Anyone have experience with refundable Choice Air tickets?

[hiccups]

We've used Choice Air in the past with Azamara and Celebrity, and used Celebrity's "Book Now, Pay Later" option, taking advantage of two price drops.  Our Azamara Choice Air has always been nonrefundable, but in looking at flights for our November Quest cruise to South America, there is a refundable option.  We want to fly business class, but right now the prices are too high, so much so that we're thinking of changing the cruise.  There is a premium economy option that's reasonable, although for 9-10 hour overnight flights, we aren't thrilled with PE.

 

We're considering booking the PE seats as a placeholder, and hope that business class prices drop later and we can purchase those seats instead.  I know I can call Choice Air and get the details, but wondered if anyone here had first-hand experience buying refundable tickets and later changing them.

[nordski]

56 minutes ago, hiccups said:

We've used Choice Air in the past with Azamara and Celebrity, and used Celebrity's "Book Now, Pay Later" option, taking advantage of two price drops.  Our Azamara Choice Air has always been nonrefundable, but in looking at flights for our November Quest cruise to South America, there is a refundable option.  We want to fly business class, but right now the prices are too high, so much so that we're thinking of changing the cruise.  There is a premium economy option that's reasonable, although for 9-10 hour overnight flights, we aren't thrilled with PE.

 

We're considering booking the PE seats as a placeholder, and hope that business class prices drop later and we can purchase those seats instead.  I know I can call Choice Air and get the details, but wondered if anyone here had first-hand experience buying refundable tickets and later changing them.

We are on a cruise now that sailed out of Buenos Aires. 
 

Originally, we had refundable PE seats on American Airways out of Toronto; however, several months prior to departure the timing and itineraries of the flights were changed so dramatically that we had to bale and we switched to Air Canada.

 

As I recall the “administrative” fee to change the seats was rather hefty. I’m thinking a couple of hundred dollars for the two, although I was so anxious to change I didn’t pay much attention and it was handled by our Travel Agent. Choice Air would know the cost of doing so,

 

If you choose to come to Toronto- I seem to remember that you live in upstate New York- Air Canada  has a “move up” system like that on Azamara by which you could bid on Business Class upgrades if the asking price remains high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hiccups]

Thanks for that information... I was curious about what the fees may be.  The PE flights are also on American--it looks like their PE seats are a little better than most airlines, with the seats being a bit wider as well as the extra legroom.

We are in central Ohio and have flown on Air Canada, going through Toronto, a few times.  I wasn't aware they had a move-up program--I'll have to look into that.  Our last flight was AC Rouge but I knew enough to book their PE seats, not coach!

Our TA says to not get too anxious about the flight prices right now since we're still 10 months out, but last year that was the time frame for the best flight prices for our Pursuit Mediterranean Islands cruise.  But maybe you can't compare the timing of best prices for Europe to South America, especially as we were looking for Europe in October (season end) and now South America in November (season beginning).

[nordski]

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

Thanks for that information... I was curious about what the fees may be.  The PE flights are also on American--it looks like their PE seats are a little better than most airlines, with the seats being a bit wider as well as the extra legroom.

We are in central Ohio and have flown on Air Canada, going through Toronto, a few times.  I wasn't aware they had a move-up program--I'll have to look into that.  Our last flight was AC Rouge but I knew enough to book their PE seats, not coach!

Our TA says to not get too anxious about the flight prices right now since we're still 10 months out, but last year that was the time frame for the best flight prices for our Pursuit Mediterranean Islands cruise.  But maybe you can't compare the timing of best prices for Europe to South America, especially as we were looking for Europe in October (season end) and now South America in November (season beginning).

 

Glad you have some options.

 

We met fellow cruisers at Pearson who had flown in from Galveston for the connection to Buenos Aires.

 

Apparently this awful itinerary was a result of using Frequent Flyer Miles.

 

And they were flying Economy! A brave couple.

 

 

[hiccups]

3 minutes ago, nordski said:

 

Glad you have some options.

 

We met fellow cruisers at Pearson who had flown in from Galveston for the connection to Buenos Aires.

 

Apparently this awful itinerary was a result of using Frequent Flyer Miles.

 

And they were flying Economy! A brave couple.

 

 

I would not have been happy about that route at all!  When I was in graduate school, I did an internship at a think tank in Honolulu.  My employer booked my ticket.  I flew from the middle of Pennsylvania west to Pittsburgh, then from Pittsburgh back across PA to Newark, and then a nonstop flight from Newark to Honolulu.  I was in coach, but in your 20s, you can handle that.  That was also back in the day when smoking was still allowed on planes, which was awful for someone like me that gets migraines.  That was a very, very long day!
 

[Doh15]

I have not changed ChoiceAir tix myself but I did call and quiz them, if that is worth anything. 
 

They said before final payment there was no fee for changing your ticket (and indeed that I wouldn’t even need to pay for the airfare until cruise final payment) but after final payment it would a couple hundred dollars per ticket to change. HTH