Jump to content

Viking Air ticketing flights


marylovestotravel
 Share

Recommended Posts

Our flights were all set for our cruise out of Venice. Return flight changed from United to American. Problem is AA will not give us seat assignments. Hubby is handicapped ,and needs an aisle. AA says we must wait till we get to the Rome airport & get the seats then. They advised that the necessary seats will be available. This makes us nervous. Any advice ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our flights were all set for our cruise out of Venice. Return flight changed from United to American. Problem is AA will not give us seat assignments. Hubby is handicapped ,and needs an aisle. AA says we must wait till we get to the Rome airport & get the seats then. They advised that the necessary seats will be available. This makes us nervous. Any advice ?

Not an expert but I have a feeling your flight out of Rome is a code share ie. it booked as an AA flight but is operated by another airline thus AA has no access to seat assignments. If that is case contact BA and they will probably guarantee you a seat with an upcharge. I would call them prior doing anything on web.

 

My experience has grown since earlier today. As mentioned in my prior post I have a frequent flier trip with Airberlin through AA. I looked at my flights today and saw that AA had changed their segment so I now had an 18 hour layover at SFO. I called AA and they were able to change my flights with a connection in LAX. They had no visibility on Airberlin seat assignments so I went to the AB site and was able to get seats with the upgrades I had on the original trip. A few hours latter I went back on the AB site to make sure everything went through and found out that they just filed for bankruptcy! They said this won't effect booked flights but I will be calling AA in a few days to see what contingency plans can be made.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our flights were all set for our cruise out of Venice. Return flight changed from United to American. Problem is AA will not give us seat assignments. Hubby is handicapped ,and needs an aisle. AA says we must wait till we get to the Rome airport & get the seats then. They advised that the necessary seats will be available. This makes us nervous. Any advice ?

 

One other thing... If this is Viking Air booking contact Tellus@Viking.com. They are very responsive

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Ruth,

 

We got a convoluted itinerary from Viking. Air Canada reservation going, but travelling on Lufthansa flights (I know, codeshare!) and then coming back with a Lufthansa reservation on an Air Canada flight. Are any of your flights in November in Lufthansa? Were you able to upgrade easily? So frustrated! This is the 1st time I've dealt with a TA and I find the process so slow.

 

Mia

IME, you will be unable to even choose a seat on LH if it's booked as a codeshare and not with LH flight numbers until online check-in, let alone upgrade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few hours latter I went back on the AB site to make sure everything went through and found out that they just filed for bankruptcy! They said this won't effect booked flights but I will be calling AA in a few days to see what contingency plans can be made.

Do what you can to change your AB flights if your trip is later than this November. Etihad has withdrawn financing, and their bridge loan from the government is not predicted to last longer than that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do what you can to change your AB flights if your trip is later than this November. Etihad has withdrawn financing, and their bridge loan from the government is not predicted to last longer than that.

 

Outbound is mid October return is early November. Since it is FF rewards I am at the mercy of AA. The German government and Lufthansa say they will back all AB commitments. They probably will but not without changes.

AA has been very good with adjusting reward flights and since FF miles are almost impossible to use to destinations that I want to go when I want, I'll hold out until there is no alternative

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck; there's nothing much you can do at this point. Since you've booked with FF points through AA, they'll probably step in and help if it comes to that.

 

This is a question I should probably ask my TA, but since I'm already reading this thread, I'll see what all of you have to say. We did Viking Air Plus on our Rhine Getaway last year and it was really great. We had fantastic flights - both direct non-stop to the destination on Delta.

 

We are doing the Grand European next fall, so it's too early for ticketing, but much to my TA's chagrin, I like to do my own research so I know what's coming :) We will again be doing Viking Air Plus and we were happy with Delta, but no one has direct flights from the NY/NJ airports to Budapest, so we will have a layover somewhere.

 

I thought to fly Newark to Amsterdam (same flight as last year), and from there on to Budapest. The cruise ends in Amsterdam and we will be staying on for a bit, so the return flight should be easy. Getting from Amsterdam to Budapest is the next hurdle. I was hoping to do Delta > KLM - I don't think Delta flies on their own to Budapest. My question is, if we fly Delta One (business/first) will we be able to get business/first on KLM for the remainder of the flight.

 

I'm not sure how long the flight is. We could probably save some money if KLM has a level like Delta Comfort or United coach plus if it's not a long flight. But I do want to choose my seats in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One other thing... If this is Viking Air booking contact Tellus@Viking.com. They are very responsive

 

Just an additional note on how responsive Tellus@Viking.com is. We have Homelands booked for next May. We upgraded with Viking to business class. I have read a lot on this thread about how you almost always get Icelandair for Homelandds. I prefer United or Lufthansa. If I had to go the Icelandair route, then I'd cancel the Viking air and make my own arrangements on Icelandair business since I would save money. I sent a note to Tellus@Viking.com and explained it. The next business day I got a call back from Viking. They booked me then and there on perfect Lufthansa flights both ways complete with seat assignments. They did charge me for custom air (which isn't normally even available for Homelands), which I had no problem with. They are totally awesome--all this for a cruise that's 9 months away. Honestly, they are the epitome of customer service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you you are doing Viking Air with the business upgrade they only guarantee business on the overseas portion even if business/first is available on the land segments. They did give us business on all segments and on AMS to Copenhagen (KLM) it was a standard 737-900 all rows 3x3. The first 4 rows were reserved for business with the middle seats blocked. Don't think there was extra leg room (could be wrong). Food service was upgraded and the front Lav was business only. I wouldn't go out of the way for it on a short flight. We had seat selection on all Delta/KLM segments.

We leave tomorrow on Delta from Atlanta to Amsterdam. Delta does not offer Comfort plus but they had premium seating with extra leg space Since luggage is free, we get priority boarding, and the plane (A330-20 ) is configured 2x4x2 we were able to get seats with no middle rows for $119 ea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you you are doing Viking Air with the business upgrade they only guarantee business on the overseas portion even if business/first is available on the land segments. They did give us business on all segments and on AMS to Copenhagen (KLM) it was a standard 737-900 all rows 3x3. The first 4 rows were reserved for business with the middle seats blocked. Don't think there was extra leg room (could be wrong). Food service was upgraded and the front Lav was business only. I wouldn't go out of the way for it on a short flight. We had seat selection on all Delta/KLM segments.

We leave tomorrow on Delta from Atlanta to Amsterdam. Delta does not offer Comfort plus but they had premium seating with extra leg space Since luggage is free, we get priority boarding, and the plane (A330-20 ) is configured 2x4x2 we were able to get seats with no middle rows for $119 ea.

All of our segments were business class.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

We're getting ready for our 3rd Viking cruise (1 River, 2 Ocean) and I find the Viking Airline Reservation system to be Viking's Achilles Heel. Flights are scheduled at very bad times, into airports that seem to be out of the way resulting in crazy itineraries. There is little or no flexibility unless one wants to book their own flights, and that is not a bad idea. On our first Viking trip, our connecting flight was late, resulting in our being late at destination airport (still during the day). I called Viking about our transfer and they said I had to make my own arrangement to the ship, that they would not pick us up, but couldn't even give me an address to tell the cab driver that we would have to get ourselves. While still in the baggage area we saw other flights come in with bags with Viking tags on them. We found their owners and low and behold the Viking rep who was meeting them. We simply rode to the ship with them. Viking was completely unaware of their own process.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We're getting ready for our 3rd Viking cruise (1 River, 2 Ocean) and I find the Viking Airline Reservation system to be Viking's Achilles Heel. Flights are scheduled at very bad times, into airports that seem to be out of the way resulting in crazy itineraries. There is little or no flexibility unless one wants to book their own flights, and that is not a bad idea.

 

We learned very early on in our dealings with Viking that it is best to pay the extra for Custom Air, where available, so that we can have some say over our flights. Thus far on six Ocean/River cruises with Viking, we have used Custom Air for 4 of the cruises and have been very happy with our flights. None of the flights had crazy itineraries. None of the flights had us leaving home or the ship in the middle of the night. One cruise did not offer Custom Air--and we lucked out with non-stop flight to and from London. On the 6th and up-coming, we booked our own flights because we could do better price-wise and timing-wise, but we only decided to book our own after we heard what Viking was offering us.

 

 

 

On our first Viking trip, our connecting flight was late, resulting in our being late at destination airport (still during the day). I called Viking about our transfer and they said I had to make my own arrangement to the ship, that they would not pick us up, but couldn't even give me an address to tell the cab driver that we would have to get ourselves. While still in the baggage area we saw other flights come in with bags with Viking tags on them. We found their owners and low and behold the Viking rep who was meeting them. We simply rode to the ship with them. Viking was completely unaware of their own process.

 

I try to avoid calling the Viking switchboard. I've heard too many stories here where guests were not helped or were given wrong information. The operators have never sailed with Viking as a guest and just don't know how things really work.

 

Viking does make sure that we have the telephone number for the ship in our information packets and if you are held up en route, the ship is the best place to call (if nothing else, they can tell you where they are docked).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We're getting ready for our 3rd Viking cruise (1 River, 2 Ocean) and I find the Viking Airline Reservation system to be Viking's Achilles Heel. Flights are scheduled at very bad times, into airports that seem to be out of the way resulting in crazy itineraries. There is little or no flexibility unless one wants to book their own flights, and that is not a bad idea. On our first Viking trip, our connecting flight was late, resulting in our being late at destination airport (still during the day). I called Viking about our transfer and they said I had to make my own arrangement to the ship, that they would not pick us up, but couldn't even give me an address to tell the cab driver that we would have to get ourselves. While still in the baggage area we saw other flights come in with bags with Viking tags on them. We found their owners and low and behold the Viking rep who was meeting them. We simply rode to the ship with them. Viking was completely unaware of their own process.

 

The Viking passengers that you tagged along with had their flight arrangements made through Viking Air, and this service includes transfers to & from the airport. Since Viking Air did not arrange your air transportation, you weren't entitled to ride along with them. You could have asked the Viking representative at the airport for directions to the port. It is possible that you occupied space on the bus that had been paid for by someone else. I assure you, Viking knows their process very well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We learned very early on in our dealings with Viking that it is best to pay the extra for Custom Air, where available, so that we can have some say over our flights. Thus far on six Ocean/River cruises with Viking, we have used Custom Air for 4 of the cruises and have been very happy with our flights. None of the flights had crazy itineraries. None of the flights had us leaving home or the ship in the middle of the night. One cruise did not offer Custom Air--and we lucked out with non-stop flight to and from London. On the 6th and up-coming, we booked our own flights because we could do better price-wise and timing-wise, but we only decided to book our own after we heard what Viking was offering us.

 

I agree. We had Air Plus for our Grand European. I didn't see a problem to pay extra $50.00 p/p when you already payed thousands. We had convenient nice flights (Economy) that we easily upgraded directly with airlines (much cheaper than with Viking). This year Air Plus wasn't available on our itinerary. I explained that for me it is a deal breaker so Air Department agreed to give me "custom Air" for the usual fee of $50.00 p/p. The flights were so-so but we could live with them. I contacted airlines and this is when nightmare started. I had a reservation but not the tickets. Contacted Viking Air, explained the situation and was told "you can upgrade only with us" and the price was $1,999.00 per person for Premium Economy while Lufthansa had it for $250.00!! Where this pric came from? I still asked to issue tickets. When called airlines again was told that they have tickets but they were blocked by the travel agency (Viking in my case). I was ping-ponged for quite some time. We were ready to cancel the cruise with the loss of money. I did write Viking with no answer for awhile and one day I got a call. They fixed the problem and upgraded us for free. The flights were much more convenient. They did more than we asked or expected and we really appreciated this. It is true imho that Air Department is the Viking's Achilles heel. Everything else is nearly perfect or just perfect. If you are on this forum for awhile you will see the same complains over and over again about Viking Air. We are really impressed by Viking's planning and operations and we do hope that they will fix their problem with Air.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I try to avoid calling the Viking switchboard. I've heard too many stories here where guests were not helped or were given wrong information. The operators have never sailed with Viking as a guest and just don't know how things really work.

 

Viking does make sure that we have the telephone number for the ship in our information packets and if you are held up en route, the ship is the best place to call (if nothing else, they can tell you where they are docked).

 

The call I made was to the ship. The person who answered had no idea of how transfers work, nor could she find someone who did. She told us we were on our own basically regarding getting to the ship. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Viking passengers that you tagged along with had their flight arrangements made through Viking Air, and this service includes transfers to & from the airport. Since Viking Air did not arrange your air transportation, you weren't entitled to ride along with them. You could have asked the Viking representative at the airport for directions to the port. It is possible that you occupied space on the bus that had been paid for by someone else. I assure you, Viking knows their process very well.

 

Are you cranky this morning? Don't know where you got the idea that we did not use Viking Air? We did use them, therefore were entitled to use their transport, therefore the shock of being told we were on our own. Sorry you didn't understand. I assure you that on that day Viking ship personnel did not know their process.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The call I made was to the ship. The person who answered had no idea of how transfers work, nor could she find someone who did. She told us we were on our own basically regarding getting to the ship. :(

 

That is not good to hear. Viking really fell down on the job on that one. Every person who answers the phones on the ships (ocean and river) should be able at least to tell you where the ship is docked and what address to give to a cab driver. At the same time, at least something good has come of your experience and now we know that even if we are late, we should look for the Viking airport reps first. If we don't see them as we emerge from customs, then we can panic and call the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is not good to hear. Viking really fell down on the job on that one. Every person who answers the phones on the ships (ocean and river) should be able at least to tell you where the ship is docked and what address to give to a cab driver. At the same time, at least something good has come of your experience and now we know that even if we are late, we should look for the Viking airport reps first. If we don't see them as we emerge from customs, then we can panic and call the ship.

 

Plus, look at suitcases in baggage area and see which have their Viking tags. Their owners may be another source of information. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Paid air plus fee of $50. My TA got the flights I wanted for the TA sailing March 27,2018. He said I should get the confirmation in a few days, or few weeks... Viking is negotiating with airlines for tickets for next year.

I am flying Delta and do want to upgrade to economy comfort for the BCN to ATL flight, if I am able.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Well, I spoke too soon and was too optimistic.:(

Here it is end of Oct, and I finally got my flight schedule for March 25 pre cruise and April 12 post cruise. I paid deviation fee to fly into San Juan two nights early. I am doing the post Barcelona extension and paid $50 air plus fee to get better flight times.Wanted to fly on Delta and have long layovers for connecting flights.

 

Currently, this is what they gave me:

I am flying March 25 on AA from MSP to PHL to SJU with only 1 hour connection time in PHL.

I am flyinging UA from BCN to EWR to MSP with only 1 hr and 45 minutes layover time in ERW.

Probably will miss this connectionn according to folks on Cruise Air forum. I can see my seat assignments which are ok.

But according to my TA, Viking Air will not ticket this schedule yet, even though I paid $50 ari plus fee, because my cruise mate does not have Air plus. Both of us need to have done this!

Has anyone ever heard of this requirement?

I am flying with a friend. She lives in AZ and I in MN. She did not do air plus, so her flights will be posted at 75 day before cruise sailing on March 27.

This whole Viking air is a mess and so drawn out.

Choice Air on Celebirity was a breeze in comparison.

My TA said I could talk to Viking Air, but when I got a Customer service guy, he said Viking Air will not talk to me, but only my TA.

Just needed to vent.... still looking forward to the cruise itself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I spoke too soon and was too optimistic.:(

Here it is end of Oct, and I finally got my flight schedule for March 25 pre cruise and April 12 post cruise.

But according to my TA, Viking Air will not ticket this schedule yet, even though I paid $50 ari plus fee, because my cruise mate does not have Air plus. Both of us need to have done this!

Has anyone ever heard of this requirement?

I am flying with a friend. She lives in AZ and I in MN. She did not do air plus, so her flights will be posted at 75 day before cruise sailing on March 27.

This whole Viking air is a mess and so drawn out.

Choice Air on Celebirity was a breeze in comparison.

My TA said I could talk to Viking Air, but when I got a Customer service guy, he said Viking Air will not talk to me, but only my TA.

Just needed to vent.... still looking forward to the cruise itself.

 

Oh boy! It is ridiculous that your friend had to have Air Plus in order for you to get ticketed?!! You are not even in the same city!! It is a mess. Try to contact TellUs folks. Viking definitely needs to fix their Air department. I'm very sorry that this happened to you but I really hope Viking will fix it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

vnb2003,

I think it is silly too, when each person lives in a different state no less. Guess they think only couples living at same address cruise together.:D

She is calling our TA, and of course is willing to pay for air plus. The TA was the one who told her to wait until 75 days and then decide. I on the other hand wanted to know much sooner. Might need a new TA in the future.

Lesson learned. I will be sure to book my own air which I usually do , except for the one time I used Choice Air with Celebrity for a 15 day European cruise at the height of the tourist season in June. But Celebrity is huge with RCCL the parent Company.

Still very excited about my my Trans Atlantic cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

vnb2003,

I think it is silly too, when each person lives in a different state no less. Guess they think only couples living at same address cruise together.:D

She is calling our TA, and of course is willing to pay for air plus. The TA was the one who told her to wait until 75 days and then decide. I on the other hand wanted to know much sooner. Might need a new TA in the future.

Lesson learned. I will be sure to book my own air which I usually do , except for the one time I used Choice Air with Celebrity for a 15 day European cruise at the height of the tourist season in June. But Celebrity is huge with RCCL the parent Company.

Still very excited about my my Trans Atlantic cruise.

 

:) :champagne-toast:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

vnb2003,

I think it is silly too, when each person lives in a different state no less. Guess they think only couples living at same address cruise together.:D

She is calling our TA, and of course is willing to pay for air plus. The TA was the one who told her to wait until 75 days and then decide. I on the other hand wanted to know much sooner. Might need a new TA in the future.

Lesson learned. I will be sure to book my own air which I usually do , except for the one time I used Choice Air with Celebrity for a 15 day European cruise at the height of the tourist season in June. But Celebrity is huge with RCCL the parent Company.

Still very excited about my my Trans Atlantic cruise.

 

Could be they are used to people traveling together and you've thrown them for a loop - although that shouldn't be the case!

 

I will always book the air through Viking with Air Plus, now that I know how easy it is to cancel if you change your mind!

 

We are doing the West Indies Explorer cruise right before your TA. I had originally booked the air with Viking. They had said Air Plus was not available for this itinerary, but I'd hoped they might add it in the future.

 

After several calls, it didn't look like that was going to happen, so I did some checking around. I found a good Delta flight with Delta Comfort available from JFK - not my first choice, but workable. For the return flight, Delta Comfort was sold out, but I could get Delta One first class for $50 pp more - SOLD! The Viking Air was $45 pp and the total on our own was $1316 for the 1 of us. I could live with that for our choice of flights and class.

 

I called Viking to cancel. The rep told me they would be giving us the $45 pp back and the $100 for the deviation fee, then she told me to hold on a minute because she had to check something. When she came back on, she told me that we would be getting a refund to my credit card of $697 - the cost for the flights, the deviation and an air allowance. I didn't ask what the air allowance was all about because I was kind of taken by surprise. My momma said, don't look a gift horse in the mouth - so I didn't ;p

 

I would suggest to anyone who cancels to ask about the "air allowance" I assumed it was part of what they were paying for the flights - but as I said, I didn't ask!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...