Change in Custom Air Procedures

[RetroRod]

14 minutes ago, pingpong1 said:

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.

Agree with pingpong1. Also, thanks to Pcardad for some good info. 

[mrstanley]

Don’t u think Regent needs to send out a email explaining these new Air procedures.

How is anyone supposed to know all this new information.

 

 

[DeepFreeze63]

FYI:

I recently requested air deviation (through my TA) for Spring 2023 cruise @ 270 day date and received confirmation of my choice 20 days later.

[mrstanley]

Were u able to get the flights you wanted?

 

[RetroRod]

I contacted my TA and she spoke with Regent. Below is what she was told. (Name deleted)
“Just spoke with xxxxx at the cruise desk and she said the form is on the Guest portion under My account.  You can do this only 270 days before departure.”

Maybe that form populates in “My Account” when you hit the 270 days prior.
Please don’t tell me to read post #57 or #55 and #71. The customize air tab in my account is NOT THERE. 

 

[rallydave]

10 hours 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.

RetroRod.   Did you read the quoted post from mike Moore??   You have a TA so no form for you has to come from your TA

[RetroRod]

Rallydave, I have read the Mike Moore post and related it to my TA. My post #80 is what a Regent agent told my TA. A little confusing at best when you get info directly from Regent. 

Edited July 6, 2022 by RetroRod

[DeepFreeze63]

13 hours ago, mrstanley said:

Were u able to get the flights you wanted?

 

Reference: Post # 78 - Yes. I pre-planned on Expedia; gave Regent (via TA) my choice of: 2 airlines,  2 airports for change-over (no scheduled non-stops); minimum 3-hour connection, and asked for BC on both legs.

[Mike Moore]

10 hours ago, RetroRod said:

Rallydave, I have read the Mike Moore post and related it to my TA. My post #80 is what a Regent agent told my TA. A little confusing at best when you get info directly from Regent. 

Apologies for that @RetroRod  - I reached out to that team this morning to ensure they have the correct answer, which is as I stated above. 

[RetroRod]

5 hours ago, Mike Moore said:

Apologies for that @RetroRod  - I reached out to that team this morning to ensure they have the correct answer, which is as I stated above. 

Thanks Mike. Maybe the last 10% of the office will get the memo😊

[Dwtlion]

Question: if my TA informs Regent Air that they can deal directly with me, can the air deviation form be on my account for access and completion?

Like many RSSC passengers, I am an experienced traveler who is particular about flights and airlines. 

To keep passing requests and my answers thru a TA is a total waste of their time! Also, there is a chance that my flight choices may have a surcharge due to fare increases. If I give 3 flight choices, I will want to know the surcharge for each so I can consider going with the lowest surcharge. Why unnecessarily get my TA involved in these decisions? She adds nothing to the process.

[BQEC]

8 minutes ago, Dwtlion said:

Question: if my TA informs Regent Air that they can deal directly with me, can the air deviation form be on my account for access and completion?

Like many RSSC passengers, I am an experienced traveler who is particular about flights and airlines. 

To keep passing requests and my answers thru a TA is a total waste of their time! Also, there is a chance that my flight choices may have a surcharge due to fare increases. If I give 3 flight choices, I will want to know the surcharge for each so I can consider going with the lowest surcharge. Why unnecessarily get my TA involved in these decisions? She adds nothing to the process.

Excellent points.

[Mike Moore]

28 minutes ago, Dwtlion said:

Question: if my TA informs Regent Air that they can deal directly with me, can the air deviation form be on my account for access and completion?

Like many RSSC passengers, I am an experienced traveler who is particular about flights and airlines. 

To keep passing requests and my answers thru a TA is a total waste of their time! Also, there is a chance that my flight choices may have a surcharge due to fare increases. If I give 3 flight choices, I will want to know the surcharge for each so I can consider going with the lowest surcharge. Why unnecessarily get my TA involved in these decisions? She adds nothing to the process.

Unfortunately it cannot. I believe a previous poster mentioned they setup a 3-way call to accomplish this after the TA submitted the initial request.

[Dwtlion]

2 minutes ago, Mike Moore said:

Unfortunately it cannot. I believe a previous poster mentioned they setup a 3-way call to accomplish this after the TA submitted the initial request.

Mike, thanks for your reply. However, I would like to know the reasoning as I am hard pressed to understand unnecessarily burdening TAs. Prior to the advent of the form, I talked directly to the air department. I can't now email them?

[RJ2002]

48 minutes ago, Dwtlion said:

Question: if my TA informs Regent Air that they can deal directly with me, can the air deviation form be on my account for access and completion?

Like many RSSC passengers, I am an experienced traveler who is particular about flights and airlines. 

To keep passing requests and my answers thru a TA is a total waste of their time! Also, there is a chance that my flight choices may have a surcharge due to fare increases. If I give 3 flight choices, I will want to know the surcharge for each so I can consider going with the lowest surcharge. Why unnecessarily get my TA involved in these decisions? She adds nothing to the process.

 

39 minutes ago, BQEC said:

Excellent points.

 

Agree @Dwtlion.   We prefer to deal directly with the Air Department.  Our TA is busy enough already, without having to be the go-between for air matters that we'd prefer to handle ourselves. 

 

@Mike Moore Hope Regent will consider this option.

Edited July 7, 2022 by RJ2002

[BQEC]

9 minutes ago, RJ2002 said:

 

 

Agree @Dwtlion.   We prefer to deal directly with the Air Department.  Our TA is busy enough already, without having to be the go-between for air matters that we'd prefer to handle ourselves.  @Mike Moore Hope Regent will consider this option.

Me too!

[Portolan]

I'd guess the reasoning for only providing access via your TA the (erroneous IMHO) belief that dealing with a professional reduces the burden on Regent.  While that might be true if the customer has no clue how to research or understand hot to evaluate options, it is clearly not true for many of us.  I provide the precise details to my TA who faithfully transacts with Regent, but if there are any questions or issues, she has to get back to us and get our response.  This has, on occasion, consisted of many cycles all of which could have been short-circuited if I were talking directly to the air desk.  Maybe there should be an option to choose an "expert" mode where one acknowledges the issues that may arise and accepts those "risks."  

[Dwtlion]

15 minutes ago, Portolan said:

I'd guess the reasoning for only providing access via your TA the (erroneous IMHO) belief that dealing with a professional reduces the burden on Regent.  While that might be true if the customer has no clue how to research or understand hot to evaluate options, it is clearly not true for many of us.  I provide the precise details to my TA who faithfully transacts with Regent, but if there are any questions or issues, she has to get back to us and get our response.  This has, on occasion, consisted of many cycles all of which could have been short-circuited if I were talking directly to the air desk.  Maybe there should be an option to choose an "expert" mode where one acknowledges the issues that may arise and accepts those "risks."  

Why not let the TA decide if the client is knowledgeable enough to deal directly with Air.

[Pcardad]

25 minutes ago, Dwtlion said:

Why not let the TA decide if the client is knowledgeable enough to deal directly with Air.

Because not all TA's exhibit the same level of judgement and Regent doesn't want any part of that mess.

[Mike Moore]

Afraid I don't have anything more to add, as the "why" is far from my area of expertise.

[mrstanley]

I prefer to deal directly with the Air Department no matter if it’s by email or phone calls. No crazy back and forth with my TA or the Air Department. It should be easy… not hard!

[mrstanley]

In late August I will be submitting my desired flights to Tokyo.

I will know every option for getting there.

Every US airport that has flights.

All the non stop flights 

All airlines that fly there.

Type of aircraft used

 

 

[RetroRod]

I paid in full today for a Dec 22 cruise and took the opportunity to talk with my TA about my May 23 cruise. We went over the new Regent Custom Air form process since that opens up for me on Aug 12 and I wanted a 3-way call. She spoke to Regent to confirm. Below is what she was told

“As for your May2023 cruise, Christopher the agent that I spoke with said that only if you leave 30days or less before departure they would be able to do the phone conference for the air.  He also said, there is no form that he is aware off and I need to call in your air request.

 

It appears my TA gets a different answer to questions every time she speaks to Regent. I’m about ready to just book my own air so I don’t have to deal with Regent. Maybe that’s their goal.😕

 

[BQEC]

3 minutes ago, RetroRod said:

I paid in full today for a Dec 22 cruise and took the opportunity to talk with my TA about my May 23 cruise. We went over the new Regent Custom Air form process since that opens up for me on Aug 12 and I wanted a 3-way call. She spoke to Regent to confirm. Below is what she was told

“As for your May2023 cruise, Christopher the agent that I spoke with said that only if you leave 30days or less before departure they would be able to do the phone conference for the air.  He also said, there is no form that he is aware off and I need to call in your air request.

 

It appears my TA gets a different answer to questions every time she speaks to Regent. I’m about ready to just book my own air so I don’t have to deal with Regent. Maybe that’s their goal.😕

 

Sounds about right!

[mrstanley]

This is insane!

I think all Regent passengers should know exactly what the new procedures are regarding the Air Department.