Move reservation over to TA?

[lightink2]

I booked Alaskan cruise for 8/20 through Princess today. Is there any advantage to moving the reservation over to a TA? The Princess booker said he’d send me a form, it was easy to do & nothing would change. 

Thank you.

[Thrak]

It depends on the TA. Some are better than others. I move my bookings to my TA because he gives me a decent percentage off the top of the price. Princess still gets the full price but my credit card is charged less as the TA kicks back part of his commission to cover the extra. If you move it to the big box TA (more of a ticket seller really as they provide no actual service) they will give you a boatload of on board credit - free spending money to use onboard. It can really be an amazing amount depending on the cruise. As I said though, they are mostly just ticket sellers so if there is an upgrade, upsell, price reduction, or whatever they won't notify you. Of course you can still monitor the cruise for price reductions and such and contact them if you want to make a change. Transferring to a TA you still keep all the perks Princess offers and, if you have a good TA, you will get extra benefit. Some folks do a lot of cruising and get a higher percentage off than I do but I'm happy with my TA. I can't remember exactly right offhand but I think my TA knocked something like $450 off of our upcoming cruise.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Thrak

[lightink2]

Thank you - that’s very helpful. I don’t have a TA but I’ll start looking for one who specializes in cruises. Princess gave us $900 in on-board credit so that’s the price to beat.

 

[paul929207]

Usually, any TA will give you the 900 Princess is giving. Some TAs will go beyond. We usually get a substantial discount off the cost of the cruise from our TA

[Coral]

I also get the cost of the cruise discounted off of the top.

[lightink2]

Thanks, everyone! Will start making calls today.

[riffatsea]

I tried and tried to find a TA to beat the price that Princess gave us for our Panama Canal cruise but no one offered me anything more than an extra $50 in addition to the free grats and OBC that Princess gave us! To me it was not worth changing for that small amount!

[satxdiver]

15 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

I tried and tried to find a TA to beat the price that Princess gave us for our Panama Canal cruise but no one offered me anything more than an extra $50 in addition to the free grats and OBC that Princess gave us! To me it was not worth changing for that small amount!

 

I have found similar "great" deals.  I agree it is not worth the trouble and losing the direct link to Princess.  

[paul929207]

You need to keep looking.  Many TAs offer better deals 

[riffatsea]

@paul,

Perhaps it depends on the price and deal you get from Princess if others can add to it much?

I tried local cruise specialists and cruise compete for others farther away and no one added anything worth while.

[Colo Cruiser]

9 hours ago, lightink2 said:

I booked Alaskan cruise for 8/20 through Princess today. Is there any advantage to moving the reservation over to a TA? The Princess booker said he’d send me a form, it was easy to do & nothing would change. 

Thank you.

It depends on the TA. Many will play games giving you OBC in an effort to entice you to use them.

I prefer the entire discount off the price of the cruise.

Saving 8%-12% off the cruise fare.

If the Princess booking is giving say $600 for example in OBC through a Princess promo, booking through the TA would still provide the $600 obc from Princess plus discount the cruise by the 8%-12% or more as well.

[Tak8]

I'm not against TAs.  I use them, but something does change.  You have to go through your TA to deal with any issues or concerns.  You have to be comfortable with that.  

[MCC retired]

1 hour ago, riffatsea said:

I tried and tried to find a TA to beat the price that Princess gave us for our Panama Canal cruise but no one offered me anything more than an extra $50 in addition to the free grats and OBC that Princess gave us! To me it was not worth changing for that small amount!

Remember , TA's can't advertise their better deals on Princess Cruises , so you may have to contact them for their deal .

Merely looking at their website you may not see them.

Princess allows any TA to discount their best current rates upfront .

You should be able to do better than a $50 OBC  on a pricy PC cruise .

 

In addition , if you have a problem with your booking, on or after your cruise , you really don't want to own your booking . A good Cruise Specialist TA has "contacts" that you don't have .

Edited April 2, 2019 by MCC retired

[riffatsea]

Yes, of course! Contacted and still found nothing better.

I would guess that it is specific to each deal and not always true that an agent can give you a better price!

 

[Coral]

23 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

Yes, of course! Contacted and still found nothing better.

I would guess that it is specific to each deal and not always true that an agent can give you a better price!

 

I always seem to get a much better price. My guess is you are not checking the right places.

[riffatsea]

OK then I give up!! Secret places??

Too bad we cannot really discuss this out in the open.

 

[paul929207]

I found my TA by asking people on cruises who they used. Anybody mentioned that they got a good deal, I got the URL or email. When I was ready to book, I contacted everyone on the list for a quote. Many of the responses were the same a Princess. But thru it I found a much cheaper alternative that I have used ever since.

[lightink2]

Thanks, everyone! Will start making calls today.

[lightink2]

Are you saying unused OBC from Princess will come back as cash?

[lightink2]

I’m wondering if because I booked 17 months early that will give me less incentive offers?

[RDC1]

17 minutes ago, lightink2 said:

Are you saying unused OBC from Princess will come back as cash?

Most of Princess OBC is non-refundable and you need to spend it on board.   Military OBC is refundable.  The OBC you get from a TA usually is (the BB store that I use is refundable)

[RDC1]

8 minutes ago, lightink2 said:

I’m wondering if because I booked 17 months early that will give me less incentive offers?

Shouldn't matter I have cruise booked that far out in the 5 I mentioned.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, RDC1 said:

I kind of like  the cruise line sending me a check after the cruise is over.  Since the big box OBC is refundable you don't have to spend it.

 

As long as they are efficient order takers and execute my instructions that is quite alright with me.  I travel enough that I trust my planning far more than any TA I have run into.

 

 

I don't - especially when I can get it 3 months earlier. Similar to rebates. Why pay more up front when you can get it cheaper in the beginning.

 

My TA will not "over charge me" to begin with.

 

My TA has traveled extensively - I consider myself lucky. I realized how important one was when a friend of mine encountered a unique situation. He is well traveled himself, his father was retired airline employee and mother was retired travel agent (so everyone more well traveled than myself)- when there was an earthquake in South America and his flight was cancelled (airport closed) and Princess wasn't cancelling sailing (one of those where you can get on at multiple cities). All flights going to the next few ports also went through this airport. It is times like these that I want an expert. He was one of the few that made it to the ship.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Coral

[RDC1]

21 minutes ago, Coral said:

I don't - especially when I can get it 3 months earlier. Similar to rebates. Why pay more up front when you can get it cheaper in the beginning.

 

My TA will not "over charge me" to begin with.

 

My TA has traveled extensively - I consider myself lucky. I realized how important one was when a friend of mine encountered a unique situation. He is well traveled himself, his father was retired airline employee and mother was retired travel agent (so everyone more well traveled than myself)- when there was an earthquake in South America and his flight was cancelled. All flights going to the next few ports also went through this airport. It is times like these that I want an expert. He was one of the few that made it to the ship.

Who is over paying.  The amount is the same deal that I can get going to Princess.  All of the discounts, all of the special terms. On top of that I get 8-12% OBC.  In addition at the end of the year I get an additional 2% rebate. Princesses best deal minus an additional 10-14% seems like a pretty good action.

 

Prior to my retirement I had the services of many "experts".  Not once did they come up with anything that I could not do myself. During that time I also reached million mile status on 3 different airlines. You may need the services of an expert I, and for that matter some others do not.  If I really wanted someone to bounce things off of I have concierge access with AMEX  and a couple of other sources. 

 

Glad you have a solution that you are happy with.  I know many that are happy with the same solution I have selected.

Edited April 2, 2019 by RDC1

[Colo Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

Who is over paying.  The amount is the same deal that I can get going to Princess.  All of the discounts, all of the special terms. On top of that I get 8-12% OBC.  In addition at the end of the year I get an additional 2% rebate. Princesses best deal minus an additional 10-14% seems like a pretty good action.

 

Prior to my retirement I had the services of many "experts".  Not once did they come up with anything that I could not do myself. During that time I also reached million mile status on 3 different airlines. You may need the services of an expert I, and for that matter some others do not.  If I really wanted someone to bounce things off of I have concierge access with AMEX  and a couple of other sources. 

I get all you are getting plus 8% - 12% more off the total cruise fare.

That is where you are overpaying.

Booking direct with Princess is no where close to the best deal. 

It is full retail.