QUESTIONS ABOUT USING REGENT'S AIR CONCIERGE!

[Texas Duck]

BRIEF BACKGROUND:  booked on Regent’s Splendor Summer 2021 in Europe (Covid willing).  Have sailed with Regent two previous times but made own air reservations.  Using Air Concierge Rep this time and would appreciate your suggestions.  Departing US from Houston.  Will arrive in Europe the day before embarkation and return to Houston the day after disembarkation.  Air France, KLM and Lufthansa all have direct flights to Europe followed with short flights to Schengen countries – 1 change.   United, Delta, Turkish, etc. all have less desirable flights with, say, 2 changes, longer distances, etc.

 

My wife and I do not care that if short flights are coach.  Obviously, the Atlantic flights are business. We do care, however, that the pond crossing flight back to US not be followed by a long coach flight – both from personal and health reasons.  I plan on calling them 270 days before embarkation and understand the booking fees.

 

If I had elected to book directly with the three Atlantic non-stop carriers, the round trip runs about $5,100 to $5,600.  I realize that Regent uses coach for short hops – no problem.  The less desirable flights (i.e., 2 changes) run about $4,200 to $4,600.

 

QUESTIONS

Does Regent always book the cheapest flights? 

How do they determine which carriers? 

Will Regent negotiate schedules and or carriers?

Will they tell me ahead of the 270-day time frame the carriers they use?  I have already researched carriers and flights.

If they allow the carriers with the better schedules but will not pick up the entire fare, will they allow us to make up the difference?  Could we use shipboard credit?

 

What am I forgetting to ask? Has anybody done flight bookings differently that I should consider?

[BBWC]

We just used Regent air for the first time due to Covid uncertainties. The best thing to do is for you to give Regent a list of alternative flights that you would like to be booked on in order of preference and see if they have contracts with the carriers you suggest. You do not have to pay any deviation fees until you accept an itinerary, it costs nothing to explore the options.

We were lucky in that we got our first choice, in our case nonstop LAX-HKG on Cathay.

[1982CruzStart]

21 hours ago, Texas Duck said:

QUESTIONS

Does Regent always book the cheapest flights? 

How do they determine which carriers? 

Will Regent negotiate schedules and or carriers?

Will they tell me ahead of the 270-day time frame the carriers they use?  I have already researched carriers and flights.

If they allow the carriers with the better schedules but will not pick up the entire fare, will they allow us to make up the difference?  Could we use shipboard credit?

Regent contracts with the various airlines for different routes. So they may have a contract with Cathay for instance on 1 route but you may not be able to get Cathay for another route as they haven't contracted with them for those flights.  Knowing which airlines Regent contracts with isn't that helpful cuz they may or may not contract on the routes you want. 

 

I can't remember the class of service Regent books but it has always said on our flights they are restricted business class. 

 

You may be able to pay an upcharge for your desired flights. For example we wanted to try Emirates back from Dubai and we had to pay an additional 1500 pp to do so. We didn't do that. 

 

I have not been able to get any advance info on the airlines and routes. What i do is i ask my TA to release the air portion of our booking so i can deal directly with Regent Air. I call them at the 270 mark. I have researched which airlines and routes i prefer and work with them to see if any of them will work.  As mentioned already you don't pay the fee until you have accepted the flights. 

 

Don't know the answer re: using SBC. 

 

Hope that helps a little.  Good luck.

 

[Texas Duck]

Great advice. 

 

Putting together the list of flights.   FYI From our home,  Austin is an hour away and Houston 3 1/2.  So far, the best flight is British Airways from Austin - but Austin in not on their list of approved airports.  The Austin BA itinerary is about $1,000 less than similar flights out of Houston.  Obviously, we would prefer Austin but will they entertain flights outside of their approved list?

 

Thanks!

[BBWC]

By approved list, do you mean air gateways? There is an additional charge for using a non-gateway airport.

[Texas Duck]

Yes, sorry about terminology.  Do you know if the additional charge is a flat fee or based on a number of their internal factors (e.g., would they take into account the thousand dollar reduction in the Austin fare)?  Thanks for info.

[FlyerTalker]

44 minutes ago, Texas Duck said:

Yes, sorry about terminology.  Do you know if the additional charge is a flat fee or based on a number of their internal factors (e.g., would they take into account the thousand dollar reduction in the Austin fare)?  Thanks for info.

 

Just remember -- that "thousand dollar reduction" is the difference in the RETAIL price of the flight to the consumer buying directly from the airline.  It is not reflective of any negotiated contract pricing that the cruiseline gets direct from the airline.  It is possible that the negotiated pricing is the reverse of the retail.

 

Apples and oranges.

[Texas Duck]

FlyerTalker

 

I did remember but thanks a lot for reminder. 

 

Have another questions:  Are the 270 days counted  from the date you depart USA or the embarkation date (e.g., we are leaving two days before the embarkation date)?

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, Texas Duck said:

Have another questions:  Are the 270 days counted  from the date you depart USA or the embarkation date (e.g., we are leaving two days before the embarkation date)?

 

That's completely at the determination of Regent.  Ask them.

[1982CruzStart]

On 8/12/2020 at 5:02 PM, Texas Duck said:

FlyerTalker

 

I did remember but thanks a lot for reminder. 

 

Have another questions:  Are the 270 days counted  from the date you depart USA or the embarkation date (e.g., we are leaving two days before the embarkation date)?

The best bet is to ask Regent as suggested by FlyerTalker but from my experience of deviating for each cruise is the 270 days is from the date of embarkation. We generally add a day or 2 before the begining of the cruise.