I'm curious

[misty57]

This may be a tacky question. No offense is intended, but I'm curious about the amount TA's are paid in commission from cruise lines. I would guess that it varies from line to line, but does anyone have a ball park idea? My TA is willing to wave her booking fee if I book our next cruie onboard, which I find very interesting.:confused:

[Indiana Jones]

This may be a tacky question. No offense is intended, but I'm curious about the amount TA's are paid in commission from cruise lines. I would guess that it varies from line to line, but does anyone have a ball park idea? My TA is willing to wave her booking fee if I book our next cruie onboard, which I find very interesting.

...How about a shipboard credit also.

[cruiserbryce]

I would be curios as well...and TA's care to divulge

[Spikesgirl]

We are meeting with our TA and a Princess rep on Tuesday. I'll ask then.

 

Charlie

[Krazy Kruizers]

It also depends on how much a person spends for a cabin - length of cruise, etc.

[greatam]

As a ballpark average, 10-14% of the cruise package EXCLUDING taxes and fees.

 

This will vary somewhat with the cruise line, how big the agency is and how many cruises that agency sells.

 

And individual TA's split the commission with the agency. The agency split can vary from 30/70 in favor of the agency to 70/30 in favor of the agent.

 

If you figure 6%, you will probably be in the ballpark.

[lady_cruiser]

I am interesting in becoming a certified TA and recently spoke with a local travel agency. The owner told me that if I worked as a free lance, but under his umbrella I would probably come out with $25.00 per cruise booking after I gave his agency their share. And he has one of the largest travel agencies in this state - several offices in different towns.

[jcanino]

This may be a tacky question. No offense is intended, but I'm curious about the amount TA's are paid in commission from cruise lines. I would guess that it varies from line to line, but does anyone have a ball park idea? My TA is willing to wave her booking fee if I book our next cruie onboard, which I find very interesting.

 

The commission we receive from the cruise lines is based on a lot of variables depending on the line, including which, if any, consortium we belong to, the dollar amount of the cruise rate over the current year or last year, the number of passengers we sail on them. An entry level travel agency, with no affiliation, earns a base 10% of the cruise fare. We get no commission on port charges, taxes, fee, pre paid gratuities, et. A very large agency can earn upwards of 17% of the cruise fare based upon all the previously mentioned variables. A travel agent working in an agency gets paid many different ways as well including commission only (part of what the agency receives), salary plus commission or hourly.

 

As an example, let's say that Joe Cruiser wants a cruise that costs him $2500 for two people. Of that total, $500 is is taxes, fees and port charges leaving $2000 as the actual "cruise cost" (I pulled these figures from an actual booking). A new agency will receive a commission of $200. A large agency that may sell over a million dollars of that cruise line may receive $340. That new agency, to gain more business and sell more cruise to increase their commission, may tell Joe Cruiser that they will sell him that cruise for $2300. Joe Cruiser thinks that is awesome. He just saved $200 over what everyone else wanted to charge him. He has no idea that the agency is making $0 in commission now. That agency has to pay for overhead and expenses. How long do you think they will last selling cruises without making a penny.

 

As for your TA waiving her booking fee for you booking your next one on board, the difference in the amount of work she has to do is minimal, so ask her why she charges a booking fee to sell you a cruise to begin with.

[SeattleCruiselover]

Lady Cruiser: RUN, do not walk, away from that person. I am an independent home based TA, though I use a nationwide host agency for certain of my bookings, including most cruises (because of their large inventory of group space). I get a 90/10 commission split, because I have 15 years of experience (new agents get a 60/40). A good example is my own cruise, which is scheduled for September this year.

 

The base plus override commssion for my stateroom, for my 90%, is $650.00 (I have a mini-suite) for a 7 day Alaska on Princess.

 

So, if he is telling you that you would be likely to get $25.00 on an average booking, most of their bookings must be minimum insides on 3 and 4 day cruises. The big agencies, like the one that I use (they sell millions of dollars yearly on each of most of the mainstream lines, and quite a bit on the niche/luxury lines) get a 15-16% base commission, plus variable overrides based on production.

 

But one must also remember that I do not get hourly pay/salary, insurance benefits or any other perks (other than the travel discounts that I occasionally get), and I work very hard for my money. If I don't sell, I don't eat, pay rent, or anything else.

[lady_cruiser]

Lady Cruiser: RUN, do not walk, away from that person. I am an independent home based TA, though I use a nationwide host agency for certain of my bookings, including most cruises (because of their large inventory of group space). I get a 90/10 commission split, because I have 15 years of experience (new agents get a 60/40). A good example is my own cruise, which is scheduled for September this year.

 

The base plus override commssion for my stateroom, for my 90%, is $650.00 (I have a mini-suite) for a 7 day Alaska on Princess.

 

So, if he is telling you that you would be likely to get $25.00 on an average booking, most of their bookings must be minimum insides on 3 and 4 day cruises. The big agencies, like the one that I use (they sell millions of dollars yearly on each of most of the mainstream lines, and quite a bit on the niche/luxury lines) get a 15-16% base commission, plus variable overrides based on production.

 

But one must also remember that I do not get hourly pay/salary, insurance benefits or any other perks (other than the travel discounts that I occasionally get), and I work very hard for my money. If I don't sell, I don't eat, pay rent, or anything else.

 

Thank you for your advice. I will print it out and save it because when I retire in 1 1/2 years I plan on moving to Houston, which is the nearest city, that offers college courses in becoming a certified travel agent. In fact I might even start sooner so I am certified by the time I do retire. I think I just need to go one weekend to take a test, register and then I can take the courses, at home, on-line.

 

Thank you again for your advice.

[SeattleCruiselover]

You are more than welcome. There are a lot of people out there (and I'm not saying that this person is necessarily one of them) who prey on people who want to be travel agents, but don't know the ins and outs of the industry. A good example is the multi-level marketing/ponzi scheme card mills that tell you that you can purchase one of their programs (for $400+), book your own travel and that of friends/family; and make outrageous sums of money and travel for pennies on the dollar.

 

Unfortunately, that rarely if ever happens. The hotel chains, cruise lines and other travel providers have (for the most part--there are some that don't check all that closely, but the vast majority do) a requirement that you have either an IATAN or CLIA card in order to get the discounted travel. Unfortunately, most people that invest their hard earned money in those programs never see much in the way of return.

 

Your idea to get the travel training from a community college or university is a good one, and there are lots of good programs out there. Good luck.

[LHT28]

A booking fee may be toatally different than commission earned.

some TA's here charge $25.-$40. to book vacations

many people shop around wasting TA's time so charging a booking fee so they know you are serious.(which most will waive if you do book)

 

I cannot tell you how many hours I wasted calling around for clients only to have them book through SEARS to get points!!!:mad:

This was before booking fees and the airlines cutting commissions

[SeattleCruiselover]

I do charge a small fee for airline tickets, because there is no commission involved there, but I don't charge anything for vendors that I earn commission from (unless it is a HUGE group (200+) or something similar that is going to take so much time that I am not going to be able to service my other clients for a protracted period of time.

 

I realize, though, that a lot of other TA's (including the big online agencies) do charge those kinds of fees, as well as some outrageous cancellation fees. So caveat emptor (buyer beware) seriously applies--know what fees you are going to be liable for before making any bookings/payments.

[misty57]

Thanks for all of the responses to my question. Since the cost of RCI cruises is not discounted for the TA, it is tempting to use an online service to get OBC and upgrades, but I really like having a person I can talk to face to face. My TA does work for a large agency but she had stepped up to the plate with this cruise when I told her we would be booking 2 cabins for next year onboard. I really do most of my own research and pretty much walk in and tell her exactly what I want and sometimes I know more about things related to RCI cruises than she does ( probably from CC:D and spending so much time on the RCI web site) This is the 6th trip we have booked through her agency and the 3rd trip with her. Hopefully we will continue to receive some "perks" from this TA ( she has added some OBC amount unknown) for our repeat business.