Should we use Celebrity Air?

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, 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?

 

It is different for each airlines.   Singapore Airlines was 355 Days prior to flight.   United was 330 Days. 

 

I was checking daily on Google and Choice Air and booked first day available. 

[Jim_Iain]

26 minutes ago, Joeghartman said:

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

I've found that Domestic US are about the same price as Choice Air while international there are some good deals.    It is important that you compare booking codes -  many of the flights on Flights by Celebrity are 100% refundable up until final payment date.    I've seen others that were not refundable or the penalty was more than the fare.

[pilgrimtraveler]

I've only used Choice Air once - for a recently cancelled trip to Southeast Asia.  

The positives - 

    Celebrity automatically rebooked us when our itinerary was changed at no extra charge. 

    Our airline price was much less than we were able to get anywhere else.

    Due to the reason for our cancellation, they are refunding 100% of our airfare without penalty.

    No payment due until final cruise payment date. 

 

The negative -

    When we wanted to upgrade our seats, we had to go directly to the airlines.  Consequently, when our flight got changed by       Celebrity we lost the money we paid for the upgrade since we didn't use the seats.

     It takes a lot longer to be refunded for a cancelled flights than it does through a travel insurance company.  In the past, we've been refunded within a few days by the travel insurance company we use.  This time we didn't use a travel insurance company and am now waiting on a refund directly from Celebrity.  

 

Now that I know more about how Choice Air works, I will probably use them again. 

 

 

   

[yvrbos]

What if you arrange your flights through Celebrity and then you decide to cancel the cruise before final payment date? Do you still have to pay for the flights?

[Jim_Iain]

16 minutes ago, yvrbos said:

What if you arrange your flights through Celebrity and then you decide to cancel the cruise before final payment date? Do you still have to pay for the flights?

Depends so best to click cancellation rules for the choice you make.    It will say Risk Free if fully refundable before final payment.   The other fare below on Jetblue allows you to cancel for $200 pp and you can use the remainder of the fare within one year.

 

Also make not of the baggage fee as some don't include luggage and require a 20-40 luggage fee per bag unless you have a perk with airlines.

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

My wife gets a free luggage on Canadian airlines , because she was vet 😃

[waterbug123]

On 2/22/2020 at 8:37 AM, 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?

 

Most airlines release flights 330 days out, which would mean early March for your sail date, though if you're booking round trip you'd have to wait until your return dates are available too. 

 

21 hours ago, az_tchr said:

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.

 

Just be aware that "get you to the ship" doesn't necessarily mean "before it leaves the embarkation port."  You could still end up missing a day or two of your cruise and meeting the ship later, depending on when you are originally scheduled to fly and when they can get you on a new flight.

[az_tchr]

7 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

Most airlines release flights 330 days out, which would mean early March for your sail date, though if you're booking round trip you'd have to wait until your return dates are available too. 

 

 

Just be aware that "get you to the ship" doesn't necessarily mean "before it leaves the embarkation port."  You could still end up missing a day or two of your cruise and meeting the ship later, depending on when you are originally scheduled to fly and when they can get you on a new flight.

Absolutely. But if airlines are not flying on time and you book on your own you both miss the ship and you either will have the hassle to trying to reschedule on your own or lose your money. Either way you miss the ship.

When we missed our ship in San Juan they handled hotels in San Juan and Barbados, air to Barbados and meals with two call and at no cost to us. As it was New Years week cannot imagine doing it myself.

That is the benefit of Celebrity Air.

[waterbug123]

23 minutes ago, az_tchr said:

Absolutely. But if airlines are not flying on time and you book on your own you both miss the ship and you either will have the hassle to trying to reschedule on your own or lose your money. Either way you miss the ship.

 

 

Yes, that is correct that you have that "hassle.'  But sometimes people make comments (not this thread, necessarily) about how if you book through the airlines and your flight is delayed or canceled you're just stuck, which isn't true.  You just work with the airlines yourself instead of the cruise air company doing it for you, although sometimes when booking through the cruise people still get told to just "talk to the airline."   Some people are more comfortable letting someone else do it, some would actually rather do it themselves.  For ex., we are elite level frequent flyers with airline status; we have no qualms about going directly to the airline and are generally treated very well in a rebooking situation.  ( And depending on the nature of the delay/cancellation, the airline may even cover a hotel if necessary.)

[trucker den]

I will never use them again!!! Long story short. American sold my seats. They say it is because celebrity didnt ticket them on time.  Celebrity says it is policy not to ticket until 40 day before sail date. Now my family don’t have seats on a oversold flight.  

[wrk2cruise]

37 minutes ago, trucker den said:

I will never use them again!!! Long story short. American sold my seats. They say it is because celebrity didnt ticket them on time.  Celebrity says it is policy not to ticket until 40 day before sail date. Now my family don’t have seats on a oversold flight.  

Is Celebrity Air making alternate arrangements for you at no cost?  That's what I would expect at minimum.

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, waterbug123 said:

 

Most airlines release flights 330 days out, which would mean early March for your sail date, though if you're booking round trip you'd have to wait until your return dates are available too. 

 

 

Just be aware that "get you to the ship" doesn't necessarily mean "before it leaves the embarkation port."  You could still end up missing a day or two of your cruise and meeting the ship later, depending on when you are originally scheduled to fly and when they can get you on a new flight.

You are very correct.  They also don't say that they will get you there for no extra charge.    I had a missed flight (my fault) and the ticket I had was only valid on AA.   They could get me to Rome but a day late.   For an extra $1,000 they told me they could get me on a different airline.    I instead used mileage.

[trucker den]

12 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Is Celebrity Air making alternate arrangements for you at no cost?  That's what I would expect at minimum.

It is on my return flight. And the best they can do is next day or a long layover stop. It is frustrating because we booked the flight 330 days out because we wanted nonstop. We are going to take our chances at the airport since we are ticketed. 

[Beachin2]

Another one with positives to report - but I have only used them for one way international flights, generally business class.  I look at the flights and prices directly with the airline sites, figured out what flights I want (try to have two lined up) then call Choice Air for a price.  I've stopped using the CA web site as the pricing sometimes just isn't right.

 

When I call I'll ask for their price for the two different flights/routes and any penalty.  Have generally found them to be about half the airline's asking price.

 

Have only had two "speed bump" so far (1) United oversold/overbooked the San Diego to Newark leg on a trip to Copenhagen.  Between flights in Newark I call Choice Air and advised we didn't get the class we paid for.  Next day in Copenhagen received an email saying XX was being refunded to my AMEX, and that showed up in about three days.  Was more than we expected.  Not earth shattering by any means, but excellent service.  (2) While packing for a long B2B/side 2 side out of Sydney was advised that the Radiance (RC) blew an engine and our cruise was cancelled - going to dry dock.  Had a second cruise booked on Explorer out of SYD to Seattle scheduled for right after the Radiance NZ cruise.  Choice changed everything around and found us good Business Class seats to SYD to meet the second cruise.  No fees, no extra charge, no fuss.

 

Leaving next week on another one. 😉

 

[Miaminice]

Unfortunately the prices are not competitive at all in Europe.

 

After our Millennium cruise was canceled we booked a New Zealand cruise last week.

Because of the current events I inquired about flights with Celebrity: Frankfurt - Auckland, Sydney - Frankfurt... the offer was Euro 1,850.00 pp. I was able to book the same flights with the airline for Euro 930.00 pp. 
 

 

[loerie]

Have used them often -no problems .Do my home work first and then see which is better deal .No problems so far 

[dabear]

We used CA on our recent flight to Hong Kong & return from Singapore on Cathay Pacific for about $100 less than the airlines's website. However about 30 days b4 the flight the prices dropped over $800 but CA only gave us a $360 refund, much less than we booked direct with the airline. They said their contract price didn't drop as much. SO be aware.

[yvrbos]

Thank you everyone. I will be sure to compare prices.

 

I am still a bit confused about cancelling the flights. If we haven’t paid for them, how will we be charged for a cancellation fee?

[Beachin2]

3 hours ago, Miaminice said:

Unfortunately the prices are not competitive at all in Europe.

 

After our Millennium cruise was canceled we booked a New Zealand cruise last week.

Because of the current events I inquired about flights with Celebrity: Frankfurt - Auckland, Sydney - Frankfurt... the offer was Euro 1,850.00 pp. I was able to book the same flights with the airline for Euro 930.00 pp. 
 

 

For some strange reason if you look to book it as two one way trips it often comes out much cheaper.  Don't ask me why, it just does.

[waterbug123]

17 hours ago, dabear said:

We used CA on our recent flight to Hong Kong & return from Singapore on Cathay Pacific for about $100 less than the airlines's website. However about 30 days b4 the flight the prices dropped over $800 but CA only gave us a $360 refund, much less than we booked direct with the airline. They said their contract price didn't drop as much. SO be aware.

 

However, if you had booked directly with the airline, you probably wouldn't have gotten the full $800 either (unless you booked a fully refundable fare, but since those are usually WAY more expensive I'm guessing that's not what you would have booked).  I'm not familiar with Cathay Pacific's specific policies,  but airlines often have a change fee of up to $500 per ticket for international flights, which means an $800 price drop might only result in an actual refund/credit of $300.

[hiccups]

17 hours ago, yvrbos said:

Thank you everyone. I will be sure to compare prices.

 

I am still a bit confused about cancelling the flights. If we haven’t paid for them, how will we be charged for a cancellation fee?

You would only be charged a cancellation fee after final payment.  Until that point, there is no fee.

 

Yesterday I booked (but did not pay for) flights through Choice Air for a South American cruise in November.  While our usual experience is that international Choice Air flights for business class are much cheaper than booking directly with the airline (last year our tickets to Europe were less than half the cost of booking with the airline), this time, the tickets were only about $25 PP less expensive.  I still thought it was worth booking through Choice Air because I can keep an eye on prices and re-book if a better deal comes along.  I did notice, however, that the price quoted included a $50 nonrefundable Choice Air fee, which I don't recall on our previous bookings.  But as we haven't yet paid for the tickets, as you noted, I'm not sure how they could impose that fee.

For our Summit cruise out of SJU last November, we booked our tickets and later I was able to get two price reductions (which for the first one, included switching to flights on another airline).  No fees were assessed.

[Bo1953]

17 hours ago, yvrbos said:

Thank you everyone. I will be sure to compare prices.

 

I am still a bit confused about cancelling the flights. If we haven’t paid for them, how will we be charged for a cancellation fee?

You need to call to find out, to be safe and sure.

 

We do not know the guidelines and restrictions and type of ticket which was purchased.

 

bon voyage

[dabear]

Waterbug. We flew Premium economy at originally over $2000pp and the change fee on Cathay was $150pp but was $200pp on CA plus they also charged an additional $30 administration fee.

[JacJacAttack]

Last April (Easter weekend) we had horrible weather starting on Wednesday of that week. There were tornado warnings up and down the east coast. It caused almost 6000 flights delays and almost 2000 cancellations and then you had the ripple effect of equipment not being where it needed to be and crews that needed to be swapped out. So our original Friday flights were canceled. (ship was leaving Saturday afternoon from Miami) They rebooked us on a Saturday morning flight. That got canceled. Unfortunately at that point there were no flights getting us to the ship in time so they arranged to fly us to Cancun, put us up in a hotel for 3 nights and then catch us up to the ship in Costa Maya. However, all we had to do was reach out to the emergency travel team and they handled it all for us. They have the ability of switching up airlines too. Our original flight was American, our rebooked flight that was also canceled was JetBlue and we wound up on Delta to Cancun. There was no additional cost to us and we weren't the ones doing the legwork to figure it all out. 

 

Worth it's weight in gold to us. 

[waterbug123]

21 hours ago, dabear said:

Waterbug. We flew Premium economy at originally over $2000pp and the change fee on Cathay was $150pp but was $200pp on CA plus they also charged an additional $30 administration fee.

 

Yes, I said airline change fees can be  UP TO $500 each, not they are definitely always that much.  You are very lucky in that Cathay's was only $150 for an international flight.