Experience with Air Divination?

Different from Mura, I fly out of one of those non gateway cities. Since we always fly in early, free air, per person, then becomes $99x2=$198+175=$373, plus if you want the $99 each way (x2)=$198 Premium Economy upgrade you have = $571 in costs to add to your air allowance. I have most always found doing my own Air allows for greater flexibility at often lower prices than O's offerings. Plus, as I posted on a different thread, waiting until O's 270 day window can put one to late for any premium economy seating.

We just booked Venice to Athens for July 2018 and chose Olife air. The air credit was 1100pp. We will pay the deviation fee because we want to spend 3 nights in Venice, and 2 nights in Athens. Also opted for the PE upgrade both ways. The upgrade was 149pp , so 596 total. We are flying from Chicago. So at the 270 day mark, I can submit my preferred flights to my TA? I did a dummy search on ita matrix, and one way flights Ord to VCE with PE are in the 2000-3000.00 range, one way! I didn't even look up the return fare from Athens. Am I missing something, or isn't the O fare a great deal?

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We just booked Venice to Athens for July 2018 and chose Olife air. The air credit was 1100pp. We will pay the deviation fee because we want to spend 3 nights in Venice, and 2 nights in Athens. Also opted for the PE upgrade both ways. The upgrade was 149pp , so 596 total. We are flying from Chicago. So at the 270 day mark, I can submit my preferred flights to my TA? I did a dummy search on ita matrix, and one way flights Ord to VCE with PE are in the 2000-3000.00 range, one way! I didn't even look up the return fare from Athens. Am I missing something, or isn't the O fare a great deal?

 

 

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sometimes it works sometimes it does not

You have to weigh the options for your specific needs

try the multi city tab on Matrix probably not much cheaper than 2 one ways but sometimes it works out better ;)

We just booked Venice to Athens for July 2018 and chose Olife air. The air credit was 1100pp. We will pay the deviation fee because we want to spend 3 nights in Venice, and 2 nights in Athens. Also opted for the PE upgrade both ways. The upgrade was 149pp , so 596 total. We are flying from Chicago. So at the 270 day mark, I can submit my preferred flights to my TA? I did a dummy search on ita matrix, and one way flights Ord to VCE with PE are in the 2000-3000.00 range, one way! I didn't even look up the return fare from Athens. Am I missing something, or isn't the O fare a great deal?

 

 

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One way flights cost about the same as round trips. You need to use the "multi city" tab and put in the information on the ITA Software or Kayak sites.

My wife and I booked a Mediterranean cruise in August of 2017 including air only because it seemed like a good deal. We did not book directly through Oceania and, regrettably, didn't do our homework before booking; the result is it seems we'll get what we get relative to the air. We're in the dark regarding how many stops there will be on the flights between the US and Europe (going and returning home), what carrier we will be flying on, and the time between when the plane arrives vis-?-vis when the ship sails at the beginning of the cruise and the time between when the ship docks at the last port (Barcelona) and when the plane departs Barcelona. We are assuming the air will be "economy" (not a days that probably means some when not in the "main cabin" (?). We were told-- an "oh by the way"--Oceania doesn?t include transfers, so we will fend for ourselves in this regard.

 

We wanted to modify the air travel at the end of the cruise to remain in Barcelona a few days.

When we telephoned the TA we used (and subsequently Oceania), we got the same answer: there will be the deviation fee for each of us plus some "unknown difference" in cost of the Oceania air fare and what we want (which is a flight a few days later). We were told we could amend the booking and not have to pay the deviation fee but this required us to book a hotel in Barcelona through Oceania. When we checked this option it was crazy costly. We have decided to take whatever it is we get and know not to book "air included" in the future.

 

You should really contact Oceania through your TA or directly and start the Air Deviation request process. There is NO DOWNSIDE as you do not get charged until you commit and confirm the dates to your satisfaction.

The process for me exceeded my expectations honestly, I just gave them preferred departure/arrival windows, airports and hard dates on when we were flying in and flying out. There was no non-stop option regardless even on the carrier websites, and only 1 layover on both flights that we got back from O.

Also, no difference in flight cost differential even though we chose to stay 4 nights longer in Rome and flew out on a Sunday instead of a weekday. Very pleased with the process overall, and as I said, a lot of your concerns could've been addressed if you just put in a request and see what they can do for you!

I did the multi city tab again just picking dummy dates close to my cruise and using premium economy the fair still came out to between 5000-6000/couple! I guess I'll be arranging for that deviation!

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Is it possible to cancel O air flights, with deviation, and get a refund of both the airfare and the deviation fee?

I booked with O and the deviation when it looked like the flight I wanted was filling up quickly and I wouldn't be able to get seats.

I now have an opportunity on a different airline that is running a fare sale with a significant reduction, and it has added a flight that makes it more attractive than it was when I made my deviation decision.

Some cruisers only consider the absolute bottom dollar, but for some there are other considerations. Let me give you just one. With all of the woe is me Airlines stories going around currently, there is one with a couple crying over being bumped from their flight and missing the ship. Why were they bumped? The flight was oversold and the airline couldn't get volunteers to take a bump. Those cruise lines bulk price air tickets are the lowest Class tickets sold. The couple got bumped because they were holding tickets that get bumped first. I will gladly pay a bit more just to not be holding an O bulk rate ticket at its basement level Class.

Is it possible to cancel O air flights, with deviation, and get a refund of both the airfare and the deviation fee?

I booked with O and the deviation when it looked like the flight I wanted was filling up quickly and I wouldn't be able to get seats.

I now have an opportunity on a different airline that is running a fare sale with a significant reduction, and it has added a flight that makes it more attractive than it was when I made my deviation decision.

The deviation fee is non refundable once you pay it

I found Oceania air to be decently priced even with the air deviation fee. We just returned from Barcelona to Athens cruise and live in Florida. I picked exact flights and dates and they booked them for a price slightly better than I could myself. Since it was on Delta, I then upgraded to Economy Comfort

Seats on the two international flights. Also we did get our frequent flyer points no issue. While chatting with other Floridians over dinner at Jacques they told us they had Oceania book their flights without air deviation and without extra nights in Athens. They were to fly Athens to DUBAI then Dubai to Orlando. I can't imagine how awful that would have been.

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I found Oceania air to be decently priced even with the air deviation fee. We just returned from Barcelona to Athens cruise and live in Florida. I picked exact flights and dates and they booked them for a price slightly better than I could myself. Since it was on Delta, I then upgraded to Economy Comfort

Seats on the two international flights. Also we did get our frequent flyer points no issue. While chatting with other Floridians over dinner at Jacques they told us they had Oceania book their flights without air deviation and without extra nights in Athens. They were to fly Athens to DUBAI then Dubai to Orlando. I can't imagine how awful that would have been.

 

 

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Might depend on the airline. I hear there are some pretty nice airlines flying out of Dubai.

I'm in a similar situation regarding airfare. We will be sailing in September and chose Premium Economy. Because we are flying in a few days early, we have the $175 p/p air deviation fee but O just gave us the proposed flights and the outbound flight is good but is on Air France and now they want an extra $250 p/p, plus the $99 each way for Premium Economy and the $175 air deviation fee. Plus, the return flight leaves Barcelona at 10 am when the ship docks at 8 am. When I questioned this, the TA was advised, the ship actually gets in at 6 am and we have time to get to the airport. When asked for an alternative, we were given a flight with 2 stops home and a huge layover at one airport. I'm extremely frustrated right now but nothing is booked so I'm going to check on getting our own air. Anyone know about taking a 10 am flight --- think we could make it without extreme stress?

I would do the research and look at other alternatives. That is a bit to tight for my comfort. Even if the ship docks at 6:00 , and you and your luggage are in the first group off, I wouldn't plan on actually be able to leave the dock until after 7:00. AF does allow its PE customers to check in using the BC/FC line which might help some Fwiw, AF has the worst PE seats in the industry. They don't recline and are uncomfortable. You can google it and find multiple postings on TripAdvisor and elsewhere.

Here's what I did - we prefer Delta and needed good layovers (not too short or long) due to husbands mobility and we stayed 2 nights post cruise. So we did the air deviation with PE but the flights they gave us were awful. So instead of accepting them we had our TA remove the PE (which limits you to certain airlines) asked for specific Delta flights, had them book them for a little less all together than I could do myself. I then upgraded them to Deltas Economy Comfort which Oceania couldn't do for us, and it turned out great.

So it makes sense to figure out your own flights then see if O can do it cheaper. For us on this past Med cruise they were able to help us.

Our next cruise is Cuba so I simply declined that air all together - we are just a few hours by car from Miami.

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We have occasionally used O's air but have not used their transfers and in particular have not used their hotels. This was never required of us, and I agree with you that paying their rates for a hotel is generally insane. I did see in the past year one or two cruises where the hotel package was based on the room cost, not per couple, but the norm is per couple ... which makes their charges insane. On occasion I have booked the same hotel O is using for a fraction of the cost.

 

I would question the alleged requirement that you must use their hotel package with a deviation. Perhaps it is because your trip is only six months off ... but I fail to see why that should be the case.

 

With a deviation you can control any extra stops more easily. For us, leaving from NYC airports, this is generally not a problem. But for people from other parts of the country -- if you aren't in a gateway city -- it CAN be a real problem.

 

Good luck.

 

Mura

Think that the OP was saying that they could get the air changed to allow a post cruise stay in Barcelona WITHOUT paying for an air deviation if they booked the post cruise hotel stay with Oceania. This has been my experience as well.

That is correct but depending on the length of your stay and what you are paying through O, you may be better off with the deviation.

When you are at the gold level, you no longer have to pay the fee and we'll be there for our next cruise.