Viking Air "Premium Economy" what seat on Delta?

[minka34]

Hi - does anyone have experience with booking Viking "Premium Economy" and requesting Delta Airlines for an international flight?   We would like to know if this translates to "Delta Comfort" or "Delta Premium Select"?   Thanks if you can provide insight!

[haydn12]

On our upcoming trip which we have Viking "Premium Economy", we are booked on Delta Premium Select for the overseas leg of the trip.  We are booked in Delta Comfort for the US leg of the trip (Phoenix to Salt Lake City).  We are just in coach for let from Amsterdam to Budapest.

[minka34]

Oh, that sounds promising! We didn't want to pay for Premium Economy if it only puts us in Delta comfort for the overseas part.  Thank you for answering!  Are you already ticketed?  By the way, we absolutely loved Budapest when we were there a few years ago!  Enjoy your trip!

[CDR2001]

We’re ticketed on Delta, booked main cabin through Viking Air Plus to Stockholm.  I made seat and category changes on the Delta app or website rather than a Viking Air Plus request. I’m a SkyMiles member, free to join. It’s always worked well that way, and I simply pay a bit more for the seat type we want. PS….it’s cheaper that way too! 

[minka34]

Thanks CDR2001, we are skymiles members also.   We have had trouble in the past with Viking booking tickets that cannot be upgraded.  We can usually upgrade to Comfort+ based on skymiles member status, but we are interested in Premium Select for the longest overseas leg of our trip.  That is more difficult without an upgradeable seat.  We are willing to pay the upgrade with Viking if we can be sure that it means that we will be ticketed in Delta Premium Select.  Just looking for any experience that can help us in advance.  We won't be able to talk tickets with Air+  for several months yet.

[greydog]

2 hours ago, CDR2001 said:

We’re ticketed on Delta, booked main cabin through Viking Air Plus to Stockholm.  I made seat and category changes on the Delta app or website rather than a Viking Air Plus request. I’m a SkyMiles member, free to join. It’s always worked well that way, and I simply pay a bit more for the seat type we want. PS….it’s cheaper that way too! 

Always smart to compare V charge vs. DIY air, factoring in V's included transfers.  Over the last year with shifting sailings having V be responsible for changing the air reservations reduces complications over DIY.

 

With V air+, I've arranged the domestic Comfort+ itineraries too, knowing ahead what upcharge differential to expect.  So far, so good but definitiely comparison shop. 

 

Good Luck

[ohiojohn]

When we booked our cruise the airfare was free from Viking due to a promotion,  so we decided to upgrade to Premium (Economy/ Select ).  Domestic flights are Comfort Class, and the overseas flights were booked into Premium Select.  Prior to contacting Viking Air I researched all the available Delta routings.  After 330 day mark  I contacted Viking and my flights were booked, not ticketed. A few months later Delta changed the aircraft for the international outbound flight.  The changed aircraft had no premium select seats.  So I went into the Delta app and selected comfort class seats.  The flight is less than 6 hours so Comfort Class is fine and I received some money back.  Now around the 100 day mark I insisted Viking Air ticket our flights because I wanted to use miles to upgrade.  The flights were ticketed and I checked on upgrading into Delta One.  I needed CPR when I saw the amount of miles or $ needed to upgrade.  Airfare has increased for all fare classes dramatically in just the last few months.

In summary,  ask for Premium Economy and also check for aircraft that has Premium Economy for the routes you want.

Hope this helps.

[greydog]

8 hours ago, ohiojohn said:

 I needed CPR when I saw the amount of miles or $ needed to upgrade.  Airfare has increased for all fare classes dramatically in just the last few months.

In summary,  ask for Premium Economy and also check for aircraft that has Premium Economy for the routes you want.

TRUE unfortunately $-wise for consumers - the upcharge for PE really widened.  4 mos. ago (pre-Ukraine) I paid what I felt was a stiff total $ for V's Prem-Econ for July 2023 Europe travel but I was aware of all the news reports - fewer flights from staffing issues, high travel demand, high fuel.  I decided to pay the piper thinking it could get worse later.

 

However, once closer to travel date but outside ticketing date I will check about dropping the V air if I can do better DIY.  Good Luck

[Peregrina651]

I put Viking Air on my initial booking -- especially if it is a really good deal -- knowing that I can drop it later (as long as it hasn't been ticketed).

 

You can always add Viking Air at a later date but it will be at the brochure rate, not the the current deal or the deal that was in place when you booked.

[BaileyMJ]

16 hours ago, minka34 said:

Hi - does anyone have experience with booking Viking "Premium Economy" and requesting Delta Airlines for an international flight?   We would like to know if this translates to "Delta Comfort" or "Delta Premium Select"?   Thanks if you can provide insight!

It is Premium Economy cabin on Delta - have also been booked on Air France Premium Economy- I also pay for the Air Plus - worth it to pick the exact flights!

[greydog]

3 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

You can always add Viking Air at a later date but it will be at the brochure rate, not the the current deal or the deal that was in place when you booked.

BUT I've run into 'not available' on later try to add prem-econ - seems they have a seat limit on upgrades in their airline contracts.  Some others report that the upcharge fee is lower if you booked higher category stateroom.  Good Luck

Edited May 23, 2022 by greydog
add

[Clay Clayton]

14 hours ago, ohiojohn said:

When we booked our cruise the airfare was free from Viking due to a promotion,  so we decided to upgrade to Premium (Economy/ Select ).  Domestic flights are Comfort Class, and the overseas flights were booked into Premium Select.  Prior to contacting Viking Air I researched all the available Delta routings.  After 330 day mark  I contacted Viking and my flights were booked, not ticketed. A few months later Delta changed the aircraft for the international outbound flight.  The changed aircraft had no premium select seats.  So I went into the Delta app and selected comfort class seats.  The flight is less than 6 hours so Comfort Class is fine and I received some money back.  Now around the 100 day mark I insisted Viking Air ticket our flights because I wanted to use miles to upgrade.  The flights were ticketed and I checked on upgrading into Delta One.  I needed CPR when I saw the amount of miles or $ needed to upgrade.  Airfare has increased for all fare classes dramatically in just the last few months.

In summary,  ask for Premium Economy and also check for aircraft that has Premium Economy for the routes you want.

Hope this helps.

Similar story but different outcome. We booked our own flights on Delta in Premium Select (PE) to Iceland last year (for less than what Viking wanted to charge for E) and Comfort+ for the return. The week before we left, Delta changed equipment from 757 to 767. The 767 didn’t have Premium Economy so they bumped us up to Delta One! Not a terribly comfortable seat but more so than what we had purchased!  And for a lot less money than what folks who paid for Delta One had paid. We paid $1,300 roundtrip and those who paid for DeltaOne had paid close to $6,000.  😱

[minka34]

Nice bump up Clay!  We should be so lucky.  

Thanks to all that have commented and shared your experience.  We are booked on the "free" Viking air, but added Air+ and plan to pay for Premium Economy... with the thought of booking on our own if a better deal before ticketing.

[Clay Clayton]

13 hours ago, minka34 said:

Nice bump up Clay!  We should be so lucky.  

Thanks to all that have commented and shared your experience.  We are booked on the "free" Viking air, but added Air+ and plan to pay for Premium Economy... with the thought of booking on our own if a better deal before ticketing.

FWIW, we had “free” air for our flight from  Hong Kong to Seattle and had bid on an upgrade to PE on Cathay Pacific. But a few weeks before our flights I realized that it was likely (if we won our bid) that we would be in the two middle seats (2-4-2) so we elected to rescind it. We had already paid for exit row on the 2 side and decided that would be preferable to being stuck in the middle.  
 

After boarding we decided we really made a great decision. PE was completely full whereas E wasn’t.  So Mike moved to one of the exit seats in the middle section of seats.  So we had tons of leg room and he had 1.5 seats and I had 2. We had “free”’air for our cruise in October and hope we get just as lucky. 🤞

[minka34]

Our plan is to go for the 2 in the 2-4-2 in PE, but if not available, all options are on the table!  If the exit row has reclining seats, we might try for that option - DH does not like to have non-reclining seats though so need to be careful.  Let the games begin! 😁

[Clay Clayton]

21 hours ago, minka34 said:

Our plan is to go for the 2 in the 2-4-2 in PE, but if not available, all options are on the table!  If the exit row has reclining seats, we might try for that option - DH does not like to have non-reclining seats though so need to be careful.  Let the games begin! 😁

Not sure if any PE cabin has exit rows so that is unlikely to be an issue.