Can someone explain why is it legal for a company to tell its independent sales agents that they cannot give rebates?
IF a TA says "spend $5k with our cruise agency on cruises in a year and we will send you a check for $500"...why can a cruise line stop that?
THANKS
I don't think a cruise line can stop that, in a situation as you describe. But they can't discount or rebate as part of a particular booking. If they want to sell cruises for a particular line, then they need to follow the rules set out by that cruise line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcook052
This isn't unique to travel as Bose is very stringent on it's retailers not discounting or rebating it's product.
Apple is another example. You don't see sales on ipads very often, and when you do (for like $20 off as with Best Buy this week), it's with Apple's blessing.
People still use travel agents? How quaint. Do they ride their horse and buggy down to book with them?
Sure, if there is commission to be paid, why not let the cruise line pay someone local, since they don't make it worth my while to book direct? I don't waste my TA's time with things like airfare that don't make her money.
People still use travel agents? How quaint. Do they ride their horse and buggy down to book with them?
Until last year, there was significant money to be saved by using travel agents to book cruises, as certain ones would rebate a large chunk of their commission to you.
Sure, if there is commission to be paid, why not let the cruise line pay someone local, since they don't make it worth my while to book direct? I don't waste my TA's time with things like airfare that don't make her money.
If you book with a local TA you can get some of that +17% commision. If you are booking high end or many cabins it should be worth your time
If you read up this thread you will note that Carnival is prohibiting TAs from rebating commission to you.
While they officially are banning the rebating, what they are really doing is banning the advertising of such. Carnival would have no way of knowing if my TA handed me back a couple hundred bucks.
Until last year, there was significant money to be saved by using travel agents to book cruises, as certain ones would rebate a large chunk of their commission to you.
For our New Year's ('11-'12) cruise, which we booked in July 2011, the TA we booked with on Cruise Compete gave us 50% more OBC per room than anyone else. To make it better, there was some kind of issue with our OBC. After sorting it out at the Customer Service Desk, it turned out we ended up with roughly an extra $200.
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