Choice Air and Xpedition

[Gonzo70]

When trying to book Choice Air for Xpedition cruises no flights are appearing (even though flights are available for the dates directly with the airlines and via other sites that sell airline tickets). I checked for other dates aside from for my cruise, and nothing was appearing on various other dates I selected as well. My travel agent as a perk provided me with $700 towards purchasing airfare via Choice Air, so even though I generally prefer to book directly with the airlines, I was likely going to use Choice Air for this trip. Anyone know anything regarding Choice Air for use with cruises on Xpedition?

[Jade13]

No, but see if your agent will give you the $700 off of the cruise instead. When you book through Choice Air you normally have to pay 100% upfront and these promos take the deduction off of the cruise fare (This is what the Azamara ongoing promo does).

 

Are you on the cruisetour which includes flights from Quito to Galapagos, and just trying to get you flights to/from Quito?

Edited December 5, 2013 by Jade13

[Gonzo70]

No, but see if your agent will give you the $700 off of the cruise instead. When you book through Choice Air you normally have to pay 100% upfront and these promos take the deduction off of the cruise fare (This is what the Azamara ongoing promo does).

 

Are you on the cruisetour which includes flights from Quito to Galapagos, and just trying to get you flights to/from Quito?

 

Thanks. I am on the 10 night package, so the one with the cruisetour; I am looking for round trip flights from ORD (Chicago) to UIO (Quito). I will contact my travel agent to see if they can just have the perk applied to the final payment. That would definitely make it easier if they are able to do this.

[jcrandle]

Good luck on getting a fare reduction through your TA, as in my understanding, Celebrity does not allow TA's to rebate directly. My TA told me that the rebate could be applied to airfare, or merchandise, like an IPAD or laptop. I'm not certain that the airfare had to be purchased from Celebrity, gut it might have been easier to show that the "no cash rebate" was honored if the trans went thru Cruise Air.

 

I'd contact the TA again and get a better differentiation on what is allowed. You may need to speak to a manager at the TA, or have a conference call with Celebrity, as not all TA's may be aware of all the ramifications.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Can't your TA book the Choice Air flights for you?

[Gonzo70]

Can't your TA book the Choice Air flights for you?

 

Maybe, but I'd much rather be able to view all available flights and pricing and look them over thoroughly before committing. I am not sure why Choice Air does not have flights showing on their website for Galapagos cruises

[Shami]

On some cruises, you need to call choice air directly and book with them over the phone. I had to do this with a B2B cruise coming up. They do allow you to choose the flights you want. Watch your favorite airfare sites and when you are ready to book, call choice air and tell them which flights you want. Many times the pricing will be the same or less. And when you book through choice air, they will assist you if there is a delay or cancellation with your flight.

[valleyviewct]

My husband and I are headed to the Galapagos right after you Gonzo70! Not sure if you booked already, but thought I'd offer my two cents! :p

 

We are in Newtown, CT so about 1.5 hours from JFK. There are a few options to Quito, but going through Bogota was not one of them for us! :o A friend in Aruba had told us about Copa Airlines, so I started looking at their prices and flight times. We also got an incentive to book the trip -- $800 off the airfare. I figured that it may pay for part of one ticket, so why not?! I watched the prices, which pretty much stayed around $1,300. Then one day it dropped to $1,150 and I didn't waist any time... BOOK IT DAN-O!! :D With the $800, we are BOTH flying to Quito for $350!!! :eek: I'm sorry, but you can't get to Florida for that! :rolleyes:

 

Hard to believe I booked this almost 2 years ago and it's almost here... LIFE IS GOOD! ;)

[Host Jazzbeau]

We had the same initial experience as OP regarding Choice Air, but our TA was able to solve the problem quite easily. It seems that Celebrity never shows any flights for the Galapagos cruises because in the past too many passengers selected arrival and departure times that didn't work. So you (or your TA) must call Celebrity to book Choice Air for these cruises.

 

To OP's point about having control and selection: apparently you can use any flight as long as the arrival and departure times fit Celebrity's windows. I searched the internet for all possible flights, decided on the specific American Airlines flights we wanted -- and my TA was able to book them through Choice Air at the same price.

 

That brings the promise by Celebrity that they will work with us and the airline if there are delays, and also adds the airfare to the Celebrity CruiseCare insurance without raising the premium. To me, it's a win-win-win.

[Gonzo70]

My husband and I are headed to the Galapagos right after you Gonzo70! Not sure if you booked already, but thought I'd offer my two cents! :p

 

We are in Newtown, CT so about 1.5 hours from JFK. There are a few options to Quito, but going through Bogota was not one of them for us! :o A friend in Aruba had told us about Copa Airlines, so I started looking at their prices and flight times. We also got an incentive to book the trip -- $800 off the airfare. I figured that it may pay for part of one ticket, so why not?! I watched the prices, which pretty much stayed around $1,300. Then one day it dropped to $1,150 and I didn't waist any time... BOOK IT DAN-O!! :D With the $800, we are BOTH flying to Quito for $350!!! :eek: I'm sorry, but you can't get to Florida for that!

 

Hard to believe I booked this almost 2 years ago and it's almost here... LIFE IS GOOD! ;)

 

I did end up booking the airfare a couple of months ago; had to do it over the phone with Choice Air - a bit inconvenient, but no big deal. Wound up having to settle for my second choice in flights. I used the ITA Matrix to search for ideal flights; for some reason Choice Air was quoting me a higher price than ITA Matrix showed for the flight with the most ideal flight times; I ended up choosing the next earlier flight and was able to obtain the same price with Choice Air as ITA for that one - albeit I have to be up really early now to catch my flight. The price was reasonable; about $775 per/person for one stop and my travel agent did credit me $675 when final payment was made. I am booked on American Airlines, but LAN operates one of the legs (which is good IMHO since they have better food/beverage/entertainment options).

 

I wish I could have just booked directly with the airline and not had to go through Choice Air, but needed to in order to receive my $675 credit from the travel agent. I actually would have liked a connection in Bogota; have lots of family there. Am heading there next year for a land vacation.

 

Enjoy your the Galapagos! I also booked two years out - crazy long wait, but it is almost here. :)

[Merriem]

We have never used choice air. It seems like fares never show up from where we want to fly out of. I did find for our upcoming Xpedition trip that we did well on our own. Also I can never find business class on their site. We try and book immediately when the 330 days before fares are available, and have gotten business class for what coach ended up being closer to travel time. Have good luck booking directly with the airlines.

[hulamoon]

Sometimes travel agencies will provide a check later and you can book on your own.