Need Help from Travel Agents! About This Page:

[cruisinwrx]

Hi everybody, I'm a student at Cal State Fullerton and am currently working on a project. I've been calling travel agencies around the area and haven't been successful in getting help. Any information you could provide to me would be tremendously helpful.

If a customer books by a certain time/time of the year do they get a % discount? If so how much?

If a customer books X amount of people do they get a discount? If so how much?

And finally do agencies offer discounts for those who pay for the package upfront or leave a deposit?

Also, any help with trade promotions would help as well but no necessary for example what perks do travel agents get for booking small-large accounts.

[PixieMichele]

If you're speaking exclusively of Disney travel....we apply the same discounts that Disney offers...which are random and at different times throughout the year (Free dining, fall room offer, winter room offers, etc.) there are also Pin codes sent through the mail and email at random (well, random to us but very planned by Disney!)

There usually isn't "book by" discounts, it's simply a matter of availability...if you don't book by that specified date you can't get the offer or if you wait too long the offer could be sold out.

Disney offers a small discount for "groups". A group is 10 or more rooms, Disney Cruise Line does this as well.

All vacations require a deposit, that's what gives you your booking number and holds your place. There are usually no discounts for paying upfront.

Not sure about the trade promotions....obviously we work for commission. There aren't perks for us except a higher or lower commission but we offer perks to our clients to get those big sales.

Hope that helps!

[cruisinwrx]

I really appreciate your help

[dmpyron]

No specific discounts for a particular time of year. But there are always "low" and "high" seasons. But they vary from supplier to supplier. With cruise lines you usually get a better fare the further out you book.

As PixieMichele said, you can get "breaks" for booking groups. Sometimes it's price break, sometimes it's an amenity (free bottle of wine on a cruise, for example) or you get a "buy 10 get one free" kind of thing.

The agency isn't the one that sets the price, that's the supplier. To hold a reservation you need a deposit.

Perks? Used to be some. Now my "perk" is the commission I make when I travel. On occasion a cruise line might offer a special rate for a specific cruise, but not as often as even 5 or 6 years ago. I've done a couple of "Seminar at Sea" and the rates are great, but you have to attend classes every sea day, takes 3 to 4 hours of your "vacation" time.