Regent Flights - with and without deviation

[Gray Lady]

13 minutes ago, annmarz said:

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. 

What is the minimum time you would recommend in Munich between flights? 

[A Tucson Guy]

10 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

What is the minimum time you would recommend in Munich between flights? 

Having connected through there last summer, I would want a 2 hour between flights.

[snorkle lover]

Having three Regent cruises under our belt, you would think we would understand how deviation works. If we decide to book and pay for our own flights, will Regent still supply us with transfers from the airport to the hotel ( one night) and from the hotel to the cruise ship (then from the cruise ship to the airport)? This question is in regard to domestic flights. Regent wants to put us on a basic economy flight after paying the deviation fee and I would guess that we might not even be able to choose our seats. If we want to upgrade from that could that be done with either $ or mileage. Does Regent give us a deduct if we book our own flights?

[annmarz]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:08 PM, Gray Lady said:

What is the minimum time you would recommend in Munich between flights? 

At very least 2 hours, probably more.

[rallydave]

9 hours ago, snorkle lover said:

Having three Regent cruises under our belt, you would think we would understand how deviation works. If we decide to book and pay for our own flights, will Regent still supply us with transfers from the airport to the hotel ( one night) and from the hotel to the cruise ship (then from the cruise ship to the airport)? This question is in regard to domestic flights. Regent wants to put us on a basic economy flight after paying the deviation fee and I would guess that we might not even be able to choose our seats. If we want to upgrade from that could that be done with either $ or mileage. Does Regent give us a deduct if we book our own flights?

Transfer airport to hotel no transfer hotel to ship yes cruise ship to airport no  upgrade depends on airline policy. All domestic flights economy. Credit for not taking air yes. Assume concierge or above and credit for that as well. In us likely your hotel credit will cover hotel and transfers so good to decline hotel 

[snorkle lover]

Rallydave, thank you that was very helpful. So, the next part of the part puzzle is to figure out how much $$ Regent gives us if we were to book our own flights.

[rallydave]

16 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

Rallydave, thank you that was very helpful. So, the next part of the part puzzle is to figure out how much $$ Regent gives us if we were to book our own flights.

You or your ta need to ask regent as it differs depending on the cruise location

 

believe you are traveling on a cruise from ant to the US and that used to be $300 pp

 

to add you actually can get the number. Go tyo your cruise on the regent website and make a oretent booking with sir and without sir. The difference is the air credit no matter the location. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by rallydave

[DaveFr]

3 hours ago, snorkle lover said:

Rallydave, thank you that was very helpful. So, the next part of the part puzzle is to figure out how much $$ Regent gives us if we were to book our own flights.

Doing a dummy booking on the website works. Just try a booking without air. The cruise summary page will show you what Regent calls the air allowance or air credit.

 

An alternate method is to simply look at the main page of your cruise on the Regent website. About halfway down the page, the air credit is shown. Here’s the example for your April 14, 2024 Splendor cruise:

 

Mediterranean Luxury Cruise - Barcelona to Rome (Civitavecchia) on Apr 14, 2024 Regent Seven Seas Cruises.pdf

 

So the round trip air credit per person for your cruise is $2700. If you are doing an air deviation or flying from a secondary Regent airport, be sure to add those fees to the air credit to get the total cost of using Regent air.

 

Dave

Edited July 9, 2023 by DaveFr

[snorkle lover]

DaveFr, So, this is what it says on the website " Fares below reflect all Featured Special Offer savings. An additional savings of up to $2,700 per person is available when arranging your own flights and transfers." My concern are the words " up to". I interpret that as it could be less. I need to check with our wonderful TA, I am sure she will have the answer. I just threw it out to see what others had to say.

If our domestic flight amount is spot on and not less then we will be happy campers. Thamk you for your help.

[DaveFr]

46 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

DaveFr, So, this is what it says on the website " Fares below reflect all Featured Special Offer savings. An additional savings of up to $2,700 per person is available when arranging your own flights and transfers." My concern are the words " up to". I interpret that as it could be less. I need to check with our wonderful TA, I am sure she will have the answer. I just threw it out to see what others had to say.

If our domestic flight amount is spot on and not less then we will be happy campers. Thamk you for your help.

snorkle lover, the reason the Regent website says “up to $2700” is because you may only use Regent air in one direction. For example, if you were only using Regent air from Atlanta to Barcelona, the air credit would be $1350.

 

I don’t understand your reference to the “domestic flight amount.”

 

Dave

[snorkle lover]

The inquiry was for a domestic flight Atl to Miami. We would definitely use Regent air in April across the pond. Perhaps I used the wrong verbiage.  Again, appreciate your help.

[SWFLAOK]

4 hours ago, DaveFr said:

snorkle lover, the reason the Regent website says “up to $2700” is because you may only use Regent air in one direction. For example, if you were only using Regent air from Atlanta to Barcelona, the air credit would be $1350.

 

I don’t understand your reference to the “domestic flight amount.”

 

Dave

Wouldn't the amount of credit also be based on where your flight would be originate from, as well as the destination? For example, if I lived in LA, and my cruise boarded in Barcelona, I should expect my credit for booking my own flight to be less than if I lived in Miami and my cruise boarded in Barcelona. This should be based on a flight from Miami to Barcelona costs much less then a flight from LA to Barcelona.

My problem with all of this is that I really want a cruise that includes airfare. I don't want to worry about my flight being delayed and my cruise line doesn't know that. I don't want to worry about transfers, and I want pre and post nights in a hotel if that makes it more convenient. I want one whole package for my vacation. That's one of the reasons we've booked more cruises with Regent than any other cruise line. If they don't want customers like us anymore, then we'll look elsewhere. Not booking included flights for us until later than we would book then for ourselves, even though we've paid them the non-refundable deviation fee, makes us very uncomfortable. I really doubt we'll book another Regent cruise, and if they don't book an acceptable airfare before our final payment is due on the cruise that we booked long ago for next year, we'll ask for our money back while we still can.

[rallydave]

6 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Wouldn't the amount of credit also be based on where your flight would be originate from, as well as the destination? For example, if I lived in LA, and my cruise boarded in Barcelona, I should expect my credit for booking my own flight to be less than if I lived in Miami and my cruise boarded in Barcelona. This should be based on a flight from Miami to Barcelona costs much less then a flight from LA to Barcelona.

My problem with all of this is that I really want a cruise that includes airfare. I don't want to worry about my flight being delayed and my cruise line doesn't know that. I don't want to worry about transfers, and I want pre and post nights in a hotel if that makes it more convenient. I want one whole package for my vacation. That's one of the reasons we've booked more cruises with Regent than any other cruise line. If they don't want customers like us anymore, then we'll look elsewhere. Not booking included flights for us until later than we would book then for ourselves, even though we've paid them the non-refundable deviation fee, makes us very uncomfortable. I really doubt we'll book another Regent cruise, and if they don't book an acceptable airfare before our final payment is due on the cruise that we booked long ago for next year, we'll ask for our money back while we still can.

While your question about air fare credits is quite logical it is incorrect. Cruise fares including air are identical no matter where in the US your home airport is so credits are the same for each cruise no matter your airport is. 
 

Doing it as you suggested  would require hundreds or thousands of different cruise fares and credits

 

my thoughts are that regent calculates cruise fares and credits based on averages of costs from mid America thus savings and cost vary depending on where you live and air fares from your location. Some people win and some lose depending on your home airport and cruise embarkation location. YMMV

[val523]

Does anyone know which airlines that Regent uses to book flights from Newark to Anchorage for the Seward to Vancouver cruise?  I noticed that Alaska Airlines seems to have the least amount of layover time.  But they appear to be more expensive than other airlines.  Can anyone share their experience with this?

[pappy1022]

One data point, traveling from Austin to Copenhagen and returning direct to Austin from London. The credit that Regent offered wouldn’t have even paid for a coach class ticket, so it was a no brainer to go with Regent business class air. I went to the airline websites, outbound BA, and return Virgin Atantic, and the price was $19,000 for 2 business class seats. That represents 60% of the total cruise cost including air that I paid Regent. I assume that Regent gets a much better rate than I can get but that was an eye opener for me that business class air was that expensive.

[BBWC]

19 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

One data point, traveling from Austin to Copenhagen and returning direct to Austin from London. The credit that Regent offered wouldn’t have even paid for a coach class ticket, so it was a no brainer to go with Regent business class air. I went to the airline websites, outbound BA, and return Virgin Atantic, and the price was $19,000 for 2 business class seats. That represents 60% of the total cruise cost including air that I paid Regent. I assume that Regent gets a much better rate than I can get but that was an eye opener for me that business class air was that expensive.

There is no way seats would cost that much unless you priced it a 2 one way tickets.

Here are some sample fares for random dates next May.

 

 

 

[A Tucson Guy]

38 minutes ago, BBWC said:

There is no way seats would cost that much unless you priced it a 2 one way tickets.

Here are some sample fares for random dates next May.

 

 

 

Which website is this?

[BBWC]

38 minutes ago, A Tucson Guy said:

Which website is this?

ITA Matrix

[A Tucson Guy]

2 hours ago, BBWC said:

ITA Matrix

Thank you!!

[pappy1022]

20 hours ago, BBWC said:

There is no way seats would cost that much unless you priced it a 2 one way tickets.

 

 You are right, I did price them each 1 way since they were on 2 different airlines. I priced the exact flights that Regent agreed to for my trip. The Virgin Atlantic flight was by far more expensive but it is a direct flight and Regent wouldn’t allow a direct BA flight without a significant upcharge.

[Gray Lady]

A curiosity question about deviation. Let’s say you call Regent Air and give them a few preferred routes. When they get back to you, and say they all have an up-charge, will they also give you routes that have no up-charge or do you have to ask for that? Just want to be prepared when I call. Thanks in advance for your insights.

[sheldondusty]

On 7/10/2023 at 11:12 AM, val523 said:

Does anyone know which airlines that Regent uses to book flights from Newark to Anchorage for the Seward to Vancouver cruise?  I noticed that Alaska Airlines seems to have the least amount of layover time.  But they appear to be more expensive than other airlines.  Can anyone share their experience with this?

Hi Val, We are doing the reverse cruise on 9/6. All I can tell you is that I've never cruised Regent before and I made two errors (so far). The first was not doing the cruise the way you're doing it- apparently air is quite difficult to obtain out of ANC on the return. The second was flying out of Montreal and not Newark. We decided to take our chances with the assigned air rather than pay the deviation. I'm guessing they will use Air Canada for that flight for you as they did for us; it is cheapest for them and they stick you with the seat assignment fees. We have to change planes TWICE on the return and I had to pay almost $500 for bulkhead or exit row seats on SOME of the legs, the rest are standard economy. There are no other flights available at this point without paying over $1000 premium. We are United Silver and we could have gotten all that for free, just would have had to drive the 280 miles to Newark (we normally do for a flight of that length). Probably doesn't answer your question yet but I feel they will put you on the cheapest flight that they can get. I would never book air with Regent again. 

[daetchief]

6 hours ago, sheldondusty said:

...I've never cruised Regent before and I made two errors (so far)…but I feel they will put you on the cheapest flight that they can get. I would never book air with Regent again. 

You gain an interesting perspective when you step away from the Regent Seven Seas, cruise  / airfare scenario, and look at bulk purchasing of flights from a different angle.
I am making a business trip from my home in Honolulu to a mainline city for a conference. It’ll be the company that is paying for the air transportation. Their concern, of course, is that I get to my conference and that I get back. My company is not in the business of employee airline satisfaction. My airline tickets are costing a mere $430 each way – two and from Honolulu - which is unheard of.

The flights that are available to me are not on my preferred airline; are not when I was hoping to fly and the seat choices [a month out] are limited.  My main choices were: 'Do I want to spend time in airports or arrive at an ungodly hour?'  But, I will make the conference...
‘Regent’ is in a similar commerce. They’re selling you a CRUISE and they’re providing you the MEANS to get to and from it. They’re not selling an airline experience. [Although I get it - the Cruise starts at the airport in many people's minds]  I think that it is always best to do your own flight arrangements or pay the deviation/up sale [if necessary] to ensure a satisfactory airline experience.  Rely on Regent to ensure you're on the bus to the ship...

For the record, 5 out of 6 Regent cruises we’ve taken we used Regent Air and we’re satisfied.  Not Emirates Air satisfied, but commercial air satisfied. The other cruise we did the air ourselves - ran into problems in a connecting airport and ended up in front of airline ticket agents for hours ensuring we could arrive in Miami before the ship sailed; had to spend the pre-cruise night at Dulles, not the Mandarin - I got what I paid for that time too.

Edited July 13, 2023 by daetchief
One Additional Thought...

[PhD-iva]

A few days ago the window opened when I can request custom flights for my Voyager cruise on 2FEB2024. My home airport is Austin and the cruise embarks in Buenos Aires and ends in San Antonio Chile, near Santiago. My primary concern was to upgrade my domestic leg from (possibly) coach to business class or first class. I’m willing to pay for that upgrade. Also, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t get routed to some out of the way airport like JFK or LAX. My best connecting options are DFW, Houston or Atlanta.

My TA had me prepare three suggested itineraries that I would consider acceptable. I picked one American, one Delta, and one United itinerary. I used ITA matrix to see the available flights, and it looked like the foreign discount carriers were much cheaper than the US airlines. Those foreign carrier flights would connect in Mexico City or Panama as I recall, possibly other Latin American airports were in the mix as well.

Regent air responded pretty quickly that they would charge me $700 for the American itinerary I had proposed for my outbound flight to BsAs, which departs Austin at 4:35PM. My travel agent told me their default itinerary with no upcharge would take me through JFK with an extremely long layover. I would fly out of Austin at 6:45 AM and have a 10 1/2 hour layover in JFK. It didn’t sound like a good plan to me. They wanted to charge me $1500 additional to fly me home on LATAM, a (discount?) foreign carrier I am not familiar with. I said I would accept their return itinerary that does not include additional fees. The itinerary they booked me on for my return home has two stops, which I guess is not too bad, and the domestic leg is upgraded to business or first. The connection time in Atlanta to go through immigration and customs is one hour and 40 minutes. That’s cutting it tight, but I have global entry so lately I’ve been transiting quickly through US immigration.

I guess I could have researched the foreign carriers to see whether or not they are reliable and high-quality. 25 years ago when I was traveling business to South America, LanChile was a very good airline, I’m not sure whether it still is. Anyway, I was not impressed with the flight selection that Regent wanted to assign me. I’m sure I’ll still have a great cruise, I just wanted to share with you my experience.

Here’s the default itinerary they wanted to assign me.

[PhD-iva]

Let’s see, the foreign carriers that I could’ve chosen for my flights from Austin to Buenos Aires, and returning from Santiago Chile to Austin were:

COPA,

LATAM

Aeromexico

Air Canada (have read LOTS of complaints)

Aerolineas Argentina (used to have a terrible rep. I avoid)

LAN Chile (used to be great. Maybe still is)

 

for the benefit of others, who might also be looking to customize their flights to South America, would you experienced Regent cruisers recommend any or all of the above carriers?

Thx!

Edited July 13, 2023 by PhD-iva
Addition