What does your TA do for you?

[DCGuy64]

Many years ago, I did all of my own travel planning (which I like, part of the fun for me is doing the research). BUT: I switched to using a TA because he's a personal friend of mine (and we used to work together at the same company). Here's what he does for us:

1. Books cruises, flights, hotels, even packages

2. He does the calling when I have questions (saves me time and aggravation waiting on hold)

3. If I see a deal, he'll try and get it for me, and he often finds deals for us on his own. A recent example is a trip to an all-inclusive resort. I happened to see an offer for $200 in coupons. Initially he said we didn't qualify because we got a good deal on the flight/hotel package, but he checked for us again and got it, after all.

4. He sends us a Christmas present every year (gift baskets, restaurant vouchers, this year it was Godiva chocolates, my wife's favorite)

 

The older I get, the more unwilling I am to sit on hold forever trying to ask questions (especially with cruise lines, the wait times can be enormous). For that reason alone, I trust my friend. He's also a seasoned cruiser, as well as a contributor here on CC. For me, it's TA all the way.

 

[mainelycruising]

17 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

I would never use a TA.  In today's world they are all but useless.  With a little bit of leg work you can almost always match or beat any price or deal they can give you plus you do not have a 3rd party stuck in between the cruise line and you.  Not worth the hassle at all.

 

 

You are making a false assumption, that being that the only two options are using a TA or booking directly with the cruise line.  A bit of keyboard time (you can get all those same figures yourself) and a little creativity can almost always match or beat any 'deal' a TA can get you.  For example find a TA that can get a 12-day Hawaii cruise for four (two balcony cabins) including all cruise costs, 1st class R/T air from SC, a week pre-cruise in a Hotel right on Waikiki beach, a rental car for the entire time in Honolulu, shuttles, air port parking for the entire cruise length, and specialty dining for 6 nights for a grand total combined of well under $6,000 (total not per person).  Go ahead, I'll wait!

No one is stopping your home research.  I will stick with my TA. Good luck.

[Gretchendz]

18 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

I would never use a TA.  In today's world they are all but useless.  With a little bit of leg work you can almost always match or beat any price or deal they can give you plus you do not have a 3rd party stuck in between the cruise line and you.  Not worth the hassle at all.

 

 

You are making a false assumption, that being that the only two options are using a TA or booking directly with the cruise line.  A bit of keyboard time (you can get all those same figures yourself) and a little creativity can almost always match or beat any 'deal' a TA can get you.  For example find a TA that can get a 12-day Hawaii cruise for four (two balcony cabins) including all cruise costs, 1st class R/T air from SC, a week pre-cruise in a Hotel right on Waikiki beach, a rental car for the entire time in Honolulu, shuttles, air port parking for the entire cruise length, and specialty dining for 6 nights for a grand total combined of well under $6,000 (total not per person).  Go ahead, I'll wait!

 

 

I thought that for years--always researching and booking myself...then I started to read on these forums about TAs adding extra OBC, gifts, whatever.  So I booked a cruise, then contacted a TA who gave me $300 more OBC for switching the booking to her.  I have never looked back!  You can do all the research and do the booking, but if you don't follow up seeing what a TA can add to have you transfer the booking to them, you are most assuredly almost always leaving money on the table.

[Gretchendz]

On 12/29/2020 at 5:18 PM, Sailing12Away said:

I've never had good experiences with TA's, and my family jokes that I should give up on this whole science thing I do and just become a TA myself.

 

They don't charge - so they have to be making their money somehow or another. Hence why they tend to push one hotel or cruise line over another. I have yet to find one that offers a good, better, best option when planning out a vacation - so I end up doing all the research myself to see what is really the best option for me.

 

My parents used a TA to book their Bliss cruise after I told them NOT to, and the TA didn't even get them all of the available perks that were offered from the NCL website directly. They were also told that gratuities were included, when they weren't. I had to call and scream at the TA for taking advantage of them (as they also suckered them into paying full price up front), and the best they offered was to give them $100 total in OBC as compensation. TA refused to allow a refund so I could rebook directly myself. Never again...

 

TAs do make their money from commissions, but good ones book you on what you want, regardless of commission as they are focused on building a long term relationship with you.  If you call and say you want NCL and nothing but, most will give you that.

 

Folks on these forums are often quite expert--but there's no reason not to find and book your cruise as you wish and then contact a few TAs and see if they will give you extra OBC or whatever to transfer the booking.  Seems like a win-win to me.

 

[MoCruiseFan]

26 minutes ago, Gretchendz said:

 

 

I thought that for years--always researching and booking myself...then I started to read on these forums about TAs adding extra OBC, gifts, whatever.  So I booked a cruise, then contacted a TA who gave me $300 more OBC for switching the booking to her.  I have never looked back!  You can do all the research and do the booking, but if you don't follow up seeing what a TA can add to have you transfer the booking to them, you are most assuredly almost always leaving money on the table.

I have yet to have a TA come even slightly close to the deals I can get myself.  Last cruise I booked I paid around $5,000 total for my cruise door to door, which would have cost over $22,000 had I bought everything at the cheapest prices that were advertised.  I got a LOT of freebies on the cruise itself as well (OBC, dining, wifi, etc).  At that price, even if I did give up a measly $300, it is worth it to not have some 3rd party stuck in the middle of my cruise reservation.

[Trimone]

I learned many years ago booking hotels, to do a direct booking, using agencies gets you a room, book directly gets you a better room or upgrade.

I always book directly with NCL, best prices ever and service, you don’t spend half your day arguing when something goes wrong like TA

[CarolinaMamma]

On 12/30/2020 at 1:09 PM, Capitan Obvious said:

"What does your TA do for you?"

 

~In short, a good TA would provide you with all of the information you would need in relation to your vacation. You wouldn't need to seek answers to your questions from strangers on an Internet forum.

I have gotten some great answers and helpful tips from strangers on this Internet forum over the years! And no one here is getting commission, so I feel that sometimes the info is less biased than what a TA would give me. The TAs I’ve used in the past haven’t sailed on the ships they’re booking me on, but I won’t make that mistake again. 

[RocketMan275]

I booked my first cruises direct.  Then I found a TA that would provide the same services at about 8% less than booking direct. 

There is another good reason to book through a TA.  Once I had two cruises booked and wanted to change them.  Had I booked directly, I would have to have made four phone calls since I wanted to change from two lines to two other lines.  I made one call to my TA who made all four changes.  Took less  than five minutes.  I wonder how long I would spent on hold dealing directly with four different cruise lines. 

[ECCruise]

15 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

I have yet to have a TA come even slightly close to the deals I can get myself.  Last cruise I booked I paid around $5,000 total for my cruise door to door, which would have cost over $22,000 had I bought everything at the cheapest prices that were advertised.  I got a LOT of freebies on the cruise itself as well (OBC, dining, wifi, etc).  At that price, even if I did give up a measly $300, it is worth it to not have some 3rd party stuck in the middle of my cruise reservation.

You must know some magic formula, seriously.

 

In 20+ years and nearly 100 sailings on 12 different lines, I never once have found a deal from any cruise line direct that could not, at the very least, be matched by a TA. 

 

In your scenario, TAs would literally stop booking with that cruise line if they found themselves under the bus you describe. It is one of several reasons that you will not be going on a Renaissance Cruise any time soon. 

[oteixeira]

7 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

You must know some magic formula, seriously.

 

In 20+ years and nearly 100 sailings on 12 different lines, I never once have found a deal from any cruise line direct that could not, at the very least, be matched by a TA. 

 

In your scenario, TAs would literally stop booking with that cruise line if they found themselves under the bus you describe. It is one of several reasons that you will not be going on a Renaissance Cruise any time soon. 

You are missing the crucial thing they are saying.  I read it twice, because I missed it too.  They are comparing what they booked to what they found "at the cheapest prices that were advertised".  That is NEVER the best deal you can get from a TA, so it is not an apples to apples comparison IMHO.  

[ECCruise]

49 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

You are missing the crucial thing they are saying.  I read it twice, because I missed it too.  They are comparing what they booked to what they found "at the cheapest prices that were advertised".  That is NEVER the best deal you can get from a TA, so it is not an apples to apples comparison IMHO.  

I did see that, but once I read the contention that there was a difference from $22,000 to $5000 for supposedly the same product that I zoned out.

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, oteixeira said:

they booked to what they found "at the cheapest prices that were advertised".  That is NEVER the best deal you can get from a TA, so it is not an apples to apples comparison IMHO.  

 

You are incorrect because a Swedish TA has never given me a better deal than what is advertised. I always have to pay the brochure rate if I let a TA book the cruise for me. I have never heared of any better deals from a Swedish TA. 

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

You are incorrect because a Swedish TA has never given me a better deal than what is advertised. I always have to pay the brochure rate if I let a TA book the cruise for me. I have never heared of any better deals from a Swedish TA. 

No doubt, but here in the US, one can easily get a 8-10% reduction over the prices quoted by the cruise line.  The cruise lines prohibit advertising rates less than what they charge.  However, if you contact the right TA directly, you will find much better rates are available.

[MoCruiseFan]

3 hours ago, oteixeira said:

You are missing the crucial thing they are saying.  I read it twice, because I missed it too.  They are comparing what they booked to what they found "at the cheapest prices that were advertised".  That is NEVER the best deal you can get from a TA, so it is not an apples to apples comparison IMHO.  

Find me a TA who get get you a cruise for 25¢ on the dollar to the normal rates.  Go ahead, I'll wait.

[oteixeira]

5 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Find me a TA who get get you a cruise for 25¢ on the dollar to the normal rates.  Go ahead, I'll wait.

Prove to me anyone has got a cruise for 25 cents on the dollar from the advertised rate.  If it happened, it was rare, very last minute, or they knew someone in the company.  Prove me wrong.

[MoCruiseFan]

2 hours ago, ECCruise said:

I did see that, but once I read the contention that there was a difference from $22,000 to $5000 for supposedly the same product that I zoned out.

Prices PER PERSON for my most recent booking:
11-day cruise

4 people two balcony cabins
Fare, taxes/fees, DSC, FAS items, etc
FAS = $50 OBC, 3 SDP, 250m WiFi, $35 Excursion credit
$997.17

R/T Flights (1st class to the cruise)
4-star hotel 4 nights pre-cruise
rental car 4 days
hotel parking
shuttles to/from port 
$261.21

Total for all four $5033.52

Current price for the same balcony type on the same sailing of the same cruise on NCL's web site is $7528.88 not counting DSC. 

And I don't have a TA stuck in the middle of my reservation!

[MoCruiseFan]

Hey it is great if a TA gets you your best deal.    If that is the case, then by all means you should go with a TA.  All I am saying is that I can almost always do much better on my own so I have no need for a TA.  They really are highly overrated.

[MoCruiseFan]

8 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Prove to me anyone has got a cruise for 25 cents on the dollar from the advertised rate.  If it happened, it was rare, very last minute, or they knew someone in the company.  Prove me wrong.

 

Given the current situation, the cruie in question is obviously still several months away, so it can't be but so last minute!

 

[oteixeira]

13 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

Given the current situation, the cruie in question is obviously still several months away, so it can't be but so last minute!

 

Reading closely it is a lot more then a cruise they are talking about, as they say:
Last cruise I booked I paid around $5,000 total for my cruise door to door,  which would have cost over $22,000 had I bought everything at the cheapest prices that were advertised

So my question would be can we get a breakdown of prices.  Can we see the prices as they were advertised by the cruise line?  Keep in mind all seems to have happened in the past, so there is no future cruise we can do research on.  (It says in the past in that it was the last cruise they booked).

So we are talking travel to and from, hotel rooms, probably car service, etc.  I am talking apples to apples cruise fairs, with and without a TA.  There is no way someone got 75% off the direct advertised price from the line on their own.  Simply not possible without a very very last minute booking or some insider things happening.  

Edited January 1, 2021 by oteixeira

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

No doubt, but here in the US, one can easily get a 8-10% reduction over the prices quoted by the cruise line.  The cruise lines prohibit advertising rates less than what they charge.  However, if you contact the right TA directly, you will find much better rates are available.

 

I have heared that but here it's not like that.

[EllieinNJ]

Where is Budget Queen when you need her?

[CarolinaMamma]

Thank you for all the advice and different perspectives on this. I did end up booking with a TA and getting a nice OBC over what NCL was offering. I found a TA who had made some really helpful, detailed YouTube videos about the ship, including subtle differences between the breakaway plus class ships. I think the time he put into these videos was enough to earn my business, but he was also able to answer some questions and make suggestions based on his experience with this particular ship. Completely different from my PCC, who hadn’t been on the ships she was booking me for. 
 

I am a control freak and kind of enjoy doing the research and communicating directly, not through a middle man, so going forward I will probably still find my own cruises, then contact the TA when I’m ready to book, to get the extra OBC. In a few years, when my husband and I are empty nexters and have more wide-open travel dates, I might have a TA look for deals. My mother-in-law does that and has booked some very affordable cruises with interesting itineraries. 

[Sailing12Away]

7 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

R/T Flights (1st class to the cruise)
4-star hotel 4 nights pre-cruise
rental car 4 days
hotel parking
shuttles to/from port 
$261.21

I'm sorry, but you're saying you got round trip 1st class airfare, 4 nights in a hotel, 4 days of a rental car, and various other things for only $261 per person? Or am I missing something egregious here? Are you cashing in airline credits and various other vouchers you had?  Sharing a car and possibly hotel room, but where were the flights between?

[ECCruise]

10 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

I'm sorry, but you're saying you got round trip 1st class airfare, 4 nights in a hotel, 4 days of a rental car, and various other things for only $261 per person? Or am I missing something egregious here? Are you cashing in airline credits and various other vouchers you had?  Sharing a car and possibly hotel room, but where were the flights between?

This is the one that threw me.  It costs well over $1000 per person to fly 1st class from our city to Atlanta.  A distance of 165 miles.  I know those fares vary a lot, but gee, I've never seen R/T 1st class air fare for what would have to be like $150 per person assuming $50 per night for a 4 star hotel and $20 a day total for a rental car plus shuttle costs and parking.

 

Maybe some kind of package deal?  Count me in.  Now.

[CILCIANRQTS]

A TA ‘s biggest value shows through when things start to go wrong.

A timely example is the chaos of 2020. I didn’t have to get on the phone for hours trying to understand my options and getting changes implemented. How many questions did we see on these boards about FCC’s, airline refunds, etc.? And then everyone would chime in with their best guess about what we could/ should do.

In the past few years, out TA has gotten us price drops, upgrades, payment extensions, etc. because she has a long and strong relationship with a senior Viking rep. I never had to get on the phone and ask “Don’t you know who I am? I give you a lot of business!!”.

Believe what you will about your ability to get a better deal, we’re very satisfied with our TA.