MELso

For anyone in Italy on 26 May, you should note that a general strike has been called and this will affect train services (other than guaranteed services).

If you're travelling soon, you might want to check whether the transport options have been affected by the recent flooding. It was pretty severe in Ravenna and some attractions are closed as a result.

It depends on the relevant airline rebooking policy, but time-critical matters (like vacations) are one basis for getting priority when facing rebooking, whether with rerouting or on OAL (another airline). Naturally, airlines will give priority to rebooking on their own metal (hence why, if time permits, they'd re-route via SFO rather than rebook on another airline), but if this is problematic, then rebooking on another airline is possible, particularly if there are seats in an equivalent fare class (bucket of seats, rather than booking class like economy).

https://thepointsguy.com/news/aa-clarifies-how-pax-will-be-rebooked/ is a good article that explains how it works for American Airlines...

35 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Au contraire.

 

You are not guaranteed to get on another flight that same same.  You are contractually to be provided with transportation on the same airline on the next flight - with available seats.  They are not required to put you on a different carrier. Nor to bump someone else to make room for you.

 

Also, as far as the "plenty of airlines" -- there are four airlines flying between LAX and SYD, with each having ONE flight a day.

 

 

 

And Air NZ, Hawaiian and others going one stop.

It's quite true they're not contractually obliged to do so, and they certainly won't bump other passengers, but in practice, they will do a lot to accommodate you, particularly if you can research and provide alternative options (it may mean, for example, that the airline rebooks the OP on a flight to SYD via SFO, or puts you on an interline partner). Will it be the same same? No. Will it stick to the original routing? Also no. Will it be likely to get you where you want to be in a reasonably timely manner. If circumstances permit, yes...

Mascot airport is really close to Sydney (as in 25 minute door to door train trip close), and if you hadn't have booked the transfer (or can cancel it), I would've suggested buying an Opal card, catching the train in to Circular Quay station which drops you right near the Overseas Passenger Terminal (I presume that's where it's going from - if you're going from White Bay, it's a bit more of a faff to get to), finding a left luggage service and spending the day exploring Sydney.

As for flying in the day of the cruise, in the event of IRROPS, the airlines will sort you out with a flight on a different airline if need be, and there are plenty of airlines flying LAX-SYD that would get you there that day.

On 1/7/2023 at 3:21 PM, trupia816 said:

This spreadsheet just opens up blank for me, anyone else having this problem?

There's a blank tab in the first field. (It probably should be deleted...)

FWIW, attached is the bar menu from a recent cruise I went on on Le Lyrial showing what you get on the premium pass.

I got value from the premium pass well in excess of the price not just through the cocktails and whisky but also the red wine which was a cut above what was served in the dining room so I often took a couple of glasses down to dinner (despite my cruise being an oenological cruise - well at least theoretically as the red wine they served for the fancy gala dinner with the Michelin starred chef was a plonky $20 Argentinian Malbec, not the Gevrey Chambertin advertised which was really disappointed and the other wines were also ordinary although the champagne was Charles Heidsieck so that was something).

PONANT BAR MENU.pdf

It seems that Greece has (at long last) dropped the requirement for a RAT or PCR before embarking...

(EDIT - change took effect on 24 September it seems, and is reflected in the Ponant COVID booklet)

On 3/8/2019 at 4:13 AM, Zoyanatalya said:

We just recently made our final payment on a HAL cruise.  Our signature suite price dropped by 750 pp.  We were still in the stage where we would only lose our deposit if cancelled.   I booked with a big box travel agency.  I told them to call HAL to see if we could cancel, and of course lose our deposit, and rebook for the lower fare.  We would still have saved 750.00 by doing this.   They gave us 2 options.  1.  To cancel and rebook as stated or 2.  Be upgraded to a Neptune Suite at no additional cost. We could not believe it.  We grabbed that in a flash, as the reduced price of the Neptune suite was still 1450pp more than what we paid for our cabin.  Very pleased with this.  We are very excited as we have never had a Neptune Suite before.  

Just had a similar experience. I'm booked on a 10 night HAL cruise in early May and paid in full. At T-60, prices for non-refundable fares plunged by about 30%, so that Neptune suites cost about the same as what the Signature Suites were originally (I'd already got the first drop in prices before payment due date).

Wrote a polite letter to my TA that basically said 'I don't expect a refund but could you see whether HAL will give us an upgrade or some OBC'. HAL came back with a $A250 (~$US170) upsell offer from the SS Signature Suite to a SC Neptune Suite, so I grabbed that given that it comes with laundry (which is worth about $US90 on its own), more space (there are three of us travelling) and some other stuff.

A bargain given that SA suites are still another $2k (and the SC stateroom I booked is literally two doors down from SA), and we got to keep the $US250 in OBC we originally got...

On 1/5/2019 at 7:10 AM, dleighb said:

Is there any reason I should not save $1000 USD per person by booking this as two separate flights?

Your flight from SYD to New Zealand won't be on the same PNR, meaning the carrier from Australia to New Zealand won't have to help if the DFW-SYD flight gets in late.

But generally speaking, flights from Australia to NZ are like Australian domestic flights: bookable one way with no discount for the return leg.

One small mercy is that, while you'd have to clear customs and check in again, you don't have to transit from international to domestic in SYD, which is awful...