RTR 21-0

Thanks so much for taking time to list step by step how customs work! Very much appreciated for us newbie international travelers.

Kdkstormy, have been following your posts and am further happy with our decision to book directly with AA. Hope your nightmare bookings and re-bookings work out for you.

The same thing happened to me on a 4 hour flight and it was very unpleasant. The guy wouldn’t move it up. We’re always respectful of those sitting behind us but know it’s not guaranteed from those in front of us. Might have to take our chance on that front row and see which way the dice rolls.

After going back and forth between keeping our booking with FBC or booking directly with AA we decided to book with AA. Reading all the recent reviews on FBC helped make the decision. Booking a flexible ticket directly with AA was $188 more but feel it would be best dealing directly with them in case something goes wrong. Flight isn’t until next May and hopefully we won’t have any issues to find out. I was told by an AA rep (and not sure if it’s true) that if a flight is booked by a third party company and we have issues with flights and can’t get through to 3rd party rep we could be charged $50 pp for each issue that comes up. Someone else might have direct knowledge of this and post to help others trying to decide booking directly with airline or deferring cost and booking with FBC or other company.

This is a great idea for a little extra peace of mind especially traveling internationally. Do you put them in the front pocket of suitcase or place on top of clothes in the main section or does it matter?

We have never flown internationally and have our first flight from the US to Rome booked May 2023, flying in two days early. Could someone explain how customs works at airports? We have our Global cards but I’m not sure of the procedure. I’m assuming it’s an area everyone has to go through to show cards or passports before proceeding to baggage claim? Also, flights are booked through AA with a connecting flight in Dallas. Connection times are 1 hr 5 min outbound and 1 hr 30 min return. Wondering if we should change to flights with longer connection times. TIA for the replies.

Booking our trip to Rome next May on American Airlines in Premium Economy on a 772-Boening 777. Shows a 2-4-2 seat configuration with three rows in PE. Since it's so far out seat selection is pretty open. I'm aware flights can change before then but for now we are looking at seats 13 A/C or 13 J/L (two seats on either side of the 4 seat middle section) mainly for that extra leg room. Row 15 doesn't look appealing to hubby because he said the seats look like they don't recline as far back (looks like a partition behind it). The AA agent I spoke with said if someone with a baby needs a bassinette they would be moved to row 13 and we would possibly be moved to another row, although she did say she doesn't think that many people fly internationally with babies. Row 14 looks like there's also plenty of leg room but not sure how far back the seats recline and don't want someone reclining in my lap for 8 hours lol. For all of you frequent international fliers who have flown on this airplane in PE, which seats do you prefer and why? This will be our first international flight and looking for any suggestions from the pros on seat selection and also tips to make the flight more comfortable. Thanks in advance!

I’m sorry I didn’t make my last sentence very clear. I was actually referring to purchasing a flexible premium economy directly through AA. An AA rep told me the other day a flexible premium economy ticket is fully refundable back to credit card if we cancel any time before date of flight and if we change we pay the difference if it’s more or we receive the difference in vouchers if it’s less. Sounds great to me but would like to hear from someone who has had this experience.

Last week I booked a May 2023 flight on AA/BA through Celebrity Air. The agent on the phone selected my seats on each flight but making sure I knew they wouldn't be guaranteed until final payment was made. She gave me the record locator information noting that BA was a different number. While we were on the phone I went to both the AA and BA websites, put in the locator info and saw our seats were x'd out. If I'm not mistaken I think when I entered the BA locator info it took me to the BA website and there was a section to the right of the screen to choose seats. A screen popped up asking if it was ok to share seat selection with AA. Hope that helps.

Last week I booked through FBC American premium for May 2023 flight to Rome with one stop in Dallas. Was able to choose seats and when I go on AA website as well as British Air they show the seats are chosen. As Dar & Bob experienced, I checked prices today on FBC and they have gone up through the with only one premium economy flight to choose from. Still tossing around purchasing the tickets directly through AA as they are flexible tickets and only $200 more which is what FBC will charge if we make changes after final payment is made. It's my understanding a flexible premium economy ticket is fully refundable but if anyone has experience where this isn't the case, please let me know.

LOL love it and she was so right 😉

Booked our flights through Celebrity this afternoon. Was able to get in/outbound on American. One of the legs is on British Airways. I was able to pick our seats on all flights. When I put in the code share # for our connecting flight from Dallas to Rome on American's website it directed me to British Airways and I was asked to check a box if ok to share seating info. with American. Sure thing. So I can see by doing a mock booking on American Airline's website that all of the seats I chose for all flights are X'd out but I know that really doesn't mean much until tickets are paid for. Has anyone that has flown British Airways and/or American in the past not had their seat selection honored? Would really love the seats we chose but would really love to keep our $ for another 8 months lol. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Thank you all so much for the info. So very helpful and much appreciated. Just booked our flights through Celebrity and going to take a few days to research all of our hotel options. Getting the flights booked has me just as excited as when we booked the cruise. Will be keeping my fingers crossed tightly until final payment that we get the seats we selected 🤞

That's the type of place we're looking for, somewhere to watch the comings and goings. We will only have two days pre cruise and one post cruise so yes, I'm trying to make the most of those days and plan wisely.

Thank you! I like the sound of the hop on hop off buses. The flight I'm looking at will land at 8:00 a.m. and I'm sure check in at any hotel won't be available until the afternoon. Dropping off luggage and spending that day on one of the buses might be the way to go since I'm sure we'll be a bit tired from the flight.

Thank you so much! I look forward to reading your post and gathering information in the other forum. Ireland is on our travel bucket list but yes, I have heard that Italy/Rome is a magical place and May 2023 can't get here fast enough.

Thank you 🙂

I didn't say I was going to book through Celebrity. Simply weighing my options and trying to gather information. No need to begin your reply to me so brash. I think my original post was pretty clear that I don't have a history using Hotels by Celebrity and was looking for information.

Anyone booked a hotel in Rome through Celebrity? If so, which one and location? Pros/cons booking hotel with Celebrity? Never been to Rome but I've been told by several people to stay in the city center. I'm going to check out the Rome forum but any and all suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks for that info. Waiting a few more days for AA to release their flights for our time period of travel to compare to XAir then I'll be booking somewhere! Probably XAir since I can defer payment a little longer.

Next May for us also. American should have their return date for ours out next Tuesday.

Thanks for those explanations. Makes more sense to me now. I would really like the option to choose our own seats and last time I booked with FBC I knew there was a possibility the seats chosen wouldn't be the exact ones until final payment. American's prices currently are pretty close to what FBC is offering and I don't mind paying flight upfront for a refundable ticket. That being said, how far in advance do y'all book international flights for premium economy? I've heard prices are expected to skyrocket even more in the near future. Our cruise is next May.

Not that familiar with the air industry other than booking flights. My question is. does anyone know why FBC contracts or uses different carriers for inbound and outbound flights? For instance, last year I could book a flight with FBC on American and get a return flight on American. Looking at flights now and I can book on American, Delta or United to get to Rome but only options on my return flight would be on United or Lufthansia. When I checked the American Airlines website both outbound and inbound flights are on American. I'm guessing it's a contract with FBC but not sure and this is more a curiosity question for y'all.

Has anyone booked a flight on American through Celebrity, been able to pick your seats prior to final payment and those seats actually be available on your travel date? We cancelled our May 2022 Rome cruise and have booked for May 2023. In 2021 I was able to select our seats on American through Celebrity and when I looked at the seat selections on the American website they were X'd out. Obviously we don't know if the seats would have been ours since we didn't cruise this year. I'm at the flight booking stage again and trying to decide between American, 1 stop, refundable w/$200 change fee or United, 2 stops, non refundable but says pre-reserved seat assignment. Thanks in advance for all replies.

Thank you Mark_T 🍻