Viking River Cruise – Our Story Gets Worse - Don't Do Business with Them

[QueenofEverything]

Not following those flight times at all

[CPT Trips]

I am still a little befuddled about the OP's air issues. He stated he opted for custom air option 6 months ago because he didn't like the flights Viking assigned him.... Huh? Since when does Viking assign anyone flights 6 months in advance??? Originally he said after he selected flights and paid the up charge they changed him back to the original flights without notifying him but refused to refund his up charge. Now it seems only 1 leg was changed and he was notified but failed to notice the change. I agree with others who said his TA should have picked up on this and contacted him or at least flagged it on the info sent to him.

 

When we opted for custom air and let our TA know which flights we wanted she sent us the itinerary from Viking with instructions to check them carefully ASAP and then let her know if anything needed changing and asked if we wanted to go ahead and have the flights ticketed so we could select seats, do upgrades etc directly through the airlines. We had the flights ticketed and within 12 hours could see the flights on the airlines web site and could book seats, etc. since then the airline has changed flight times twice, although the flight and confirmation numbers have not changed....is the OP sure that this isn't just a case of the flight times being changed on the booked flight number?

 

I feel badly for him with all of the added stress but I think he is angry at the wrong party here. Doesn't sound to me like it was Viking that dropped the ball here.

 

I don't know about Viking, but t least two other lines assign flights more than six months in advance. They don't ticket until much closer to the date, but they do reserve flights. Sometimes schedules change and then one's flight might change.

[Coral]

I don't know about Viking, but t least two other lines assign flights more than six months in advance. They don't ticket until much closer to the date, but they do reserve flights. Sometimes schedules change and then one's flight might change.

 

AMA gave me their flights (exact times and flight numbers) about 10 months in advance with the cost (which was much different than their website said). Not sure if they still do this or not. I looked at what they offered and then got FF miles on my own.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Coral

[Hydrokitty]

AMA gave me their flights (exact times and flight numbers) about 10 months in advance with the cost (which was much different than their website said). Not sure if they still do this or not. I looked at what they offered and then got FF miles on my own.

 

I wasn't sure but Vantage also gave me my flights about 10 months prior to trip, although it plainly said they were not guaranteed and subject to change....which they didn't and then about 2 months before I got confirmed seats and a confirmation number if I wanted to change them.

[CantanaLobo]

...Viking River Cruises Confirmation Number: xxxxxxx

Might be worthwhile removing the confirmation number. Not sure how much mischief one could cause with a name and confirmation number, but it seems unwise. I think OP would need to contact a host. Edited July 6, 2015 by CantanaLobo

[Mark_T]

Thanks for trying to post the details Robert, but that really isn't enough to do much with.

 

If you still feel like exploring this further then when you get back just post the date and flight numbers for the original flights Viking offered, the flights you then paid to change to and finally the flights you actually ended up on.

[Im_not_creative]

Not following those flight times at all

 

What he is saying is that he has two flights involved (flight numbers 7398 and 733) :

 

Flight 7398 times as booked depart 11:15 AM arrive 12:20 PM

times on airline site now depart 11:15 AM arrive 12:20 PM

 

Flight 733 times as booked depart 2:25 PM arrive 6:18 PM

times on airline site now depart 2:25 PM arrive 6:25 PM

 

And the flight which has since been changed for him is the first of those. He hasn't told us what the times of the new flight are, except that it requires him to be in Prague airport at 7AM and leaves him in London for 6 hours, but I would presume that means flight 7397, departs 06:50, arrives 07:48 - which actually means he will need to be at the airport by 6AM :( .

 

Two hours in Heathrow should be plenty for connecting flights, so I don't think it is anything to do with MTC.

 

Both flights use terminal 3 at Heathrow, and the official connection time for that is 70 minutes according to the Heathrow airport website.

[loge23]

So let me get this straight. After three and a half (onboard currently) absolutely flawless trips with Viking I should not do business with them anymore because someone screwed up with the OP's air res?

This and other gripe threads should not be used as a broad brush smearing the good efforts overall of any company. I should not do business with the polite reps on the phone? Or the chef who greeted us today onboard with canapes? Or the wait staff who greets us by name after two days?

We all can sympathize with a fellow traveler when things don't work out as planned, but we should only bear torches and pitchforks when a company is consistently evil and anti-consumer. I believe after my experiences over a 8 year period that Viking is not that company.

[robert lockwood]

I am delighted that your experience with Viking has been great. I hope ours will be too - we leave this evening for Budapest. This is our only experience with Viking so I am critical as this is the only data point I have - it is more than screwing up our flights:

1. They refuse to call our TA back - they have promised to call our TA the last 5 days with the exception of the 4th and have not.
   
2. We leave today and again they promise to call me instead of my TA - we will see if that happens or not.
   
3. They charged me for the Viking Air Plus flights which they changed and have yet to refund the money - so they are charging me for something they have said they will not provide.
   

I hope you continue to have a great experience and I hope our is as great as yours sounds.

[remydiva]

So let me get this straight. After three and a half (onboard currently) absolutely flawless trips with Viking I should not do business with them anymore because someone screwed up with the OP's air res?

This and other gripe threads should not be used as a broad brush smearing the good efforts overall of any company. I should not do business with the polite reps on the phone? Or the chef who greeted us today onboard with canapes? Or the wait staff who greets us by name after two days?

We all can sympathize with a fellow traveler when things don't work out as planned, but we should only bear torches and pitchforks when a company is consistently evil and anti-consumer. I believe after my experiences over a 8 year period that Viking is not that company.

 

I agree with your thoughts 100%.

 

It never ceases to amaze me when fellow cruisers, especially experienced travelers, come here to post their views and expect the rest of us travellers, experienced or not, to follow their lead and boycott Company A or Company B.

 

Increasingly, this River Cruising Forum is made up of 50% of thread titles that start 'Don't do business with Viking' and 50% 'My trip with Company A or B'

 

It presents a lopsided view of cruising in my opinion for anyone who comes to this forum looking for balanced information.

 

Viking has by far way more ships thus way more passengers thus way more opportunities to impress or fail to impress. And human nature being as it is, we tend to come to these forums to vent more often than we come to praise. So thank you loge23 for your views.

 

Back to the OP, I am very confused about his air fare issues.

He said he paid $400 for an 'upgraded flight'. I paid $50 pp to get 'custom air'where I had more control of which flights I could choose from.

 

This last time I didn't pay for 'custom air'and went with the Viking choices which, thanks to Air France's new schedule, gave us non stop flights.

 

BUT I did pay an extra $100 pp for a 'flight deviation' so that we could stay longer in Paris on our own.

 

So, how did the OP pay $400 and by 'upgraded' does he mean '$50 pp' for custom air and then $100 pp for a flight deviation to fly in/out

on different days? Even then it would only be $300 total, not $400, if he did each of these.

 

And They told us they didn’t try to buy our tickets until 2 months after we booked the upgrade.

 

Even though you have 'booked' the flight, until it is 'ticketed' those flights aren't set in stone. As others have said, schedules change, plane equipment can change, so no, Viking wasn't waiting to see if the flight prices would go down so they could fleece the OP; it is how air ticketing is done in my experience.

 

And how did he pay $7000 to 'get the upgraded flights'...does he mean the original air was $3300 pp x 2= $6600 and then with the extra $400 (however that number was arrived at) he now was paying $7000 vs the original $6600?

 

So...is the beef with the $7000 or the $400 which, again to my mind, should at most be $300.

 

It seems like an awful lot of misplaced anger for $300 - $400.

And I for one will not boycott any company for that.

 

Today is the day the OP said he was travelling so hopefully he will come back and post his experience. Maybe Viking will win him over

with good food, good wine and a great trip. :)

Edited July 6, 2015 by remydiva

[robert lockwood]

I’ve made these posts hoping that someone at Viking will notice we have a problem and resolve it as we fly to Europe this evening. That is why I have put our Viking River Cruises Confirmation Number: 2457078. They are ignoring our TA. The past 5 days (except the 4th) they have not a Flight Supervisor call back like the promised. So going thru formal channels has not worked – so here I am on a message board.

 

As for your questions – We paid $50 for each ticket for the Viking Air Plus option – so that is $100. Then we paid $164 for the better flights when we exercised the option – so and additional $328…. a total of $428.

 

Viking says that since we are so close to departure that the cost to cancel our current tickets and rebook the ones we already paid for would be $7,000.

 

My beef is we now have tickets that have us at the airport at 6am and now we have a 6 hour layover – when we paid for better flights thru Viking Air Plus. The better flights are still available and we were given confirmation numbers and we were told that by buying Viking Air Plus flights would get us out of the “flight circus” that happens 50 to 60 days prior to departure.

 

As I said it really isn’t about the money – but if you aren’t going to provide the service then do you have the right to charge for it? It is not a large sum but when you spend $13k and buy confirmed tickets (Vikings language not mine) you don't expect this type of treatment - it is just a phone call.

 

I too hope that they win us over with a great vacation…..but like their promise of returning calls – I’m not holding my breath.

[CantanaLobo]

What he is saying is that he has two flights involved (flight numbers 7398 and 733) :

 

Flight 7398 times as booked depart 11:15 AM arrive 12:20 PM

times on airline site now depart 11:15 AM arrive 12:20 PM

 

Flight 733 times as booked depart 2:25 PM arrive 6:18 PM

times on airline site now depart 2:25 PM arrive 6:25 PM

 

And the flight which has since been changed for him is the first of those. He hasn't told us what the times of the new flight are, except that it requires him to be in Prague airport at 7AM and leaves him in London for 6 hours, but I would presume that means flight 7397, departs 06:50, arrives 07:48 - which actually means he will need to be at the airport by 6AM :( ...

So is this what happened: Viking originally had him on US7397. He paid for a deviation so he would be on US7398 instead of US7397. His tickets currently have him on US7397?

 

Does he have a confirmation from Viking showing he was supposed to be booked on US7398 by paying for the deviation? I don't think there is enough information to determine if it's a TA mistake or a cruise line mistake. Without that confirmation from Viking, the TA and Viking get to point fingers at each other all day.

Edited July 6, 2015 by CantanaLobo

[Mark_T]

Robert, was the return flight from Prague to London the only flight you changed from the ones Viking originally offered?

[FuelScience]

Just a quick comment my flight experience with Vantage. We will be traveling later this month, but we paid for our cruise a year ago (got a 10% discount for paying early). We were satisfied with our flights, but we wanted to up grade to Economy Comfort.

 

United told us that we could only do this after our tickets were purchased. So about six months before travel I called Vantage, and when they saw that we'd already paid in full, the went ahead and purchased the tickets early so we'd have our choice of seats.

 

FuelScience

[hiccups]

We used the same "big box" travel agency for our Uniworld booking and so far, so good. Our paperwork arrives today so I'll be certain to check everything, although we didn't request any changes made to our flights.

 

I did contact them with a concern based on a conversation I had with someone at the customer service desk at the local store. I received a phone call the next day with a clarification, and also received a store gift card.

 

I am curious to see how this is resolved, given the email from the TA with the correct flights. I would expect they should offer some compensation for the mix-up, as in my experience this is not a company that typically blames the customer. It doesn't help OP get the preferred flights, but I hope someone does the right thing and at a minimum issues an apology. Regardless, I'd like to know who screwed up--Viking or the TA.

[remydiva]

I’ve made these posts hoping that someone at Viking will notice we have a problem and resolve it as we fly to Europe this evening. That is why I have put our Viking River Cruises Confirmation Number: 2457078. They are ignoring our TA. The past 5 days (except the 4th) they have not a Flight Supervisor call back like the promised. So going thru formal channels has not worked – so here I am on a message board.

 

As for your questions – We paid $50 for each ticket for the Viking Air Plus option – so that is $100. Then we paid $164 for the better flights when we exercised the option – so and additional $328…. a total of $428.

 

Viking says that since we are so close to departure that the cost to cancel our current tickets and rebook the ones we already paid for would be $7,000.

 

My beef is we now have tickets that have us at the airport at 6am and now we have a 6 hour layover – when we paid for better flights thru Viking Air Plus. The better flights are still available and we were given confirmation numbers and we were told that by buying Viking Air Plus flights would get us out of the “flight circus” that happens 50 to 60 days prior to departure.

 

As I said it really isn’t about the money – but if you aren’t going to provide the service then do you have the right to charge for it? It is not a large sum but when you spend $13k and buy confirmed tickets (Vikings language not mine) you don't expect this type of treatment - it is just a phone call.

 

I too hope that they win us over with a great vacation…..but like their promise of returning calls – I’m not holding my breath.

 

Thank you for clarifying, to me anyways, where the $$ numbers came from.

 

I guess when we paid the $50 'custom air' in Dec 2012 there wasn't this 'Viking Air Plus' option available (wonder if this is something new?) as for us, it was just pay $50, pick your flight and' Bob's your uncle'.

 

Usually Viking Reps do pop on these forums and say to contact them by phone or email them at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

you said they hadn't phoned you back but I assume you also have emailed them but not heard back?

 

I know when you use a TA, Viking doesn't like to deal with you the customer and directs you back to the TA. I used an online TA once and had them set up a conference call so we did a three-way chat..me, TA and Viking. Perhaps that is a route you could explore...when you get back?

 

For now, since the money isn't the big issue, and I am sure you can fill the 6 hr wait at the airport and a 6 am flight time from eastern Europe (in my experience) is not unusual (we left the ship in Budapest at 3 am for our flight..in Jan 2013 in the FREEZING cold) :eek:, I hope you can relax, and enjoy your trip especially since it is a celebration of 25 years of marriage.

 

And just like marriage, travel has no guarantee that it will always go according to plan and be 'smooth sailing'; the bumps in the road is what makes life, marriage and travel what it is--interesting!

[DrivesLikeMario]

... I guess when we paid the $50 'custom air' in Dec 2012 there wasn't this 'Viking Air Plus' option available (wonder if this is something new?) as for us, it was just pay $50, pick your flight and' Bob's your uncle'...

 

Viking Air Plus is just what they call it when you pay the $50 and pick your flights. If you choose a flight that is more expensive than the one they're willing to put you on for $x amount, then you have to pay the difference between the two.

 

I've seen it both ways - the chosen flights did not cost extra and also where the chosen flights added hundreds onto the Viking air price. Just depends on what people are looking for. ;)

[CantanaLobo]

So an acknowledgment from the TA that you are supposed to be on US7398. Now it might actually be Vikings fault (who knows), but that is an issue for the TA and Viking to work out. IMHO the TA should be either refunding you the relevant part of the deviation charges or getting you on US7398. The TA can try and get reimbursed by Viking if Vikings fault, but that's the TAs issue, not yours.

 

(You put your airline PNR along with your name on the Internet for all to see? :eek: )

Edited July 6, 2015 by CantanaLobo

[remydiva]

Viking Air Plus is just what they call it when you pay the $50 and pick your flights. If you choose a flight that is more expensive than the one they're willing to put you on for $x amount, then you have to pay the difference between the two.

 

I've seen it both ways - the chosen flights did not cost extra and also where the chosen flights added hundreds onto the Viking air price. Just depends on what people are looking for. ;)

 

Thanks DLM for that info....ok good to know..

Edited July 6, 2015 by remydiva

[$hip$hape]

Viking Air Plus is just what they call it when you pay the $50 and pick your flights. If you choose a flight that is more expensive than the one they're willing to put you on for $x amount, then you have to pay the difference between the two.

 

I've seen it both ways - the chosen flights did not cost extra and also where the chosen flights added hundreds onto the Viking air price.

Just depends on what people are looking for. ;)

One of the included options with our upcoming Viking cruise is "customized air".

"The hassle free Viking Inclusive Air program leaves the complexity of planning air travel with the air experts. "

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/air-services/viking-air.html

 

This thread(fiasco) is NOT what I was looking for.:eek:

Edited July 6, 2015 by $hip$hape

[Mark_T]

One of the included options with our upcoming Viking cruise is "customized air".

"The hassle free Viking Inclusive Air program leaves the complexity of planning air travel with the air experts. "

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/air-services/viking-air.html

 

This thread(fiasco) is NOT what I was looking for.:eek:

 

Nor frankly is it typical, but one thing to take away from this is that having a great TA on your side or dealing direct is always going to work better than having a 'bigbox' TA between you and the travel company.

 

Also a timely reminder that you need to check everything regarding flights very carefully as no matter who is at fault it is always very tough to fix when you are within a few days of departure.

 

It is still hard to figure out who initially dropped the ball on this one but I imagine there is enough blame in this for everyone to get a share, but thankfully although irritating it is not the worst mistake that could have happened.

[$hip$hape]

Nor frankly is it typical, but one thing to take away from this is that having a great TA on your side

or dealing direct is always going to work better than having a 'bigbox' TA between you and the travel company.

 

Also a timely reminder that you need to check everything regarding flights very carefully as no matter who is at fault it is always very tough to fix when you are within a few days of departure.

 

It is still hard to figure out who initially dropped the ball on this one but I imagine there is enough blame in this for everyone to get a share, but thankfully although irritating it is not the worst mistake that could have happened.

 

Thanks, Mark;

Actually, I appreciate all the information here(that I could understand :o) .

Funny; A while back someone wrote,

"Why have a (bad) TA when you can have fun making all your own mistakes?"

Edited July 6, 2015 by $hip$hape

[Hydrokitty]

Nor frankly is it typical, but one thing to take away from this is that having a great TA on your side or dealing direct is always going to work better than having a 'bigbox' TA between you and the travel company.

 

Also a timely reminder that you need to check everything regarding flights very carefully as no matter who is at fault it is always very tough to fix when you are within a few days of departure.

 

It is still hard to figure out who initially dropped the ball on this one but I imagine there is enough blame in this for everyone to get a share, but thankfully although irritating it is not the worst mistake that could have happened.

 

Mark, I couldn't have said it better! The only time I used a TA our flights got screwed up beyond description and I vowed never to deal with a TA again....at least if something gets screwed up now I know who to blame...secondly, not to insult the big box store, I have a membership too, but I think if you go to a person who is known to service people looking for a bargain, you might get less service/satisfaction than if you dealt with a professional TA or like me, directly with the company selling me the trip. And of course, one should always check the invoice and reservations thoroughly looking for mistakes. I think OP learned his lesson the hard way with this one and that will never happen again. All that being said, he does have ticketed seats on the plane over and back....not what he wanted.....maybe not what he paid for....but he has them so he's going on his river cruise today. I really think his problem with the hotel reservations will disappear once he checks into the hotel and they can make their anniversary arrangements in person. I sure hope so and I can't wait to see what he has to say post cruise!!

[SoccerMom#3]

We didn't do the custom Viking Air when we originally booked our April 2015 trip last June 2014. January 2015 we got our airfare info from Viking for our trip to Amsterdam and return from Basil. The flights were ok but I was concerned about the layover time in both Chicago and in Frankfurt so I called Viking Air.

 

The very nice person who answered the phone changed our flight from Denver to Chicago so we'd have a a longer layover in Chicago. April weather in Denver and in Chicago can be challenging so I'd rather wait longer in Chicago for our flight to Amsterdam than fret in Denver that we will miss our connection in Chicago. Also we only had an 80 minute layover in Frankfurt on our flight from Basel to Frankfurt and then our flight from Frankfurt to Denver. When I pointed out that Vikings info said 90 minute layover minimum in Frankfurt, they got us on an earlier flight out of Basel. They told me it would cost money to change but they would waive the fee "this one time". I said a very heartfelt thank you and was very pleased with our flights.

 

I was able to upgrade to premium economy our United flights on the United website since Viking then in January ticketed our flights.

 

I didn't want to push my luck with Viking at this point so I waited about a month and then called Viking Air again in early February 2015 and didn't get a nice person on the phone. I wanted to upgrade our seats on our Lufthansa flight home but the Lufthansa seats were not ticketed yet. Based on info I learned on Cruise Critic ( I love Cruise Critic!), I asked to have our Lufthansa seats ticketed. The Viking Air person basically told me it would cost me at least $1,000 per ticket to get my seats ticketed so early. Then he put me on hold forever. I hung up and called back the next day and got a nice Viking Air person. She was able to ticket my Lufthansa seats, again for no charge "just this one time". Due to Lufthansa policy, I couldn't change our seats until we got to the airport in Frankfort for the return flight (which I still wasn't able to do but we did have a great flight home).

 

Anyways the moral of my long story is that it really depends who randomly answers the phone at Viking as to what kind of customer service you get.

 

As aside I've used the "big box" company referred to in this thread for numerous vacations (not our Viking Cruise though) and have had great service from this "big box" travel department.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks DLM for that info....ok good to know..

 

My pleasure.

 

And $hip$hape - Don't worry too much. If you have confirmed flights that you've personally chosen, have paid the air deviation fee, any cost increase for those flights and have a confirmed invoice showing this from Viking, you're good to go. ;)