Should we use Celebrity Air?

[yvrbos]

Our flights just opened up for next January and I would like to book as the prices seem quite low. I wonder what cruiser’s experiences have been using Celebrity air. 

 

What are the benefits of using Celebrity Air? Is it true that you don’t pay for the flights until final payment for the cruise is due?

 

If I use Celebrity Air, can we choose our own flights? I have found some flights aboard American Airlines that I think would be perfect. Would I be able to choose them if I go through Celebrity Air?

 

Thank you everyone!

[Jim_Iain]

I use it all the time.   Most important is check the prices to make sure they are competitive to the airline sites.  

 

Yes you can book and do not have to pay until final payment.   Also check the cancellation policy for each airline on Choice Air.   I booked my Singapore flight for next year using choice air.    Business Class price was half of the price as the airlines.    Yes you can select the airlines and yes you get mileage for the flights.   

 

The Singapore Airline flight I booked is 100% refundable up until final payment and a $100 pp cancellation fee after final payment.   With the travel fears for the area it works well for me and gives me the flexibility I want.  

 

I 've never had a bad experience with Choice Air after using them about 20 times.

[Denny01]

I’ve also used Choice Air and it worked fine. It was competitive and in fat simplified the vacation. My TA handled it; I was doing a TransAtlantic from Southamption UK and then driving home from FLL, and the prices were silly for one way to Heathrow, over 2x the cost of a roundtrip! It was very odd. So instead of rooting around in various websites, called my TA, she got Choice Air. Added a few bucks for my specific Airline, and so on. Upgraded to comfort and all worked fine. And no payment until final for the cruise which meant i did a quick check prior and the Choice Air was still the best and stuck with it.

 

Den

[vermonter16]

I've used Choice Air and it was fine but do check to make sure the prices are competitive.  We had great luck when they offered 20% off and got a fantastic deal compared to what the regular airline fares were going.  That is correct that you don't pay until final payment for the cruise.

[Prost Seattle]

Our first class tickets from HNL to SEA we’re at a price unavailable on Hawaiian’s website, they were about $400 less.  

[hiccups]

You'll have to go through the flight options on Choice Air to see if the flights you want are available.  

We've used it several times with no trouble, and have requested price drops twice after booking.

[Jim_Iain]

The only things I've noticed as of late is the flights and prices on Flights by Celebrity and those on Choice Air aren't always the same.    Often there are different options.    Good idea to check.    I don't believe the Choice Air are tied to the not paying until final payment.

[Orator]

Choice Air (Flights by Celebrity) are very competitive for one way flights. Not as competitive for round trip flights. I use them all the time and have been satisfied. I tend to pay for flights when booked so I can get my seats, but you can wait until final payment if you wish. They have a good selection of options and you can call them if you'd like to customize.

[cruiserchuck]

As people with cancelled/modified cruises are finding out, it is beneficial to use Celebrity Air if the cruise is cancelled or modified.  If you use Celebrity Air, Celebrity, not you, is responsible for arranging new airfare for modified cruises, and will refund the airfare for cancelled cruises.  If you book your own airfare, you are on your own.

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, Orator said:

Choice Air (Flights by Celebrity) are very competitive for one way flights. Not as competitive for round trip flights. I use them all the time and have been satisfied. I tend to pay for flights when booked so I can get my seats, but you can wait until final payment if you wish. They have a good selection of options and you can call them if you'd like to customize.

 

I've found that the ability to book seats is airline dependent.    I had one that I had paid at reservation time in order to get seat selection but couldn't get my seats.   I had to call Flights by Celebrity to "Ticket" my flight in order to select seats.  

 

I just booked two -  One on Singapore and one on United with no payment until final and was able to book my seats after 48 hours of booking.

[Jim_Iain]

1 minute ago, cruiserchuck said:

As people with cancelled/modified cruises are finding out, it is beneficial to use Celebrity Air if the cruise is cancelled or modified.  If you use Celebrity Air, Celebrity, not you, is responsible for arranging new airfare for modified cruises, and will refund the airfare for cancelled cruises.  If you book your own airfare, you are on your own.

 

That is exactly the reason I booked my flights to Singapore for November with Flights by Celebrity.

[txflood33]

32 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

As people with cancelled/modified cruises are finding out, it is beneficial to use Celebrity Air if the cruise is cancelled or modified.  If you use Celebrity Air, Celebrity, not you, is responsible for arranging new airfare for modified cruises, and will refund the airfare for cancelled cruises.  If you book your own airfare, you are on your own.

 

Came here to say this. We were of the many on Millenium cruisers that had itineraries changed and cruises cancelled. Celebrity took care of everything for me. They took into consideration of the pre/post days we had we well as the class we booked....we had booked Premium Economy and we got rebooked in Business. I was charged zero nor did I have to make the phone calls.

 

After the SNAFU we just had, I will always book through X...or whatever cruise line I happen to be traveling with at the time.

[vermonter16]

34 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

 

Came here to say this. We were of the many on Millenium cruisers that had itineraries changed and cruises cancelled. Celebrity took care of everything for me. They took into consideration of the pre/post days we had we well as the class we booked....we had booked Premium Economy and we got rebooked in Business. I was charged zero nor did I have to make the phone calls.

 

After the SNAFU we just had, I will always book through X...or whatever cruise line I happen to be traveling with at the time.

Very good to know and to take into consideration.  Thanks for the info.

[waterbug123]

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 Most important is check the prices to make sure they are competitive to the airline sites.  

 

 

One clarification here:  When comparing the prices, make absolutely sure you are comparing apples to apples.  Even within the same cabin, not all tickets are the same.  Be sure you're comparing the exact same fare code, because the rules and restrictions for each fare code can vary a lot.

[citruscruiser]

to add to the discussion, I too was on the Millie during all the cancellations.  I had booked with miles (business), and of course there were no "miles" seats available.   I had to purchase last minute ticket and paid a very high price.  I have always used Choice Air unless I am using miles.  I will say this is the first time in all my travels that I got burned.

 

I was very jealous of those with Choice Air who had all the arrangements made for them.

[Nancycat]

We used Choice Air, for our trip to the Baltic, got an excellent price, but be aware, they can make changes to your itinerary.

We originally booked from Amsterdam to DC to Orlando, they changed our flight Amsterdam to Houston to Orlando...

We also had an issue with our outgoing flight, We were leaving from FLL to Newark to Paris, the layover in Newark was only 2.5 hours. Our flight was delayed and then canceled due to,weather, we missed our Newark to Paris flight. Choice Air did provide transportation, and a hotel in Newark.

our traveling companions had their insurance through the cruise line, we had ours with a private company, Our hotel night and airport transfer was covered in full.

Theirs was denied.

Otherwise our trip,was fantastic 

[Ontario Cruiser]

We book ChoiceAir one way on our TA's for the air from Europe. Last week Celebrity was quoting over 3 times more than the airline. I phoned and they matched the price.

OntarioCruiser

 

[Virgo61]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I use it all the time.   Most important is check the prices to make sure they are competitive to the airline sites.  

 

Yes you can book and do not have to pay until final payment.   Also check the cancellation policy for each airline on Choice Air.   I booked my Singapore flight for next year using choice air.    Business Class price was half of the price as the airlines.    Yes you can select the airlines and yes you get mileage for the flights.   

 

The Singapore Airline flight I booked is 100% refundable up until final payment and a $100 pp cancellation fee after final payment.   With the travel fears for the area it works well for me and gives me the flexibility I want.  

 

I 've never had a bad experience with Choice Air after using them about 20 times.

Jim, 

We are booked on the 1/31/2021 cruise out of Singapore. Any idea when I can expect those flights to be up?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Just now, Virgo61 said:

Jim, 

We are booked on the 1/31/2021 cruise out of Singapore. Any idea when I can expect those flights to be up?

Usually around 330 day 

easy way. To check is on google.com/flights 

[Virgo61]

28 minutes ago, Airbalancer said:

Usually around 330 day 

easy way. To check is on google.com/flights 

Thank you.

[niakwa]

My only experience with Choise Air was not a good one. Booked flight for Alaska cruise on Millie out of Winnipeg.

 

Before leaving for airport checked my flight and it was cancelled. Nothing from Choice Air and I spent over an hour on phone with airlines acting rebooked. Ended up arriving in Alaska 14 hours ate. Luckily booked to arrive day prior's to cruise.

 

Seems like others had no problems so probably isolated problem

[PhillyTravelBug]

Definitely compare. We were going to use them for air, but their 20% off was still more expensive than booking directly through the airline.

[4774Papa]

18 hours ago, yvrbos said:

Our flights just opened up for next January and I would like to book as the prices seem quite low. I wonder what cruiser’s experiences have been using Celebrity air. 

 

What are the benefits of using Celebrity Air? Is it true that you don’t pay for the flights until final payment for the cruise is due?

 

If I use Celebrity Air, can we choose our own flights? I have found some flights aboard American Airlines that I think would be perfect. Would I be able to choose them if I go through Celebrity Air?

 

Thank you everyone!

We have used Celebrity air when we did a one way transatlantic cruise and had a one way flight to get back to the USA.  Sometimes CelebrityAir is the best deal.  Always compare with what you find on Kayak.com and matrix air.

 

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, txflood33 said:

 

Came here to say this. We were of the many on Millenium cruisers that had itineraries changed and cruises cancelled. Celebrity took care of everything for me. They took into consideration of the pre/post days we had we well as the class we booked....we had booked Premium Economy and we got rebooked in Business. I was charged zero nor did I have to make the phone calls.

 

After the SNAFU we just had, I will always book through X...or whatever cruise line I happen to be traveling with at the time.

That is wonderful to hear.   Thanks for reporting.

[az_tchr]

18 hours ago, yvrbos said:

Our flights just opened up for next January and I would like to book as the prices seem quite low. I wonder what cruiser’s experiences have been using Celebrity air. 

 

What are the benefits of using Celebrity Air? Is it true that you don’t pay for the flights until final payment for the cruise is due?

 

If I use Celebrity Air, can we choose our own flights? I have found some flights aboard American Airlines that I think would be perfect. Would I be able to choose them if I go through Celebrity Air?

 

Thank you everyone!

Check out flights on your own first. Then call Celebrity Air. They sometimes have better deals. The main benefit is they will reschedule as needed and get you to the ship even if weather problems.