Air booking nightmare

[Bruin Steve]

So, we have our two Med cruises booked for July...and they haven't been and hopefully won't be canceled...

I'm fully vaccinated...and by then, hopefully my wife will be as well.  Of course, we have no control over whether these will sail or not...but, as of now, we really want to go...

 

Back in August 2020, I made air reservations via Celebrity Air...decent price, refundable rates...and, most important of all, we got some pretty good flights--in terms of price, number of connections (no nonstops...but we got reasonable one-stop in each direction, LAX-CDG-BCE and VCE-FRA-LAX) with reasonable layover times, good flight times, etc.   So, we are set for that, right?

 

Well...turns out not exactly...

Last night we got a notice from Delta that our flight to BCE has been "modified"...Instead of the one stop, we now would be flying LAX to Detroit...a little over an hour in Detroit to change planes, then on to Paris, another plane change and then on to Barcelona...We'd need to get to LAX earlier and we'd get into Barcelona later...but, more frightening to me are those two intermediate stops.  Every plane change is another opportunity for something to go wrong...Flight delays, lost luggage, missed connections, etc.  I've been flying for a long time...and I think I've seen it all...and almost everything that has ever gone wrong has happened because of those stops...

 

Once we had the 36 hour flights from hell because our flight went Istanbul to Heathrow to Vancouver to LAX.  The Heathrow to Vancouver flight was delayed which caused us to miss the Vancouver to LAX connection...and we had the choice to spend the night and leave the next day...or switch to a flight to Portland with a connection to LAX...We chose the latter...and, then, the Vancouver-PDX flight was delayed and we missed the connection to LAX!

 

So, basically, I will only risk ONE STOP at the most...When I booked, I had cheaper 2-stop options...and paid more to keep it to one.

 

You might think that, with all the schedule changes due to the Pandemic, ALL flights are turning out like this...BUT it is not so...There are loads of flights from LAX to BCE with only one stop--even on Delta!!!  (Delta has an LAX-ATL-BCE option...and a "partner" flight on KLM LAX-Amsterdam-BC)

 

So, I called Celebrity Air...and was told they would "request" a different flight from Delta...but it's up to Delta to "grant" it!!!  And it will take up to 3-4 business days for them to get back to me!

[jelayne]

I’ve had changes to flights before including changing the day of the flight .  These changes aren’t done by Choice Air but by the airline.  Each time Choice Air reached out to the airline and our request was approved. 

[Loracpin2]

14 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

So, we have our two Med cruises booked for July...and they haven't been and hopefully won't be canceled...

I'm fully vaccinated...and by then, hopefully my wife will be as well.  Of course, we have no control over whether these will sail or not...but, as of now, we really want to go...

 

Back in August 2020, I made air reservations via Celebrity Air...decent price, refundable rates...and, most important of all, we got some pretty good flights--in terms of price, number of connections (no nonstops...but we got reasonable one-stop in each direction, LAX-CDG-BCE and VCE-FRA-LAX) with reasonable layover times, good flight times, etc.   So, we are set for that, right?

 

Well...turns out not exactly...

Last night we got a notice from Delta that our flight to BCE has been "modified"...Instead of the one stop, we now would be flying LAX to Detroit...a little over an hour in Detroit to change planes, then on to Paris, another plane change and then on to Barcelona...We'd need to get to LAX earlier and we'd get into Barcelona later...but, more frightening to me are those two intermediate stops.  Every plane change is another opportunity for something to go wrong...Flight delays, lost luggage, missed connections, etc.  I've been flying for a long time...and I think I've seen it all...and almost everything that has ever gone wrong has happened because of those stops...

 

Once we had the 36 hour flights from hell because our flight went Istanbul to Heathrow to Vancouver to LAX.  The Heathrow to Vancouver flight was delayed which caused us to miss the Vancouver to LAX connection...and we had the choice to spend the night and leave the next day...or switch to a flight to Portland with a connection to LAX...We chose the latter...and, then, the Vancouver-PDX flight was delayed and we missed the connection to LAX!

 

So, basically, I will only risk ONE STOP at the most...When I booked, I had cheaper 2-stop options...and paid more to keep it to one.

 

You might think that, with all the schedule changes due to the Pandemic, ALL flights are turning out like this...BUT it is not so...There are loads of flights from LAX to BCE with only one stop--even on Delta!!!  (Delta has an LAX-ATL-BCE option...and a "partner" flight on KLM LAX-Amsterdam-BC)

 

So, I called Celebrity Air...and was told they would "request" a different flight from Delta...but it's up to Delta to "grant" it!!!  And it will take up to 3-4 business days for them to get back to me!

Having never booked with Celebrity Air, I don't know if this is possible, but can you cancel that part of your reservation and book now on your your own.  We always have fantastic luck with United  booking with only one stop usually using their Star Alliance partner Lufthansa!

[NMTraveller]

I would wait and see what Delta says.  You mentioned your flights were refundable.  You can always take the refund and book whatever flight you want.  Lately the flight schedules have been a hot mess.

[Oceangoer2]

Lots of time....flight schedule will probably change again.

[Bruin Steve]

Another part of the issue---when we booked, our price through choice air was only $928 pp (a little disappointing because for our original 2020 cruises, before the pandemic and lift-and-shift, we had flights for only $720 pp!)...but, if we were to cancel and re-book now, the prices I am seeing start at around $1250-1300 pp...

 

I'm fairly sure this will get worked out and we'll get either the KLM option via Amsterdam (our next choice) or, perhaps more likely, Delta might want to allow us on the option via Atlanta because it's all Delta flights and not a partner.  I just don't like the uncertainty and the 3-4 business day wait...and the idea that this might not be the last change...

[Jeremiah1212]

If you are booking flights 11 months in advance, especially on Delta and during COVID, this type of thing is bound to happen. If you were able to call yourself to request a 1 stop flight, I'd bet this would be resolved within a few minutes. And it will probably happen again before summer. 

[Ashland]

Somewhat similar. Booked July 2021 British Isles with Celebrity and also booked business class air Flights By Celebrity ($2700 pp) with them DL using KLM nonstop LAX-AMS great outbound/return flights which includes 4 nights pre-cruise.

 

Even though we both will have been vaccinated by then...I'm keeping my fingers crossed they cancel.

 

I would much rather do this itinerary as a B2B next year with my RCI July booked Arctic Circle. Not so sure I want to do any international trip this year.

[cangelmd]

I would definitely wait to hear from Delta, and not panic yet.

My opinion is that schedules have no where to go but up, in the sense that demand is already beginning to increase, and while there is room to put more people on planes (just flew somewhere on Friday, so at least a crumb of experience), flights will have to be added sooner.

Could the cumbersome flights be the result of Delta keeping you in First Class and seated next to Mrs Bruin? Again space is limited to some extent because of Covid, but I think that far out they are booking the whole plane.

 I just last week booked a Delta flight to Las Vegas for Oct 2021. I’m flying First by myself, and I don’t think any seats were blocked the way the seat map looked when I booked the trip I took Friday (multiple seats blocked, obviously for spacing).

It is possible that because prices have gone up, they booked you on multiple stops to bring your ticket more in line with what they are charging for new bookings. It’s also possible that a computer did the matching and did a bad job.

Either way I would give time for them to respond, I fly Delta a lot, or did prior to the world changing, and usually had good luck with them.

[Bruin Steve]

I have a guess as to why they did it this way:  Since our original flight was LAX to CDG and CDG to BCE, they left the second leg as is...but canceled that first leg...and only looked to replace the LAX to CDG portion--which they likely did for everyone booked on the LAX to CDG...They probably never considered that I was really going to BCE and not ending at CDG like many others likely were...

[hcat]

DELTA changes  flights and times frequently  before one  actually flies and apparently now they screw up the routes as well.  Pity!

 

One of their changes forced us to stay an extra night in Rome to make a re scheduled flt..beware!

[Bruin Steve]

A few years back, we had to stay an extra night in Rome...not Delta...worse:  Air Berlin... and, actually, not exactly Rome...but the airport...

 

We had a post-cruise very early morning departure, so, we decided to stay at the airport our last night.  We got a great nonrefundable rate at the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport.  A short time before the trip, I checked my flight booking...and I discovered my flights had been changed...though I never received any notice from Air Berlin.  But worse than that...they had me on a flight Rome to Frankfurt that arrived in Frankfurt a half an hour LATER than the flight they had me on from Frankfurt to LAX was scheduled to take off!  And the only availability left to get us home was by moving everything to the following day!  

 

I called Hilton to see if we could move our reservation to the following day...and they said NO.  So we ended up having to book a second night at the airport...I have not booked a nonrefundable hotel rate since...or Air Berlin...

Edited February 22, 2021 by Bruin Steve

[sanger727]

I really wouldn't stress at this point. Your flight is still a few months away so a 3-4 business day wait for a response isn't much of a big deal. In all likelihood, based on how frequently delta changes their flights, you are still in for a flight change or two before July. In your shoes I would be much more concerned that the July cruises won't go and determining what you want to do in a replacement or if you would rather cancel the trip altogether. 

[Auntiemomo]

BCE - Bryce Canyon Airport

or

BCN - Barcelona?

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, Auntiemomo said:

BCE - Bryce Canyon Airport

or

BCN - Barcelona?

LOL...what about a private jet for rich people

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, Auntiemomo said:

BCE - Bryce Canyon Airport

or

BCN - Barcelona?

I wondered the same thing but decided they weren’t cruising out of Bryce Canyon😂

[Bruin Steve]

1 hour ago, Auntiemomo said:

BCE - Bryce Canyon Airport

or

BCN - Barcelona?

Sorry!  Yes, I meant BCN and kept messing it up...Mea culpa...

[Auntiemomo]

6 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

Sorry!  Yes, I meant BCN and kept messing it up...Mea culpa...

I think I knew what you meant.  I once was flying to Auckland, NZ (AKL), and I was asking folks questions using ACK (Nantucket) airport.  It was pretty funny some of the responses I got.  

Edited February 22, 2021 by Auntiemomo

[cruiserchuck]

There will not be any Celebrity cruises in Europe this July, so you really do not need to worry about the flight changes.  In the past when changes were made like this, I dealt with Delta directly rather than have Celebrity Air try to make the changes.

[kwokpot]

50 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

There will not be any Celebrity cruises in Europe this July, so you really do not need to worry about the flight changes.  In the past when changes were made like this, I dealt with Delta directly rather than have Celebrity Air try to make the changes.

Totally agree and not sure why the OP is stressing out on the flight changes. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

2 hours ago, cruiserchuck said:

There will not be any Celebrity cruises in Europe this July, so you really do not need to worry about the flight changes.

Americans will not be cruising in Europe in 2021 in my opinion. Some of the lines may operate a ship or 2 for EU/UK residents only.  We’ll be lucky to even see limited cruise departures from US ports by July. 

[TeeRick]

19 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

So, we have our two Med cruises booked for July...and they haven't been and hopefully won't be canceled...

I'm fully vaccinated...and by then, hopefully my wife will be as well.  Of course, we have no control over whether these will sail or not...but, as of now, we really want to go...

I kind of agree with the other posters.  This cruise will not likely be going in July.

You and dw will be fully vaccinated and fully motivated to go.  Understandable.

But many people- other passengers, crew members, port workers, most parts of the travel industry that you encounter - will definitely not be fully vaccinated by July.

 

It will be like "All dressed up and no place to go".    This is what the sad realization is for most of 2021 cruising and traveling internationally.  Some vaccinated people are on the 1 yard line about ready to go into the end zone.  But a time out has been called.  The clock is not running yet.  And most others are still in the locker room waiting to get dressed.

[Fouremco]

11 hours ago, Auntiemomo said:

I think I knew what you meant.  I once was flying to Auckland, NZ (AKL), and I was asking folks questions using ACK (Nantucket) airport.  It was pretty funny some of the responses I got.  

It's not a serious problem when done in the early planning stages and you subsequently catch your mistake. In 2002, a young British couple booked a flight through an internet TA for a flight to Australia. They were more than a bit perplexed when they arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Just to show that theirs was not a unique mistake, a Dutch student did the same thing in 2017. He was very pleased with having purchased a very cheap flight to Sydney, until he too arrived in Nova Scotia.

[wrk2cruise]

Celebrity has been known to have pictures of the Opera house in Sydney harbor shown for Sydney, Nova Scotia port stop.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

Celebrity has been known to have pictures of the Opera house in Sydney harbor shown for Sydney, Nova Scotia port stop.

And a photo of Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia, shown on the website as an Alaskan port. Blue Rocks used to be one of my favourite sea kayaking destinations, and my jaw dropped to see that it had been moved to Alaska.