ChoiceAir and Flight Changes

[greatam]

And also to clarify, I have never booked the Flex option with Choce Air. I have only booked the "non-refundable pay when you book" option. That is mostly because we are not serial cruise bookers who put reservations on multiple cruises at the same time waiting to see which will be the cheapest.

 

You can bet if we ever used this Flex option I would be doing more research and know what I was paying for in regards to flight itinerary. And you are right because my assumptions are based on what those who have booked using the Flex option state they are getting. I actually thought payment was made at the time the reservation was made but that "Flex" was the term used for a refundable ticket (or one with less retrictions).

 

The FLEX tickets are a whole other ballgame. The cruise line MAKES IT LOOK like you are getting a super bargain-for a few dollars more (some of the flex tickets-a whole lotta dollars more for others) you don't have to pay for your ticket UNTIL final payment. They are merely "holding" space for you. Just because you can pick a seat means NOTHING. Seats are never guaranteed, even with the best of tickets. Aircraft changes, refurb interior changes, some big mucky muck is flying your flight and booked all of business and first, just too many ways your seat can change.

 

The reality-in the fine print, FLEX is not much different than old style cruise air. The cruise line has purchased the tickets you bought initially with the FLEX option well in advance of you purchasing the ticket.

 

So yes, you very well COULD get EXACTLY what you bargained for in the beginning. BUT because there is a FINITE number of tickets the cruise line has under contract, IF a lot of customers picked the SAME routing AND purchased the non flex tickets, there MAY NOT be tickets available when it is time to pay for the tickets. And the wording for the flex tickets reads SIMILAR, NOT EXACT.

 

So using the OP's situation as an example-ALL the allocation for Lufthansa that the cruise line had available is GONE (or the entire flight was cancelled or changed to something unacceptable-with no dates or flight info it is hard to tell). United is a Lufthansa partner. AND the cruise line still has United tickets. This is the SIMILAR portion on the flex tickets.

 

Think about it from a business point of view-1000 tickets from various points in the USA for this particular cruise contracted between United and Lufthansa. 700 sold as Choice Air-paid at time of booking. 300 sold as FLEX. And on or before final payment-200 of those holding Flex tickets cancel.

 

So now the cruise line has 200 tickets they need to sell because they are OBLIGATED to either pay the airline or they have already paid the airline. What do they do with those 200 tickets??? Putting them on a bargain basement sale is one way. But from day 1, keeping ALL 1000 tickets available for Choice Air, paid at time of booking, is the EASIEST, most business like way to GUARANTEE that the cruise line recoups all the money they have already expended for the 1000 tickets.

 

SO in the end, the cruise line has to buy "free call" tickets to accommodate their Choice Air FLEX passengers. The airlines set limits for how many "free call" tickets can be sold. When that allocation is gone, it is gone. So you end up with a SIMILAR routing. Where did those "similar routing" tickets come from-could have been part of the original contracted portion of 1000 tickets OR the cruiseline actually has to go out in the market and PURCHASE tickets to accommodate their FLEX passengers (which 99% of the time will be PUBLISHED fare tickets). NO DIFFERENT than old style cruise air (re-read the sticky at the top of the page).

 

Unless you can read ALL the fare rules and see ALL the caveats BEFORE you purchase, you essentially have NO IDEA what you are getting.

[Jade13]

The FLEX tickets are a whole other ballgame. The cruise line MAKES IT LOOK like you are getting a super bargain-for a few dollars more (some of the flex tickets-a whole lotta dollars more for others) you don't have to pay for your ticket UNTIL final payment. They are merely "holding" space for you.

 

Unless you can read ALL the fare rules and see ALL the caveats BEFORE you purchase, you essentially have NO IDEA what you are getting.

 

There is someone on my Silhouette transatlantic roll call who just went to pay for her tickets through Choice Air and found out it would cost an additional $130.00 per person (they are a family of 5) to purchase now. She just found out they are on a Flex Fare. I referred her to this thread if she wanted more info.

 

It would be interesting to see the Flex Fare rules. I thought you paid more for the ability to cancel before final, but did not know the itinerary was not guaranteed. However, if these can be canceled then it might be possible to find a better option.

[Florida Fan]

It sounds like Flex Fare can be misleading. Customers should either pay for their tickets right away, if that works, or wait to book later.

[Jade13]

It sounds like Flex Fare can be misleading. Customers should either pay for their tickets right away, if that works, or wait to book later.

 

Did they confirm that these flights could not be changed? Also, I would think they would tell you the flights when you make your final payment, so still not sure why information was not emailed directly to you. That is a separate issue.

[greatam]

Did they confirm that these flights could not be changed? Also, I would think they would tell you the flights when you make your final payment, so still not sure why information was not emailed directly to you. That is a separate issue.

 

IF I am reading the OP correctly, the cruise line had already made the change. TA should have had the info. But as the OP found out, it is easily available on various websites.

 

If you spend time looking through the Choice Air website and READ ALL the fine print, some of the "gotcha's" become apparent. And other "gotcha's" are very well hidden.

 

Flex is similar to Princess EZ Air Flexible. ALWAYS higher priced-some tickets by a LARGE amount of dollars. ALWAYS non refundable fee up front to "hold" the ticket. Do you get the same ticket you bargained for in the beginning? MAYBE Is it the same price? MAYBE

 

Too many variables and without printing out all the info (including all the hidden info in whatever fare rules and T & C's available) AT THE TIME you buy the ticket, you can never prove anything. These flex tickets have to be about the worst possible you could buy from a cruise line. If you don't know whether you can or will go on a cruise, buy trip insurance. A darn sight better proposition in my book.

[FlyerTalker]

If you spend time looking through the Choice Air website and READ ALL the fine print, some of the "gotcha's" become apparent. And other "gotcha's" are very well hidden.

 

Flex is similar to Princess EZ Air Flexible. ALWAYS higher priced-some tickets by a LARGE amount of dollars. ALWAYS non refundable fee up front to "hold" the ticket. Do you get the same ticket you bargained for in the beginning? MAYBE Is it the same price? MAYBE

 

Too many variables and without printing out all the info (including all the hidden info in whatever fare rules and T & C's available) AT THE TIME you buy the ticket, you can never prove anything. These flex tickets have to be about the worst possible you could buy from a cruise line. If you don't know whether you can or will go on a cruise, buy trip insurance. A darn sight better proposition in my book.

But it sounded SO GOOD from the brochure.....;)

[Jade13]

These flex tickets have to be about the worst possible you could buy from a cruise line. If you don't know whether you can or will go on a cruise, buy trip insurance. A darn sight better proposition in my book.

 

Well, that is exactly what we do.

 

Paying more money and having no control over the airline and exact routing makes no sense to me.

[Jade13]

But it sounded SO GOOD from the brochure.....;)

 

The people purchasing these Flex tickets are not being told what they are purchasing, and yes, I understand buyer beware. But everyone is not that savvy and many many older passengers, some might not even be on the internet to read through all of these details. And I do think the cruiseline and travel agent do have a responsibility to tell the client they may not get the exact airline and routing they are selecting. I'd bet a lot of the agents don't understand theses fares either.

[FlyerTalker]

If only people would just remember the simple fact that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Not too tough to just be a bit skeptical and have your radar on.

 

TANSTAAFL. Truer words have rarely been spoken.