Agency OBC questions

[squirk]

I love my TA. She's great. Very friendly and really prompt with communication. I have been working with her for DCL cruises for six years now.

However, her agency does not offer OBC, which really bugs me. I never bring it up with her, because (I am guessing that) she has no control over whether or not her agency offers OBC.

Once, I "cheated on her" and went to another agency that did offer OBC, but the service was kind of crappy, so I went right back to her.

I realize I am leaving money (OBC) on the table working with her, but she's a really nice person, and her service is great. She's also newly divorced and starting a new career (on top of being a TA), so I know she could use my business. So I am sticking with her.

But I have questions that I feel more comfortable asking here than asking her. Was hoping actual TAs or someone else "in the loop" could answer.

1.) Generally, when OBC is offered, does it come out of the agent's cut or the agency's cut of the commission? Or is it split? I'd feel better about missing out on the OBC if I knew it was inuring to her direct benefit vs. her agency's benefit.

2.) If I book on my own, and then add my TA to the res after the fact, does she get full commission, or does she take a haircut because she didn't do the actual booking?

Please and thank you!

 

[Sytrace]

I love my TA. She's great. Very friendly and really prompt with communication. I have been working with her for DCL cruises for six years now.

However, her agency does not offer OBC, which really bugs me. I never bring it up with her, because (I am guessing that) she has no control over whether or not her agency offers OBC.

Once, I "cheated on her" and went to another agency that did offer OBC, but the service was kind of crappy, so I went right back to her.

I realize I am leaving money (OBC) on the table working with her, but she's a really nice person, and her service is great. She's also newly divorced and starting a new career (on top of being a TA), so I know she could use my business. So I am sticking with her.

But I have questions that I feel more comfortable asking here than asking her. Was hoping actual TAs or someone else "in the loop" could answer.

1.) Generally, when OBC is offered, does it come out of the agent's cut or the agency's cut of the commission? Or is it split? I'd feel better about missing out on the OBC if I knew it was inuring to her direct benefit vs. her agency's benefit.

2.) If I book on my own, and then add my TA to the res after the fact, does she get full commission, or does she take a haircut because she didn't do the actual booking?

Please and thank you!

Your OBC comes out of her pocket from her commission. If she is with a large agency, it might be different and they have higher volume so that might help out a bit. But smaller agencies tend to not have that sort of arrangement.
If you transfer it after booking, she gets a smaller cut of the commission. Again, it depends on how large an agency is and the contract between agent and agency, but it could top out at 10%. ETA.. your agent must appreciate your loyalty and I think you are super for sticking with her and going back to her.

 

[squirk]

Your OBC comes out of her pocket from her commission. If she is with a large agency, it might be different and they have higher volume so that might help out a bit. But smaller agencies tend to not have that sort of arrangement.
If you transfer it after booking, she gets a smaller cut of the commission. Again, it depends on how large an agency is and the contract between agent and agency, but it could top out at 10%. ETA.. your agent must appreciate your loyalty and I think you are super for sticking with her and going back to her.

Thanks. I had a feeling that OBC came out of the TA's cut. She is with one of the more well-known Disney-focused agencies (it's not DU). I think it's also one of the larger ones.

Years ago, I asked her about OBC, and she waffled and then sent me some DCL Tervis tumblers. Paled in comparison to the hundreds of dollars of OBC I was angling for, but she seemed kind of uncomfortable/embarrassed, so I didn't bring it up again.

If she ever got out of the TA business, I'd jump in a heartbeat to another agency that offers OBC, but until then, I'm quite happy with her, OBC or not.

 

[Mousequake]

It's refreshing to see someone value the service a TA can provide over just providing an OBC. I'll echo what Sytrace has said: in the vast majority of cases, if you're working with a TA directly and he/she is your one point of contact, any OBC is coming directly out of the agent's pocket. Personally, great service is worth a great deal to me and I'm loyal to my TA that provides it.

 

[Dug720]

It's refreshing to see someone value the service a TA can provide over just providing an OBC. I'll echo what Sytrace has said: in the vast majority of cases, if you're working with a TA directly and he/she is your one point of contact, any OBC is coming directly out of the agent's pocket. Personally, great service is worth a great deal to me and I'm loyal to my TA that provides it.

Agreed! I am super happy with my TA (also with a pretty well-known largely Disney-focused agency) and will continue to use her because she is awesome! OBC has not been mentioned (and the agency website doesn’t mention it), and I am ok with that because I love her and the agency.

 

[lovingeire]

But I have questions that I feel more comfortable asking here than asking her. Was hoping actual TAs or someone else "in the loop" could answer.

1.) Generally, when OBC is offered, does it come out of the agent's cut or the agency's cut of the commission? Or is it split? I'd feel better about missing out on the OBC if I knew it was inuring to her direct benefit vs. her agency's benefit.

It comes out of the agents pocket. This is why many small agencies and individual agents do not offer OBC as it takes a huge chunk out of their checks. Most TA's are only getting a percentage of the commission on the trip anyways as the rest goes to the agency they work for so an OBC that comes out of their portion of the commission really impacts their check.

2.) If I book on my own, and then add my TA to the res after the fact, does she get full commission, or does she take a haircut because she didn't do the actual booking?

You can book onboard and add your TA to the reservation at the time of booking if you choose to do so and she does not take a cut. It's only when transferring the reservation that she is impacted.

I think these are GREAT questions and I echo others when I say how thankful I am that there are those who value the services rendered by a quality TA!

 

[apathetic]

I think a lot of people mainly look at the OBC is because they can do everything themselves. A TA can provide great assistance on your first couple of cruises, but after that most people know exactly what they need to do. In fact, sometimes going through a TA is more tedious and you never know for sure if they did things right. There are quite a few stories on here where the TA screwed things up. We have a great TA from a small company. She is awesome and we wouldn't switch to another TA. However, without an OBC I'm not sure I would bother with the TA.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think a lot of people mainly look at the OBC is because they can do everything themselves. A TA can provide great assistance on your first couple of cruises, but after that most people know exactly what they need to do. In fact, sometimes going through a TA is more tedious and you never know for sure if they did things right. There are quite a few stories on here where the TA screwed things up

Yep!

After doing several cruises I truly cannot figure out what sort of service another human could give me that would make going through them worth it (without financial consideration in the form of obc or cash back). I need no hand holding, questions can be answered here and on cruisecritic faster and more accurately in general, and I have time to work on a reservation.

Others have different situations.

 

[squirk]

Yep!

After doing several cruises I truly cannot figure out what sort of service another human could give me that would make going through them worth it (without financial consideration in the form of obc or cash back). I need no hand holding, questions can be answered here and on cruisecritic faster and more accurately in general, and I have time to work on a reservation.

Others have different situations.

I don't really need my TA, either. There isn't much she can do for me that I can't do for myself. And I'm not very high maintenance (at least, I don't think I am). But she's so good and helped me so much back when I was a novice, that I don't mind continuing to work with her now. She does things quickly, she never screws things up, and she communicates promptly.

Like I said before, my loyalty is to her, not her agency. Not that the agency is bad at all, but as you said, I have no desire to work through an intermediary/complete stranger if there's no OBC in the mix.

 

[Sytrace]

I don't really need my TA, either. There isn't much she can do for me that I can't do for myself. And I'm not very high maintenance (at least, I don't think I am). But she's so good and helped me so much back when I was a novice, that I don't mind continuing to work with her now. She does things quickly, she never screws things up, and she communicates promptly.

Like I said before, my loyalty is to her, not her agency. Not that the agency is bad at all, but as you said, I have no desire to work through an intermediary/complete stranger if there's no OBC in the mix.

Again, it is very refreshing to see loyalty like yours.

 

[squirk]

Again, it is very refreshing to see loyalty like yours.

Thank you.

 

[Mousequake]

Again, it is very refreshing to see loyalty like yours.

Yep, there's a lot to be said for supporting small, local businesses that have proven their worth in the past, even if they can't offer you the 'lowest price.' That's essentially what you're doing when you use your TA.

 

[n2mm]

It’s really nice that you stick with your TA even though you get no obc. I lucked out for sure. I choose dream unlimited years ago and was assigned a great TA. I can pretty much do everything my TA does as I’m a planner and former office manager. When I send in my request, I have everything down to the penny on price and cabin number. I hate calling DCL because years ago I got a terrible CM who was so rude and unhelpful. At that point I tried DU and have been happy since. I get placeholders during every cruise, so on booking day it’s my TA on the phone booking my cruise. When I want a specific rotation or server, again, she can call for me. It’s a win win because I “let” her do the work for me, and get a OBC and she gets the commission. And of course, I’m helping a small business too!

 

[cvjw]

We use Costco because we don’t need hand holding when booking a cruise and they gave us 13% back on our latest cruise.