overseas online TAs and local ones.

The original screen shots are from princess.com and princess.com.au.

 

That is why we book in the U.S. when we can. Why should we be discriminated against and pay extra for a cruise where everyone on board gets the same attention.

 

I feel sorry for the T.A.'s here in Australia but where money is concerned, why should we, the public be ripped off by a huge Corporation such as Carnival, which seems to make sure that everyone else in the world except U.S. and Canadian citizens pay top dollar for their cruises.

 

We have been cruising far too long now to accept that we are second class citizens in a world where there is supposed to be "free trading". As we are retired, our hard earned money is too precious to be just thrown away and for us to just accept the fact that we poor Aussies have to pay more because we live here.

 

Jennie

[NSWP]

And we even have to ring up Princess and beg for a cruise atlas. U.S. and Canadian Elite

members get one sent out automatically each year. Discrimination !!

[woodyren]

I have been very open about my thoughts on this price gouging , restrictive prices and my reasons for using a US TA despite the drop in the Aussie $$$.

 

I don't want to come across as bagging Aussie TA's because I don't know the full story. Are they also at the mercy of the cruise lines who only offer them inflated prices? Do they get higher commissions than the US agents? Maybe a bit of both.

 

What I have steadfastly said though is that I refuse to deal within any cruise line that restricts me from paying the cheapest price that I can source. The only way I will deal with them is if the price I can get through an Aussie site is as low as the equivalent US price. Even then I will have to consider other restrictions such as the inability to get a full refund prior to final payment. This option available through all US agents (I believe) has allowed me to save approx. $700 from my already discounted series of 4 cruises and also upgrade my cabin category a couple of times. Because of this option every time there is a price drop or special you just give them a call or email and change to the better option.

 

If the cruise lines put the Aussie TA's at this sort of disadvantage then I feel sorry for them but by taking the "lets give our business to a local" stance you are just validating their decision to treat you this way.

[Oz_Steve]

Celebrity seem pretty good at equivalent pricing (except special promotions) but their more restrictive conditions has cost me $500 on my next cruise.

[MMDown Under]

And we even have to ring up Princess and beg for a cruise atlas. U.S. and Canadian Elite

members get one sent out automatically each year. Discrimination !!

 

Is that why I have never seen a cruise atlas, even though it is listed as a Member Benefit?

[MMDown Under]

Sorry Jennie, you are wrong about the card charge being negligible to TAs. To give an example TAs get 10% commission but its only on the cruise fare. If I book an RCI cruise, that cruise fare may make up only 60% of the total price, the balance being taxes and non-commissionable costs. So for a $2000 cabin I will get 10% of maybe $1400, so about $140 commission. That equates to about 7% if calculated against the total cost. Now you wanna pay with your Amex because it gets you free insurance. Amex charge me 3% of the total, not the just the commissionable portion. So they are taking 3% from my 7% or just over 40% of my commission, as their fee. Do yu think losing 40% of your commission is negligible? I charge a 1% surcharge for any card, so am subsidising the costs, and also accept cheque, deposit, transfer or Bpay, none of which incur a fee.

 

Do you get less commission than your US equivalents? Otherwise, how can they offer OBC, plus no charge for payments made by credit card? In addition, my TA transfers my payments to the cruise lines on payment.

[Aussie Gal]

Do you get less commission than your US equivalents? Otherwise, how can they offer OBC, plus no charge for payments made by credit card? In addition, my TA transfers my payments to the cruise lines on payment.

 

I agree with MM. I am sure that my TA in the States works on a very low commission and yes I too get OBC's, no charges for payments with our AMEX card and if the price goes down, we get the benefits. Also as with MM, our TA transfers our payments immediately on payment.

 

Jennie

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

The only hiccup at the moment is the AUS dollar is looking rather sad against the US dollar at the moment. I'm finding it better to book with the cruiseline directly here in AUS at the moment.

 

Jill

[woodyren]

The only hiccup at the moment is the AUS dollar is looking rather sad against the US dollar at the moment. I'm finding it better to book with the cruiseline directly here in AUS at the moment.

 

Jill

 

Is that for cruises out of Australia only? Does it also include perks?