Regent Flights - with and without deviation

[rallydave]

In addition to code share issues for $175 pp you can specify the airline and metro you will be flying on. Have read if middle east connections on Qatar and Emirates so 2 long distance non stops. Sometimes an up charge but you don’t pay anything until you agree. 
 

could work for you.  If you do it do it asap 210 days out to have the best choices. 

[MsCrystalina]

To wcsdkqh- you are so right!    looks like every one of Delta flights- to and from Capetown- even if change Atlanta as origin- go to AMS and use KLM!!   Any out of way 2 nonstops with a layover to get there would be better than that!

[Donaldm]

We have been struggling with Regent air. The phone wait times are frustrating. 
Just to compare, I checked the internet to see what Princess would charge for LAX-LHR in May business class. They listed many possible flights and I chose a KLM flight for $3,070 round trip non-stop business class. I could even pick my seats before committing to the cruise. I did this in about 5 minutes on the Princess website. If only Regent was as good as Princess in making the air reservations!

[Donaldm]

Regent only offered us one stop flights from LAX to London. The stops were just over an hour which might be pretty tight for us and our luggage to get to the next flight if they are in another terminal.
Although we have around 200 days with Regent, we are thinking of looking elsewhere in the future. 

[ysolde]

When I spoke to the Regent Air department, they said something about having "fewer contracts"  than they used to, and this was the reason why some of the better flights with the less tight connections were not available to them, where they might have been available before.

[Gray Lady]

I am very inexperienced with international air flights. We have never been to Europe, and have booked a Mediterranean cruise in 2024 with Regent. We have already added on a pre-cruise stay through Regent, and when available will add on the same post-cruise. I am reading about so many people being unhappy with the flights they are given through Regent. I had figured that since they were booking the flights, it is in their best interest to make sure they are “doable”, including connections. Are they not responsible for getting you to your cruise on time? Doesn’t trip insurance cover delays? Am I naive to just let them book our flights? I know that flying from the West Coast to Europe will mean a plane change on the East Coast. Will we have more plane changes in Europe? If so, will they be such that we can make our connection? I thought that if we couldn’t make it, then Regent is responsible for getting us to our destination as quickly as possible. I had thought that since they are a luxury cruise line, that they would want to keep their customers happy. They charge a premium price, so shouldn’t they offer a premium product? Thanks in advance for your insights and thoughts. 
PS This is our first cruise. We were unable to go on our Alaskan cruise last year due to COVID (we had a land tour prior). Since we had booked our air through the cruise company, they changed our flights and flew us home at no extra charge. 

[rallydave]

Gray Lady,   Will try to answer your questions.  Likely others who respond may have different answers but, not exactly as you described.   By the way in the future with many questions please to try and make multiple sentences for easier reading and responding.

 

Take a look at what you are paying for pre cruise and post cruise packages.  Most cruise lines including Regent charge per person which makes your costs much higher.  Usually easy to save hundreds of dollars by booking your hotels yourself or thru your TA.

 

As to doable this includes all airports.  There are "leagal connection times that the airlines and Regent use.  There are times and airports where the "legal connection time is unmakeable because of delays long walks to next gate, having to go thru immigration and then back thru security   This can be part of the problems and now even after COVOD many flight changes which at times make making the new flights impossible to mae.  If an airline makes you connect they use the "legal" connection times and if your incoming flight is delayed, might not make your connection.

 

Getting to your cruise on time.  Simply read the ticket contract and you will see that flights are considered third pary and Regent and other cruise lines are NOT responsible for getting you to your cruise before the ship leaves.  That said, Regent has been known to help th passenger however if you miss a connection in the middle of the night in the US, getting   help can be problematic so your first choice should always get in touch with your airline and Regent has to do that as well.  If you miss the savings technically you are responsible for the costs to get your ship and the next "legal port  There are cases such as in the Caribbean and Alaska where if you don't get on the ship at embarkation, yo can't get on later,  Regent may be a help or may not depending.

 

Flying from the west coast may mean connections on the each cost of the US or in Europe or depending on the port may be non stop.

 

Yes, they like to satisfy thir customers but, they are also a business that has to make money to stay in business some sometimes the itinerary you get  won't be the most direct or shortest time.  This is why people deviate to choose their flights and not take whatever Regent gives them approx 75 days before your cruise.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

[Gray Lady]

1 hour ago, rallydave said:

Gray Lady,   Will try to answer your questions.  Likely others who respond may have different answers but, not exactly as you described.   By the way in the future with many questions please to try and make multiple sentences for easier reading and responding.

 

Take a look at what you are paying for pre cruise and post cruise packages.  Most cruise lines including Regent charge per person which makes your costs much higher.  Usually easy to save hundreds of dollars by booking your hotels yourself or thru your TA.

 

As to doable this includes all airports.  There are "leagal connection times that the airlines and Regent use.  There are times and airports where the "legal connection time is unmakeable because of delays long walks to next gate, having to go thru immigration and then back thru security   This can be part of the problems and now even after COVOD many flight changes which at times make making the new flights impossible to mae.  If an airline makes you connect they use the "legal" connection times and if your incoming flight is delayed, might not make your connection.

 

Getting to your cruise on time.  Simply read the ticket contract and you will see that flights are considered third pary and Regent and other cruise lines are NOT responsible for getting you to your cruise before the ship leaves.  That said, Regent has been known to help th passenger however if you miss a connection in the middle of the night in the US, getting   help can be problematic so your first choice should always get in touch with your airline and Regent has to do that as well.  If you miss the savings technically you are responsible for the costs to get your ship and the next "legal port  There are cases such as in the Caribbean and Alaska where if you don't get on the ship at embarkation, yo can't get on later,  Regent may be a help or may not depending.

 

Flying from the west coast may mean connections on the each cost of the US or in Europe or depending on the port may be non stop.

 

Yes, they like to satisfy thir customers but, they are also a business that has to make money to stay in business some sometimes the itinerary you get  won't be the most direct or shortest time.  This is why people deviate to choose their flights and not take whatever Regent gives them approx 75 days before your cruise.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Thank you. When we get to be 75 days out we will look at our flights and go from there. We used Regent u

[Gray Lady]

1 minute ago, Gray Lady said:

Thank you. When we get to be 75 days out we will look at our flights and go from there. We used Regent for our pre and post cruise because know nothing about these cities and countries. We are at an age where we don’t want to hassle with trying to book things on our own. All of these things just add stress to a bucket list, once in a lifetime teip

 

[red1head]

Are you using  TA?

 

Using flight deviation allows you to book flights 210 days out, choose your arrival and return dates. You should research and identify flights that work for you and have your TA or you yourself submit them to Regent. They will come back with a proposed itinerary. Tweak it if necessary. If you choose the flights, there is an$175pp deviation fee, plus there may be an additional charge (though not necessarily) for your flights. Please do not wait until 75 days out. Your choices will be few. 

[red1head]

If you have booked the pre-cruise and post-cruise tours, they are in our experience very good. One benefit of the per-cruise tour is you’ve already make some travel-friends by the time you board the ship. 

[Gray Lady]

6 minutes ago, red1head said:

Are you using  TA?

 

Using flight deviation allows you to book flights 210 days out, choose your arrival and return dates. You should research and identify flights that work for you and have your TA or you yourself submit them to Regent. They will come back with a proposed itinerary. Tweak it if necessary. If you choose the flights, there is an$175pp deviation fee, plus there may be an additional charge (though not necessarily) for your flights. Please do not wait until 75 days out. Your choices will be few. 

Thank you. We are using a TA, but he has never worked with Regent before. We will look at flights 210 days out.

[1982CruzStart]

14 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

Thank you. We are using a TA, but he has never worked with Regent before. We will look at flights 210 days out.

When you do your research on flights, err on the cautious side and look for flights with connections with extra time. As you are not experienced with any of the European airports, I recommend you give yourself extra time to change planes. You will be flying business class with Regent so take advantage of the business class lounge and not spend your time stressing about catching the next flight. 

 

We fly from the west coast of Canada and always fly directly to Europe and then make connections there. I assume you will have the same options flying from california. I prefer a long flight upfront that gives me time to relax, watch a movie or 2 and a shorter flight within Europe.

 

The other thing to consider is that you are not guaranteed to be in First class within the continental US so if you fly from California to the East Coast then onto Europe there is a chance you will be in Economy to the East Coast. I don't think it happens that often but it can. If you fly directly to Europe you will be in business class on all flights.  

 

ITA matrix by google is a great search engine for researching flights. matrix.ITAsoftware.com 

 

Deviating your flights is well worth the fee.  You don't pay the deviation fee until you have approved the flights.  We always deviate even when we are doing the pre and/or post cruise tours. We want to make sure we are flying the airlines we prefer, have connection times we are comfortable with and avoiding airports we don't like to pass through. 

 

 Have a great cruise and good luck with your flights. 

 

[Gray Lady]

3 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

When you do your research on flights, err on the cautious side and look for flights with connections with extra time. As you are not experienced with any of the European airports, I recommend you give yourself extra time to change planes. You will be flying business class with Regent so take advantage of the business class lounge and not spend your time stressing about catching the next flight. 

 

We fly from the west coast of Canada and always fly directly to Europe and then make connections there. I assume you will have the same options flying from california. I prefer a long flight upfront that gives me time to relax, watch a movie or 2 and a shorter flight within Europe.

 

The other thing to consider is that you are not guaranteed to be in First class within the continental US so if you fly from California to the East Coast then onto Europe there is a chance you will be in Economy to the East Coast. I don't think it happens that often but it can. If you fly directly to Europe you will be in business class on all flights.  

 

ITA matrix by google is a great search engine for researching flights. matrix.ITAsoftware.com 

 

Deviating your flights is well worth the fee.  You don't pay the deviation fee until you have approved the flights.  We always deviate even when we are doing the pre and/or post cruise tours. We want to make sure we are flying the airlines we prefer, have connection times we are comfortable with and avoiding airports we don't like to pass through. 

 

 Have a great cruise and good luck with your flights. 

 

Thank you so much,1982CruzStart, for the wonderful information. I bookmarked your flight site. Since I am an international flight novice (have only been to Mexico City, machine guns and all), I would appreciate feedback from you and fellow travelers on which airports to avoid. We have to arrive in Barcelona and leave from Rome; can’t change that. I have read on here that Air France is an airline to avoid. Does anyone have any recommendations on airlines to use or avoid? I know a lot of this is personal preference, but until I become more of a seasoned traveler, I am open and eager to hear all opinions. 

[rallydave]

First am glad you are going to look at deviating as you said earlier.  Here are IMHO the 4 worst European Airports to transfer in and I have put them in my order of worst to least worst as you maynot be able to avoid all of them.

 

Worst   Charles de Gaulle

Frankfort

Amsterdam

Heathrow Only bad if changing airlines.as terminals are quite distant.

 

[1982CruzStart]

18 hours ago, rallydave said:

First am glad you are going to look at deviating as you said earlier.  Here are IMHO the 4 worst European Airports to transfer in and I have put them in my order of worst to least worst as you maynot be able to avoid all of them.

 

Worst   Charles de Gaulle

Frankfort

Amsterdam

Heathrow Only bad if changing airlines.as terminals are quite distant.

 

i agree with Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt. Pre-Covid i found amsterdam to be a good airport to transfer in but haven't been since and they have had many problems in the last couple of years.  I agree that if you are changing terminals in Heathrow it is a pain but doable if you have enough time. If staying in Terminal 5 it isn't so bad and the lounges are pretty nice. 

[jeb_bud]

19 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

Thank you so much,1982CruzStart, for the wonderful information. I bookmarked your flight site. Since I am an international flight novice (have only been to Mexico City, machine guns and all), I would appreciate feedback from you and fellow travelers on which airports to avoid. We have to arrive in Barcelona and leave from Rome; can’t change that. I have read on here that Air France is an airline to avoid. Does anyone have any recommendations on airlines to use or avoid? I know a lot of this is personal preference, but until I become more of a seasoned traveler, I am open and eager to hear all opinions. 

Which west coast airport will you be departing g from?

[Gray Lady]

5 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

Which west coast airport will you be departing g from?

San Francisco. 

[Gray Lady]

5 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

i agree with Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt. Pre-Covid i found amsterdam to be a good airport to transfer in but haven't been since and they have had many problems in the last couple of years.  I agree that if you are changing terminals in Heathrow it is a pain but doable if you have enough time. If staying in Terminal 5 it isn't so bad and the lounges are pretty nice. 

I have looked on-line and found that there are a lot of direct flights from US cities to Barcelona. I just need to get the schedules for next year, find out what airlines Regent uses as a preference, and deviate from there. I am not as concerned with getting home as I am with arriving for the cruise.

[Golfwife1]

We are on a fall 2023 Barcelona to Venice. Flying out from our city, Portland OR, to Amsterdam then Amsterdam to Barcelona on Delta.  Coming home, we have British Airways - Venice to Heathrow, then  nonstop home. Our TA worked with Regent but we ended up deviating by arriving one day early (which is actually a smart thing). Good flights, no crazy times or long layovers. I am also new to Regent (and Europe cruising), so it is a learning "opportunity," to be sure.  Folks here give great information and I am grateful to them! 

[1982CruzStart]

Another great source for getting flight recommendations is the Cruise Air forum here on cruise critic. If you post the days you want to fly to and from and the departing and arriving cities, people will go out of their way to provide suggestions on which flights to take. I do caution you that though extremely knowledgeable some of them can be quite abrupt. 

 

If you provide them with as much detail as possible and any preferences on airlines they can be extremely helpful.  They usually only get a little snarky when people give general information and then expect specific solutions, ie flying March, 2024 from the west coast instead of posting that you need to leave from Y city and arrive in X city on a specific day . 

 

Of course no point posting anything until at least 330 days prior to your flight as that is as early as most airlines post their schedules. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by 1982CruzStart
typo

[rallydave]

330 days is correct fo US carriers. Have found many foreign carriers post schedules approx 360 days out.
 

that said assuming you are looking for round trips while your departure flight may be listed the return will not be posted until 330 or 360 days prior to your return.
 

And if uo have domestic connections no matter if the foreign airline flight is posted will have to wait until the domestic flight is posted. Safe travels.  

[Dolcevita Diva]

On 3/13/2023 at 4:25 PM, Gray Lady said:

Thank you so much,1982CruzStart, for the wonderful information. I bookmarked your flight site. Since I am an international flight novice (have only been to Mexico City, machine guns and all), I would appreciate feedback from you and fellow travelers on which airports to avoid. 

Once you know your flight/connection possibilities, since this is your first international trip to Europe, you might want to look into booking one of the VIP connection services at the airport you'll be connecting in, at least for the outbound. They will meet you at the gate, take you to immigration with fast-rack service and get you to your connecting gate.  A great way to reduce stress and help ensure that your connection goes smoothly. Costs for these services vary by airport.

 

[PaulMCO]

Just wanted to post the new $75 fee for deviation proposals.  Since this is a sticky it won't get lost and people can debate this in the separate thread...

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING CUSTOM AIR DATE OF ISSUANCE: MARCH 27, 2023     Dear Valued Guest and Travel Advisor,   We pride ourselves on delivering the best possible service, and as we continue to work through challenges with air services due to the combination of strong demand for air travel, reduced airline capacity and major airline schedule changes, we have decided to revise our Custom Air policy to help reduce long call hold times to our Custom Air Department.   Currently, there is a $175 per person fee to customize flights through Regent’s Custom Air Department.   Beginning today, March 27, 2023, to speak directly to our Air Concierges a $75 non-refundable Custom Air call service fee will be applied to reservations which, if the Custom Air flight option presented is accepted within three days, will become part of the existing $175 per person air customization fee.   If guests choose not to accept the Custom Air flight option presented within 3 days, the option will be automatically canceled, and the $75 fee will not be refunded.   To accept the presented Custom Air flight options, guests can simply reply to the Custom Air email. It is not required to call Regent to confirm any Custom Air flight options.   After the Custom Air flight option expires, to search for additional flight options an additional $75 non-refundable fee will be added to the reservation.   Platinum, Titanium, Diamond, and Commodore guests will continue to receive a complimentary one-time Custom Air deviation.   Please note, schedule changes made by the airlines are outside of our control. If there is a significant change in schedule, our Air Concierge will find a better alternative without charging a new custom air fee.     What should I do before calling the Custom Air Department?   While our teams are committed to delivering An Unrivaled Experience from time of booking all the way through to your cruise and beyond, there are some considerations that will help us provide the best possible service.   Before calling our Custom Air Department, we recommend the following steps to allow you to finalize your air arrangements in one call.   ·          Check availability online – this will show you flight options from your departure city. If the lowest business class fare does not show available, it is not likely available within our contracts. ·          Note any options that are your preferred schedule and routing - including the pricing of each of those flights. ·          Now that you have the price to purchase air independently, you can make an educated decision to use Regent air or book on your own, utilizing our air credit.  ·          If you have a preferred carrier or route where Regent requires a price differential, you will also be able to decide between purchasing independent air and taking the air credit or accepting the differential to book the air with Regent. Regent does not profit on air differentials. ·          It helps to be flexible - can you travel an extra day or two prior or stay a day or two later?     Thank you for your patience and understanding as we provide a new solution to processing Custom Air requests efficiently, while delivering the best service possible.     Your Regent Custom Air Department

[RJ2002]

Is the Regent Air Department open on weekends, or is it only Monday-Friday?