Seat allocation on flights booked through Az in UK

We will be flying to Athens on Thursday on flights booked through Azamara. We know the flight numbers and even our ticket numbers (with BA) but are unable to get any information regarding seat allocations. BA will not speak with us since it's a group booking and, more frustratingly, Azamara cannot give us any information. All I wanted to know is whether our seats have been pre-allocated and therefore I will be sitting with my other half. The advice from the person I spoke with was to turn up early to guarantee we would be seated together - this is an early morning flight anyway so any extra minutes in bed would have been appreciated.

I find it really frustraing to have no control over my flights anyway but particularly annoying that they can't even confirm whether we will sit together. Even if it is a group booking, surely Azamara would pay attention to those who are booked together.

Can anyone who has recently travelled from the UK and booked their flights with Azamara confirm what their experience was. Thank you

Our flights are part of the package with Azamara. We fly out of Edinburgh on Wednesday.

In our cruise planner I found the flight reference number with British Airways which allows me to "Manage Your Booking" I can check in online tomorrow and select seats.

In fact, because it would be more difficult to online check in for the return flight, I have already paid £15 each to select our return seats (to Heathrow )

That is one reason why we NEVER book with BA with group tickets. My partner takes his choir on tours and it had been extremely frustrating with BA as they WILL NOT do any form of advance seating for group tickets. We could not get seats assigned until we got to the airport they day we left. We will NEVR fly on BA again, especially if it is with any form of a group ticket. Best of luck

Depends how they book the flights, often we have been able to access the flights through our BA account as they have been booked in our name. However on our recent Equinox cruise (booked by the same department) it was a block booking and all of the seating was sorted by either Royal Caribbean Flights or BA we don't know which, there was a total of 36 passengers on the the booking. There was no way we could access the booking or check in online, at Heathrow we were told seating was pre allocated and could not be changed, fortunately we were seated together but there were a number of others who were not so lucky. Maybe your best bet is to talk to Royal Caribbean flight department and see if they know any more.

Our flights are part of the package with Azamara. We fly out of Edinburgh on Wednesday.

 

In our cruise planner I found the flight reference number with British Airways which allows me to "Manage Your Booking" I can check in online tomorrow and select seats.

 

In fact, because it would be more difficult to online check in for the return flight, I have already paid £15 each to select our return seats (to Heathrow )

Thanks for that. On which page did you find that? I can't find such a link on my cruise planner.

Maybe your best bet is to talk to Royal Caribbean flight department and see if they know any more.

Have tried speaking with Azamara and with BA and no luck. We would never normally consider doing this but the package with flights included was so good. Interestingly enough we had the same scenario with Royal Caribbean only last month and had no problem.

Not a good start to our experience with booking a flights included trip with Azamara :(

Thanks for that. On which page did you find that? I can't find such a link on my cruise planner.

I go to Azamara online check in, select E-DOCS.

on page 6, it says 'Air Arrangements'

About halfway down, under flight timings, there is a box which says 'FLIGHT BOOKING REFERENCE '

I go to Azamara online check in, select E-DOCS.

 

on page 6, it says 'Air Arrangements'

 

About halfway down, under flight timings, there is a box which says 'FLIGHT BOOKING REFERENCE '

Thanks for that. we have nothing like that on page 6. We have our flight details and even our ticket numbers but nothing to enable us to manage them.

I can only assume this is because we have our booking with a TA and are not in control. He has had 3 attempts to book our seat allocations only to be told each time (well twice, he gave up after hanging on for 30 minutes on one occasion) that it's a group booking so has to be done at the airport.

Very frustrating and very inefficient in my opinion :rolleyes:

Thanks for that. we have nothing like that on page 6. We have our flight details and even our ticket numbers but nothing to enable us to manage them.

 

I can only assume this is because we have our booking with a TA and are not in control. He has had 3 attempts to book our seat allocations only to be told each time (well twice, he gave up after hanging on for 30 minutes on one occasion) that it's a group booking so has to be done at the airport.

 

Very frustrating and very inefficient in my opinion :rolleyes:

I guess because we are flying Edinburgh/Heathrow/Athens (and there will be less people coming from Scotland ) we are an individual booking and not a group booking.

I hope it all works out for you!

I guess because we are flying Edinburgh/Heathrow/Athens (and there will be less people coming from Scotland ) we are an individual booking and not a group booking.

 

I hope it all works out for you!

Thanks Scottie. At the end of the day we'll be on a gorgeous ship, in the sunshine in just a few days time :cool:

Have tried speaking with Azamara and with BA and no luck. We would never normally consider doing this but the package with flights included was so good. Interestingly enough we had the same scenario with Royal Caribbean only last month and had no problem.

 

 

 

Not a good start to our experience with booking a flights included trip with Azamara :(

I think the problem is data protection, they will have booked a group of passengers on the same booking reference if they allowed you access you would be able to see everyone on that reference and their details. We have encountered this on other non cruise holidays, it's just a way of keeping costs down.

We do prefer to do our own flights and transfers these days it takes a bit more effort but to date it has worked OK. That said we are still suckers for free and very cheap flight offers but this is how the cruise lines achieve it.

Usually 24 hours before hand all bookings are handed over to the airline and are free from the constraints of who holds the booking so maybe you can sort the seats out on Wednesday morning

Usually 24 hours before hand all bookings are handed over to the airline and are free from the constraints of who holds the booking so maybe you can sort the seats out on Wednesday morning

I was expecting that on our Equinox flights but it did not happen, check in at Heathrow told us it was a block booking and nothing could be altered or accessed, only thing I managed to do was add our Frequent Flyer numbers but only via the iPod App.

In my view, you not been able to view your assigned seats is not the fault of Azamara nor being associated with any group fare. My wife and I are flying business class to Europe on BA in September and will not be able to get assigned seats for the over the water segment until 24 hours before takeoff. We can get around this rule if we are willing to pay $113 per person for the privilege of securing an assigned seat now. I, too, find this an outrageous policy by BA especially considering the price of business class. We booked the air on our own so Azamara was not involved at all. In short, blame BA.

In my view, you not been able to view your assigned seats is not the fault of Azamara nor being associated with any group fare. My wife and I are flying business class to Europe on BA in September and will not be able to get assigned seats for the over the water segment until 24 hours before takeoff. We can get around this rule if we are willing to pay $113 per person for the privilege of securing an assigned seat now. I, too, find this an outrageous policy by BA especially considering the price of business class. We booked the air on our own so Azamara was not involved at all. In short, blame BA.

No, this isn't a BA problem. It's Azamara block booking seats to get a cheaper deal from the airline. I'm aware of the situation you describe and it is not the same thing. I have a flight locator number and when entered on the BA website can add it to my flights, but as soon as I go in to manage my booking an error comes up to say it's a large group and can't be managed online..

Phil

I think the situations you both describe are correct. Group booking restrict access as does ba policy of not being able to book seats prior to 24 hours beforehand without a fee.

We fly with Azamara and BA next Wednesday.

We were issued a record locator number the moment our TA requested it. Therefore we know we are not in a group. This surprised us as we are shuttling from Manchester to Heathrow.

BA only allow seat selection 24 hours before departure unless you are a member of their frequent flyer program, you may then select your seat 7 days before hand.

The exception to this rule is anyone with a disability. In this case if you ring BA they will assist you without charge. Even if you have made a group booking with RCCI BA will assist about 20-14 days before you fly. This depends on when the names of the group booking are given to the airline by the cruise company.

I must say when we have flown with Celebrity and paid for extra legroom, cabin upgrades etc the flight department have been slow but have helped in the end. We have always had a TA do this for us.

This time we have been watching the seat availability and most are still available on the shuttle to Heathrow and the flight to Istanbul. We are fortunate enough to be able to select tomorrow. We will pay for the return journey seats. We have no choice as we will be at sea and connecting to the internet will be fiffy.

We choose not to upgrade to Business class as on both airplanes the seat pitch is the same.

We would arrive as early as possible for the flight if we were without seat allocation but we are usually a group of 4, two should have no problem hopefully you will manage to get seats together.

We fly out tomorrow from Edinburgh with flights via Amsterdam which were arranged by Azamara. Had not problems booking seats a few weeks ago. Then again, it's KLM not BA.

I prefer to book my own flights for exactly this reason. I allowed a TA to book BA flights for me and the only way I could amend the booking was via the TA even though the booking was showing on my BA account.

If the deal was so good it's worth just accepting the situation.

In the past Bill Leiber [2012/13] arranged for Azamara to split the group bookings with British Airways 30 days before the flight and give everyone an individual group allocator. Is this no longer the case - perhaps Bonnie can advise?

In the past Bill Leiber [2012/13] arranged for Azamara to split the group bookings with British Airways 30 days before the flight and give everyone an individual group allocator. Is this no longer the case - perhaps Bonnie can advise?

I found that thread and know you posted to it. Bill at the time had issues after putting the word out of this new enhanced service and was advised by posters here that it wasn't. It seems to have slipped again or is no longer something that is actively offered. In this particular case I have been able to short cut the system and being BA Silver status was able to speak to an extremely helpful lady in the BA group bookings department who allocated four seats for me. It wasn't straightforward and she said it wasn't something that could normally be done, but by explaining the issues I was having she took pity and solved it.

This is the first time I've had flight issues like this, but I have read stories here from people it has happened to. This was a somewhat late booking and with flights included represented a fair deal, but still a lot of money to have such a hassle. Azamara need to look at this as it lets down the product.

Phil

I am not a travel agent but did book for 12 people today on BA flights from Heathrow to Rome, I asked about seat allocations for our group booking and was told that they would be in a block as near as possible to each other, but we would not have any control of what actual seats were booked, even 24 hours before.

We also flew as a family of 11 with Royal Caribbean in May and again our seats were booked for us but we were all seated in two rows across the plane, we were happy with allocations and we just swapped seats on the plane to suit.

We had a similar situation a few months ago with BA flights booked as part of an Azamara block booking. We could not reserve seats even 24 hours before, We had to wait until check-in.

Just for reference this is the post back on 6th September 2013 by the then Azamara Chief Blogging Officer Bill Leiber that berkshireboy referred to above. I think Azamara need to revisit this. Bonnie if you look in here again perhaps you can take it forward. Having this situation with flights Azamara has arranged cheapens the product.

Hello to all the UK Cruise Critic Azamara followers:

 

I'm pleased to share with you the good news from the UK's Air Planning group about their success in adding flexibility for guests booked on "blocked British Airways flight allocations" from Heathrow so that you can pre-book your seats 30 days prior to departure as well as to check-in online.

 

The very dedicated and astute Air Planning team reviewed their internal system and developed a manual procedure that will enable them to maintain the benefits of inventory allocation while offering you the opportunity to "self-service" your air reservations more efficiently and effectively at 30 days prior to departure rather than the current 4 days - that's 7.5 times sooner!

 

Here's how the new process will work:

§ The ticketing team will split all guests from the allocation booking at the time that the tickets are issued, which is usually around 30 days prior to departure.

§ They will then update the guest's booking with the new flight reference which will in turn print out on their documents.

§ In turn, guests will then use this reference code when they go into the BA website to pre-book their seats. There will be an additional charge of £10 per person for each flight segment and note that Exit Row seats or Bulkhead seats may incur a higher charge.

§ Also, this reference code is required for online check-in.

 

If guests don't wish to pay for their seats then they can select a seat free of charge when the online check-in opens which is 24 hours prior to departure. Alternatively, guests may contact the UK office so that they can pre-book seats; however, this can be done only 4 days or less to departure but there is no additional cost to pay. (This is the original process that is currently in place.)

 

It might also be worth noting that British Airways points out that any seat request is not guaranteed and may need to be changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after the guests have boarded the aircraft. In the event that the airline needs to change the guest's seat, they will endeavour to seat them in a suitable alternative. The below link to the BA website provides more information with regards to the pre-booking of seats - http://www.britishairways.com/travel/choose-your-seat/public/en_gb

 

Program Implementation:

§ The flight records for guests who have been ticketed but have not yet traveled and are booked onto the allocation flights in conjunction with the following voyages, their booking records are currently in the process of being split from the allocation and updated so that these guests will have the option to pre-book their seats:

o September 12 - Journey

o September 15 - Quest

o September 23 - Journey

o September 25 - Quest

§ For anyone booked on or after the October 4th Journey and the October 6th Quest, the new process will apply.

 

These process changes made by our Air Planning team, in response to your requests, has endowed our 'blocked booking' guests to become the 'norm' by having their own individual booking references and then to secure their seat assignments in the exact same manner that BA passengers use.

 

As with any new procedure, there will probably be the need to make adjustments and/or modify the process so it's important for you to direct your specific issues to the Azamara Air team. Also, please provide me with your feedback about the new system as the new programme takes hold.

 

I truly appreciate the outstanding cooperation demonstrated by the UK executive and management team in making this important improvement to the overall satisfaction level with doing business with the UK Azamara shoreside operation!

 

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

Phil

In my view, you not been able to view your assigned seats is not the fault of Azamara nor being associated with any group fare. My wife and I are flying business class to Europe on BA in September and will not be able to get assigned seats for the over the water segment until 24 hours before takeoff. We can get around this rule if we are willing to pay $113 per person for the privilege of securing an assigned seat now. I, too, find this an outrageous policy by BA especially considering the price of business class. We booked the air on our own so Azamara was not involved at all. In short, blame BA.

Strange, but our experience with BA here in the US has been very different.

We're just back from Quest's British Isles cruise where we booked BA flights from Boston to London and Edinburgh to Boston via London using ChoiceAir. Got World Traveler Plus seats for the trans-Atlantic flights, chose our specific seats on the BA web site, and were upgraded at the gate to business class for our London to Boston flight.

Also, we booked BA World Traveler Plus through ChoiceAir for our upcoming two Quest cruises from Nice to Athens to Dubai and chose specific seats on all flights at the time of booking on the BA web site.