"free airfare" on a BtoB cruise

[basedow]

I have searched but unsuccessfully for a discussion about how the "free airfare" on a back to back cruise is handled.

 

Is one segment discounted if the "free airfare" is taken? In other words, is the second segment discounted?

 

Thanks.

[alidor]

A simple solution-call the cruise line and ask them.

[basedow]

That's true.

 

However, I thought others might have encountered or will encounter this question and it would be nice to have it out there.

[Island Cruiser]

We were very seriously considering a b2b on Silversea sailings both of which advertised free air. We checked. They would give us free air each way based on the first segment but not an air credit for the second segment even though there would be lots of single segment passengers on the second segment who would be getting free air. It was a deal breaker for us. We didn't like the sound of that and booked a Regent cruise instead. These issues matter! Pat

[basedow]

Yes Pat. I agree there should be a credit on the second segment. We'll see if Regent handles it that way. I'll call Monday and post the results.

 

Thanks for your response.

[DaveFr]

basedow,

 

Until we switched to the 12/3/10 Cape Town to Ft. Lauderdale cruise, we were booked on a B2B 11/8/10 15-day TA on Voyager plus a 11/23/10 seven-day Western Caribbean on Voyager. I wanted to use Regent Air because of the $999 business class upgrade special. My understanding was that if I used half the included air on each cruise segment, Regent would no longer give an air credit for the unused air.

 

The solution was to do an air deviation on the TA segment so that my return flight from Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego took place after the Caribbean cruise returned to Ft. Lauderdale (i.e., the flights on the TA segment would have been 11/4/10 to Barcelona and 11/30/10 to San Diego). I declined the included air on the Caribbean segment of the B2B and received the full air credit.

 

Hopefully, something similar to the above will work for you and get you the air credit discount on one of the B2B segments.

 

Dave

[basedow]

Dave,

 

Very clever of you!

 

This may not work in our situation however, as the original terminus is Athens and doing a second segment results in disembarking in Venice.

 

I presume if we do our own air for the whole trip we would get the credit on each segment.

 

Thanks for your input. I think I am beginning to understand how it works with the cruise lines contracting with the airlines.

 

Carolyn

[Wendy The Wanderer]

You do get some kind of discount for a B to B. I can't remember whether it's related to air or not, but I believe it is (we did this once on the PG, which did not have included air, but for which we booked air with the cruise line.)

[jstone99]

I have searched but unsuccessfully for a discussion about how the "free airfare" on a back to back cruise is handled.

 

Is one segment discounted if the "free airfare" is taken? In other words, is the second segment discounted?

 

Thanks.

 

For B to B cruises Regent does not automatically give the air discount. Think it may be a system issue. All you need to do is ask the reservation agent and they will manually give you the discount. You will get half discount on the first segment and half discount on the second segment.

[hondorner]

Our b2b is on Oceania, but I believe the air departments on both are the same. We also only needed air in one direction because our first leg departs from Miami, our home airport. Still, even with those differences, I think our experience might be helpful.

 

What we did was to request an air credit for both cruises, as if we were going to book our own air. Then, we asked for a deviation from Rome back to Miami. We paid the $100 deviation fee, and still saved a lot of money over booking our own one-way flight. Our total air credits were almost $2,000 per person total for the 2 cruises, and our flight from Rome ended up being $600 per person, including the deviation fee.

 

If you were to take the air credit for both cruises, then request a deviation for cruise #1 to Athens and a deviation for cruise #2 from Venice, it should turn out to be better than not getting an air credit, and it might turn out better than booking your own.

 

You did not mention if you are working with a travel agent; a good agent can handle all the negotiations with Regent, and might even get both deviations under one fee.

[basedow]

Thanks to all for your help.

 

There do seem to be some contradictions in how Regent has handled particular B2Bs, notably Dave's, Don's and jpstone's.

 

I tried to call our agent but the agency seems to be closed on this holiday. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Darn! I can't wait to start dreaming of this cruise!

[basedow]

Here's the word from Regent for 2011 B2B segments:

 

The second segment air is not charged if you are taking their air.

 

I believe both air charges are credited if you decline their air.

 

Even our experienced agent got tripped up initially on this, saying that the second air was charged as well as the first.

 

This makes for a very nice savings on a B2B!

[cruiseluv]

Do they offer any special discount if you book a B2B? I thought they used to give 5% additional.

[Travelcat2]

basedow,

 

Until we switched to the 12/3/10 Cape Town to Ft. Lauderdale cruise, we were booked on a B2B 11/8/10 15-day TA on Voyager plus a 11/23/10 seven-day Western Caribbean on Voyager. I wanted to use Regent Air because of the $999 business class upgrade special. My understanding was that if I used half the included air on each cruise segment, Regent would no longer give an air credit for the unused air.

 

The solution was to do an air deviation on the TA segment so that my return flight from Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego took place after the Caribbean cruise returned to Ft. Lauderdale (i.e., the flights on the TA segment would have been 11/4/10 to Barcelona and 11/30/10 to San Diego). I declined the included air on the Caribbean segment of the B2B and received the full air credit.

 

Hopefully, something similar to the above will work for you and get you the air credit discount on one of the B2B segments.

 

Dave

 

You switched to probably the best itinerary we have ever been on (exception: we did not do Rio to Ft. Lauderdale). The air deal is amazing. We enjoyed South Africa so much, we wanted to go back and checked airfare (no cruise -- no hotels). British Air quoted $18,000 for Business Class Air for two..........think we'll go elsewhere,.

[Eager2Travel]

Our b2b is on Oceania, but I believe the air departments on both are the same. We also only needed air in one direction because our first leg departs from Miami, our home airport. Still, even with those differences, I think our experience might be helpful.

 

What we did was to request an air credit for both cruises, as if we were going to book our own air. Then, we asked for a deviation from Rome back to Miami. We paid the $100 deviation fee, and still saved a lot of money over booking our own one-way flight. Our total air credits were almost $2,000 per person total for the 2 cruises, and our flight from Rome ended up being $600 per person, including the deviation fee.

 

If you were to take the air credit for both cruises, then request a deviation for cruise #1 to Athens and a deviation for cruise #2 from Venice, it should turn out to be better than not getting an air credit, and it might turn out better than booking your own.

 

You did not mention if you are working with a travel agent; a good agent can handle all the negotiations with Regent, and might even get both deviations under one fee.

Don,

I am still trying to figure this out. If you got an air credit, how were you able to then get them to book air for you even with the deviation fee.

[hondorner]

Don,

I am still trying to figure this out. If you got an air credit, how were you able to then get them to book air for you even with the deviation fee.

It's complicated, but essentially they had given me the air credit for the second leg, but rescinded it, figured the actual cost of the one-way flight from Rome, then restored what was left as an air credit. In other words, I got half an air credit for the half of the flight plan that I did not use. I also paid a deviation fee for the privilege. I still got the full credit for the fist leg, because I will drive to the embarkation port, and already be in the embarkation port for the second leg.

 

How did this save me money? They can book a one-way flight a heck of a lot cheaper than I can.

 

Frankly, I didn't pay much attention to the bookkeeping mechanisms until you asked. All I actually cared about was that my bottom line only went up by $501 per person after I paid the deviation fee (which is paid immediately and is not refundable).

 

This was part of our strategy for booking the b2b. We get two cruises, which would involve 4 flights for the average person who has to fly to the embarkation ports, and only have to make 1 flight home. Coupled with the b2b discounts, that was irresistable.

 

Remember, this was Oceania, but I'm willing to bet the policies are the same on Regent, if not the actual personnel.

[basedow]

Yes, there is still a discount for booking a B2B that has nothing to do with the air credit.: