FlyerTalker

And just how does the involvement of a cruiseline make a difference with a separate supplier picking up and delivering bags? Cruiselines sell airline tickets. Doesn't do a thing to make sure your flight is on time. I'm firmly against shipping luggage. If a problem arises, I'm right there to be involved in the situation, at baggage claim. Directly with the company that will correct the situation. Remember that all of these luggage companies are merely freight forwarders - they aren't the people actually moving your bags from A to B. So one more layer in the process. And if you don't want to handle the bags yourself, there are plenty of porters at airports and hotels and cruiseports. For those arguing "peace of mind" -- I just check my airline app and see that the bags have been scanned onto my flight.

Yes. When, all things considered it is the best alternative. And that would likely be when it's being given to me at no cost. Remember that Viking uses "free air" as a method to discount cruises without actually discounting the cruise itself. I would need to know what is included in such offer, what are my options regarding travel on different dates, with different carriers and/or routings. Also what kind availability and cost for moving to either premium economy or business (depending on the flights). I'd only fly in day of cruise if there was an easy set of "next few ports". As for standard "cruise air" -- I have rarely found it to be a better deal overall FOR ME. I can usually get a better "value" from my own choices. And note, I didn't say better "price". Big difference. Now, a few caveats due to my personal situation, so folks will know where I am coming from. I have no worries about getting an airline credit if situations change. I will somehow use them. Even credits on foreign carriers -- due to code shares and alliances, one could use foreign airline credits to buy flights on USA carriers for USA domestic routes. Next, my financial situation is such that I don't need to worry about deferring air ticket payments until cruise payments are due. Somewhat ties in with the first part -- it's just moving it from cash to a future flight or flight credit. I am also particular about the carrier and aircraft configuration I'm going to be flying. To me, it is NOT a commodity purchase. There are great differences in product and I want what I want. I also prefer some airports over others. Finally, my airline status on various carriers and on different alliances, and thus the benefits accrued, have a significant factor. Now, for others, they may have different priorities. And that is completely fine. Just so that folks know what they are buying, and understand why they are making the choice they make. So, to sum up for the original question: There is no one blanket answer, either for myself or for others. Which makes the process both fascinating and frustrating. 😀

They are charging this because it's reflective of the price that THEY are having to pay for the ticket. And there is no "usual" when it comes to contract air. Not unreasonable. You are flying from a secondary USA airport (BWI) to a major SkyTeam hub (DTW) where you will get a transatlantic non-stop to a hub (CDG) that has numerous flights to Lyon (LYS). Now, you want to know the likely reason you are NOT on BA to Lyon: There is one flight a day from BWI to LHR, and it arrives around 9:30am. Trouble is that BA usually only has two flights a day from LHR to LYS. And the first leaves around 7:45am. Oops...can't make that one. And the next one leaves between 4:30 and 6:30pm. So you would be sitting around the airport for 7 to 9 hours. Do you want to do that? Or did you just assume that there would be plenty of flights after you land at LHR? Contrast with the 8 non-stops from CDG to LYS. Just why is air travel "in turmoil"? Is it because you are paying more for your tickets than before? If so, that's a funny definition in my book. Trust me....there isn't turmoil. There is merely Econ 101 in action.

No disrespect, but what are you smoking? An uber from PHL to New York will be at least $200 dollars. For that, you could just fly from Miami. Is there some other factor at play here? Why you would want to use miles for use a low cost trip is beyond me, unless you just want to get rid of them. What kind of value are you getting from them? Remember, this is NOT a free trip, as many think. Miles/points are a form of alternative currency, given to you as a rebate for purchases. So, are you getting an effective "exchange rate" for your miles? Would you spend 12,000 miles for a ticket that costs only $90? That's getting less than a penny of value back. Yes, you can redeposit miles. Then you need to have inventory available to book a new flight with miles in your account. The redeposit usually happens within 48 hours, but you must have cancelled the trip more than 60 days before date of travel. Otherwise, you are going through a manual process with an agent, and results may vary. Airlines want you to waste your mileage redemptions on low-value transactions. Get value.

In general, you can only hold one Sapphire product, either the Reserve or Preferred. And you are limited on the new card bonus if you have already received it for the first Sapphire card.

This may be correct if you are expecting a refund back in cash to your form of payment. But for most USA airlines, you can get a full refund in the form of an airline credit. Which us travelers can likely use without trouble. And not clear what that has to do with "itinerary changes". If talking cruise itineraries, you can usually make a change in your flights to fit the new ports. And you would have zero control over what Seabourn would now give you. Check the actual T&C.

IIRC, that's the address for Serenity. For Symphony, it's "syweb01" rather than "seweb01". Not near my travel laptop to check what I had saved.

One other thing to keep in mind. It's not so much that the prices are changing, but rather then underlying inventory numbers change. Prices, both for cruiseline air and for air from the carrier, are pretty well determined in advance. Fares are "filed", that specify fare routings, rules and price. Then each is coded with a fare designator, so that each ticket is tied to a specific "fare" (which is not the same as price). Let's hypothetically say that XYZ sets 10 different fares between A and B. These run at $20 intervals from $300 up. So there are now fares at $300, $320, $340, $360, $380, $400, $420, $440, $460 and $480. What happens now is that a certain number of tickets are put into the various "buckets". Let's say you get a distribution of 10 in each to start. People will start to buy the lowest cost ticket, so the $300 bucket sells out first. Now, it's not that the price went up - it's that there is none for sale in the lowest bucket. So it appears that they raised the price -- nope, the market snapped up the most discounted tickets and all that are left are higher priced ones. Now, because yield management systems are so sophisticated, they can monitor how flights are selling and adjust so as to get the maximum return for the flight. They do this by moving inventory between the various buckets. A flight isn't selling well -- move seats into the lower buckets. Higher than expected demand -- move inventory towards the higher buckets. All done with very complex algorithms created by very bright mathematicians. Which is why tickets from A to B are often priced differently. More desirable flights have greater demand, resulting in tickets being in higher buckets. That flight at 6am - seats move downward to try to stimulate demand there. So, when you see prices "disappear", it's just that there is no longer availability at that dollar amount. And when you see it "appear" or drop, that's an inventory move - either because of cancellations or because YM says "add inventory".

For a quality bag, it will be heavier. Lots of lightweight crap out there. And FWIW, the large Rimowa bag is almost 14 lbs. So July is not outlandish.

You are very welcome. The most important parts are: First key is to remember that what you have available through Viking (or any cruiseline) is merely a subset of the overall inventory and pricing available from the airline directly. As such, it may be many different forms of inventory (and of pricing). and Also, it's important to remember....airline tickets are not like the box of cereal on the grocery shelf. They have different fare rules, are associated with different fare buckets, and have dynamically variable quantities available at any given time. Trying to compare them with products that are not dynamically priced is a waste of time.

My apologies regarding the seats on the Copa MAX. I've not been paying close attention and it has been a while since I've flown Copa. Turns out that the seats on the MAX version of the 737 for Copa are the Collins "Diamond" seats. The good news is that they do lie flat. The bad news is that they are in a 2-2 configuration, so there is no direct aisle access for the window passenger.

Ask and ye shall receive. Those aren't "Viking price changes". They are a result of dynamic inventory availability and pricing. First key is to remember that what you have available through Viking (or any cruiseline) is merely a subset of the overall inventory and pricing available from the airline directly. As such, it may be many different forms of inventory (and of pricing). A not-so-brief explainer coming up. The first type may be a "hard block". This is a fixed number of seats, sold by the carrier to the cruiseline. It's now up to the cruiseline to determine their retail price, given that they have already purchased the seats for their resale. It could be a "soft block", where the cruiseline agrees to a certain number of seats, but has the ability to return all or part of any unsold inventory back to the airline under pre-agreed terms. Another form is "moving block", where the inventory block may vary depending on pre-negotiated conditions. As inventory systems become more and more dynamic, this is becoming more prevalent in the airline industry. Inventory may be added, or removed, due to conditions of the overall yield management of a specific flight or flights. An airline may also give the cruiseline "free sale" or "open sale", which means that they have full rights to sell all seats and all inventory. This is usually at the spot market price for tickets, and tends to fill out the gaps when contract blocks become unavailable (usually because the agreed upon block has been sold). There may be contract provisions where the airline can stop or limit this type of sale. Since the specifics of airline contracts is a trade secret of both parties, one can only make informed guesses as to what's happening behind the scenes. I'm going to guess that you got into a moving block situation - tickets were available, then they were available at a lower price, then they weren't, then they were, at still a different price. Highly indicative of changes in inventory. Which can be because of ticket sales through Viking or because of yield management calculations by the airline, or both. Also, it's important to remember....airline tickets are not like the box of cereal on the grocery shelf. They have different fare rules, are associated with different fare buckets, and have dynamically variable quantities available at any given time. Trying to compare them with products that are not dynamically priced is a waste of time. So, to the OP: Congratulations. This time the system worked out for you. You lost out on inventory, found it again, and had the price be lower than what you would have paid originally.

And as a note...that has NOTHING to do with FlightEase, but is an airline function.

Another vote for battery powered tea lights. Easy to find them at Walmart or even at Dollar Tree. And when the battery goes, just toss away.

You can sometimes pick up some delightful limited editions at the Oban distillery. Right in the center of town. And a couple of other excellent whiskey shops nearby. As mentioned, be sure to have rain gear for this cruise -- odds are you will need it somewhere along the way.