Regent Flights - with and without deviation

[Tnkbstr55]

For information purposes re Regent flight deviations, this was our experience for flights from NYC area to Athens and a return from Rome on an October voyage.  Our first choices, given to our TA, was for non stop flights to and from JFK.  Regent offered us a flight from JFK to Athens, non stop, on Delta/Virgin with a charge for the deviation and an additional $3,000 pp.  Alternatively, Regent offered a United non stop from EWR with no charge beyond the deviation fee.  We accepted.   On the return from FCO we asked for the Delta non stop to JFK  We did not want to return to EWR.  We were offered the Delta flight for an up charge of the deviation fee and $1300 pp.  We accepted this.  This process was completed in 2 days.

 

Regent Air told our TA we could avoid the deviation fee and any upcharge by accepting either an Air Canada flight coming or going with a change in Montreal (very short layover).  Or, a Swiss Air flights with a change in Zurich (also a very short layover).  

 

We priced out the flights we have arranged to learn the cost if we booked the same on our own.  The price came out to $6,500+ pp.  In the end we go to and from in Business class non stop flights for approx. $1500 pp.

[SusieQft]

1 hour ago, Tnkbstr55 said:

We priced out the flights we have arranged to learn the cost if we booked the same on our own.  The price came out to $6,500+ pp.  In the end we go to and from in Business class non stop flights for approx. $1500 pp.

Plus the amount of the rebate you would have gotten for declining Regent Air.  We are doing the same route with Silversea out of Las Vegas, and Silversea also gave us Swiss Air through Zurich to Athens, and the return flight on American with a stop in Philadelphia. There are no nonstop options out of LAS.  Delta would have had a 4-figure additional upcharge.

[Mystictraveler]

Plan to fly from Houston to Bali and return from Bangkok in 2024. Does anyone know which carriers Regent likes to use to these areas of Asia? Has anyone seen them use EVA as there is a non-stop from Houston to Taipei with good connections?

[2SailingNomads]

We too now live in Las Vegas, actually Henderson, and are not on the included cities.  What Regent offered was totally unacceptable from Lisbon.  As it turns out we are on a non-Regent TA in October and booked our own R/T LIS / LAS  so with the "arrange your own airfare" money back and the TA actually much better to do on our own.  But was really disappointed with the flights Regent countered us with when we sent our request. Talk about PAINFUL flights.  

[janecambridge]

Thank you all for your responses. We have cancelled the two flights from Anchorage  to Seattle and Seattle to Heathrow. 
Now to sort out Anchorage flight and transfers!  

[sabreline]

Just booked flights through Regent Custom Air on Monday. We got EXACTLY what we wanted...1 stop between Savannah and Tokyo,  same on return, and first class on both domestic legs. No upcharge, only then $175pp fee for custom air. Some thoughts on the process... I spent a LOT of time studying all the options so I knew exactly what itineraries were possible. I also priced everything with and without using points so that I could compare to any upcharge I might have been encountered. I knew what the air credit would be if I chose to book.our flights on may own. I made sure all my info was entered with Regent including our passports numbers. I called exactly 270 days before our first flight and I called at exactly the minute the air department opened. Most importantly, I had my TA call the reservation department and tell them that I would be calling the air department myself. The result.....within 15 minutes I had my desired itinerary, had seats reserved and got a thank you from the agent for being organized and not taking any more of her time than absolutely necessary.

[Mystictraveler]

May I ask, which airline(s) are you using? And I didn't know they opened up the phone lines again. I assumed we still had to submit requests in writing? 

[sabreline]

On 1/25/2023 at 7:59 PM, Mystictraveler said:

May I ask, which airline(s) are you using? And I didn't know they opened up the phone lines again. I assumed we still had to submit requests in writing? 

AA outbound and DL return. You can call them if your TA tells them you will be making contact.

[Lonedaddy]

Just got our flights back from regent DFW to TLV we requested American via JFK and they offered us AF DFW/CDG/TLV which arrives earlier but has a tight 110 min connection - I assume since we are transiting and not going into EU that should be sufficient time to connect. Not so sure about the luggage but we will carry a couple bags on in case.  The return from Milan they gave us requested flights on BA/AA.   

[sabreline]

8 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

Just got our flights back from regent DFW to TLV we requested American via JFK and they offered us AF DFW/CDG/TLV which arrives earlier but has a tight 110 min connection - I assume since we are transiting and not going into EU that should be sufficient time to connect. Not so sure about the luggage but we will carry a couple bags on in case.  The return from Milan they gave us requested flights on BA/AA.   

If that 110 minutes is at CDG, that is very tight!!!!!

[wcsdkqh]

Avoid Air France and Cdg at all costs. AF “misplaced” one of my bags at CDG coming home from a November cruise. It received the bag 62 days later. Absolutely horrible. There is a Facebook page entitled Air France Victims where you can read all about Air France and luggage.

[ysolde]

I had tried doing the air deviation on the Regent website, and kept getting an error.  Called Regent.  Got a call back from a PCC, who told us the site is glitchy, and she would call the air department with the flights we want.  Then, I got a call back from the Regent PCC regarding the air deviation we want.  Apparently now, we have to call the air department ourselves and tell them what flights we want, rather than having the PCC do it for us.  So that's on schedule for Monday.

[Lonedaddy]

18 hours ago, ysolde said:

I had tried doing the air deviation on the Regent website, and kept getting an error.  Called Regent.  Got a call back from a PCC, who told us the site is glitchy, and she would call the air department with the flights we want.  Then, I got a call back from the Regent PCC regarding the air deviation we want.  Apparently now, we have to call the air department ourselves and tell them what flights we want, rather than having the PCC do it for us.  So that's on schedule for Monday.

where did you attempt that on the website?

[ysolde]

8 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

where did you attempt that on the website?

Under Roundtrip Airfare, there was a Customize button.  When I pressed it, I kept getting an error message.  The button is no longer there.  Apparently, now they just want us to call the air reservations department that Regent uses ourselves.  The PCC gave me the phone number.  Very limited hours, but I guess that's the system now.

[loriva]

On 1/25/2023 at 12:26 PM, sabreline said:

Just booked flights through Regent Custom Air on Monday. We got EXACTLY what we wanted...1 stop between Savannah and Tokyo,  same on return, and first class on both domestic legs. No upcharge, only then $175pp fee for custom air. Some thoughts on the process... I spent a LOT of time studying all the options so I knew exactly what itineraries were possible. I also priced everything with and without using points so that I could compare to any upcharge I might have been encountered. I knew what the air credit would be if I chose to book.our flights on may own. I made sure all my info was entered with Regent including our passports numbers. I called exactly 270 days before our first flight and I called at exactly the minute the air department opened. Most importantly, I had my TA call the reservation department and tell them that I would be calling the air department myself. The result.....within 15 minutes I had my desired itinerary, had seats reserved and got a thank you from the agent for being organized and not taking any more of her time than absolutely necessary.

 

We had a very similar experience with Regent Custom Air when we booked on 23 January (270 days before we embark our Med cruise.)  I had used Google Air to research potential flight itineraries and compared pricing booking directly, through AmEx's International Air Program, and even with a consolidator.  I was, however, curious on what the Regent Air agent would suggest as an itinerary (Orlando-Venice and return Athens-MCO) so started by asking after I made it through the queue (about a 45-minute wait).  She suggested a routing on United through EWR that would have come with a $2,300/pp upcharge.  I asked her to take a look at the Lufthansa routing (MCO-FRA-VCE and ATH-FRA-MCO) I had found.  She was able to reserve that without an upcharge, but we will need to take an earlier LH flight out of Athens instead of the Aegean one I had found--we're staying two additional nights on our own in Athens after we disembark, so an early flight is not an issue.  The pricing was $2,500 (air credit on our cruise fare) plus the $175 air deviation fee.  This was about $1,200/pp less than I could find independently--even the agent at the consolidator told me I should take it from Regent!  We are in business class for the entire routing--including the two intra-European flights.  (The agent said that was why she could not book Aegean--she could not find biz class seats.)

 

The only hiccup is that our TA (the big box store one) had not noted I could work directly with Regent on the air.  I did not encounter this when I booked air with Regent for a British Isles cruise in September 2021.  The agent promised me a callback so I could call my TA.  I did so (and had them also annotate our other two bookings for 2024 and 2025).  The agent called me back about an hour after the promised time and we finalized everything.  She sent me the proposed itinerary, which I returned with our approval.  It took a few days to show up on my Regent account but is there now.

 

Based on my experience--only two air bookings with Regent--it is difficult to beat their pricing to Europe.  (Unless you have miles to use, of course.  We're using those for our Viking Ocean Baltic cruise in May as Viking's air prices are close to market from what my research has found.)  We MAY be able to do better independently on our upcoming Sydney to Singapore and Papeete to Auckland itineraries with Regent, but time will tell.

 

Safe travels all,

 

 

[BenLynn]

We booked Custom Air to make a stop in London for several days then to Barcelona two days before the cruise started on October 8, 2023. Our travel agent told us that Regent would not provide transportation even though I'd go to the airport on the 8th to meet the buses taking arriving passengers to the cruise port in Tarragona.  i couldn't ever pay to have them transport me. Has anyone else run into this problem? Thank you.

[loriva]

10 hours ago, BenLynn said:

We booked Custom Air to make a stop in London for several days then to Barcelona two days before the cruise started on October 8, 2023. Our travel agent told us that Regent would not provide transportation even though I'd go to the airport on the 8th to meet the buses taking arriving passengers to the cruise port in Tarragona.  i couldn't ever pay to have them transport me. Has anyone else run into this problem? Thank you.

 

You might want to post this as a new thread on the main board to get more views and responses,, @BenLynn. 

 

Regent did provide us with a transfer to their hotel in London from Southampton although our flight home was not for three days--BUT we were bumped from our flight home due to a hurricane in Florida, so our case may be unusual.

[ysolde]

We are never going to make these connections.  I had originally requested the air customization because I the flights Regent had provided for us (flying us in overnight the day of our TA cruise and then flying us out of BCN to Montreal (huh?), then on a tight connection to O'Hare, then on another tight connection to PHX seemed like a recipe for disaster.  So we decided to book hotels at our own expense and find better flights.  

 

No problem with the flight the night before (and we can spend the day resting in a hotel in Miami).  Regent booked us on the flight without issue.  But we found a flight back from BCN-EWR-PHX (on UA) the day after our cruise.  We figured we would stay at a hotel in BCN for the night.  Again no problem.  The problem with that is that the cost of that deviation is almost $2,000 p.p.  Or we can let Regent book us: 

 

BCN- FRA (arr FRA 4:00 pm).  FRA-ORD (departing 5:20 pm, arriving 8:00 pm) ORD-PHX (departing 9:46 pm).

 

Well, I am in a wheelchair.  No, not, I need a wheelchair at the airport.  I am in a wheelchair.  Which means my wheelchair gets loaded into the cargo of the plane each and every time.  Which means I have to wait for every passenger to deplane before they offload me.  This can take a good twenty, twenty-five minutes. After the time it takes to get the plane to the gate (ten minutes? twenty minutes?).  If we land in the European gates and have to get to the international gates, that's quite a sprint before our gate closes at FRA.  Oh, well, no matter.  Surely LH will put us on another flight headed somewhere to the US.  And who knows, maybe we'll make it.  To ORD.  One of the most pleasant airports in the US. 

 

But, as the RSSC rep told us on the phone, the airlines have been advised that you "need a wheelchair," so there's nothing else that the air department can do.

[Lonedaddy]

On 2/3/2023 at 10:28 PM, Lonedaddy said:

Just got our flights back from regent DFW to TLV we requested American via JFK and they offered us AF DFW/CDG/TLV which arrives earlier but has a tight 110 min connection - I assume since we are transiting and not going into EU that should be sufficient time to connect. Not so sure about the luggage but we will carry a couple bags on in case.  The return from Milan they gave us requested flights on BA/AA.   

I did request to fly out of linate LIN instead of MXP as it is closer to downtown .  There is a BA flight that leaves at the same time to connect in LHR.  Regent air wanted 2100pp to fly out of LIN instead of MXP.  Crazy.

[ysolde]

Lord, they are going to hate us.  They put us on the wrong flight from PHX-MIA, so I need to call them back tomorrow to get that sorted.  I gave them the flight number, and they still put us on the wrong flight.

 

Meanwhile, DH and I were talking, and can't figure out why we are going through this whole rigamarole on the day after our cruise arrives in BCN.  We are going to find out if they can just put us back on our original flights on the day the cruise arrives in BCN.  If we get stuck in Montreal or Chicago, we'll pay for a hotel there, and take it up with our travel insurance.  But why pay for a hotel in Barcelona and then have a stressful day of travel the next day, when we may miss connections anyway?  The whole point was to have fewer connections, and more time to make them.  That's not happening.  

[rallydave]

1 hour ago, ysolde said:

Lord, they are going to hate us.  They put us on the wrong flight from PHX-MIA, so I need to call them back tomorrow to get that sorted.  I gave them the flight number, and they still put us on the wrong flight.

 

Meanwhile, DH and I were talking, and can't figure out why we are going through this whole rigamarole on the day after our cruise arrives in BCN.  We are going to find out if they can just put us back on our original flights on the day the cruise arrives in BCN.  If we get stuck in Montreal or Chicago, we'll pay for a hotel there, and take it up with our travel insurance.  But why pay for a hotel in Barcelona and then have a stressful day of travel the next day, when we may miss connections anyway?  The whole point was to have fewer connections, and more time to make them.  That's not happening.  

FYI You changing your mind on the return will likely cost another $175 po as each time you change flights is another deviation fee. 
 

you just might luck out if they put you on other than your agreed to flight to Miami. Hope you have a copy of the agreed to itinary and the email you sent back with the agreed to flight. 
 

good luck

[ysolde]

42 minutes ago, rallydave said:

FYI You changing your mind on the return will likely cost another $175 po as each time you change flights is another deviation fee. 
 

you just might luck out if they put you on other than your agreed to flight to Miami. Hope you have a copy of the agreed to itinary and the email you sent back with the agreed to flight. 
 

good luck

Thanks.  The Miami thing is really bothering me, because when I called, I gave them the specific flight number.  It's the red-eye, leaving on April 3 at 11:57 pm, arriving in Miami at 6:00 am on April 4.  I gave her the flight number.  Instead, she booked us on the flight leaving on April 3 at 11:50 am.  We have a hotel booked for April 4, with the cruise leaving April 5.  Again, I gave her the flight number.

 

As to the flight going back on the 19th, if it can't be done, it can't be done.  Sigh.  I am very disappointed in Regent's air department at this point.  We have two more cruises booked with Regent.  One of them is fully paid off.  After this experience, I think we need to think long and hard about whether to go through with our third Regent cruise, which is out of Rio and to Lisbon in a concierge cabin.  I expect our flight experience on that cruise will be . . . less than ideal.

[ysolde]

Update: Let me not bury the lede, everything worked out better than we could have expected.  I called a little after lunch today our time (Mountain Time).  I was on hold for almost two hours before the call was answered, with no option for them to take my phone number and call back.  So I put the call on speaker, drank my tea, and fiddled around on my computer.  When the agent answered, I told her we wanted to change our flight back to April 19 (when the cruise gets back to BCN).  She put us on the UA flight from BCN to EWR, EWR to PHX.  Our dream flight.  We only had to pay the $175 deviation fee.  Nothing else.  And she had us pick our seats (which are great seats).  And she took our FF numbers.  

 

Wow.  I'm amazed.  This is just wonderful!

[MsCrystalina]

I am considering my first Regent cruise and find the included airfare to be a plus for Capetown . However, after reading this thread feel a bit anxious.  Have flown Delta to J-burg nonstop then 

 SA to CPT in past.

Does Regent use KLM to ship one to AMS-and onward- absolutely horrid history with them- bags delayed on both flights in past, on one half of river cruise!   

[wcsdkqh]

If you have heartburn over KLM, as I do with Air France, you need to read the fine print. You can have a Delta Flight operated by KLM, and a KLM Flight operated by Delta.