Pros and Cons of Travel Agent

[mom4fun]

Does Costco give OBC? I'm new to this so bear with me

Costco gives a 9% of the cost of the cruise back to you in the form of a cash card to be used after the cruise. I have yet to see any other ta give that kind of a credit. There is no cancellation fee and no upgrade fees. The only time they charge anything is a $25 fee if you downgrade more than twice.

 

[NCConch]

It also depends on how much of a control freak you are. We have done two Disney cruises. For the first cruise we used a Disney specific TA that a family member used and suggested. It was nice since we had no idea what we wanted/needed. We had not found this forum yet. Once we found this forum we had questions and requests. The TA did a lot of "research" travel and was difficult to get a hold of. We missed out on getting a Concierge cabin for not a lot more $$ because she was out of the office. Our cruise was the day after Christmas and we were headed to Fla before Christmas. The TA was holding on to our cruise docs while it was waiting on "gifts" for us. We did not get OBC. The docs and gifts almost did not make it to us because of winter weather. I booked our second cruise on my own and was very happy. Third cruise was booked while we were on board the 2nd cruise.

 

[IrishCowboy]

Does Costco give OBC? I'm new to this so bear with me

There is no OBC from Costco, but they will give you gift card for about 7-8% of the value of your cruise when you return. In terms of getting something back or OBC, it is the best deal out there.

 

[Transit]

We have used Dreams Unlimited once, no TA once, and a local TA once.

First (local TA) was a group trip with the family, my parents booked through an agent. We relied on this board and others for info.

Second, we found the cruise but since the agent had been helpful on a previous teup where my parents for stuck, we sent her the booking. She managed to completely screw it up by failing to book it on time, and tried to blame disney for a cost increase. We contacted disney, found out she was lying, managed to get our room back at the previous price. So we went that one alone.

Trip 3 we used dreams unlimited to get the onboard credit and price guarantee. They were always extremely responsive to us and we're helpful when we considered cancelling after the ebta 2015 itinerary change.

We booked another ta for 2016 through du. It's mostly for the onboard credit for us, but it is also nice to have a contact person.

 

[conandrob240]

I see no problem telling her that you'll transfer the reservation if she splits the commission she gets with you.

Yikes! Seriously? Do you ask other service providers to share their pay with you? Most TAs work 100% on commission so that's their compensation for the time spent on your booking. And it isn't like they are making very much either.

 

[MillauFr]

Yikes! Seriously? Do you ask other service providers to share their pay with you? Most TAs work 100% on commission so that's their compensation for the time spent on your booking. And it isn't like they are making very much either.

It entirely depends on how much service and handholding you need. You are correct that if you need the handholding that the full service travel agents provide you shouldn't expect any rebate. I on the other hand am upset that Costco got even a small part of commission that Disney paid them. Sure they rebated 9% of the cost of my cruise. But does anyone here think that Costco provides any service what so ever? No they do not. They don't provide any service what so ever that deserves any compensation from Disney.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

IMHO A TA and Costco are two separate things a TA gives you service and support and deals with your requests and needs. Costco is a way to just max out the cruise commission in a rebate to you and nothing more.

 

[MillauFr]

IMHO A TA and Costco are two separate things a TA gives you service and support and deals with your requests and needs. Costco is a way to just max out the cruise commission in a rebate to you and nothing more.

Absolutely 100% correct. They do not provide any useful information what so ever. They actually provide wrong information and told me that Disney charges for soda which we all know here is flat out wrong and that you get free soda if you want.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Absolutely 100% correct. They do not provide any useful information what so ever. They actually provide wrong information and told me that Disney charges for soda which we all know here is flat out wrong and that you get free soda if you want.

Basically using a supermarket cashier as an agent not like a proper specialist TA.

 

[Ofinn]

As others have said, if there is nothing in it for you there is no reason to transfer your reservation. We never use TAs and never will. While the onboard credit that some of them offer is nice, I prefer to have complete control over my reservation. Sure, you can still make Palo/excursion reservations on your own, but everything else will have to go through your TA. I find that frustrating and prefer to handle everything myself so no TAs for us.

I'm like you. I would never use a TA. I like having control of my reservation. I don't think they have any more clout than I have, and they probably haven't been on as many DCL cruises as I have so I'm not sure what knowledge I could gain from them. It's just not worth it for me to have to go through a third party.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I'm like you. I would never use a TA. I like having control of my reservation. I don't think they have any more clout than I have, and they probably haven't been on as many DCL cruises as I have so I'm not sure what knowledge I could gain from them. It's just not worth it for me to have to go through a third party.

You do not loose any control the TA is your agent and acts for 'you' they do have more clout, if they put x% of business DCLs way and are multi cruise line then they can direct business to another line. DCL is well aware of the importance of TAs hence paying good commission and having offers for TAs to cruise with them or look and see or being invited to the last launch events of the newer ships.

I have recently had an issue on my reservation at first DCL said they 'cant do it', my TA said do not worry and had sorted it out by Monday morning speaking to someone high up.

Like a work 'union' collectively for the business they have a lot of power, I am not saying Costco here I am saying good specialist DCL TAs.

Another example goes back a few years, I booked Palo tea, it disappeared, when I re checked Tea was sold out, my TA got it back for me. Yes a small example but they have power.

 

[Ofinn]

You do not loose any control the TA is your agent and acts for 'you' they do have more clout, if they put x% of business DCLs way and are multi cruise line then they can direct business to another line. DCL is well aware of the importance of TAs hence paying good commission and having offers for TAs to cruise with them or look and see or being invited to the last launch events of the newer ships.

I have recently had an issue on my reservation at first DCL said they 'cant do it', my TA said do not worry and had sorted it out by Monday morning speaking to someone high up.

Like a work 'union' collectively for the business they have a lot of power, I am not saying Costco here I am saying good specialist DCL TAs.

Another example goes back a few years, I booked Palo tea, it disappeared, when I re checked Tea was sold out, my TA got it back for me. Yes a small example but they have power.

If I go through a TA I can't call DCL and make changes for myself I have to have the TA do it so essentialy I do lose control. I don't get your whole clout thing. I'm the one paying for the cruise not the TA so in my opinion I have the clout as you put it. I can always take my money elsewhere I've never had an issue with DCL. They have done things for me that I don't think they would have done if I have been with a TA. I have even changed a cruise to a different cruise after PIF date without being penalized. I have had to do this twice. All it takes is a supervisor to approve it. DCL is very easy to work with. It's great that you have a TA that you like, but I don't feel like I need anybody to speak for me. I can handle things on my own, and the customer service at DCL has always been great.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

If I go through a TA I can't call DCL and make changes for myself I have to have the TA do it so essentially I do lose control.

What you are saying you cant make changes instantly online, you can make changes yourself you call your TA. You do not loose any control, what your saying is it can take a little bit longer.

I don't get your whole clout thing. I'm the one paying for the cruise not the TA so in my opinion I have the clout as you put it. I can always take my money elsewhere I've never had an issue with DCL. They have done things for me that I don't think they would have done if I have been with a TA.

Many times DCL say, 'No' if a powerful TA who is in charge of x thousand bookings says your wrong, they take note of it. One person is one person and yes you may have been lucky, but the more people together the more power you have. TAs give you more power and more protection. DCL does take note of them.

I have even changed a cruise to a different cruise after PIF date without being penalized. I have had to do this twice all it takes is a supervisor to approve it. DCL is very easy to work with. It's great that you have a TA that you like, but I don't feel like I need anybody to speak for me. I can handle things on my own and the customer service at DCL has always been great.

And in the end it is your choice, and you seem to have had the luck on your side. Its like people saying I do not need cruise insurance as I have cruised 5 times and never had any issue.....well... at some point the luck changes.

 

[Flossbolna]

I personally have a wonderful travel agent and love her as she makes things so much easier for me. But I do get the control thing. Recently I wanted to change a future booking to a different cruise and had noted that that cruise had gone up in price already. I was afraid that another jump was imminent. But I could not just make the change myself, I had to wait for her to wake up (of course, I thought about it early morning European time, so in the middle of the night in the US), read my email and then make the change. It worked out, actually the cruise price has not moved since... But to me personally the advantages of her always being on top of everything and me therefore being free from having to worry about every detail and the onboard credit we get from her, far outweigh my short moments of impatience. But I guess this is a personal issue and others can see it differently.

 

[Ofinn]

What you are saying you cant make changes instantly online, you can make changes yourself you call your TA. You do not loose any control, what your saying is it can take a little bit longer.




Many times DCL say, 'No' if a powerful TA who is in charge of x thousand bookings says your wrong, they take note of it. One person is one person and yes you may have been lucky, but the more people together the more power you have. TAs give you more power and more protection. DCL does take note of them.



And in the end it is your choice, and you seem to have had the luck on your side. Its like people saying I do not need cruise insurance as I have cruised 5 times and never had any issue.....well... at some point the luck changes.

As usual will just agree to disagree on the topic. I'm perfectly comfortable handling my res on my own, and you would rather have someone else do it. We'll just leave it at that. I don't think it's luck I think I'm just quite capable of handling things on my own. I don't need anyone else to fight my battles so to speak.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

As usual will just agree to disagree on the topic. I'm perfectly comfortable handling my res on my own, and you would rather have someone else do it. We'll just leave it at that. I don't think it's luck I think I'm just quite capable of handling things on my own. I don't need anyone else to fight my battles so to speak.

I would rather someone else phone and hang on the line and do it all for me and carry out my instructions, at no cost to me and then pay me for doing it.

 

[MillauFr]

As usual will just agree to disagree on the topic. I'm perfectly comfortable handling my res on my own, and you would rather have someone else do it. We'll just leave it at that. I don't think it's luck I think I'm just quite capable of handling things on my own. I don't need anyone else to fight my battles so to speak.

I agree with you but I think it is flat out wrong that Disney doesn't discount the cruises booked directly through Disney. Why should you pay 10% more than I did when I booked the cruise on the Costco website versus the Disney website?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I agree with you but I think it is flat out wrong that Disney doesn't discount the cruises booked directly through Disney. Why should you pay 10% more than I did when I booked the cruise on the Costco website versus the Disney website?

Good point, there is OBB but then that can go to a TA anyway within 30 days.

 

[Ofinn]

I agree with you but I think it is flat out wrong that Disney doesn't discount the cruises booked directly through Disney. Why should you pay 10% more than I did when I booked the cruise on the Costco website versus the Disney website?

As far as I know Disney doesn't allow Costco or any other TA to discount their cruises. Are you sure about this???

 

[PrincessShmoo]

As far as I know Disney doesn't allow Costco or any other TA to discount their cruises. Are you sure about this???

I think they're referring to the fact that, if you book directly, you pay $XXX for a cruise while, if they book with Costco, they also pay $XXX, but get back some of it (so "getting back" some of the cost).