Viking Air / Current Promotion

[Dark Avenger]

Just committed to a cruise and and I am considering Viking air option promotion ($500/traveler) . Here's the question for you intrepid travelers - I want to travel from Denver to Venice arriving a few days early prior to the sailing (I will arrange accommodations). On the return (Barcelona to Denver) I may take advantage of the Viking extension option.

 

I would prefer to fly Luftansia (Den to Munich, or Frankfurt) and rather not fly BA (hate Heathrow). United might be acceptable. Maybe fly business class, on transatlantic legs, or at least economy plus.

 

Can I pick my airline?, can I pick my airline and pay a customization fee? In general have people found it worthwhile to use Viking air promotions? For both cost and convenience reasons.

[Krisval]

There are many others with lots of experience who will respond to your questions, but I'll still go ahead and share ours based on several trips with Viking air.

1. I always pick out the itinerary I would like in advance. I give that to my TA and she works with Viking and tells me the cost. I can then compare that to the least expensive cost I find and make my choice.

2. Viking air has an advantage in that you will be picked up at the airport and taken to the ship; your luggage will go directly to your room. On return you and luggage will be taken to the airport.

3. I believe the extension options from Viking are much more costly than doing your own. If you don't mind looking for your own hotels and booking your own tours, I believe you can save a significant amount. We have done so on each of our Viking cruises. We did use Viking air and, for our arrival, booked our own transportation to the hotel we booked. We haven't stayed longer after a cruise, but if doing so, would book our own transfer to our hotel of choice and set up our own tours.

The determining factors on the extensions might be comfort in making your own arrangements and costs.

[Dymt]

Just committed to a cruise and and I am considering Viking air option promotion ($500/traveler) . Here's the question for you intrepid travelers - I want to travel from Denver to Venice arriving a few days early prior to the sailing (I will arrange accommodations). On the return (Barcelona to Denver) I may take advantage of the Viking extension option.

 

 

 

I would prefer to fly Luftansia (Den to Munich, or Frankfurt) and rather not fly BA (hate Heathrow). United might be acceptable. Maybe fly business class, on transatlantic legs, or at least economy plus.

 

 

 

Can I pick my airline?, can I pick my airline and pay a customization fee? In general have people found it worthwhile to use Viking air promotions? For both cost and convenience reasons.

 

 

We sailed Viking and used its free air promotion. Obviously, free was a great deal! We had been prepared to have to pay a fee to get exactly what we wanted but Viking was very accommodating with our requests for number of stops, length of travel days and exact dates we wanted to arrive and depart (and we didn't pay any extra fees).

 

I didn't work with an independent TA. I loved the single source service and had absolutely no complaints. I agree - the Viking transfers were seamless.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[H2Otstr]

There are many others with lots of experience who will respond to your questions, but I'll still go ahead and share ours based on several trips with Viking air.

1. I always pick out the itinerary I would like in advance. I give that to my TA and she works with Viking and tells me the cost. I can then compare that to the least expensive cost I find and make my choice.

2. Viking air has an advantage in that you will be picked up at the airport and taken to the ship; your luggage will go directly to your room. On return you and luggage will be taken to the airport.

3. I believe the extension options from Viking are much more costly than doing your own. If you don't mind looking for your own hotels and booking your own tours, I believe you can save a significant amount. We have done so on each of our Viking cruises. We did use Viking air and, for our arrival, booked our own transportation to the hotel we booked. We haven't stayed longer after a cruise, but if doing so, would book our own transfer to our hotel of choice and set up our own tours.

The determining factors on the extensions might be comfort in making your own arrangements and costs.

 

Only if you come in the same day as the cruise starts. We were going to come in early for our Rome to Barcelona cruise and we had to make our own arrangements to the ship. We asked if we could meet at the airport and be transported to the ship and Viking said no.

[garycarla]

I would strong suggest you do some checking on your own first to see what it would cost you to be in control.

 

Personally, it would have to be a "steal" for me to book with a cruise line. We always have extra days on each end. No worry about missing the ship on the first day, or the issues with getting off the ship and to the airport on the last day. Too many horror stories with those two events.

 

If though I have my medicare card (age), we are still willing to find our own transfers to a hotel via cab, uber or train. And find hotels that cost way less than through the cruise line.

 

Works for us, but not for everyone.

[Vineyard View]

Completely concur with garycarla- we operate the same for much of the same reasoning - and we always book our own pre and post stays for the cost, but also for the independence to choose where we stay. We choose public transportation, or cabs and read up ahead of time what makes most sense and where any 'watchouts' are.

If using a cruiseline for air, I would definitely pay the added fee for custom which allows much more control as well as when we depart......that said, there are a couple Ports where custom air is not available (i.e. - Bergen)....so in those cases if you choose to use the cruiseline air, you are at their mercy as to when and on which airline you travel. For many people, that works just fine....for my piece of mind it does not.....so it depends on what works for you.

[Cyber Kat]

As others have done, I will give our experience for our Rhine Getaway this past August.

 

We've been to Amsterdam before, so we wanted to fly in early and make our own arrangements. Though we could have done it cheaper on our own, we booked an extension in Lucerne through Viking. We've never been to Switzerland and just felt more comfortable letting them make all the arrangements.

 

We paid the deviation fee for Amsterdam so we could come in 2 days early. We also paid for Viking Air Plus. They were quite willing to help with whatever we wanted. We originally asked for United, because we have air miles cards with them. It was more money because apparently they don't have a deal with United. So we made the arrangements to fly into Schiphol and out of Zurich from Newark (EWR).

 

Then we decided to upgrade to first/business class. The charge for United was kind of steep, so we asked what Viking could do at a better rate. They offered Delta at the basic upgrade price with no additional charge. We weren't absolutely set on United, so for the price difference we were good.

 

Trouble was the flight from Zurich to EWR had a plane change at Charles de Galle in Paris with only an hour and a half between flights. It was the return flight and during the day, so I said okay.

 

The more I thought about it, and the more research I did, the more scary that scenario sounded. I read horror stories about CDG. I did some checking and found a direct, non-stop flight from Zurich to JFK - not our preferred airport, but it was doable.

 

I called Viking Air Plus again, and they said, "no problem." and switched the flights at no extra cost. They were very accommodating. They booked the flights. We had seat assignments from the beginning. I wanted to be a bit further back and I was able to change the seats on the Delta site.

 

Everything was just wonderful. Flight to Amsterdam was great. We were happy with Delta. Viking took us from the Lucerne hotel to Zurich airport - easy peasy. The flight was great! JFK - not so much :) - but okay. Cost us a bit more for the limo to get home, but we paid to have the driver meet us at the baggage claim/customs area, so we didn't have to fuss with finding him. We know EWR in and out, but have only used JFK a few times. It's a crazy airport if you are not used to it!

 

I was VERY happy with the Viking Air Plus service. They handled everything professionally and with good service.

 

I'd love to use them again for our flights to San Juan for our West Indies Explorer, but our Viking rep said it wasn't available. She said she would keep checking and let us know if it changed. We did pay the deviation fee to fly in a day ahead, but I'd like to nail those flights down as soon as I can.

[Vineyard View]

Cyber Kat - thanks for your post! It truly is helpful for those of us who have not used Viking Custom Air, and these types of reviews sure does make it a more attractive option to consider in the future.

 

Our next trip is also out of San Juan and we do not yet have flights booked. But without custom air I would not be comfortable coming from the West Coast. While it's not nearly as long as others we have taken (Africa this past year) It's still a relatively long trip!

 

But thanks so much for these details. It sounds like it worked very very well.

[Dark Avenger]

Thanks Cyber Kat - very informative and on point response.

[Cyber Kat]

Cyber Kat - thanks for your post! It truly is helpful for those of us who have not used Viking Custom Air, and these types of reviews sure does make it a more attractive option to consider in the future.

 

Our next trip is also out of San Juan and we do not yet have flights booked. But without custom air I would not be comfortable coming from the West Coast. While it's not nearly as long as others we have taken (Africa this past year) It's still a relatively long trip!

 

But thanks so much for these details. It sounds like it worked very very well.

 

You're welcome! I think what causes problems is that Viking Air Plus won't do the research for you. They have deals with certain airlines, and will book you on those lines at the most convenient for them. They are not like a TA who are there to serve the client - at least that was my impression. But if you call them with specific routes or airlines or times that you've picked out - they will work with you. Again - that was my experience, and I never got the impression I was being a pain in the butt, even though I probably was :)

 

Hoping I can use it for San Juan.

[mhb1757]

We have used Viking Custom Air twice over the past 18 months and have been very happy both times. Both times we did exactly as previous posters suggested and picked out our preferred flights in advance. Both times they got us exactly what we wanted. We were not flying in early or staying additional days following the cruise either time so we were able to use their transfers to/from ship which was great. Both times RT air was <$500/pp. can't beat that price. This summer we are sailing out of Bergen and opted to do our own air. We are flying in a week precruise and we were able to book our own air cheaper than Viking... So if you check flights and prices you will find what would work best for you and what it would cost on your own and see if Viking is offering a better deal.

[Dauntless]

We have used Viking Custom Air twice. Both times RT air was <$500/pp. can't beat that price. We are flying in a week precruise and we were able to book our own air cheaper than Viking... So if you check flights and prices you will find what would work best for you and what it would cost on your own and see if Viking is offering a better deal.

 

That is a good price but we only know if it compares if we know where you were flying from and to each time. Otherwise it's just a number. What Viking was offering me from Texas to Europe was about $300 pp over what we could get it for on our own. Their price was suppose to be $1000 discount pp from cost. i could not find a ticket on any airline for what they were quoting as basic economy. When you factor in the cost of using Custom Air for the first time and the fact that we wanted to arrive early and stay later and the transfers to and from the port the cost just kept escalating from the first overpriced offer. Never having done this I felt safer having Viking take care of it for me. After the research was done, I cancelled Viking Air with a full refund. We spent the money we saved on enhancing our experience rather than just throwing it away.

[garycarla]

Or do what we have done on many of cruises. Sign up for new credit cards, get 30-50 or 100,000 signup miles. Use those miles for free flights, or close to free.

 

We usually get biz or first class, but trip, only in coach. But, we picked flights on a 767 that has 2 seats on each side (and 3 in the center) which is not as bad for the two of us.

 

(flew around the world for almost free last year)

[Dhsamso]

In Oct, we went on the Viking Delling Rhone cruise. We took an option that included hotels for 2 days in Paris and then for 2 days in Dijon before joining the Delling in Lyon. We really enjoyed our pre-cruise days on our own (I recommend this option if offered again) but I am writing to give a shout out to Viking Air today. We took one of their ultra cheap (though not free) offers. Transfers (which we never take) were included.

 

We live in North Florida and our flight to Paris left from Orlando on the day when Hurricane Matthew was going to come to our island. 3 days prior to storm, I called Delta to ask if we could change our itinerary (we would have had to go south to Orlando in storm winds) to Atlanta (flight to Paris) and skip Orlando or did Viking have to do it. A voice on the line said we could cancel that leg if necessary without penalty. The next day, it became apparent storm would come to us so I went to Delta to change flight (having read on cruise critic about cancelled flights if people skipped the first leg0. Delta said sure for $2000. We asked Viking to intervene at this point. Delta tried to get money from them too but eventually MCO to ATL was cancelled without penalty. New plan cancelled that leg but left on leg from ATL to MCO on return. Viking said go and they would handle flack when we did not take last leg on return. They never talked to us about that again-our flight fm MCO to ATL was cancelled late that day (Airport closed). Our island ordered an evacuation as of that night.

 

We went to Atlanta the next day and had an uneventful flight to Paris. Let me say that we wanted to do a day trip that day to Reims. Viking took our luggage to the hotel where we found it and the time of our group meeting in our room when we arrive later in the day.

 

We had a nice land and river trip and returned without incident to ATL at the end. We never heard a word about the cancelled legs from the airline or Viking. We had to communicate with Viking for all this to happen but it worked out well and most important for this thread, it was not important whether we had paid a big price or gotten a bargain. We normally do not take cruise transfers but they were a great addition to this particular trip.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Dhsamso
Edit title