New to River cruising - questions re: Viking Air "deviations"

[Dave in Atlanta]

Just booked a Viking river cruise for April 2022.  Good experience overall and seems like a reasonable price.  They are offering $499 air addon, and it works well for us.

 

Our plan, however, was to fly to Budapest, get on the ship, off at Passau, then spend a week travelling in Germany.  No problem, said the agent.  You'll need a deviation, and that's $100 per person.  Okay, so now I'm a deviant...

 

We wanted to build our land tour in and out of Munich, so the Munich airport is a great starting point for getting a car, and maybe even a place to store some baggage for the week.  Now the agent says "hold on...if you deviate, you can't use the Viking transport to the Munich airport."  So I pay $100 extra, but cannot use the same bus I'd have been on before I paid?  I can't imagine a cab ride from Passau to Munich is cheap, so it keeps getting more expensive.  Then I realized that they might not allow deviants to use the airport to port transit at the front end in Budapest...you know, once a deviant, always a deviant...  I'm  not sure about that part.

 

Any advice from Viking veterans?  Is this the way their program really works?

 

Dave in Atlanta

[knoxclone]

The deviation fee is for the flight. Be aware the transfer to Munich may be VERY  early in the morning - like 4 am?  You may be better off to take the train from Passau to Munich, unless you really have a reason to take the transfer. I believe transfers can be purchased separately ( at least they used to be available).  

[rcaruso]

If you deviate on the back end, then the transfer is not included.  But if no deviation on front end then included.

 

We are going, I hope in November 2022, flying to Budapest and getting in two days before the cruise, so we will not have transfer, we will take shuttle or cab to hotel. After cruise we get off in Passau and spend 10 days in Germany seeing friends etc, we will be leaving from Munich (no transfer) but we will have been traveling in Bavaria and will use the Bayern Pass to return to the Munich airport.

 

We do this all the time and the train is the way to go (2nd class).  But sometimes we will have them take us home from Frankfurt (really doesn't matter to Viking--Munich or Frankfurt). Just work on your schedule, also pay the extra $50 for Viking air.

 

I say all of this pre covid---so not sure how all of this will work in the new world order.  I wonder if Viking will stop the deviations and send us all home after cruise due to German Covid regulations.  We will see.

[Peregrina651]

 

Dave, what it comes down to is that Viking offers airport transfers only on embarkation and disembarkation days and only to pax who are arriving/departing the airport that day. If you fly in early or fly out late, then transfers are on you. Yes, I know it is weird, but that is the way it is. My only suggestion is waiting until you board the ship and find out if you can buy transfers to Munich airport. Sometimes the crew can do things that the booking agents can't.

 

Also, note that the quoted airfare is not an unlimited offer; it applies only to the flight plans that Viking is offering at that price. A deviation may cost you more airfare, in addition to to the AirPlus fee and the deviation fee. The airline may charge more for the flights you choose. Also, the deviation fee is a flat fee not per deviation.

 

A little more information here: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/air-services/index.html

 

If you are going to be renting a car, is it that much more expensive to rent it in Passau and drop at Munich?