Regent Flights - with and without deviation

[Lonedaddy]

4 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

We are at MIA for the "business class" flight that Regent booked for us on Qatar Airways. Even though we made the deviation fee to book early and had to pay Qatar Airways extra to reserve seats we found out we don't have real business class seats. They're "business lite" and have no access to a lounge.

When we checked in we were told we could access the Turkish airlines lounge, but they showed us we had no lounge access. We just paid over a hundred dollars for sandwiches and drinks at a noisy counter.

Even worse, we have a very long layover in Doha, and have no longer access there either. AT The gate here in Miami we were told to go to the transfer desk in Doha to see what we can buy. I could have paid 148 o line yesterday if I knew I needed to but it's too late for that offer.

I guess I know why we were only offered the worst seats in business. I wonder what other amenities we don't get onboard.

Do you have any AA status?  If so you could use one of the lounges in DOH just not the QR lounges.  And again regent misrepresenting business class air, I’m glad I used miles in our upcoming trip to South Africa or probably would have been given the same crap by regent air.  That said there were alternatives priced less than the 6500 pp Rt air credit.  I learned my lesson with regent air before.    Hope the return flight works out better for you.

[SWFLAOK]

12 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

Do you have any AA status?  If so you could use one of the lounges in DOH just not the QR lounges.  And again regent misrepresenting business class air, I’m glad I used miles in our upcoming trip to South Africa or probably would have been given the same crap by regent air.  That said there were alternatives priced less than the 6500 pp Rt air credit.  I learned my lesson with regent air before.    Hope the return flight works out better for you.

We have an American Airlines Advantage membership number and have miles from several International flights on American but the lounge in Doha wanted to see an AA Advantage credit card which we don't have. But we were allowed into the Qatar Airways business class lounge with a supervisor's approval and 273 dollars. They said that they were having a problem with travel agency's booking business lite and not informing their clients. Our TA told is to keep the receipt and she will talk to Regent about The 273 only includes 6 hours of access, and Regent booked our flights with over 6 hours originally, and it grew to 9.5 hours over the months since we booked. We found out that there was a Bangkok flight at 8:10 that they could have booked us on but didn't. We would have been willing to pay for an extra night through Regent for that.  At least the terminal here is beautiful compared to the one at MIA.

We were told we had access to the lounge included on our return flights which has First class tickets from Abu Dhabi to Doha and business lite from Doha to Miami, but we only have 2 hours in between.

We will be looking out for business lite and business restricted fares in the future since we now know it might cost a lot more.

[ysolde]

On 4/1/2024 at 9:25 AM, SWFLAOK said:

We have an American Airlines Advantage membership number and have miles from several International flights on American but the lounge in Doha wanted to see an AA Advantage credit card which we don't have. But we were allowed into the Qatar Airways business class lounge with a supervisor's approval and 273 dollars. They said that they were having a problem with travel agency's booking business lite and not informing their clients. Our TA told is to keep the receipt and she will talk to Regent about The 273 only includes 6 hours of access, and Regent booked our flights with over 6 hours originally, and it grew to 9.5 hours over the months since we booked. We found out that there was a Bangkok flight at 8:10 that they could have booked us on but didn't. We would have been willing to pay for an extra night through Regent for that.  At least the terminal here is beautiful compared to the one at MIA.

We were told we had access to the lounge included on our return flights which has First class tickets from Abu Dhabi to Doha and business lite from Doha to Miami, but we only have 2 hours in between.

We will be looking out for business lite and business restricted fares in the future since we now know it might cost a lot more.

Wow.  We have the Advantage card, as well as (and perhaps more importantly) OW Emerald status, which helps grant entry to OW alliance business class lounges when flying on an alliance airline, even when not flying in business class (as long as they are not overcrowded on that day, which can be an issue).  The ME3 (the three major ME airlines), are renowned for being quite restrictive in their lounge policies, and Regent should be careful in stating whether passengers will have lounge access when clearly Regent is purchasing the most restrictive tickets for its passengers.

 

The days of the most luxurious cruise line in the world are long gone.  We seem to be heading down a path of, well, you are getting international business class, at least in the air.

[wcsdkqh]

 

 

2 hours ago, ysolde said:

Wow.  We have the Advantage card, as well as (and perhaps more importantly) OW Emerald status, which helps grant entry to OW alliance business class lounges when flying on an alliance airline, even when not flying in business class (as long as they are not overcrowded on that day, which can be an issue).  The ME3 (the three major ME airlines), are renowned for being quite restrictive in their lounge policies, and Regent should be careful in stating whether passengers will have lounge access when clearly Regent is purchasing the most restrictive tickets for its passengers.

 

The days of the most luxurious cruise line in the world are long gone.  We seem to be heading down a path of, well, you are getting international business class, at least in the air.

 

IMHO, it is not the responsibility of Regent to state whether you have access to an airline lounge. Regent certainly doesn't know what your airline status may be, or what credit cards you may have in your wallet. Perhaps your TA, but perhaps it's on you.

[ysolde]

2 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

 

 

 

IMHO, it is not the responsibility of Regent to state whether you have access to an airline lounge. Regent certainly doesn't know what your airline status may be, or what credit cards you may have in your wallet. Perhaps your TA, but perhaps it's on you.

That was precisely my point.  Regent should not be telling passengers they have a business class ticket with full lounge access when a business class ticket does not always guarantee lounge access.  

[FL Wolfpacker]

Just received my flights for our July 1st sailing from Rome.  I contacted the air desk at the 210 day out time period and was told the best they could do was a deviation with 2 stops (flying out of Ft Myers, FL) with short connection times and +$2K pp charge.  I decided to wait and see what they would come up with at the 75 day time period.

Without a deviation fee they scheduled a one stop flight (thru Frankfurt) on the way out and a one stop thru Newark on the return (and both have very good layover times).  The flights are operated by Discover Airlines so that may present some issues but I am very surprised/pleased otherwise.

 

[rallydave]

1 hour ago, FL Wolfpacker said:

Just received my flights for our July 1st sailing from Rome.  I contacted the air desk at the 210 day out time period and was told the best they could do was a deviation with 2 stops (flying out of Ft Myers, FL) with short connection times and +$2K pp charge.  I decided to wait and see what they would come up with at the 75 day time period.

Without a deviation fee they scheduled a one stop flight (thru Frankfurt) on the way out and a one stop thru Newark on the return (and both have very good layover times).  The flights are operated by Discover Airlines so that may present some issues but I am very surprised/pleased otherwise.

 

Discover is a low cost airline with very few aircraft do you risk gettin on your cruise before departure as no deviation means arrival on day ship departs.  Any delay leaving no other way to get to ship. Return likely transfer to jet blue coach in New York 

 

not the best flights by far and remember Regent though they might help with flight issues are not responsible to take care of travel delays. 
 

good luck as you will need it. 

[FL Wolfpacker]

43 minutes ago, rallydave said:

Discover is a low cost airline with very few aircraft do you risk gettin on your cruise before departure as no deviation means arrival on day ship departs.  Any delay leaving no other way to get to ship. Return likely transfer to jet blue coach in New York 

 

not the best flights by far and remember Regent though they might help with flight issues are not responsible to take care of travel delays. 
 

good luck as you will need it. 

Unfortunately Discover was the carrier that was offered thru deviation.  Fortunately they are only on the outbound leg

[TheShag]

4 hours ago, FL Wolfpacker said:

Just received my flights for our July 1st sailing from Rome.  I contacted the air desk at the 210 day out time period and was told the best they could do was a deviation with 2 stops (flying out of Ft Myers, FL) with short connection times and +$2K pp charge.  I decided to wait and see what they would come up with at the 75 day time period.

Without a deviation fee they scheduled a one stop flight (thru Frankfurt) on the way out and a one stop thru Newark on the return (and both have very good layover times).  The flights are operated by Discover Airlines so that may present some issues but I am very surprised/pleased otherwise.

 

General question about the 210 vs 75 day pre-cruise. I applaud OP about checking later. Without trying to be 'smart', is there some 'magic' with the 75 day pre-cruise booking date? More specifically, is there more flight availability 75 days out? I read a lot about how soon airlines release their schedules [seems to be around ~300 days from departure] but am not aware of how additional flights/seats are 'posted' for sale. I also realize that changes can and will be made according to crew and aircraft availability, booking patterns, etc. etc. Thanks!

[Lonedaddy]

5 hours ago, FL Wolfpacker said:

Just received my flights for our July 1st sailing from Rome.  I contacted the air desk at the 210 day out time period and was told the best they could do was a deviation with 2 stops (flying out of Ft Myers, FL) with short connection times and +$2K pp charge.  I decided to wait and see what they would come up with at the 75 day time period.

Without a deviation fee they scheduled a one stop flight (thru Frankfurt) on the way out and a one stop thru Newark on the return (and both have very good layover times).  The flights are operated by Discover Airlines so that may present some issues but I am very surprised/pleased otherwise.

 

It looks like discover is a lufthansa partner for lower cost older planes like the A330 that lufthansa didnt need anymore.  Similar to scoot airlines (SQ asia partner airline.) since you are in business you can use the Lufthansa business lounges in FRA.

 

try to get middle pair seat if its a night flight as they have multiple configurations.  It looks like the june 29 flight is the a330-200 but that could chnage.  You get there a day early it seems so that is good in case of cancellation the airline  will route you on UA or Lufthansa most likely.  

 

4Y Airbus A330-200 - aeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans

others

4Y Airbus A330-300 type 1 - aeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans

4Y Airbus A330-300 type 2 - aeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans

Edited April 17 by Lonedaddy

[Lonedaddy]

1 hour ago, TheShag said:

General question about the 210 vs 75 day pre-cruise. I applaud OP about checking later. Without trying to be 'smart', is there some 'magic' with the 75 day pre-cruise booking date? More specifically, is there more flight availability 75 days out? I read a lot about how soon airlines release their schedules [seems to be around ~300 days from departure] but am not aware of how additional flights/seats are 'posted' for sale. I also realize that changes can and will be made according to crew and aircraft availability, booking patterns, etc. etc. Thanks!

us carriers release ~330 out many internationals release ~360.  They have fare buckets they fill and if those don't sell, they can change, or equipment changes closer could impact it but not generally the case.  The airlines have dynamic pricing models that look a loads and competitors pricing..... so, they can change daily sometimes.  You can use expert flyer to track any bucket on a given route or kayak to monitor price changes.  I'm sure @Pcardad and @papaflamingo  could add to the pricing models if interested.

Edited April 17 by Lonedaddy

[Dobby36]

Hi @Lonedaddy (or others!) wondering if you know the letter of the “buckets” that would be pulled from for regent air seats? I have expertflyer and know how to search for “J” seats and find seat maps, set alerts etc.  I’m calling regent air later this week to discuss options to deviate on an October-Nov trip on Voyager, outbound to Istanbul, return from BCN to SFO(likely). I’m amassing a short list of preferred routings based on google flights info but wondering if I can refine even further to the universe of possibilities by leveraging expertflyer.  Happy to do the legwork,  just unsure what to look for.  Thanks 

[FL Wolfpacker]

2 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

It looks like discover is a lufthansa partner for lower cost older planes like the A330 that lufthansa didnt need anymore.  Similar to scoot airlines (SQ asia partner airline.) since you are in business you can use the Lufthansa business lounges in FRA.

 

try to get middle pair seat if its a night flight as they have multiple configurations.  It looks like the june 29 flight is the a330-200 but that could chnage.  You get there a day early it seems so that is good in case of cancellation the airline  will route you on UA or Lufthansa most likely.  

 

4Y Airbus A330-200 - aeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans

others

4Y Airbus A330-300 type 1 - aeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans

4Y Airbus A330-300 type 2 - aeroLOPA | Detailed aircraft seat plans

I added an extra day prior to the ship’s departure in case of airline issues. As a result our flight leaves on June 28th

[Lonedaddy]

1 hour ago, Dobby36 said:

Hi @Lonedaddy (or others!) wondering if you know the letter of the “buckets” that would be pulled from for regent air seats? I have expertflyer and know how to search for “J” seats and find seat maps, set alerts etc.  I’m calling regent air later this week to discuss options to deviate on an October-Nov trip on Voyager, outbound to Istanbul, return from BCN to SFO(likely). I’m amassing a short list of preferred routings based on google flights info but wondering if I can refine even further to the universe of possibilities by leveraging expertflyer.  Happy to do the legwork,  just unsure what to look for.  Thanks 

on AA it is "I" I'm not sure the others but you can do a search by airline for what each code is.  Z or P for united I think

Edited April 17 by Lonedaddy

[Lonedaddy]

31 minutes ago, FL Wolfpacker said:

I added an extra day prior to the ship’s departure in case of airline issues. As a result our flight leaves on June 28th

Good call.

[2rogues]

We are looking at an Air Canada flight non-stop to Rome.  On the AC site, they have fully-refundable and refundable-for-a-fee fares.  On ITA Matrix  the fare class shows as C.  Is that the refundable for a fee fare class, and if so, could anyone guess if Regent might contract for this, possibly with an upcharge?

[Lonedaddy]

1 hour ago, 2rogues said:

We are looking at an Air Canada flight non-stop to Rome.  On the AC site, they have fully-refundable and refundable-for-a-fee fares.  On ITA Matrix  the fare class shows as C.  Is that the refundable for a fee fare class, and if so, could anyone guess if Regent might contract for this, possibly with an upcharge?

date?

[2rogues]

1 hour ago, Lonedaddy said:

date?

November 14/24

[Lonedaddy]

51 minutes ago, 2rogues said:

November 14/24

JCDZPR are the business class fares from higher to lower the number shows the seats in that bucket.  not sure what regent books but probably R or P 

 

if toronto :   AC 8900YYZ11/14/24 7:30 PMFCO11/15/24 10:20 AM77WM,T,Th,Sa 77% / 36mJ9 C9 D9 Z9 P9 R0 

IF vancouver :

Edited April 22 by Lonedaddy

[cAPS lOCK oN]

3 hours ago, 2rogues said:

We are looking at an Air Canada flight non-stop to Rome.  On the AC site, they have fully-refundable and refundable-for-a-fee fares.  On ITA Matrix  the fare class shows as C.  Is that the refundable for a fee fare class, and if so, could anyone guess if Regent might contract for this, possibly with an upcharge?

Regent has us flying Air Canada from Lisbon to Toronto In June, and ITA shows it as fare class C. There was no upcharge. The flight from Toronto to Lisbon, on the other hand, is fare class Z and did have an upcharge.

[2rogues]

36 minutes ago, cAPS lOCK oN said:

Regent has us flying Air Canada from Lisbon to Toronto In June, and ITA shows it as fare class C. There was no upcharge. The flight from Toronto to Lisbon, on the other hand, is fare class Z and did have an upcharge.

Well that’s very interesting.  Thanks for the information.  Will update when we learn more from Regent, appreciate any and all input.

[2rogues]

45 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

JCDZPR are the business class fares from higher to lower the number shows the seats in that bucket.  not sure what regent books but probably R or P 

 

if toronto :   AC 8900YYZ11/14/24 7:30 PMFCO11/15/24 10:20 AM77WM,T,Th,Sa 77% / 36mJ9 C9 D9 Z9 P9 R0 

IF vancouver :

Thanks for this information.  Not too encouraging.  The non-stop is of course our first choice so will see what they say.  We have some back-up choices too.  Appreciate the input.

[Lonedaddy]

1 hour ago, 2rogues said:

Thanks for this information.  Not too encouraging.  The non-stop is of course our first choice so will see what they say.  We have some back-up choices too.  Appreciate the input.

If you or anyone needs expert flying info just ping me I’ll do my best to get a timely response.  You might check sites like kayak and you might be able to book air cheaper.  I would think that time of year you might find a deal from a booking site .

[Lonedaddy]

2 hours ago, 2rogues said:

Thanks for this information.  Not too encouraging.  The non-stop is of course our first choice so will see what they say.  We have some back-up choices too.  Appreciate the input.

Also you may look at deviation might not cost anything to go tues Or wed maybe spend a night or two earlier hotels probably not too bad tha time of year in Rome 

[vegasdriven]

OK, Lonedaddy, going to take you up on this. We are on the Jan 5, 24 Cape Town to Rio. We are getting Regent to handle the air to Capetown or Joburg ( as we are going early to do a short Safari), and we will deviate.

 

My question starts with the return from Rio. We are going to do this one on our own, originally thinking of using points for this, but looking at flights now there is a promo for business with Copa for around $1000 Can to Miami with a 2 hr stop in Panama. The plane has lir flat seats, however I do realize it could be changed.

Everything else is significantly more- 3000 for South American lines, and 5000 plus for North American lines.

I guess only we can decide if we want to take the chance on that promo, we’re not worried about level of service, as much as the comfortable seat. Another consideration is they have a 10:30 am flight, so not a red eye. Just wondering what you think- would it be something you would consider, or would you wait to see if the North American Airlines pricing comes down somewhat. 
It is a non refundable ticket, with one change allowed.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated!