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Transfer reservation to TA after booking and paying?


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I've got two upcoming cruises before the end of the year.  Both are fully paid for (but not yet at final payment date).  The last time I used a TA was (eep) 18 years ago.  Since then, I've just handled everything myself.  That said, I've read some pretty stellar reviews of MEI on here and I'm willing to give them a shot.

Would there be any advantage to having MEI pick up these reservations this late in the game?  Is it even something they'd want to handle (i.e., do they still get a commission if I hand off the reservation to them)?  Still haven't booked air or hotel reservations for either end of these cruises. 

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Perhaps an TA can comment, but having them paid in full may be an issue. 

My understanding is this; While many people use the final payment due date as the threshold for many things, in reality it is actually once a cruise is paid in full.  For 99% of people that happens to coincide with 'final payment due date' so popular belief is that the date is the threshold when in fact it is actually once a cruise is paid in full regardless of the date that occurred. 

I asked specifically about paying off a cruise prior to 'final payment due date' and I was advised to withhold a token amount, such as $100.  The reason was - once a cruise is paid in full you can no longer get price adjustments.  Time and again people will state that it's final payment due date that dictates the end of price adjustments when I've been told technically it is once a cruise is paid off in full. 

Consequently, I am interested to know if you have been able to get price adjustments since you have paid off the cruises prior to final payment due date.

From my perspective a travel agent is most useful not when everything executes perfectly, but more often when something goes off the rails.  When you wake up one day and discover that Royal lost your booking 45 days ago and your cabin was sold to someone else is an example.  How can that possibly happen?  Great question.  Yet it does.  Having an agent take up that fight while you go about your daily thing can not be over-appreciated. 

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13 minutes ago, twangster said:

Perhaps an TA can comment, but having them paid in full may be an issue. 

My understanding is this; While many people use the final payment due date as the threshold for many things, in reality it is actually once a cruise is paid in full.  For 99% of people that happens to coincide with 'final payment due date' so popular belief is that the date is the threshold when in fact it is actually once a cruise is paid in full regardless of the date that occurred. 

I asked specifically about paying off a cruise prior to 'final payment due date' and I was advised to withhold a token amount, such as $100.  The reason was - once a cruise is paid in full you can no longer get price adjustments.  Time and again people will state that it's final payment due date that dictates the end of price adjustments when I've been told technically it is once a cruise is paid off in full. 

Consequently, I am interested to know if you have been able to get price adjustments since you have paid off the cruises prior to final payment due date.

From my perspective a travel agent is most useful not when everything executes perfectly, but more often when something goes off the rails.  When you wake up one day and discover that Royal lost your booking 45 days ago and your cabin was sold to someone else is an example.  How can that possibly happen?  Great question.  Yet it does.  Having an agent take up that fight while you go about your daily thing can not be over-appreciated. 

Wasn't there another thread recently where someone had said that they could get price adjustments even if it was paid in full, just as long as it's outside final payment? That was news to me too.

59 minutes ago, mk-ultra said:

I've got two upcoming cruises before the end of the year.  Both are fully paid for (but not yet at final payment date).  The last time I used a TA was (eep) 18 years ago.  Since then, I've just handled everything myself.  That said, I've read some pretty stellar reviews of MEI on here and I'm willing to give them a shot.

Would there be any advantage to having MEI pick up these reservations this late in the game?  Is it even something they'd want to handle (i.e., do they still get a commission if I hand off the reservation to them)?  Still haven't booked air or hotel reservations for either end of these cruises. 

I could have been misinformed but a RC agent once told me that you have 60 days from the time of booking to transfer. Also, what currency did you pay in? I am Canadian and I usually book in USD. The one time I did book in CDN dollars, I wanted to transfer to MEI but it wasn't possible.

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16 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Wasn't there another thread recently where someone had said that they could get price adjustments even if it was paid in full, just as long as it's outside final payment?

Yes you can still get a price adjustment if you're before final payment and paid in full.  The issue you run into is you have to get RC to issue a refund for the difference. It's far simpler/faster if you have an outstanding balance.

To that point, if paying off your cruise in advance, leave like $2-500 off unpaid (if you can) to leave wiggle room for easy price adjustments later.

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