Assistance with Avalon isssue

[sharkster77]

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[mringenoldus]

It used to be that the reason cruise lines gave for making customers pay "free airfare" bookings in full immediately was because they had to pay the airlines. Now it appears that they are simply receiving an interest free loan. This is bad business and will make those of us who are aware of the ticketing issue to stay away from those promotions.

[QueenofEverything]

It used to be that the reason cruise lines gave for making customers pay "free airfare" bookings in full immediately was because they had to pay the airlines. Now it appears that they are simply receiving an interest free loan. This is bad business and will make those of us who are aware of the ticketing issue to stay away from those promotions.

 

Agreed. I will not book with Avalon again unless they change this ridiculous policy.

[mringenoldus]

Is the "free air" promotion new to Avalon? Is that why it has been such a difficult process? This is our first booking with them so unsure if this is the cause of the poor process.

 

 

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[QueenofEverything]

I don't know. We went on a Rhine cruise with them 5 years ago and really enjoyed it, but we booked our own air. We did not hesitate to book another cruise with Avalon because of our previous experience. This situation is causing me alot of anxiety so depending on how long they delay ticketing will definitely determine whether we book with them again.

[JVilleGal]

Bulk or wholesale tickets typically purchased for these special Promo deals are restricted fares. You are getting what you paid for... usually the worst multi leg routing, no assigned seats until check in or just before. The plus to all of this is your air costs are minimal but the airlines sell these tickets with a ton of restrictions that Avalon can't change.

 

Usually these tickets are NOT upgradable (not always but usually)

 

BTW we loved our Avalon Amsterdam to Budapest cruise, flew Business Class non stop using miles. I would not take Cruise line air promo for just these issues.

 

 

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[bigwilly087]

Bulk or wholesale tickets typically purchased for these special Promo deals are restricted fares. You are getting what you paid for... usually the worst multi leg routing, no assigned seats until check in or just before. The plus to all of this is your air costs are minimal but the airlines sell these tickets with a ton of restrictions that Avalon can't change.

 

BTW we loved our Avalon Amsterdam to Budapest cruise, flew Business Class non stop using miles. I would not take Cruise line air promo for just these issues.

 

 

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None of this is the case though. I booked my May 2017 cruise using the free airfare promo in September and paid I'm full in early October, with the ticketing taking place within 24 hours as promised. It sounds like I got in just before Avalon management changes their policy.

 

Our routing is as good as I could have booked on my own, one stop from Salt Lake City to Vienna. It sounds like they go with the cheapest airfare which may or may not be the best routing, but it often is.

 

After ticketing I was able to change my seats and upgrade to premium economy. I could not upgrade the Austrian Air portion but that is a limitation of Air Canada, not Avalon.

 

So in summary, the choice to not ticket appears to be a new tactic Avalon is implementing as a way to get an interest free loan from the customer, rather than some kind of restriction put on them by the airlines

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

At today's pitiful interest rates they aren't earning but a buck or two in interest. As far as your experience last year well that was last year and you got really lucky.

 

I'll stand by my comments and would caution anyone to be very careful with Promo Air.

 

 

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[shorzka]

As an update to my situation, I called Avalon, and the agent told me there was nothing she could do to help me get the airline confirmation ticketed so that I could make seat assignments on the Austrian Air leg of our flight. She said that they would notify me when it was ticketed, which might not be until 30 days in advance.

 

However, I kept checking the Austrian Airlines website to see if my tickets were purchased, and they did show as purchased eventually. Avalon never contacted me or my travel agent, to my knowledge, so I would not have known they were purchased if I had not checked the airline's website. I was able to purchase a seat assignment with Austrian Airlines since the ticket was now showing as ticketed.

 

Hopefully some of you with the same issue will see that your reservations have also been ticketed if you check the airline's website. Again, I was not notified by Avalon that the airline reservation had been ticketed.

[JVilleGal]

Your travel agent should have been on top of this.

 

 

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[mringenoldus]

Travel agents were actually not able to assist with this issue. It was a determination made by Avalon when faced with the free air promotion and all of the management decisions regarding it. I'm glad that the poster was ticketed finally but I was ticketed long ago and it still didn't help my situation very much. I was able to get economy comfort, but not business class

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

Travel agents were actually not able to assist with this issue. It was a determination made by Avalon when faced with the free air promotion and all of the management decisions regarding it. I'm glad that the poster was ticketed finally but I was ticketed long ago and it still didn't help my situation very much. I was able to get economy comfort, but not business class

 

 

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What I meant was your TA should been going to bat for you and following up to get the info. She is getting paid for that. You needing to bird dog it is crazy..... but I'm a control freak and recognize one when I read this! Have a great time, Avalon was a fabulous trip!

 

 

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[mringenoldus]

I am my TA.....and a fellow control freak :)

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

I am my TA.....and a fellow control freak :)

 

 

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LOL if you want it done you better do it yourself. :)

 

 

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