Choice Air for Dummies

[xxHadleyxx]

Please forgive me for not wading through all the threads that come up in a search looking for the answers I need--I am hoping someone who knows the system will be kind enough to post what I need here :)

 

My in laws are hoping to join us on our Oasis TA and would be using choice air to return to the US if they do so. I've never used it, living in Europe we cannot. So, I have a few questions (they are expecting us to figure everything out for them ;) )

 

1. Does the price for choice air fluctuate? If there is a good price now, so we need to jump on it to book, or will it stay there until the flights are full?

 

2. When is payment due for the flights? Is it the same time as for the cruise itself? (they have only sailed RCI once before, if that matters)

 

3. Cruise deposits are fully refundable up until final payment date (in the US, as they are). Is this the same for choice air, or are they locked in as soon as they book that?

 

Thanks for your help :)

[Clarea]

Please forgive me for not wading through all the threads that come up in a search looking for the answers I need--I am hoping someone who knows the system will be kind enough to post what I need here :)

 

My in laws are hoping to join us on our Oasis TA and would be using choice air to return to the US if they do so. I've never used it, living in Europe we cannot. So, I have a few questions (they are expecting us to figure everything out for them ;) )

 

1. Does the price for choice air fluctuate? If there is a good price now, so we need to jump on it to book, or will it stay there until the flights are full?

 

2. When is payment due for the flights? Is it the same time as for the cruise itself? (they have only sailed RCI once before, if that matters)

 

3. Cruise deposits are fully refundable up until final payment date (in the US, as they are). Is this the same for choice air, or are they locked in as soon as they book that?

 

Thanks for your help :)

The prices of flights do change, but I have not seen a pattern. We usually reserve the flight 11 months in advance.

 

There are 3 types of purchase options for Choice Air flights: non-refundable, Flex, and refundable. Non-refundable and refundable options must be paid as soon as you book the flight. Flex flights are paid at cruise final payment time.

 

Any option you choose will incur a $25pp non-refundable Choice Air fee.

 

If you choose Flex, and then cancel before cruise final payment date, all you lose is the Choice Air fee.

 

If you choose non-refundable and cancel anytime, there will be a large cancel fee (maybe the entire airfare amount) for the air.

Edited December 4, 2013 by clarea

[xxHadleyxx]

Thank you Bob!:)

[NorbertsNiece]

Hi Hadley,

 

Just to say that I booked my ticket out of San Juan following my Westbound TA with Choice Air. I had to call them though as I couldn't get a one way ticket on-line. It may have been accessible to me as I'd booked the cruise through a US TA though. Just wanted to say that Europeans CAN get Choice Air......

[xxHadleyxx]

Hi Hadley,

 

Just to say that I booked my ticket out of San Juan following my Westbound TA with Choice Air. I had to call them though as I couldn't get a one way ticket on-line. It may have been accessible to me as I'd booked the cruise through a US TA though. Just wanted to say that Europeans CAN get Choice Air......

 

Oh that is very good to knwo for the future! Thanks :)

[cruisenfever]

Hadley, keep watching the prices. My experience has been with international travel that when they are first published they tend to be higher with a decreased number of carriers available.

 

I check at least twice a day when I'm looking for flights on Choice Air. I also go to the airlines website and see what their actual pricing is if I were going to book direct.

[jebl]

If I use choice air and pay with my RCI visa points do I get double credits like I do when I pay off the cruise?

[Clarea]

If I use choice air and pay with my RCI visa points do I get double credits like I do when I pay off the cruise?

Yes, Choice Air is billed as a Royal Caribbean charge, so you get double points on Royal's Visa card.

[waterbug123]

Just be aware that the tickets you get through Choice Air, particularly the ones that are much cheaper than what's available by booking directly through the airline, are likely very different than those obtained directly from the airline. If all goes well, you will never know the difference. However, if there are flight disruptions, that is likely when you will find out what sort of rules and restrictions are attached to your ticket.... rules and restrictions that MAY greatly affect the options you have (or don't have) for rebooking. You will find much more info about this over on the Cruise Air forum.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Just be aware that the tickets you get through Choice Air, particularly the ones that are much cheaper than what's available by booking directly through the airline, are likely very different than those obtained directly from the airline. If all goes well, you will never know the difference. However, if there are flight disruptions, that is likely when you will find out what sort of rules and restrictions are attached to your ticket.... rules and restrictions that MAY greatly affect the options you have (or don't have) for rebooking. You will find much more info about this over on the Cruise Air forum.

 

For this reason we booked our flight with a big cushion. We were going to Barcelona for a TA. So, we did not want to miss out on any touring time due to flight problems. So, we built in a 3+ hour layover. I know many will say this extreme. However, the first leg of our flight was 1.25 hours late--but, we still had no worries.

 

I will always do this when using Choice Air.

[cruisenfever]

For this reason we booked our flight with a big cushion. We were going to Barcelona for a TA. So, we did not want to miss out on any touring time due to flight problems. So, we built in a 3+ hour layover. I know many will say this extreme. However, the first leg of our flight was 1.25 hours late--but, we still had no worries.

 

I will always do this when using Choice Air.

Absolutely agree. Giving yourself some extra time between connections is a good idea.

[whataboutport]

The prices of flights do change, but I have not seen a pattern. We usually reserve the flight 11 months in advance.

 

There are 3 types of purchase options for Choice Air flights: non-refundable, Flex, and refundable. Non-refundable and refundable options must be paid as soon as you book the flight. Flex flights are paid at cruise final payment time.

 

Any option you choose will incur a $25pp non-refundable Choice Air fee.

 

If you choose Flex, and then cancel before cruise final payment date, all you lose is the Choice Air fee.

 

If you choose non-refundable and cancel anytime, there will be a large cancel fee (maybe the entire airfare amount) for the air.

 

Since you say you book flights 11 months in advance, maybe you could answer my question. I'm looking at a cruise out of Tampa for Nov 2014. I tried to look up airfare on Choice Air and it said it found NO flights for me out of LAX. I know that cannot be possible. Is it too soon to look? Are flights not yet released or what?

[Clarea]

Since you say you book flights 11 months in advance, maybe you could answer my question. I'm looking at a cruise out of Tampa for Nov 2014. I tried to look up airfare on Choice Air and it said it found NO flights for me out of LAX. I know that cannot be possible. Is it too soon to look? Are flights not yet released or what?

Depends. Are you choosing some sort of filter, such as Premium Economy, etc.? Sometimes there are no flights with certain types of seats. Are you choosing a round trip and the return is over 330 days away?

[CruisinNole]

We just booked a one way flight out of Miami in Nov. 2014 on Choice Air. The price was so good we didn't feel we could wait to book.

[whataboutport]

Depends. Are you choosing some sort of filter, such as Premium Economy, etc.? Sometimes there are no flights with certain types of seats. Are you choosing a round trip and the return is over 330 days away?

 

321 days and only filter I used was non stop flight. Let me try again.

 

Ok, there were no non stops. How unbelievable is that? Not only that, over 9 hrs to get from CA to FL and at $600pp. That's a whole 'nother cruise! No thanks.

Edited December 30, 2013 by whataboutport

[Clarea]

321 days and only filter I used was non stop flight. Let me try again.

 

Ok, there were no non stops. How unbelievable is that? Not only that, over 9 hrs to get from CA to FL and at $600pp. That's a whole 'nother cruise! No thanks.

Not unbelievable to me. I'm finding fewer and fewer non-stop flights from our normal airport too.

 

Also, Choice Air is generally not going to have better prices than the airline websites for purely domestic flights. We've used Choice Air for domestic flights before, but only because we wanted to use the Flex pay option because we weren't sure our schedule would allow us to take the cruise that far in advance.

Edited December 30, 2013 by clarea

[TravelerThom]

...Choice Air is generally not going to have better prices than the airline websites for purely domestic flights...

Agreed. Where Choice Air really works IMO is for one-way Trans-Atlantics which seems to be what the OP is looking for. If you have an air connection on one end within the US, you can look at Choice Air's whole package (US-US plus Europe-US), but also be sure to check Choice Air pricing on just the Europe-US portion. I am currently looking at air Washington, DC to FLL, cruise Florida-Barcelona, air Madrid-Washington. Choice Air's "round-trip" (WAS-FLL; MAD-WAS) best price is over $980. Choice Air MAD-WAS is $413, and I can pick up WAS-FLL separately for $111 for a savings of over $450pp AND I had a better choice of flights coming back from MAD (apparently since with the "round trip" the airlines on both portions had to work with each other).

 

Thom

[jebl]

I just booked Choice Air non stop Miami to Barcelona for Oct '14. Price for flex fare is $472 pp. I checked American Air for the same flight and the price on their website is $3000 pp.

 

I's say Choice Air is the way to go for one way Int'l flights.