Travel Agent Charging Me Oddly?

[Lovetocruise2002]

58 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Those kind of shops aren't necessarily bad.  Just, like those low cost airlines, you have to know what you're getting into. And, also like those low cost airlines, if something goes wrong (granted, it rarely does, but when it does you want ample assistance), you may find yourself in a struggle.

This about sums it up.

But when something does go wrong, like it does with the airlines, or cruises, it is awfully good to have someone honest and decent in your corner. I have learned that far outweighs any small savings I might have gotten with the low cost, discount company.

[Blulady]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I haven't been able to see anything related to my balance due or payments made in many years.  The old format had that information if booked directly, but that information has never been visible if the booking is made through a TA

Maybe I'm not understanding you correctly, but we use MEI and every little change I make (payment, add grats, whatever) causes a new invoice to be generated that our TA sends to me via email immediately.  I just looked at a copy for one of our upcoming cruises and I can see every line entry Cruise Fare, Taxes & Port Fees, Change Fees (yeah.. I'm that girl!), gratuities, etc.  and at the very bottom of that list is balance due.  MEI forwards this to me from RCI as "guest copy".  Doesn't everyone get this?

[twangster]

23 minutes ago, Blulady said:

Maybe I'm not understanding you correctly, but we use MEI and every little change I make (payment, add grats, whatever) causes a new invoice to be generated that our TA sends to me via email immediately.  I just looked at a copy for one of our upcoming cruises and I can see every line entry Cruise Fare, Taxes & Port Fees, Change Fees (yeah.. I'm that girl!), gratuities, etc.  and at the very bottom of that list is balance due.  MEI forwards this to me from RCI as "guest copy".  Doesn't everyone get this?

No.  Well, everyone who uses MEI should, but when folks use other agencies, many of them only supply their own agency invoice, not the actual Royal Caribbean invoice.  

[SweetPea]

38 minutes ago, Blulady said:

Maybe I'm not understanding you correctly, but we use MEI and every little change I make (payment, add grats, whatever) causes a new invoice to be generated that our TA sends to me via email immediately.  I just looked at a copy for one of our upcoming cruises and I can see every line entry Cruise Fare, Taxes & Port Fees, Change Fees (yeah.. I'm that girl!), gratuities, etc.  and at the very bottom of that list is balance due.  MEI forwards this to me from RCI as "guest copy".  Doesn't everyone get this?

My reputable agent does this as well. My old one (where the FCC i was due never amounted to what i expected) did not. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

40 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

My reputable agent does this as well. My old one (where the FCC i was due never amounted to what i expected) did not. 

+1

[CruiseGus]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

No.  Well, everyone who uses MEI should, but when folks use other agencies, many of them only supply their own agency invoice, not the actual Royal Caribbean invoice.  

And I always DEMAND a copy of the Royal invoice.

Anyone that won't provide it, in my opinion is extremely shady.   Never would I do business with them again.

[CruiseGus]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Those kind of shops aren't necessarily bad.  Just, like those low cost airlines, you have to know what you're getting into. And, also like those low cost airlines, if something goes wrong (granted, it rarely does, but when it does you want ample assistance), you may find yourself in a struggle.

Yes they are BAD, they with there secret practices give legitimate Travel Agents a bad name.

No TA should hide the invoice from the company, as the company pays the from, in my experiance, 10 to 18% of the base fare already.

Jmho if you disagree just move on

[DoomSlayer]

My TA supplies their own invoice, but it is detailed, and I can track every transaction on it by line item.  They have never hidden anything and are upfront and transparent about what will be charged directly from Royal and what will be charged from them (such as an excursion that was not through Royal) before they even run the transaction.  I have never asked them for a copy of the Royal invoice because I have always been able to reconcile it with my credit card transactions and never had a need to ask for it.  However, I am confident they would supply it if I asked them.

Any TA that is not transparent with their customers up front should raise a red flag and be a sign that you should be looking for a new one.  It's ok if they are able to get special "group fares" well below market rates and may have to charge a commission separately (they do deserve to be paid somehow if Royal isn't paying them).  But were they up front about it, did they itemize their invoice properly so you know where every dollar is going, and do they provide guarantees that if Royal cancels the cruise, you would be able to get the commission and other fees refunded?

[HolyShip]

46 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

My TA supplies their own invoice, but it is detailed, and I can track every transaction on it by line item.  They have never hidden anything and are upfront and transparent about what will be charged directly from Royal and what will be charged from them (such as an excursion that was not through Royal) before they even run the transaction.  I have never asked them for a copy of the Royal invoice because I have always been able to reconcile it with my credit card transactions and never had a need to ask for it.  However, I am confident they would supply it if I asked them.

Any TA that is not transparent with their customers up front should raise a red flag and be a sign that you should be looking for a new one.  It's ok if they are able to get special "group fares" well below market rates and may have to charge a commission separately (they do deserve to be paid somehow if Royal isn't paying them).  But were they up front about it, did they itemize their invoice properly so you know where every dollar is going, and do they provide guarantees that if Royal cancels the cruise, you would be able to get the commission and other fees refunded?

I just looked at the TA invoice again. It shows the itinerary, who is traveling, payment history, and a has the cruise total (which is roughly the amount they paid directly to Royal for the discounted cabin -- which was a non-commission promotional rate), then about $300 written just as "Gov't Charges and Fees".

[DoomSlayer]

3 hours ago, HolyShip said:

I just looked at the TA invoice again. It shows the itinerary, who is traveling, payment history, and a has the cruise total (which is roughly the amount they paid directly to Royal for the discounted cabin -- which was a non-commission promotional rate), then about $300 written just as "Gov't Charges and Fees".

Does that 300 correlate to what they charged to the TA on your credit card?  That is odd if it is.  Only thing I could think of for a line item titled "Gov't Charges and Fees" would be taxes and port fees, but that would be paid to Royal and not your TA.  I am scratching my head along with you on this one.  I just looked at my invoice from my TA and it has a line for $205 as Taxes and Fees, but that was charged from Royal on my card, not the TA.

[Traveling Mike]

There are so many sketchy travel agents out there.  This would not have been a problem for him if they just let him know up front, he was paying them a booking fee.  Then he could have made a choice to pay for the cruise and their booking fee.  When I hear this type of thing it makes me glad, I am part of this message board.  You can ask questions before doing things and get good responses and information.  

[SweetPea]

I thought of something else, but now i don't recall if it applies to Royal or not, if anyone else can speak to this:

when we used our former agent with the fuzzy math to book Norwegian, we were never eligible to bid for upgrades because the rate didn't qualify (which should have been a clue right there). I'm not sure if the noncommissional fares we're talking about here preclude participation in Royal Up. Could be that Royal doesn't discriminate this way, but I'd be interested to learn if they handle these fares like Norwegian does when it comes to bidding on upgrades. 

[teddy]

13 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

But when something does go wrong, like it does with the airlines, or cruises, it is awfully good to have someone honest and decent in your corner. I have learned that far outweighs any small savings I might have gotten with the low cost, discount company.

I agree.  I can't imagine negotiating the whole covid thing without our travel agent.  I suspect she spent most of her awake time on the phone with Royal taking care of all her customers, but to my wife and I, things went flawless.

[Canguyrd]

As others have mentioned, definitely not transparent in services fees up-front. I own a travel agency myself and before we even start to look at pricing or dive into booking requests, we let client's know that we charge a booking/ticketing fee in addition to fares from suppliers. This way clients can make an informed decision that they are utilizing a service which incurs a fee. These fees are also itemized and separate from the booking fare and is generally always processed prior to any supplier booking. From what I read, it sounds like their fee is very out of the ordinary (at least in my market) and this agent is not the most transparent or honest.

[smokeybandit]

26 minutes ago, Canguyrd said:

we let client's know that we charge a booking/ticketing fee in addition to fares from suppliers

Why do you charge any fees?

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, teddy said:

I can't imagine negotiating the whole covid thing without our travel agent.

Yeah, that is why this thread brings back really bad memories for me lol.

You know how I book my cruises way out in advance? Well that was the nightmare I got stuck in with the shady math TA over covid cancellations. I was still stuck with them. None of the math added up. Like @SweetPeahad already mentioned, my 125% FCCs were a mess. I had no real booking confirmations from Royal. Only had the ones from the shady math TA. The shady math TA at this point was saying how overwhelmed they were with cancellations and was avoiding my calls and emails. Thank goodness that my now fantastic TA came in and quite literally saved the day. I will be forever grateful to her. In fact, after @HolyShip started this thread, I sent the link to her to thank her once again after remembering how bad it was. This thread definitely brought back memories! Not the good ones either lol

[HolyShip]

10 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

Does that 300 correlate to what they charged to the TA on your credit card?  That is odd if it is.  Only thing I could think of for a line item titled "Gov't Charges and Fees" would be taxes and port fees, but that would be paid to Royal and not your TA.  I am scratching my head along with you on this one.  I just looked at my invoice from my TA and it has a line for $205 as Taxes and Fees, but that was charged from Royal on my card, not the TA.

So, the Royal agent (over)shared with me that our cruise was about $2,800. That was the promo rate without commission. The invoice shows the cruise rate as been just about that, minus a couple dollars ($2,798). Then, it just shows the "Gov't Charges and Fees" at about $300. Everything that has been paid above that $2,800 (Royal's charge to the TA) has gone directly to the TA (as their commission as I understand it). So, I don't know if that means that Royal included their fees (whatever) that would be in that discounted $2,800 rate or if we'll be surprised with those. The agent said the total that we have been charged (the $2,800 - billed to Royal Caribbean and the $300 - billed to the TA as commission) covers the cruise (I imagine that does not include gratuities, and not sure what other fees we will be responsible for or how that works)?

7 hours ago, Traveling Mike said:

There are so many sketchy travel agents out there.  This would not have been a problem for him if they just let him know up front, he was paying them a booking fee.  Then he could have made a choice to pay for the cruise and their booking fee.  When I hear this type of thing it makes me glad, I am part of this message board.  You can ask questions before doing things and get good responses and information.  

This. They felt awful when I spoke to Royal and had to go to such lengths just to figure this out. I will say, I was happy to hear that the rate Royal charged was not commission-inclusive, otherwise that would have been super messed up and basically the TA getting two separate commissions. Not to say this isn't messed up as it is. 

6 hours ago, SweetPea said:

I thought of something else, but now i don't recall if it applies to Royal or not, if anyone else can speak to this:

when we used our former agent with the fuzzy math to book Norwegian, we were never eligible to bid for upgrades because the rate didn't qualify (which should have been a clue right there). I'm not sure if the noncommissional fares we're talking about here preclude participation in Royal Up. Could be that Royal doesn't discriminate this way, but I'd be interested to learn if they handle these fares like Norwegian does when it comes to bidding on upgrades. 

Good question. I'll ask my TA. I want to do Royal Up, but also am totally fine staying in my current cabin because I strategically put myself in a part of the ship I would not get too sick on from the motion and I understand Royal Up puts you wherever the system has availability of the winning bidder.

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yeah, that is why this thread brings back really bad memories for me lol.

You know how I book my cruises way out in advance? Well that was the nightmare I got stuck in with the shady math TA over covid cancellations. I was still stuck with them. None of the math added up. Like @SweetPeahad already mentioned, my 125% FCCs were a mess. I had no real booking confirmations from Royal. Only had the ones from the shady math TA. The shady math TA at this point was saying how overwhelmed they were with cancellations and was avoiding my calls and emails. Thank goodness that my now fantastic TA came in and quite literally saved the day. I will be forever grateful to her. In fact, after @HolyShip started this thread, I sent the link to her to thank her once again after remembering how bad it was. This thread definitely brought back memories! Not the good ones either lol

It is creating memories for me. 
I am super grateful for this community providing so much information and being so engaging. Next time, I will not be working with this agent.

Good news is that the cruise is paid for, I just have to pay the final part of the fees / commission, which goes to the TA, and I have the cruise insured for the full amount the TA charged (their "fees"). I also got them to agree in writing that if something goes wrong, they provide a refund / credit based on the full amount paid to them, not just the $2,800 that they paid for the Royal Cabin. They did re-confirm they cannot provide the Royal invoice due to special promo pricing documented on there, but at this point, I already had Royal confirm the price that was paid, and unless there are any shady conditions or anything I should be aware of, I'm not as worried about getting the invoice now.

[Lovetocruise2002]

40 minutes ago, HolyShip said:

I am super grateful for this community providing so much information and being so engaging.

That's what we are here for, that's why I love this community too!

[SweetPea]

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yeah, that is why this thread brings back really bad memories for me lol.

You know how I book my cruises way out in advance? Well that was the nightmare I got stuck in with the shady math TA over covid cancellations. I was still stuck with them. None of the math added up. Like @SweetPeahad already mentioned, my 125% FCCs were a mess. I had no real booking confirmations from Royal. Only had the ones from the shady math TA. The shady math TA at this point was saying how overwhelmed they were with cancellations and was avoiding my calls and emails. Thank goodness that my now fantastic TA came in and quite literally saved the day. I will be forever grateful to her. In fact, after @HolyShip started this thread, I sent the link to her to thank her once again after remembering how bad it was. This thread definitely brought back memories! Not the good ones either lol

Yes, but i always did enjoy our "get a load of what he's pulling now" commisserating chats . I almost miss them. Well, the camaraderie. Him, not so much. I wonder if i still have the business card i created for him that more accurately described his services  

And if it weren't for NotSoSlim Shady, my cruises wouldn't be in the good hands they are now.  She had all my FCCs handy (even one I'd COMPLETELY forgotten about ) for when we were finally ready to book again. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

30 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

I wonder if i still have the business card

You know that was one of the first things I thought of when this thread started! haha That card was the best! 

[Canguyrd]

8 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Why do you charge any fees?

Well, many professional services charge a fee structure to access knowledge and product. In the travel industry, many suppliers such as airlines stopped paying commissions, so it became standard to charge a service fee to book an air only ticket for example. Many people seek advice and assistance when it comes to booking travel and travel agencies have unique relationships with a plethora of suppliers which allows for personalization and premium services. Not every traveller wants to do their own research, so they look into someone else doing it for them which again is why a service fee is charged. Keep in mind that not every supplier provides commission and commission is not very high generally. Agents also aim to provide clients customized support before, during, and after travel that you would not get through other mediums and this is why a service fee is charged. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

17 minutes ago, Canguyrd said:

Well, many professional services charge a fee structure to access knowledge and product. In the travel industry, many suppliers such as airlines stopped paying commissions, so it became standard to charge a service fee to book an air only ticket for example. Many people seek advice and assistance when it comes to booking travel and travel agencies have unique relationships with a plethora of suppliers which allows for personalization and premium services. Not every traveller wants to do their own research, so they look into someone else doing it for them which again is why a service fee is charged. Keep in mind that not every supplier provides commission and commission is not very high generally. Agents also aim to provide clients customized support before, during, and after travel that you would not get through other mediums and this is why a service fee is charged. 

I get all of this service with my TA without any fee.  Whatever....

[Canguyrd]

18 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I get all of this service with my TA without any fee.  Whatever....

I love to hear this! Not every agent does charge a fee for every booking especially with repeat clients. 

[CruiseGus]

1 hour ago, Canguyrd said:

Well, many professional services charge a fee structure to access knowledge and product. In the travel industry, many suppliers such as airlines stopped paying commissions, so it became standard to charge a service fee to book an air only ticket for example. Many people seek advice and assistance when it comes to booking travel and travel agencies have unique relationships with a plethora of suppliers which allows for personalization and premium services. Not every traveller wants to do their own research, so they look into someone else doing it for them which again is why a service fee is charged. Keep in mind that not every supplier provides commission and commission is not very high generally. Agents also aim to provide clients customized support before, during, and after travel that you would not get through other mediums and this is why a service fee is charged. 

But I would expect my TA to be UPFRONT about charging me a fee to do something.

About the only travel related service that does not pay commission is the airlines

[Canguyrd]

36 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

But I would expect my TA to be UPFRONT about charging me a fee to do something.

About the only travel related service that does not pay commission is the airlines

As mentioned earlier, before we even start to look at pricing or dive into booking requests, we let client's know that we charge a booking/ticketing fee in addition to fares from suppliers (if the fee warrants). I would certainly hope that any transparent agent would do the same! 

Whom ever the poster's TA was, they were definitely doing some shady business and I was only stating that agents should be advising clients of any fees prior to a commitment being made to book (if they charge fees....some do and some dont). 

[HolyShip]

42 minutes ago, Canguyrd said:

As mentioned earlier, before we even start to look at pricing or dive into booking requests, we let client's know that we charge a booking/ticketing fee in addition to fares from suppliers (if the fee warrants). I would certainly hope that any transparent agent would do the same! 

Whom ever the poster's TA was, they were definitely doing some shady business and I was only stating that agents should be advising clients of any fees prior to a commitment being made to book (if they charge fees....some do and some dont). 

Yeah. It makes me wonder if there are any limitations to the discount fare they booked on the cabin, and since the "Gov't Charges and Fees" was what was billed separately to the agency, I know some of that includes their commissions, but I wonder if there are additional fees that Royal will charge us. I understand you pay gratuities separately anyways? But, don't understand what other fees I may be liable for.

[Canguyrd]

18 minutes ago, HolyShip said:

Yeah. It makes me wonder if there are any limitations to the discount fare they booked on the cabin, and since the "Gov't Charges and Fees" was what was billed separately to the agency, I know some of that includes their commissions, but I wonder if there are additional fees that Royal will charge us. I understand you pay gratuities separately anyways? But, don't understand what other fees I may be liable for.

It honestly sounds odd, all taxes fees and port expenses should be included in the overall total which would be charged directly by RCL. Gratuities can also be added to this total and processed at the same time. This can also be done afterwards but the client should have been advised of this and expecting this charge. I am not familiar with US travel agency practices but the client must know exactly every charge expected and laid out prior to the credit card being handed over here in Ontario.