This Wiil Be Our Last Time On Oceania Air

[Mexfolkart]

We are all set exactly as we wanted to be. Not upset at all about paying the deviation fees etc. We did have our flights guaranteed before we paid the fees.

Sherry

[JimandStan]

Well, JimandStan used my name with Silkman's quote, so I guess it is contagious.

 

The issue with that quote has to do with the way that Silkman constructed post #67.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

This is a good thread with lots of great ideas, so I thought I'd ask some questions.

 

I've been poking around to see how to get to Barcelona, probaby from Miami (Nov/2013, so I'm just speculating). I can't see a way of doing this in anything resembling Premium Economy, nor for any kind of good price, so Oceania Air will almost certainly win out, and we will have to fly Coach--good thing it's only one way!

 

What's the likely carrier/route that Oceania would choose for us on that route? I see that AA has a non-stop flight, but other airlines may too. Would we have to pay extra for the non-stop flight? We certainly will be deviating, and have no problem with that, but how much extra would we be likely to pay?

 

I have little experience with current US airlines, and no hope of upgrading with points (although I am Star Alliance so would welcome collecting points with one of their members.)

 

And lastly, how bad is American Airlines these days?

[DocDesdin]

Just as a quick aside concerning seat changes, I fly Delta frequently and on 3 of my last 5 flights my seats were changed when I boarded the plane even though I had printed boarding passes the day before with the seats I had chosen. I also recently read an article in the newspaper stating this was becoming a more common occurence.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I think I'm going to ask my questions above in a new thread.

[The Barran]

We had a similar experience flying from rome to toronto on alitalia. Now we book our own air

[titong]

They may not have the option to upgrade depending on the class of their tickets purchased by O. We can't for our upcoming Riviera cruise (not Delta airlines)

 

That is interesting. I have booked a Dec.7 flight through Crystal air department. The Delta flight is JFK to Barcelona and the return flight is United Airlines from Lisbon to Washington Dulles. Both Delta and United told me that I could upgrade for about $80 to Economy Plus. However, Crystal would have to ticket ie pay for the tickets first. I called Crystal and they told me that they charge $100 for early ticketing, or I could take my chances and wait. Maybe they stated Delta and United might have Economy Plus seats available. I did not want to take any chances, so I paid the $100 early ticketing fee. I now have Economy Plus seats both ways. I just went ahead and paid the $100 early ticketing fee. It was worth it to me.

[Hawaiidan]

Many will not agree: take the credit and book your own air and control your

situation! ;)

 

I always take the air credit because I have prefered status with United and can get the flights, seats and schedules I want... many times first or business seats where it count.. ( like on 11 hour flights) or aisle or prefered economy.

 

While it may sound good to have someone plan for you, a third party reservation has room for a lot of problem. as you do not own the tickets properly.. Oceania does. ( same with priceline and expedia etc)

 

A poor series of flights will destroy you mentaly and physicaly....it is not a place to skimp for the best deal.

[writer100]

I think I'm going to ask my questions above in a new thread.

Hope I caught you in time. AA is great on long flights in biz as all seats convert to flat beds.On shorter flights, well, the general pix of "sardines" is probably appropriate. We have flown BA- MIA rt in economy and it was, um, memorable. The biz class flights are a dream--you can actually fall asleep! If you are flying to South America and have AAdvantage miles or BA avious points you can trade them for flights on LAN, which has a very strong presence in SA. Multi-stop flights are not necessarily cheaper than non-stops; the airline has to pay more landing fees and fuel consumption is greatest on take-offs.. On baggage, remember that when you fly in Europe on local flights your international luggage allowance no longer applies. The strictly enforced limits per person are: 1 checked piece max of 22 kilos--whether you pay for it or not depends on your ticket--and one carry-on of no more than 10 kilos. Just to heighten your anxiety, some U.S. roll-ons that fit into on board storage compartment above your seat on U.S. flights will not fit on European flights because there the compartments are a tad smaller. If you need to check your suddenly unwieldy roll-on it can cost you an outlandish sum. So, pack with care, and keep an eye on the baggage scale at the U.S. airline counter to see what various pieces weigh.

[hondorner]

That is interesting. I have booked a Dec.7 flight through Crystal air department. The Delta flight is JFK to Barcelona and the return flight is United Airlines from Lisbon to Washington Dulles. Both Delta and United told me that I could upgrade for about $80 to Economy Plus. However, Crystal would have to ticket ie pay for the tickets first. I called Crystal and they told me that they charge $100 for early ticketing, or I could take my chances and wait. Maybe they stated Delta and United might have Economy Plus seats available. I did not want to take any chances, so I paid the $100 early ticketing fee. I now have Economy Plus seats both ways. I just went ahead and paid the $100 early ticketing fee. It was worth it to me.

You can also upgrade to Delta Economy Plus with Oceania tickets, provided they are "ticketed" -- i.e., paid for by Oceania. We did that on our flight to Riviera's christening cruise. You can ask your TA to request the ticketing. If Oceania agrees, there is no early ticketing fee..

 

I think the "class of ticket" situation refers to upgrading to Business Class, not Economy Plus

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Hope I caught you in time. AA is great on long flights in biz as all seats convert to flat beds.On shorter flights, well, the general pix of "sardines" is probably appropriate. We have flown BA- MIA rt in economy and it was, um, memorable. The biz class flights are a dream--you can actually fall asleep! ... On baggage, remember that when you fly in Europe on local flights your international luggage allowance no longer applies. ...

 

Thanks, my flight plans are still long in the future (cruise is Nov/13.) I haven't been thinking about it lately, will start doing so this winter.

 

One note--if you have a connecting flight in Europe, your international baggage allowance still applies, or at least that has been my experience.

[JimandStan]

One note--if you have a connecting flight in Europe, your international baggage allowance still applies, or at least that has been my experience.

__________________

 

Yes, but if you travel with a carry-on of.......how shall I put this?.......significant size, it may not fit in the overhead of the smaller European Planes.

Let the games begin. :cool:

[Hambagahle]

First - inernational baggage allowance does transfer to a connecting European flight if on the same airline or on a code share. Not if you are flying trans-Atlantic, say, on American and then continuing your journey on LH etc.

Second - American Airlines doesn't have flat beds. they have inclined lie-flat seats. Which are not comfortable. You have a tendancy to slide down. AF and KL have the same, so does Aer Lingus. BA and Swiss on the other hand have 180° lie flat beds. I much prefer these and while they are not as good as SQ in Business they are both loads better than American Airlines...

 

Jim&Stan are right about the smaller bins on some European planes. And if your carry on won't fit in the bin, the flight attendant will check it in the hold... could be a problem.

[PaulMCO]

Yes, but if you travel with a carry-on of.......how shall I put this?.......significant size, it may not fit in the overhead of the smaller European Planes.

Let the games begin. :cool:

 

Jim -- not even of significant size. Many of the Euro airlines weigh the carry-ons. LH and Austrian actually limit it to 7 kg. I have a very light weight nylon Tumi carry-on that when 75% full (without shoes) hits the 7KG limit. In Vienna's new terminal, they have a scale at security where they weigh everyone's carry-on -- so no escaping.

[PRWeezer]

 

Jim&Stan are right about the smaller bins on some European planes. And if your carry on won't fit in the bin, the flight attendant will check it in the hold... could be a problem.

 

Some international carriers also have weight restrictions for carry-on bags that are often limited (say 20 lbs) & strictly enforced. Unlike a U.S. carrier where you could pay a fee for a heavy (checked) bag, you likely won't have that option w your carry on, the bag would have to be checked. You may also be limited to just one carry on, also strictly enforced.

 

Always a safe bet to check rules for every carrier on your trip & pack/plan accordingly.

[Hawaiidan]

United has all their 777, 747,767 with lie flat 23" x 6'6" business class 2x2

and their new First class suite is a whopping 30" wide. Even some of the 757s in first class are getting the lie flats too.

And why I horde my miles for international F and B.

 

Just flew to Frankfurt from SFO and also ORD and gotta say they are outstanding on uaL ON A 777 ( so too is Swiss ) got a full 8.5 hour sleep and a great meal for the 11 hour flight.

 

Add Lufthansa to the tilt "lie flat" as American has. And you do slide down. All airlines are not created equal...

 

I have a simple MIN. rule: 1-3 hours coach, 4 to 6 hours economy plus, 7 to10 hours Business, 11+ first. after 30 years of business flying world wide Icaught on.

[newbie60]

Yes, but the DELTA TICKETS ARE upgrade-able. I know because Hondorner and I just did it!

 

We were on Delta coming out of Anchorage last summer on a red eye that had been booked by O. I called Delta to see if I could upgrade to Economy Plus but they had not yet introduced the concept. However, the lovely Delta gal said that the tix were upgradable, so for the low, low price of 12,500 miles each, we flew home first class.

 

Always, always check to see what's available out there.

[traveler916]

More than 2 Million miles ago...was a lesson that one of United's phone agents taught me...

 

"It always pays to do the legwork yourself."

 

gary

[Mexfolkart]

We just got our air itinerary yesterday from O and it is perfect! I had found an itinerary that looked good, our TA asked them about it, and they came back with a refinement that was even better. They were able to book one airline going and a different one returning which is ideal for us! We always book Oceania's air...but we make sure we know what the options are beforehand. We are very happy! We had to pay the deviation anyway since we are going 3 days early and returning 2 days later.

Sherry & Kimber

[wannaberetired]

In keeping with the theme of this thread, I have now had my airline reservations through Oceania changed twice since we booked originally for the Lisbon/Rome 9/14/12 Rivieria cruise. Will now listen to the Oceania cruise experts, take the credit and book my air separately. Thank God for the BEST TA (hope you're reading this!) in the business. She took a bad situation (stops with long layovers) and made it so much better in the end. Though I now have to fly out of Newark and fly back into Philadelphia (live about 45 minutes from both airports), I once again have non-stop flights and window/aisles seats! Ahhh, it's the simple things in life!

[LHT28]

In keeping with the theme of this thread, I have now had my airline reservations through Oceania changed twice since we booked originally for the Lisbon/Rome 9/14/12 Rivieria cruise.

Did Oceania changed the flights or did the airline change it's route or times??

 

We had booked a flight through Oceania & had good times but the airline decided to move the time forward ...we cut it close when the ship was delayed because of the port authorities

[Benita]

I think using Oceania air with the deviation may be the way to go, in some circumstances. We paid the deviation fee and an extra $100 due to the extra cost of the flight and got non-stop flights to Barcelona and home to Miami from Lisbon. These are on totally different airlines, which do not partner with the same alliance and would have cost us more than a thousand dollars extra each for 2 tickets, had we taken the air credit and bought them ourselves. I have bought our own tickets when it made sense- Alaska cruise- where the credit was more than the ticket, or when using points for tickets. As long as you are doing a deviation, the flights are those of your choice.

[wannaberetired]

The flight was with US Air but operated by Portugalia (sp?) which I think was purchased by someone else. Because of this, they could not confirm flights and Oceania felt they would be safer flying with another carrier because they could confirm that flight. I guess this could happen to any airline and Oceania did what it felt it needed to, so don't really blame them. However, if I booked my own flights, I would not have used US Air at all as I don't really like their seats - too small and narrow (and I am only 5 feet tall!). Now my outgoing flight is on United Airlines and the return flight is on US Air. I did pay a deviation fee because I am staying 2 extra nights in Lisbon and in Rome so not sure if it was the deviation fee that helped get the non stop flights.

[LHT28]

The flight was with US Air but operated by Portugalia (sp?) which I think was purchased by someone else. Because of this, they could not confirm flights and Oceania felt they would be safer flying with another carrier because they could confirm that flight. I guess this could happen to any airline and Oceania did what it felt it needed to, so don't really blame them. However, if I booked my own flights, I would not have used US Air at all as I don't really like their seats - too small and narrow (and I am only 5 feet tall!). Now my outgoing flight is on United Airlines and the return flight is on US Air. I did pay a deviation fee because I am staying 2 extra nights in Lisbon and in Rome so not sure if it was the deviation fee that helped get the non stop flights.

If you paid the deviation fee why did you not just see what your airline & routing of choice would cost??

We did that once ..we chose BA & paid the deviation fee plus a small upcharge to fly BA

[wannaberetired]

didn't think to do that but will certainly keep it in mind for next time - thanks!