Celebrity Air

[Treacher1]

I am using Celebrity Air for the first time for our BEYOND cruise in October.  Celebrity gave the price for air and the flight time.  But, seat assignments are not shown.  I was told monies for air will be collected along with FINAL payment of cruise.  Will Celebrity assign seats or do we have some choice in the matter?  We DID book first class.  Thanks for your advice to anyone who has used Celebrity Air - 

[dream2cruise]

We reserved AA flights with Celebrity in January for our July cruise and selected first class seats 2A and 2C.  When we made final cruise payment and tickets issued we ended up with 4A and 4D.  That is for our flight to the cruise city.  Our seats are showing unassigned for the return flight.

[Treacher1]

Thank you for the speedy reply - I just don't like row 1 if in first class - no front storage under seat usually.  As long as they keep us in first class - Celebrity Air was about $200 less expensive for us than booking on our own.  We only have one flight - it is a repositioning cruise - leave from Cape Liberty - have a ride there and just need to fly back to Philadelphia.

[ARP]

I used Celebrity Air and then contacted carrier for seat assignment.

 

Alan

[Maya_C]

I booked air this week through Celebrity on United and have been able to select seats for flights in February. This wasn't true for Celebrity Air tickets on a Europe-based airline, which allowed seat reservations only after full payment.  

[beachluver9]

Seat assignments have to be done by Flights By Celebrity (FBC) prior to ticketing.  FBC can either assign seats at the time you make your reservation or you can call them and they will do it while you are on the phone.  The big aggravation for me is that even though you make final payment for the cruise/air, FBC does not ticket your flights automatically when you have paid in full.  For a cruise that we took in November they didn't ticket (pay) for our flights until 5 days prior to the first flight so we couldn't even order our meals until the last minute.  Before you are ticketed it is easier for the carrier to move seats around for families, air marshalls, etc.  Keep in mind that even though flights are ticketed and seats assigned, the carrier might switch your seats up until the time that you board.  This is especially true for European carriers which aren't keen on seat assignments in the first place.  We had Air France flights booked to KBH three years ago and our seat assignments were dropped/changed multiple times in the last two months.  It became part of my daily routine to check my phone app a few times a day to adjust our assignments asap after they have been randomly changed.

[springfire]

We booked our flights with Flights by Celebrity, we have a Delta flight to Iceland.  We reserved our seats directly with Delta with no issue.  We have since issued our final payment for cruise and flight but we are  still waiting for Celebrity to ticket our flight so we can upgrade to Delta plus seating.  Airline will not allow upgrade until ticket is issued.  Hopefully this gets done soon.

[mahdnc]

We are also hoping to upgrade our seats on United for our tickets that we are buying thru Celebrity. I didn't foresee this delayed ticketing problem. 

[blackshirt]

1 hour ago, beachluver9 said:

Seat assignments have to be done by Flights By Celebrity (FBC) prior to ticketing.

I’ve never had to get FBC to do seat assignments. Once you have your airline record indicator, you can select seats directly with the airline. That’s what I’ve always done.

[Bocabeach]

We are planning to use Flights by Celebrity and arrive very early in the morning of the cruise departure. Did anyone have a bad experience doing so? Under Flights by Celebrity’s FAQs, this is mentioned 

 

“Protection

When you use Flights by Celebrity℠ to book your air travel, we’ve got your back. You enjoy 24/7 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 monitoring your flights, so if there are any delays or cancellations that jeopardize your travel plans, they’ll work quickly with the airline to get you on the next available flight to get you to your ship. So, take comfort in booking your complete vacation with us all at once, and let us take care of everything”. 

 

I would appreciate any advice. 

[ScottC4746]

On 5/14/2022 at 1:03 PM, Treacher1 said:

I am using Celebrity Air for the first time for our BEYOND cruise in October.  Celebrity gave the price for air and the flight time.  But, seat assignments are not shown.  I was told monies for air will be collected along with FINAL payment of cruise.  Will Celebrity assign seats or do we have some choice in the matter?  We DID book first class.  Thanks for your advice to anyone who has used Celebrity Air - 

I had no problem with Flights by X.  We are booked LAX-SEA in Sept, we were able to book first, and when I booked, it gave a phone number to Flights by X and she assured our Frequent Flyer numbers were in and assisted with seats.  I am now able to go onto Delta's website and see my flights.  Several times since booking Delta changed the schedule.  I received an email from Flights by X before Delta emailed me.

[blackshirt]

49 minutes ago, Bocabeach said:

We are planning to use Flights by Celebrity and arrive very early in the morning of the cruise departure.

Many people, myself included, would say that’s a bad idea. We now always arrive a day ahead of the cruise. Regardless of Flights by Celebrity’s pledge to help you make it on time, that simply may not be possible if something does go wrong. 

[springfire]

51 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

I had no problem with Flights by X.  We are booked LAX-SEA in Sept, we were able to book first, and when I booked, it gave a phone number to Flights by X and she assured our Frequent Flyer numbers were in and assisted with seats.  I am now able to go onto Delta's website and see my flights.  Several times since booking Delta changed the schedule.  I received an email from Flights by X before Delta emailed me.

We are also booked with Delta.  We also logged on the Delta website and have our seats reserved.  The problem is that until Flights by X pays for the flight, our seats with Delta can still change.  We are listed as confirmed flight with Delta but until we are ticketed those seats can change at any time.  Flights by Celebrity won't ticket our flights until about 30 days out.  We have paid our final payment but still waiting for Celebrity to issue payment to guarantee our flight.  We can't even upgrade our seats until we are ticketed.

[Lastdance]

There are many different situations when booking through Celebrity Air and it depends on your airline and class, not to mention whether you are flying US or International.  That is why there are so many answers that are different.  I did not like the policy of CA where you, in my case, could not book biz class for my particular flights, as I always could before Covid.  Things have changed now with Celebrity Air having more restrictions from the airlines nowadays.  That is why you will see different answers about booking, paying, seats etc.  Just be sure that you know your airline's policy, along with how it interfaces with Celebrity air as a consolidator.  

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Lastdance

[yogini06]

32 minutes ago, springfire said:

We are also booked with Delta.  We also logged on the Delta website and have our seats reserved.  The problem is that until Flights by X pays for the flight, our seats with Delta can still change.  We are listed as confirmed flight with Delta but until we are ticketed those seats can change at any time.  Flights by Celebrity won't ticket our flights until about 30 days out.  We have paid our final payment but still waiting for Celebrity to issue payment to guarantee our flight.  We can't even upgrade our seats until we are ticketed.

You can call FBC and have them pick seats for you.

[CCJack]

1 hour ago, blackshirt said:

Many people, myself included, would say that’s a bad idea. We now always arrive a day ahead of the cruise. Regardless of Flights by Celebrity’s pledge to help you make it on time, that simply may not be possible if something does go wrong. 

I agree.  No matter how hard FBC helps you, they don't own and fly planes.   The airlines allow very little margin for error in their scheduling, there are weather delays and of course, unruly passengers that can now delay a flight.   Way too many things to go wrong in my opinion.  

[Bocabeach]

21 hours ago, CCJack said:

I agree.  No matter how hard FBC helps you, they don't own and fly planes.   The airlines allow very little margin for error in their scheduling, there are weather delays and of course, unruly passengers that can now delay a flight.   Way too many things to go wrong in my opinion.  

Thank you for all your advice. I could see ourselves all anxious and stressed out dealing with FBC trying to put us on another flight so that we wouldn’t miss our departure. It wouldn’t be a good way to start our cruise. 

[dazey]

We were flying into Ft. Lauderdale in March for a cruise leaving the next day.  Our connecting flight from Atlanta at 9 AM was delayed and then cancelled at 2 PM and we eventually arrived in Ft.Lauderdale at 10 PM with our luggage missing.  Since we were flying in the day before, it was inconvenient but not as big a deal as for the woman we met on our flight to Atlanta whose Celebrity cruise was leaving that day.  She, of course, never made the boat - actually due to all the weather issues never even got to Florida and just flew home.  I felt so sorry for her. She had used Celebrity Air but the situation was so bad she got no help.

 

Just a note: We filed a claim with our insurance vendor(not through Celebrity) for delayed/cancelled flight and purchase of some items(toiletries and a few clothes) to help until our luggage arrived late on sailing date.  The claim money helped but I was never so glad to see my luggage arrive on the ship - hard to imagine wearing one or two outfits all week!

 

We are leaving from Cape Liberty for a cruise to Bermuda and flying from Rhode Island to Newark but even though it is an hour+ flight we are still going in the day before.  Just eliminates some worries.

 

 

 

 

[hancock]

Two stories from a few years ago using Celebrity Air.

 

Turns out our booking to Barcelona was a group booking with two other couples we did not know.  With great difficulty, I managed to get into the booking with the airline.  We all had been assigned to the back row of the plane aka seats wouldn't go back.  I changed out seats.  Had gotten the names of the other 2 couples.  Did some research and found the phone number of one.  Gave them a call.  Explained that we were on the same same cruise & plane booking and the issue with seating.  They knew the other couple as well.  They were then able to change their seats, too.  If I hadn't been able to get the seat assignments, we would have had a very uncomfortable flight.

 

Another time, our return flights was cancelled but only the cruise line was notified, not us.  When we got to the airport, we were told that the notification had gone out a week before to the cruise line.  Luckily, they found a flight leaving shortly with a connection through SF to get us back to JFK.  We had to rush through customs -immigration to make the flight.

[Nancycat]

We used CA to fly to Europe, we were arriving in Paris a week before the cruise.

Our flight from Orlando to Newark was delayed because of weather ,so we missed our overseas connection.

We flew late to Newark.spent the night in a hotel and were rebooked on our Newark to Paris flight the next day.

we lost a day in Paris, 

[Beachlover1989]

It has been my experience that, after paying, I ask them to put through an immediate request to “ticket” the flight. This usually happens then within 5 business days. After that I have worked with the airline for anything needed. 

[PaperSniper4]

As others have said, you  ought to log onto the airline's web page and make your own seat assignments. You will need the airline's confirmation number.

 

Here's the link I just used for United: https://www.united.com/en/us/manageres/mytrips

Here's the one for American: https://www.aa.com/reservation/view/find-your-trip

 

It's easy to do once you get to the page showing your flights.

 

PS - Expect your flight<s> to be changed, rescheduled, aircraft type changed, seat assignments dropped and other exciting events. Some events are very insignificant, others are VERY significant. You  SHOULD be notified by Celebrity when those happen; but I check the airline link (like above) every week or so, more often as the cruise is closer.

 

Doug

[ScottC4746]

22 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

As others have said, you  ought to log onto the airline's web page and make your own seat assignments. You will need the airline's confirmation number.

 

Here's the link I just used for United: https://www.united.com/en/us/manageres/mytrips

Here's the one for American: https://www.aa.com/reservation/view/find-your-trip

 

It's easy to do once you get to the page showing your flights.

 

PS - Expect your flight<s> to be changed, rescheduled, aircraft type changed, seat assignments dropped and other exciting events. Some events are very insignificant, others are VERY significant. You  SHOULD be notified by Celebrity when those happen; but I check the airline link (like above) every week or so, more often as the cruise is closer.  Was it luck or was it because we are in the pointy end of the plane?

 

Doug

We have lucked out with all the changes of schedule DL has bestowed upon lucky us, we always managed to keep our original seats.

[moneeman]

We booked Premium Economy through CA.  The Celebrity Air representative I worked with could see the seat availability, but he said the system would not let him select the seats.  He did not seem to know why.  We are flying to Barcelona on FinnAir, but it is an American Airlines flight.  The FinnAir website gives me access to the reservation with my confirmation code, but it does not allow me to select seats.  I called them, and they said seat selection had to be through American because American is operating the flight.  The American website does not recognize my confirmation code or even the electronic ticket number (which I got from the FinnAir website).  I called American, and the guy said he couldn't call up the reservation either, and that I had to wait until I got to the airport to receive a ticket assignment.  I will call again because I think he was lazy, but as of right now (5 weeks out) we have no seat assignment.  The CA guy told me that there weren't many seats to choose from.

 

Our return flight from Rome is on Delta.  I can access my reservation on the Delta website, but when I click on "Select Seats", I am told that flight is not available for seat selection.  CA was able to get me pricing I couldn't get on my own for those specific flights, but it is very aggravating to know my wife and I may very well have to fly in one-off seats perhaps several rows away from each other.

[mchell810]

2 hours ago, moneeman said:

We booked Premium Economy through CA.  The Celebrity Air representative I worked with could see the seat availability, but he said the system would not let him select the seats.  He did not seem to know why.  We are flying to Barcelona on FinnAir, but it is an American Airlines flight.  The FinnAir website gives me access to the reservation with my confirmation code, but it does not allow me to select seats.  I called them, and they said seat selection had to be through American because American is operating the flight.  The American website does not recognize my confirmation code or even the electronic ticket number (which I got from the FinnAir website).  I called American, and the guy said he couldn't call up the reservation either, and that I had to wait until I got to the airport to receive a ticket assignment.  I will call again because I think he was lazy, but as of right now (5 weeks out) we have no seat assignment.  The CA guy told me that there weren't many seats to choose from.

 

Our return flight from Rome is on Delta.  I can access my reservation on the Delta website, but when I click on "Select Seats", I am told that flight is not available for seat selection.  CA was able to get me pricing I couldn't get on my own for those specific flights, but it is very aggravating to know my wife and I may very well have to fly in one-off seats perhaps several rows away from each other.

 

I think the guy who said he couldn't select seats was mistaken (or too lazy to bother). I recommend you check to see if the FinnAir segment has a different confirmation code. I have that situation: one leg is operated by AA but I am booked on the British Airways code-share.  They have different numbers.  While my seats were selected by the ChoiceAir rep at booking, I have been able to go into both AA and BA to make adjustments on all legs of my trip.  I hope this helps.

Edited May 22, 2022 by mchell810