Sorry - Another question about deviation fee

My relatives in Toronto tell me they hardly have any snow in the winter any more.

That said, I can see that driving to Buffalo in February can be treacherous and unpredictable.

What part of TO I will move there LOL

I remember climbing over snow banks to get on the streetcar to go to work

We have been out of the city for 30+ yrs but I cannot see them not getting much snow ;)

Yes we did the drive twice a month yr round when the kiddies were small & you never know what the drive would be

There is basically one road that leads to N.F. so if there is an accident you are stuck ;)

We are cruising out of Barcelona next week. We fly out of Toronto. We got our air schedule from Oceania and it called for us to fly from Toronto to JFK, then a 5 hour layover and then on to Barcelona. The 5 hour layover and the thought of going through US customs needlessly didn't really appeal to us.

I called Oceania Air and asked about an Air Canada direct flight from Toronto to Barcelona. We were told it would cost an extra $375 (USD) per person. I am assuming that it was the $175 deviation plus a flight cost difference of $200. We checked the flight using Expedia and it would cost $750 (Cdn, about $570 USD) pp for the direct flight. Our TA called and we got a credit of $900 (USD) pp for not using their air. So instead of paying $1275 (USD) pp to get the direct flight we booked on our own and paid about $570 (USD) pp. We used the extra money to go a couple of days early to Barcelona on a direct flight and have the hotel paid for.

We are cruising out of Barcelona next week. We fly out of Toronto. We got our air schedule from Oceania and it called for us to fly from Toronto to JFK, then a 5 hour layover and then on to Barcelona. The 5 hour layover and the thought of going through US customs needlessly didn't really appeal to us.

 

I called Oceania Air and asked about an Air Canada direct flight from Toronto to Barcelona. We were told it would cost an extra $375 (USD) per person. I am assuming that it was the $175 deviation plus a flight cost difference of $200. We checked the flight using Expedia and it would cost $750 (Cdn, about $570 USD) pp for the direct flight. Our TA called and we got a credit of $900 (USD) pp for not using their air. So instead of paying $1275 (USD) pp to get the direct flight we booked on our own and paid about $570 (USD) pp. We used the extra money to go a couple of days early to Barcelona on a direct flight and have the hotel paid for.

Interesting that you could opt for the money (air credit) so late in the game. Thanks for sharing.

We are cruising out of Barcelona next week. We fly out of Toronto. We got our air schedule from Oceania and it called for us to fly from Toronto to JFK, then a 5 hour layover and then on to Barcelona. The 5 hour layover and the thought of going through US customs needlessly didn't really appeal to us.

 

Did you book late ?

If you had asked for the flights at the 270 day mark or soon after you may not have had to pay the upcharge

I am also surprised you got a substantial air credit at that point in the process

It is always good to compare options before you decide whether to use O air or not

We are about to pull the trigger on a September 8th booking Barcelona to Barcelona and wanted to jump onto this thread with a couple of questions.

Currently planning on taking the Oceania air option, not the credit, and upgrading to premium economy. We will most likely fly from Chicago O'Hare but can travel to St. Louis or another departure city if needed (we are two hours from Chicago).

I ran some dummy bookings for July 2017 just to see what premium economy was available, looks like Air Canada and Lufthansa.

Certainly understand no one will have a definitive answer but do you think they will book a true premium economy seat, rather than a seat on American which is not true premium economy?

If I have read the prior threads correctly, you cannot book until 270 days out and we "might" be able to book a flight without deviation fee for a flight arriving a day prior to the sailing. Correct?

No to your last question unless yo purchase a high priced hotel room from O.

As to the airline cannot be sure which airline they will book and it could be less than real PE

As to the 270 day out booking that is for booking a deviation. If you don't deviate you won't find out what they have booked for you until about 75 days prior to departure

As to flying out of St. Louis isn't an air gateway so extra cost for using St. Louis plus no foreign airline true PE FLIGHTS FROM THERE. closest air gateway other than Chicago is New York.

Hope this helps

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No to your last question unless yo purchase a high priced hotel room from O.

 

As to the airline cannot be sure which airline they will book and it could be less than real PE

 

As to the 270 day out booking that is for booking a deviation. If you don't deviate you won't find out what they have booked for you until about 75 days prior to departure

 

As to flying out of St. Louis isn't an air gateway so extra cost for using St. Louis plus no foreign airline true PE FLIGHTS FROM THERE. closest air gateway other than Chicago is New York.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

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It helps, thanks. Guess I will be paying the deviation fee just to make sure. Again, thanks!

Not certain about posting this here..... I have similar concern about Oceania flight from Toronto to Miami. New to Oceania and to the flight arrangement. Currently planning to take the flight and forgo the arriving one day ahead (would be nice but deviation$$ held us back). How likely it would be non-stop/1 stop? How would cruise line look after us if anything (delay,etc) happens? are we on our own as if we booked ourselves?

Apologies if this is not relevant to the OP's comment....

Not certain about posting this here..... I have similar concern about Oceania flight from Toronto to Miami. New to Oceania and to the flight arrangement. Currently planning to take the flight and forgo the arriving one day ahead (would be nice but deviation$$ held us back). How likely it would be non-stop/1 stop? How would cruise line look after us if anything (delay,etc) happens? are we on our own as if we booked ourselves?

 

Apologies if this is not relevant to the OP's comment....

It might or might not be non-stop and could involve plane changes, no way to be sure but, for sure cost of the flights is a consideration for the cruise line and non-stop would be the most expensive. As to taking care of you if there are delays, at times O will help you should problems arise but, depending on the day of the week or time of your flights, office might be closed and difficult to contact anyone. That said, the Terms and Conditions are clear that the cruise line is not under any obligation to take care of or pay for arrival at the embarkation port issues. In the past there have been examples of help but, no guarantee and there are times where even with someone helping, getting to the embarkation port becomes impossible on time and with you leaving from Miami, and not knowing your itinerary, the Jones Act could impact embarkation at another port. IMHO, the $175 pp deviation fee plus a hotel nite is good insurance and fairly reasonable for making your cruise and Toronto, expecially in the winter is known for delays. Good luck

Not certain about posting this here..... I have similar concern about Oceania flight from Toronto to Miami. New to Oceania and to the flight arrangement. Currently planning to take the flight and forgo the arriving one day ahead (would be nice but deviation$$ held us back). How likely it would be non-stop/1 stop? How would cruise line look after us if anything (delay,etc) happens? are we on our own as if we booked ourselves?

 

Apologies if this is not relevant to the OP's comment....

I would check the cost of flight to DIY & consider flying in a day early especially in the winter months or make sure you have insurance that will cover you if you miss the ship

We pay the deviation fee & fly in early but that is because I do not like the stress of arriving the day of the cruise & if it snows we have some wiggle room to get another flight ...I ask for the non stop flights I want ..it is worth the Deviation fee for me

YMMV

xmarksx;

Oceania occasionally runs special $99 Premium Economy fares for selected cruises. First question is , did they do that for your cruise?

If so, you will get true PE, at that $99 price, not just an upgraded faux PE seat offered by US carriers. If no such seats are available, due to late booking, then you are not charged the $99 and will get economy. One can then go in and maybe upgrade to a faux PE seat if any are available on their own, on some airlines, not all.

If the special is offered, read the fine print, because sometimes it's always one way, and sometimes does not apply to the return portion of the trip, only the outbound.

If the special is not offered, then one will have to pay a deviation fee to fly true PE, and the price offered by Oceania may or may not be considerably higher than offered by the airlines directly.

Here is a fact and typical scenario. If one pays the deviation fee, and books their flight as early as possible, they have a larger selection of seats to choose from. Take Air Canada for example. Their planes only have three rows of 2-3-2Premium Economy seats, a very limited supply, and those seats often sell out fairly rapidly. One would be a lucky person, if one is still available at the 75 day out period when Oceania finalizes it seating plan. This is especially true for non stop flights! Therefore, on to the next carrier, that O contracts with, that still has open PE seating. Chances are that flight will not be a non stop. Plus, only the over the water portion is PE, so if one is connecting in Frankfurt, Zurich, or London, the next leg is economy wherever on the plane they can get you a seat. We have some very short petite cruisers here where fitting into any seat is not a problem, therefore seat selection is not important. I'm 6'2" and don't wedge well, especially as I grow older!. Therefore, paying the deviation fee to ensure I get a seat I like, is always well worth the that costs. Often times, I find savings, and good seats, by DIY. All of those are personal issues that affect different cruisers different ways and there is certainly no "one size fits all" answer.

xmarksx;

 

Oceania occasionally runs special $99 Premium Economy fares for selected cruises. First question is , did they do that for your cruise?

 

They did offer and we purchased the upgrades (yep, we pulled the trigger)

 

If so, you will get true PE, at that $99 price, not just an upgraded faux PE seat offered by US carriers. If no such seats are available, due to late booking, then you are not charged the $99 and will get economy. One can then go in and maybe upgrade to a faux PE seat if any are available on their own, on some airlines, not all.

 

If the special is offered, read the fine print, because sometimes it's always one way, and sometimes does not apply to the return portion of the trip, only the outbound.

 

Thank you, our TA warned of this also and it is $99 each way and both ways offered, we purchased both

 

If the special is not offered, then one will have to pay a deviation fee to fly true PE, and the price offered by Oceania may or may not be considerably higher than offered by the airlines directly.

 

I am almost sure we will have to pay the deviation, going to stay a night in Barcelona. I am assuming we will get Air Canada PE or Lufthansa and just hope we can avoid the higher fare cost by employing your strategy below. I previously checked Guru and noted the 2-3-2, could not agree more! We recognize we will most likely have a layover in Toronto or Frankfurt but any other layover outside the US would be a new experience and fine with us.

 

Here is a fact and typical scenario. If one pays the deviation fee, and books their flight as early as possible, they have a larger selection of seats to choose from. Take Air Canada for example. Their planes only have three rows of 2-3-2Premium Economy seats, a very limited supply, and those seats often sell out fairly rapidly. One would be a lucky person, if one is still available at the 75 day out period when Oceania finalizes it seating plan. This is especially true for non stop flights! Therefore, on to the next carrier, that O contracts with, that still has open PE seating. Chances are that flight will not be a non stop. Plus, only the over the water portion is PE, so if one is connecting in Frankfurt, Zurich, or London, the next leg is economy wherever on the plane they can get you a seat. We have some very short petite cruisers here where fitting into any seat is not a problem, therefore seat selection is not important. I'm 6'2" and don't wedge well, especially as I grow older!. Therefore, paying the deviation fee to ensure I get a seat I like, is always well worth the that costs. Often times, I find savings, and good seats, by DIY. All of those are personal issues that affect different cruisers different ways and there is certainly no "one size fits all" answer.

Pinot, thank you and my thanks to everyone else who previously posted about Oceania Air, beverage packages, OBC and other details that I learned from. Jim and Stan, we decided on the deck 12 concierge

XMARKSX

If you are going in early & paying the deviation fee

Just noticed you are on a Sept cruise so come mid Jan ask what flights you will be getting ...then if not what you want ask for the flights you want that have the PE offer

Do not wait until late in the game incase you are not happy with the routing

also check what the airlines will charge if you book direct then compare

watch for the seat sales sometimes A/C offer non refundable bus class fares @ a good price

LHT, will do. However, I thought I could not book until 270 out. If I am wrong I will scour the air options right now and have my TA check tomorrow.

LHT, will do. However, I thought I could not book until 270 out. If I am wrong I will scour the air options right now and have my TA check tomorrow.

That is correct I edited my post as you are not sailing until Sept

That is correct I edited my post as you are not sailing until Sept

Perfect, thanks!

xmark;

Just as a backup to Lyn's comment on watching Air Canada sales.

On our cruise for next summer, to utilize O's air, I was required to pay $99 each way ($198) surcharge for going out of Nashville, plus the $175 for a deviation fee. Additionally, we had signed up for the $99 PE special both ways ($198). So we were paying O $571 extra for flying in a day early and PE for over the pond. Air Canada had a very good sale in August which we jumped on. For $100 additionally, we are getting BNA-CPH in Business Class (the entire trip not just over the pond) and PE from LHR to BNA, both via Toronto on our own. We got the seats we wanted at a little over 310 days out, and are still not to the 270 days out where O would even talk to us. Having just recently checked both flights, PE is almost entirely sold out for each flight, and the only PE seats available are one of the middle 3s, with all the side cabin 2s gone. It will be interesting to see how many are gone before O's 270 day period is reached.

The sale pricing was available to us via UAL, however all the planes are Air Canada and only code shared with UAL. By using by Air Canada direct, I could pick my seats, whereas by using UAL, I couldn't. I will still get point credit on UAL.

xmark;

 

Just as a backup to Lyn's comment on watching Air Canada sales.

 

On our cruise for next summer, to utilize O's air, I was required to pay $99 each way ($198) surcharge for going out of Nashville, plus the $175 for a deviation fee. Additionally, we had signed up for the $99 PE special both ways ($198). So we were paying O $571 extra for flying in a day early and PE for over the pond. Air Canada had a very good sale in August which we jumped on. For $100 additionally, we are getting BNA-CPH in Business Class (the entire trip not just over the pond) and PE from LHR to BNA, both via Toronto on our own. We got the seats we wanted at a little over 310 days out, and are still not to the 270 days out where O would even talk to us. Having just recently checked both flights, PE is almost entirely sold out for each flight, and the only PE seats available are one of the middle 3s, with all the side cabin 2s gone. It will be interesting to see how many are gone before O's 270 day period is reached.

 

The sale pricing was available to us via UAL, however all the planes are Air Canada and only code shared with UAL. By using by Air Canada direct, I could pick my seats, whereas by using UAL, I couldn't. I will still get point credit on UAL.

I searched yesterday after reading this and will put our itinerary on Kayak to track reductions. Thanks for the advice.

Pinotlover gives brilliant advice for a particular situation, but the larger picture is that every passenger should price their cruise both with and without Oceania Air first, and then decide which option works best.

We too have encountered situations where the Oceania option was ludicrously expensive, but there are also times when the difference in price is nonexistent, and on two occasions we literally saved more than 2k per person.

It might or might not be non-stop and could involve plane changes, no way to be sure but, for sure cost of the flights is a consideration for the cruise line and non-stop would be the most expensive. As to taking care of you if there are delays, at times O will help you should problems arise but, depending on the day of the week or time of your flights, office might be closed and difficult to contact anyone. That said, the Terms and Conditions are clear that the cruise line is not under any obligation to take care of or pay for arrival at the embarkation port issues. In the past there have been examples of help but, no guarantee and there are times where even with someone helping, getting to the embarkation port becomes impossible on time and with you leaving from Miami, and not knowing your itinerary, the Jones Act could impact embarkation at another port. IMHO, the $175 pp deviation fee plus a hotel nite is good insurance and fairly reasonable for making your cruise and Toronto, expecially in the winter is known for delays. Good luck

Thanks for your and LHT's advice. Happy Thanksgiving!