Problems with Viking Air department

[moatenote]

We are rebooked on the Viking Mediterranean Odyssey cruise for May 13-25, 2022 (after it was canceled for September 2020).  We have made our final payment and our TA tried to book our flights on June 29, after Delta posted flights for our cruise days.  She was told by a Viking Air rep that we could not book any specific flights until 90 days prior to our trip, so she emailed them our preferred flight schedule and seat preferences and she was then told that rarely would Viking allow us to book before 310 days prior to our final day of cruising.   We want to fly Delta first class (Delta One) on the overseas flight from Atlanta to Venice and then Delta Comfort on the return international flight from Barcelona to Atlanta.

 

I have been waiting as patiently as possible, and yesterday marked the date that meets the 310 day requirement, so our TA contacted Viking Air again.  Now  she was told that business class within Viking's contract with Delta is currently sold out!  How is that possible unless Viking did allow some travelers to book early??

 

We love Viking Ocean cruises and have been on 4 and have 2 more scheduled, but this experience has been very frustrating. I sent an email to Tellus@vikingcruises.com today, because they have been very responsive and helpful in the past.  A few hours later I received an email saying that an Air Specialist will contact me to discuss this.  I know it's a crazy, hectic time for Viking, trying to get everything back to some semblance of normal cruising, and I really appreciate the quick response from their Viking Social Department.  Hope to have good news to share tomorrow.

 

[lackcreativity]

I am familiar with the "can't book until 310 days before your last day of cruising" policy.  I waited patiently to contact Viking Air within that time frame on our previous cruises. Even then, they reserved the flights, and we had flight locater numbers that showed up on the airline website, but I  think they didn't actually ticket the flight until much later. We have never been looking for first/business class, so that was not a issue for us.

 

For our upcoming cruise in April of 2022, I hadn't even bothered to call Viking Air yet, assuming that everything is still in such a state that I would wait a while. On top of that, we are scheduled to disembark in Venice for that cruise, so the news last week about the banning of cruise ships at the Venice terminal beginning in August has exponentially increased the difficulties.

When we booked this cruise for April 2022 to replace a Covid cancellation, I thought it was far enough in the future to be a safe bet. I am starting to second guess that assumption.

 

I look forward to hearing about your experience with booking for May, and hope it works out to your satisfaction.

Edited July 20, 2021 by lackcreativity

[Ilive2cruise]

I had my travel agent book our flights for our May, 2022 Italy cruise on the 310th day.  She had no problems and premium economy was filling up already.  We are ticketed and praying that the airlines don't mess up these non-stop flights!

 

[lackcreativity]

1 hour ago, Ilive2cruise said:

I had my travel agent book our flights for our May, 2022 Italy cruise on the 310th day.  She had no problems and premium economy was filling up already.  We are ticketed and praying that the airlines don't mess up these non-stop flights!

 

Interesting to hear. Does your Italy cruise involve a flight in/out of Venice? If they are booking flights for that group of cruises, then I will call ASAP for ours in April 2022. Sadly, we will be in economy, so those don't fill up quite as fast.

Edited July 21, 2021 by lackcreativity

[SoBaycruiser]

Our first Viking Cruise is March 1 (northern lights) and we used credit from a canceled trip in March 2020 to book our flight to London (before the credit expired).  So now we only have to get home to the US from Bergen.  I was told before contacting Viking Air we should have a flight in mind.  Unfortunately it appears the number of flights out of Bergen is very small.  Maybe as Norway opens up more, airlines will have more flights.  I’ve never left the flights this late so it’s making me nervous… especially since we’d like to find a Business Class flight to the West Coast via Amsterdam, London, or Copenhagen.

[NanciEA]

moatenote, I've had similar issues with Viking Air and business class tickets. I now book my own and pay for the transfers, or do them myself, depending on the location, as it is not worth the hassle and worry. The last time I tried to used them for air, they told me all the business class seats were sold out. I told them I was looking at the flights I wanted online during the conversation and there were plenty of seats available. This was 9- 10 months out and on Delta. The agent finally admitted they only have a few business class seats on "defined" routes. They could only book me with three stops and horrible connection times. On top of that, the flights I was looking at were cheaper than the not great ones they were offering. (I had paid for Air Plus so I could request flights.) In the end the said "most of our clients find booking their own business class air was usually much better." Got to give it to them for honesty. 

[SoBaycruiser]

6 hours ago, NanciEA said:

moatenote, I've had similar issues with Viking Air and business class tickets. I now book my own and pay for the transfers, or do them myself, depending on the location, as it is not worth the hassle and worry. The last time I tried to used them for air, they told me all the business class seats were sold out. I told them I was looking at the flights I wanted online during the conversation and there were plenty of seats available. This was 9- 10 months out and on Delta. The agent finally admitted they only have a few business class seats on "defined" routes. They could only book me with three stops and horrible connection times. On top of that, the flights I was looking at were cheaper than the not great ones they were offering. (I had paid for Air Plus so I could request flights.) In the end the said "most of our clients find booking their own business class air was usually much better." Got to give it to them for honesty. 

Thanks for that insight!

[Ilive2cruise]

On 7/21/2021 at 7:36 PM, lackcreativity said:

Interesting to hear. Does your Italy cruise involve a flight in/out of Venice? If they are booking flights for that group of cruises, then I will call ASAP for ours in April 2022. Sadly, we will be in economy, so those don't fill up quite as fast.

Yes, we fly into Venice. This was with Air Plus.  

[lackcreativity]

8 hours ago, Ilive2cruise said:

Yes, we fly into Venice. This was with Air Plus.  

We also have Air Plus, yet when I called Viking Air yesterday the recording says that because of the extraordinary circumstances, they are only able to speak with guests who are flying in the next 60 days. I do recognize that these are very difficult circumstances, but I cannot imagine waiting to book air until 60 days before the trip. We are closest to Baltimore Washington International, and they usually have only one suitable flight to Europe each day. 

 

I know I could cancel my Viking Air and book it myself, but with all the uncertainty of the last 18 months, I am not anxious to do that. I have sent an email to TellUs@VikingCruises.com. 

 

Using a travel agent may have really helped you out here!

[rizello]

57 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

We also have Air Plus, yet when I called Viking Air yesterday the recording says that because of the extraordinary circumstances, they are only able to speak with guests who are flying in the next 60 days. I do recognize that these are very difficult circumstances, but I cannot imagine waiting to book air until 60 days before the trip. We are closest to Baltimore Washington International, and they usually have only one suitable flight to Europe each day. 

 

I know I could cancel my Viking Air and book it myself, but with all the uncertainty of the last 18 months, I am not anxious to do that. I have sent an email to TellUs@VikingCruises.com. 

 

Using a travel agent may have really helped you out here!

 

[rizello]

We are probably one of those people causing the 'extraordinary circumstances'.  We are taking the August 13 Malta cruise and just booked last week, so Viking Air is working very hard to get us some flights.  So far we have seen that they are working hard to get us situated on the appropriate flights.

[Ilive2cruise]

2 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

We also have Air Plus, yet when I called Viking Air yesterday the recording says that because of the extraordinary circumstances, they are only able to speak with guests who are flying in the next 60 days. I do recognize that these are very difficult circumstances, but I cannot imagine waiting to book air until 60 days before the trip. We are closest to Baltimore Washington International, and they usually have only one suitable flight to Europe each day. 

 

I know I could cancel my Viking Air and book it myself, but with all the uncertainty of the last 18 months, I am not anxious to do that. I have sent an email to TellUs@VikingCruises.com. 

 

Using a travel agent may have really helped you out here!

I think she definitely had a contact at Viking.  We fly out of Philadelphia and they have a non-stop to Venice that I did not want to miss out on.

[carld]

When we booked an August cruise around Iceland, I contacted Viking Air and said I wanted to pay extra and book business class (Saga on Iceland Air) from Seattle.  Viking Air said it was $1200 round trip on economy and no Saga class was available. I checked on the Iceland Air website and round trip economy was a little over $800 (which makes the Viking air transfers pretty expensive) and Saga was available for around $2600 round trip.  I called American Express travel for platinum card holders and they sold me Saga class round trip for $2070.  I have to pay my own transfers but at least I get to sit in the front of the plane for the 7+ hour flight.  Just my opinion, Viking Air is really not very customer friendly when it come to saving money and providing the best available air travel connections. 

[les37b]

6 hours ago, carld said:

When we booked an August cruise around Iceland, I contacted Viking Air and said I wanted to pay extra and book business class (Saga on Iceland Air) from Seattle.  Viking Air said it was $1200 round trip on economy and no Saga class was available. I checked on the Iceland Air website and round trip economy was a little over $800 (which makes the Viking air transfers pretty expensive) and Saga was available for around $2600 round trip.  I called American Express travel for platinum card holders and they sold me Saga class round trip for $2070.  I have to pay my own transfers but at least I get to sit in the front of the plane for the 7+ hour flight.  Just my opinion, Viking Air is really not very customer friendly when it come to saving money and providing the best available air travel connections. 

 

What happens to your flights if for some reason the cruise is rescheduled or cancelled?

[carld]

3 hours ago, les37b said:

 

What happens to your flights if for some reason the cruise is rescheduled or cancelled?

Life is always a gamble.  If I have to cancel my flights I would get a credit on Iceland Air and they fly from Seattle to Europe so I would use the credit to get to Europe sometime. But I don't think Viking will cancel the Iceland sailings.

[les37b]

1 hour ago, carld said:

Life is always a gamble.  If I have to cancel my flights I would get a credit on Iceland Air and they fly from Seattle to Europe so I would use the credit to get to Europe sometime. But I don't think Viking will cancel the Iceland sailings.

 

And that's fine. Just making people aware that if Viking do your flights and then cancel the cruise, you can get a full refund for the package including the flights. I say this because Up until Covid, I always did my own flights for reasons you state. Had I done as someone suggested and booked my own flights to Malta, it would just have been money wasted as I've no reason to return there. Given what's going on, I don't fancy a gamble.

[bbtondo]

1 minute ago, les37b said:

 

And that's fine. Just making people aware that if Viking do your flights and then cancel the cruise, you can get a full refund for the package including the flights. I say this because Up until Covid, I always did my own flights for reasons you state. Had I done as someone suggested and booked my own flights to Malta, it would just have been money wasted as I've no reason to return there. Given what's going on, I don't fancy a gamble.

Exactly.  This is why I got my flights included with my Viking Cruise. I had a cruise cancelled where I did my own air and it didn't work out well at all.  Everyone does what's best for them!

[LindaS272]

18 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

Exactly.  This is why I got my flights included with my Viking Cruise. I had a cruise cancelled where I did my own air and it didn't work out well at all.  Everyone does what's best for them!

Just noting that in this time of Covid many airlines are still flexible in regards to rebooking or getting credits/vouchers for future travel if you need to cancel. Unlike the Before Times. We’re dealing with this right now with numerous airline reservations we had to change this year.

[bobitegirl]

If I choose to pay extra for Viking Air and also extra for a deviation, do I get those charges back if Viking cancels the cruise? Another question. Can I wait to see what Viking comes up with for flights and then, if not happy with them, pay the extra for Viking Air?  I have always booked my own flights in the past, but agree that, in this current uncertain time, it may be best to go with their arrsngements.

[formernuke]

Yes, I've had my currently booked cruise cancelled and re-booked 4 times, and the deviation cost was included in the cruise credit.

[bbtondo]

20 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Just noting that in this time of Covid many airlines are still flexible in regards to rebooking or getting credits/vouchers for future travel if you need to cancel. Unlike the Before Times. We’re dealing with this right now with numerous airline reservations we had to change this year.

Absolutely.  Since I had a lot of problems with the air I purchased separately on a cancelled cruise, I'm a little hesitate to do it again.  I appreciate your point of view.  Reading everyone's experiences in cruising is very helpful.

[Australia08]

6 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

Absolutely.  Since I had a lot of problems with the air I purchased separately on a cancelled cruise, I'm a little hesitate to do it again.  I appreciate your point of view.  Reading everyone's experiences in cruising is very helpful.

We had purchased our own air tickets for our Northern Lights cruise. When it was canceled last February, I called Delta. They transferred the $2200 per ticket (1st class) into our Delta wallet. Since then we have used that money to purchase 3 domestic flights. So easy. I love that Delta now lets you change tickets so easily with no rebooking fees and they have also dropped all the restrictions on using the same location. You can break it up into any destinations.