jeanine Posted July 16, 2005 #1 Share Posted July 16, 2005 Hello, we are down to the wire, re: booking our cruise on Regatta next year. I would like imput on whether to use our FF miles or the free air? We would be credited $800pp if we don't use their air, I guess I am looking at the $100 fee if for some reason we don't end up going on this cruise. Thanks for your imput J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drwong Posted July 16, 2005 #2 Share Posted July 16, 2005 If you got 'em, use 'em. With FF miles, you can designate your preferred schedules without a $50 p/p deviation fee (plus any fare differential). You can also use your FF miles for upgrades, while Oceania's free air tickets are next to impossible to upgrade. But if you do, buy travel insurance, especially if you plan on flying in the same day as the ship departs - you never know if your flights are going to be delayed or if you're going to miss a connection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniela Posted July 16, 2005 #3 Share Posted July 16, 2005 Hello, we are down to the wire, re: booking our cruise on Regatta next year. I would like imput on whether to use our FF miles or the free air? We would be credited $800pp if we don't use their air, I guess I am looking at the $100 fee if for some reason we don't end up going on this cruise. Thanks for your imputJ I always do my own air when cruising and always leave at least 2 days before the cruise begins when overseas travel is involved. Especially important if you leave from the northeast in the winter. I try to upgrade with miles to at least business class on long flights. Have a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickey 88 Posted July 16, 2005 #4 Share Posted July 16, 2005 Hello, we are down to the wire, re: booking our cruise on Regatta next year. I would like imput on whether to use our FF miles or the free air? We would be credited $800pp if we don't use their air, I guess I am looking at the $100 fee if for some reason we don't end up going on this cruise. Thanks for your imputJ I would also agree that if you have sufficient air miles and can use them, then "use them!". The problem however, is frequently passengers do find that they cannot get FF space especially at the busy times of the year - so start early. Since we like to travel early to the departure port and stay over for a while post-cruise, FF travel or a 'deviation' is the only solution. Whatever you do - you'll enjoy your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistik Posted July 17, 2005 #5 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Hi there, Is it just me, or is it getting more difficult to use FF miles to get the preferred SEATS on flights ? Back in the day you could book business class seats well in advance with no problem. Now, there seems to be a timing issue AND an availability issue. I could relate several whole long sordid stories, but I'm too tired :-) Net-net is that we don't have an easy time of it, even though my husband has maintained "Platinum" level on one airline for many, many years. I guess there are humans with a level of some other metal that trumps Platinum ("Executive Platinum" !), who gets all the lovely free First Class and Business Class seats. In any event, I recommend using those FF miles as soon as you can, whenever you can. They may not be worth much in the future - there are a bazillion miles accrued-to-date which need to be redeemed. One either needs Executive Platinum level OR be lucky. Not to say I haven't gotten "lucky": For an Oceania Regatta Barcelona-Lisbon cruise Nov5 -Nov17, I'm flying business class on all segments. Yay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drwong Posted July 17, 2005 #6 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Nope, Mistik, it's not just you. Airlines are having such an easy time selling Business and First Class seats to fare-paying passengers, that there's little left to give away to those using frequent flyer miles. Seating conditions are getting so bad in steerage (excuse me, "coach") that more and more passengers are willing to pay a premium to be up front - there was a great article in Tuesday's NYTimes Business Travel Section about the declining pleasure of flying coach, with yours truly mentioned in the lead paragraph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudiaF Posted July 17, 2005 #7 Share Posted July 17, 2005 - there was a great article in Tuesday's NYTimes Business Travel Section about the declining pleasure of flying coach, with yours truly mentioned in the lead paragraph. You made me look ..very good article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meow! Posted July 17, 2005 #8 Share Posted July 17, 2005 drwong: Could you be so kind as to put the link to that article you mentioned on this board? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmenges Posted July 17, 2005 #9 Share Posted July 17, 2005 I'll make this really short... We just flew home from Instanbul after the June 26 cruise on the Insignia. The provided air transportation was Instanbul to Munich to Chicago to Buffalo... then a drive to Rochester, NY. The total trip was 26 hours long (including 6 hours of lay over time in airports). It was a downer after a wonderful cruise on the Insignia. Next time we will book our own air even with the added expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digby Posted July 17, 2005 #10 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Hello, we are down to the wire, re: booking our cruise on Regatta next year. I would like imput on whether to use our FF miles or the free air? We would be credited $800pp if we don't use their air, I guess I am looking at the $100 fee if for some reason we don't end up going on this cruise. Thanks for your imputJ We always buy an economy ticket and use FF to upgrade to Business class for the long intercontinental flights. It gives us control over the flights, and a much more comfy flight. I have had to cancel a cruise once and had to pay $100 to rewrite the plane ticket for use later that year. It still seemed like a good deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane110 Posted July 18, 2005 #11 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Nope, Mistik, it's not just you. Airlines are having such an easy time selling Business and First Class seats to fare-paying passengers, that there's little left to give away to those using frequent flyer miles. Seating conditions are getting so bad in steerage (excuse me, "coach") that more and more passengers are willing to pay a premium to be up front - there was a great article in Tuesday's NYTimes Business Travel Section about the declining pleasure of flying coach, with yours truly mentioned in the lead paragraph. Of all the days I didn't get the Times!!! Sheesh! Please post it Richard! pleeze, pleeze, pretty pleeze! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbqbears Posted July 18, 2005 #12 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Hi there, Is it just me, or is it getting more difficult to use FF miles to get the preferred SEATS on flights ? Back in the day you could book business class seats well in advance with no problem. Now, there seems to be a timing issue AND an availability issue. I agree. We either use ff miles to upgrade to business, or as we have with the past two trips to Europe, used them for the entire ticket. I made our reservations for our upcoming Athens to Rome cruise in late February, yet had difficulty finding seats on United for the appropriate dates. Unlike in the past, when we flew non-stop (at least until we got to Europe), we have a stopover in Washington DC before flying to Munich, then on to Athens. I think the writing is on the wall re: ff miles...use them now, or risk losing them. Kathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMe_ Posted July 18, 2005 #13 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Here is the link to New York Times article, http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/business/12soff.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drwong Posted July 18, 2005 #14 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Thanks for covering that, HappyMe. I didn't realize that there would be so much follow-up interests in the story! Speaking of the Times, today's Travel section had a multi-page article on Croatia, for those of you sailing up the Adriatic on Oceania! http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/travel/17croatia.html Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankpc Posted July 18, 2005 #15 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Frequent Flyer miles are increasingly tough to use. Many airlines offer more flexibility if you double the typical mileage requirement. I prefer to use the "upgrade from a coach fare" awards as they typically are less restrictive. If you compare the awards at that level on a dollar for dollar basis, they're also among the best bang for your miles. Of course, that assumes that you really believe that a biz class seat across the pond is worth three times that of a coach seat ... Of course, you can make that argument to a lesser extent about your choice of cruise cabin too .... Another issue to consider with Oceania vs. FF miles is your departure gateway. If you don't fly from a Oceania gateway city, you'll pay additional monies to use them. Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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