Viking - air plus -

We booked a Viking cruise through a TA. The air fare through Viking is $595 so we bought that. TA says we can upgrade to custom air (air plus) for $50 to have more control over our flights. I think it is worth $50 for that. However, my TA also said that they could add an "add collect" surcharge with the custom air in addition to the $50. This is if they (Viking) cannot negotiate the flights you want for $595, then they charge you the difference. TA also said this "add collect" charge rarely happens - they can usually do it for the $50 only. So I don't really understand. Flights form the U.S. to Europe can easily be more than $1000 and I don't want to pay an extra $500, it is worth $50 but not $500. Has anyone had experience with this? I booked without the air plus for now but TA said we can add that later. We are more than a year out and cannot book flights now anyway.

We have used the Air Plus 3 times now. Never had to pay more than the $50/pp. and it was well worth the cost IMHO. You can look at the available flights on something like orbitz or kayak and pick out what would work best for you (and I always have a couple of back up options selected, although they have always been able to give me my first choice).

I am not sure where you will be flying from/to but generally Delta/Air France/KLM/Lufthansa/American/British Air will all work. I suspect the additional charge comes into play when you insist on flying only Air New Zealand or something.

I think the key is to select what would work best and tell your TA before they call Viking. Another perk in using the Air Plus is that once flights are decided you can ask them to go ahead and ticket them so you can get on the airlines website and pick your seats before all the good ones are gone!!

The one time I used Air Plus, I did need to pay an additional supplement for the flight home we wanted. I had researched the flights I wanted, knew what Viking was charging, and even with the Air Plus charge and the supplemental charge to get the non-stop flight home, ($98 pp), it was still a better deal to go with Viking than doing it on our own and it included the transfers .

Becki

He's our experience with Viking Air we usually book our own air with air miles in business class, but this time Viking Air could not e beat we are flying to Amsterdam and flying back from Bucharest very short layovers, because we booked a Suite the tickets cost us $1995 round trip per person in business class those tickets if we booked ourselves would have been over $9000 per person! Plus the Viking fare includes all transfers.

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I hate to be the one negative here but our experience was entirely different. DW is tall and claustrophobic so our ONLY request was for her to have an aisle seat. And, to sit together. The $50 fee did not do anything. Not only was my wife not is an aisle seat for our flights but they actually had us sitting at opposite ends of the plane on our transcontinental leg. Our TA had sat with us and Viking Air contact as we picked flights and seats. Not one seat assignment out of 5 legs was honored.

For that reason we either make our own reservations or we just don't go.

Viking Air plus worked well for us. I told my TA what my preferred flights were. She came back and said that one leg was not within their budget and it would cost an extra $200. No problem, we just went with our second choice which was fine. I think if it does not fit budget wise they will tell you before you book it. I was immediately able to go online and pick seats and we did not have any trouble with those being honored. I suspect that some may have trouble there because of the airline, not Viking.

Our TA had sat with us and Viking Air contact as we picked flights and seats. Not one seat assignment out of 5 legs was honored.

Regrettably that says more about the airlines than it does about Viking.

Even if you book your own flights the actual seat assignments can and do change, especially if you are booking a long way out so it is always worth checking regularly to make sure nothing has altered before the day of departure, but they can still change on the actual day sadly.

The other thing to be aware of is to make sure that you are checking on the actual carriers website, not just on the one who ticketed you as it is not uncommon for updates on the carrier to not be reflected in the seat assignments on the ticketing carrier.

We have a situation right now where we bought tickets using AA miles, for flights on BA and Royal Jordanian. The seat assignments shown on AA are different to those shown on the RJ site. When RJ changed my wife's seat, the change didn't make it back up the chain to the AA site at all. If we were just checking AA we'd have had a surprise at the airport...

Duplicate..

I somewhat agree that it was not Vikings fault. However, they picked the airline. This was one of the "reduced air" offers and the entire cruise was booked through Viking and Viking air. I was never given a "locator" number to check on my own seat assignments even after asking repeatedly.

My printed documents had flight numbers as well as seat assignments. Those seat assignments were good 2 days prior to departure. When we showed up at the airport and checked in the ticket agent printed out our tickets the seats were as planned. It wasn't until we arrived in JFK and the "proverbial" equipment change that things went wrong. On our return flight I mentioned to the ticket agent about an aisle seat and sitting together and he took back the boarding passes and re-entered information to have DW in an aisle seat and us sitting together. Interestingly, it was the same plane with the same marked up, dirty interior so there never was an "equipment change" in our opinion. I am not allowed to mention the name of the airline but I can tell you, We will NEVER fly that airline again.

Sadly, we have attempted on several occasions to cruise Viking again and as soon as that airline is mentioned for air we immediately ask for alternate arrangements. When they can't provide an alternate we have cancelled the entire cruise and gone to other destinations.

Do we blame Viking? No, absolutely not. We have another Viking cruise booked but this time we made our own air arrangements.

My only point is be prepared and don't always count on the air arrangements Viking air will make for you.

We used Viking Air Plus for our Christmas markets cruise in December 2016.

Flights were great but the seats kept changing.

Each time I called the airlines and talked with them. They could not explain the reason seats had changed. They would change them back. I talked with Viking as well and they could not explain the changes either. To add to the mystery it was only the leg from Philadelphia to Budapest. The equipment for the flight nor had the times been changed at any time.

This happened four times before we left.

So each month I would check till the last month and then weekly till we left.

It never hurts to make sure everything stays the same.

We have used Viking Air x3 with no problems. Booking international with or without using Viking the seats keep changing.

Thought I would add some more flight information as it applies to our upcoming Viking Vidar cruise from Amsterdam to Basel in Oct.

Our package included the Viking air for $395 pp. We paid the $50pp for Air Plus. Another $150pp to select our flights.

Viking offered KLM from ORD to AMS on a 747 . Our return was Basel to Paris to ORD on Air France, Airbus A330.

On KLM we upgraded to Economy Comfort for $86 pp. This is a section behind business class with a 3-2 seating configuration. It provides extra leg room and we selected the 2 seat side.

On Air France CDG to ORD we paid $54pp to select seats in the 2-4-2 economy section. We chose the 2 seat side.

We bought Air Plus with the idea we would flex our flights with stopovers, extensions, etc. our rep assured us "no problem!" It turned out there are added fees. A stopover in Iceland would cost $300 each; an early arrival was a lesser fee ($150 each?), plus we would lose Viking's transfer service.

I hate to be the one negative here but our experience was entirely different. DW is tall and claustrophobic so our ONLY request was for her to have an aisle seat. And, to sit together. The $50 fee did not do anything. Not only was my wife not is an aisle seat for our flights but they actually had us sitting at opposite ends of the plane on our transcontinental leg. Our TA had sat with us and Viking Air contact as we picked flights and seats. Not one seat assignment out of 5 legs was honored.

 

For that reason we either make our own reservations or we just don't go.

My son decided to go on a trip with my daughter and I a couple of years ago and he was able to book on the same flight (to Athens, Greece). We expected him to not sit next to us but my daughter and my seats had been changed so we were not sitting next to each other either. When I asked the rep at the desk why she asked if we were all family and I said yes. She said there is an international law that families can sit together. She huffed and puffed and changed things so we were together. She never got upset with us. But she did tell us to always say we are family if it ever happened again. Good to know!

Not pleased with the Viking Air Plus service.  Had hoped to upgrade seats but after flight changes and waiting on our seats to be "purchased" vs "held" we ended up in non-upgradable economy seats instead of main cabin as promised initially.

Also, you can obtain a credit card with travel interruption for much less than their travel insurance plus get a hefty sign-up bonus & airline lounge perks.  Take a look at the CITI Prestige card.  You will have to pay for the trip with the card.

40 minutes ago, RStanton23 said:

Also, you can obtain a credit card with travel interruption for much less than their travel insurance plus get a hefty sign-up bonus & airline lounge perks.  Take a look at the CITI Prestige card.  You will have to pay for the trip with the card.

What are the limits on the credit card insurance? Mine (a Canadian TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite) has a limit of $1,500 per person and $5,000 per family - in Canadian dollars of course, which doesn't cover anywhere near enough for a trip of this kind.

The CITI Prestige has a $5,000 limit for up to 4 people ($20,000) and the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) card has a $10,000 limit up to $20,000. Both have a $20,000 limit per trip and I think annually.  Extended Family members only get the refund though the trip can be cancelled for a sick non-family companion.

Both also have Trip INTERRUPTION insurance in addition to trip CANCELLATION insurance too.  There was a blog about the CSR card not paying for air fare home if trip interrupted but I do not know if that is true or still the case.  Air fare home is a standard for trip interruption insurance in almost every policy. 

Having re-read the requirements I misstated something - the limits are EACH TRIP, not person.  CITI $5k, CSR $10k.  Might want to consider multiple cards.

On 5/27/2019 at 8:04 AM, RStanton23 said:

Not pleased with the Viking Air Plus service.  Had hoped to upgrade seats but after flight changes and waiting on our seats to be "purchased" vs "held" we ended up in non-upgradable economy seats instead of main cabin as promised initially.

 

Also, you can obtain a credit card with travel interruption for much less than their travel insurance plus get a hefty sign-up bonus & airline lounge perks.  Take a look at the CITI Prestige card.  You will have to pay for the trip with the card.

FWIW ... the trips with Viking are usually ticketed about 75 days before the departure, however they will ticket the flight early if you ask.  We often upgrade to economy plus directly with the airline but this usually requires that the trip be ticketed.  Call Viking Air and they will ticket it early so you can do your thing with the airline ... keep in mind that you will have to understand that there are "no backsies" after ticketing or it will cost you!

Not true based on my experiences.  I specifically asked and was told I would have to wait on one of my calls about 80 days out.  There was a suggestion as I recall that this could be done for an additional fee (I already paid for Viking Plus).  This was after I was told tickets would be issued 90 days out in a previous call.  When I initially booked I was told all seats were in Main Cabin.  After tickets were actually issued I found that my party's seats are all in Economy and non-upgradeable. We had tried to get a basic upgrade for months with no clear answer except to wait and then it was you can't after the tickets are issued.

If Viking wants anyone to know what the procedure is for upgrades, tickets, etc. all they have to do is post the information.

17 hours ago, RStanton23 said:

 When I initially booked I was told all seats were in Main Cabin.  After tickets were actually issued I found that my party's seats are all in Economy and non-upgradeable. We had tried to get a basic upgrade for months with no clear answer except to wait and then it was you can't after the tickets are issued.

If Viking wants anyone to know what the procedure is for upgrades, tickets, etc. all they have to do is post the information.

Main Cabin is Economy. You may be thinking of Basic Economy, which is also seating that is located in the Main Cabin but is more restrictive - you aren't booked in Basic Economy though, or you wouldn't have seats assigned at all until check in, and Viking doesn't use Basic Economy. You are booked in Main Cabin Economy, and some Main Cabin Economy tickets are not upgrade able. 

Thanks, you are correct.  Regardless, I cannot upgrade seats with points or cash despite that the seats are open.

We had VERY good luck with Air plus this last December on the Rhine.  My husband and I decided since I had never been to Paris to go a few days early and see the sights, then we had some friends we wanted to visit in Spain so we stayed a few days later.  I booked the flights from Paris to the beginning of the cruise and from Amsterdam to Madrid on my own, just using Expedia.  When I called Viking to work on our itinerary to and from Europe, they could not have been nicer.  When all was said and done, we ended up with about a $1500 itinerary (flying into Paris just before Christmas and flying out of Madrid just after new Years) for just the additional Air plus fee.  They didn't charge us any extras from there.  We did not use a TA and did it all directly through Viking.  Granted, this was all economy, but had very little fuss. LOVED our cruise on the Rhine by the way.

On 5/29/2019 at 11:00 AM, molymoo said:

Call Viking Air and they will ticket it early so you can do your thing with the airline ... keep in mind that you will have to understand that there are "no backsies" after ticketing or it will cost you!

We are in this boat now... would like to put a couple of Delta GUCs to use, but our hands are tied until Viking Air tickets our trip, even though we can see everything associated with the trip when logged into Delta.  Viking Air gave us the '75 days before travel excuse,' but I will try again after reading your response.

I'm not familiar with 'no backsies.'  Is that akin to there's no going back?

On 5/30/2019 at 6:19 AM, RStanton23 said:

Thanks, you are correct.  Regardless, I cannot upgrade seats with points or cash despite that the seats are open.

I wonder if you ever received a favorable resolution to your issue?  I stumbled upon this thread just today while trying to locate additional information on Viking Air Plus.  Thanks.

On 5/30/2019 at 4:20 PM, cangreja said:

We had VERY good luck with Air plus this last December on the Rhine.  My husband and I decided since I had never been to Paris to go a few days early and see the sights, then we had some friends we wanted to visit in Spain so we stayed a few days later.  I booked the flights from Paris to the beginning of the cruise and from Amsterdam to Madrid on my own, just using Expedia.  When I called Viking to work on our itinerary to and from Europe, they could not have been nicer.  When all was said and done, we ended up with about a $1500 itinerary (flying into Paris just before Christmas and flying out of Madrid just after new Years) for just the additional Air plus fee.  They didn't charge us any extras from there.  We did not use a TA and did it all directly through Viking.  Granted, this was all economy, but had very little fuss. LOVED our cruise on the Rhine by the way.

Our air is included with our Viking cruise but we want to arrive early and fly back from Milan rather than Budapest.  Do you think we need to sign up for Air Plus?  This is our first Viking cruise and I am a little confused and overwhelmed.  Thanks!