OBC when using a TA for Viking cruises

[Grettiegoo]

Haven't cruised in a few years and deciding to do one soon. I always did everything myself after much reading. Read for hours this weekend on CC and read about the OBC for using a TA. I should have saved the information but didn't. I contacted a TA and she didn't know of any OBC and contacted Viking and they said they didn't offer any  What I read was $500/person for a cruise over 15 days. Was what I read very old and no longer in effect. Can someone please clarify for me.  TY.

[Heidi13]

4 minutes ago, Grettiegoo said:

Haven't cruised in a few years and deciding to do one soon. I always did everything myself after much reading. Read for hours this weekend on CC and read about the OBC for using a TA. I should have saved the information but didn't. I contacted a TA and she didn't know of any OBC and contacted Viking and they said they didn't offer any  What I read was $500/person for a cruise over 15 days. Was what I read very old and no longer in effect. Can someone please clarify for me.  TY.

 

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

When booking a cruise with a TA, the cruise line pays them a commission. Some TA's will share a portion of the commission with the customer - OBC, bottles of wine, shore-ex, etc.

 

Viking has a policy that states the maximum "Gift" a TA may provide. As you noted for cruises of 15 days or longer, this is $500 pp in the currency used to pay for the cruise. It is purely voluntary and if the TA provides OBC, the TA will send the money to Viking shortly prior to embarkation.

 

This OBC does NOT show in MVJ and is only visible in your on-board account once you board the vessel.

[Grettiegoo]

So it is coming out of the TA's commission from Viking.

[MikeyB]

Not sure where "PM" is, but in the US it is $300, $600 or a maximum of $1,000.

And it does come out of the TA's commission.

I suggest you first book with Viking.  Then you have 30 days to transfer to a TA, who might basically do nothing except contact Viking to transfer the booking.

You might also consider getting someone who has sailed Viking to use as a referral.

Then, both you and the person who 'Referred" you will receive a discount.

[Clay Clayton]

Slight correction. The amounts are $150pp for a 7 night cruise, $300pp for a 8-14 night cruise, and $500pp for any cruise of 15 nights or more.  
 

After hearing concerns from folks on here, I confirmed that the Viking phone representative doesn’t get paid any less if you move your booking to a Travel Agent. And I confirmed with our Travel Agent who provides this maximum allowable credit that they don’t personally see any reduction in their compensation. It comes out of their companies coffers-presumably their marketing budget. 

[sabrefan]

This is a very interesting subject. I have been on two Viking cruises and a third one planned for May 2023. So far no on board credit from my TA. The only thing I have received is $200 from a referral fee. I wonder how much commission the TA is making on say a 10 to 14 night cruise?

[MikeyB]

Clay....

Not a "slight correction".  It appears to be just a clarification.

I gave the amount per couple since almost all sailings are based on double occupancy.

 

And if your TA doesn't rebate part of their commission to you as OBC, then consider changing TA's.

 

[MICHE99]

11 hours ago, Grettiegoo said:

Haven't cruised in a few years and deciding to do one soon. I always did everything myself after much reading. Read for hours this weekend on CC and read about the OBC for using a TA. I should have saved the information but didn't. I contacted a TA and she didn't know of any OBC and contacted Viking and they said they didn't offer any  What I read was $500/person for a cruise over 15 days. Was what I read very old and no longer in effect. Can someone please clarify for me.  TY.

I didn’t know that TA’s were worth it for years. We are on a Viking 14 day cruise. We have an $800 OBC fro our agent. 

[MICHE99]

11 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

When booking a cruise with a TA, the cruise line pays them a commission. Some TA's will share a portion of the commission with the customer - OBC, bottles of wine, shore-ex, etc.

 

Viking has a policy that states the maximum "Gift" a TA may provide. As you noted for cruises of 15 days or longer, this is $500 pp in the currency used to pay for the cruise. It is purely voluntary and if the TA provides OBC, the TA will send the money to Viking shortly prior to embarkation.

 

This OBC does NOT show in MVJ and is only visible in your on-board account once you board the vessel.

The amount is clearly listed on my invoice. 

[FetaCheese]

7 hours ago, sabrefan said:

This is a very interesting subject. I have been on two Viking cruises and a third one planned for May 2023. So far no on board credit from my TA. The only thing I have received is $200 from a referral fee. I wonder how much commission the TA is making on say a 10 to 14 night cruise?

It is a % of cruise fare, and a dif % on V air.

 

Have learned from other posters on CC, that TA consortiums, due to their high production, can and do, provide to member agencies, OBC and other marketing incentives.

 

On my V invoice, some OBC is listed, but not all of the OBC that is listed on TA invoice.

Edited August 9, 2022 by FetaCheese

[Heidi13]

19 minutes ago, MICHE99 said:

The amount is clearly listed on my invoice. 

 

Is that the invoice received from your TA, or the Guest Statement from Viking. We have it listed on the invoice from our TA, but we have never seen the OBC received from our TA included on Viking's Guest Statement.

[DrKoob]

12 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Not sure where "PM" is, but in the US it is $300, $600 or a maximum of $1,000.

And it does come out of the TA's commission.

I suggest you first book with Viking.  Then you have 30 days to transfer to a TA, who might basically do nothing except contact Viking to transfer the booking.

You might also consider getting someone who has sailed Viking to use as a referral.

Then, both you and the person who 'Referred" you will receive a discount.

Do nothing? My TA handled my COVID cancellations. Through three separate cancellations. When Viking only wanted to give us 100% and not 125% as promised. Took care of our air and made sure our seats were exactly as we asked for them. Told about a lover fare and rebooked us. Saved us $600 each. And when she did the cancellations, she got ABSOLUTELY NO COMMISSION on the cruises that were canceled. Most of the other cruise lines paid commission on cancelled cruises because the TA had worked so hard. Why would you say that about a TA. They don't cost you a cent. 

 

[DrKoob]

7 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Clay....

And if your TA doesn't rebate part of their commission to you as OBC, then consider changing TA's.

 

What the heck? Are you serious? 

 

This is a comment for everyone else who replied about getting OBC or a cheaper price. I have a question for you. When you go to a store and buy something, do you ask the person who helped you to put their hand in their own pocket and give you some money back?

 

For instance, when you buy a pair of shoes at a shoe store, a nice person who works on commission helps you find just the pair you want. He or she brings you a number of pairs of shoes. When you find the pair you want, you go to check out and pay for them. Then, would you turn to the salesperson who helped you and say, “Could you please give me $10 out of your own pocket since I bought the shoes from you?” Not the shoe store’s money, the sales rep's money who just spent the last half hour finding you shoes that you love.A half-hour he could have been helping others who bought 10 pairs of shoes or sometimes he shows a person 10 pairs of shoes and they buy nothing.

 

Expecting refundable OBC from a TA is pretty much the same thing. TAs (not the online booking agents) make commissions from the cruise line, not from you. And unlike that shoe salesperson, TAs don’t get paid an hourly wage. They work on commission only. If you ask them to do a ton of work, then book with someone else, they don’t get paid for any of that time. You are charged the same price whether you book through them or not. When they give you OBC, it comes out of their own pocket. Why would you expect them to do that? They are doing a bunch of work for you for free and yet you still think that a “good” TA will give you OBC out of their own pocket. I don't get that.

 

Now if they give it to you without asking...that's awesome. But I just have a problem with new cruisers who have heard that their friends get x-amount of freebies. That's their first question (even before they book the cruise)..".how much are you going to give me?"

 

My TA gives us lots of great stuff but I also never ask for it, I come to her with just about everything finished (or, maybe we booked on board) so she has little work to do other than a single phone call or computer booking. And believe me, there are lots of small moms and pops everywhere. We accompanied our TA on a ship visit last summer here in Seattle. She and about 100 other travel agents got to tour and have lunch on the NCL Bliss (quite a ship) and I would say that more than 80% of the agents were either booking from home, or working with a franchise (which means they make at most 7.5%) or working for another small agency. None of those people get paid by the hour. They get paid when they sell a cruise and every penny that they give back, is one they don't get to feed their families, take their cruises or whatever they do with their money.

 

And I totally understand the sales job thing having been in sales and marketing for more than 38 years. I can't count the number of presentations I have done where the client has gone another way. I have no problem with that (yes I do, but I get it--they like something that someone else has better than what I have) but when they go into the sales process having already decided that no matter what this person does for me, I am buying from the absolute cheapest I can find, that's wrong. If you want the cheapest, go to Costco. You will get the service you deserve (God help you if you have a problem) but you will cruise cheaply.

 

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine.

[MICHE99]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Is that the invoice received from your TA, or the Guest Statement from Viking. We have it listed on the invoice from our TA, but we have never seen the OBC received from our TA included on Viking's Guest Statement.

From the TA. 

[MICHE99]

42 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

What the heck? Are you serious? 

 

This is a comment for everyone else who replied about getting OBC or a cheaper price. I have a question for you. When you go to a store and buy something, do you ask the person who helped you to put their hand in their own pocket and give you some money back?

 

For instance, when you buy a pair of shoes at a shoe store, a nice person who works on commission helps you find just the pair you want. He or she brings you a number of pairs of shoes. When you find the pair you want, you go to check out and pay for them. Then, would you turn to the salesperson who helped you and say, “Could you please give me $10 out of your own pocket since I bought the shoes from you?” Not the shoe store’s money, the sales rep's money who just spent the last half hour finding you shoes that you love.A half-hour he could have been helping others who bought 10 pairs of shoes or sometimes he shows a person 10 pairs of shoes and they buy nothing.

 

Expecting refundable OBC from a TA is pretty much the same thing. TAs (not the online booking agents) make commissions from the cruise line, not from you. And unlike that shoe salesperson, TAs don’t get paid an hourly wage. They work on commission only. If you ask them to do a ton of work, then book with someone else, they don’t get paid for any of that time. You are charged the same price whether you book through them or not. When they give you OBC, it comes out of their own pocket. Why would you expect them to do that? They are doing a bunch of work for you for free and yet you still think that a “good” TA will give you OBC out of their own pocket. I don't get that.

 

Now if they give it to you without asking...that's awesome. But I just have a problem with new cruisers who have heard that their friends get x-amount of freebies. That's their first question (even before they book the cruise)..".how much are you going to give me?"

 

My TA gives us lots of great stuff but I also never ask for it, I come to her with just about everything finished (or, maybe we booked on board) so she has little work to do other than a single phone call or computer booking. And believe me, there are lots of small moms and pops everywhere. We accompanied our TA on a ship visit last summer here in Seattle. She and about 100 other travel agents got to tour and have lunch on the NCL Bliss (quite a ship) and I would say that more than 80% of the agents were either booking from home, or working with a franchise (which means they make at most 7.5%) or working for another small agency. None of those people get paid by the hour. They get paid when they sell a cruise and every penny that they give back, is one they don't get to feed their families, take their cruises or whatever they do with their money.

 

And I totally understand the sales job thing having been in sales and marketing for more than 38 years. I can't count the number of presentations I have done where the client has gone another way. I have no problem with that (yes I do, but I get it--they like something that someone else has better than what I have) but when they go into the sales process having already decided that no matter what this person does for me, I am buying from the absolute cheapest I can find, that's wrong. If you want the cheapest, go to Costco. You will get the service you deserve (God help you if you have a problem) but you will cruise cheaply.

 

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine.

I totally appreciate my TA and use her for every single cruise I have ever taken. I’ve never asked for anything but her company always has a plan to give OBC. According to many people I’ve spoken to it seems to be common practice. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Edited August 9, 2022 by MICHE99

[MikeyB]

 

9 hours ago, DrKoob said:

What the heck? Are you serious? 

Dear Doc....

OMG!  I AM NOT SERIOUS!  I'm Mikey B!

You spent way too much time responding to me. 

I believe in the past you admitted to being a TA.  And you really appear to be high maintenance.

You have also made these crazy arguments in the past.

I have taking over 60 ocean and river cruises.  9 Viking rivers and 6 oceans.

I have a very nice TA.  Who does work hard for her salary.  Especially during Covid.

I have cruised 6 times since sailings resumed.  However, now that I sail predominantly with Viking, I book directly with them and then just transfer the booking for the OBC.

In my universe, I might have contacted by TA once or twice about a concern I had.  Otherwise, I believe it was my dear Mother who told me only fools pass on OBC. 

 

[Clay Clayton]

18 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Clay....

Not a "slight correction".  It appears to be just a clarification.

I gave the amount per couple since almost all sailings are based on double occupancy.

 

And if your TA doesn't rebate part of their commission to you as OBC, then consider changing TA's.

 

You are right.  I’m sorry, I read your post wrong and though you had listed per person prices for the first two. Apologies!

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, MICHE99 said:

From the TA. 

 

That is what I also expect. When I negotiate the TA's agency providing OBC, I would expect it to be on the TA's invoice.

 

As I mentioned to the OP, any OBC provided by your TA is not visible in the Viking world, until you board the vessel. It does not show on the Viking invoice, is not included in MVJ, and consequently cannot be used prior to boarding.

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

 

As I mentioned to the OP, any OBC provided by your TA is not visible in the Viking world, until you board the vessel. It does not show on the Viking invoice, is not included in MVJ, and consequently cannot be used prior to boarding.

This was always our experience also in the Before Times.  However, in July 2021 on the “Welcome Back” cruise around Iceland, the TA’s shipboard credit appeared on MVJ and we were able to use it for excursions and such. Not sure whether this was another anomaly of the starting back to cruising (there were several) or if this is a change we will see moving forward.  

[dd57]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

This was always our experience also in the Before Times.  However, in July 2021 on the “Welcome Back” cruise around Iceland, the TA’s shipboard credit appeared on MVJ and we were able to use it for excursions and such. Not sure whether this was another anomaly of the starting back to cruising (there were several) or if this is a change we will see moving forward.  

My TA's OBC shows up on my Viking Guest  statement and is available to use to book excursions before we go.  This was true on our river cruise last November, on our ocean cruise this month, and the ocean cruise we have booked for next year. She works for a large travel agency with many physical locations.  It must vary with the agency.

[FetaCheese]

1 hour ago, dd57 said:

My TA's OBC shows up on my Viking Guest  statement and is available to use to book excursions before we go.  This was true on our river cruise last November, on our ocean cruise this month, and the ocean cruise we have booked for next year. She works for a large travel agency with many physical locations.  It must vary with the agency.

For next booking, my V guest stmt. shows some TA OBC  -- amount from Mem Day.  Also shows V OBC -- amount from V Mem Day Sale.

 

Those 2 amounts are available on MVJ -- Payments and Cart --  Payment Methods -- to book anything pre-cruise.  Amounts not used 7 days prior to departure will be available to use once onboard.

 

The other TA OBC -- $600 per cabin is not listed.  Also not listed is TA loyalty OBC.  Those amounts will be available once onboard.

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by FetaCheese

[DrKoob]

13 hours ago, MikeyB said:

 

Dear Doc....

OMG!  I AM NOT SERIOUS!  I'm Mikey B!

You spent way too much time responding to me. 

I believe in the past you admitted to being a TA.  And you really appear to be high maintenance.

You have also made these crazy arguments in the past.

I have taking over 60 ocean and river cruises.  9 Viking rivers and 6 oceans.

I have a very nice TA.  Who does work hard for her salary.  Especially during Covid.

I have cruised 6 times since sailings resumed.  However, now that I sail predominantly with Viking, I book directly with them and then just transfer the booking for the OBC.

In my universe, I might have contacted by TA once or twice about a concern I had.  Otherwise, I believe it was my dear Mother who told me only fools pass on OBC. 

 

Your TA may work for a salary but as I pointed out to you in my previous post, 75% of individual, local TAs are not. These arguments are not crazy. I asked a question. You could answer it. Do you ask salespeople you deal with who work on commission to give you back some of their own money? No, you don't. And I don't see how the number of cruises you have taken makes any difference in this discussion other than to say that you have been ripping off your TA for years. If your TA offers you something, fine. But when you tell others to shop for a TA by asking them how much they will give them, you are doing a disservice to those people and the TA. 

 

On average, a good TA will spend 20-30 hours a week, just on hold with a cruise line. Then they will call back again and again. They will deal with problems and book air (with the way air schedules have been changing currently and cancellations abound a good TA could save your bacon). In the last three weeks alone our TA has informed us of three changes to our air itinerar for our upcoming Sky cruise. One was completely unacceptable. When I told her this, she went right back to Viking Air and got exactly what we had asked for in the first place. I spent 10 minutes on the phone with her. She spent 2 hours dealing with Viking Air. And yet you think I should still ask her (an independent agent) for money that she will have to pay out of her own pocket? Really? I would love to know what you do (or did) for a living. It was definintely not in sales because you would know what this is like. I sold high school yearbooks for 40 years and refused to work with schools who wanted a kickback that had to come out of my own pocket. 

 

And you may book your cruises directly with Viking but you obviously have experience booking cruises.  Telling a novice cruiser to book his own cruise when he could have the services of someone who is a professional at no charge is again, doing them a great disservice. 

[MikeyB]

You, know....I'm just a sucker for this.  It's like a car accident on the Long Island Expressway.  You don't want to look and slow down traffic, but you have to.

First, my TA's salary is comprised of a base pay and commission.  My point in telling you the number of post Covid cruises I have taken is that I make my TA happy.  I had 8 cancelled covid cruises.

Although I use a major on-line cruise company,  I always deal with the same agent.  I value loyality!  (I expect the same from Viking).

Back to you-

Your arguments are without merit.

How can you suggest not using a competent individual as a TA because their company rebates part of their commission?

I really don't understand you.  But we are all entitled to our opinions.

[longterm]

On 8/8/2022 at 1:42 PM, Clay Clayton said:

Slight correction. The amounts are $150pp for a 7 night cruise, $300pp for a 8-14 night cruise, and $500pp for any cruise of 15 nights or more.  
 

After hearing concerns from folks on here, I confirmed that the Viking phone representative doesn’t get paid any less if you move your booking to a Travel Agent. And I confirmed with our Travel Agent who provides this maximum allowable credit that they don’t personally see any reduction in their compensation. It comes out of their companies coffers-presumably their marketing budget. 

I booked a cruise just this morning, and confirmed with the Viking phone rep that he'll get his credit for booking our cruise, even when we move the booking to a TA (which we'll do). We'll get $300 each in OBC, on top of the past-guest credit that we already got.

[longterm]

17 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Your TA may work for a salary but as I pointed out to you in my previous post, 75% of individual, local TAs are not. These arguments are not crazy. I asked a question. You could answer it. Do you ask salespeople you deal with who work on commission to give you back some of their own money? No, you don't. And I don't see how the number of cruises you have taken makes any difference in this discussion other than to say that you have been ripping off your TA for years. If your TA offers you something, fine. But when you tell others to shop for a TA by asking them how much they will give them, you are doing a disservice to those people and the TA. 

 

On average, a good TA will spend 20-30 hours a week, just on hold with a cruise line. Then they will call back again and again. They will deal with problems and book air (with the way air schedules have been changing currently and cancellations abound a good TA could save your bacon). In the last three weeks alone our TA has informed us of three changes to our air itinerar for our upcoming Sky cruise. One was completely unacceptable. When I told her this, she went right back to Viking Air and got exactly what we had asked for in the first place. I spent 10 minutes on the phone with her. She spent 2 hours dealing with Viking Air. And yet you think I should still ask her (an independent agent) for money that she will have to pay out of her own pocket? Really? I would love to know what you do (or did) for a living. It was definintely not in sales because you would know what this is like. I sold high school yearbooks for 40 years and refused to work with schools who wanted a kickback that had to come out of my own pocket. 

 

And you may book your cruises directly with Viking but you obviously have experience booking cruises.  Telling a novice cruiser to book his own cruise when he could have the services of someone who is a professional at no charge is again, doing them a great disservice. 

I respectfully disagree. 20-30 hours? I think not. With any of the cruises for which we transferred to a TA, they've spent almost no time after our transferring the cruise to them. I'm sure there *are* those cruisers who beat their TAs to death with phone calls, but I would venture to say that's the exception rather than the rule.

Furthermore, if a TA uses OBCs as an incentive to use their service, that's just fine, and, just like looking for a car dealer who will offer me an incentive or discount, I'll be more inclined to go where the deal is best--provided the service that goes with it is up to the standards that I expect. It's not "ripping off" a business person to take advantage of onboard credits that they offer, any more than it's "ripping off" to accept an offered discount on any product or service.

Example: we just added some automatic shades to our outside pergola; I could have searched the market for the cheapest deal, but instead I used 2 criteria: a) the dealer we'd used before who did great work, and who also offered us a nice past-customer discount. Since this is now the 4th time we've used this company, it shows that our loyalty to this company (and the referrals we have given) more than offsets the discounts they've given us. Did I "rip off" the company by accepting the discount? Of course not! I might not have bought the shades WITHOUT the discount.

Lastly, it is up to every business person to decide if a discount works in their business model, and I respect any person's right to refuse to offer discounts or kickbacks. It works in some industries, not in others. I've got a TA now that offers OBCs when I transfer a cruise to them, and I'll continue to go back to them so long as I get decent service. Not being a needy client, I doubt they'll hear from me at all for our next cruise because I'm booking flights myself with points. 

 

Sheesh.