BREAKING NEWS! UK GUESTS GAIN FLEXIBILITY TO BOOK SEATS and CHECK-IN ONLINE with BA

[Bill Leiber]

Hello to all the UK Cruise Critic Azamara followers:

 

I'm pleased to share with you the good news from the UK's Air Planning group about their success in adding flexibility for guests booked on "blocked British Airways flight allocations" from Heathrow so that you can pre-book your seats 30 days prior to departure as well as to check-in online.

 

The very dedicated and astute Air Planning team reviewed their internal system and developed a manual procedure that will enable them to maintain the benefits of inventory allocation while offering you the opportunity to "self-service" your air reservations more efficiently and effectively at 30 days prior to departure rather than the current 4 days - that's 7.5 times sooner!

 

Here's how the new process will work:

§ The ticketing team will split all guests from the allocation booking at the time that the tickets are issued, which is usually around 30 days prior to departure.

§ They will then update the guest's booking with the new flight reference which will in turn print out on their documents.

§ In turn, guests will then use this reference code when they go into the BA website to pre-book their seats. There will be an additional charge of £10 per person for each flight segment and note that Exit Row seats or Bulkhead seats may incur a higher charge.

§ Also, this reference code is required for online check-in.

 

If guests don't wish to pay for their seats then they can select a seat free of charge when the online check-in opens which is 24 hours prior to departure. Alternatively, guests may contact the UK office so that they can pre-book seats; however, this can be done only 4 days or less to departure but there is no additional cost to pay. (This is the original process that is currently in place.)

 

It might also be worth noting that British Airways points out that any seat request is not guaranteed and may need to be changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after the guests have boarded the aircraft. In the event that the airline needs to change the guest's seat, they will endeavour to seat them in a suitable alternative. The below link to the BA website provides more information with regards to the pre-booking of seats - http://www.britishairways.com/travel/choose-your-seat/public/en_gb

 

Program Implementation:

§ The flight records for guests who have been ticketed but have not yet traveled and are booked onto the allocation flights in conjunction with the following voyages, their booking records are currently in the process of being split from the allocation and updated so that these guests will have the option to pre-book their seats:

o September 12 - Journey

o September 15 - Quest

o September 23 - Journey

o September 25 - Quest

§ For anyone booked on or after the October 4th Journey and the October 6th Quest, the new process will apply.

 

These process changes made by our Air Planning team, in response to your requests, has endowed our 'blocked booking' guests to become the 'norm' by having their own individual booking references and then to secure their seat assignments in the exact same manner that BA passengers use.

 

As with any new procedure, there will probably be the need to make adjustments and/or modify the process so it's important for you to direct your specific issues to the Azamara Air team. Also, please provide me with your feedback about the new system as the new programme takes hold.

 

I truly appreciate the outstanding cooperation demonstrated by the UK executive and management team in making this important improvement to the overall satisfaction level with doing business with the UK Azamara shoreside operation!

 

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[Ellizak]

Great news Bill!

Azamara just get better.

 

Desiree & John

Newcastle (UK)

[piscean]

Marvellous.

Carol

[Joecors]

Bill,

Even if your negotiations with Azamara U.K. had been unsuccessful in arranging the improvements to “block booking” at LHR, we would still continue to cruise with Azamara because just embarking on the Quest or the Journey introduces us to a service and experience which is unsurpassed. Your latest news makes for the icing on the cake!

Many thanks for your help and for keeping us in the picture; it was greatly appreciated!

[Joecors]

....

Have already responded to your great news but a second vote of thanks will not go amiss.

It was great to have confirmation that the problem did exist and that I was not suffering from hallucinations.

Regards and please keep up the good works

[berkshireboy]

Hello to all the UK Cruise Critic Azamara followers:

 

I'm pleased to share with you the good news from the UK's Air Planning group about their success in adding flexibility for guests booked on "blocked British Airways flight allocations" from Heathrow so that you can pre-book your seats 30 days prior to departure as well as to check-in online.

 

The very dedicated and astute Air Planning team reviewed their internal system and developed a manual procedure that will enable them to maintain the benefits of inventory allocation while offering you the opportunity to "self-service" your air reservations more efficiently and effectively at 30 days prior to departure rather than the current 4 days - that's 7.5 times sooner!

 

Here's how the new process will work:

§ The ticketing team will split all guests from the allocation booking at the time that the tickets are issued, which is usually around 30 days prior to departure.

§ They will then update the guest's booking with the new flight reference which will in turn print out on their documents.

§ In turn, guests will then use this reference code when they go into the BA website to pre-book their seats. There will be an additional charge of £10 per person for each flight segment and note that Exit Row seats or Bulkhead seats may incur a higher charge.

§ Also, this reference code is required for online check-in.

 

If guests don't wish to pay for their seats then they can select a seat free of charge when the online check-in opens which is 24 hours prior to departure. Alternatively, guests may contact the UK office so that they can pre-book seats; however, this can be done only 4 days or less to departure but there is no additional cost to pay. (This is the original process that is currently in place.)

 

It might also be worth noting that British Airways points out that any seat request is not guaranteed and may need to be changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after the guests have boarded the aircraft. In the event that the airline needs to change the guest's seat, they will endeavour to seat them in a suitable alternative. The below link to the BA website provides more information with regards to the pre-booking of seats - http://www.britishairways.com/travel/choose-your-seat/public/en_gb

 

Program Implementation:

§ The flight records for guests who have been ticketed but have not yet traveled and are booked onto the allocation flights in conjunction with the following voyages, their booking records are currently in the process of being split from the allocation and updated so that these guests will have the option to pre-book their seats:

o September 12 - Journey

o September 15 - Quest

o September 23 - Journey

o September 25 - Quest

§ For anyone booked on or after the October 4th Journey and the October 6th Quest, the new process will apply.

 

These process changes made by our Air Planning team, in response to your requests, has endowed our 'blocked booking' guests to become the 'norm' by having their own individual booking references and then to secure their seat assignments in the exact same manner that BA passengers use.

 

As with any new procedure, there will probably be the need to make adjustments and/or modify the process so it's important for you to direct your specific issues to the Azamara Air team. Also, please provide me with your feedback about the new system as the new programme takes hold.

 

I truly appreciate the outstanding cooperation demonstrated by the UK executive and management team in making this important improvement to the overall satisfaction level with doing business with the UK Azamara shoreside operation!

 

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

Hi Bill

 

I'm afraid that I have to report that your "breaking news" is broken.

 

I don't know if anyone has ever put these arrangements to the test, to see if they worked as described, but they certainly don't now - if they ever did.

 

I'm on an Azamara fly/cruise from Athens to Dubai next month. My flight to Athens is on the 27 October so I tried to contact the Air Planning Team today to get my individual flight identifier. I gave up waiting after 15 minutes as I was on a premium rate telephone line. I then passed the problem to my TA who, in turn, had to wait 30 minutes. The response was that the TA could get in touch four days in advance of the flights to be given my individual identifier. This was however, only for the outward segment. The process would need to be repeated 4 days before our return flight from Dubai. I've arranged with my TA to email me the information when she receives it. Hopefully, as we will have arrived at Muscat by then, I will be able to retrieve the email and go online to reserve my seats.

 

So, in effect we are back to the original four days not the "7.5 times sooner" as promised in your email.

 

I am posting this information now, not in the hope that anything will change, but to update anyone anticipating using the arrangements you describe. I suggest that anyone in that position should save their money by not using premium rate phonelines to contact Azamara - it's not worth the cost, time or effort. {And don't forget that you'll soon have the pleasure of ringing South America to try to sort things out!}

[uktog]

Bill

 

How will this work for British Airways silver/gold frequent flyers who can book their seats free of charge at the time of booking? Will the flight department be able to issue booking references sooner than T-30? They used to be able to but I am concerned, does this work around mean that we will have to wait until a month before hand which means the better seats which we could access before will have gone?

 

Also will the bookings still be made in lowest cost class such that guests cannot use Avios to upgrade? It would be a huge plus to guests who also travel a lot on business (and/or shop in certain stores) if they could use their Avios (frequent flyer points) on Azamara booked BA flights

 

No rush for an answer as for all our upcoming cruises we have made our own flight arrangements but it would be good to know if we are going to do future bookings.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Please keep in mind, this is a thread bump from 2012. Thanks !

[berkshireboy]

Bill

 

How will this work for British Airways silver/gold frequent flyers who can book their seats free of charge at the time of booking? Will the flight department be able to issue booking references sooner than T-30? They used to be able to but I am concerned, does this work around mean that we will have to wait until a month before hand which means the better seats which we could access before will have gone?

 

Also will the bookings still be made in lowest cost class such that guests cannot use Avios to upgrade? It would be a huge plus to guests who also travel a lot on business (and/or shop in certain stores) if they could use their Avios (frequent flyer points) on Azamara booked BA flights

 

No rush for an answer as for all our upcoming cruises we have made our own flight arrangements but it would be good to know if we are going to do future bookings.

 

Hi uktog

 

It won't work for BA silver/gold frequent flyers at all.

 

The point I'm making is that you will only get your flight identifier 4 days before the flight, so it is not possible to go online early and select a good seat.

 

The improvement promised was to get the identifier 30 days prior to flight. As it now stands there is no chance of a seat allocation at the time of booking nor even at the promised 30 days before the flight.

 

All of our Azamara bookings have been deals which are inclusive of flights so booking our own flights has not been an option.

[berkshireboy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Please keep in mind, this is a thread bump from 2012. Thanks !

 

Hi Andy, I'm not sure of the significance of this thread being started 12 months ago.

 

Azamara made a commitment, highlighted by Bill, that they would improve the issue of BA flight identifiers to guests from 4 days before the flight to 30 days before. This they are not doing.

 

How long is an Azamara commitment valid for?

[150edmiston]

Bill

 

How will this work for British Airways silver/gold frequent flyers who can book their seats free of charge at the time of booking? Will the flight department be able to issue booking references sooner than T-30? They used to be able to but I am concerned, does this work around mean that we will have to wait until a month before hand which means the better seats which we could access before will have gone?

 

Also will the bookings still be made in lowest cost class such that guests cannot use Avios to upgrade? It would be a huge plus to guests who also travel a lot on business (and/or shop in certain stores) if they could use their Avios (frequent flyer points) on Azamara booked BA flights

 

No rush for an answer as for all our upcoming cruises we have made our own flight arrangements but it would be good to know if we are going to do future bookings.

 

Uktog, just to clarify, albeit this thread is somewhat aged, i have a ton of avios points but they can't be used on our bargain bucket ticket to upgrade.....we had to pay cash for ours.

 

Im also sceptical as to whether our tickets will offer an opportunity to collect avios points as we fly. Keeping a low profile in the hope they do. 33000 points isn't to be sniffed at!

 

David

[uktog]

Uktog, just to clarify, albeit this thread is somewhat aged, i have a ton of avios points but they can't be used on our bargain bucket ticket to upgrade.....we had to pay cash for ours.

 

Im also sceptical as to whether our tickets will offer an opportunity to collect avios points as we fly. Keeping a low profile in the hope they do. 33000 points isn't to be sniffed at!

 

David

 

That's been our experience, Azamara fares could not be upgraded. So on our next longhaul we have done our own BA bookings in premium economy for the same price as Azamara wanted for economy and then got the CW upgrade.

 

It would be nice on European trips though to be able to upgrade

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Berkshireboy, Uktog, Edmiston150 and other UK Residents -

 

I can remember how pleased I was last September, as the company "reporter," to share with you the service improvements that the UK Air Planning group was planning to add the BA component of the Azamara vacation experience.

 

I'm disappointed to learn that this program is not operational. I'm forwarding this thread to the UK Azamara management team as well as to the air planning group for their review and comment. Also, I'll be highlighting your specific questions about the British Airways silver/gold frequent flyers who can book their seats free of charge at the time of booking as well as if the Avios (frequent flyer points) can be used on Azamara booked BA flights.

 

As an aside, I do remember a period during the third quarter (July, August, September 2013) when changes were made to the UK Air Procedures for selected Azamara Quest and Azamara Journey voyages: the mandatory 1-night pre-cruise hotel was eliminated and same-day flights, along with low-cost carriers and indirect flights on scheduled airlines, were offered to create a saving opportunity.

 

My objective will be to secure an email address and/or telephone contact so that you, as a UK resident, can communicate with someone who understands the UK BA operation and its integration into the corporation's shared air service organization.

 

I will follow-up on your behalf to determine the circumstances that have caused the time to revert back to 4-days prior to departure rather than the 30-days prior. I expect that it will take some time and your continued ability to exercise what seems to be, and endless amount of patience.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[procter]

Berkshire Boy.

I do hope you have made a"typo" as Athens Dubai departs on 26 October and you say your flight is on 27th.

See you in Rhodes or Limmasol if I am correct.

PS hope it is only a typo as cheapest flight on 26th is now £225 each via BA and Easyjet ex LGW will require an overnight stay and flight is £140 and you will require 2 transfers

1 from airport

2 from hotel .

[mara01]

Hi uktog

 

It won't work for BA silver/gold frequent flyers at all.

 

The point I'm making is that you will only get your flight identifier 4 days before the flight, so it is not possible to go online early and select a good seat.

 

The improvement promised was to get the identifier 30 days prior to flight. As it now stands there is no chance of a seat allocation at the time of booking nor even at the promised 30 days before the flight.

 

All of our Azamara bookings have been deals which are inclusive of flights so booking our own flights has not been an option.

 

Hi Brian

 

We have always been able to get our flight identifier from BA shortly after booking, however, the way we do this may not be to everyone's taste. We pay for our flights upfront with Azamara at the time of booking (yes I know they are often 'free' ) and the amount we pay comes off our final bill. This means we can get into Manage My Booking on BA.com and book the seats we want. We do pay for the seat booking, but then our view is that we are already going on a luxury cruise so whats a little extra to ensure we get the seats we want on the plane.

 

We are not fortunate enough to be gold/silver but do manage to keep our bronze membership!

 

Steve

[uktog]

Hi Brian

 

We have always been able to get our flight identifier from BA shortly after booking, however, the way we do this may not be to everyone's taste. We pay for our flights upfront with Azamara at the time of booking (yes I know they are often 'free' ) and the amount we pay comes off our final bill. This means we can get into Manage My Booking on BA.com and book the seats we want. We do pay for the seat booking, but then our view is that we are already going on a luxury cruise so whats a little extra to ensure we get the seats we want on the plane.

 

We are not fortunate enough to be gold/silver but do manage to keep our bronze membership!

 

Steve

 

Thanks Steve

 

That is exactly the kind of advice I needed, never been offered that as a workaround, but that is fine for me - I have to pay for the BA flights upfront as well so I have no issue with how Azamara handle that. Do you know if you would have been able to do an MMB upgrade with Avios (always assuming a points upgrade seat was available)

[berkshireboy]

Hello Berkshireboy, Uktog, Edmiston150 and other UK Residents -

 

I can remember how pleased I was last September, as the company "reporter," to share with you the service improvements that the UK Air Planning group was planning to add the BA component of the Azamara vacation experience.

 

I'm disappointed to learn that this program is not operational. I'm forwarding this thread to the UK Azamara management team as well as to the air planning group for their review and comment. Also, I'll be highlighting your specific questions about the British Airways silver/gold frequent flyers who can book their seats free of charge at the time of booking as well as if the Avios (frequent flyer points) can be used on Azamara booked BA flights.

 

As an aside, I do remember a period during the third quarter (July, August, September 2013) when changes were made to the UK Air Procedures for selected Azamara Quest and Azamara Journey voyages: the mandatory 1-night pre-cruise hotel was eliminated and same-day flights, along with low-cost carriers and indirect flights on scheduled airlines, were offered to create a saving opportunity.

 

My objective will be to secure an email address and/or telephone contact so that you, as a UK resident, can communicate with someone who understands the UK BA operation and its integration into the corporation's shared air service organization.

 

I will follow-up on your behalf to determine the circumstances that have caused the time to revert back to 4-days prior to departure rather than the 30-days prior. I expect that it will take some time and your continued ability to exercise what seems to be, and endless amount of patience.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

Hi Bill

 

Thanks for your offer to try to resolve this issue.

 

I'm afraid that in this instance I do not have the luxury of being able to exercise an endless amount of patience as our flights for this cruise are in less than four weeks!

 

In any case we fly out in just over a week to join a Black Sea cruise [not Azamara I'm afraid] :) and we will have less than a week back in the UK before our Azamara flights.

 

But, if you can get the issue resolved it will help others caught up in the same situation. [And, having thought about it, will enable us to get our seats assigned for the return flight.]

 

Once again, thank you for your efforts to resolve the situation.

 

berkshireboy

[berkshireboy]

Berkshire Boy.

I do hope you have made a"typo" as Athens Dubai departs on 26 October and you say your flight is on 27th.

See you in Rhodes or Limmasol if I am correct.

PS hope it is only a typo as cheapest flight on 26th is now £225 each via BA and Easyjet ex LGW will require an overnight stay and flight is £140 and you will require 2 transfers

1 from airport

2 from hotel .

 

 

Yes indeed procter, it was a typo [i was a little frazzled yesterday :)]. We fly out on the 25th and stay overnight in the Athens Hilton [assigned by Azamara as part of the package] before joining the Journey on the 26th.

 

Transfers are also included in the package. [i think that it is an excellent package, my only problem is with the BA seat assignment].

 

Hopefully, you will see us on board in Athens, before both Rhodes or Limmasol!

[berkshireboy]

Uktog, just to clarify, albeit this thread is somewhat aged, i have a ton of avios points but they can't be used on our bargain bucket ticket to upgrade.....we had to pay cash for ours.

 

Im also sceptical as to whether our tickets will offer an opportunity to collect avios points as we fly. Keeping a low profile in the hope they do. 33000 points isn't to be sniffed at!

 

David

 

Hi 150edmiston

 

This is our third Azamara cruise in the past twelve months using British Airways flights. On both previous occasions we have been given avios for the flights - I think that your 33000 ponts are safe!

 

berkshireboy

[berkshireboy]

Hi Brian

 

We have always been able to get our flight identifier from BA shortly after booking, however, the way we do this may not be to everyone's taste. We pay for our flights upfront with Azamara at the time of booking (yes I know they are often 'free' ) and the amount we pay comes off our final bill. This means we can get into Manage My Booking on BA.com and book the seats we want. We do pay for the seat booking, but then our view is that we are already going on a luxury cruise so whats a little extra to ensure we get the seats we want on the plane.

 

We are not fortunate enough to be gold/silver but do manage to keep our bronze membership!

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve

 

This only works when you have been given an individual BA flight identifier - without this you cannot access your booking. This is our third set of British Airways flights with Azamara in the past twelve months. On the two previous occasions we were indeed given our own unique identifier and could access the flights immediately on booking [and after only the payment of a deposit]. On this cruise we have been given a group identifier and so cannot access the flights. Bill had come up with an agreement twelve months ago that would have allowed us to be issued with an identifier 30 days prior to the flight - this no longer seems to work.

 

It seems that on some occasions the flights are booked individually [even when there is a large Azamara contingent on board] and sometimes as part of a block booking. I don't know the workings of this nor indeed whether you end up on a charter, as increasingly seems to be the case].

 

To be honest paying up front is unlikely to make any difference if your flights were booked by Azamara as part of a group block booking.

 

Alan

[berkshireboy]

Hello Berkshireboy, Uktog, Edmiston150 and other UK Residents -

 

I can remember how pleased I was last September, as the company "reporter," to share with you the service improvements that the UK Air Planning group was planning to add the BA component of the Azamara vacation experience.

 

I'm disappointed to learn that this program is not operational. I'm forwarding this thread to the UK Azamara management team as well as to the air planning group for their review and comment. Also, I'll be highlighting your specific questions about the British Airways silver/gold frequent flyers who can book their seats free of charge at the time of booking as well as if the Avios (frequent flyer points) can be used on Azamara booked BA flights.

 

As an aside, I do remember a period during the third quarter (July, August, September 2013) when changes were made to the UK Air Procedures for selected Azamara Quest and Azamara Journey voyages: the mandatory 1-night pre-cruise hotel was eliminated and same-day flights, along with low-cost carriers and indirect flights on scheduled airlines, were offered to create a saving opportunity.

 

My objective will be to secure an email address and/or telephone contact so that you, as a UK resident, can communicate with someone who understands the UK BA operation and its integration into the corporation's shared air service organization.

 

I will follow-up on your behalf to determine the circumstances that have caused the time to revert back to 4-days prior to departure rather than the 30-days prior. I expect that it will take some time and your continued ability to exercise what seems to be, and endless amount of patience.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

Bill

 

A further update!

 

When I went on to the Azamara site after posting on Cruise Critic I found that I could now download my Cruise Ticket [and request baggage labels]. These facilities were not available yesterday so have just come on line.

 

On checking my cruise ticket I found that the flight identifiers for both the outward and return flights had changed and were now individual rather than group [i checked that they worked on the BA site].

 

So the system now seems to be that the flights are automatically split around the 30 day mark and the updated information is in the cruise booklet. There is no need to phone in and request it to be done - in fact doing so seems to muddy the waters, certainly as far as my TA was concerned.

 

Many thanks for your offer to help.

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Berkshireboy and other UK Residents -

 

Thank you for your report that the system functioned! This past Friday, I heard back from UK Air Planning management with this explanation:

§ The guests in question are travelling on the Azamara Journey, 26 October 2013, which means their 30 days prior was yesterday. I am not sure which passenger is querying, but all air tickets were issued and split yesterday as per the guidelines, and this would have been reflected on the guest's tickets when it was issued.

§ I have just checked randomly a few guests on the sailing, and their tickets were all issued today, with their individual BA locators (for both the outbound and inbound flights) and also their ticket numbers.

§ In regards to them having to wait for an extended time on the telephone, I do believe that the Air Team are experiencing quite a high volume of calls at the moment, so call times may be a bit longer than normal; however, there should be no need for the guest to call in as their locators are on their documents once issued.

§ So in summary, the process does work, the guest was just a tad bit too early.

 

Further, the terms and conditions that I had shared with you last November have changed and here is how the process will work:

§ The ticketing team will split all guests from the allocation booking at the time that the tickets are issued, which is usually around 30 days prior to departure.

§ They will then update the guest's booking with the new flight reference which will in turn print out on their documents.

§ In turn, guests will then use this reference code when they go into the BA website to pre-book their seats. There will be an additional charge of £10 per person for each flight segment and note that Exit Row seats or Bulkhead seats may incur a higher charge.

§ Also, this reference code is required for online check-in.

§ If guests don't wish to pay for their seats then they can select a seat free of charge when the online check-in opens which is 24 hours prior to departure. Alternatively, guests may contact the UK office so that they can pre-book seats; however, this can be done only 4 days or less to departure but there is no additional cost to pay. (This is the original process that is currently in place.)

§ It might also be worth noting that British Airways points out that any seat request is not guaranteed and may need to be changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after the guests have boarded the aircraft. In the event that the airline needs to change the guest's seat, they will endeavour to seat them in a suitable alternative.

§ The below link to the BA website provides more information with regards to the pre-booking of seats

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/choose-your-seat/public/en_gb

§ Unfortunately guests are unable to pre book their seats online or over the telephone with BA even after they have been split into individual locators.

§ They will still need to call through to the air team 4 days prior to travel, but no later than 26 hours prior to departure in order for them to do this free of charge.

 

§ This is a British Airways restriction, and there is nothing we can do to over ride this.

§ All other aspects of the "Manage your booking" function on BA.com now work, including on-line check in (which was the main purpose of splitting the PNRs.)

 

Finally, in an effort to improve efficiency with solving your air issues, I'm recommending that you email the UK office for problem resolution rather than route your specific issues to me. The UK's Guest Support Unit manager suggested emailing: azamaraflights.uk@rccl.com. This site will be fielded by the team of UK based Azamara Ambassadors and the policies and procedures established will become the platform for the air operation until such time as it transitions to its new overseas location.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[berkshireboy]

Hello Berkshireboy and other UK Residents -

 

Thank you for your report that the system functioned! This past Friday, I heard back from UK Air Planning management with this explanation:

§ The guests in question are travelling on the Azamara Journey, 26 October 2013, which means their 30 days prior was yesterday. I am not sure which passenger is querying, but all air tickets were issued and split yesterday as per the guidelines, and this would have been reflected on the guest's tickets when it was issued.

§ I have just checked randomly a few guests on the sailing, and their tickets were all issued today, with their individual BA locators (for both the outbound and inbound flights) and also their ticket numbers.

§ In regards to them having to wait for an extended time on the telephone, I do believe that the Air Team are experiencing quite a high volume of calls at the moment, so call times may be a bit longer than normal; however, there should be no need for the guest to call in as their locators are on their documents once issued.

§ So in summary, the process does work, the guest was just a tad bit too early.

 

Further, the terms and conditions that I had shared with you last November have changed and here is how the process will work:

§ The ticketing team will split all guests from the allocation booking at the time that the tickets are issued, which is usually around 30 days prior to departure.

§ They will then update the guest's booking with the new flight reference which will in turn print out on their documents.

§ In turn, guests will then use this reference code when they go into the BA website to pre-book their seats. There will be an additional charge of £10 per person for each flight segment and note that Exit Row seats or Bulkhead seats may incur a higher charge.

§ Also, this reference code is required for online check-in.

§ If guests don't wish to pay for their seats then they can select a seat free of charge when the online check-in opens which is 24 hours prior to departure. Alternatively, guests may contact the UK office so that they can pre-book seats; however, this can be done only 4 days or less to departure but there is no additional cost to pay. (This is the original process that is currently in place.)

§ It might also be worth noting that British Airways points out that any seat request is not guaranteed and may need to be changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after the guests have boarded the aircraft. In the event that the airline needs to change the guest's seat, they will endeavour to seat them in a suitable alternative.

§ The below link to the BA website provides more information with regards to the pre-booking of seats

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/choose-your-seat/public/en_gb

§ Unfortunately guests are unable to pre book their seats online or over the telephone with BA even after they have been split into individual locators.

§ They will still need to call through to the air team 4 days prior to travel, but no later than 26 hours prior to departure in order for them to do this free of charge.

 

§ This is a British Airways restriction, and there is nothing we can do to over ride this.

§ All other aspects of the "Manage your booking" function on BA.com now work, including on-line check in (which was the main purpose of splitting the PNRs.)

 

Finally, in an effort to improve efficiency with solving your air issues, I'm recommending that you email the UK office for problem resolution rather than route your specific issues to me. The UK's Guest Support Unit manager suggested emailing: azamaraflights.uk@rccl.com. This site will be fielded by the team of UK based Azamara Ambassadors and the policies and procedures established will become the platform for the air operation until such time as it transitions to its new overseas location.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

Hi Bill

 

Thanks again for your help with this problem.

 

I don't know about being a "tad bit too early" though. I tried to contact Azamara thirty days from sailing, which follows the procedure set out in your posting last year - no one had told me that the procedure had been changed. My TA, when she finally got through to the ticketing team was not told that the tickets had already been issued and was asked to ring again four days before the flight.

 

There is one contradictory statement in the above information -

 

§ In turn, guests will then use this reference code when they go into the BA website to pre-book their seats. There will be an additional charge of £10 per person for each flight segment and note that Exit Row seats or Bulkhead seats may incur a higher charge.

 

§ Unfortunately guests are unable to pre book their seats online or over the telephone with BA even after they have been split into individual locators.

 

In fact I found that when I tried to pre book seats I was told to contact whoever had booked the flights [Azamara].

 

For the information of anyone else wondering about Avios etc., I found that Avios are indeed shown for these flights [We have been awarded them before on Azamara flights with BA]. By putting my gold card number into the booking we have been allocated two, instead of one, 23 Kilo bags in the hold each and shown as having access to the BA lounges. So the only downsides are not to be able to upgrade the flights [either by cash payment or use of Avios.] and not being able to book seats until 4 days before the flight and then only via the flight department. To be honest this is a small price to pay and we are pleased that we can use online check in etc.

 

Finally, there is absolutely no chance that we will be dealing with Guatamala from next year, either by email or premium rate telephone number. New bookings with Azamara, sadly, are on hold until all support functions are relocated back to the UK. :(

 

Once again, thanks for your help.

 

berkshireboy

[150edmiston]

Hi 150edmiston

 

This is our third Azamara cruise in the past twelve months using British Airways flights. On both previous occasions we have been given avios for the flights - I think that your 33000 ponts are safe!

 

berkshireboy

 

Thanks alan. Good to know.

 

David

[shintaro]

Arn't We glad we are using a Proper Airline for our Flights to Singapore for our November 25th Sailing to Hong Kong

 

At Least Emirates are 1 of the Worlds Better Airlnes ;)