Pros and cons using Celebrity Air

[jagoffee]

21 hours ago, kenb said:

I received a confirmation email right after I made my flight arrangements with Celebrity air. It included the locator. I went to the United site and was able to pick seats. I went to the AA site and they had my reservation but would not allow me to pick seats until it was paid.

You might want to make sure your FF number is reflected on you AA reservation on AA.com.

19 hours ago, dream2cruise said:

We booked first class nonstop flights on AA through Celebrity Air with a TA and selected seats 2A and 2C.  AA had several flight time changes prior to final cruise payment.  We never bothered to check our seats until final payment was done.  We are now seated on row 4 and no longer next to one another.  No other first class seats are available.  We are hoping passengers seated next to us will be accommodating and allow us to switch.  Why in the world would AA or Celebrity separate a married couple especially in the age of COVID?  Those airline tickets were a huge splurge for us.

You should keep checking for seat availability, because people cancel frequently. You can use AA.com.  

Expert Flyer is a subscription based tool that you can use to seat up a seat alert.  I even use it to make sure my own seat does not become available.  
what is your flight number and date of your flight?  Good luck.  

[chilliano]

I report back.  As mentioned, I never received a confirmation from Celebrity Flights, so I called after a couple hours.  The helpful agent gave me the code and I was able to easily find the reservation on the United Web Site.

 

The reservations were NOT tied to our Frequent Flier numbers, but interestingly, our known traveler numbers were there and correct.  No matter, I added my husband's number only b/c he has a high status w/ United.  Lo and behold, I was able to book our seats at his status (i.e., exit row seats at no charge).  I was worried about whether I would be able to "tag along" at his status since the reservation was not made on the United website w/his log-in.  Was it because I only put in his FF number?  Who knows but I was covering my bases.

 

To answer a question on another thread, yes, our reservation is showing these tickets as having no luggage fees.  This did not show up right away.  Instead, I got a message on the website to check back later for estimated baggage fees "when this reservation is ticketed."  The next day, I see that there are no luggage fees.  

 

The fare was more than $200 less per person with Celebrity air than booking directly on United.  Can't believe I never checked cruise air before.  But from reading others' experiences, a discount is not always possible.

 

And in case anyone is interested in whether upgrades would be possible on long-haul flights, this ticket is showing as "no upgrades possible" when I experimented with clicking on a first class seat.  I've seen other reports of people saying they upgraded their seats on the airline website.

 

What's the lesson?  I'm not sure if there's a rhyme or a reason as people report different experiences.  Maybe it's luck.  Maybe the difference is what short of frequent flyer status you have (as opposed to having the airline credit card).    Bottom line, since these tickets are cancellable, it seems worth it me to go ahead and make the reservation and then see if you can select your seats, whether you'll have luggage fees, etc.  And as someone else mentioned, as a customer, do due diligence.  Double-check that your frequent flyer number is entered.  If you have a known traveler number, be sure it's there too.  All of this can be checked on the airline web site.

[doktor71]

I have a friend who has booked Celebrity Air.  It is for April 2023,  on AA/BA.  She has tried all suggestions posted and has contacted AA and BA separately and keeps being told no seats until you pay in full.  She also has gotten a no from Celebrity.  Anyone have any magic statement that might help getting her seats!

[Dar & Bob]

7 minutes ago, doktor71 said:

I have a friend who has booked Celebrity Air.  It is for April 2023,  on AA/BA.  She has tried all suggestions posted and has contacted AA and BA separately and keeps being told no seats until you pay in full.  She also has gotten a no from Celebrity.  Anyone have any magic statement that might help getting her seats!

What fare did she book ?

[the_dylaness]

I used FBC for the first, and last time in June.

I spent 17 hours on the phone with them over a 6 week span to fix THEIR problem.

Never, ever, ever again.

[Jim_Iain]

One recent CON that was the subject of a thread is using a Credit Card that give you free luggage with an airline.    Since they were paying Celebrity and not charging their ticket directly with the airline they were refused the free bag allowance. 

[Jim_Iain]

One of the Pro's I just recently used was booking a flight for next may from SFO to FLL in First Class.   Prices are really up as we all know.    If you book with FBC you pay nothing until final payment and is canceller without cost or penalty up until final payment date. 

 

Con -  After final payment even if with a fully refundable ticket if you cancel or change there is a $200 PP fee.

 

Even though I just booked it last week I found a really good deal on Chase Sapphire  on American using 1/2 the number of miles all the other airlines are charging.   I booked it.  

 

Con-  Now I have to call and probably have  long wait time to cancel my FBC booking.  (Wish you could cancel online). 

[doktor71]

15 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

What fare did she book ?

They booked premium economy 

[drakes2]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

One recent CON that was the subject of a thread is using a Credit Card that give you free luggage with an airline.    Since they were paying Celebrity and not charging their ticket directly with the airline they were refused the free bag allowance. 

If you have an air canada aeroplan credit card you get 1 piece of checked baggage free but you must book through the airline directly not with a third party.  Always read the fine print before booking. 

[megr1125]

My experience with Flights by Celebrity

 

Yes, I know the ups and downs of booking air through the cruise line.  That said, by booking connecting flights through Celebrity, I was able to afford business class between EWR and FCO for my recently completed cruise on Celebrity Reflection.

 

I was due to fly out on May 9^th at 5:30 PM on SAS via CPH.  At 8:30 AM, I my phone was going crazy with notifications that my flight was cancelled.  I do this for a living so I wasn’t TOO crazy (ok, a little.  If a client’s plans go south, I’m good.  My own?  Eh, pass me a glass of wine.)

 

I called SAS on one phone and X on the other.  Celebrity’s emergency day of travel department was useless, as was the email they sent me (I pasted it below!)  Celebrity still would have me on hold and I’ve been home for a few days. 

 

Anyway, SAS said “Oh, Mrs., no problem.  The only issue is you now leave 10 minutes later.  BUT you get in 5 hours sooner since we moved you to the 5:45 PM nonstop on United to FCO from Newark and you’re still in business class.  WHEW!  Again, CRICKETS from Celebrity.  I was happy to cool my heels in the Polaris lounge at EWR for 5 hours or so since UA allowed me to check in and check bags very early.  I also like to arrive at airports ridiculously early but that is just me.  (BTW, while I'm not a lounge expert, I thought this one was super nice and the sit-down restaurant a nice touch.  The new UA lounge opened last week but I haven't seen it yet.)

 

On my return, my FCO-LHR on BA was delayed around 2 hours or so due to a bird strike when the aircraft landed in Rome.  Again, no issue for me, safety first and the crew, gate agents and turnaround supervisor did their best to keep us updated.  Of course, there were a LOT of angry people but yelling at those who have no control over birds or weather or whatever is just wrong.)

 

However, due to this delay, I would miss my connection at LHR to EWR.  I didn’t find this out until we were in the air to London.  Again, Celebrity sends the same vague email and did NOTHING to fix the situation.  BA rebooked me into JFK which is a royal pain as it’s hard to get home to central NJ even though it’s only about 75 miles.  (I do not understand the phrase “pack light”).  I had MAYBE 35 minutes to connect at LHR including getting a new boarding pass, passport control, security and riding the tram to the correct set of gates.  They gave me a 10GBP voucher for food that I wasn’t able to use-no time.  Thankfully, I was able to eat on the plane.  British Airways had a special rep with a stack of boarding passes at the customer service desk and mine was all set for me.  Others, who’d missed the last flight out to their destination likely got housed in London.  The line was 50 people long.  I would rather have been housed in London and given a choice of airports.  I would have selected PHL, BWI or even IAD over JFK as I can easily access Amtrak from those to get home. 

 

 I paid for my own hotel near JFK and asked BA about paying to get me to EWR.  Long story short, I got the RIGHT person as they did (even though at first, the voucher was for the wrong amount, and I had to get a new one the next day.  That’s another story, I’ll spare you.)

 

The agent who helped me at JFK said that had I not already arranged my hotel, she could probably have gotten it covered for me but I’ll try to get travel insurance to pay (or BA, even though my total delay was a LITTLE under what they consider “late”).

 

Again, I knew what I was buying but I am very lucky that, aside from ending up at JFK, things went fairly smoothly.  My issue is directly with Flights by Celebrity.  I got this same email for each cancellation and NEVER got my updated info from them.  I did send an email, as well as copied what they sent me, to my sales manager who agreed that this is not acceptable.

 

Funny thing is, I’d noticed the outbound SAS flight being cancelled a few times and I made a list of 20 options (there were literally 3 times that many I think) to get me to FCO in time. (I flew in 3 days ahead of a cruise).  They put me on the one that was the top of my list, which is funny in hindsight as I said to myself, “there’s no way they’ll send you nonstop if they cancel your flight.”  Yet they did.

 

Perhaps it worked out well for me due to EU rules and me being on foreign carriers.  I just wanted to share my frustration with the horrible communication from the cruise line.  And my advice is knowing your options, get on the phone, be nice, be patient and be flexible.  I got the email below one hour after I knew the flight was cancelled, and 45 minutes after SAS told me I was rebooked. 

 

For ALL flights, both those on BA and SAS, I was able to select my seats ( I was in Biz class) at booking for no fee.  I did pay for the air before final payment and asked for it to be ticketed early but I was able to manage my flights via the carriers' websites, albeit sometimes without logging into my account and only using my name and PNR.

 

I will use Flights by Celebrity again BUT I will monitor my flights like crazy and NOT wait for nor expect them to be of much use in fixing things.  

 

Passenger(s): MEGR1125

Flights By Celebrity Record Locator:

Scandinavian Airlines Booking Locator:

Cruise Booking Confirmation Number(s):

Ship Name: REFLECTION

Sail Date: 13MAY22

Dear Guest,

As part of our commitment to ensure a seamless travel experience, we would like to advise that your itinerary has been affected by an airline schedule change for your upcoming Flights By Celebrity reservation. This change could include anything, but not limited to, flight cancellation, departure/arrival time, aircraft type, or flight number.

We are in receipt of this change and will work on it as soon as possible, however due to industry irregularities, we are delayed in meeting our targets for finalizing these revisions. We have prioritized these changes based on travel dates, but rest assured we will action all impacted schedule changes as soon as possible.

There is no need to call us as we are currently experiencing extremely high call volumes. We will automatically send the updated flight details to your email once finalized. The timeline below outlines when you can expect to receive your updated flight details:

Travel within 30 days – 48 hours turnaround

Travel within 60 days – 7 day turnaround

Travel greater than 60 days – 30 day turnaround

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to work with the airline carriers in accommodating your flights.

Sincerely,

Flights By Celebrity

[RTR 21-0]

On 6/22/2022 at 2:25 PM, doktor71 said:

I have a friend who has booked Celebrity Air.  It is for April 2023,  on AA/BA.  She has tried all suggestions posted and has contacted AA and BA separately and keeps being told no seats until you pay in full.  She also has gotten a no from Celebrity.  Anyone have any magic statement that might help getting her seats!

Last week I booked a May 2023 flight on AA/BA through Celebrity Air.  The agent on the phone selected my seats on each flight but making sure I knew they wouldn't be guaranteed until final payment was made.  She gave me the record locator information noting that BA was a different number.  While we were on the phone I went to both the AA and BA websites, put in the locator info and saw our seats were x'd out.  If I'm not mistaken I think when I entered the BA locator info it took me to the BA website and there was a section to the right of the screen to choose seats.  A screen popped up asking if it was ok to share seat selection with AA.  Hope that helps.  

[doktor71]

What class service did you book

[Gracie115]

On 6/13/2022 at 3:37 PM, 39august said:

Depends on the airline whether you can select seats. I always have. Never had to use help on delays. However I like that payment is not due until cruise final pay date, that you can change or cancel at no charge up until that date, and if the price goes down you can get that adjustment. 

 

Can you select seats on air you have booked but don't pay for until final pay?

[lorimay]

I booked with FBC last week for an upcoming October cruise. ITA has a non-stop from MIA - FCO. Last week if I booked it as an ITA flight the cost was $50 one way. As a Delta code share operated by ITA it was $240. FBC said that if we booked Delta we got one extra bag and could reserve seats (plus the frequent flyer miles) so we booked that. Found out today that I can't book seats in advance for the flight. Delta says ITA has to do it and ITA says no seats until we show up at the gate. But the prices have gone way up - the ITA flight is now over $250 and the Delta $450. So apparently I paid extra for basically nothing. Not happy. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Can you select seats on air you have booked but don't pay for until final pay?

I think it depends on the the Airline and possibly the class of service.  I have been able to book seats for Business Class flights I booked with FBC on United, American, ANA and Lufthansa before final payment was made.  I had to use the Airline Booking Number (not FBC's Booking Number) by searching on the airline site.   It didn't automatically show in my account until final payment was made.

[Arizona Wildcat]

6 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Can you select seats on air you have booked but don't pay for until final pay?

Delta economy - no.  United economy - sometimes.  American first class - yes.  Alaska - yes (we have status).  Others do not know.

 

Thus maybe.

[Gracie115]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I think it depends on the the Airline and possibly the class of service.  I have been able to book seats for Business Class flights I booked with FBC on United, American, ANA and Lufthansa before final payment was made.  I had to use the Airline Booking Number (not FBC's Booking Number) by searching on the airline site.   It didn't automatically show in my account until final payment was made.

 

Thanks, we booked business with TAP Portugal, but pretty uneasy about it now due to some reviews I've read.  Can't bring the reservation up through TAP site, may just cancel and find a different airline.  

 

If anyone here has any experience with TAP I'd like to hear about it. 

[Dr65]

I’m thinking about an Edge cruise in August but as we all know airfare has become very expensive. I find fares on the FBC website and then call them and they say those fares have not been updated and then proceed to give me a Premium Economy fare double what I can get through the airline! Huh? I ask to speak to a supevisor(on hold for 1/2 hour then(of course) hung up on. I wanted to check air before booking the cruise because air from LAX to Rome is as much(or more) than the cruise.  So, are these fares on the FBC website a fantasy? Anyone have similar issues? Thanks, Gary

[megr1125]

1 hour ago, Dr65 said:

I’m thinking about an Edge cruise in August but as we all know airfare has become very expensive. I find fares on the FBC website and then call them and they say those fares have not been updated and then proceed to give me a Premium Economy fare double what I can get through the airline! Huh? I ask to speak to a supevisor(on hold for 1/2 hour then(of course) hung up on. I wanted to check air before booking the cruise because air from LAX to Rome is as much(or more) than the cruise.  So, are these fares on the FBC website a fantasy? Anyone have similar issues? Thanks, Gary

You can just add it yourself on their website.  Sometimes they will change a little bit but generally, if it's there, that's what it is.  Once you book it though you can't change it on line, you have to call in.  It's live pricing as far as I know.  When I was looking at one the other day, it was the same as United's site and once I put it on hold (on UA's site using FareLock) it went up right away.

 

YMMV but the times I've used it, the fare is the fare. SOMETIMES if you see a cheaper fare after you book, it might flake out.  In that case, I called and had the air removed totally (it was refundable and outside final) and then added it back myself.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, Dr65 said:

I’m thinking about an Edge cruise in August but as we all know airfare has become very expensive. I find fares on the FBC website and then call them and they say those fares have not been updated and then proceed to give me a Premium Economy fare double what I can get through the airline! Huh? I ask to speak to a supevisor(on hold for 1/2 hour then(of course) hung up on. I wanted to check air before booking the cruise because air from LAX to Rome is as much(or more) than the cruise.  So, are these fares on the FBC website a fantasy? Anyone have similar issues? Thanks, Gary

Only booked FBC once when desperate as my flights were canceled they did the booking but I had to walk the agent through the process. 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

On 6/20/2022 at 3:47 PM, dream2cruise said:

We booked first class nonstop flights on AA through Celebrity Air with a TA and selected seats 2A and 2C.  AA had several flight time changes prior to final cruise payment.  We never bothered to check our seats until final payment was done.  We are now seated on row 4 and no longer next to one another.  No other first class seats are available.  We are hoping passengers seated next to us will be accommodating and allow us to switch.  Why in the world would AA or Celebrity separate a married couple especially in the age of COVID?  Those airline tickets were a huge splurge for us.

In today's world it's up to the consumer to be vigilant and check your seat assignment every time you're notified of a flight time change. Many times the plane is also be changed. We're on our 4th change for a return flight after a TA in October. Good thing I'm checking as I had to choose seats.....again. 

[dream2cruise]

1 hour ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

In today's world it's up to the consumer to be vigilant and check your seat assignment every time you're notified of a flight time change. Many times the plane is also be changed. We're on our 4th change for a return flight after a TA in October. Good thing I'm checking as I had to choose seats.....again. 

I’m checking daily to see if any seats open up for us.

[the_dylaness]

10 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Thanks, we booked business with TAP Portugal, but pretty uneasy about it now due to some reviews I've read.  Can't bring the reservation up through TAP site, may just cancel and find a different airline.  

 

If anyone here has any experience with TAP I'd like to hear about it. 

 

Run, don't walk.

 

Our October 2020 one-way TAP flight from ORD to Barcelona was cancelled (unsurprisingly, and I understand and accept why, I just waited on them to cancel so I could get my money back as we obviously were not going on our TA cruise...).  I did not get my money back, despite hours on the phone, many requests, etc etc etc until December 2021.  Yes, that's right, 15 months later.  I also ONLY got it back as early as I did because I finally opened a Twitter account and waged war on them, essentially spamming their account, retweeting my posts (most of which were something like "Hey TAP you cancelled my flight more than a year ago and I'm still waiting on a refund? Please send my money back, confirmation code ABCDEF") to WaPO Travel, cruise sites, Portugal travel sites, etc etc.  When they'd make a post like "Come see the beautiful beaches on TAP Air Portugal" I would write back "I'd love to book a trip to a beach ANYWHERE but since TAP Air Portugal stole all my money for 15 months I can't go anywhere, please refund me, ABCDEF...". It took about 5-7 days of this and I got my $.

 

[Gracie115]

41 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

 

Run, don't walk.

 

Our October 2020 one-way TAP flight from ORD to Barcelona was cancelled (unsurprisingly, and I understand and accept why, I just waited on them to cancel so I could get my money back as we obviously were not going on our TA cruise...).  I did not get my money back, despite hours on the phone, many requests, etc etc etc until December 2021.  Yes, that's right, 15 months later.  I also ONLY got it back as early as I did because I finally opened a Twitter account and waged war on them, essentially spamming their account, retweeting my posts (most of which were something like "Hey TAP you cancelled my flight more than a year ago and I'm still waiting on a refund? Please send my money back, confirmation code ABCDEF") to WaPO Travel, cruise sites, Portugal travel sites, etc etc.  When they'd make a post like "Come see the beautiful beaches on TAP Air Portugal" I would write back "I'd love to book a trip to a beach ANYWHERE but since TAP Air Portugal stole all my money for 15 months I can't go anywhere, please refund me, ABCDEF...". It took about 5-7 days of this and I got my $.

 

 

Thanks for letting me know your experience.  Two questions--  did you book this through Celebrity Air, or whatever cruiseline you were supposed to be on?    Also, just curious, it took us many months to get our money back from a Princess sailing and only did once we initiated a chargeback on our card, did you try this way to get your money back? I would have been very upset to wait as long as you did too.

[the_dylaness]

1 hour ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Thanks for letting me know your experience.  Two questions--  did you book this through Celebrity Air, or whatever cruiseline you were supposed to be on?    Also, just curious, it took us many months to get our money back from a Princess sailing and only did once we initiated a chargeback on our card, did you try this way to get your money back? I would have been very upset to wait as long as you did too.

 

My TAP flights were booked directly with the airline, not through any cruise or other travel agent option. 

 

I tried to chargeback on my American Express Platinum... charge too old.