Is there a reason I SHOULDN'T book Celebrity Cruise Air?

[terrydtx]

5 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

FABULOUS!!! Thank you so much!! And do you tell Celebrity that you want the payment due with Final Payment or is that automatic?

You are welcome. I think the payment due with final payment is the standard way X does it, after we booked I received an updated invoice from X with the airfare added and the final payment date in February.

[Snit13]

On 3/11/2020 at 12:11 PM, luckyinpa said:

ive never flown to a cruise but ive seen threads where people dont get their preferred flight times or they have changes thrust upon them that they arent happy with. 

This happens when you book with the Airline too.  Have flight TPA to PIT in Sept. and have had our flights changed at least 4 times to date.  Do not plan to make car rental reservation until late Sept to avoid the changes.  We booked our preferred flights and Southwest keeps changing them.  Sign of the times.

[OUBaylor1]

We used Flights by Celebrity (Choice Air) for the first time last November for our flight from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand.  We wanted to fly business class because of the long flight.  Celebrity had the best price.  Everyone else was double or triple the price of Celebrity.  So, in this instance, Celebrity was definitely the way to go.  We are using Flights by Celebrity again for our Iceland/Ireland cruise next May.  Booking with Flights by Celebrity gives us more flexibility with planning during Covid-19 than booking directly with our airline of choice Delta.

1.  Will not have to pay a cancellation fee if Celebrity cancels the cruise.

2.  We have until full payment is due to cancel cruise and air fare without fees if we are not comfortable travelling because of Covid-19.  

3.  If the price of airfare drops, we can rebook without fees.  The fares dropped by $100 today, so I rebooked at the lower fare.  And, you can do this as often as you want.

 

 

 

[wrk2cruise]

How do you monitor fares after booking.   I booked yesterday and I started with a RT on United that showed on their website.  The agent found a return on American that was a better price and a better better times.  If I try to price this on their website is prices at hundreds more.  Do I just have to keep calling to see what they quote?

 

Also was booking traveling companions today for the same cruise.  We started with the same long haul flights with a different departure city.  Was pleasantly surprised that it was $50 pp less today.  It was a short connection so we asked if there was a different outbound feeder flight that would give them a comfortable connection.  After a couple of attempts we settled on the original we had 5 minutes earlier.  The fare was $100 pp more ($50 pp up from yesterday).   My lesson learned, if you find a fare you like have them booked it.  If you want to look at other things later and find something better then I guess you have to make them rebook it.

[OUBaylor1]

While Flights with Celebrity will change your booking for reduced air fare, you are responsible for monitoring price changes.

I sign up with Kayak to check changes in prices.  At 0200 hours this morning, Kayak sent me an email about a drop in prices.  So, this morning I contacted Celebrity and received my $100 per person price decrease.  Hey, $100 could pay for an excursion!

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 8/3/2020 at 8:40 PM, terrydtx said:

You are welcome. I think the payment due with final payment is the standard way X does it, after we booked I received an updated invoice from X with the airfare added and the final payment date in February.

 

Just to update:

I just booked my flights for February through them. They did not have access to one I was looking at (I specifically asked for the number), but had others I was looking at so... It worked out ok. The pay later option is great.

[RickT]

This thread got restarted at a very good time for me...🙂

I have a New Zealand cruise booked for next year which IMHO is unlikely to happen... but just in case I’m looking to book airfare just in case it does.  From reading this thread I believe the following information is valid regarding Celebrity refundable airfare:

-Book now and do not pay until Final Payment Date

-Airfare can be rebooked if a better price/routing is found up to Final Payment Date

-I can cancel the flights at no cost up until Final Payment Date

-I can still make changes to my cruise booking (cabin/category) without affecting the airfare
-After final payment date if Celebrity cancels the cruise my airfare also gets canceled and the cost of the airfare gets refunded to me

 

The exact flights I want (Air Canada) are showing on the Choice Air site (same price as non-refundable on Air Canada website) so I’m not seeing any downside.  Am I missing something?

Edited August 7, 2020 by RickT

[dabear]

If airfare prices drop, you may not always get the reduced fare from Celebrity Choice Air. We booked PE Chicago to Hong Kong for last October since it was less than on the fare offered by Cathay Pacific. CP dropped their price by over $800 but CA said that their contract could only offer me a $300 reduction less a $50 change fee. We took it but ending up paying more than $500 by using CA. BTW same flight and same airline.

[wrk2cruise]

37 minutes ago, RickT said:

The exact flights I want (Air Canada) are showing on the Choice Air site (same price as non-refundable on Air Canada website) so I’m not seeing any downside.

 

Just make sure they say Refundable on the Choice Air site.   I believe they may only be showing refundable right now but they used to have both.

[bubbachief]

27 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Just make sure they say Refundable on the Choice Air site.   I believe they may only be showing refundable right now but they used to have both.

That's what I was told. Only refundable fares now.

Maybe they had so much hassle with non-refundables  during the mass cancellations they decided not worth doing them.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Has anyone had issues with seat assignment when booking with them? I booked United's Economy Plus (was quoted regular economy AND Economy Plus) but they were only able to assign me a seat in Economy. I can see clearly on the United site that any seat other than First Class is "included" but I cannot make the change. I called Celebrity and the guy worked on it for a long time but said it's a "glitch" with their system. I called the airline, and they said it would be 24 hours. I'll try again this evening (when it will be over 24 hours) and/or over the weekend, but I'm hesitant to keep the booking with Celebrity Air if I can't actually change into an Economy Plus seat before final payment. What's to say United won't book all the Economy Plus seats on their own and I'm stuck in Economy after paying Economy Plus.

 

Just curious if anyone else has had this problem?

 

(I could change to American flights, but I believe from reading here that American also does the "no seat until paid" thing. Delta offers seat assignment, but it's more expensive regular economy than United's Economy Plus.)

[wrk2cruise]

I had the same problem with United when I booked my tickets a couple of days ago.  I called the next day with travel companions to book their tickets from a different departure city but sharing the same long haul flights and that agent offered to do seat assignments and was able to put them in PE on the long haul segment booked in premium but only in economy on the domestic segment which is booked Economy.  Was the same on United and American.   When they were done with our travel companions I asked if she could do the same for my reservation and was able to.

 

It does look like United will allow us to move up to economy plus on the domestic flights as it say "Included" once the flights are actually ticketed at final payment.   I'm not fussing about it in my case domestic segments are only 1 hr.  I'm happy I have my desired seats on the long haul flights.  Of course I expect all flights to change before next June.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Thanks! 
 

I ended up changing to a better itinerary on American (can just subway and AirTrain to JFK rather than subway/NJ TRANSIT/AirTrain to EWR). I’m good with the seats they got me (regular economy - just going JFK-MIA, so tolerable) and I figure once I’ve paid in full and it’s ticketed, if I want to pay to upgrade to their middle tier I can do that (or wait until check-in when they are sometimes no charge).

[39august]

I booked Celebrity Air in June for a May cruise for a total of $761 pp but with two different airlines with long lay over times. Today, I looked at the Delta web site and saw a good rate for my same dates. So called Celebrity Air and changed to my preferred airline with a better schedule for only $94 more per person for first class. Once again, I am very happy with Celebrity Air!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

40 minutes ago, 39august said:

I booked Celebrity Air in June for a May cruise for a total of $761 pp but with two different airlines with long lay over times. Today, I looked at the Delta web site and saw a good rate for my same dates. So called Celebrity Air and changed to my preferred airline with a better schedule for only $94 more per person for first class. Once again, I am very happy with Celebrity Air!

They tried giving me different airlines, but for me it was worth it to pay maybe a little more (actually I think I ended up not paying more with 2 different ones) to be on one airline and have an itinerary I was more comfortable with ( non-stop on the way down and a connection on the way back but I am comfortable with the airport and the time (there was one cheaper option with a connection on the way down, but the connection was like 45 minutes and coming out of NYC I was not comfortable with that little time...sure I might get lucky and we make up time in the air (or a miracle occurs and we take off on time) and the gates are right next to each other - but most likely we would be behind 30 something other flights, land with like 20 minutes to spare and my connection be in another wing of the terminal. Not worth $20 for all that stress.) so I’m fine with it! 

[Ashland]

This thread has been an interesting read. I'm booked for an X British Isles cruise in July 2021 and will consider using CA for my LAX-AMS preferring to use DL which will be flown using KLM  for business class seats. Thanks for all this info.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

11 hours ago, Ashland said:

This thread has been an interesting read. I'm booked for an X British Isles cruise in July 2021 and will consider using CA for my LAX-AMS preferring to use DL which will be flown using KLM  for business class seats. Thanks for all this info.

So far it has been good for my Feb cruise. Just be aware that there are some flights that, for whatever random reason, they don’t have access to. There was one I was looking at but they did not have access to book that one. Overall it has been great so far though.

[Luv2Crus40]

We did self-booking with United to departure port for last cruise and Celebrity Air returning.  Can't remember why we did it that way.  When booking with Celebrity Air, we were told we needed to make full payment to have confirmed seats on our returning flight (instead of waiting until final payment).  Was told we could book seats but could be changed by airline before we made final payment so paid right away.   With the Covid pandemc, we decided to lift & shifts our cruise to 12/21.  United wouldn't refund our money.  Advised to use our booking number and rebook next year when flights opened up for 12/21.  Celebrity Air refunded our flight and we received the credit within 2 weeks.  Next time will only use Celebrity Air.

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

So far it has been good for my Feb cruise. Just be aware that there are some flights that, for whatever random reason, they don’t have access to. There was one I was looking at but they did not have access to book that one. Overall it has been great so far though.

So you booked your flights, chose your seats ( you can change those seats yourself on line anytime) and you can cancel and rebook anytime there is a change in flight prices with no fee (calling CA to do this) and no payment for flights is due until cruise balance final payment is due and if the cruise is cancelled you pay nothing and cruise deposit is refunded 100%. Why does this sound too good to be true ?

 

I usually sail (25+) with RCI and have only checked their Air2Sea once and it was a lot more expensive for my first/business class seats going from LAX-SJU that I ended up getting from AA.

 

I appreciate your very helpful post. Thanks so much !!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

19 minutes ago, Ashland said:

So you booked your flights, chose your seats ( you can change those seats yourself on line anytime) and you can cancel and rebook anytime there is a change in flight prices with no fee (calling CA to do this) and no payment for flights is due until cruise balance final payment is due and if the cruise is cancelled you pay nothing and cruise deposit is refunded 100%. Why does this sound too good to be true ?

 

I usually sail (25+) with RCI and have only checked their Air2Sea once and it was a lot more expensive for my first/business class seats going from LAX-SJU that I ended up getting from AA.

 

I appreciate your very helpful post. Thanks so much !!

 

I'm on American. They did assign my seats (I had been on United with their Economy Plus category, but Celebrity couldn't assign seats in that area though it did show "included" and I would have had to wait until I paid in full to get it changed by the airline, so I changed) - economy which is what I booked. I'm good with my seats, but once I pay in full I will check to see if the extra fee seats are available. If not, no biggie.

 

I've changed several times and no issues. It's the same rate as if I booked on my own. I've heard the savings CAN (not always but CAN) come in with international flights. Still waiting to book for my B2B out of Barcelona next year - right now it's giving me TAP Portugal, but I do not want to deal with connecting flights, especially when multiple countries are involved. So I'm waiting until other lines open up their schedules.

 

Edit: OK, I knew Iberia did have flights, but I had to select that airline rather than "any" for it to show up. They still have connecting - at least in the same country - but my Spanish is not THAT good that I would be comfortable on my own trying to change flights in an airport. So I'll wait and check every few days to see when something opens up for other airlines (I know there are non-stops between NYC and Barcelona...)

Edited August 9, 2020 by WrittenOnYourHeart

[Ashland]

So is everything I posted above about CA correct...nothing I'm wrong about or am missing any detail about booking with them ?

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

41 minutes ago, Ashland said:

So is everything I posted above about CA correct...nothing I'm wrong about or am missing any detail about booking with them ?

That is what I was told. No fees for changing or cancelling prior to final payment. This is my first time using them - and TBH the only reason I did it for domestic flights is the prices were equivalent to what I was finding on my own and I wanted to lock in prices (knowing that if they drop prior to final payment I can have them adjusted) since Presidents Week is typically a big vacation week in the northeast- so I really don’t see the prices dropping.

[BooseBag]

Air Help: Booked with Celebrity's Air and lost the confirm email.  Wanted to go back into website and check the price but cant find a way to do that.  I can sign in and get the flight info but it does not show what I was charged.  Any suggestions ?

[rucrazy]

My only negative is the one time we did book(and this was YEARS ago) they changed our flight to an inconvenient time, and when I called to inquire about a better time frame they were less than helpful.

That inability to provide us with a better experience resulted in us never using them again... timing means more to us than a few dollars "saved"...

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, BooseBag said:

Air Help: Booked with Celebrity's Air and lost the confirm email.  Wanted to go back into website and check the price but cant find a way to do that.  I can sign in and get the flight info but it does not show what I was charged.  Any suggestions ?

Have you tried calling Celebrity CSR?