Change in Custom Air Procedures

[RetroRod]

On the June 3 post of the Jason Montague video re: custom air he stated the new process would be coming “soon”. Jennefer in Customer Relations posted here the new online submission form would be coming “next week”. I haven’t found any form to request custom air. Has anyone seen this new form online? If so, where is it located? 

[Dwtlion]

Same question as my 270 days are here. Looked all over website, but no form. Grrr!

[Pcardad]

The form I have is for Agents only but, to be honest, I just called it in to a Regent Rep. and they input it into the system.

 

Expect an reply in at around 10 business days and then further questions about the air will require replying to the response you received via email.

[mrstanley]

Where will this form be located for use?

[BQEC]

1 hour ago, mrstanley said:

Where will this form be located for use?

The form and an explanation of the process is in your Regent account, same place where you book excursions, dining, etc.

[forevertravel]

I just looked at my Regent account and there is nothing there. Are you saying is under "My to do list"? I don't see there. That's the place to book excursions, tours, etc. I have three cruises booked and it does not show under any.

[BQEC]

15 minutes ago, forevertravel said:

I just looked at my Regent account and there is nothing there. Are you saying is under "My to do list"? I don't see there. That's the place to book excursions, tours, etc. I have three cruises booked and it does not show under any.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR VOYAGE *

* CUSTOMIZATION IS OPTIONAL

ROUNDTRIP 
AIRFARE

Your trip includes:

Round-trip airfare for two, from PHL

Submit Custom Air Request

CUSTOMIZE

SHORE 
EXCURSIONS

Your trip includes:

Unlimited shore excursions

Regent Choice Shore Excursions are eligible for shipboard credit.

Book your excursions now

CUSTOMIZE

BEVERAGES, DINING, AND GRATUITIES

Your trip includes:

FREE beverages, including alcohol, FREE restaurants and room service, and all pre-paid gratuities.

Note:
Dining reservations may be booked on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

 

 

 

[mrstanley]

Once we submit our desired flights we won’t even hear back for 10 days. Probably only to be told Regent doesn’t have a contact on those flights. Then another email back to request flights once again. Wow…. Lots of emails !! 

[BQEC]

1 minute ago, mrstanley said:

Once we submit our desired flights we won’t even hear back for 10 days. Probably only to be told Regent doesn’t have a contact on those flights. Then another email back to request flights once again. Wow…. Lots of emails !! 

Yes, It would seem so. If you go ahead with a request, kindly advise us  how it goes. Thanks.

[mrstanley]

I can make a request August 24.We do an air deviation and I’ll make sure to have my top three air routes to submit.

 

So no need to have a TA contact Regent Air anymore. 

[wcsdkqh]

Definitely need to provide your top 3 choices to try and cut down on the back and forth and the time that will take.

[Pcardad]

1 minute ago, mrstanley said:

I can make a request August 24.We do an air deviation and I’ll make sure to have my top three air routes to submit.

 

So no need to have a TA contact Regent Air anymore. 

No need but as a TA, I found it easiest to pass my info to a Regent Rep. who input it directly into the system. DO NOT WAIT to do this. I had no idea how long it would take and was unable to finalize air to my satisfaction before my final pay date. My fault for not knowing how long it would take....plan on 10-20 business days depending on how many times you have to go back and forth. If you give them all possible info, including your TSA and FF accounts, you will get back your quote and possibly options in the NOTES section at the bottom of the form. The more info you give them, the faster this process will be.

 

[mrstanley]

This new process is going to be very difficult for people who are not experienced in researching flights. 

[mrstanley]

I can submit flights August 24.

Final payment for that cruise is November 24. Hopefully it won’t take three months to get flights booked !

[BQEC]

38 minutes ago, mrstanley said:

This new process is going to be very difficult for people who are not experienced in researching flights. 

Agreed.

[BQEC]

36 minutes ago, mrstanley said:

I can submit flights August 24.

Final payment for that cruise is November 24. Hopefully it won’t take three months to get flights booked !

Curious about August 24th?

[mrstanley]

BQEC:

 

We have a cruise April 2023

We deviate so we can request flights the end of August 2022. 

[RetroRod]

Just checked my account. No place to customize air travel. I’ll see if my TA can shed any light on this “new and improved” process. This shouldn’t be this hard!

[BQEC]

10 minutes ago, RetroRod said:

Just checked my account. No place to customize air travel. I’ll see if my TA can shed any light on this “new and improved” process. This shouldn’t be this hard!

Kindly see post #57  I hope that this helps. 

[RetroRod]

Reviewed post#57. In my account, for a cruise in May 2023, I have Customize Shore Excursions, Customize Butler Service and Roundtrip Air, NO CUSTOMIZE TAB. Do you have to be within the 270 day window to get that tab?? Sure would be nice if Regent was a little more forthcoming with info. Jennefer what say you???

[BQEC]

10 hours ago, RetroRod said:

Reviewed post#57. In my account, for a cruise in May 2023, I have Customize Shore Excursions, Customize Butler Service and Roundtrip Air, NO CUSTOMIZE TAB. Do you have to be within the 270 day window to get that tab?? Sure would be nice if Regent was a little more forthcoming with info. Jennefer what say you???

It is here:

CUSTOMIZE YOUR VOYAGE *

* CUSTOMIZATION IS OPTIONAL

ROUNDTRIP 
AIRFARE

Your trip includes:

Round-trip airfare for two, from PHL

Submit Custom Air Request

CUSTOMIZE

[Mike Moore]

Some clarification for you all - the Custom Air Request is available within the My Account area as shown above *IF* you booked directly with us. If you booked through a Travel Agent, only they have access to the form. For any items that possibly create a change in the cost of the cruise fare, our policy is that if you have booked through a Travel Agent, the request has to come in through that Travel Agent.

[BQEC]

 

Post # 35 from Regent

@RetroRod  Thank you for reaching out to me. To clarify, due to all the reasons pointed out in Jason Montague's video posted on this thread, the Custom Air Department is experiencing a very high volume of phone calls to their direct number, which is causing very long hold times - and the majority of the calls they are taking are for new requests. As these new requests can be taken by our general reservations agents, by routing the calls to that larger team instead, we are freeing up the Custom Air agents to be able to work with the airlines on all of the requests in the queue. As Jason also mentioned, in the next week we’ll also be launching the online form for Custom Air requests to further alleviate the need to call to submit a request.

Regent has almost doubled the amount of our air agents and continues to hire more, however training takes time as each airline has different classes of service for contracts, plus we have certain time windows, based on ships departures guest must arrive within. 

If flights are cancelled day of, the airlines take complete control of the inventory and route guests accordingly.  If guests do have an emergency during our hours of operation, our reservation team will connect them to an air agent.  Outside of our normal business hours, for emergency services, guests can call our regular 800 number and press 7, and be connected to our afterhours emergency service group.     I hope this provides additional clarity. Thanks all for your patience! 

 

Jennefer Teegen | Director of Guest Experience and Loyalty
P: +1 954.940.7217 

jteegen@rssc.com| www.rssc.com

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

7300 Corporate Drive, Miami  FL 33126

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, BQEC said:

 

 

Post # 35 from Regent

@RetroRod  Thank you for reaching out to me. To clarify, due to all the reasons pointed out in Jason Montague's video posted on this thread, the Custom Air Department is experiencing a very high volume of phone calls to their direct number, which is causing very long hold times - and the majority of the calls they are taking are for new requests. As these new requests can be taken by our general reservations agents, by routing the calls to that larger team instead, we are freeing up the Custom Air agents to be able to work with the airlines on all of the requests in the queue. As Jason also mentioned, in the next week we’ll also be launching the online form for Custom Air requests to further alleviate the need to call to submit a request.

Regent has almost doubled the amount of our air agents and continues to hire more, however training takes time as each airline has different classes of service for contracts, plus we have certain time windows, based on ships departures guest must arrive within. 

If flights are cancelled day of, the airlines take complete control of the inventory and route guests accordingly.  If guests do have an emergency during our hours of operation, our reservation team will connect them to an air agent.  Outside of our normal business hours, for emergency services, guests can call our regular 800 number and press 7, and be connected to our afterhours emergency service group.     I hope this provides additional clarity. Thanks all for your patience! 

 

Jennefer Teegen | Director of Guest Experience and Loyalty
P: +1 954.940.7217 

jteegen@rssc.com| www.rssc.com

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

7300 Corporate Drive, Miami  FL 33126

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Email what you want to your TA, they will email it to their Regent contact who will populate the form and send it on. Include your TSA and FF account numbers as well as a backup flight plan. It will take about 10 business days for the first reply and more time if you have further questions. Plan on this.

 

[pingpong1]

57 minutes ago, Mike Moore said:

Some clarification for you all - the Custom Air Request is available within the My Account area as shown above *IF* you booked directly with us. If you booked through a Travel Agent, only they have access to the form. For any items that possibly create a change in the cost of the cruise fare, our policy is that if you have booked through a Travel Agent, the request has to come in through that Travel Agent.

Mike - Thanks so much for stepping in and clarifying.  That now makes a lot of sense and should put many questions to rest (but probably not all questions).  For myself, I really appreciate Regent staff, such as yourself, "monitoring" these pages and offering their insight and relevant information, when they feel it's appropriate.  I appreciate you doing that.  Best Regards.