wombat_5606
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 17, 2006
Quite frankly, I got better and more prompt service with Costco than I did with a large recommended travel agency who did not respond to emails at times for days (no phone option) and misspelled some of our names and took WEEKS to fix. They also did not respond when I emailed the same agent the next time I wanted to book a cruise and obviously did not care about my business. Their loss as we've booked 2 cruises since with Costco. Plus the kickback (OBC) with them was a lot less compared to Costco. Why would I use a TA that gives less than stellar service when Costco was better AND the amount I got back as a cash card was a significant percentage more? It's a no brainer. After our 11 night cruise and trip (mostly paid for with our Costco visa) I went over a year buying things we usually buy at Costco anyways without paying out of pocket. Can't complain about that! Quite honestly, after my previous experience with a TA, I would have booked on my own rather than Costco if Costco was not an option, so no one is losing business.
I agree that Costco suits me better. I've never had any luck with travel agents when I've consulted with them over my almost 45 years of varied travel. We either never understood each other or I felt they weren't interested in my requests and travel needs, wants and desires. For my land travel, I usually cobble my travel together after my own research. For cruises, it's been Costco all the way since 2012 with 13 cruises booked. I will gladly take their cash card or OBC and if I now have to contend with using the shop card in the store, I have no doubt that I will be fine with that.
I love Costco and if anyone is in need of a rental car, they have beat any quote I've ever received except for twice. I'm up to 40 car rentals since 2012! What can I say? I like to drive.