Flights by Celebrity....what a great experience!!!

[LuAnn]

TBH I had forgotten about this service...I used it once years ago when sailing on Azamara but not in a number of years. We need to get to Boston for a cruise next October and so I started to research flights R/T from San Diego. Then I saw a mention of Flights by Celebrity here...and decided to call. I saved $270.00 booking with X and an even better flight back home than I had found!! I have spoken to 3 different agents and each one has been so helpful and pleasant!! 

 

So I have my flights, my seat assignments and I don't have to pay for all of this until next July!!! WOW...I AM impressed!!! :)

[cachouonacruise]

Thanks for posting! Nice to hear! 

[TeaBag]

Was this on the 20% off sail?

[mdpa]

So far I believe this is the most impressive reason to book Celebrity. Some of the more premium offerings include airfare in their costs but you need to pay almost immediately.

 

A definite cashflow/risk advantage. In my case, I booked a cruise while onboard with $100 deposits ($300 for 3 people) and could wait for almost an entire year before any real commitment (cash or otherwise).

[kands6191]

It's good to hear that you got good rates on domestic flights.  I had heard that they offered great rates overseas but not within the U.S.  I will make a point of checking with them in the future.

[alcpa1]

Please remember that your flight equipment and/or flight times may change. It happens on every airline so monitor your flights from time to time. Once your flights are paid for be particularly vigilant and monitor more often. Flight times and carrier changes can still occur and must be handled directly with the airline after payment.

[dogs4fun]

7 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

Please remember that your flight equipment and/or flight times may change. It happens on every airline so monitor your flights from time to time. Once your flights are paid for be particularly vigilant and monitor more often.

Excellent advice - our flights have been changed several times, most recently a month ago within Europe.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

7 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

Please remember that your flight equipment and/or flight times may change. It happens on every airline so monitor your flights from time to time. Once your flights are paid for be particularly vigilant and monitor more often. Flight times and carrier changes can still occur and must be handled directly with the airline after payment.

 

Especially now that Boeing is completely suspending production of the 737 Max and there is no timetable for when those produced with the "fix" and those grounded and "fixed" will be allowed to fly. While there was a lot of reshuffling when they were suspended, there had been anticipation they would be in the air sooner than later - and now it is looking like 2022 or 2023. So airlines that had banked on approval to fly and booked on them have to reshuffle again.

[terrydtx]

We used HAL's Flight Ease for our Alaska cruise in July and saved $400pp over what we could do ourselves. We are booked on the Infinity in 2021 for a Barcelona to Lisbon cruise. While it is way to early to book flights for Aug, 2021, I looked at the same itinerary in August of next year and Celebrity Flights is quoting a RT Business class fare of $2400pp which is $900pp less than what we can do on the same flights ourselves. This is on AA for both. We will be using Celebrity when we can book next fall for 2021 and if we can get a deal like this it will be Business class for us.

[Georgia_Peaches]

36 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We used HAL's Flight Ease for our Alaska cruise in July and saved $400pp over what we could do ourselves. We are booked on the Infinity in 2021 for a Barcelona to Lisbon cruise. While it is way to early to book flights for Aug, 2021, I looked at the same itinerary in August of next year and Celebrity Flights is quoting a RT Business class fare of $2400pp which is $900pp less than what we can do on the same flights ourselves. This is on AA for both. We will be using Celebrity when we can book next fall for 2021 and if we can get a deal like this it will be Business class for us.

So if I may jump in, I have a few questions... We are planning a 2021 Mediterranean cruise and prefer Business class when flying over seas.  I've priced flights via mock bookings (not with Celebrity) and I declare the business class fares are priced higher per person than our suite!!  So when using Celebrity to book airfare, do you have some say over which airline you use as well as the category?  Your price quote of $2400 pp for business class is great compared to the $7700 pp mock booking quote on Delta.  Is this a non-stop?  Thank you!

[TeeRick]

5 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

So if I may jump in, I have a few questions... We are planning a 2021 Mediterranean cruise and prefer Business class when flying over seas.  I've priced flights via mock bookings (not with Celebrity) and I declare the business class fares are priced higher per person than our suite!!  So when using Celebrity to book airfare, do you have some say over which airline you use as well as the category?  Your price quote of $2400 pp for business class is great compared to the $7700 pp mock booking quote on Delta.  Is this a non-stop?  Thank you!

We have used Flights by Celebrity recently to book international Business class.  It was significantly less expensive and we could choose the airline, flights and seats.  But you need to do it directly with one of their agents - not online!

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We have used Flights by Celebrity recently to book international Business class.  It was significantly less expensive and we could choose the airline, flights and seats.  But you need to do it directly with one of their agents - not online!

Great information!  Thank you so much!  Not sure if I remember how to make a reservation over the phone LOL 😃

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

8 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We have used Flights by Celebrity recently to book international Business class.  It was significantly less expensive and we could choose the airline, flights and seats.  But you need to do it directly with one of their agents - not online!

 

Good to know! I'm thinking I'll use them for my 2/2021 cruise out of San Juan (assuming I don't change it - or Celebrity doesn't) and my 7/2021 cruise out of Civitivecchia.

[terrydtx]

13 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

So if I may jump in, I have a few questions... We are planning a 2021 Mediterranean cruise and prefer Business class when flying over seas.  I've priced flights via mock bookings (not with Celebrity) and I declare the business class fares are priced higher per person than our suite!!  So when using Celebrity to book airfare, do you have some say over which airline you use as well as the category?  Your price quote of $2400 pp for business class is great compared to the $7700 pp mock booking quote on Delta.  Is this a non-stop?  Thank you!

The X website was quoting both American and British airways flights. It also showed quotes from United and Delta which were a couple hundred $ higher. You pick your departure flights and then return flights just like a normal air booking site. You can actually look on the X website without booking a cruise. Just do a mock booking and then look at the air quotes. HAL Flight Ease can only be accessed after you are booked on a cruise, so this  X site is way better. The X flights gives you the option of booking a few days early or after the cruise if you want more time before or after. You can search for economy, Premium economy or business class. The other huge advantage is once you book your fights and choose your seats you do not have to pay for the air until final payment with Celebrity.

[terrydtx]

21 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We have used Flights by Celebrity recently to book international Business class.  It was significantly less expensive and we could choose the airline, flights and seats.  But you need to do it directly with one of their agents - not online!

If you use a TA they can also book the air. I was also told that once the flights are available to see,  330 days out from our return flight date, I could book online as well. For our 2021 cruise this will be early October next year

[39august]

I have to say don't use a quote on the web site. Call!  The reps are super nice and super efficient. Celebrity Air will notify you by e-mail of any flight changes. You don't have to monitor yourself. I love this buy now pay later feature as well as the super service by phone.

[hiccups]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

We have used Flights by Celebrity recently to book international Business class.  It was significantly less expensive and we could choose the airline, flights and seats.  But you need to do it directly with one of their agents - not online!

We've always booked online, although using Choice Air.  It might be worth a call to see if the price is any different than what you see online, but you don't have to do it through an agent.  I called after booking and the prices were exactly the same.

[hiccups]

5 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

So if I may jump in, I have a few questions... We are planning a 2021 Mediterranean cruise and prefer Business class when flying over seas.  I've priced flights via mock bookings (not with Celebrity) and I declare the business class fares are priced higher per person than our suite!!  So when using Celebrity to book airfare, do you have some say over which airline you use as well as the category?  Your price quote of $2400 pp for business class is great compared to the $7700 pp mock booking quote on Delta.  Is this a non-stop?  Thank you!

I always use the Choice Air website opposed to Flights by Celebrity.  You can put in your booking number, or just do a quick search based on your cruise.  It will present you will all the available options, so you can pick the price and/or airline you want.

Our business class flights for our October 2019 Mediterranean Islands cruise were less than half what we would have paid booking directly with the airline.  We've also had good discounts on premium economy seats for other cruises.  Prices can, and do, change frequently.  When I first priced business class seats for that cruise, they were about 25% less expensive than the airline.  One random day, they were about 60% less, so of course we snapped them up!

[NinaBlue22]

18 minutes ago, 39august said:

I have to say don't use a quote on the web site. Call!  The reps are super nice and super efficient. Celebrity Air will notify you by e-mail of any flight changes. You don't have to monitor yourself. I love this buy now pay later feature as well as the super service by phone.

 

Yes!  They will take care of everything for you over the phone, I was very impressed with their service.  And, we just saved a ton on our flights for next summers cruise.

[Georgia_Peaches]

50 minutes ago, hiccups said:

I always use the Choice Air website opposed to Flights by Celebrity.  You can put in your booking number, or just do a quick search based on your cruise.  It will present you will all the available options, so you can pick the price and/or airline you want.

Our business class flights for our October 2019 Mediterranean Islands cruise were less than half what we would have paid booking directly with the airline.  We've also had good discounts on premium economy seats for other cruises.  Prices can, and do, change frequently.  When I first priced business class seats for that cruise, they were about 25% less expensive than the airline.  One random day, they were about 60% less, so of course we snapped them up!

Great information!  Thank you so much.  I was not aware of the Choice Air website!

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

I always use the Choice Air website opposed to Flights by Celebrity.  You can put in your booking number, or just do a quick search based on your cruise.  It will present you will all the available options, so you can pick the price and/or airline you want.

Our business class flights for our October 2019 Mediterranean Islands cruise were less than half what we would have paid booking directly with the airline.  We've also had good discounts on premium economy seats for other cruises.  Prices can, and do, change frequently.  When I first priced business class seats for that cruise, they were about 25% less expensive than the airline.  One random day, they were about 60% less, so of course we snapped them up!

What is the choice Air web site I can't seem to find?

 

Thanks

[TeeRick]

49 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

What is the choice Air web site I can't seem to find?

 

Thanks

It has been renamed Flights by Celebrity.  In general from what I have read here and my personal experience you can use the web site to do a pre-screen of your options but many have had more success when calling directly with that information in hand.  But of course others just want to do everything online without human interaction.  Everybody is different!  I have used them a few times and got better results calling them.

[hiccups]

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

What is the choice Air web site I can't seem to find?

 

Thanks

I access it through the Azamara website.  Click on "Plan" and then "Choiceair."  Then scroll down that page to "Book Your Choiceair flights."  You can search for flights with your booking number, or click the tab for "Quick Search only" and select your sailing.  I find the prices on Choice Air are updated much more frequently than on Flights by Celebrity, and provide many more flight options.

[hiccups]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

It has been renamed Flights by Celebrity.  In general from what I have read here and my personal experience you can use the web site to do a pre-screen of your options but many have had more success when calling directly with that information in hand.  But of course others just want to do everything online without human interaction.  Everybody is different!  I have used them a few times and got better results calling them.

No, there is still a ChoiceAir site you can access through the Azamara website (see my previous post).  Prices are much more dynamic than through Flights by Celebrity, which could explain why you get different prices when you call.

[George C]

On our rccl Barcelona cruise choice air gave us the best fair for business class, should have checked for our Miami cruise in February.