$99 Premium Economy Air Upgrade

We opted for the air deviation with Oceania Air because we wanted to get in to Barcelona a day early. We are very happy with our flights and seat assignments. We also chose the $99 premium economy upgrade. We are scheduled on Lufthansa from Seattle to Frankfurt, then on to Barcelona. Returning from Lisbon we fly BA to London, then on to Seattle. I was concerned that they would send us on some of the very circuitous flights that I had seen on Expedia to save money, but they got us the most direct flights available and got us seat assignments in the side configuration where there are just two seats together. Premium economy is not available on the flights within Europe, but they are both short flights. The long flights are the ones I was concerned about. Based on our experience, I would definitely recommend Oceania Air.

Wren;

 

Another piece of advice. When you book with a deviation, be sure to ask O, with whom( which airlines) will they actually ticket each leg with. O sometimes books domestic flights with one carrier and the international flight with another carrier. Some of those international carriers will then not talk to you, period. They will only give notifications to O, who will then relay them through your TA to you.

 

This is the real problem you should know and understand.... when you book through a 3rd party, O, expedia, travelocity,priceline.....It is they who are the ticket holder...NOT YOU. This is why you should seriously never ever book a flight through one of these 3 rd parties. The passenger rights thus become assigned to the people you bought the ticket from ...NOT YOU. The ticket is purchased for a specific flight on a specific date and a specific hour. Change any of those and the provider, NOT YOU , is who needs to discuss or renegotiate the ticket/fare.

At the airport with a cancel flights... they may not re book you...unless an agreement is reached with the 3rd party who bought the ticket !!!!

 

Unless the O deal is extremely good I will always do my own booking and take the Air credit

Thank you StanandJim, I decided we will do the air deviation for this itinerary and I will contact Oceania on Monday to make the arrangements. Will Oceania give me the flight information and options at that time, or at a later date? Does Oceania make a concerted effort to make flight itinerary's better when you pay the air deviation? What is the air deviation cost per person? Thank you.

It's all pretty confusing, isn't it? I would trust what Stan & Jim say about deviation fees since you're using the pre-cruise hotel, but..not sure whether that still pertains if you ask to choose your own flights. But you can decide before you decide on the deviation fee.

When we did PE with Oceania (one way, on a transatlantic), we paid the fee, since there was no pre-cruise hotel involved. But I went through the flight websites and chose the exact flights we wanted (with a second choice to be safe.) Then requested those flights. From YYZ you should have lots of choices, since it's a major hub. Air Canada flies non-stop to Rome (we're flying that way business in September), but you'd have to look at their Premium Economy options on that route, since they are just now beginning to re-configure their planes to offer this class of service. If you flew British Airways, or Air France, you'd have to fly to their hub first, London and Paris respectively, not direct. Alitalia may have PE as well, and may have non-stop flights to Rome from Toronto, you'd have to check.

The point is *I* picked out the flights first and made the proposal to Oceania. They accepted it, without an upcharge.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to provide detailed responses. I have learned a lot going forward from all your posts so next time I will be equipped to make better decisions.

I should mention that this cruise Pathways & Piazzas disembarking from Rome, came about due to our Alaska cruise in July being overbooked and we decided to take the upgrade and selected this itinerary. Originally going to Alaska from YYZ via Seattle was a simpler process than what we are dealing with currently.

However, I spoke with Oceania today and inquired on the air deviation process as it stands now for our cruise. Since I booked directly with Oceania for the hotel and cruise with air, I am going to continue to work with Oceania versus a TA.

Oceania explained that the "included" air deviation (we booked a hotel through Oceania for the day prior to embarkation) only applies to having a departure date one day prior to the cruise. But since we checked the flights, we discovered if we leave YYZ one day before the cruise, we would not arrive into Rome until very late into the eve of the cruise and in some cases arriving on the embarkation day. So if we want to fly two days in advance of the cruise we have to pay the air deviation $175 pp again so to speak.

I was also told by Oceania that the air deviation and the $99 premium economy air upgrade can be combined. I should hear back from the air deviation department within 48 hours via email and will review the flights they propose based on my recommendations. I do hope all this works out.

Oceania explained that the "included" air deviation (we booked a hotel through Oceania for the day prior to embarkation) only applies to having a departure date one day prior to the cruise. But since we checked the flights, we discovered if we leave YYZ one day before the cruise, we would not arrive into Rome until very late into the eve of the cruise and in some cases arriving on the embarkation day. So if we want to fly two days in advance of the cruise we have to pay the air deviation $175 pp again so to speak.

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I think there is still some confusion here maybe it is me

If you booked the hotel package you will arrive the day before the cruise & leave usually 2 days before

Say as an example the cruise is departing on the 10th

Your flight would most likely be on the late afternoon/evening of the 8th arriving in the morning of the 9th

your hotel would be on the 9th-10th

EG

A/C has a flight at 1600 arriving in FCO at 0830 the next day

There should be no extra deviation fee involved

+1

Once you've either booked a hotel package or paid the Deviation fee, you're covered, unless your request is completely outrageous.

The only person that I've ever heard of being denied (some of you out there may remember this) was a woman friend who wanted to leave the USA 3 weeks in advance of the cruise to spend time with her daughter, who was "in between school terms" in Switzerland.

Oceania felt that request was beyond the pale.

Thank you for your replies. I confirmed with Oceania based on StanandJim's and LHT28 posts it appears as per the post that I won't need to spend an air deviation fee after all. Our hotel is booked for Oct 14th in Rome therefore Oceania advised they will be flying us out on the 13th arriving on the 14th which was what we were hoping to do and thought we would need to pay an air deviation to do this. Even though I won't know the air arrangements for another 20 days, we are hoping for the best in terms of the flights but our main concern was departing on the 13th arriving on the 14th with enough time to enjoy our pre-cruise time in Rome.

Thank you for your replies. I confirmed with Oceania based on StanandJim's and LHT28 posts it appears as per the post that I won't need to spend an air deviation fee after all. Our hotel is booked for Oct 14th in Rome therefore Oceania advised they will be flying us out on the 13th arriving on the 14th which was what we were hoping to do and thought we would need to pay an air deviation to do this. Even though I won't know the air arrangements for another 20 days, we are hoping for the best in terms of the flights but our main concern was departing on the 13th arriving on the 14th with enough time to enjoy our pre-cruise time in Rome.

Glad you got it sorted out

Did you ask if you could choose your flights or routing??

Hope you get the nonstop

I did ask LHT28 if I could chose my routing but was told I would have to pay the air deviation if I did. Oddly enough, the Oceania agent said my flights have already been completed but that I have to wait 20 more days to find out what they are.