Flights by Celebrity: What are the Advantages & Disadvantages?

[Roxydog15]

Hi.  I have only used Celebrity air arrangements one time/cruise.  I believe I worked with them entirely by phone.  It was part of a package vacation to Galapagos.  I had similar experience to a previous poster.

I had a flight to Quito via Dallas with a few hours safety layover.  One day I noticed they changed it to a flight via Miami with much less layover.  They did not notify me of this change. Jeepers.

 

Well that new flight got cancelled after arrival in Miami so we missed our first CityStay night Quito, dinner, etc.  AA overnighted us at a nice hotel.  Then the anxiety of hoping the next morning's flight left on time (no new flight arrangements were necessary, but I spent a bunch of time on hold plugged into an outlet at Miami making sure Celebrity did not wait for us at Midnight that night and would come the next day instead).  that original Dallas connection flight did fly as expected and arrived on time!  Never found out why they did that to me.  the wonderful Celebrity guide in Quito managed to race us from the Quito airport to the bus for the included afternoon tour with 5 minutes to spare.  Not a relaxing start to our trip.  

 

But i may still reconsider them for Jan 2021 Australia for the benefit of potential cancellations again. 

Thanks all...

[KruznKimmie]

On 6/9/2020 at 6:36 AM, nast said:

Have a cruise booked for next November. 

 

Maybe it's a good time to try Celebrity Air for the first time. 

A few questions: 

 

# What's the difference between Choice Air website and Flights by Celebrity on Celebrity Cruises website. 

These are two different websites for booking Celebrity flights.

Found 2 difference prices for the same flight ??

 

#If Celebrity cancels our cruise in November after final payment. Do we get full refund for flights ? 

or do you have to pay $200 air penalty and processing fee (guess this is only when you cancel by yourself)

 

#Has someone used Best Prices Guaranteed when you find a lower fare on another website ?

 

 

 

 

 

Choice Air should be the same as Flights by Celebrity so I am not sure what 2 websites you are looking at to compare.

If you are booking make certain you book REFUNDABLE airfare and not non-refundable so it is much easier to obtain a full refund with less hassle.

Also, don't forget to price both through the website & on the phone through an agent because the prices car vary.  I will usually find the flight schedule I want thru the website, then call the agent at Choice Air & do a price comparison, then book the least expensive route.

[shofer]

We did a transatlantic in 2018 and our TA went through Celebrity Air for our one-way flight to London.   Fare was $200/pp for Coach.  We upgraded on United for Economy Plus for and additional $157/pp.  Our TA reserved our seats which were 2 together on the side.  

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the gate there was a plane change and we ended up in an exit row in the center of a 3 row.  Too late for our TA to do anything about it.  It was very uncomfortable and hubby did not sleep at all.   

I think if we do it again we will probably upgrade to Business class.

 

[Vagabond Knight]

On 6/12/2020 at 10:00 PM, shofer said:

We did a transatlantic in 2018 and our TA went through Celebrity Air for our one-way flight to London.   Fare was $200/pp for Coach.  We upgraded on United for Economy Plus for and additional $157/pp.  Our TA reserved our seats which were 2 together on the side.  

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the gate there was a plane change and we ended up in an exit row in the center of a 3 row.  Too late for our TA to do anything about it.  It was very uncomfortable and hubby did not sleep at all.   

I think if we do it again we will probably upgrade to Business class.

 

 

Am  I  correct in assuming that the plane change had nothing to do with the fact that you went through Celebrity Air for your flights and you would have still had that unfortunate situation if you'd booked directly?

Edited June 14, 2020 by SunsetPoint

[K.T.B.]

My first experience with it was great, the second one was ok... (minor issues, but nothing to do with Celebrity).

 

My first experience I got lucky where they were offering an additional 20% off on top of 20% already being offered.  I was able to get first class seats for about $200 more than what I would have paid for domestic.

 

The second time, the airline would not allow me to book first class via Celebrity on one leg.  It's either first class for both or domestic for both.  First class was not an option in flying out, there was only 1 seat available on the flight I picked.  So that was frustrating.  And I know it was the airline, because I went to their website to see what the deal was and the same thing happened.

 

The one thing I definitely do not like is if you opt to wait to pay until your final cruise payment is due, the seats aren't issued, so you cannot pick where to sit.  Right now it's not a huge issue since no middle seats are available to sell, but I want to make sure I'm sitting with my wife!

[catz0026]

on our last celebrity cruise to Greece, the most economical flights were from Celebrity bookings, cheaper by over $400. 

[lilalila]

Do I have to book directly with Celebrity (and not with a travel agent) in order to use their air services?

 

Does Royal Caribbean have something similar to Celebrity Choice Air/Flights By Celebrity? 

[TFree]

10 minutes ago, lilalila said:

Do I have to book directly with Celebrity (and not with a travel agent) in order to use their air services?

 

Does Royal Caribbean have something similar to Celebrity Choice Air/Flights By Celebrity? 

Choice Air handles air reservations for Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Azamara.  Each line has links that feed into the same website, and, I assume, the same call center.

 

As to the other question, so long as you have a reservation, it does not matter if you booked directly with Celebrity or through a travel agent.  Choice Air can still handle the air reservations.

 

Tom & Judy

Edited June 14, 2020 by TFree
Answer other question

[K.T.B.]

I just realized the one thing I do NOT like about it:  Once booked, paid in full or not, you cannot make changes or cancel it online.  You need to call.  And with current wait times being arduously long, it's a pain.

[D C]

1 hour ago, K.T.B. said:

I just realized the one thing I do NOT like about it:  Once booked, paid in full or not, you cannot make changes or cancel it online.  You need to call.  And with current wait times being arduously long, it's a pain.

I think there's a different phone number for air reservations.  Don't have it, but maybe someone else can chime in. 

[WesternBroncoCruiser]

On 5/26/2020 at 7:39 PM, SunsetPoint said:

Those of you who have used Flights by Celebrity... what are the advantages and disadvantages?  Thanks in advance!

Some of the items about which I'm curious, if not covered in your advantages/disadvantages:

 

• Did you experience significant savings?   Sometimes savings, sometimes lower prices with other Air/Hotel providers.
•  
• Did Celebrity cause any issues? No but Celebirty saved my MIL A** when AA cancelled her Flight to Dublin.   AA said they could get her there Tuesday, the cruise left on Monday.   She called the magic number and then rerouted her at no charge through Atlanta and got her to Dublin on Monday Morning.  
•  
• If you had issues that were not due to something Celebrity did, were they able to help? See above!  They even picked up her hotel room by the airport.
•  
• How does seat selection work, and do they handle various flight categories or do they just book coach? Seat selection depends on the airline and their policy. 
•  
• How easy is it to change your flight schedule? You just call them up any time before the flights are ticketed.
• Will they handle flights that are outside the usual window connected to a particular cruise?  Example:  If one person in our party needs to fly home after our cruise tour, but the other will travel by train into California and then fly home a few weeks later. They can pretty much do any thing you want.  One time my wife flew to Bordeaux to meet friends when our cruise was out of south hapton.   She did her thing then met me in London.
• Now that you've used Flights by Celebrity, would you do so again for future Celebrity cruises? With book now pay later, I wouldn't do it any other way!   Who wants to have a $1500 non refundable ticket when your cruise might not go?  Even if I had to pay a couple hundred more, the extra peace of mind would make it worth it.

 

[DUTRAVEL]

3 hours ago, lilalila said:

Do I have to book directly with Celebrity (and not with a travel agent) in order to use their air services?

 

Does Royal Caribbean have something similar to Celebrity Choice Air/Flights By Celebrity? 

No you don’t have to book the cruise with Celebrity. You can book through a travel agent and call Choice Air and book the flights yourself. 

[DUTRAVEL]

8 hours ago, K.T.B. said:

My first experience with it was great, the second one was ok... (minor issues, but nothing to do with Celebrity).

 

My first experience I got lucky where they were offering an additional 20% off on top of 20% already being offered.  I was able to get first class seats for about $200 more than what I would have paid for domestic.

 

The second time, the airline would not allow me to book first class via Celebrity on one leg.  It's either first class for both or domestic for both.  First class was not an option in flying out, there was only 1 seat available on the flight I picked.  So that was frustrating.  And I know it was the airline, because I went to their website to see what the deal was and the same thing happened.

 

The one thing I definitely do not like is if you opt to wait to pay until your final cruise payment is due, the seats aren't issued, so you cannot pick where to sit.  Right now it's not a huge issue since no middle seats are available to sell, but I want to make sure I'm sitting with my wife!

We have been able to book our seats before final payment every time. It depends on the airline on whether you can do it or not. 

[Cruise a holic]

We booked from choice air for our March cruise.  We cancelled due to Covid.  Still waiting for the refund.  Had to call Celebrity at least 10 times and now I have been told another couple of weeks.   Find that disturbing.  Other times we used the service it was okay- not this time.  However, some flights aren't offered by Choice air.

[shofer]

On 6/14/2020 at 10:22 AM, SunsetPoint said:

 

Am  I  correct in assuming that the plane change had nothing to do with the fact that you went through Celebrity Air for your flights and you would have still had that unfortunate situation if you'd booked directly?

Most likely as our TA is very thorough.  

[Ontario Cruiser]

On 6/1/2020 at 2:19 PM, dog555 said:

we booked our last cruise flights with Celebrity, and when we cancelled due to the virus, we got a full refund.  

We did not get refund. They are holding onto our money in an open ticket.Still waiting to see if our credit card will get the money back for us. Celebrity  cancelled our cruise

Ontario  C

 

[phoenix_dream]

People asked for pros and cons.  Have not personally used it so I am no expert on the pros.  As to cons - one I can think of off the top of my head is what happens if Celebrity goes bankrupt?  Not sure their travel protection insurance would be any good anymore.  Yes, it could happen to the airlines too but at this point as I write this the cruise situation is sadly looking worse and worse and worse.  People are starting to fly more, but they still cannot cruise and will not out of the US for at least several more months.  And the CDC current date of Sept 15 corresponds with the approximate time Dr.Fauci predicts the virus to start spiking again.  Very worrisome.

[Needzavacation]

We're having a similar refund issue. We were told it would take 90 days to hit our credit card. At 90 days, I called and they said the refund had never been put through, and now they say it will take another 45 days. Four and a half months is a long time to wait for that amount of money.

[luv2travel90266]

I did a lift and shift on my reservation on Celebrity for Italy Sept 2020 to Oct 2021. My only financial exposure is the airline tickets I booked myself through British Air where I am hoping for a schedule change so I don't lose several thousand dollars and can get a refund. Who would have thought travel would be shut by a pandemic. Wish I would have booked through Choice Air

[Travlinmam]

Agree, do your research before CALLING Celebrity to book air. I found little to desire on the website, but did get a better fare by 

telling the agent which flights I was interested in. Very pleasant booking.

[dog555]

good advice

[NinaBlue22]

7 hours ago, Travlinmam said:

Agree, do your research before CALLING Celebrity to book air. I found little to desire on the website, but did get a better fare by 

telling the agent which flights I was interested in. Very pleasant booking.

This is how I did it too, and had a great experience with them.  It's also a good way to compare fares ahead of time, which is the main reason we ended up booking though Celebrity Air... it was a substantial savings for 3 tickets from San Diego to Rome.

[snichols23]

We always fly at least 1 day before or after cruise. Flights & hotels are usually cheaper. We have credit cards that provide frequent flyer miles and hotels. These cards provide 24/7 travel assistance. Hotels often provide airport/port shuttles. 

[Anubi]

Is there any problems with Celebrity Air if you want to fly in a few days earlier.  I don't mind if we have to pay a deviation fee.   

[TFree]

3 minutes ago, Anubi said:

Is there any problems with Celebrity Air if you want to fly in a few days earlier.  I don't mind if we have to pay a deviation fee.   

We have only used them twice so far, and in both cases we flew in a couple days early.  I don't remember there being a deviation fee, but if there was it must have been fairly minimal since I don't recall it being an issue as to the price.

 

Tom & Judy