Choice Air

[Quendryth]

Just wanted to remind those of you with 123 Go Choice air to Alaska/Europe to check your expiration dates, as well as Gateways.

 

We had to change our plans because thee were no flights from Phx and no non-stop flights either! Had we been told this at signing (on board the Equinox) we would have not even bothered. We would have still booked the cruise but not with the same excitement!

 

After speaking with Choice Air (very nice) we were told fly to San Diego (at our own expense)then to Vancouver. She wasn't certain if there was a return flight from San Francisco after debarkation or not!

 

Anyway, just a heads up, read the fine print on your 123 Go info. Hope this helps you not get a headache!

 

Faith & Larry

[renaroo]

What do you mean, "check your expiration dates?"

[waterbug123]

 

We had to change our plans because thee were no flights from Phx and no non-stop flights either! Had we been told this at signing (on board the Equinox) we would have not even bothered. We would have still booked the cruise but not with the same excitement!

 

After speaking with Choice Air (very nice) we were told fly to San Diego (at our own expense)then to Vancouver. She wasn't certain if there was a return flight from San Francisco after debarkation or not!

 

 

So I'm guessing you got free airfare via choice air as a perk? Usually there is some language in an air-inclusive offer like that that stipulates "from selected gateway cities." Did you not check to see if Phoenix was on that list?

[Quendryth]

What do you mean, "check your expiration dates?"

 

On the 123 Go it states you must have your reservations made on Choice Air at the end of the promo which in our case was 1-4-15. We were not told this when booking on board. Since we were not sailing until August, we never considered making air plans in Dec or Jan! We were not told of certain Gateways not being available either. We were only told, book Alaska or Europe in a suite & you are on your way! To HAL!

 

We are Elite so we kind of have been around the block with X but not enough, obviously! No more - they still owe us 25 bonus points to become Elite + but probably wont see those & don't really care at this point! We are not going to sail X again & this was our 15th cruise with them! They don't care!

 

Quendryth

[Quendryth]

So I'm guessing you got free airfare via choice air as a perk? Usually there is some language in an air-inclusive offer like that that stipulates "from selected gateway cities." Did you not check to see if Phoenix was on that list?

 

There was one companion airfare If you book Alaska, Europe & a suite. We booked on board with X agent who never brought up anything other than what I just wrote above. This was our 15th cruise on X so it was not our first rodeo! We surely expected that we would have been TOLD of stipulations since we were sitting in front of her, pen in hand. If I had read this at home prior to signing, yes I would have caught the Gateway farce. If you read the rest of my response to OP above I think you can understand why we feel the way we do. Not that it matters since we are 3 star Mariners on HAL & won't go "unsailed."

 

Thanks for your interest. I just want to make certain passengers DO read the fine print even if they are booking on board & think they are being watched over by X. It is not always the case.

 

Quendryth

Edited January 20, 2015 by Quendryth

[waterbug123]

There was one companion airfare If you book Alaska, Europe & a suite. We booked on board with X agent who never brought up anything other than what I just wrote above. This was our 15th cruise on X so it was not our first rodeo! We surely expected that we would have been TOLD of stipulations since we were sitting in front of her, pen in hand. If I had read this at home prior to signing, yes I would have caught the Gateway farce. If you read the rest of my response to OP above I think you can understand why we feel the way we do. Not that it matters since we are 3 star Mariners on HAL & won't go "unsailed."

 

Thanks for your interest. I just want to make certain passengers DO read the fine print even if they are booking on board & think they are being watched over by X. It is not always the case.

 

Quendryth

 

Lesson learned; always ask to see the details in writing rather than going by what a salesperson tells you orally. ;)

[renaroo]

Thanks for explaining about the expiration dates. We have choice air fares, but booked our flights at the same time we booked our cruise. I'm glad we did it immediately but am really sorry you have trouble with yours. :(

[marshaatn]

Hi all -- I just booked a Greece/Italy/Turkey cruise while on board the Equinox. I made the booking on January 10, 2015 and part of the promo is "free companion air if booked in a suite in Alaska or Europe." After reading this thread, I called Choice Air to find out the timing, restrictions, etc. with this. I was told that my booking was made "outside of the promotion window" and that because it was not made by January 4, 2015, that my booking did not qualify.

 

I explained that the agent had assured us that we did qualify for the promotion and that I had a flyer distributed while on board the Equinox that did not have any date restrictions listed. The Choice Air rep then put me on hold - he came back and explained that I would need to talk to reservations to have the promo code added. He transferred me; I explained the situation to the Celebrity reservation specialist; after waiting on hold a few more minutes, she came back and assured me that she had indeed, added the promo code to our reservation.

 

I just wanted to write this to be sure that you don't accept the first "no". Once they learned I had booked on board and was told by their sales person, the reservations agents were very helpful in getting our code added.

 

Thank you,

Marsha

[Quendryth]

Hi Meg

Just received a new 123 Go in the mail - the dates are as follows: Good thru 1-5-14 thru 2-28-15! Please note 1-5-14!!! Can X do anything right?

 

I look forward to HAL!

[Hlitner]

We have only had the displeasure of using Choice Air one time...and that was only because we had a booking promo that gave us a $500 air credit, or so we thought. We had booked back-to-back European cruises and each cruise had an advertised $250 air credit. When we called Choice Air they would only honor the air credit for one of the cruises citing a rule (unwritten) that you cannot utilize the credits on back to backs. And then, they managed to book our return flights (from FCO) on a day that happened to be a sea day in the middle of our 2nd cruise. Once we caught their error they tried to blame us for "their error" even thought they admitted that they carefully check flights to coincide with the debarkation schedule (but apparently not the date). They then wanted to charge us even more money to fix "their error" and it was only after several e-mails, phone calls, and an unpleasant discussion with a Choice Air Manager that they agreed to fix "their error" and their expense.

 

Bottom line is that we generally make all of our own air/transfer/hotel arrangements and would only consider Choice Air (which we now think is akin to going to an Endodontist) if they had a much lower fare.

 

Hank

[grandgeezer]

We have only had the displeasure of using Choice Air one time...and that was only because we had a booking promo that gave us a $500 air credit, or so we thought. We had booked back-to-back European cruises and each cruise had an advertised $250 air credit. When we called Choice Air they would only honor the air credit for one of the cruises citing a rule (unwritten) that you cannot utilize the credits on back to backs. And then, they managed to book our return flights (from FCO) on a day that happened to be a sea day in the middle of our 2nd cruise. Once we caught their error they tried to blame us for "their error" even thought they admitted that they carefully check flights to coincide with the debarkation schedule (but apparently not the date). They then wanted to charge us even more money to fix "their error" and it was only after several e-mails, phone calls, and an unpleasant discussion with a Choice Air Manager that they agreed to fix "their error" and their expense.

 

Bottom line is that we generally make all of our own air/transfer/hotel arrangements and would only consider Choice Air (which we now think is akin to going to an Endodontist) if they had a much lower fare.

 

Hank

 

I book my own flights on Choice Air. I go to their web site, pick out the flights I want and book it. Even though they should catch a mistake like you had, there is nobody to blame but the man in the mirror, if it is wrong. I would book elsewhere, and soon as I can find someone to sell me a ticket from Phoenix, to Barcelona, for $510 p.p. I've used them five times, with no problems.