Regent Flights - with and without deviation

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Odd, I was just looking at a Mariner crossing this fall, and of course it says it includes Biz Air.  But when I clicked through and attempted to make a booking, it said I would get "Roundtrip Economy Class airfare from YYZ".  What gives? (I'm not planning on booking this, I was just what-iffing.)

Edited June 17, 2023 by Wendy The Wanderer

[DaveFr]

45 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Odd, I was just looking at a Mariner crossing this fall, and of course it says it includes Biz Air.  But when I clicked through and attempted to make a booking, it said I would get "Roundtrip Economy Class airfare from YYZ".  What gives? (I'm not planning on booking this, I was just what-iffing.)

Just a website error, Wendy. If you continue to the cruise summary, you’ll see that you would get business class from Toronto to Barcelona and economy class from New York to Toronto. 🙂

 

Dave

[Wendy The Wanderer]

20 hours ago, DaveFr said:

Just a website error, Wendy. If you continue to the cruise summary, you’ll see that you would get business class from Toronto to Barcelona and economy class from New York to Toronto. 🙂

 

Dave

Figured as much, but it seemed weird.

[Lonedaddy]

Regent air booked us Air France DFW CDG TLV business class the whole way.  I looked at "my booking" on AF site and it shows 2 personal 4 hand carry and 1 checked bag for DW and I (I have skymiles elite status) our friends who only show 2 personal and 4 hand carry and 0 checked.  I thought you got 1 checked bag in business class per AF site rules?  Is this something to do with Regent air fare?  Anyone have any experience or insight?  Our return is delta and no issues with bags there.

[wcsdkqh]

Good luck with AF and CDG. You’ll need it.

[Lonedaddy]

13 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

Good luck with AF and CDG. You’ll need it.

Not my choice either regent air 😬  but at least we in 2E for arrival and departure with no immigration.

[Lonedaddy]

From what I have read on Flyertalk, KLM and AF have a Business Lite with no checked bag.  If that is what regent booked, it certainly is not Business class as advertised.  I'm having my TA contact them to get to the bottom of the situation.  Either regent needs to book a business fare on AF, book a business fare on another airline or prepay for a checked bag for each person.  Basic economy is not economy, business lite is not business class.  

[SWFLAOK]

On 6/18/2023 at 1:05 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Figured as much, but it seemed weird.

For our April 2024 cruise, it had always shown as Business Class airfare included. We would not have booked this cruise at that price if it didn't include BC since it's a very long flight from Miami to Bangkok and back to Miami from Abu Dhabi.

Early in June, our TA asked if we wanted to pay a (now) non-refundable fee to book early for our flights. We never want to wait to book our included flights, and have always paid for early flights. After paying the non-refundable fee, our TA was told that no flights would be booked for anyone before September, and if we didn't want the flights offered we were on our own (with no refund) at that time.

Even more disturbing is that our cruise reservation no longer shows Business class. It now just says "Round trip airfare for two, from MIA".  If that's the case, we won't be going on this cruise, and will ask for our deposit and the "non-refundable" early booking fee to be returned to us, and we won't ever book another Regent Cruise (or any of it's affiliates) again.

 

[snorkle lover]

SWFLOAK, we have a cruise booked for April 24 as well going from Atlanta to Barcelona and returning to Atl from Rome. We booked this cruise figuring our flights would be business class just like our past  flights across the pond have been. If it turns out that this is not the case then we will be cancelling too and requesting a complete refund of our deposit. Hoping this won't be the case because we were really looking forward to this cruise.

[Gray Lady]

15 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

For our April 2024 cruise, it had always shown as Business Class airfare included. We would not have booked this cruise at that price if it didn't include BC since it's a very long flight from Miami to Bangkok and back to Miami from Abu Dhabi.

Early in June, our TA asked if we wanted to pay a (now) non-refundable fee to book early for our flights. We never want to wait to book our included flights, and have always paid for early flights. After paying the non-refundable fee, our TA was told that no flights would be booked for anyone before September, and if we didn't want the flights offered we were on our own (with no refund) at that time.

Even more disturbing is that our cruise reservation no longer shows Business class. It now just says "Round trip airfare for two, from MIA".  If that's the case, we won't be going on this cruise, and will ask for our deposit and the "non-refundable" early booking fee to be returned to us, and we won't ever book another Regent Cruise (or any of it's affiliates) again.

 

SWFLAOK I think maybe your TA is confused. First of all, in order to talk to anyone in the air department you have to pay the non refundable fee. Regent has changed when you can deviate flights. It is 210 days out, so September is the correct date to talk to the air desk. Your TA would need to call back on the appropriate date to request deviation. I would ask my TA to reimburse me for the non refundable fee for calling too early. If you are flying internationally, you will be in a business class seat. The domestic leg, if you have one, may be in economy. It should state on your invoice for your deposit that you are in business class. Find your preferred flights and have your TA present them to Regent. They may give you a few options including paying an up charge, accepting what you want, or giving you an itinerary with no added fee. If you research deep into the Regent website, you can read the terms and conditions. I have learned much of this also from reading threads on cruise critic. Please do not worry about this.

[silkismom]

I just looked at my invoice--it says "restricted business" exactly what does that mean??

[Gray Lady]

17 minutes ago, silkismom said:

I just looked at my invoice--it says "restricted business" exactly what does that mean??

It means business class on the international portion of your flight. Domestic is economy.

[silkismom]

Thank you, coming from DEN, it will be economy somewhere on both ends of the cruise--bummer, can you use frequent flyer miles to upgrade? or isn't that allowed??

[wcsdkqh]

Your domestic flight legs will not necessarily be economy. If you are ticketed on the same airline, then you will probably be first class on those domestic legs. At least this has been true for me for multiple Regent cruises.

[rallydave]

49 minutes ago, silkismom said:

Thank you, coming from DEN, it will be economy somewhere on both ends of the cruise--bummer, can you use frequent flyer miles to upgrade? or isn't that allowed??

You have to check with the air line. Depends on the class of the ticket as economy isn’t enough as many different fare classes an airlines differ in that policy. 

[rallydave]

7 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

Your domestic flight legs will not necessarily be economy. If you are ticketed on the same airline, then you will probably be first class on those domestic legs. At least this has been true for me for multiple Regent cruises.

Don’t necessarily have to be on the same airline. Being in the same alliance also works quite often. 

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, silkismom said:

I just looked at my invoice--it says "restricted business" exactly what does that mean??

I believe it refers to the fare code. See previous thread below:

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by flossie009

[firefox33]

It means:

“Restricted business class air is business class on the intercontinental portions of the flight only. All other portions of the flight would be in economy class.”

[jeb_bud]

20 hours ago, firefox33 said:

It means:

“Restricted business class air is business class on the intercontinental portions of the flight only. All other portions of the flight would be in economy class.”

I have flown restricted business class to/from cruises that included domestic legs in first class. In my case always on the same airline or alliance. Maybe the restriction refers to trips with mixed nonaligned airlines. 

[1982CruzStart]

As Flossie said, it is a fare class.  Restricted business class is a fare that is not fully refundable.   The fare class goes by different names on different airlines. For example on Air Canada it is called 'Lowest'.   

If you are going to deviate, before calling Regent Air you will want to research the itineraries you want and look for options that offer non-refundable business class fare (restricted business). Then there is the chance that Regent might be able to accomodate your request.  If you look at itineraries that have only fully refundable business class fares it is likely that you will either be told they are not available or will have to pay a significant upcharge. 

[firefox33]

28 minutes ago, jeb_bud said:

I have flown restricted business class to/from cruises that included domestic legs in first class. In my case always on the same airline or alliance. Maybe the restriction refers to trips with mixed nonaligned airlines. 

My comment was from an airline industry source and was intended to clarify the term.  I have also gotten first class on domestic flights but certainly has not always been the case.  RSSC is using the term to clarify that it’s not included in their offer.

[IrishKathy]

Although I gave Regent three different routes (ORD/EWR/FCO, ORD/ATL/FCO, ORD/IAD/FCO)) to fly from Chicago to Rome on Nov. 7 without stopping in Europe, we couldn't get any of those flights.  We are booked on United nonstop ORD/MUC arriving in Munich at 0935 and transferring to a Lufthansa flight leaving at 1055.  My question is: is that enough time for the transfer?  They are both international flights so I am assuming in the same terminal.   We are traveling Business Class but Munich is one airport we have never used.  Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

[rallydave]

2 hours ago, IrishKathy said:

Although I gave Regent three different routes (ORD/EWR/FCO, ORD/ATL/FCO, ORD/IAD/FCO)) to fly from Chicago to Rome on Nov. 7 without stopping in Europe, we couldn't get any of those flights.  We are booked on United nonstop ORD/MUC arriving in Munich at 0935 and transferring to a Lufthansa flight leaving at 1055.  My question is: is that enough time for the transfer?  They are both international flights so I am assuming in the same terminal.   We are traveling Business Class but Munich is one airport we have never used.  Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

Munich to FCO is within the EU so not international. Munich is a large airport and 2,different airlines so may or may not be in same terminal.  Best is to Google the Munich airport website to see which terminal each airline is. Your luggage will transit and you will transit so no security issues if same terminsl

[BBWC]

20 hours ago, IrishKathy said:

Although I gave Regent three different routes (ORD/EWR/FCO, ORD/ATL/FCO, ORD/IAD/FCO)) to fly from Chicago to Rome on Nov. 7 without stopping in Europe, we couldn't get any of those flights.  We are booked on United nonstop ORD/MUC arriving in Munich at 0935 and transferring to a Lufthansa flight leaving at 1055.  My question is: is that enough time for the transfer?  They are both international flights so I am assuming in the same terminal.   We are traveling Business Class but Munich is one airport we have never used.  Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

Munich is usually very efficient but remember you will have to go through immigration before your flight to Rome since you will enter the Schengen area.

[annmarz]

10 hours ago, BBWC said:

Munich is usually very efficient but remember you will have to go through immigration before your flight to Rome since you will enter the Schengen area.

We had a tough time in Munich with a transfer that required us to go thru a very very long tunnel between terminals.  We made the flight but were very stressed.  I think it really matters which terminals you will be in.