Are Viking agents on commission??

[ladymadeline]

It's been more than three years since we've cruised due to Covid, mostly.  Our last trip was on Silversea and we've had four cruises on REGENT. Heard great things about Viking Ocean and filled out a form online about a re-positioning cruise in September 2023 from Norway to Montreal.  We've been hounded by a Viking agent calling us several times per day and emailing us, pressing us to make a decision.  I was really put off by the hard sell approach and finally told him we didn't want to pursue a cruise at this time.  Are they on commission????  Why was he so aggressive?  

[ropomo]

My opinion, you filled out a form expressing interest. That triggered them to pursue and follow up on your interest. We have been cruising with Viking since 2017 and have only ever gotten one call from them to make sure we didn't want the TripMate insurance since the deadline was about to pass. In short, you asked them to contact you.

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, ladymadeline said:

It's been more than three years since we've cruised due to Covid, mostly.  Our last trip was on Silversea and we've had four cruises on REGENT. Heard great things about Viking Ocean and filled out a form online about a re-positioning cruise in September 2023 from Norway to Montreal.  We've been hounded by a Viking agent calling us several times per day and emailing us, pressing us to make a decision.  I was really put off by the hard sell approach and finally told him we didn't want to pursue a cruise at this time.  Are they on commission????  Why was he so aggressive?  

 

I don't know about the compensation plan for Viking agents, but that level of contact is clearly unacceptable. It actually reminds me of what happened to us after we set up a "keep us informed" email account with Regent - daily calls from an agent (for weeks) until he finally wore out when we didn't answer.

 

My guess is just the personalities involved - if you've used a TA in the past, I suggest following that route, given what happened. 🍺🥌

[HHI Cruiser1]

Just tell next Viking caller to stop all calls and remove your info from their contact system.  Works on credit card companies, should work on Viking.  

[SDHusker]

Are you sure that online form was from Viking and not one of the many online travel companies just looking like they were Viking?  I have never had Viking call me unless a problem had arisen.

 

[dd57]

I chatted with a Viking agent the other day, asking how things are handled when the 2 people in the cabin are from different households.  I explained that I wasn't interested in anything specific yet, but just thinking about a future cruise with a friend.  The agent sent me her contact info, called twice and then sent an email.  I replied to the email and explained again that I wasn't interested in booking anything now.  She thanked me and I haven't heard from her again.  I was wondering too about commission...  This was the chat function on the Viking website.

[RLK33853]

Basically the same thing happened to us.  A couple of months ago we had looked at booking a Viking Ocean cruise with our travel agent.  Unfortunately she didn't have the actual hardcopy brochure, but said she would get one and send it to us.  I told her no worries, I would just order one on-line.

 

Several days after requesting the brochure, a Viking salesperson called me asking if I had any questions or was there anything she could help me with.  I told her thanks, but we were booking through our own travel agent.  She went on to tell me how she as a Viking agent would do a better job, and that once the booking was completed by her, she would transfer it to our regular agent.  Again I said thanks, but no.

 

A week or so later the Viking agent called back and wanted us to book with her.  I informed her that we had already booked with our regular travel agent.  She went on to tell me that we should have booked with her, then transferred the booking to our travel agent.  When I asked why, she told me that she was the expert on Viking and that regular travel agents are not as versed in the Viking product.  At that point I told her to lose our number, and that I was very disappointed that she would run down our travel agent in an attempt to make a sale.

 

Viking agents are obviously on commission.  I'm guessing that they are not employees, just sales agents.

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

Yes Viking agents get a commission.  We had an excellent Viking agent and i asked him if he received a commission.  He said yes.  So i asked him if we book on board and used him for all our needs after that, would he get a commission.  He said no.  He did say that he could offer us the same deal we got on board if we booked within 14 days of the cruise end.  That turned out to be true except for the shortened final payment date.  This was 2021.

 

 

[azdrydock]

Almost true.

He can.t give you the OBC credit for the cruise you currently on. My agent has been able to extend the final payment date by a few months. I think Viking will do it for repeat customers and how long you want it extended.

 

There are times the onboard agent has access to offers We wanted a PV cabin on a future cruise agent tried to upsell us PS at close to the PV rate, we declined the offer. A few hours later he called and offered to throw in free Business Air which we accepted Found out that some of the onboard agents are better connected and are aware of what's happening in the back office and Viking was negotiating a group booking for the PV's.

At the rumor level someone said they were offered OBC plus the Silver Spirit package for the remainder of the current cruise.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by azdrydock

[2cruisecats]

I don't know about Viking agents as we always use a local TA but, we have sailed the Bergen-Montreal cruise and would highly recommend it.

[lackcreativity]

I have heard repeated complaints about people being inundated  with mailings from Viking, and I was always puzzled, because even though we are repeat Viking customers, we don't get anything in the mail from them.

 

I filled out something online indicating interest in an Oceania cruise, and I have received dozens of brochures from them. I really should contact them and request they stop, since I use online resources and the print ones just go in recycling. There were phone messages too, but I had used the landline number and we don't answer that phone so they eventually stopped calling. 

 

I guess advertising and follow-up is important to these businesses, and if you reach out to them, they want to give you every opportunity to see how much they would like you to cruise with them.

[Socky Sunshine]

I asked the Viking agent we booked with if they get commission and he said no.  We have called about a couple Viking cruises with Viking agents and never had a problem with receiving calls.  It may just be the individual agent and how they handle things.

[RexMesiter]

My Viking agent said that he does receive a commission on the initial booking; if you subsequently transfer your booking to a travel agent it doesn't affect his commission.  As to the numerous brochure mailings from Viking, that was the case for us as well until we actually booked our Viking Ocean cruise - then the mailings stopped.  With Viking's targeted advertising, they don't want customers who have already booked to see sales offers for that same cruise that are better than the booked offer.

[HUNKY]

Rex - I have my first Viking Ocean cruise coming July 2023, but I'm still receiving a printed brochure at least weekly.  I enjoy reading/perusing them.

[MikeyB]

1 hour ago, HUNKY said:

Rex - I have my first Viking Ocean cruise coming July 2023, but I'm still receiving a printed brochure at least weekly.  I enjoy reading/perusing them.

Hi Hunky,

If you get those pesky brochures with promo codes besides the "EBD", could you please post them on CruiseCritic?  Thanks

Also, from my experience, I agree with Rex.  Brochures stop after you book a cruise.  Been with Viking a long time and brochures do arrive but they are perhaps a handful a year.

[azdrydock]

Over a dozen Viking cruises and we still get at least one Viking per week and they are from different TA's we have used. They have had offers targeted at previous cruisers such as double the loyalty amount. It appeared with the same code on the website about a month later but was available on far less cruises.

Edited April 25, 2023 by azdrydock

[formernuke]

Seems random. We have 2 cruises booked and still get brochures almost weekly. 

[RexMesiter]

17 hours ago, azdrydock said:

Over a dozen Viking cruises and we still get at least one Viking per week and they are from different TA's we have used. They have had offers targeted at previous cruisers such as double the loyalty amount. It appeared with the same code on the website about a month later but was available on far less cruises.

Are you saying you get the brochures from your TAs rather than directly from Viking?  It's unlikely that Viking would stop sending brochures to TAs because they rely heavily on them to generate bookings - individual cruisers are another matter.  Offering better deals to new customers leads to dissatisfaction for current customers; hence, they want to keep you in the dark about sales on cruises you've already booked.

[azdrydock]

6 minutes ago, RexMesiter said:

Are you saying you get the brochures from your TAs rather than directly from Viking?  It's unlikely that Viking would stop sending brochures to TAs because they rely heavily on them to generate bookings - individual cruisers are another matter.  Offering better deals to new customers leads to dissatisfaction for current customers; hence, they want to keep you in the dark about sales on cruises you've already booked.

Yes...

Most if not all the time from  Viking and other cruise lines.  I would guess Viking  physically sends them on behalf of the agency and they jointly manage the mailing lisylt

[azdrydock]

9 minutes ago, azdrydock said:

Yes...

Most if not all the time from  Viking and other cruise lines.  I would guess Viking  physically sends them on behalf of the agency and they jointly manage the mailing lisylt

BTW there is nothing unique  or proprietary in the Viking offers. Some may be specific to you but not the Agency.  The better offers come in form of postcard.