Choice Air seems to cheap

[CH_ca]

On 11/11/2018 at 2:42 PM, jebbs said:

Recently completed Celebrity Constellation round trip from Civitavecchia.  We flew in a week early to Florence, via Zurich from our home airport, Boston Logan.  With that open leg, and because we had used it before, we booked through Choice Air.

Well, for all you faithful Cruise Critic readers, you may recall that the October 19 sailing of Constellation was late returning to Civitavecchia.  No question, Choice Air booked hotel accommodations and new flights out the next day.  Passengers from the cruise who booked their own flights were scrambling, and many had to spend  lots of $$$$$, to rebook.

Choice Air for me!

Hi jebbs! Do Choice Air cover all the expenses (hotel, new flights) or did you have to pay for them yourself?

[jebbs]

Choice Air provided all necessary transportation, hotel and new plane tickets on a comparable flight on their dime.  We were picked up at port, brought to the Hilton Airport Hotel, in Civitavecchia, fed dinner buffet and breakfast buffet, and flew Air France home via Paris.

While my experience left me wanting more communication that day, the fact is it was ALL paid for.  I didn’t even need to put down a credit card at the hotel. Considering, Choice Air didn’t seem to have me on their original roster, and as a result probably couldn’t recoup any money on our unused, non refundable air ticket, they covered all charges involved in getting me to Boston.

I would definitely use Choice Air in the future for those reasons. However, I was on Celebrity Constellation that had a big weather delay, struck another ship at the dock, bussed approximately 1000 passengers overnight to the airport, and disembarked the 1000 remaining at approximately 4pm. So, this was no normal experience.   If you are a control freak or are committed to one airline, you might want to go with other options.

[FrankinPA]

We just booked a direct flight from Dublin to Philly next May for $235 per person. Economy of course. On BA.  Can’t beat it. 

[CH_ca]

4 hours ago, jebbs said:

Choice Air provided all necessary transportation, hotel and new plane tickets on a comparable flight on their dime.  We were picked up at port, brought to the Hilton Airport Hotel, in Civitavecchia, fed dinner buffet and breakfast buffet, and flew Air France home via Paris.

While my experience left me wanting more communication that day, the fact is it was ALL paid for.  I didn’t even need to put down a credit card at the hotel. Considering, Choice Air didn’t seem to have me on their original roster, and as a result probably couldn’t recoup any money on our unused, non refundable air ticket, they covered all charges involved in getting me to Boston.

I would definitely use Choice Air in the future for those reasons. However, I was on Celebrity Constellation that had a big weather delay, struck another ship at the dock, bussed approximately 1000 passengers overnight to the airport, and disembarked the 1000 remaining at approximately 4pm. So, this was no normal experience.   If you are a control freak or are committed to one airline, you might want to go with other options.

 

Thanks jebbs! I'm just wondering if all Choice Air customers will get the same treatment regardless of the ticket class/type (ie Economy, Business Class, or First Class)?

[waterbug123]

18 hours ago, clojacks said:

Waterbug, I was specifically trying to gather opinions from travelers who had used Choice Air for Business Class, as that is what my comparison research had led me to my Original question. I'm not sure but what some of your statements were referring to experience with Econ tickets?

 

No, not really; my statements were not specific to economy class.  The one thing in my reply that might vary from economy to business would be seat selection.... sometimes there is more ability to choose seats in advance for biz class anyway, so obviously there might be more ability to do so if buying biz from Choice Air. (ex. some European airlines allow no advance seat selection for economy on intra-european segments, but do allow it for biz.  That choice might carry over if purchasing through a cruise line).   The OP might also want to go to the Cruise Air forum for more help with air travel questions.

[jebbs]

My experience applied to economy plane tickets.  I do know all affected passengers were placed in a two different airport hotels. Couldn’t speak as to business class being assigned business class, travel assignments were done one at a time and flights all seemed to be with 24 hours of the original schedule. Again, if you want that much control over travel plans, perhaps Choice Air isn’t for you!  Worked out for us.

[Bo1953]

8 hours ago, CH_ca said:

 

Thanks jebbs! I'm just wondering if all Choice Air customers will get the same treatment regardless of the ticket class/type (ie Economy, Business Class, or First Class)?

 

No, not all passengers will get the same treatment, yet one can expect, possibly, that it will be similar to the greatest degree possible.

 

There are some situations which are totally out of their control so expect variations to non-performance.

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

On 11/11/2018 at 5:42 PM, jebbs said:

Recently completed Celebrity Constellation round trip from Civitavecchia.  We flew in a week early to Florence, via Zurich from our home airport, Boston Logan.  With that open leg, and because we had used it before, we booked through Choice Air.

Well, for all you faithful Cruise Critic readers, you may recall that the October 19 sailing of Constellation was late returning to Civitavecchia.  No question, Choice Air booked hotel accommodations and new flights out the next day.  Passengers from the cruise who booked their own flights were scrambling, and many had to spend  lots of $$$$$, to rebook.

Choice Air for me!

 

Hopefully, most if not all had travel insurance for such a situation..

 

Happy you were covered by CA.

 

bon voyage

[Sunny AZ Girl]

On 11/10/2018 at 1:36 PM, jelayne said:

We have used Choice Air many times to/from Europe primarily on AA as we live in N. Texas.  I always call to book and get my airline record locator # then I can go online and select our seats.  We have always gotten our frequently flyer miles for these flights.

It has worked for us on Delta many times the same way.  I use points most of the times to fly domestically, but Choice Air is the way to go to Europe!

 

We are considering a cruise to Japan in 2020.  Are the prices on Choice Air to/from Asia as reasonable as those to/from Europe?

Edited November 15, 2018 by Sunny AZ Girl

[CH_ca]

5 hours ago, jebbs said:

My experience applied to economy plane tickets.  I do know all affected passengers were placed in a two different airport hotels. Couldn’t speak as to business class being assigned business class, travel assignments were done one at a time and flights all seemed to be with 24 hours of the original schedule. Again, if you want that much control over travel plans, perhaps Choice Air isn’t for you!  Worked out for us.

 

4 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

 

No, not all passengers will get the same treatment, yet one can expect, possibly, that it will be similar to the greatest degree possible.

 

There are some situations which are totally out of their control so expect variations to non-performance.

 

bon voyage

 

 

Thanks for the info! I do have travel insurance but it's always nice to know I have added "coverage" and assistance when I need it. :)

[Diamond lover]

We got a fantastic deal with Flights by Celebrity, for our upcoming Solstice cruise in March.  We only needed a one way business class airfare (booked business class to Perth with aeroplan), and we wanted it from Christchurch 16 days after we got off the ship!  No problem for them, and the best Virgin Australia business class deal I have ever seen.  Love them!

[Nachosdelux]

On 11/11/2018 at 10:37 PM, Kaibocan said:

Is Air Choice One the same as Choice Air?

 

I highly recommend Air Choice One if you are cruising out of Jonesboro, Arkansas or Ft Dodge, Iowa, or Ironwood, Michigan!

 

https://www.airchoiceone.com/destinations/

Edited November 19, 2018 by Nachosdelux

[bigbenboys]

We have just returned from a 12 night cruise on a 21 day vacation. Flights with Celebrity Air were Seattle to Barcelona and London to Seattle. the cost was for both of us flying business class total cost $5000. Great prices and all went great.

[A Sixth?]

Never see any deals for me at least. Just checked for an upcoming Trans Atlantic for next fall and the price was away more than I can do it myself AND mine were all non stops, not choice air.

[SFCAcruiser]

Did you call Choice Air to get price quotes? The web site has been displaying very high fares for the past few months and passengers here have reported getting more accurate prices by calling.

[teecee60]

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 9:47 AM, Sunny AZ Girl said:

It has worked for us on Delta many times the same way.  I use points most of the times to fly domestically, but Choice Air is the way to go to Europe!

 

We are considering a cruise to Japan in 2020.  Are the prices on Choice Air to/from Asia as reasonable as those to/from Europe?

 

I used Choice Air for my flight from LAX to Sydney earlier this year... I thought $639pp was a very nice price.

 

A good friend used Choice Air last year from Tokyo/Narita to LAX for $340pp... an even nicer pricer!

 

Last spring Choice Air took me Tucson-LAX-Amsterdam-Zurich for $287pp! Doesn't get much better than THAT.

Edited November 20, 2018 by teecee60

[Diamond lover]

I only got what I wanted at the price I wanted when I called n....their website doesn’t show everything.  Always phone in.  Human to human. 

[milkman55]

Great tip to call in.  I usually lookup the flight I want to take and call them.  I got a nonstop from Austin to Heathrow that was not listed on their website.  Sometimes the website tends to feature flights that have too many connecting flights.

 

I have also found the best deals on one way flights when we have a TA or TP.  Got $187 from Madrid to Austin and $310 from Austin to Rome.

 

Always use ChoiceAir when cruising for many reasons.

 

Also when traveling to EU countries, be aware of the compensation for delayed flights.  I got my flight for free because it was late by 4 hrs and AA paid $1400 for the two of us for the delay under the EU rules.

[sasset]

I haven't able to see any flights on Choice Air for several days. I used chat and she couldn't see any either. She said IT should have it back up in 24-48 hours. I've heard that before.

 

[Wine-O]

I just made Choice Air flights from IAD (Dulles) to BCN (Barcelona).  I did my own research then called them.  Doing dummy booking Choice Air website showed $704 Econ and $2081 Bus.  

 

I told them I wanted a particular date & airline & flight number.  Choice Air agent initially told me $2657 Econ (I just about crapped my pants), then kept looking and told me $822 Econ.  She then told me $1086 Bus.  I told her to stop right there and book me 2 tickets (totally refundable).

 

Normally 10-11 months out these flights are around $450-500.  Gotta really do your research ahead of time.  I've gotten $220 Myrtle Beach thru Atlanta to Barcelona last year, then added $100 for Econ Comfort (or whatever they call it).

[Diamond lover]

7 hours ago, Wine-O said:

I just made Choice Air flights from IAD (Dulles) to BCN (Barcelona).  I did my own research then called them.  Doing dummy booking Choice Air website showed $704 Econ and $2081 Bus.  

 

I told them I wanted a particular date & airline & flight number.  Choice Air agent initially told me $2657 Econ (I just about crapped my pants), then kept looking and told me $822 Econ.  She then told me $1086 Bus.  I told her to stop right there and book me 2 tickets (totally refundable).

 

Normally 10-11 months out these flights are around $450-500.  Gotta really do your research ahead of time.  I've gotten $220 Myrtle Beach thru Atlanta to Barcelona last year, then added $100 for Econ Comfort (or whatever they call it).

That’s exactly what I did Wine-o!  Researched on my own beforehand, in order to recognize when to say “WHOA, stop right there and book me THAT baby”!!

 

[sasset]

22 hours ago, Wine-O said:

I just made Choice Air flights from IAD (Dulles) to BCN (Barcelona).  I did my own research then called them.  Doing dummy booking Choice Air website showed $704 Econ and $2081 Bus.  

 

I told them I wanted a particular date & airline & flight number.  Choice Air agent initially told me $2657 Econ (I just about crapped my pants), then kept looking and told me $822 Econ.  She then told me $1086 Bus.  I told her to stop right there and book me 2 tickets (totally refundable).

 

Normally 10-11 months out these flights are around $450-500.  Gotta really do your research ahead of time.  I've gotten $220 Myrtle Beach thru Atlanta to Barcelona last year, then added $100 for Econ Comfort (or whatever they call it).

I just tried again. I get This: 

Just Looking for Flight Quotes?

1) Search for a cruise itinerary
2) Click on View Itinerary Details
3) Click on the View Flight Quotes button

 

But I never see a View Flight Quote button.

[jagoffee]

On 11/26/2018 at 1:53 PM, Wine-O said:

I just made Choice Air flights from IAD (Dulles) to BCN (Barcelona).  I did my own research then called them.  Doing dummy booking Choice Air website showed $704 Econ and $2081 Bus.  

 

I told them I wanted a particular date & airline & flight number.  Choice Air agent initially told me $2657 Econ (I just about crapped my pants), then kept looking and told me $822 Econ.  She then told me $1086 Bus.  I told her to stop right there and book me 2 tickets (totally refundable).

 

Normally 10-11 months out these flights are around $450-500.  Gotta really do your research ahead of time.  I've gotten $220 Myrtle Beach thru Atlanta to Barcelona last year, then added $100 for Econ Comfort (or whatever they call it).

Great rate for business.  I am a little surprised about the fully refundable comment, so I am confused.  I know Princess Air’s airfare is refundable without penalty, but I have not been able to find that option with Choice Air.  Is that the normal terms?

thanks.

[Wine-O]

50 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Great rate for business.  I am a little surprised about the fully refundable comment, so I am confused.  I know Princess Air’s airfare is refundable without penalty, but I have not been able to find that option with Choice Air.  Is that the normal terms?

thanks.

She told me when I asked about the fully refundable that I would have to pay the $150 or so penalty/change fee, or whatever they call it.

 

Yeah, it was a great rate with United.  I paid $500 for a coach ticket a few years ago, and they wanted $550 + 20K miles to upgrade.  They took that away from me up front and put me on standby.  Then flight time, there were no business seats, so had to fly coach.  Took me several weeks to get the my miles and the $$$ refunded.

[jagoffee]

6 hours ago, Wine-O said:

She told me when I asked about the fully refundable that I would have to pay the $150 or so penalty/change fee, or whatever they call it.

 

Yeah, it was a great rate with United.  I paid $500 for a coach ticket a few years ago, and they wanted $550 + 20K miles to upgrade.  They took that away from me up front and put me on standby.  Then flight time, there were no business seats, so had to fly coach.  Took me several weeks to get the my miles and the $$$ refunded.

Got it.  The standard Airlines terms.

Thanks.