USA Travel agents V UK travel agents?

[fudge]

Has anyone compared prices between US travel agents and UK travel agents for prices of cruises?  The reason I ask is that I am receiving prices for cruises from the USA, (no idea how they found my contact details)  The prices look keen but not compared any with my UK travel agents.

I am not asking for names as this beaches the Cruise Critic rules.

 

Admin: If this post breaches the rules I apologise, please delete. I cannot fine the rules despite me looking? 

Edited June 28, 2023 by fudge

[AusMum]

I didn't compare UK with US travel agents, but compared US with Australian.  Much to the surprise of a couple of US travel agents, they couldn't actually better the price quoted by the Australian TA (which was the same as SS direct).  It may well have been the itinerary we were booking.

[Tothesunset]

50 minutes ago, fudge said:

Has anyone compared prices between US travel agents and UK travel agents for prices of cruises?  The reason I ask is that I am receiving prices for cruises from the USA, (no idea how they found my contact details)  The prices look keen but not compared any with my UK travel agents.

I am not asking for names as this beaches the Cruise Critic rules.

 

Admin: If this post breaches the rules I apologise, please delete. I cannot fine the rules despite me looking? 

One thing to be aware of is that consumer protection rules in the UK would not apply to a cruise bought in the US. The UK protections are vastly more comprehensive than those in the US. 

[david63]

I would never use a travel agent for a cruise - not since the one I had a cruise booked with went bust

[canderson]

21 minutes ago, david63 said:

I would never use a travel agent for a cruise - not since the one I had a cruise booked with went bust

Any honest agency doesn't act as a pass-through for the fare ... deposit and final are paid directly to the cruise line.  I'm guessing that's the sort of situation you're describing. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, canderson said:

Any honest agency doesn't act as a pass-through for the fare ... deposit and final are paid directly to the cruise line.  I'm guessing that's the sort of situation you're describing. 

UK travel agents' relationship to the cruise lines and the customers are completely different than US TAs.

[canderson]

8 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

UK travel agents' relationship to the cruise lines and the customers are completely different than US TAs.

Are you saying that it's typical in the UK for one to pay the agency, and have the agency hold the money for some period before paying the line?  That's generally considered a huge red flag here.

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 minutes ago, canderson said:

Are you saying that it's typical in the UK for one to pay the agency, and have the agency hold the money for some period before paying the line?  That's generally considered a huge red flag here.

Actually, yes.  

[emmas gran]

Reading with interest.

A UK travel agent will typically ask for the money 14weeks before the cruise and hold it until the cruise line requires it. I have just booked Silver Nova for April 16 2024 and the agent wants final payment  on

27th November (20 weeks before the cruise) !! As I'm on a B2B2B going to Australia until Dec 9th he has accepted that as payment date.

Any agency I have used here does the same thing regarding final payment, the one for this cruise is very early it's the first time I've used them and didn't know fp date until way into discussions and it is a great deal...

Will shop around a bit more for future Silverseas, I deal direct with CVP at Celebrity and MSC so final payment is typically 8 weeks before.

[lincslady]

My experience has been - with a UK agent who is well known for handling luxury lines, especially Seabourn - that they require full payment about a week before it is due (as do others), and you will get generally 10% or so discount off the advertised price of the cruise. They are good at answering the phone quickly, and calling you back, unlike some agents and most cruise lines.

[MJN1]

To answer fudge's original question: yes, USD and GBP list prices for the same cruise do differ. In the past, USD pricing was lower, for our last and next cruise GBP prices were more advantageous. We book with either a USA or UK based TA, and had no problems and great Service with both.

[Daveywavey70]

3 hours ago, lincslady said:

My experience has been - with a UK agent who is well known for handling luxury lines, especially Seabourn - that they require full payment about a week before it is due (as do others), and you will get generally 10% or so discount off the advertised price of the cruise. They are good at answering the phone quickly, and calling you back, unlike some agents and most cruise lines.

I Agree Lola my partners agency state 2 weeks before the line requires it to allow everything to clear. 

[david63]

1 hour ago, Daveywavey70 said:

my partners agency state 2 weeks before the line requires it to allow everything to clear. 

Not sure why these days they need time for anything to clear as virtually all transactions are electronic and clear immediately, or at worst overnight.

[lincslady]

I always assumed they went into an interest paying account - though it would not be much nowadays.  If it amounted to many thousands, it would perhaps be worthwhile.  And of course, the Agent is paying the cruise line less than you have paid them, naturally,

[Daveywavey70]

6 hours ago, david63 said:

Not sure why these days they need time for anything to clear as virtually all transactions are electronic and clear immediately, or at worst overnight.

I Believe it's because it takes a couple of days for card transactions to clear, when clear it is then transferred from the branches own account to the head office account and then it needs to be forwarded from head office to the line. That's why 2 weeks is less stressful all round without chasing multiple transactions daily. It's as much about the verification and forwarding on for each step along the chain where it sometimes takes a day or two for each step to complete. I Think. 

[canderson]

Interesting.  Here, my agent keeps my card on file, and my phone doesn't beep to indicate a charge has been made (a bank feature I love) except for the initial deposit with the line the day we book the reservation, and on the day final payment is due.  My charges are shown as directly from the line, not the agency.

 

Perhaps latency is a bigger issue elsewhere, but my bank usually beeps my phone within ~10 seconds, usually less, of processing any charge, such as at a restaurant or Home Depot, anywhere here.

[Rothko1]

So you send the money to the Travel Agent??   So they are holding your cash??

 

Like canderson, I simply give my Travel Agent my credit card number and she uses it to pay for the cruise.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 minutes ago, Rothko1 said:

So you send the money to the Travel Agent??   So they are holding your cash??

 

Like canderson, I simply give my Travel Agent my credit card number and she uses it to pay for the cruise.

Yes, that is one of the big differences in the legal arrangement of Travel Agents in UK vs US.  The UK Travel Agents are agents of the ship line, not of the customer.  That has led some UK customers to book with US travel agents, but in addition to losing their consumer protections they also take on a major foreign exchange risk.

[Rothko1]

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Yes, that is one of the big differences in the legal arrangement of Travel Agents in UK vs US.  The UK Travel Agents are agents of the ship line, not of the customer.  That has led some UK customers to book with US travel agents, but in addition to losing their consumer protections they also take on a major foreign exchange risk.

 

What type of consumer protections do they have with a UK agent?

[Host Jazzbeau]

44 minutes ago, Rothko1 said:

 

What type of consumer protections do they have with a UK agent?

I will leave this question to UK members to answer.

[canderson]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Yes, that is one of the big differences in the legal arrangement of Travel Agents in UK vs US.  The UK Travel Agents are agents of the ship line, not of the customer.

Interesting business model, but doesn't explain why the agencies feel themselves entitled to the 'float' for some number of weeks or months.  Sounds in part like a legacy from decades ago when credit card transactions weren't practically instantaneous.

[Daveywavey70]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

Interesting business model, but doesn't explain why the agencies feel themselves entitled to the 'float' for some number of weeks or months.  Sounds in part like a legacy from decades ago when credit card transactions weren't practically instantaneous.

But if you don’t want to part with your Money 2 weeks before your final payment and would rather heap a whole load of stress on your TA then go ahead, that’s what they’re there for. You’d be amazed at people’s interpretations of what 1 week is.  I Personally don’t think it’s too much of an ask. If you tell people 1 week before final payment you are chasing things constantly and spending hours on the phone chasing everything. Yes HostJB, systems are different between UK and USA agents. Because of that particular structure, UK agents are able to fight for their clients when they need to as opposed to US agents doing what they can with a wet sponge. If one part of a “package holiday” fails here then the entire amount is fully refundable. That’s a good start.

[Host Jazzbeau]

54 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Yes HostJB, systems are different between UK and USA agents. Because of that particular structure, UK agents are able to fight for their clients when they need to as opposed to US agents doing what they can with a wet sponge.

My US TA has always fought for me and obtained good results.  Meanwhile, there are many posts here from UK passengers complaining about how their TAs took their money and didn't pass it on to the cruise line.  In the US the TA is my agent, not the cruise line's agent – I feel that that is more incentive to fight for me.

 

BTW my TA follows the 1 week rule, but she takes my credit card number and uses it to pay the cruise line directly – she  never actually touches the money.  That's what we're used to in the US.

[markham]

We use the largest Seabourn agent in the world and they are UK baked and give excellent “go to bat” for you service including when there is some misunderstanding or difficulty with a cruise line. So here is an example of clout working in the customer’s favor.
 

The best of my knowledge when the TA takes my CC number for Seabourn and Cunard he enters it into the line’s computer and so my CC entry says the name of the line immediately. I am not clear how our TA manages payments to other lines.

 

Another distinguishing feature of this TA (and presumably other large UK cruise specialists) is the ABTA/ATOL protection they offer as members. This is probably what Daveywavey refers to when be mentions package holidays. Between the “direct pay” service above and this coverage we feel very comfortable… I would not comment on how such protections might be offered in other markets. Best then to read what your TA has to say. 
 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Edited July 1, 2023 by markham

[lincslady]

N.B.   Bear in mind that you should not put your email address on to ask for an Agent's details  - it will be removed.  CC rules.

 

Lola