Regent Flights - with and without deviation

I have to disagree with Rallydave. Regent did not work with us on flights from Houston to Cape Town and return from singapore. we have nightmare flights. we selected several, and were told that there were no contracts with those airlines; HOWEVER, someone departing from our home had fabulous flights on the airlines we requested.

There seems to be no rhyme nor reason on how they assign flights. I am reluctant to book Regent again for this very reason.

There are quite a few of us who have visited together discussing this very topic.

Also, on the south american flights, we were on United from buenos Aires to Houston via Panama (crazy, huh), and they had us on COPA. Would you believe they changed our "paid for" reservation in Business Class and put us in economy with NO reimbursement. I have been fighting this for a year with the airlines, so be very, very careful. Let me add that these flights were not thru regent; they were booked through Travelocity.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to put this, but I didn't want to start a new thread.

I'm an Aussie and I got a CC email with Regent offers for Europe that leapt out at me because of the "Free Business Class Air". I'm a natural born sceptic, so I read the TCs and lo and behold, the 1st sentence says:

"Fares are subject to increase on 1st April 2015. All fares are per person in U.S. dollars, all fares and offers contained within are valid only for residents of and through travel agents located in Mexico, Central America, South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, are based on double occupancy (unless otherwise noted), for new bookings only and may be withdrawn at any time."

So I sent off a quote request, and guess what? Free Business Class Air only available to US residents.

Luckily I'm a sceptic so not too disappointed, but it appears I also need do a study on reading TCs. :confused:

Just booked 9/30/15 trip from Amsterdam to Barcelona on Voyager and in all the thousands of brochures we get from Regent, it says FREE AIR for Penthouse or above for this voyage, yet my TA (who's excellent) says they add another $2800 pp to the stated cost shown on the page-so PH-D comes to over $16,000 pp with the "FREE" air. Hmmmm, then this is NOT free-coming from the US. I can't seem to find out anything about this, but certainly this is not what we bargained for and our TA said that's what Regent quotes. Can anyone explain this to us? :confused:

Just booked 9/30/15 trip from Amsterdam to Barcelona on Voyager and in all the thousands of brochures we get from Regent, it says FREE AIR for Penthouse or above for this voyage, yet my TA (who's excellent) says they add another $2800 pp to the stated cost shown on the page-so PH-D comes to over $16,000 pp with the "FREE" air. Hmmmm, then this is NOT free-coming from the US. I can't seem to find out anything about this, but certainly this is not what we bargained for and our TA said that's what Regent quotes. Can anyone explain this to us? :confused:

We need some clarifications to your post, You state PH-D but, there is only PH A, B, C. Air is included for all categories but, business is only included for PH and above. Appears your TA got your quote for Concierge D which does include Air but, not Business. It it probably the Business Air that is adding the $1400 each way pp for Business Air.

If my conclusion is not correct, you need to clarify category you are asking for and if you are looking for Business or just coach. Can't get to $16K pp for concierge D or PH-C as they should probably be $11699 plus what the business upgrade is (not on website or $14,799 for PH C.

Any more clarification needs to come from you or from a detailed quote from your TA and NOT just the bottom line. Something certainly doesn't make a lot of sense here.

By the way, nothing is "Free" it may or may not be included but, one way or another everything you get is paid for by the customer.

Thanks,

Just booked 9/30/15 trip from Amsterdam to Barcelona on Voyager and in all the thousands of brochures we get from Regent, it says FREE AIR for Penthouse or above for this voyage, yet my TA (who's excellent) says they add another $2800 pp to the stated cost shown on the page-so PH-D comes to over $16,000 pp with the "FREE" air. Hmmmm, then this is NOT free-coming from the US. I can't seem to find out anything about this, but certainly this is not what we bargained for and our TA said that's what Regent quotes. Can anyone explain this to us? :confused:

It sounds as if your TA does not regularly book Regent cruises. They should know this information without having to check on it (after all, it is on the Regent website). Some TA's are excellent in many things, however, IMO, you need a TA that specializes in booking luxury cruises in order for them to know the ins and outs of booking them. They should have their own contact at Regent to get answers to any questions you or they have.

In any event, as indicated above, the only Penthouse Suites are "A", "B" and "C". The price you indicated above ($16,000 pp) is the correct fare for a Penthouse Suite on your cruise so I assume that "PH-D" was a simple typo on your part. This is a very easy and straightforward policy. If you are in a Penthouse or above suite, you pay nothing for Business Class air as it is included in your fare. This is something we regularly do on Regent so I am very familiar with the policy. We are actually doing a cruise next week that Business Class for Penthouse and above.

Suggest you explain this to your TA. If they don't understand, you may need to call Regent yourself to get it straightened out.

I meant to say PH-C and my TA does luxury cruises. It was totally my mistake when she quoted $16K+ as it apparently included the insurance which we always take. I misunderstood it and apologize for getting on this Board and making the mistake. Underlying it all though is the premise that the "free" business class air is NOT free, as the price of $2800 pp is written into the $14+K fare. So be it! We want to celebrate our anniversary at Chateau Kirwan and my 75th BD and need a "Regent fix".

Thanks for your explanations.

No problem! Interesting that the airfare was a separate line item on your invoice. We have not seen that on Regent invoices before. Maybe it is something new.

Enjoy your special cruise:)

Can anyone tell me what airlines Regent uses from Buenos Aires to Miami?

 

Also can you choose an aisle seat without doing a deviation???

Just returned yesterday & Regent had us on AA flight 900 at 8:20pm. While that may seem late, we had the EARLIEST flight of the whole group, as all flights to Miami are late at night, and many had flights near midnight. A deviation won't help in this situation.

Thank You.

How was the trip?

Thank You.

 

How was the trip?

We were on the Mariner all the way from Tahiti to buenos Aires & it was fantastic, though we did have a lot of wind, so we missed Pitcairn Island & the Falklands. Regent only provided an intransit lounge at a hotel in Puerto Madero for the whole day, so if you haven't been to BA you may want to organize a private day tour to see the sights. When is your trip?

schub229, Looking forward to the dinner at Chateau Kirwan. Surprised you were able to book this cruise so late as it has been full for a long time.

I'm curious what airlines Regent is using for 2016 Europe itineraries?? We haven't used Regent Air for a long time. Several years ago we deviated (without any up charge) and went on British Air and another time Swiss Air.

We're on the Explorer Maiden voyage so starting to think ahead about going into Nice and out of Venice and prefer to use Regent's air. We will deviate. Thanks for any input. :)

Hi Marcie! We deviated for both of our upcoming 2015 cruises and will be flying British Airways. Most of the other airlines have angle-flat seats in Business Class. We prefer the seats on BA. While there is no way to tell if Regent will be contracted with BA in 2016, unless something major happens, they probably will be! I'm sure you will love the maiden voyage of the Explorer as well as the WC.

Jackie

Thanks Jackie !! BA sounds like the likely way to go.

We have close friends in Switzerland so when we deviated on Swiss Air, we purposely chose a flight with a forced overnight so we could spend a night with our friends. Our final destination was So. Africa so it really helped break up the trip as well.

Below are the latest deviation guidelines.

Air Deviation Arrangements

If you would like to customize your air arrangements, go in early or stay over after the cruise or select specific routes or carriers RSSC will accept Air Deviation requests no earlier than 270-days prior to departure. The air deviation fee is a non-refundable fee of $175 per person, payable at the time of booking. You can make multiple deviation requests at the same time for the same $175 per person. For instance arrive early and stay late, or request a specific airline. Any additional requested change at a later date will incur an additional $175 per person charge. Air schedules may not be changed within 60-days of departure.

Platinum tier level guests receive one air deviation fee free per person on each cruise booking. Any additional deviation requests for a Platinum guest are charged at the normal rate of $175 per person.

Air Deviation Arrangements

You may pay the $175 per person, non-refundable custom/deviation fee and then later the airline cancels your requested itinerary. RSSC will re-route you the best they can; however you will not be refunded the fee. In certain cases, not all, you may also have to pay $175 per person again to confirm new requested itinerary. The $175 per person is a “service” fee for working your file as the cruise line did not cancel your flight, the airlines did. If you are traveling with family members or friends (not in your same cabin) and want to be confirmed on the same air schedule, there will be a $175 per person Air Deviation fee as well as any applicable fare differentials.

Air Availability and Additional Charges for Certain Flights

As the air fares that RSSC negotiates with most major airlines however availability for certain classes of services are limited. Not all airlines will be available and some airlines will require an up-charge if a guest wishes a particular flight. Secondary air gateways also require an up-charge as listed on the RSSC website.

Availability of Flights and Code of Service Issues

The cruise line may say they are sold out on a flight. You look at the plane on the web it is wide open. It makes no sense to you at all. This is because the cruise line is sold out “on the code of service” The cruise line contracts have a certain number of seats at a certain fare or code of service, once they sell out and go to a different code of service the cruise line is charged more for that seat. They in turn charge you that additional fee if you specifically request that flight.

Additional Fees on RSSC Assigned Air

The Code of Service and up-charges for certain airlines or flights are NOT assessed IF the cruise line assigns the air. RSSC contracted to get you air for a certain price and must get you to your destination. If the only flights available have additional charges they just have to pay that additional cost, they have no choice.

Should you pay for the custom itinerary or just wait for an air assignment?

Neither solution is perfect. We used to advise to pay the $175 and get locked in with your preferred air itinerary; however we now more often advise to wait and see what air itinerary RSSC issues to you. Here are the pros and cons of each, and as you can see it is a complicated decision and one that you must make for yourself.

•Paying for the deviation/custom air: Aside from the additional $175 per person fee, it can be a problem for two reasons; (1) there are many more cancelled flights than in previous years, and due to this fact it seems that many of our clients with “custom” air end up getting changed anyway; and (2) you may pay additional charges for specific airlines or code of service fees that might have been assigned for no extra charge by the cruise line anyway.

•You wait for RSSC to assign the air at approximately 75-days and you risk a bad itinerary with multiple connections. Alternatively, you may get a perfect itinerary as nothing else was available and the cruise line absorbs the additional fees and charges. Prior to 60-days of your departure, you can request custom air at that time if you do not like the itinerary.

Economy and Business Class Seats

Economy Class tickets purchased through RSSC are not upgradable with miles to Business Class. When you buy a Business Class upgrade from RSSC, they only guarantee the International flight (overwater portion of your itinerary) in Business Class. The Domestic portion of your itinerary will be in Economy Class, unless otherwise noted. The only variance is if you have the SAME carrier all the way then the domestic part will be in domestic first class. For example, you fly United Airlines from your gateway city and United Airlines to Hong Kong and then all will be upgraded. However, if for example, you fly Delta from your gateway city to New York (Economy) and then British Air to London (Business).

Sailed on Regent from Istanbul and we got air deviation from Miami to London then Istanbul and only paid the $175

Petlover-

did you find out anymore about your Regent Explorer flights? We don't leave until 9/24 -Venice to Monte Carlo/Nice airport and have been looking up air possibilities. There's a wonderful Delta non-stop, but it leaves Nice airport at 11:30---and Regent doesn't allow flights before 12:30PM. Amazing how many airlines have flights leaving before then! Lufthansa is out because they only have 45 minutes between flights from Frankfurt and on to JFK. British Air has 9:44 PM flight, but arrives in Venice at 9:45 Pm the night before the trip and by the time you get to the Marriott, it gets quite late. Am really looking forward to our cruise, but am fearful that waiting 75 days before the date, the "good" flights will be pretty well booked. Might go with KLM as we've used them twice before and had good experiences, plus we can add those cute blue and white Delft houses to our collections.

If anyone else can jump in and add clarity to our travels, we'd appreciate it!! Will the airlines be adding more flights between now and then?

Petlover-

did you find out anymore about your Regent Explorer flights? We don't leave until 9/24 -Venice to Monte Carlo/Nice airport and have been looking up air possibilities. There's a wonderful Delta non-stop, but it leaves Nice airport at 11:30---and Regent doesn't allow flights before 12:30PM. Amazing how many airlines have flights leaving before then! Lufthansa is out because they only have 45 minutes between flights from Frankfurt and on to JFK. British Air has 9:44 PM flight, but arrives in Venice at 9:45 Pm the night before the trip and by the time you get to the Marriott, it gets quite late. Am really looking forward to our cruise, but am fearful that waiting 75 days before the date, the "good" flights will be pretty well booked. Might go with KLM as we've used them twice before and had good experiences, plus we can add those cute blue and white Delft houses to our collections.

If anyone else can jump in and add clarity to our travels, we'd appreciate it!! Will the airlines be adding more flights between now and then?

Highly recommend you deviate NOW and not wait around. Extremely unlikely flights will be added especially long haul flights to or from Europe. Flights for you dates have been available for 8 months and if you don't like the Regent flights once you get them in August, highly unlikely you will get any reasonable flights or pricing at that late date. Most experienced people recommend booking yourself as soon as flights are available normally 330 days out or deviating when Regent allows at the 270 day mark. You can expect to arrive in Venice late the day before you departure with no time to overcome jet lag and for your return home most probably be on a European connection from Nice with possibly another connection in the US getting home late the last day. Much better to bite the bullet now and take the deviation than wait until the 75 day mark and be unhappy with the included flights and too late to do much better without extra costs for deviations. ALWAYS better to arrive a day or two early to visit the port and get rid of some of the jetlag!!!! Best of luck,

Thanks, Dave. That's what I was thinking, but my other half didn't want to select flights earlier!! Guess I will get right to it!! I wasn't happy with the extra $1000 + deviation fee for the KLM flight, but it's not easy to get flights back from Nice after 12:30 PM.First time we've had a problem like this in all our travels.

Hi Pat,

We are flying from LAX to London to Nice on AA/BA on our outbound and BA from Venice to LHR to LAX on our return on the Explorer Maiden Voyage. We're very lucky because we don't have to pay the deviation fee. I requested it early and got exactly the flights I chose.

Good luck to you.

Marcie, you are so lucky you didn't have to pay the deviation!! Perhaps it was special for the Explorer Maiden Voyage?? Just got our flights from Regent-Delta JFK to Venice non-stop and then BA Nice-LHX to JFK (bet the plane will be full of Regent passengers). But not only do we have to pay deviation fee, we also have to pay over $1000 extra. Glad to have a non-stop to Venice, but we rarely can sleep on those flights. Anyway, glad the excursions are booked, flight is booked , dining to be booked in June, and oh yes, we do have to pay in April!! Can't wait to hear how your Maiden Voyage goes!!! Sounds wonderful!!

pat

Schub229…what is the extra $1,000 for? Are you flying Business Class..you should have

flat beds so you can sleep on the flight from JFK to Venice. I've taken that flight.

Business class is included in Penthouse C, but unless you use their air provisions that you get about 75 days before departure, you have to pay the deviation fee, and because we wanted a non stop flight to Venice, they charge us over $1000 extra. We decided it was worth it not to have change planes going over as we're notoriously bad sleepers on flights. Hoping you're right about the flat beds and sleeping, Mr. Stanley.

I have booked my air from Atl to Rome through Regent for the Nov 16 Explorer crossing.

I paid the 175.00 pp deviation fee to secure the direct flight.

I was told business class was unavailable through Regent.

Here is my question....

Will it still be an option to obtain business class through the airline at a later date since it seems wide open in business class through Delta. Flight 240. Right now that flight is pricing out very high, so I would prefer to wait.

I know I would lose my 175.00 deviation fee, but is there anything else I should know???

Thank you all

I have booked my air from Atl to Rome through Regent for the Nov 16 Explorer crossing.

 

I paid the 175.00 pp deviation fee to secure the direct flight.

 

I was told business class was unavailable through Regent.

 

Here is my question....

Will it still be an option to obtain business class through the airline at a later date since it seems wide open in business class through Delta. Flight 240. Right now that flight is pricing out very high, so I would prefer to wait.

 

I know I would lose my 175.00 deviation fee, but is there anything else I should know???

 

Thank you all

Interesting question! As mentioned in my long post above, Regent has a limited number of "contracted" seats on each of their contracted flights. Since Regent has only been booking flights for this cruise since last month, it is possible that they did not have any contracted seats on this flight.

Really wish that you had asked this question before booking the flight because if you make any changes, you'll have to pay another deviation fee.:o While this may not help for the November cruise, in the future you should let your TA know what flights you are interested in (I generally give them two to three flights that we like) and let the TA work with Regent to see if there are seats available or will offer alternatives to the flights that you are looking at.

Wish I could have been of more assistance.