Has the "Flights by Celebrity" program changed?

[RealBatman]

When Celebrity first began offering flights, one of the perks of the program was a guarantee to get the traveller to the ship... if something happened that your flights changed and you missed the ship departure, Celebrity would get you to the next port where you could board the ship. (At least that's how I remember the program... but having not used the service previously, I admit I could be mistaken).

 

I just booked through Celebrity the flights that we require, for our January 2022 cruise, thinking this could be beneficial. But when I went to upgrade our seats, I was unable to do that. I spoke to the 'Flight Department' at Celebrity and they advised it was not possible until final payment date (Nov 1st for me). I can't do that with the airline, as the flight was booked via Celebrity (acting as a travel agent). This caused me to review the offering from Celebrity where I read on the website the 'benefits' of using Celebrity to book airfare:

 

• "When you use Flights by Celebrity to book your air travel you enjoy expert travel service, so you have the peace of mind knowing there’s someone looking out for you. Our Flights by Celebrity Specialists are on hand to help you with any flight disruptions—both to your ship and back home again."

 

I'm not sure where the advantage of booking through Celebrity is. It appears that they will 'assist' us with flight issues, but that's about it. Am I missing something?

 

[cruisestitch]

I don’t think there was ever a guarantee to get you to the ship, only to help you if your plans are disrupted.  I remember lots of threads about this over the years on Cruise Critic and no one could ever come up with proof that there was a statement that you were guaranteed to get to the ship. I may be wrong and would be happy to be corrected if anyone can find such language from earlier years.

[FlyerTalker]

Often discussed in the Cruise Air forum here at CC.

 

There has been great misunderstanding about the weasel words in the marketing sphere vs the actual words of the terms and conditions for cruiseline provided air.  I can safely say that they don't have staffs of people watching thousands of flights to see if there are any flight delays or cancellations.  And they don't guarantee you will make the ship, either at first port or later.  (In fact, there are some cruise itineraries where you CAN'T board at the "next port" due to PVSA and other regulations)

 

In most all cases, getting tickets through the cruiseline puts another layer between the traveler and the airline in case of IROPS (Irregular operations).  Some folks think that having the cruiseline "solve" the problem takes the burden off of themselves, but that just delays the issue.  Far better and faster for you to handle the reroute on your own.

 

As for the issue of upgrading seats or class -- until your ticket is paid for, you merely have a reservation.  You are NOT ticketed, and as such, many airlines will not allow for any kind of upgrading.  If the air and cruise are a package, you need to have them both paid before you can be ticketed.  And even then, you might not be ticketed by the airline right away.  Could be days or weeks.  The only certainty is that you won't be ticketed any earlier than payment.

[cachouonacruise]

I am not an expert, but this was my understanding and experience in 2020:

 

If a flight or cruise disruption occurs, Flights by Celebrity will take care of the change and costs: We initially had flights booked for a cruise Hong-Kong to Shanghai. Due to Covid, the cruise itinerary changed to depart Tokyo and terminate in Singapore.....Flights by Celebrity changed our flights, no headaches and no extra costs..... Subsequently, the cruise was cancelled. Flights by Celebrity promptly refunded our fares.

 

Regarding seat assignments. If you book directly with the airline, you can choose your seats (depending on the fare, airline etc, may be an extra cost.) However, typically, you need to pay the fare right away.  Then, if changes are needed, extra fees or penalties can occurr.

 

The benefit with flight by Celebrity is you don’t need to pay until final payment. Making changes or cancelling and rebooking is possible without penalty, until final payment. However, I was only able to reserve our seats directly with the airline, after final payment, so within three months of the flight departure, which was more than sufficient for us to find seats together.

 

In conclusion, I have often booked flights directly with airlines and had no issues. In a normal context, it can go quite well. However, if your cruise or flights get disrupted for unforseen reasons, Flights by Celebrity definitely is a great benefit!

 

I will book through them again!

[39august]

I have used Celebrity Air several times and always have gotten my seat assignment as soon as booked. I  like that no payment is due until cruise final payment date ,and you can change or cancel your reservations with no penalty any time before final payment. I just called a couple of days ago and got a price reduction for my Jan. '22 flights.

[KWW88]

Just now, 39august said:

I have used Celebrity Air several times and always have gotten my seat assignment as soon as booked. I  like that no payment is due until cruise final payment date ,and you can change or cancel your reservations with no penalty any time before final payment. I just called a couple of days ago and got a price reduction for my Jan. '22 flights.

For cruises we had booked for May 2020 and January 2021, we booked with Celebrity Air and were able to get our seat assignments at the time of booking.  Of course both were cancelled and we were promptly (fairly so) refunded.  

[Maya_C]

Whether you can book seats before final payment seems to be airline dependent. For a cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona, we booked through Celebrity Air, a Tap Air flight going and a United flight returning. We couldn't choose seats on the Portuguese carrier until payment but could on United, where we also paid a supplement for seats with more leg room. We never got as far as final payment because of COVID.

[mnocket]

14 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

I am not an expert, but this was my understanding and experience in 2020:

 

If a flight or cruise disruption occurs, Flights by Celebrity will take care of the change and costs:

This has also been my understanding.  It's interesting to see others state with authority that this is not, and has not, been the case.  Someone is clearly wrong.  I'd sure like to see this clarified, but who to believe?

 

[FlyerTalker]

23 minutes ago, mnocket said:

This has also been my understanding.  It's interesting to see others state with authority that this is not, and has not, been the case.  Someone is clearly wrong.  I'd sure like to see this clarified, but who to believe?

 

It's impossible to prove a negative.  However, no one has ever shown, in the terms and conditions, where these kind of assurances are guaranteed by the cruiseline.  You will find weasel words like "work with", "attempt", "endeavor" and the like, but nothing in black and white.  And remember, it's not the marketing spiel that governs - it's the legalese in the T&C.

 

As for the changes last year when covid first struck -- many cruiselines were making changes on the fly.  Redoing itineraries and the like.  Air changes were often done gratis, as a gesture of goodwill in a new and fluid situation.  That has LONG passed.

[jelayne]

I never thought or read that Flights by Celebrity would guarantee getting you to the ship.  It was my understanding that they would rebook you at no charge to get you to the ship as soon as practical 
I don’t see how they could guarantee getting you to the next port as there may not be flights available and they won’t be chartering a plane.  

[kwokpot]

With regards to choosing seats, many International airlines don't allow complementary advanced seat assignment. BA and TAP are among many that don't allow it unless you pay a fee. This is regardless of how you are making the booking or when you're paying for the airfare.

[Algebralovr]

If I’m doing a domestic trip, I book direct.  If international, then I look seriously at the Celebrity product.  
 

When we did Europe in2014, we were embarking in Venice and disembarking in Istanbul.  We knew there were possible issues with the Istanbul disembarkation and were told that if we booked through the cruise line and the ship was not able to dock and disembark us in Istanbul that by booking through Celebrity they would handle our re-route.  So we did that.

 

For any other situation, it really just depends.  One friend did a Tampa sailing a few years ago where the ship could not dock when it was supposed to due to fog.  They said that those with cruiseline air were simply rescheduled and given new flights.  Everyone else was given time to reach out to their TA or their airline to get rescheduled, but it was a hassle.

 

The terms have changed over the years though, so read the fine print carefully. 

[JsMom2]

Prior to the pandemic, they did have a guaranteed arrival program.  This might entail

joining the ship in the next port, if legally possible.   At this time they are no longer allowing downlining  (embarking or disembarking at one of the ports of call).   I’m sure this is related to the restrictions they expect due to Covid.  Once they start sailing again, we will know if they allow downline requests.  If they do, then they will probably once again bring back the guaranteed arrival aspects of the flight program.  

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, JsMom2 said:

Prior to the pandemic, they did have a guaranteed arrival program.  This might entail

joining the ship in the next port, if legally possible.   At this time they are no longer allowing downlining  (embarking or disembarking at one of the ports of call).   I’m sure this is related to the restrictions they expect due to Covid.  Once they start sailing again, we will know if they allow downline requests.  If they do, then they will probably once again bring back the guaranteed arrival aspects of the flight program.  

What you're saying makes absolute sense, but is this from Celebrity or just your conjecture?

[seaworthy1]

8 hours ago, 39august said:

I have used Celebrity Air several times and always have gotten my seat assignment as soon as booked. I  like that no payment is due until cruise final payment date ,and you can change or cancel your reservations with no penalty any time before final payment. I just called a couple of days ago and got a price reduction for my Jan. '22 flights.

This has been our experience, just booked R/T air PHX/FLL with Celebrity Air,  no money due till final payment and we chose our seats directly with airline (Delta)and received airline flt confirmation and airline flt confirmation number.

[JsMom2]

16 hours ago, kwokpot said:

What you're saying makes absolute sense, but is this from Celebrity or just your conjecture?

The information regarding the cessation of downlining is from Royal, Celebrity, and Azamara.  The advice to wait until they start sailing to see if anything changes is from me.  

[FlyerTalker]

12 hours ago, seaworthy1 said:

This has been our experience, just booked R/T air PHX/FLL with Celebrity Air,  no money due till final payment and we chose our seats directly with airline (Delta)and received airline flt confirmation and airline flt confirmation number.

 

Do you have a 13 digit ticket number (not a six character locator)?  Until such time that you have a ticket number (and Delta tickets start with 006), you have NOT been ticketed but merely have a "reservation".  That locator is merely a pointer to the actual passenger record which includes the electronic ticket AFTER it has been issued.  So please don't assume that you are ticketed when you get a locator, for you need that 13 digit number to ensure that.

[Oceangoer2]

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Do you have a 13 digit ticket number (not a six character locator)?  Until such time that you have a ticket number (and Delta tickets start with 006), you have NOT been ticketed but merely have a "reservation".  That locator is merely a pointer to the actual passenger record which includes the electronic ticket AFTER it has been issued.  So please don't assume that you are ticketed when you get a locator, for you need that 13 digit number to ensure that.

We ran into that situation...just a locator...in the end we paid X for our flight in full, they contacted the airline and we received a ticketed number and booked our seats. This was with Air Canada and I understand it's a firm policy.  Apparently some US airlines allow seat selection without payment.   Since we were going to have to pay anyway, we got it out of the way.  X still was responsible for us if flights changed or anything else which needed handling.  This may have changed...it was some years ago...haven't booked flights through X since....but will...on advice from other posters for European complicated open jaw trips.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Oceangoer2

[FlyerTalker]

I have been searching for the full terms and conditions on the USA website, but I don't seem to find them, so this is an approximation:

 

From the Celebrity Australian website T&C:

 

Flight interruption and downline support

 

Guests purchasing tickets through our Air/Sea Department will receive assistance on travel days, should there be a disruption to their scheduled airline service. Guests should first check with the airline to request re-accommodation, and then call us if the new flights will not enable the guest to meet the ship. We will work with the guest to find a seat on the next available flight, on a regularly scheduled airline, and in the same class of service to the ship. If there are no viable options, we will work with our airline partners to accommodate the guest on a flight to the next port, where a guest may legally join the ship. A downline fee may be incurred as per Section 7.

 

Note the "first check with the airline", "will work", and that fees may be incurred.

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by FlyerTalker

[mtnlvr53]

On 4/4/2021 at 11:48 AM, RealBatman said:

When Celebrity first began offering flights, one of the perks of the program was a guarantee to get the traveler to the ship... if something happened that your flights changed and you missed the ship departure, Celebrity would get you to the next port where you could board the ship. (At least that's how I remember the program... but having not used the service previously, I admit I could be mistaken).

 

I just booked through Celebrity the flights that we require, for our January 2022 cruise, thinking this could be beneficial. But when I went to upgrade our seats, I was unable to do that. I spoke to the 'Flight Department' at Celebrity and they advised it was not possible until final payment date (Nov 1st for me). I can't do that with the airline, as the flight was booked via Celebrity (acting as a travel agent). This caused me to review the offering from Celebrity where I read on the website the 'benefits' of using Celebrity to book airfare:

 

• "When you use Flights by Celebrity to book your air travel you enjoy expert travel service, so you have the peace of mind knowing there’s someone looking out for you. Our Flights by Celebrity Specialists are on hand to help you with any flight disruptions—both to your ship and back home again."

 

I'm not sure where the advantage of booking through Celebrity is. It appears that they will 'assist' us with flight issues, but that's about it. Am I missing something?

 

 

In regards to your first question: you don't have a real seat until the air reservation is paid for. My understanding (after hours of conversation with cruise line/airfare dept) is that usually happens 60 days out.  The advantage is that: 

1. You don't pay for your ticket and "cancellation" is easy. 

2. You can make changes if the fare goes down until  the "cruise line" actually books the fare

3. You can swap air carriers if scheduling changes and new routes are opened up. (which I think is likely in view of increased travel happens)

Disadvantages;

1. You don't have a ticket til they book so you can't upgrade with miles or money.

2. You don't really have a seat assignment til they book

3. You are not really working with the cruise companies: the air portion is really handled by a "sublet" company. They try to blame issues on the TA, the Cruise line, the air carrier, etc.  They accidently entered the wrong booking code on my flight and I lost my "free luggage" because of their coding error. I was able to track down the right code and prove that at the time I booked the  "free luggage" was the same price as the "no luggage" fair (Because the air carrier was mad that I was told that it was their fault and they gave me the information to prove that the booking company made the mistake and told me how to correct it. Air carrier: Air New Zealand--they were great. ) 

Despite all that I do book through the cruise line because I don't have to pay but I am careful. 

In addition, because I ultimately upgraded both flights (that I had to fight over), it really isn't all that difficult to pay for the flight, get a booking code, then get with the air carrier and upgrade your seats.

Good luck!

Janet

[RealBatman]

On 4/5/2021 at 8:31 AM, FlyerTalker said:

 

Do you have a 13 digit ticket number (not a six character locator)?  Until such time that you have a ticket number (and Delta tickets start with 006), you have NOT been ticketed but merely have a "reservation".  That locator is merely a pointer to the actual passenger record which includes the electronic ticket AFTER it has been issued.  So please don't assume that you are ticketed when you get a locator, for you need that 13 digit number to ensure that.

 

After reading the comments above, and in particular from "FlyerTalker" and "mtnlvr53", I have an update on my particular situation, which I think some of you may find interesting!

The pertinent information in this drama 😉 is:

Westjet Airlines and the cruise is from FLL in January of 2022

 

I've made multiple phone calls to both the Airline and Flights by Celebrity. Everyone has been very helpful, and worked to resolve the situation.

 

Here's the synopsis:

1. The airfare must be paid in full. That gets a 13 digit ticket number.

2. Once that's done, seat selection can begin.

 

However... and this is the interesting part... Flights by Celebrity will NOT issue tickets until 30 days prior to SAILING. That means you will be issued seat selection based on what is available at THAT time - no sooner. This was not acceptable to me, and I made that known - IN A VERY POLITE, NICE WAY - but with no doubt that I would request a refund and book with the airline directly if I had to wait until 30 days prior to sailing!

 

After 30+ minutes on the phone - mostly waiting - we parted with the understanding that this would be an exception if it were to happen (having my tickets issued this far in advance) and that I might not be able to change/cancel. I should call back in 48 hours to see what the result was. Apparently it required a consultation between Celebrity and the airline.

 

About 90 minutes later, I received a phone call from Celebrity and was told it was arranged, and that the tickets had been issued, and was given the actual ticket numbers. I was told to go ahead and call the airline to book the seats.

 

A call to Westjet, and a very pleasant conversation with the CSR, resulted in the seats being reserved. I used the original locator code given at the initial time of booking, and everything went well!