Deviation Fee and Stop over Fee (Regent Air)

In the past, when we used Regent Air, and decided to stop over at a place on the way home, we usually payed a deviation fee and all was well. Same when we decided to stay a few more days or arrive early (let's say in Rome).

Now, Regent is charging an additional stop over fee for when you "stop over" at a destination somewhere between end of cruise port and Home.

So for example: Cruise leaves on 6/1 in port X and ends on 6/14 in port Y. On the way back, you want to stop over in town Z and stay for a week.

Regent now charges you

a) Deviation fee of 175 because you fly back on a different day and

b) a stop over fee of 350 pp because you "stop over" in town Z.

In the past, the deviation took care of it. Now the stop-over-fee is another way to make money ? Has anyone encountered this over the past 2 years ?

Thanks

It just so happened that I spoke to Regent Air yesterday and ran into the same problem. There are no non-stops available for the "promotion price", for our fall cruise so I inquired about spending two days in London if we decided to fly with BA and was absolutely stunned when I was told it would be an additional $350 per person. We do this sort of thing all the time when we arrange our own airfare or when we book with the tour operator and I can tell you from experience the fees usually range from none to $100.

It is the little things like this that we find extremely annoying - we really dislike being nickeled and dimed which is one of the main reasons we have remained loyal to Regent - I do not believe we are alone in this matter.

gnomie :)

It just so happened that I spoke to Regent Air yesterday and ran into the same problem. There are no non-stops available for the "promotion price", for our fall cruise so I inquired about spending two days in London if we decided to fly with BA and was absolutely stunned when I was told it would be an additional $350 per person. We do this sort of thing all the time when we arrange our own airfare or when we book with the tour operator and I can tell you from experience the fees usually range from none to $100.

 

It is the little things like this that we find extremely annoying - we really dislike being nickeled and dimed which is one of the main reasons we have remained loyal to Regent - I do not believe we are alone in this matter.

 

gnomie :)

Wondering if this is an airline additional air fare for the stopover?? If so kind of strange that the 2 examples have the exact same cost. Depending on the airline, making a stop between origin and destination is not the same cost as the flight without the stopover.

I know that Icelandic allows a stopover in Reykjavik on the way to or from Europe or to or from North America for up to 7 days without additional flight charges. There is a slight difference in the taxes due to the stopover but, not significant.

The added costs for the stop, if over 24 hours for many airlines means paying point to point fares which normally are higher than thru fares.

If Regent is charging more than the normal $175 deviation for their services because of the extra flight due to the stopover, then why don't they provide a credit if doing a deviation only one way??? The $175 deviation charge is more than enough to cover the costs and additional profits for any type of deviation for a single cruise.

Really need to be sure what the $350 charge is, for the deviation of for the additional airline costs which is what would be expected.

These routings are known as Open Jaw tickets and can cost more especially international.

These routings are known as Open Jaw tickets and can cost more especially international.

While I agree with you Miles about the tickets the OP is asking about being more expensive, they are not Open Jaw tickets.

Open Jaw is when you fly back from the different location or perhaps to a different origin. What the OP is talking about is making a stopover at a third location during the return flight which makes the return more expensive as the airlines charge point to point for that flight which is more costly than a simple change of planes at the interim stop.

There are situations where if your stopover is less than 24 you can get the same fare as a simple change of planes but, any longer becomes point to point and higher cost.

These routings are known as Open Jaw tickets and can cost more especially international.

Agree that these can be considered "Open Jar" tickets (also called "Multi City" by some airlines). When booking flights as described by the OP, there is one more leg than the typical flights that Regent books which, as you noted, cost more money.

While this sounds like a new Regent policy, it is one that makes sense. It is the passengers choice to want to stay extra days and, IMO, Regent should not have to pay for it.

I just did two comparisons on yapta.com (a booking website). I used Vancouver as a starting point. First I did a typical Open Jaw flight and then added in the extra days (using Paris for the example). The extra fare was approximately $325.00.

Thanks for the replies so far. Yes, one can come up with various explanations for the extra stop over fee, but as we had never come across this (and have made stop overs many times in the past, albeit not in the last 2 years), this was odd. Especially when it was on top of the deviation fee which we are all used to.

My TA says it's Regents fee for "monitoring" the flights after stop over as they are still responsible to get us home. Again, a possible reason, but a new fee.

And if we consider this an open jaw ticket, most cruise air tickets would be open jaw or multi-city by default. You fly into, let's say Barcelona and fly out from let's say Rome. Not a standard round trip, but multi city. And the fun continues when the city you want to stop over is actually on the Regent flight schedule. (let's say back from Rome via LHR and you want to stay in London). So I think it's a Regent fee (add-on) not an airline fee.

My TA says it's Regents fee for "monitoring" the flights after stop over as they are still responsible to get us home. Again, a possible reason, but a new fee.

 

Think you need to get a new TA as what I quoted is pure balderdash!!! Clearly in the terms and conditions Regent has no responsibility to get you to the cruise and then back home. There are times when Regent goes above and beyond to help passengers who are delayed by flight issues however, the terms and conditions very clearly state it is the passengers responsibility to get to and from the cruise and that Regent is only acting as an agent to the airline bears no responsibility other than booking the flights.

Your TA is completely wrong if that's what they told you. It is NOT a reason for the extra costs under any circumstances. Still believe the extra cost is the extra cost of the flight stopover vs. a non-stop or thru flight. Your invoice should differentiate between the charges and if they don't you need to have your TA get that specific information. Added fees to Regent because of an a stopover should certainly be included in the $175 deviation charge.

Thanks for the replies so far. Yes, one can come up with various explanations for the extra stop over fee, but as we had never come across this (and have made stop overs many times in the past, albeit not in the last 2 years), this was odd. Especially when it was on top of the deviation fee which we are all used to.

My TA says it's Regents fee for "monitoring" the flights after stop over as they are still responsible to get us home. Again, a possible reason, but a new fee.

 

And if we consider this an open jaw ticket, most cruise air tickets would be open jaw or multi-city by default. You fly into, let's say Barcelona and fly out from let's say Rome. Not a standard round trip, but multi city. And the fun continues when the city you want to stop over is actually on the Regent flight schedule. (let's say back from Rome via LHR and you want to stay in London). So I think it's a Regent fee (add-on) not an airline fee.

While your TA is not completely correct, if something went wrong with the flight after the layover, Regent would do the best that they could to find another flight that would get your home. When air is booked through Regent, despite contract language to the contrary, they will take care of you.

If you want to see if the fare is higher with the added layover, try going to yapta.com (or another booking website) and put in the information for your destinations (under multi-city) first without the layover and then with the layover. This will give you a very good idea of the cost to Regent (if there is one which, from my earlier comparisons indicates that it does cost more to stop over a day or two and then continue on to your final destination).

Most of the "deviation fee" is for the extra work involved in booking the flights. Instead of looking at their contracted flights and booking a passenger, Regent has to work with the TA or passenger directly. In our case, although we always deviate, we give our TA at least two itineraries that we would like. They present it to Regent and it is up to them to accept or decline the flights. They may offer an alternative which the TA will then present to us. This back and forth is time consuming.

Anyway, that is my "take" on the situation.

Thanks TC but I'm not sure this answers the question. As Gnomie further up already states even staying in an already established hub (All flights from the US to Europe by BA go via LHR) still would cause the stop over fee. There is no other airport involved, just a stop over at an airport the airline is already flying to towards the final destination. Or in our case, (see case above), if we pay our own way from end of cruise to stop over destination Z, there is no stop over fee. So flying from the US to port X (start of Cruise) then back to the US from Port Y (end of cruise) at various dates would require Dev fee, but if we'd stop over at Z we have Dev and Stop over fee. Flying ourselves to Z would not require Stop over fee.

Worse, we fly from Y home to the US via Z for no fee, but if we stay in Z for a few days (stop over) Regent charges 350. It's not that we are staying in Timbuktu :-)

Thanks TC but I'm not sure this answers the question. As Gnomie further up already states even staying in an already established hub (All flights from the US to Europe by BA go via LHR) still would cause the stop over fee. There is no other airport involved, just a stop over at an airport the airline is already flying to towards the final destination. Or in our case, (see case above), if we pay our own way from end of cruise to stop over destination Z, there is no stop over fee. So flying from the US to port X (start of Cruise) then back to the US from Port Y (end of cruise) at various dates would require Dev fee, but if we'd stop over at Z we have Dev and Stop over fee. Flying ourselves to Z would not require Stop over fee.

Worse, we fly from Y home to the US via Z for no fee, but if we stay in Z for a few days (stop over) Regent charges 350. It's not that we are staying in Timbuktu :-)

Sorry - really tried to help. It sounds as if it would be better to book your own air and take the credit from Regent. Apparently Regent has put this "fee" in place and we could debate it but it would not change things. It has been our experience that we cannot find any flights that match or beat Regent's included air (or in our case, included air plus Business Class upgrade).

no worries TC and no harm intended.

Yes, for most instances Regent air is still better than finding your own flights especially over to Europe. I was just wondering where this "new" fee all of a sudden came from. We've used Regent air for many trips and paid the deviation fee...but this stop over fee is new. Just trying to figure out where it's coming from and why and if other people have experienced it. If it's a charge by Regent for ...something....they should just say and explain it

I agree that it's tough (for us) to beat Regent's air. It's not always the most perfect flight itinerary, but if you're able to book a higher category cabin (we often can't) or get the $499 biz class air (we have several times) it's a great deal. Even when my wife was flying often and had a huge pile of airline miles, we still used Regent Air. Maybe it cost about the same, but it was much easier letting them handle it.

I guess it's good being a 'settler' - we settle for Regent Air. :D

Now let me go churn some butter and make my own clothes.