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Viking Air Plus question


Bear_mom
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I called and paid for the air plus to be able to pick our flights and was told to call the Viking Air Plus number in early September to be able to arrange our flights. Do we have to have our trip paid off before then?

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Your trip needs to be paid by whatever date was stated on your invoice when you placed your deposit. This varies based on a lot of factors (promotions, departure date, etc.). It should be clearly listed as Final Payment Date under your deposit amount on your invoice. Air Plus does not affect this date.

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Call Air Plus. They are great and will answer all your questions. We booked our air and had seat assignments 325 days out. Our final payment is not until October 1. Viking won’t actually ticket until 45-90 days out. Hope that helps.

 

 

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Our Viking cruise is Oct. 2019. Our TA told us that we can pick flights just New Year's 2019. Final payment is not due until May.

 

FWIW, Viking offered the May final payment date--didn't even have to ask for it. No need to pay a year in advance.

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The only limitation to working with Air Plus is time and your guest information form. For my cruise in April 2019, I could not make airfare reservations before June 2018. The guest forms for me and my girlfriend had to be completed, too.

 

Note that these are reservations only - tickets won't be issued until closer to the departure date. In addition, tickets will not be issued until you have paid in full. You can request early ticketing - if you plan on upgrading seats with points/miles, you should request early ticketing and then follow-up directly with the airline after paying in full.

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The only limitation to working with Air Plus is time and your guest information form. For my cruise in April 2019, I could not make airfare reservations before June 2018. The guest forms for me and my girlfriend had to be completed, too.

 

Note that these are reservations only - tickets won't be issued until closer to the departure date. In addition, tickets will not be issued until you have paid in full. You can request early ticketing - if you plan on upgrading seats with points/miles, you should request early ticketing and then follow-up directly with the airline after paying in full.

 

Yes, but the timing is an issue only because the flights themselves are not available for booking until that time. It is not a restriction imposed by Viking but by the airlines themselves. Even if you had tried to book flights on your own for your April, 2019 trip, flights would not have been available for booking before June, 2018.

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We will be on our first Viking River Cruise and booked with the $399 pp air promotion. Our trip is in May 2019 and final payment is due November 2018. Interested in others experience with these type of flights. Will they book the longest flights? If we pay the $50 can we upgrade to economy plus at a reasonable fee or is this unrealistic since our original cost was so low?

 

 

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We will be on our first Viking River Cruise and booked with the $399 pp air promotion. Our trip is in May 2019 and final payment is due November 2018. Interested in others experience with these type of flights. Will they book the longest flights? If we pay the $50 can we upgrade to economy plus at a reasonable fee or is this unrealistic since our original cost was so low?

 

 

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We've used the air promotion 3 times (once free) and the flights booked were comparable with what we could book on our own. In fact when I google the flight date and destinations, I can pretty much predict which flights they will book for us.

 

Ability to upgrades will depend on the airline and their policies.

Once I have the airline reservation number, I've always been able to go to the carrier's website and change my seat assignment. My last trip was a European carrier owned by Lufthansa Group and I was able to pay for seat upgrades. BTW most European carriers only issue free seat assignment 48 hours out for the European connecting flights. You need to pay if you want advanced seating.

 

One caveat, we live near a west coast hub so everything to Europe is always a red eye. Your mileage may vary.

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We've used the air promotion 3 times (once free) and the flights booked were comparable with what we could book on our own. In fact when I google the flight date and destinations, I can pretty much predict which flights they will book for us.

 

Ability to upgrades will depend on the airline and their policies.

Once I have the airline reservation number, I've always been able to go to the carrier's website and change my seat assignment. My last trip was a European carrier owned by Lufthansa Group and I was able to pay for seat upgrades. BTW most European carriers only issue free seat assignment 48 hours out for the European connecting flights. You need to pay if you want advanced seating.

 

One caveat, we live near a west coast hub so everything to Europe is always a red eye. Your mileage may vary.

 

 

 

We too are flying from the West coast. Fresno,CA so expect it too will connect for a red eye flight as well. I think we may just not even bother with the Air Plus and take our chances. Hopefully my husband will get an aisle seat!

 

 

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We too are flying from the West coast. Fresno,CA so expect it too will connect for a red eye flight as well. I think we may just not even bother with the Air Plus and take our chances. Hopefully my husband will get an aisle seat!

 

 

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You'll most likely be flying international out of SFO.

Our free flight 2 years ago was a non-stop on United from SFO to Paris CDG.

What cruise are you booked on?

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You'll most likely be flying international out of SFO.

Our free flight 2 years ago was a non-stop on United from SFO to Paris CDG.

What cruise are you booked on?

 

 

 

We are booked on the May 12th Paris and Heart of Normandy river cruise.

 

 

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Yes, but the timing is an issue only because the flights themselves are not available for booking until that time. It is not a restriction imposed by Viking but by the airlines themselves. Even if you had tried to book flights on your own for your April, 2019 trip, flights would not have been available for booking before June, 2018.

Oh for sure - didn't mean to imply that it was specifically a Viking issue. While Viking can be blamed or credited with a great many things, this would not be one of them.

 

We will be on our first Viking River Cruise and booked with the $399 pp air promotion. Our trip is in May 2019 and final payment is due November 2018. Interested in others experience with these type of flights. Will they book the longest flights? If we pay the $50 can we upgrade to economy plus at a reasonable fee or is this unrealistic since our original cost was so low?

 

 

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A question I had before was about this - the fare class that Viking uses could preclude the possibility of upgrades. Viking would not confirm the fare class for the tickets I have reserved and United was unable to tell me since the ticket was not yet issued. Based on multiple comments since then, though - such as OneSixtyToOne's above - that does not appear to be the case. Upgrade offers will otherwise vary by airline. Some offer auctions where you can 'bid' on a seat while others will just charge you a flat rate to upgrade (or both!). I have a United flight from SFO-ORD coming up; I booked economy but was offered first class for $689 at first - late last week, that offer was only $209.

 

If I bought tickets through a consolidator or some other bulk supplier, it may not be as easy to get upgrades. For example, if I get booked an N fare on United, I would be SOL.

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We are booked on the May 12th Paris and Heart of Normandy river cruise.

 

 

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That is the same cruise we flew non-stop SFO > CDG.

I'm sure you'll have a marvelous time.

Also, I highly recommend the Oxford and Downton Abbey extension.

You have access before anyone else arrives.

DkPnHzEUcAAIfpN.jpg

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We too are flying from the West coast. Fresno,CA so expect it too will connect for a red eye flight as well. I think we may just not even bother with the Air Plus and take our chances. Hopefully my husband will get an aisle seat!

 

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This is what I say to anybody who is in doubt about paying the fee. For $50 per person, you can choose your flights and usually your seats and you can ask about the upgrades you are interested in. While you are waiting to see what Viking has chosen for you, other people are paying the fee and making their choices. They are choosing the most convenient flight plans, making their upgrades and choosing the best seats. By the time you get your flight plan, your flights will have been chosen from what everybody else did not choose and if at that time you choose to pay the custom air fee and make changes, you are still going to be choosing from what is left over. It is along flight, you want to be comfortable, you want DH to be comfortable. The $100 is nothing compared to what you have already spent for this cruise and it will bring so much peace of mind.

 

Before you talk with Viking, look at flight plans and decide what works best for you.

 

 

We are going in March, 2019. We also have a very good deal on the airfare. Our TA talked with Viking in June and got us exactly what we wanted--nonstop Boston to Paris, a window and an aisle seats side by side plus, for an additional fee, we were able to deviate our flights so that we could arrive early.

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This is what I say to anybody who is in doubt about paying the fee. For $50 per person, you can choose your flights and usually your seats and you can ask about the upgrades you are interested in. While you are waiting to see what Viking has chosen for you, other people are paying the fee and making their choices. They are choosing the most convenient flight plans, making their upgrades and choosing the best seats. By the time you get your flight plan, your flights will have been chosen from what everybody else did not choose and if at that time you choose to pay the custom air fee and make changes, you are still going to be choosing from what is left over. It is along flight, you want to be comfortable, you want DH to be comfortable. The $100 is nothing compared to what you have already spent for this cruise and it will bring so much peace of mind.

 

 

 

Before you talk with Viking, look at flight plans and decide what works best for you.

 

 

 

 

 

We are going in March, 2019. We also have a very good deal on the airfare. Our TA talked with Viking in June and got us exactly what we wanted--nonstop Boston to Paris, a window and an aisle seats side by side plus, for an additional fee, we were able to deviate our flights so that we could arrive early.

 

 

 

Good to know. I will contact our TA.

 

 

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