Are flight itineraries stable using Silversea for flights & when can I pick seats?

I am in the process of booking flights using Silversea's business class deal ($499/leg from the US to the Mediterranean). The flight itinerary they made for us is ideal - I couldn't have picked a better set of flights myself. I did have to pay an extra $150 pp to use their flight "concierge" because we're flying in two days prior to embarkation, and flying out two days after debarkation. Silversea told me that they don't ticket these flights until 60 days prior to the cruise. As a backup, I've also used AA miles to book flights (which can be cancelled for a fee). Those flights cost a LOT of miles, though - 220,000, plus about $360 in fees, and there is a 6 hr and 45 minute layover in Madrid. Not ideal, which is why I looked into Silversea's deal.

Here are my questions:

1. I heard on one of the threads that there really is no "free" (or in my case, heavily discounted) airfare - there's always a catch. That made me wonder if the catch is that when they go to actually ticket the flights (just 2 months in advance), that the ones "reserved" now (6 months in advance) will be all gone, and a much less desirable itinerary will have to be chosen instead (like in a plane without lie-flat seats in business class, an essential element of the flight for both of us due to spine problems). Or, Silversea could just randomly change the flight itinerary for no reason - it states this in their Terms & Conditions. My question is whether an itinerary change (different flight times, routes or airlines) is likely to happen, in the experience of anyone who has used Silversea (or any other cruise line) for flights?

2. Second question: I wonder if the seat selection is also restricted to 60 days prior to the cruise (i.e., if that's when the ticket is issued, I'm guessing I can't pick seats until then, and of course, all the good ones will be gone). Anyone know how early I can pick seats after I give Silversea the go-ahead to "book" my flights (i.e., after I accept the itinerary they presented, which I have done).

I'm coming up on needing to make a decision about whether to give up my other flights (the ones that cost so many miles), so would love to hear input on this topic. Thank you in advance for your advice and experience!

p.s. I also posted this in a different forum (Cruise Air) - apologies for the duplication, but I wasn't sure if that one would be seen by Silverseas cruisers, so I also posted it here (and I hope that's not a no-no!).

Hopefully my answers are somewhat coherent.

1. I heard on one of the threads that there really is no "free" (or in my case, heavily discounted) airfare - there's always a catch. That made me wonder if the catch is that when they go to actually ticket the flights (just 2 months in advance), that the ones "reserved" now (6 months in advance) will be all gone, and a much less desirable itinerary will have to be chosen instead (like in a plane without lie-flat seats in business class, an essential element of the flight for both of us due to spine problems). Or, Silversea could just randomly change the flight itinerary for no reason - it states this in their Terms & Conditions. My question is whether an itinerary change (different flight times, routes or airlines) is likely to happen, in the experience of anyone who has used Silversea (or any other cruise line) for flights?

Taylor, I can only provide my experience and I will be a first time Silversea cruiser this summer, Spirit Med sailing from Venice. Did the upgrade and paid extra for the deviation. I checked flights from Chicago to Venice using the major carriers before booking with Silversea and noted those with the best lie-flat options combined with the better online reputations for business class. My agent provided a couple of options I was interested in, one using Lufthansa and the other British Air/American. Silversea explained they could accommodate my open-jaw trip (I am doing a two night in London) with no additional fees if I flew the British Air/American option. My other choice being Lufthansa staying in Germany for two nights pre-cruise but that would have cost us additional upcharges of several hundred per person. We chose London.

 

2. Second question: I wonder if the seat selection is also restricted to 60 days prior to the cruise (i.e., if that's when the ticket is issued, I'm guessing I can't pick seats until then, and of course, all the good ones will be gone). Anyone know how early I can pick seats after I give Silversea the go-ahead to "book" my flights (i.e., after I accept the itinerary they presented, which I have done).

We were able to obtain seat assignments for both the British Air and American flights in advance, and our sailing is in August. I seem to recall the window for booking opens at 270 days

I let Silversea book my flights for back-to-back cruises that leave March 31 from FLL to BCL. The itinerary SS suggested was good, and I selected my seats online with American. Just about every day I would sign in to American to see if better seats might have been released, even though the ones I had selected were quite good (a combination of coach, business, and first class were involved). A couple days ago, I signed in and noticed that every one of my seat selections had been changed on all 4 flight segments. American tried to tell me it was because there must have been a time change (there was none, I had an earlier printout and could prove it). Then they said the aircraft had changed (another lie). Of course, the seats left to select from are all undesirable ones. I really don't know why this happened and whether it could have possibly been because of something Silversea had done. Perhaps when the flights were ticketed, all my selections were wiped out. Just be forewarned and check in with the airlines as often as possible to make sure your selected seats don't get taken away.

SS booked my flights as well with BA which I was happy with but I could not select a seat as SS had not issued the tickets. So I called SS and asked if they would issue them and said they only do this 60 days before the sailing but could request them to be issued if I agreed they would be non refundable. So I did agree and then was able to book my seats the next day at a cost as most know BA do charge for seating requests but for me it is worth the piece of mind. This was about 5 months before the cruise.

SS booked my flights as well with BA which I was happy with but I could not select a seat as SS had not issued the tickets. So I called SS and asked if they would issue them and said they only do this 60 days before the sailing but could request them to be issued if I agreed they would be non refundable. So I did agree and then was able to book my seats the next day at a cost as most know BA do charge for seating requests but for me it is worth the piece of mind. This was about 5 months before the cruise.

This ^^^^^

They will allow you to allocate the ticket in your name and boot seats prior to 60 days - but only if you agree this flight is now yours and non changeable. I was offered this because I wanted to prebook an extra suitcase and be sure about it. I just let it run in the end and just as well as my flights are duel airline and you can't prebook! lol

SS booked my flights as well with BA which I was happy with but I could not select a seat as SS had not issued the tickets. So I called SS and asked if they would issue them and said they only do this 60 days before the sailing but could request them to be issued if I agreed they would be non refundable. So I did agree and then was able to book my seats the next day at a cost as most know BA do charge for seating requests but for me it is worth the piece of mind. This was about 5 months before the cruise.

Good to know about this option. But a funny thing happened yesterday when I did a routine checkin to make sure everything in my American reservations were still as they should be. Now, my originally assigned seats were again available; however, it cost me $29 to select them again!! Simply amazing, but it's less stressful just to pay the $29 than to argue with someone about it.

I contacted SS regarding flights from the UK. I asked then if I could specify dates (I want to visit relatives in the USA after the cruise) and I asked them if I could request specific routeing.

Their response was to say that they had forwarded my email onto my TA? No other assistance / advice / comment was offered.

Some weeks ago I asked them a question and the response was as above ....

It would be fair to say I am not impressed.

I contacted SS regarding flights from the UK. I asked then if I could specify dates (I want to visit relatives in the USA after the cruise) and I asked them if I could request specific routeing.

Their response was to say that they had forwarded my email onto my TA? No other assistance / advice / comment was offered.

 

Some weeks ago I asked them a question and the response was as above ....

 

It would be fair to say I am not impressed.

Unfortunately, my experience with Crystal has been about the same as yours (and mine) with Silversea. Even certain travel agents have a tough time communicating with Crystal because Crystal now wants all communication with them to be via email. A good agent, however, will know the right people to call directly and get an answer right away. And it seems as if the Silversea agents have to forward questions to someone in Italy, then wait for a response and "get back to you". In short, I don't know how to avoid the sometimes sketchy service from any of the luxury lines except to find a good agent if you can.

I contacted SS regarding flights from the UK. I asked then if I could specify dates (I want to visit relatives in the USA after the cruise) and I asked them if I could request specific routeing.

Their response was to say that they had forwarded my email onto my TA? No other assistance / advice / comment was offered.

 

Some weeks ago I asked them a question and the response was as above ....

 

It would be fair to say I am not impressed.

To be fair, if you are using a travel agent, isnt that what they are there to do?

I know when I have rang in with non booking related questions, you are always greated with the question "did you book through a travel agent". If you select yes, the response is they wont deal direct and you need to speak to your agent.

Regarding what a TA should do .... I mentioned on a similar thread that .... "my TA, who is normally very good (well I used them three times AND trusted them with my daughters honeymoon!) has come back to me and said they don't have an agreement / arrangement with either Air Lingus or Delta and have suggested that If I insist on flying with them then I may need to make my own independent arrangements!!!"

Hence at that time I started to make contingency plans and contacting SS was one line of enquiry.

Fortunatley, the TA issue was sorted out and all is now well but it irritates me that SS just passed the buck so to speak. Had I said I was having an issue with the TA and was going to cancel the whole shebang what would they have done then?

As an update, I let SS know we accepted the flight itineraries they provided (we had to pay an extra $150 deviation fee each because the flights are two days before and after what they provided, despite no change - other than date - to the actual itinerary/airline). I then checked on Delta's website, picked seats, and everything is still there after logging back into the Delta site several times now. Delta lists us as "confirmed" - but we are not yet ticketed, and SS won't answer my TA's question about how we could get ticketed early (no reply at all so far). Not sure if I should take the plunge and release my AA reservations (reinstating the miles), taking a chance that once ticketed everything will still be there. That's what I'm leaning toward but it does seem like a bit of a gamble. Thanks for all the very helpful replies everyone.

We have used Silversea for flights including biz class upgrades twice and had no problems. We are traveling in July on the Muse and already have made our biz class seat selection. Because it was so early, we had our pick of the cabin.

... Not sure if I should take the plunge and release my AA reservations (reinstating the miles), taking a chance that once ticketed everything will still be there. That's what I'm leaning toward but it does seem like a bit of a gamble.

This may not be a useful hint, but when using FFmiles from AA to Europe, I almost always try to book into Milan which cost me $5.80 per person each way. For a low cost, especially if you pre-book, you can get to Venice or Rome by train in a couple hours. The train to Rome parallels the coast and is like an excursion in its own. The train to Venice from Milan goes through Lake Como, very scenic, and makes a great place to add a couple days! For Barcelona we got a low cost flight from Milan.

It may not work for you, but its a great low cost extension to a trip!

London, Paris and Rome airports have the highest fees added to FF Miles

Ok fellow travelers, I've figured it out. I probably should have put this all together earlier but I'm new to the sneaky underhanded ways of the cruise industry.

Using our record locator, our seat choices appear every time I log into Delta.com. Very reassuring.

But then I went onto Delta.com "anonymously" to to see if the seats we chose are shown as unavailable to anyone else trying to book the same flight, and guess what: the seat map shows them as "white" (still available). I called Delta and sure enough, the agent confirmed that my seats aren't real, and won't be real until the tickets are issued.

That means that each of the flights on the flawless itinerary that Silversea chose for us (the "bait") can be sold out (and probably will be sold out) by the time Silversea issues our tickets in late June (the "switch").

When we find out that one or more of the great flights are sold out, we'll either have to choose coach or change the itinerary. What will be left at that time - so close to travel time, and during peak summer season - will be a much, much less desirable itinerary, with much longer holdovers, possibly no lie-flat seats, and perhaps even (like the poor person I read about on the Cruise Air forum) arrival time that causes the first leg of the cruise to be missed. And Silversea will have made money by placing us on the cheapest flights available.

The reason this is so particularly reprehensible is that we will have paid the entire cost of the cruise and flights by February 28 (in 9 days). They're happy to take our money months and months in advance, but aren't happy to reciprocate by issuing our seats now, so that we know what flights we will actually be on.

I'm guessing most people know how this all works already, but just in case some people are in the dark about this like I was, I thought I'd post it. Pretty disappointing, especially for a "luxury" cruise line. I also find it disappointing that our TA (who clearly knows how all this works) didn't 'fess up when I asked her over (and over) if this was the case. Live and learn. There is no free lunch.

We have used Silversea for flights including biz class upgrades twice and had no problems. We are traveling in July on the Muse and already have made our biz class seat selection. Because it was so early, we had our pick of the cabin.

Please see my latest reply above - the seats aren't "real."

Taylor,

I cannot speak for your specific flight, especially since you booked Delta. However, I did exactly as you described and ran a dummy booking via British Air and my return flight (mixed carrier BA and American). Both flights done in anonymous fashion returned with my seats blocked. Almost none of the other seats are blocked so that raises my level of confidence. Furthermore, I was able to choose my seats via my BA and AA login information, as described in my earlier post.

I know you paid the deviation fee but did you also decide to do the business class upgrade as well? That may make a difference.

To be clear. Silversea booked our original seats and I logged on using both my British Air and American frequent flyer accounts. Once signed on I changed my seats (used Seatguru for the best location available). BA allowed me to do this without an upcharge, same for American. I have no status with either, just the base flyer level.

I just asked SS to issue the tickets and they did after I agreed they would be non refundable. Hope you get it sorted

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Ok fellow travelers, I've figured it out. I probably should have put this all together earlier but I'm new to the sneaky underhanded ways of the cruise industry.

 

Using our record locator, our seat choices appear every time I log into Delta.com. Very reassuring.

 

But then I went onto Delta.com "anonymously" to to see if the seats we chose are shown as unavailable to anyone else trying to book the same flight, and guess what: the seat map shows them as "white" (still available). I called Delta and sure enough, the agent confirmed that my seats aren't real, and won't be real until the tickets are issued.

 

That means that each of the flights on the flawless itinerary that Silversea chose for us (the "bait") can be sold out (and probably will be sold out) by the time Silversea issues our tickets in late June (the "switch").

 

When we find out that one or more of the great flights are sold out, we'll either have to choose coach or change the itinerary. What will be left at that time - so close to travel time, and during peak summer season - will be a much, much less desirable itinerary, with much longer holdovers, possibly no lie-flat seats, and perhaps even (like the poor person I read about on the Cruise Air forum) arrival time that causes the first leg of the cruise to be missed. And Silversea will have made money by placing us on the cheapest flights available.

 

The reason this is so particularly reprehensible is that we will have paid the entire cost of the cruise and flights by February 28 (in 9 days). They're happy to take our money months and months in advance, but aren't happy to reciprocate by issuing our seats now, so that we know what flights we will actually be on.

 

I'm guessing most people know how this all works already, but just in case some people are in the dark about this like I was, I thought I'd post it. Pretty disappointing, especially for a "luxury" cruise line. I also find it disappointing that our TA (who clearly knows how all this works) didn't 'fess up when I asked her over (and over) if this was the case. Live and learn. There is no free lunch.

 

Taylor, no apologist for SS, but I do not know whether this helps allay some of your fears.

In order to offer the deals that they do SS have an "allocation" of seats with various airlines including BA. This means that they are "guaranteed" a certain number of seats at an agreed price and they can sell those seats to whoever they wish at a price they know they can offer or indeed build a flight inclusive package on.

There is a deadline by which the actual passenger names have to be actually booked with the airline, and until then the cruiseline simply has a list of probable names. That may or may not be a 60 days dealine. Until that time the names of the passengers are normally unknown to the airline unless the cruise line actually make the booking in advance of the minimum deadline. That is why seats are often not reservbable before that time unless they become a firm booking with cancellation penalties. Ths doesn't prevent cruiselines insisting on a cancellation or change fee even if they haven't made a firm named booking with the airline; it is simply a way of making a bit more cash.

This of course doesn't prevent cruise lines selling more seats than they have an agreed allocation for perhaps relying on some passengers changing or cancelling or they hope that if they sell more then they can still find seats outside their allocation either on the best flight or an alternative airline or alternative routing. They will try and get the cheapest option because they have charged the passenger a fixed price. This may provide an opportunity for a bit of a lottery later if they have oversold their allocation and you are in the unlucky group that has been selected for a bit of a scenic route.

With respect to a later post, under normal circumstances the only way that seats are reservable without payment on BA is in the First cabin. Otherwise status or paying a premium price for the ticket allows seat reservations. On some group bookings - I think above 9 seats for example BA try to put groups together and so may blockout cabin seats which can then be changed for a fee. I cannot think of any other scenario except where seats are reservable on BA without a fee and perhaps that is just a lack of detailed knowledge on my part of all the possible combinations.

I hope this helps.

Jeff