CHOICE AIR - pros & cons

[Jade13]

Well you've certainly given me some food for thought. Now excuse me while I go to read the fine print!!!! :o

 

Go to the Cruise Air board. There are a lot of people who can answer your questions, plus many threads on Choice Air.

 

Btw, we did book through Choice Air for a transatlantic one way (booked on our own on the way home within the US).

 

But,

 

1. We are arriving 2 days early

2. Did NOT book a FLEX ticket (paid in full for the exact flight we wanted)

3. Booked our long haul flight via Choice Air on SWISS, which so far all of the times we have used them they have run like clock work, and so far no flight change. And, once we went through the Choice Air portal confirmation came directly through the airline, plus SWISS will talk to us directly and we could confirm our seats.

 

We know it's a non-refundable airfare and SWISS says it is endorceable, but hopefully we won't have to find out.

[Jade13]

Praises are often given when everything goes as it should. the real test is when a problem happens. Is there a human available 24/7 who can assist you? Not always. The cruise line is not always honest. On my last cruise, we kept trying to checkin online the day prior to departing. We kept getting thrown out. We then asked the concierge/guest relations on the Silhouette to call USAirways and get up to date info on our flights. We were told that everything was on time. We were on Celebrity's transfer to FCO and 5 minutes prior to arriving at the airport we were told that our flight was delayed 6 hours. Celebrity dumped us at the airport and offered no help. We were told that when we arrived in the Philadelphia airport, USAirways would book hotel rooms for people who missed their connections. As we arrived into PHL, the gate agent announced that "there were no hotel rooms available in Philadelphia....and if you could find a room there would be an $89 voucher toward the room." Several people were devastated. I got on expedia and found lots of rooms near the Philadelphia airport. Neither Celebrity nor USAirways were helpful. When we arrived home, there was several emails sent on the day prior to the flight explaining that there would be delays due to service needed on the aircraft. Not thrilled with the lack of help and misinformation given by both Celebrity and the USAirways. Once the cruise ends, do not rely on getting help from Celebrity. The bottom line is that people lie...and you are on your own.

 

So what was the end result? Could you get $89.00 from the airline to use towards your hotel room? Please confirm for those who think Choice Air will help them if they ever reimbursed you for anything? (I understand this is what travel insurance is for).

[mrpacker03]

Booked our flight from Phoenix to London, via Detroit, through Choice Air on Delta. Got the flight we wanted for less than 1/4 of what Delta wanted. Once we got the conformation number, I went to Delta's website and was able to pay to upgrade to Comfort Plus seats for the same add on price that anybody else would. We are going the day before to allow for any inexpected delays.

This is the third time we've used Choice Air, saved several thousand dollars over booking through the airlines, and couldn't be happier. Domestic flights are almost the opposite, in cost anyway.

[Gonzo70]

Booked our flight from Phoenix to London, via Detroit, through Choice Air on Delta. Got the flight we wanted for less than 1/4 of what Delta wanted. Once we got the conformation number, I went to Delta's website and was able to pay to upgrade to Comfort Plus seats for the same add on price that anybody else would. We are going the day before to allow for any inexpected delays.

This is the third time we've used Choice Air, saved several thousand dollars over booking through the airlines, and couldn't be happier. Domestic flights are almost the opposite, in cost anyway.

 

It is these deeply discounted seats you are speaking of where issues can arise if irregular ops occur (i.e. if you miss a connection, experience a long delay or have a canceled flight). If none of these mishaps transpire you will never realize your tickets are any different than tickets you could have purchased directly from the airline. If Choice Air is selling tickets at a large discount, that should be a red flag they are bulk fare tickets and likely heavily restricted when things go awry. So long as one is aware of the risks, they still can be a good idea (as they save so much money and most of the time things do not go awry), but it is a mistake to think that they are the same tickets you would receive if you had bought them from the airline.

[SusieV]

We just booked Choice Air for the first time. The tickets were over $50pp cheaper than I could get on my own even for a regular Caribbean sailing and since our outbound flight is direct I wasn't too worried about missing the trip. We have a connection coming home but if we get held up, that's okay.

[jerseygirl3]

For those of you who have used Choice Air can you tell me why I should or should not utilize this service? What benefits can I expect? For some general information we will be traveling to Buenos Aires where we will embark. Planning on arriving 1-2 days early and staying at a hotel using our points (not associated with the cruiseline). Am I correct in my assumption then, that any airport to hotel transfer and hotel to port transfer will be on our own? At first look, Choice Air appears to be a good 'choice' but then again I'm just not sure what I'm actually getting. Looking for your first hand advice. Thanks

 

We used Celebrity's Choice Air last year for our Transatlantic cruise. It was great! We got to select the flight we wanted on the airline we wanted for the time we wanted. Got Philadelphia to Barcelona overnight non-stop flight (which was our first choice) for $535/pp. We arrived two days prior to the cruise and I have no compaints at all. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Of course, it's most beneficial with an open jaw flight. For a RT to FLL, it probably wouldn't be worth it.

[mrpacker03]

It's like life, you play the best odds and let the chips fall where they may and adjust. You can't compensate for everything that might go wrong. Buying from the airline wouldn't have gotten you off the east coast last week during hurricane Sandy. According to the responses so far, Choice Air is worth the risk to many people.

We leave a week from Friday, and as of 15 minutes ago, there are more than 25 seats open on both legs of our flight, not counting first class so I'm not going to lose sleep over it, just count the $2,000+ I saved on airfare.

[Cruise Junky]

We just booked Choice Air for the first time. The tickets were over $50pp cheaper than I could get on my own even for a regular Caribbean sailing and since our outbound flight is direct I wasn't too worried about missing the trip. We have a connection coming home but if we get held up, that's okay.

 

Did you cancel your Hawaii cruise?

[Chicago Boy]

In your situation, everything worked out fine. What you do not know is what would have happened if there were only 10 seats on that next flight. The person in charge has to prioritize travelers. You can not put 30 people into 10 seats. Reality sometimes bites.

 

I am not saying you should not use Choice Air. For many people in many situations, it is a good way to go. Just pointing out possible issues with bulk tickets.

 

 

Here is our experience. We always use Choice Air. Last year we flew to Rome and due to weather delays we missed our flight from Newark to Rome. I approached the gate agent and explained our situation and he said that they knew we were crusing with Celebtity. He assured us we would be on the next flight leaving for Rome later that evening. The flight had been over booked and people were being asked to give up their seats. Had we not been using Choice Air I do not think we would have gotten out that evening. We have always been happy with the service provided and if we are not happy with a particular schedule Celebtity has always accomodated us.:)

[Chicago Boy]

Praises are often given when everything goes as it should. the real test is when a problem happens. Is there a human available 24/7 who can assist you? Not always. The cruise line is not always honest. On my last cruise, we kept trying to checkin online the day prior to departing. We kept getting thrown out. We then asked the concierge/guest relations on the Silhouette to call USAirways and get up to date info on our flights. We were told that everything was on time. We were on Celebrity's transfer to FCO and 5 minutes prior to arriving at the airport we were told that our flight was delayed 6 hours. Celebrity dumped us at the airport and offered no help. We were told that when we arrived in the Philadelphia airport, USAirways would book hotel rooms for people who missed their connections. As we arrived into PHL, the gate agent announced that "there were no hotel rooms available in Philadelphia....and if you could find a room there would be an $89 voucher toward the room." Several people were devastated. I got on expedia and found lots of rooms near the Philadelphia airport. Neither Celebrity nor USAirways were helpful. When we arrived home, there was several emails sent on the day prior to the flight explaining that there would be delays due to service needed on the aircraft. Not thrilled with the lack of help and misinformation given by both Celebrity and the USAirways. Once the cruise ends, do not rely on getting help from Celebrity. The bottom line is that people lie...and you are on your own.

 

 

We have always been well treated by US Air but we don't fly them all that much. We have had experiences where we have checked before leaving for the airport only to find the flight cancelled when we went to check in so we avoid them when ever possible.

[Gonzo70]

Here is our experience. We always use Choice Air. Last year we flew to Rome and due to weather delays we missed our flight from Newark to Rome. I approached the gate agent and explained our situation and he said that they knew we were crusing with Celebtity. He assured us we would be on the next flight leaving for Rome later that evening. The flight had been over booked and people were being asked to give up their seats. Had we not been using Choice Air I do not think we would have gotten out that evening. We have always been happy with the service provided and if we are not happy with a particular schedule Celebtity has always accomodated us.:)

 

Were these deeply discounted tickets, or were they approximately the same cost had you purchased the tickets directly from the airline?

[richstowe]

We have one C A trip under our belt and another one booked. The first was to Rome where we each paid about 50 more

then if we had booked on our own. It was worth the small premium to us.

This time we have booked to San Juan using C A just for the trip down. We are saving $50 each.

Booking on our own for the return trip, we are saving more the $150 each over booking round-trip with C A.

Odd but there you go.

 

Originally we were looking to fly to San Juan the day of the cruise. It was going to be tight. Very tight!

The strange thing was C A was offering 2 options with 45 or 50 minutes between connecting flights. Are they nuts?

Less the an hour connecting time during Winter on a flight from Canada ? :eek: Way too close for us.

Now we are leaving the afternoon before. True we are arriving at 12:30 AM but don't have to stress out plus the flight is much cheaper.

In order to protect ourselves we always book our air and hotels through Celebrity.

So far I have found C A to have outrageous hotel prices. Over 400 for a Hilton in San Juan. :mad: Thanx but no thanx.

[mrpacker03]

All of the cruiselines have their versions of Choice Air. If it was so risky, why would they continue to push it? Low prices, who knows, maybe the lines subsidize the airlines to get people to travel so far. If I were to miss a cruise using Choice Air, not only would I be upset with the airline, but I would probably not use the cruiseline anymore for soliciting me to use it. I think they know that would happen so unless they weren't sure it worked they would walk away.

If you're a half empty glass rather than half full kind of person, and would worry about the worst case senario and lose sleep, don't do it, book through your airline of choice. You health and sanity isn't worth the, in our case, the $2,000 you could have saved.

[SFCAcruiser]

...

So far I have found C A to have outrageous hotel prices. Over 400 for a Hilton in San Juan. :mad: Thanx but no thanx.

Choice Air offering hotel rooms?? I've found that Choice Air has offered only flights. Where can we find their hotel offerings?

[richstowe]

Choice Air offering hotel rooms?? I've found that Choice Air has offered only flights. Where can we find their hotel offerings?

You can book your hotel on-line when you book your flight.

If you don't book at this time you can book later by phone with a CA agent.

The price quoted is per person and may include transportation to the ship but not the hotel.

Not sure if transportation is always included. Get an idea of prices on your own before you book with them.

[Gonzo70]

All of the cruiselines have their versions of Choice Air. If it was so risky, why would they continue to push it? Low prices, who knows, maybe the lines subsidize the airlines to get people to travel so far. If I were to miss a cruise using Choice Air, not only would I be upset with the airline, but I would probably not use the cruiseline anymore for soliciting me to use it. I think they know that would happen so unless they weren't sure it worked they would walk away.

If you're a half empty glass rather than half full kind of person, and would worry about the worst case senario and lose sleep, don't do it, book through your airline of choice. You health and sanity isn't worth the, in our case, the $2,000 you could have saved.

 

The cruise lines offer it because it is a money maker and for no other reason. When Choice Air is priced significantly lower than what you could purchase directly from the airline it is generally because Choice Air has purchased bulk fare tickets; they are much cheaper than full fare tickets but come with heavy restrictions when irregular operations occur.

 

So long as I have adequate wiggle room for delays I am comfortable booking Choice Air if the price is right. However it would be a mistake to think that it is fine to book a flight with a tight connection or that is scheduled to arrive within a few hours of your cruise's scheduled departure because you assume the cruise line would not sell such a flight if it were not going to get you to the ship in time. Choice Air allows direct and connecting flights to be booked with the shortest legal connections and sometimes the shortest legal connection is extremely tight even when the prior leg is on time.

[SFCAcruiser]

You can book your hotel on-line when you book your flight.

If you don't book at this time you can book later by phone with a CA agent.

The price quoted is per person and may include transportation to the ship but not the hotel.

Not sure if transportation is always included. Get an idea of prices on your own before you book with them.

Thanks; I will continue to use Priceline as much as possible for my hotel needs.

[mrpacker03]

I think there are alot of people who don't understand Coice Air or how to use it. Host Andy has a section on it in the "Sticky" area for Celebrity posts. Choice Air has an explanation of how they run their business as well as a FAQ section. Read them.

In my three uses of Choice Air I had options galore on when to go and who to go on. For example, on our flight next Friday, I had 46 options over 8 different airlines. I could get into London anytime between 6:30am and 9pm (we are going a day early). You hold all the cards when, with who and how long for connections.You can even pick/change your seat assignments. If you book a flight with a real short connection time, shame on you.

If after this information and you still don't feel comfortable, go with a travel agent or right to the airline.

[Cinziaeye]

One thing no one has mentioned... if you book your air with Choice Air, then want to cancel and rebook your cruise prior to final payment (maybe to take advantage of a great promo), you have to pay the airlines penalty to rebook your flight. I recently tried to do it, and it was going to cost me $150 per ticket for rebooking the air, PLUS the fare for my flight had gone up substantially and I would have had to pay the difference. I tried to explain to them that I was not changing the air AT ALL, but since the air was connected to the original booking number, if I cancelled that, they were going to cancel my flights as well. I tried speaking with supervisors, but had no luck - so I missed out on a great promo. Now I just buy cruise insurance, which will cover my out-of-pocket expenses if I am delayed or rerouted. I am very comfortable working directly with the airlines, so if something happens, I will take my chances.

 

On another cruise, I had used Choice Air, and two days after I bought the tickets, the fare plummeted $180. (times 4 tickets) I called Choice Air, and they told me that I had to call the airline. I called the airline, and they told me that they would not refund me, but they would give me credit towards future airfare. However, since I had booked through Choice Air, I had to go back to them to get the credit. You can see where this is going. Needless to say, I got NO help from Choice Air, and none from United, so I ended up stuck with the higher airfare.

[Gonzo70]

I think there are alot of people who don't understand Coice Air or how to use it. Host Andy has a section on it in the "Sticky" area for Celebrity posts. Choice Air has an explanation of how they run their business as well as a FAQ section. Read them.

In my three uses of Choice Air I had options galore on when to go and who to go on. For example, on our flight next Friday, I had 46 options over 8 different airlines. I could get into London anytime between 6:30am and 9pm (we are going a day early). You hold all the cards when, with who and how long for connections.You can even pick/change your seat assignments. If you book a flight with a real short connection time, shame on you.

If after this information and you still don't feel comfortable, go with a travel agent or right to the airline.

 

I understand Choice Air just fine. What you are failing to understand is that unlike purchasing tickets from the airlines directly you are not able to read the full set of fare rules for your tickets when purchasing from Choice Air. When purchasing the deeply discounted tickets Choice Air often has for one way and open jaw flights, one is generally receiving bulk fare tickets that hare severe restrictions in case irregular operations occur. If your flight is not canceled, greatly delayed and you do not miss any connections you will never know you had different tickets; you can still manage your flight on the airline's website, generally receive frequent flyer miles, choose your flight etc. However if you miss your connection, your flight is cancelled or you are so delayed you miss the cruise these tickets generally cannot be rerouted (i.e. they cannot be changed to another destination) or endorsed to another carrier (i.e. switched to a different airline that will get you there) AND unless you have high status with the airline you will be very low on the standby list for the next flight with the airline and route you are ticketed on. Choice Air has stated they will help (and hopefully they make good on this), but if you miss the ship your vacation is still tarnished even if Choice Air does purchase a new set of tickets for you to catch the ship (and while they say they will help, they have no legal obligation/requirement to purchase you new tickets, so you have to count on their word). Choice Air can still be a good choice for these deeply discounted flights (as you save so much money) but it would be a huge mistake to feel that because you are booking through the cruise line that you are definitely going to make it to the ship on time; some people book flights that land within hours of all aboard time and/or with short connection times thinking that because they used Choice Air they will have no problems. When booking deeply discounted fares one must build in more wiggle room than normal due to the severe restrictions that may materialize if one's flight is canceled, greatly delayed or a connection is missed.

[richstowe]

When purchasing the deeply discounted tickets Choice Air often has for one way and open jaw flights, one is generally receiving bulk fare tickets that hare severe restrictions in case irregular operations occur. However if you miss your connection, your flight is canceled or you are so delayed you miss the cruise these tickets generally cannot be rerouted (i.e. they cannot be changed to another destination) or endorsed to another carrier (i.e. switched to a different airline that will get you there) AND unless you have high status with the airline you will be very low on the standby list for the next flight with the airline and route you are ticketed on.

Clearly your post is well reasoned. I just wonder how much preference airlines have for one

discount economy seat over another. These C A seats may be deeply discounted but so are many other seats.

I'm not as convinced as you that all the C A seats are the bottom of the barrel codewise since many offered

can be altered for a fee. I changed my last C A ticket with relatively little issues through the airline.

Did they know that it was a C A ticket ? Did it help or hurt? Don't know but am not sure these deeply discounted tickets

are always so deeply discounted. Choice Air seems to be a specialized TA with perhaps more incentive then other TA's

to go to bat for their customers.

[mrpacker03]

I understand Choice Air just fine. What you are failing to understand is that unlike purchasing tickets from the airlines directly you are not able to read the full set of fare rules for your tickets when purchasing from Choice Air. When purchasing the deeply discounted tickets Choice Air often has for one way and open jaw flights, one is generally receiving bulk fare tickets that hare severe restrictions in case irregular operations occur. If your flight is not canceled, greatly delayed and you do not miss any connections you will never know you had different tickets; you can still manage your flight on the airline's website, generally receive frequent flyer miles, choose your flight etc. However if you miss your connection, your flight is cancelled or you are so delayed you miss the cruise these tickets generally cannot be rerouted (i.e. they cannot be changed to another destination) or endorsed to another carrier (i.e. switched to a different airline that will get you there) AND unless you have high status with the airline you will be very low on the standby list for the next flight with the airline and route you are ticketed on. Choice Air has stated they will help (and hopefully they make good on this), but if you miss the ship your vacation is still tarnished even if Choice Air does purchase a new set of tickets for you to catch the ship (and while they say they will help, they have no legal obligation/requirement to purchase you new tickets, so you have to count on their word). Choice Air can still be a good choice for these deeply discounted flights (as you save so much money) but it would be a huge mistake to feel that because you are booking through the cruise line that you are definitely going to make it to the ship on time; some people book flights that land within hours of all aboard time and/or with short connection times thinking that because they used Choice Air they will have no problems. When booking deeply discounted fares one must build in more wiggle room than normal due to the severe restrictions that may materialize if one's flight is canceled, greatly delayed or a connection is missed.

It seems awful paranoid to go to such depths to find fault with Choice Air. If a person would be as critical of medications as they are Choice Air they wouldn't take them. If you look at the possible side effects your medication might cause, they are much worse than missing or delaying your cruise. Again, if you don't build in adequate connection time, shame on you. For $2,000 I can build in plenty of wiggle room, for this cruise we are arriving almost 1 1/2 days early. Choice Air might not be for everyone, Gather all the facts and make up your own mind. When I book domestic flights directly through the airlines, I'm not 100% sure I'm going to make it on time. I build in, what I think is enough spare time and hope for the best, I'm not going to get paranoid and worry about something that probably happens very rarely.

[Cruise Junky]

It seems awful paranoid to go to such depths to find fault with Choice Air. If a person would be as critical of medications as they are Choice Air they wouldn't take them. If you look at the possible side effects your medication might cause, they are much worse than missing or delaying your cruise. Again, if you don't build in adequate connection time, shame on you. For $2,000 I can build in plenty of wiggle room, for this cruise we are arriving almost 1 1/2 days early. Choice Air might not be for everyone, Gather all the facts and make up your own mind. When I book domestic flights directly through the airlines, I'm not 100% sure I'm going to make it on time. I build in, what I think is enough spare time and hope for the best, I'm not going to get paranoid and worry about something that probably happens very rarely.

 

 

I don't think Gonzo is paranoid at all, what he's actually trying to do is educate people as to what they're buying. He stated himself that he would use it under the right conditions.

 

There are lots of horror stories on Choice Air, he's just trying to educate people that seem to think the cruiseline will always take care of them.

[mrpacker03]

Where are all these horror stories about Choice Air or any other cruiseline sponsored airfares? I've checked other lines and found none over the last wo weeks anyway. Reading all these boards, I find people complaining about things that are much more trivial than air.

We are arguing the opposite sides of the subject. I'm pointing out the positives and he's pointing out the possible negatives. I'm not saying he is totally wrong, I just don't think it offsets the financial gain. If you don't believe that Celebrity/Choice Air will attempt to help you if something goes wrong, maybe you shouldn't be dealing with them.

It's your money, do whatever makes you sleep at night.

[Gonzo70]

It seems awful paranoid to go to such depths to find fault with Choice Air.

 

Not paranoid in the least. In fact I have used Choice Air before and it worked out fine (and saved me a lot of money) and I will probably use them again in the future. My post was simply alerting people that there are both pros and cons to Choice Air and that it is prudent to be aware of both so that one can make an informed decision. Seems like you prefer the Pollyanna approach. If you do your due diligence you will see that the boards are replete with both positive and negative stories of people's experiences with Choice Air.