OBC through TA; is it pulled if cruise price drops?

[CanWeGoYet?]

I posted this question on the roll call for the cruise I'm going on, but wanted to widen the pool of potential replies.

 

I got a comparison bid on the cruise I'm planning through an online agency that gets bids from different travel agencies. Most have the same price for the cruise I could get myself, but some have over $300 in OBC offered as well.

 

I asked one travel agent if she would honor any price drop that Celebrity made, she said yes, but that it would change the amount of the onboard credit she could offer.

 

Just wondering if this is standard practice when going through a travel agent?

[travelntreats]

I posted this question on the roll call for the cruise I'm going on, but wanted to widen the pool of potential replies.

 

I got a comparison bid on the cruise I'm planning through an online agency that gets bids from different travel agencies. Most have the same price for the cruise I could get myself, but some have over $300 in OBC offered as well.

 

I asked one travel agent if she would honor any price drop that Celebrity made, she said yes, but that it would change the amount of the onboard credit she could offer.

 

Just wondering if this is standard practice when going through a travel agent?

Your title is misleading and think should have said OBC "Reduced" if cruise price drops.

 

And YES, it is from my personal experience with my TA that offers OBC as a "perk", that if the price is lowered so is the OBC. I am fine with that because their commission has been lowered and therefore the OBC should be as well, in all fairness to my TA.

[hylasgirl]

Yes, our Solstice cruise price dropped and our OBC dropped slightly also. The price drop was better though, in the long run.

[CanWeGoYet?]

Your title is misleading and think should have said OBC "Reduced" if cruise price drops.

 

Perhaps, what I had in mind was to make a concise title, not to mislead. And I have no idea what the proportion of the drop would be - or if it would be the entire OBC.

[redglass]

The reduction might vary based on how much your fare dropped. I have had small fare drops with no reduction in my OBC perk. I have also had it cut in half when I changed itineraries that went from 14 days to 7. It all seems fair to me.:D

[lvtotrvl1]

It really depends on the TA and how your OBC was determined...some OBC's are given that are not taken out of the TA's commission...other agency's will cut their commission to give you an OBC to get your business...it is these OBC's that can be cut if you get a price reduction...the TA is no longer getting the same amount of commission so the OBC would have to be cut...

[cruisin'mama]

Our cabin dropped $100 pp and our TA dropped our OBC by $150. We were still ahead.

[rolfecms]

Our cabin dropped $100 pp and our TA dropped our OBC by $150. We were still ahead.

 

Did you ask your TA what the reduction in the OBC would be before you requested the price reduction?

[cruisin'mama]

No, and I must admit that I was very surprised that the OBC went down THAT much, especially since the OBC started out at $250, so that was over 1/2 of what we were originally given. I didn't ask because I really didn't expect it to go down a whole lot, some, but not that much. But like I said, we still came out ahead.

[rolfecms]

No' date=' and I must admit that I was very surprised that the OBC went down THAT much, especially since the OBC started out at $250, so that was over 1/2 of what we were originally given. I didn't ask because I really didn't expect it to go down a whole lot, some, but not that much.[/quote']

 

I'm in the same boat (lol) as you on this one. The price reduction for us is $30 pp and for a total of $60 I don't think at this point it's worth the downside potential to our current OBC.

[CanWeGoYet?]

Thanks to all for their replies and the info. I have not used a travel agent so far for a cruise, have only booked directly, so it is so helpful to know what the experience has been of others.