What else is open for an easy February trip besides Coz?

[Snoweman]

OK, your post is MUCH clearer that way!
So, he says TAs suck, I say they can save you a lot of money, he asks who so he can try them out. I say no, I'll provide no names, he'll have to do his own homework and develop his own good relationships over several years of working together with a TA. So he asks for cost comparisons; I do not give any cost comparisons because what I make on a group trip in my business, not his. he gets all pissy, and describes himself as a cheap a$$....I'm just guessing he is not going to develop many good relationships with TAs.
So I think your post ought to be directed to him, at least the second half of it.

Nope. Directed at you. If you're not willing to help out your TA with more business, I say you're full of it with the savings he/she provides.

If your TA is that good, sharing would help SB folks and would give your TA a boost. Think about it.

 

[tursiops]

Nope. Directed at you. If you're not willing to help out your TA with more business, I say you're full of it with the savings he/she provides.

If your TA is that good, sharing would help SB folks and would give your TA a boost. Think about it.

I gave a hint earlier.
I said my comments were about dive travel, not general travel.
Go talk to the major dive travel TA companies, like Maduro and Caradonna. Treat them like partners, not flunkies who owe you a big dollar commission. The more you use them -- both trips and number of people on the trips -- the better the relationship will be and the better the deals will be. Individuals and couples traveling alone can't make the system work for them.....it takes too much time to develop a specialized trip for one person, no way to make a living doing that. So about all you can do is look through the packages that are advertised, talk to the TA, see if there are any cool add-ons that can be thrown in. Same with resorts; some of them will work directly with you a good deal, but only for more than one person and most likely only after some years of going to that resort, so they know you and trust you are not going to arrive with a band of drunken gorillas.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Hi chillyinCanada,

Thanks for the kind words...! Much appreciated. We need to get you on a dive trip. I think your gills may be dry...hahahah

(SNIP)

Yes, my gills are dry as dust. My daily thoughts and nightly dreams are about diving.

Current events in my personal life along with the world condition are keeping up the dehydration.

I'm sad but I can wait.

 

[Jcp2]

Gotta use that humidifier in the winter.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Gotta use that humidifier in the winter.

I'm usually in the tropics in the winter and spend a good portion of the time away, diving my bass off.

 

[tarponchik]

Hi chillyinCanada,

Thanks for the kind words...! Much appreciated. We need to get you on a dive trip. I think your gills may be dry...hahahah

For tarponchik, I'm not sure what you are asking or what a mini-Travelocity might be. To describe it in simpler terms, for independent travelers I offer discount packages and for groups the discounts are often a bit better because we can factor in the value of free spaces. I don't get into the "best price guarantee" where an agent will discount a package just to offer a better rate than some other agent. I offer the best deal I can and if PADI Travel or some other agent wants to get into a bidding war, so be it. What I don't offer very often is air travel because many if not all of my divers often use miles for air tickets. Plus the airlines pay an agent $5 (yes five bucks) commission and there is huge risk to the agent.

For your Mr Brown, no you are not correct. Regardless if you are a free independent traveler (FIT in agent lingo) or part of a group, I always discount travel packages. Typically I try to save my divers at least 10%.

Well, I understand where the Travelocity's discounts come from. They often re-sell tickets and reservations in bulk because airlines and hotels prefer to sell more with a discount to selling less w/o. In essence, the origins of such discount is in competition between airlines and hotel chains. Similarly, I would expect a discount from you if I was looking for a spot on a liveaboard in Maldives because there are dozens of such liveaboards and they compete for customers. However, in accordance, such discounts are not always available. If there is no competition, there should not be any discount; in fact, you will be charged extra to pay the agency for their job. Therefore, if I am looking for a spot in a hot place in a hot time, I doubt I'll get any discount from anyone because in this kind of market the buyers compete, not the sellers.

 

[Jake 10]

have you checked the Florida Keys, I know of several dive centers operating through COVID

 

[GF99/99]

OK, your post is MUCH clearer that way!
So, he says TAs suck, I say they can save you a lot of money, he asks who so he can try them out. I say no, I'll provide no names, he'll have to do his own homework and develop his own good relationships over several years of working together with a TA. So he asks for cost comparisons; I do not give any cost comparisons because what I make on a group trip in my business, not his. he gets all pissy, and describes himself as a cheap a$$....I'm just guessing he is not going to develop many good relationships with TAs.
So I think your post ought to be directed to him, at least the second half of it.

Hello, tursiops I am very sorry but never meant for you to take so much offence to my post about TA's and I apologies if I said something wrong or worded something poorly. I also never said TA's "suck" nor was I "pissy" I simply stated that I have not found them to save me money that does not mean they suck, if you look back at my post I listed many reason why they are good and the benefits they could offer someone I also even said I have used TA's a couple times in Nepal, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Philippines. Yes I asked about a TA contact because yes I would like to save money and I am open to new ideas and ways of saving money. I happen to enjoy traveling and yes I do a lot of dive trip traveling too so I offered to try out a TA since everyone is saying they are cheaper and I am open to the idea of using a TA like I said they don't suck I just have not found them to save me money. However for me I need facts and figures to support that a TA will save me money I cant not just blindly use a TA and assume I am saving money. I want to do a cost comparisons. I am not trying to be rude or pissing by asking for this its just simple economic. Its like if your in the market for say a new Apeks DST 1st stage and your friends says its cheaper at "Bob's Dive Shop" so of course the first thing your going to do is call up "Jim's Dive Shop" down the road and get his price and then go online and see how much it is online and compare the prices. I don't think anyone will just blindly buy something just because some says its cheaper at a specific place, of course your going to want to see the numbers and compare them. So I was simply asking for some help for a TA because yes I am a cheap a$$ if there is an opportunity to save some money I will take it, hence why I am open to the idea of using a TA. You and many others on this thread have stated that TA's save you money so I want some help doing this. That is what SB is for its to generate discussions, ask questions, get help, etc. You see people posting all the time "where can I get ________ the cheapest" so I am asking this same question.

Also yes I am aware that you are talking about diving trips and using TA's so I am talking about diving trips also. In a couple months I am taking a diving trip to Indonesia. Probably headed to Labuan Bajo and Gili T, already looking at flights and sorting out visa's but if someone can give me a TA contact I would love to save some money. After that probably Dahab and then after that I am hoping international traveling is back to normal so I can do a liveaboard in Apo then probably back to Indo for end of the year to hit up Alor, Banda, or Raja and if my financial situation is good I would like to do a Bikini or Truk trip beginning of 2022 and after that who knows... hard to plan that far ahead. So I would love some TA help with these trips if anyone has any.

Once again I am very sorry if I offended anyone with my post I generally try and post respectful things. No sarcasm, no BS I was honestly just asking the question about TA's because I just want some facts, figures, number and contact info because yes I would like to save money also. And if they do save me money I will be the first one to admit I'm wrong. I also thought it would be nice for others on the forum since I travel a lot I could do an honest transparent review about how TA's can save you money on diving trips.

 

[tursiops]

Hello, tursiops I am very sorry but never meant for you to take so much offence to my post about TA's and I apologies if I said something wrong or worded something poorly. I also never said TA's "suck" nor was I "pissy" I simply stated that I have not found them to save me money that does not mean they suck, if you look back at my post I listed many reason why they are good and the benefits they could offer someone I also even said I have used TA's a couple times in Nepal, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Philippines. Yes I asked about a TA contact because yes I would like to save money and I am open to new ideas and ways of saving money. I happen to enjoy traveling and yes I do a lot of dive trip traveling too so I offered to try out a TA since everyone is saying they are cheaper and I am open to the idea of using a TA like I said they don't suck I just have not found them to save me money. However for me I need facts and figures to support that a TA will save me money I cant not just blindly use a TA and assume I am saving money. I want to do a cost comparisons. I am not trying to be rude or pissing by asking for this its just simple economic. Its like if your in the market for say a new Apeks DST 1st stage and your friends says its cheaper at "Bob's Dive Shop" so of course the first thing your going to do is call up "Jim's Dive Shop" down the road and get his price and then go online and see how much it is online and compare the prices. I don't think anyone will just blindly buy something just because some says its cheaper at a specific place, of course your going to want to see the numbers and compare them. So I was simply asking for some help for a TA because yes I am a cheap a$$ if there is an opportunity to save some money I will take it, hence why I am open to the idea of using a TA. You and many others on this thread have stated that TA's save you money so I want some help doing this. That is what SB is for its to generate discussions, ask questions, get help, etc. You see people posting all the time "where can I get ________ the cheapest" so I am asking this same question.

Also yes I am aware that you are talking about diving trips and using TA's so I am talking about diving trips also. In a couple months I am taking a diving trip to Indonesia. Probably headed to Labuan Bajo and Gili T, already looking at flights and sorting out visa's but if someone can give me a TA contact I would love to save some money. After that probably Dahab and then after that I am hoping international traveling is back to normal so I can do a liveaboard in Apo then probably back to Indo for end of the year to hit up Alor, Banda, or Raja and if my financial situation is good I would like to do a Bikini or Truk trip beginning of 2022 and after that who knows... hard to plan that far ahead. So I would love some TA help with these trips if anyone has any.

Once again I am very sorry if I offended anyone with my post I generally try and post respectful things. No sarcasm, no BS I was honestly just asking the question about TA's because I just want some facts, figures, number and contact info because yes I would like to save money also. And if they do save me money I will be the first one to admit I'm wrong. I also thought it would be nice for others on the forum since I travel a lot I could do an honest transparent review about how TA's can save you money on diving trips.

I may have somewhat misread your earlier posting; thank you for the clarification.
I don't think I can do cost-comparisons for you; your needs and specifics are different.
Using your Apeks DST analogy: if you buy a DST and also buy a BCD you get a better price than if you buy just one item. Volume counts with a TA.
To do your cost comparison for diving trips, you might want to go to a dive TA, give them your list of places you wan to go next year, and ask for their help. If you are traveling alone, you have less leverage. If you ask about just one trip, you have less leverage. If you only ask for their "best price" you have less leverage; they may be help in ways other than just a price on a specific. Good luck.

 

[GF99/99]

I may have somewhat misread your earlier posting; thank you for the clarification.
I don't think I can do cost-comparisons for you; your needs and specifics are different.
Using your Apeks DST analogy: if you buy a DST and also buy a BCD you get a better price than if you buy just one item. Volume counts with a TA.
To do your cost comparison for diving trips, you might want to go to a dive TA, give them your list of places you wan to go next year, and ask for their help. If you are traveling alone, you have less leverage. If you ask about just one trip, you have less leverage. If you only ask for their "best price" you have less leverage; they may be help in ways other than just a price on a specific. Good luck.

No worries, no hard feelings I do understand what your saying about the TA's and maybe I misunderstood your post as well. I think I have a lot of factors working against me that would not make a TA the best choice for my particular style of traveling. Yes I am traveling alone and my dive destination with the exceptions of maybe Dahab and Raja Ampat are a little off the beaten path so maybe TA's are not the best option for these obscure trips. And maybe this is why I have not had any luck with TA's like you said its for package deals, for groups and maybe its for more popular destinations like the Caribbean region, Mexico, etc. I just might not be the right demographic for a TA, I just might be the odd ball exception.

However all that being said if anyone does have any TA contact info I am still open to it. Like I said I am always looking for travel hacks and ways to get things cheaper and I am currently already starting to plan my next couple dive trips.