Regent Flights - with and without deviation

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, Lonedaddy said:

I haven't used regent air as I usually book with milage.  How far out do they start booking and is there a list of preferred airlines to New Zealand and from bali back to the states (hopefully with a stop in Singapore?)   Do I work directly with them on the deviations or does my TA?

You can do it through your TA, at least in my experience.  It's quite a long time, like 270 days or some such number?  We booked our flight to Copenhagen and home from Stockholm last October I think it was, for our July cruise.  

 

As for airlines, you should look at what works for you best, and then present an itinerary to Regent to see if they will do it.  If they won't, they will probably suggest alternatives.  It's not until you come up with an approved and accepted itinerary that you pay the deviation fee.

[rallydave]

1 hour ago, Lonedaddy said:

I haven't used regent air as I usually book with milage.  How far out do they start booking and is there a list oRef preferred airlines to New Zealand and from bali back to the states (hopefully with a stop in Singapore?)   Do I work directly with them on the deviations or does my TA?

Wendy is correct, you can begin the deviation process ($175 per person) at 270 days prior to embarkation.  Your TA can work thru the air desk are give Regent the approval for you to work in advance.  There is no list of contracted airlines as they change from year to year.  Almost positive there won't be any flights with a stop in Singapore and if you choose that you will likely get a pretty big upcharge as Singapore is the opposite way and then if you want to stay in Singapore for more than a change of planes, they will charge you point to point and Regent will make you pay the difference between their contracted rate back to the states and your point to point.

 

Suggest you make a short list of preferred flights and give that to your TA or Regent air desk.  You don't pay the deviation fee unless you first agree with the flights but at that point non-refundable and if you want to make changes you pay the fee again.  You may be able to get flights for no additional cost however, in some cases they will up charge you from the "free" (included) flights.   If you don't deviate, Regent will choose your flights likely at the lowest cost to them and you will likely arrive on your embarkation date and depart upon arrival.  Those flights are not provided to you until approx. 75 days prior to departure.

 

Any other questions are welcome as it is not a really simple process. 

[loriva]

On 2/12/2022 at 10:24 AM, Lonedaddy said:

I haven't used regent air as I usually book with milage.  How far out do they start booking and is there a list of preferred airlines to New Zealand and from bali back to the states (hopefully with a stop in Singapore?)   Do I work directly with them on the deviations or does my TA?

 

You can book your air 270 days prior to the embarkation day of your cruise (not 270 days before you want to fly--270 days before the cruise departs.)  Prior to that, however, you can call the Regent Air Concierge at 1-877-722-7772 and ask them who they use as contract carriers between your departure airport and your embarkation and disembarkation ports.  (Have pen/paper or the notes application on your phone ready as, in my experience, they rattle off the list of airlines really fast.)  Then you can research options available to you.  (I like to call Regent about 330 days out for the carriers, do my research on Google Flights, and then set up to track prices there on my desired itineraries.  If you really have a preference on routing or airlines, you can set up a notional itinerary to track prices for the current year--just remember to adjust for the days of the week you anticipate flying, not the same date.  In theory, prices for international flights are lowest 120 days before the flight.  Then I can compare prices purchased directly or via Regent Air.)

 

In theory, you are supposed to work via your TA for flights.  But, I've worked directly with Regent without issue--they send whatever itinerary we decide upon to my TA.  Based on comments from folks here on CC.com, you can also ask your TA to mark your record to allow you to discuss some aspects--like flights--directly with Regent.  (I did not, and it worked out--but your mileage may vary.)

 

You can also check with consolidators.  They usually start selling fares 330 days prior.  Sometimes their fares are really good and sometimes they are not much different than the airlines are offering.  Remember you may or may not get full frequent flyer credit for flights purchased through consolidators--especially if you are looking at an open-jaw itinerary as the consolidator likely buys two round trips and sells the unused legs to someone else or uses its stash of frequent flyer points to upgrade a lower-class fare.

 

Finally, some premium credit cards offer flights at a discount.  I've found deals about 10-percent off this way. 

[skybluewaters]

New to Regent, very much appreciate this thread.  We’ll be taking our first Regent cruise this November/December, Rome to Miami.  Our gateway is SFO.

We would like to use Regent Air and book as soon as possible with deviation so as to ensure the best available routes and seats.  My major issue is that airlines seem to change flight times and connections often.  By booking many months out, it seems inevitable that at least one if not more changes will be made.  I assume that if changes that I don’t like are made to the flights by the airlines, I would need to pay an additional deviation fee. But it’s not the fee itself that’s the issue for me.  It’s the fact that the new flights might  bear no resemblance to the flights I wanted and so the initial deviation process would have been in vain.

Is there an optimal time to book flights when deviating?  On the surface, it seems that 270 days is way too early knowing that there will most certainly be changes, yet waiting too long will result in fewer and/or poorer choices.
I know there is no perfect answer, but what goes into the decision-making process when deciding when to initiate the deviation?

[jeb_bud]

12 hours ago, skybluewaters said:

New to Regent, very much appreciate this thread.  We’ll be taking our first Regent cruise this November/December, Rome to Miami.  Our gateway is SFO.

We would like to use Regent Air and book as soon as possible with deviation so as to ensure the best available routes and seats.  My major issue is that airlines seem to change flight times and connections often.  By booking many months out, it seems inevitable that at least one if not more changes will be made.  I assume that if changes that I don’t like are made to the flights by the airlines, I would need to pay an additional deviation fee. But it’s not the fee itself that’s the issue for me.  It’s the fact that the new flights might  bear no resemblance to the flights I wanted and so the initial deviation process would have been in vain.

Is there an optimal time to book flights when deviating?  On the surface, it seems that 270 days is way too early knowing that there will most certainly be changes, yet waiting too long will result in fewer and/or poorer choices.
I know there is no perfect answer, but what goes into the decision-making process when deciding when to initiate the deviation?

A few months before our last Regent cruise, back in 2019, Air France canceled a flight on our return to SFO from Venice.  We had deviated so we could choose our flights and assure first class for the domestic legs.  There was some back and forth with Regent Air and although our preferred routing would have cost quite a bit of money, we were able to settle on a reasonable routing that still kept us out of coach seats with no extra cost other than a zero-dark thirty departure from Venice.  There was no extra deviation fee involved.

 

 

[skybluewaters]

5 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

A few months before our last Regent cruise, back in 2019, Air France canceled a flight on our return to SFO from Venice.  We had deviated so we could choose our flights and assure first class for the domestic legs.  There was some back and forth with Regent Air and although our preferred routing would have cost quite a bit of money, we were able to settle on a reasonable routing that still kept us out of coach seats with no extra cost other than a zero-dark thirty departure from Venice.  There was no extra deviation fee involved.

 

 

 

Thanks for your reply.  But it's not the deviation fee that's the issue, it's the fact that flight changes seem inevitable when booking many months out.  What's the point of securing a preferred route by using the deviation mechanism when the flights will almost certainly be changed by the airlines?  Isn't it better to wait until closer to cruise time?  I'm most interested in what considerations go into deciding what the optimal time for choosing the flights when using deviation is.  Thanks!

[GOARMY]

Skyblue:  Don't make the Perfect the enemy of the Good. 

 

In this current environment, there is NO perfect time--or window of time--to nail down flights to embarkation city; and return home.  The uncertainties ("considerations") are ever-present, particularly in this Post COVID World, now further complicated by the increasingly uncertain international political/military European situation.  

 

Excellent information has been provided in Posts 876-878, and 880 as general guidance--and VERY early homework and planning. 

 

One just has to be flexible, and deal with airlines' consistent habit of changing flight times, or simply discontinuing a flight.  That could happen at any time.  Regent has NO control over this should you use Regent Air.  You have no control over this if you "wing" it on your own.  

 

With few exceptions, we have utilized Regent Air (in coordination with our TA) over the past 15-20 years, particularly when doing an over-ocean--either Pacific or Atlantic itinerary.  Same for South American travels.  The practicality of doing so is more relevant than ever given current uncertainties affecting international travel mentioned above.  

 

Recent example:  October-November, 2021 Explorer segment--Barcelona to Miami.  We booked this cruise--planning to use Regent Air to get us from SEATAC to Barcelona; then Miami back to SEATAC--about a year previously.  So early, in fact, that that segment was supposed to be on Mariner.  This was, of course, during height of COVID.  No direct flights from SEATAC to, or return from Barcelona.  The two main options were Lufthansa via Frankfort; or British Air (BA) via Heathrow.  Any other option on any other airline would have involved TWO intermediate stops.  

 

So, we started out with BA.  Then, BA canceled the intermediate flight we wanted from Heathrow to Barcelona.   The only alternative utilizing BA was one giving us about an hour transit time at Heathrow.  Impossible.  So, Regent put us on Lufthansa. Fine.  Then--Lufthansa changed the flight time for our connecting flight to Barcelona.  BUT--BA reinstated a reasonable connecting flight from Heathrow.  So, it was back to BA.   

 

But wait:  Less than two weeks from our departure from SEATAC--Viola!  BA again changed that Heathrow flight time.  Unacceptable. 

 

So--BACK to Lufthansa.  I lost track of the changes; our TA and Regent Air did not.  Fortunately, Lufthansa had opened up a connection flight giving us about a two-hour "window" at Frankfort.  That worked.  Regent Air did all the hard work; we shared the worry portion. 

 

The bottom line was that every itinerary was predicated on our getting to Barcelona a day before embarkation--just in case.  Worst case scenario:  stuck overnight at either Heathrow or Frankfort.   Regent would be responsible for our overnight; then another connecting flight very, very early the next morning.  

 

Reality sometimes bites.  One has to deal with uncertainty in these uncertain times.    

 

GOARMY!

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by GOARMY
Syntax

[jeb_bud]

19 hours ago, skybluewaters said:

 

Thanks for your reply.  But it's not the deviation fee that's the issue, it's the fact that flight changes seem inevitable when booking many months out.  What's the point of securing a preferred route by using the deviation mechanism when the flights will almost certainly be changed by the airlines?  Isn't it better to wait until closer to cruise time?  I'm most interested in what considerations go into deciding what the optimal time for choosing the flights when using deviation is.  Thanks!

To me, the point of using deviation is to have my preferred routing available if things go well. It also sets the baseline from which Regent Air will work if the airlines make major changes to my itinerary. The closer you get to cruise time the greater the chance that your preferred seats are unavailable. 
 

for my money the optimal time to choose flights is 270 days before boarding or as soon as possible if the cruise is already less than 270 days out. If flights don’t get changed in significant ways you get your best routing. If significant changes do happen you can get right to working with Regent or your TA to get the current best routing. Least optimal, to me, is not deviating and getting whatever works best for Regent 75 days before departure. 

[GOARMY]

jeb-bud:  

 

Exactly!

 

Mark Twain once wrote a friend, apologizing for writing such a long letter--because he had not taken the time necessary to write a shorter one.  I plead guilty. 

 

You nailed it.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[Lonedaddy]

On our Auckland to Bali cruise (Jan 23)  we choose to go 2 days earlier and they offered us DFW/LAX/AKL on American business class all the way.  The air credit is 7000 and the split it 3500/3500.  They could not offer us a return from Bali with a stop in Singapore - since Singapore is considered another continent Asia vs Oceania.   Which is ok since there are several more flight choices vs DFW/AKL and milage awards are available for 70k miles except the Bali/Sin flight.

[Lonedaddy]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:57 PM, Lonedaddy said:

On our Auckland to Bali cruise (Jan 23)  we choose to go 2 days earlier and they offered us DFW/LAX/AKL on American business class all the way.  The air credit is 7000 and the split it 3500/3500.  They could not offer us a return from Bali with a stop in Singapore - since Singapore is considered another continent Asia vs Oceania.   Which is ok since there are several more flight choices vs DFW/AKL and milage awards are available for 70k miles except the Bali/Sin flight.

I just checked my flight and American added a nonstop dfw to Auckland and I was rebooked on that either by American or regent.  Long flight 15 1/2 hours but I’ll take a non stop any day.  

[gabelle]

5 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

I just checked my flight and American added a nonstop dfw to Auckland and I was rebooked on that either by American or regent.  Long flight 15 1/2 hours but I’ll take a non stop any day.  

What day are you flying into Auckland?  I requested that flight and could get it for arriving the day of the cruise, but not earlier. Very interesting.

[Go9ersjrh]

On our upcoming TA cruise in August 2022 we are flying Delta from LAX - ATL - BCN.  The flight from LAX to ATL is 1st class followed by a Delta One seat across the Atlantic.  Coming home from NY we are in economy on American.

[RJ2002]

We are thinking about booking a cruise which departs next month.    One of the determining factors will be if we can use Regent for the air.   

 

Has anyone had any experience with a close-in booking that included air?   It appears they won't include air if it is within 30 of sailing.   The cruise we are considering is more than 30 days out.

 

I've got an inquiry out to our TA as well.   Thanks for any input.

Edited June 19, 2022 by RJ2002

[RJ2002]

On 6/19/2022 at 12:58 PM, RJ2002 said:

We are thinking about booking a cruise which departs next month.    One of the determining factors will be if we can use Regent for the air.   

 

Has anyone had any experience with a close-in booking that included air?   It appears they won't include air if it is within 30 of sailing.   The cruise we are considering is more than 30 days out.

 

I've got an inquiry out to our TA as well.   Thanks for any input.

 

I can respond to my own post.   Our air was finalized the same day we made our booking, which required full payment for the cruise.   The flights were certainly acceptable - no crazy routings or layovers.   We were anxious about what we'd end up with for a close-in booking.   We're quite satisfied, and the included air was a much better deal than points (which we usually use) or cash.

[snorkle lover]

This won't apply until a year from now. We are booked on a British Isles cruise in 2023. We fly out of Atlanta. Any thoughts as to how good our chances will be to fly on Delta non stop to Heathrow ( Delta One).

[rallydave]

24 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

This won't apply until a year from now. We are booked on a British Isles cruise in 2023. We fly out of Atlanta. Any thoughts as to how good our chances will be to fly on Delta non stop to Heathrow ( Delta One).

Depends o whether you.are deviating or taking whatever Regent provides approx. 75 days out. Purely an educated guess but would put it at about 50/50 deviating and about 25% if taking what they give you. Others will probably give different odds but none of us have crystall balls. 
 

a lot depends on which flight is least expensive for Regent 

Edited July 1, 2022 by rallydave

[snorkle lover]

1 hour ago, rallydave said:

Depends o whether you.are deviating or taking whatever Regent provides approx. 75 days out. Purely an educated guess but would put it at about 50/50 deviating and about 25% if taking what they give you. Others will probably give different odds but none of us have crystall balls. 
 

a lot depends on which flight is least expensive for Regent 

That makes sense and right now the costs are through the roof. We plan to deviate and hope for the best.

[thealohastate]

We are booked on the Sydney to Bali Cruise  in January.    We live in Hawaii and do not want to fly to the Mainland and then to Sydney, so we've asked for deviations.  We have sent our TA the routes we would like to get.  To fly to Sydney, Quantas has a direct route from Honolulu to Sydney.

The problem we are finding is getting back home from Bali.

We've looked and looked at flights and a variety of air lines.  So far it looks like Quantas from Bali to Sydney and then Sydney to Honolulu--BUT, there is a 15 hour layover in Sydney.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a better routing?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

2 hours ago, thealohastate said:

We've looked and looked at flights and a variety of air lines.  So far it looks like Quantas from Bali to Sydney and then Sydney to Honolulu--BUT, there is a 15 hour layover in Sydney.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a better routing?

Bummer, but perhaps you can make lemonade out of this lemon.  How about staying a couple of days in Sydney at the end of the cruise?

[RJ2002]

3 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Bummer, but perhaps you can make lemonade out of this lemon.  How about staying a couple of days in Sydney at the end of the cruise?

 

I think this is a good suggestion.  I was looking at the options on Google Flights and really don't see anything with just one stop that doesn't involve lengthy layovers.

[2SailingNomads]

I seem to have seen, somewhere in the 800+ posts here, about Regent requiring you to take a flight after a certain number of hours when disembarking but cannot find it.  Anyone have info on that?  Has to be after noon or ???  Thx.

[CJANDH]

Has Regent changed the way they handle deviation requests? We are sailing Miami to LA at Christmas this year and applied for a deviation to get flights booked earlier that the 75 days out and also to upgrade to first class. It has been over a week and our TA has only managed to get the flight to Miami confirmed. The flight home from LAX is still pending. Regent used to be pretty quick confirming deviation flights. Are they processing things differently these days?

[RJ2002]

29 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

Has Regent changed the way they handle deviation requests? We are sailing Miami to LA at Christmas this year and applied for a deviation to get flights booked earlier that the 75 days out and also to upgrade to first class. It has been over a week and our TA has only managed to get the flight to Miami confirmed. The flight home from LAX is still pending. Regent used to be pretty quick confirming deviation flights. Are they processing things differently these days?

 

Yes, there have been changes.  Check out this thread for the latest.

 

 

[CJANDH]

5 hours ago, RJ2002 said:

 

Yes, there have been changes.  Check out this thread for the latest.

 

 

Thank you RJ. I must have missed this. Understandable. Hope they get me sorted in a week or so.