Air Upgrade

[duquephart]

In re-booking our just cancelled Baltic cruise we are toying with the idea of upgrading our air arrangements with Viking to business class in order to "use up" some of our voucher $$$. From where we are (Minnesota) this would entail two (most likely) or three flights. The rep tells me that only the "longest leg" would be in business class. Anyone run into this? Shouldn't Viking refer to the upgrade as "Partial Business" or some such thing?

[Peregrina651]

Yes.  The upgrade is only guaranteed on transoceanic portion of the flight plan. It is somewhere in the fine print. I just can't tell you exactly where right now.  

[duquephart]

24 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

Yes.  The upgrade is only guaranteed on transoceanic portion of the flight plan. It is somewhere in the fine print. I just can't tell you exactly where right now.  

 

More fine print. Just what I need. 😊

[knoxclone]

They will guarantee that the transatlantic leg or transpacific leg may be upgraded premium  or business class. They  will not  guarantee upgrades  on domestic legs, because of unknown aircraft swaps, or the fact that on some routes upgraded class is simply not available On some routes, particularly traveling from smaller airports

Edited February 19, 2021 by knoxclone

[SrCruizer]

Wondering though that if you get the regular air with Viking, can you then do the upgrade on your own?  i.e. call the airlines and use miles or dollars to upgrade?  And this would be the way to get Premium or Business the whole flights?   Have people done this?   Maybe it is even less expensive than a Viking partial upgrade?

[Heidi13]

In our experience flying short-haul First/Business in N/America and Europe, few planes have true First/Business seating. On some flights, the seats were exactly the same as the back of the plane, but they guaranteed that the middle seat remained empty.

 

In the last few years, we are finding the newer short haul planes on some airlines have a reasonable First Class on domestic flights, so it has improved. When we flew to LAX, we had Viking book us on Air Canada, as they were the only airline with First/Business seating, at that time.

 

As others mentioned, it is often difficult to book a proper First/Business flight on short-haul routes.

[duquephart]

Would Iceland to US be considered transoceanic given that you are already nearly half way across? On the cancelled cruise we paid for "Premium" and also had a post extension in Iceland. When the air arrangements came through both outbound legs were listed as premium but coming back both (Bergin - Iceland, Iceland - MN) both were listed as "Economy." Were we not going to get something we had paid for? I have the opportunity on the re-book to do business one way only. Maybe that's the way to go?

[Peregrina651]

10 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

More fine print. Just what I need. 😊

 

Yes, but their fine print is a better bet for accuracy than my memory.

[SoBaycruiser]

On 2/19/2021 at 8:44 AM, duquephart said:

Would Iceland to US be considered transoceanic given that you are already nearly half way across? On the cancelled cruise we paid for "Premium" and also had a post extension in Iceland. When the air arrangements came through both outbound legs were listed as premium but coming back both (Bergin - Iceland, Iceland - MN) both were listed as "Economy." Were we not going to get something we had paid for? I have the opportunity on the re-book to do business one way only. Maybe that's the way to go?

We independently flew from Los Angeles to Iceland business class with points.  The airline required a stop in Minneapolis.  I later found out that because both legs were less than 6 hours we did not get Business Elite with lie down beds.  We just got larger seats and better food.  We were hugely disappointed and upset that this wasn’t made more clear.  Check the aircraft and the length of the flights before spending the money or points.

[vslparis]

I would check on line to see what air options are available to you from your departure city to your arrival city. Then I would call those airlines (more than once )  to see what aircraft they are using and what the service is on those particular flights ( as SoBaycruiser mentioned) then get the flight numbers so that you can request that from Viking if it is available with them. Viking, like many cruise lines , only has modified Business Class which means that they book you in  Business Class seats on the transatlantic segment ( over the water )  only. Domestic flights, be they in the US or in a foreign destination, are normally in economy.  If your destination happens to be one that is a non stop from your city, you need to see if you can  request that routing to get business the whole way.  It is not always possible with Viking as they don't book every airline with contract rates,], but it never hurts to know your options.