OBC from your TA

[doob]

We can only cruise in the school holidays so pay a high price £6100 this summer & our travel agent gives us nothing!! We are very independent, choose the cruise & cabin etc before we see her. Time to change!!!

[kevinyork]

We can only cruise in the school holidays so pay a high price £6100 this summer & our travel agent gives us nothing!! We are very independent, choose the cruise & cabin etc before we see her. Time to change!!!

 

 

Our UK agents rarely offer anything at all other than passing on the cruise line's own offers. Commission rates for agents are lower in the UK so they have less flexibility to provide extras.

 

How about trying a US agent? We did so for our two X cruises and got OBC and lower cruise fares.

 

 

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[MisterBill99]

Turns out I did most of the research because hers was neither timely or useful-it was when she sent the invoice and I saw the commission was around $750 a stateroom that I thought maybe we would get something as a thank you. No such luck.

I've never heard of the commission being itemized on a travel invoice (I wouldn't think they would want you to know how much profit they are making on you). And $750 per cabin is a lot of money, how much were the cabins?

Edited April 11, 2014 by MisterBill99

[doob]

Our UK agents rarely offer anything at all other than passing on the cruise line's own offers. Commission rates for agents are lower in the UK so they have less flexibility to provide extras.

 

How about trying a US agent? We did so for our two X cruises and got OBC and lower cruise fares.

 

 

That thought had crossed our minds but we always assumed you had to be resident in the States or at least have an address in the US?

Looks like you now great some great deals!

Is it a difficult process to find & use a US TA?

[sarawithanh]

My mom just booked 2 rooms (for her and my dad and for me and hubby) on Summit in January through a travel agent. She was going back and forth on concierge class and ultimately decided not to.

 

She made the phone call to the TA to book us, and the TA upgraded us to CC for FREE. We also got the 123 perk, so we upgraded that to premium alcohol package.

 

And when my mom got the bill, it turns out the TA gave each room $75 in OBC!

 

Mom was so happy! Qsine here I come!

[kevinyork]

Our UK agents rarely offer anything at all other than passing on the cruise line's own offers. Commission rates for agents are lower in the UK so they have less flexibility to provide extras.

 

 

 

How about trying a US agent? We did so for our two X cruises and got OBC and lower cruise fares.

 

 

 

 

 

That thought had crossed our minds but we always assumed you had to be resident in the States or at least have an address in the US?

 

Looks like you now great some great deals!

 

Is it a difficult process to find & use a US TA?

 

 

Hi,

 

I started looking into it last autumn when Celebrity were about to launch the 123 Promo again. We had our eye on a May 2014 cruise on Eclipse from Southampton. When the promo started the price for a 2D balcony was over £2000. I looked at many US sites and lots of them said straight up that non US residents were not allowed to book with US cruise lines. However I found a couple that didnt stipulate this. I got a callback and quote from one which was ok with a little OBC. The other was showing a great price online. However I had to call. Thankfully if you google it there are numbers you can call and place your call through and then be able to get through to a US number at a UK local rate.

 

I got through and spoke to someone who confirmed the price and offer. Like for like this is what we got: a C3 Concierge Balcony, the Classic Drinks Package, Free Tips plus the agent gave us $300 OBC. The price was £850 pp less than booking it with a UK agent who would not be offering the OBC.

 

Two months later we booked again for a 2 week Eclipse cruise in October. We got the same sort of deal only this time it was $400 OBC and again we saved over £700 pp.

 

It was pretty straightforward given everything could be emailed. The agent I used has mixed reviews on here as they charge a $100 fee if you cancel before balance payment date (but you get your deposit paid to Celebrity back) plus they are not open weekends. This wasnt an issue as we knew we would be going on the cruise and anyway if we had booked with a UK agent then we would lose the full deposit anyway.

 

In the end it was no more difficult than dealing with a UK agent. I of course cannot name the agent but you are welcome to email me contact dot me at virgin dot me

 

 

Kevin.

 

 

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Edited April 11, 2014 by kevinyork

[MisterBill99]

And when my mom got the bill, it turns out the TA gave each room $75 in OBC!

 

Mom was so happy! Qsine here I come!

How much was the upgrade worth? $75 OBC doesn't seem like much (although it sounds like you weren't expecting anything, which sort of goes against this whole thread). And I haven't heard of people getting an upgrade to a new class at booking time. Has anyone else?

[MisterBill99]

It was pretty straightforward given everything could be emailed. The agent I used has mixed reviews on here as they charge a $100 fee if you cancel before balance payment date (but you get your deposit paid to Celebrity back) plus they are not open weekends.

The large agency mentioned earlier (the one that won the award) is not open on weekends, either, which is the one thing that really bothers me about them (that plus it takes hours to get someone on the phone when they run one of their holiday promos). I basically book thru them for price, not service (I just got their past customer program info in the mail and maybe if you've booked a bunch of cruises thru them you get preferential treatment). The woman I am using for our upcoming cruise (and used last summer) is basically her own agency, so I can get her at night and on weekends.

 

I guess you had a very limited number of choices given your situation, but cancellation/change charges are a big no-no for me when looking for an agency. And as you mentioned, it's better than you'd normally get from the cruise line booking with a UK agent.

Edited April 12, 2014 by MisterBill99

[grandgeezer]

I book strictly on price. I don't need service and I don't need them available 24/7. I get my price reductions and change cabins via e-mail and have never missed out on anything I requested. I am a member of their Loyalty program so I get an extra obc on every cruise I book. If by chance I would have to cancel a cruise, and pay their minimal cancellation fee, I would be thousands of dollars ahead based on the lower prices all the percs they have given me. If you need someone to hold your hand and help you sleep at night, look elsewhere. If you are self sufficient and want to save a lot of money, there are options, such as this one, out there.

[Boxerlover2]

I book strictly on price. I don't need service and I don't need them available 24/7. I get my price reductions and change cabins via e-mail and have never missed out on anything I requested. I am a member of their Loyalty program so I get an extra obc on every cruise I book. If by chance I would have to cancel a cruise, and pay their minimal cancellation fee, I would be thousands of dollars ahead based on the lower prices all the percs they have given me. If you need someone to hold your hand and help you sleep at night, look elsewhere. If you are self sufficient and want to save a lot of money, there are options, such as this one, out there.

 

 

How much OBC do you receive as a Loyalty? We signed up for this a few weeks ago and haven't received any information yet. We have an unpcoming 2nd cruise with this TA.

 

 

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[MisterBill99]

How much OBC do you receive as a Loyalty? We signed up for this a few weeks ago and haven't received any information yet. We have an unpcoming 2nd cruise with this TA.

They seem to give you a $25 gift certificate after each cruise until you hit 11, at which point it becomes $50. At a much higher level you get $100.

I book strictly on price. I don't need service and I don't need them available 24/7. I get my price reductions and change cabins via e-mail and have never missed out on anything I requested. I am a member of their Loyalty program so I get an extra obc on every cruise I book. If by chance I would have to cancel a cruise, and pay their minimal cancellation fee, I would be thousands of dollars ahead based on the lower prices all the percs they have given me. If you need someone to hold your hand and help you sleep at night, look elsewhere. If you are self sufficient and want to save a lot of money, there are options, such as this one, out there.

There is a difference between being self-sufficient and wanting to be able to talk to your TA at night or on the weekend when it's convenient for you. If I could do everything myself online and just get the OBC from the TA, I'd be happy with that. But there are some things you need to get them to take care of, and as an example, it was nice to be able to speak to the independent TA at 10pm a couple of weeks ago to give her my credit card number for final payment. And you're lucky that you haven't missed out on cabin switches or price drops as a result of them not being available when it happened.

 

I suspect that you are in one of the upper tiers with this company and I would not be surprised if they call you back immediately, ahead of lesser customers, although I'd image they still don't talk to you on the weekends.

Edited April 12, 2014 by MisterBill99

[Kevnzworld]

I've used and still use a conventional travel agent and two of the well known online cruise agencies, I've never had a bad experience with the online agencies, and they are as responsive as a traditional agent.

I like getting better promo prices and additional OBC. ....it sux for the brick and mortar old school agents, but they can't compete.

[AJB1970]

Thank you to the OP for posting this question. I have often wondered it myself and upon reading the thread I can see that it varies massively, not only with the TA you work with, but where you live. I have often commented to my DH that we seem to miss out on some of the OBC, paid gratuities etc etc as we live in the UK...and this thread has confirmed that.

 

I have just booked my fourth cruise with my usual TA and have only just been offered a "previous customer" discount. We usually spend time searching on the net for deals but even when we ask for a quote from said TA, they do tend to come up cheaper than the net search. However, when I last booked a cruise, because of the expense (UK to Australia and NZ), I did research the cost and advised them what I'd found. Like I say, they'd agreed to beat the price with a previous customer discount, but with problems in getting connecting flights etc, it meant that we've had to book an additional night in a hotel, so probably not much discount applied at all. I've been told by a relative that the price we're paying is a good one, but then I read here that people have received a good amount of OBC for an inside cabin and a much cheaper cruise, I kinda wonder where I'm going wrong....maybe I need to get my negotiating skills up to date .... or move to America!! ;-)

 

 

 

 

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[sarawithanh]

How much was the upgrade worth? $75 OBC doesn't seem like much (although it sounds like you weren't expecting anything, which sort of goes against this whole thread). And I haven't heard of people getting an upgrade to a new class at booking time. Has anyone else?

 

 

Not sure what the upgrade was. Mom was booking us balconies. And then the TA surprised her with free upgrade to CC. And then surprised her with $75 OBC per room.

 

Don't really care how much it's "worth" Because what it's worth to us and mom might not be what it's worth to you

 

Mom did say however that the only other bonus she remembers from booking a prior cruise with a TA, was two bottles of wine in their cabin - which is a nice gesture but in our case with the premium package would not be so that may be the why for our OBC

 

At any rate. Not over analyzing it. Mom is loving the TA she is using and it opens to my eyes to the pluses of sometimes using a TA to book a cruise

[kevinyork]

Thank you to the OP for posting this question. I have often wondered it myself and upon reading the thread I can see that it varies massively, not only with the TA you work with, but where you live. I have often commented to my DH that we seem to miss out on some of the OBC, paid gratuities etc etc as we live in the UK...and this thread has confirmed that.

 

I have just booked my fourth cruise with my usual TA and have only just been offered a "previous customer" discount. We usually spend time searching on the net for deals but even when we ask for a quote from said TA, they do tend to come up cheaper than the net search. However, when I last booked a cruise, because of the expense (UK to Australia and NZ), I did research the cost and advised them what I'd found. Like I say, they'd agreed to beat the price with a previous customer discount, but with problems in getting connecting flights etc, it meant that we've had to book an additional night in a hotel, so probably not much discount applied at all. I've been told by a relative that the price we're paying is a good one, but then I read here that people have received a good amount of OBC for an inside cabin and a much cheaper cruise, I kinda wonder where I'm going wrong....maybe I need to get my negotiating skills up to date .... or move to America!! ;-)

 

 

 

 

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Or call an American agent that will take bookings from non US residents.

 

 

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[AJB1970]

Or call an American agent that will take bookings from non US residents.

 

 

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Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but I'd like to see UK agents up their game and start offering UK customers a bit more. I'm not saying I want something for nothing...but how come we're at the bottom of the "comp" list...constantly? Don't we deserve some incentives to keep our cash in the UK?

 

As a UK resident, if you don't want to do longhaul, then European cruises are extortionate compared to the cruises in the Caribbean...it's no wonder US citizens can cruise more times a year with such low costs... I guess I just feel as though UK residents are getting a bit of a raw deal when you hear about the offers available if you live in the US...and the OP has opened up a good debate as this thread clearly shows that there's a definite difference.

 

 

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[Gig103]

My warehouse club gives approximately 5% of the cruise cost as OBC. It varies I'm sure, but that has been my experience.

[doob]

Kevinyork

 

In the end it was no more difficult than dealing with a UK agent. I of course cannot name the agent but you are welcome to email me contact dot me at virgin dot me

 

I have attempted to email you a couple of times using different variations of your email address but to no avail. Could you please post email address again?

Many thanks

[meatloafsfan]

My mom just booked 2 rooms (for her and my dad and for me and hubby) on Summit in January through a travel agent. She was going back and forth on concierge class and ultimately decided not to.

 

She made the phone call to the TA to book us, and the TA upgraded us to CC for FREE. We also got the 123 perk, so we upgraded that to premium alcohol package.

 

And when my mom got the bill, it turns out the TA gave each room $75 in OBC!

 

Mom was so happy! Qsine here I come!

 

Something similar happened to us. I don't normally use a TA (except for Disney Cruises because of OBC offers) but for our Celebrity cruise next November, I started shopping around. I found an online agency (through the links on the main cruise critic website). It had the same prices listed as Celebrity except that in addition to the 1-2-3 offer, they were giving $200 OBC per cabin. When I was going through the online booking process, I box popped up and said there might be better pricing for this cruise but I had to call. I did and I was offered a CC cabin for $385 less than what I would have paid for a my balcony cabin through the Celebrity website plus they honoured the 1-2-3 offer, and gave us $200 OBC.

 

After that experience, I also booked my Royal cruise in February with another online agency and while I paid the same price for my cabin (which was a steal at $399 per person), I received $175 OBC for our interior cabin.

 

I ended up using 2 different agencies because I find that some offer better deals for different cruiselines.

 

For our June Summit cruise though, I booked online myself. Celebrity hadn't adjusted the Canadian dollar rate so I ended up paying less than 5% exchange rate (when the exchange rate was 10%+) and I couldn't imagine that any TA could end up matching that difference (would have had to get $200+ OBC). Plus, I knew that there was no upgrades because all of the HA balconies are sold out.

[grandgeezer]

They seem to give you a $25 gift certificate after each cruise until you hit 11, at which point it becomes $50. At a much higher level you get $100.

 

There is a difference between being self-sufficient and wanting to be able to talk to your TA at night or on the weekend when it's convenient for you. If I could do everything myself online and just get the OBC from the TA, I'd be happy with that. But there are some things you need to get them to take care of, and as an example, it was nice to be able to speak to the independent TA at 10pm a couple of weeks ago to give her my credit card number for final payment. And you're lucky that you haven't missed out on cabin switches or price drops as a result of them not being available when it happened.

 

I suspect that you are in one of the upper tiers with this company and I would not be surprised if they call you back immediately, ahead of lesser customers, although I'd image they still don't talk to you on the weekends.

 

You are accurate as far as the Loyalty program, but there is much more than that. At Christmas, they sold $500 gift cards (max 2), that could be given as gifts or used for final payment. With each card came an extra $100 card that you could be used as a combineable obc. Also at the time they were announced as the Chairman's Award winner, on Celebrity, they gave another combinable $100 obc for each cruise. That' plus their generous obc allowed me to get $1,000 obc for the B2B in October. Did I mention the $700 p.p. I paid less because they had group rates on both cruises? Is giving all this up for the opportunity to talk to someone 24/7 worth it?? I don't think so.

I like everyone else, have to wait for them to call me back, sometimes several hours. One thing in their favor though, is they will call you back the same day. I've gotten called in AZ when it's 9-10 pm in New Hampshire. After booking I am given a direct number of a CS rep if I have any problems or qustions. How has it worked? I don't know, I do all my communicating via e-mail.

Talk to someone right away or save a ton of money, everybody make's their own choice and I'll go with the money everytime.

[sperkins921]

So I have a suite booked (guarantee rate but suite nonetheless) and the total cost of the 7N cruise is $3200. I don't know that choice air helps or not for OBC, but the choice air added $700 to the total. So $3900. My typical TA (whom I do love and she does work hard when things go wrong) is part of a bigger cruise TA group. I want to transfer the booking to them.

 

They want to offer $100 OBC.

 

That just seems so slim.

 

Can someone PM me the name of this big online group that others have used that was responsible for 25% of the bookings on the Reflection TA? Or the others mentioned here that are giving more sizeable perks/OBC? I *think* I know who it is, but am not sure.

 

I feel like for the size/cost of the booking, $100 is just a bit underwhelming, but was not sure if that was right. Seems like based on some of these other responses, it is.

[grandgeezer]

Giving travel agents names aren't allowed on the board. $100 obc is woefully inadaquate. For example, last week I booked the Christmas/New Years cruise on Princess, to Hawaii. I paid $229 p.p. less than booking it through Princess. I also got $300 obc versus the $75 that the cruise line offered. This was on a price of $3630 for the two of us. I've been doing this awhile so I have about four online TAs that I used. They all offered a lower price plus more obc. It takes some work to find them but most of the time the reward is worth it. If you do your due dilligence, the risk is miniscule. If you need the comfort of being able to talk to someone 24/7, then use the cruise line and leave the extra money on the table.

[TorontoSailor]

We got $175 OBC this time.

 

In past, we've received four bottles of wine, plus a night in a specialty restaurant.

 

We're pretty loyal customers.

 

Scott

[villauk]

Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but I'd like to see UK agents up their game and start offering UK customers a bit more. I'm not saying I want something for nothing...but how come we're at the bottom of the "comp" list...constantly? Don't we deserve some incentives to keep our cash in the UK?

 

As a UK resident, if you don't want to do longhaul, then European cruises are extortionate compared to the cruises in the Caribbean...it's no wonder US citizens can cruise more times a year with such low costs... I guess I just feel as though UK residents are getting a bit of a raw deal when you hear about the offers available if you live in the US...and the OP has opened up a good debate as this thread clearly shows that there's a definite difference.

 

 

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Supply and demand: there are far more cruise ships sailing from Florida, hence the lower costs as they all vie for the same business.

 

Check out the prices on both sides of the pond before you book, taking into account OBC credit offered from TAs etc. The cruise comparison sites are your friend to initially see the difference in costs between the currencies. As I've stated previously, Connections parties are a great way to find a good US TA from fellow pax recommendations. There shouldn't be a problem with booking an X or Royal cruise through a US TA as it is permitted (Princess and HAL are a different story). You can book onboard, receive the cruise line promotions, and have the booking transferred to your US TA (enabling further perks to be added) ;).

 

On our next cruise, the price difference by booking in the States was £600 cheaper than booking over here (and we received a small amount of OBC). We've been using the same US TA for quite a few years now (always receive additional OBC), however, I always check the deals/promotions being offered over here too ;).

[blindrid]

Hi Everyone- I wanted to see what people were getting from their TA for booking with them. We booked a group of 8 for a Med cruise (13nights) through a TA and it seems like we are not getting a lot in return-so I wanted to check and see what others were getting.

 

Thanks

 

I noticed a lot of people threw out their 1-2-3 OBC $$'s.

 

Some time ago, most cruise lines put a restriction on how much the TA's could give away. Moral of the story: don't plan on much, if any, anymore.