Flights by Celebrity - will have to see how it turns out!

[kdkstormy]

I booked our flights from Vancouver to Miami return through Celebrity.  Normally I book my own, but with COVID-19 I thought I would go this route this time.

 

All was good until Friday.  Got an email that the departure changed from 6:30am to 6:00 am.  No big deal.  I was away for a few days and when I got home, hubby asks, what's with the 23:30 departure the night before?    WE DO NOT DO RED EYE FLIGHTS!  We did one on our honeymoon 20 years ago and never again!

 

I called Flights By Celebrity today while waiting for a flight at the Vancouver airport for a work trip to Niagara Falls.  All they would do was take my name and number and said they would call me back.  Of course they called while I was in the air on the plane.  Said they would call back.... nothing yet.

 

Good news on two fronts.  This is for a November cruise so lots of time to figure it out.  The other is I figured out they changes the same flights to go to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami so still doable.  Just a bit more of an Uber fee to get to our Air BNB we booked! 🙂 

 

 

[mom says]

Given the current state of most of the airlines, you can likely expect several more changes in your flights if you still have 5 months to wait. Using a 3rd party like Flights by Celebrity only adds an extra llayer of complexity. You'll need to be patient. I've found a judicious use of alcohol helps while waiting on the phone.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Celebrity Air is a consolidator.   Suggest you read some of the dozens of threads about it.  You do not pay until final booking but also are not immediately ticketed

You likely will have more changes.  The good news is you have a price when airline fares are climbing.

FWIW we booked flights with the airlines.  Tucson to Reykjavik Iceland 11 months ago.  There have been at least 6 changes.  Thus as suggested you need to relax and be flexible or wait until things settle down before traveling. 

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

4 hours ago, mom says said:

Given the current state of most of the airlines, you can likely expect several more changes in your flights if you still have 5 months to wait. Using a 3rd party like Flights by Celebrity only adds an extra llayer of complexity. You'll need to be patient. I've found a judicious use of alcohol helps while waiting on the phone.

 

Given the amount of nonsensical changes with flights by Celebrity Air, perhaps non-judicious use of alcohol would be a better approach.

[RickT]

Please keep in mind that Celebrity did not change your flights, the airline did. Before speaking with Celebrity I would go to the airlines website and see if your original flights still exist (they likely do not). While there see if there is a routing you find more suitable and when you speak with Celebrity see if they can change you to that routing.  

If your current airline doesn’t have a route you like use one of the usual travel sites (or Google flights) to see if there is a routing you prefer.  

 

Once armed with your preferred options you can then see if Celebrity can accommodate your request.  You can also see if canceling your flights and rebooking directly with the airline is a possible option.  
 

 

[D. B.]

Flights by Celebrity Only books airline flights that are Refundable. Also they do not offer Basic Economy flights.

    You may find cheaper flights on an Airlines site but they are non refundable or Basic Economy.

if you see a cheaper price for the flights you have reserved with F B C they will try to get it for you.

  They have been offering discount flights for New Bookings (we got a cheaper rate to fly SFO-London then SFO- Miami!) but if you look on Flights for the cruise you have already booked months ago and call to see if you can get the cheaper price they tell you it’s Only for New Bookings.

[Dar & Bob]

Just curious, when you booked the flights by Celebrity do you compare them with the airline's prices. I am starting to look at flights for our Norway cruise next May.  I can't get the return on the airline site and only some returns are available on Celebrity's site.  So I put in a one way flight for comparison and whet it appears is that the Celebrity price compares to the airlines price for a refundable price.  Other than the obvious that we have to pay for the flight up front, I'm not seeing a real advantage to using Celbrity to book. Just wondering if anyone else is comparing and seeing the same.  

[Arizona Wildcat]

16 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Just curious, when you booked the flights by Celebrity do you compare them with the airline's prices. I am starting to look at flights for our Norway cruise next May.  I can't get the return on the airline site and only some returns are available on Celebrity's site.  So I put in a one way flight for comparison and whet it appears is that the Celebrity price compares to the airlines price for a refundable price.  Other than the obvious that we have to pay for the flight up front, I'm not seeing a real advantage to using Celbrity to book. Just wondering if anyone else is comparing and seeing the same.  

Hopefully everyone compares.  Not paying today is often the only real benefit.  However, the ability to cancel and change in the coming months might be excellent today.  Many airlines are not releasing schedules almost a year ahead.  Either way you can expect changes in your scheduled flights.

[Bruin Steve]

Yeah...it's the airlines.  Flights by Celebrity just books them.  Actually, Celebrity would prefer the airlines didn't cancel and reschedule...less work for them.  But, especially with the pandemic, airlines have been doing this more and more.

 

We've always checked against booking direct.  We've, at times, found cheaper flights through kayak or expedia...but not by much...and with horrendous flight schedules...and having to pay in full at booking with no refunds...and those woud likely get canceled or rescheduled as well.

 

We've booked two upcoming trips mostly through Celebrity/Royal Caribbean: 

1)  Our August Vision of the Seas-Med and Summit Iceland Greenland...We need to fly LAX- BCN, BCN-EF and BOS-LAX .  Since we originally booked it with Celebrity/RCCL Air, every leg has changed.  But Celebrity Air has worked with us each time...and our flight times have actually improved.

2) Our April Celebrity Infinity Transatlantic/Symphony of the Seas W. Med.  We're flying LAX-Rio de Janeiro and BCN-LAX with Celebrity.  Only our Lisbon-BCN leg is direct with TAP Airlines as our price and nonstop availability was much better. But we are risking paying for that leg in advance.

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Bruin Steve

[D. B.]

Big incentive for booking with Flights by Celebrity is their Emergency help if problems arise on or during your flights.

twice they have helped me get to my overseas destination when the airline screwed up!

once going SFO to Rome the first leg SFO to Chicago was canceled 1 hour before departure due to weather by United!

called Celebrity in a panic and they arranged a short flight to LAX on American with a non stop from there to Rome on Alitalia. When we arrived in Rome a Celebrity agent was waiting with a big sign with our name on it and a driver in a limo to rush us to the Ship!

if we had booked directly with United we would Not of had that level of service!

   If the price of a flight booked with FBC drops before final payment they will get me the lower price. If the airline Raises the Price my original FBC Price is locked in.

In  2019 I booked a flight directly with Air New Zealand for a 2020 transatlantic cruise return flight London-SFO. The cruise was cancelled and Air New Zealand gave me a One Year time frame to use my credit. Well they stopped flying Internationally so my credit expired.

   I’m sticking with Flights by Celebrity!

[goofysmom99]

Yesterday I booked a TA from Italy for this Oct.  FBC has Delta coach seats for $114 with seat selection!  I travel solo and always book two seats so I won't be scrunched next to a stranger (two bad experiences on flights to Rome).  The $114 fare is restricted to one seat per name on the cruise booking.  Rats.  At $114, I was going to book the whole row of three!  Ended up booking directly using miles and upgrading.

[neverlaysup]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:41 PM, kdkstormy said:

I booked our flights from Vancouver to Miami return through Celebrity.  Normally I book my own, but with COVID-19 I thought I would go this route this time.

 

All was good until Friday.  Got an email that the departure changed from 6:30am to 6:00 am.  No big deal.  I was away for a few days and when I got home, hubby asks, what's with the 23:30 departure the night before?    WE DO NOT DO RED EYE FLIGHTS!  We did one on our honeymoon 20 years ago and never again!

 

I called Flights By Celebrity today while waiting for a flight at the Vancouver airport for a work trip to Niagara Falls.  All they would do was take my name and number and said they would call me back.  Of course they called while I was in the air on the plane.  Said they would call back.... nothing yet.

 

Good news on two fronts.  This is for a November cruise so lots of time to figure it out.  The other is I figured out they changes the same flights to go to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami so still doable.  Just a bit more of an Uber fee to get to our Air BNB we booked! 🙂 

 

 

This is the exact reason I will not book FBC. The flexibility you have in dealing with the airlines yourself is so much better than relying on FBC. Too many stories of 12-20 hour changes, different airports 40 miles apart and splitting groups of 4 onto 3 different flights. No thank you.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

14 hours ago, D. B. said:

Big incentive for booking with Flights by Celebrity is their Emergency help if problems arise on or during your flights.

twice they have helped me get to my overseas destination when the airline screwed up!

once going SFO to Rome the first leg SFO to Chicago was canceled 1 hour before departure due to weather by United!

called Celebrity in a panic and they arranged a short flight to LAX on American with a non stop from there to Rome on Alitalia. When we arrived in Rome a Celebrity agent was waiting with a big sign with our name on it and a driver in a limo to rush us to the Ship!

if we had booked directly with United we would Not of had that level of service!

   If the price of a flight booked with FBC drops before final payment they will get me the lower price. If the airline Raises the Price my original FBC Price is locked in.

In  2019 I booked a flight directly with Air New Zealand for a 2020 transatlantic cruise return flight London-SFO. The cruise was cancelled and Air New Zealand gave me a One Year time frame to use my credit. Well they stopped flying Internationally so my credit expired.

   I’m sticking with Flights by Celebrity!

Was this recently? It's a different situation today as has been reported by other cruisers. Airline flight changes are happening all the time and Celebrity will "help you get to the ship" but there are no guarantees. I know as it happened to a cruising friend and they missed their Transatlantic cruise and had little to no help from Flights by Celebrity/Air2Sea.  

 

[D. B.]

I had a FBC booked flight from SFO to Miami (with a stop in Atlanta) last January. The flight from SFO to ATL was delayed due to a mechanical problem on the takeoff. We returned to the gate and it ended up a 2 hour delay . I called FBC and told them I would miss my connection to MIA. About then the flight attendant made me turn off my phone because the cabin door was closed.

Arriving at ATL I was met by an Airline rep. Who had my New arrangements printed out to get me to MIA with a short delay in my planned arrival.

When I ask how? I was told it was all arranged by FBC while I was on my delayed flight from SFO.

I appreciate that level of service.

 

[kdkstormy]

So as an update on my flight situation.  They didn't try calling again as they said they would so I called Monday morning at 8:30 and again gave my number for a call back.  They said it would be 2 to 3 hours for a return call.  They finally called me at 5pm.

 

I spent over a half hour on the phone.  I told the person I wanted the flights that were now going to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami - she obviously wasn't listening to me and quoted me new flights completely for more money of course.  I said again I wanted the times I had originally but now going to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami.  She finally got it.  Said she would put a request into Air Canada for the change and if approved, the change would be at no extra cost.  She then said she was having system issues and would call back in a few minutes.  She didn't call back.

 

I called again yesterday and actually got through to a person after about 15 minutes on hold.  They were able to look into it right away.  She looked at the notes and the request was put in to Air Canada and it could take up to 7 days to get a response.    

 

Now it is a waiting game.  

[kdkstormy]

On 6/15/2022 at 11:23 AM, kdkstormy said:

So as an update on my flight situation.  They didn't try calling again as they said they would so I called Monday morning at 8:30 and again gave my number for a call back.  They said it would be 2 to 3 hours for a return call.  They finally called me at 5pm.

 

I spent over a half hour on the phone.  I told the person I wanted the flights that were now going to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami - she obviously wasn't listening to me and quoted me new flights completely for more money of course.  I said again I wanted the times I had originally but now going to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami.  She finally got it.  Said she would put a request into Air Canada for the change and if approved, the change would be at no extra cost.  She then said she was having system issues and would call back in a few minutes.  She didn't call back.

 

I called again yesterday and actually got through to a person after about 15 minutes on hold.  They were able to look into it right away.  She looked at the notes and the request was put in to Air Canada and it could take up to 7 days to get a response.    

 

Now it is a waiting game.  

 

Further update - got a notification from Air Canada that we needed to action on our flight changes - after a few attempts calling them (they were so busy - couldn't even sit on hold) was finally able to leave call back number yesterday.  They called me back a couple hours later and I was able to change the flights to the original times departing YVR at 6am flying to Fort Lauderdale through Toronto. 

 

Went and checked my Tripcase app to ensure all populated - and the return flights from Miami are screwed up!  Had no notification of a change by Flights by Celebrity.  Was departure from Miami at 7am, change planes in Houston, and to YVR at 12:30pm.  Now there is an additional stop in San Francisco with arrival in YVR at 6:40pm - now to get on the phone again!

[RTR 21-0]

Kdkstormy, have been following your posts and am further happy with our decision to book directly with AA.  Hope your nightmare bookings and re-bookings work out for you.