Extra night in London-help!

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

22 minutes ago, hsheffield said:

the saga continues:

 

I rejected the $5K proposal and said please just book the route/dates for which I've already paid.

 

Return flight from Lisbon booked through a 1 hour layover in Frankfurt.  I'm not at all confident we can make a flight with only 1 hour in between-have these people been to Frankfurt airport?? That's assuming the flights are on time (they were 35 minutes late today.) Not to mention that we are flying 3 hours in the WRONG direction to get back to the States. 

 

Then we're booked from Frankfurt to Dulles, but no flight to our gateway city of Charlotte. 

 

 

With the ongoing problems at airports, a 1 hour layover is unacceptable.  We also had 1 hour layovers when we travelled this past spring and we swore never again to accept flights with less than a 2 hour layover.  One would think they would do what they could to prevent further work on their end if you miss your flight due to a short layover.  Although Silversea came thru for us with regard to honoring our requested carrier and not charging deviation fees, their flight proposals were not ideal.

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

13 hours ago, alithecat said:

@CruzinFeraBruzinwe had a different issue. We are flying from San Francisco to Santiago for an Antarctica cruise. SS routed us through NY going (with a 4.5 hour connection) and Toronto returning. It made no sense for us to risk flying into winter storms. 

That's outrageous.  Surely they had contracted flights available going thru LA, Houston, etc.

[hsheffield]

36 minutes ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

With the ongoing problems at airports, a 1 hour layover is unacceptable.  We also had 1 hour layovers when we travelled this past spring and we swore never again to accept flights with less than a 2 hour layover.  One would think they would do what they could to prevent further work on their end if you miss your flight due to a short layover.  Although Silversea came thru for us with regard to honoring our requested carrier and not charging deviation fees, their flight proposals were not ideal.

Just checked: today's flight into Frankfurt was 52 minutes late. 

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Normally I wouldn’t worry about flying a little in the opposite direction to get a good connection beyond that on such a long flight.  Frankfurt is usually good for that and I prefer it to Heathrow but a one hour layover will never work.  You don’t need as much time when you’re connecting from a Shengen country as you would coming from outside but I wouldn’t settle for less than 1’45” or 2’.  Of course, by October flights could be more on time. How do connections through Munich look?  It’s really getting late to have many good options if you’re flying business.  

[hsheffield]

yes, we're flying business.

 

I've written my TA and hopefully she can work this out to a more satisfactory itinerary.

 

I wish they'd just gotten the Delta flights I asked for when I booked the cruise months ago but my TA says that Delta is not playing nice with vendors these days. So I do have some sympathy for SS. 

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Good luck.  Hope it works out well for you.

[chrism23]

On 7/16/2022 at 8:36 AM, RetiredandTravel said:

We usually stay at the Stafford Hotel, beautiful smaller hotel with a great location (great club sandwich in the bar).  Not the cheapest but better than $1140.

 

https://thestaffordlondon.com/

 

The Stafford is absolutely my hotel of choice in London.  It is small, secluded and without pretense,  They have the famous American Bar where some patrons attach their baseball capes to the ceiling and walls.  There are hundreds, including one of mine from the Hartford Tennis Club.  One other favorite is if you walk out of the Stafford and take two lefts there is the Woolsley.  My favorite restaurant in London, relatively inexpensive for London, it has also become a hangout.  The $1140 figure is outrageous even by London standards.  I imagine you might pay that for a suite in the Savoy or Connaught, whoops I take that back, I just looked at the rates for the Savoy, and the lowest rate for a standard room is $1120.  The Stafford is $460.  I can't believe the prices being charged for 5* hotel.  Stay at the Stafford.  Bring a baseball cap.  .  

 

 

 

[RetiredandTravel]

There are also a few Cigar Merchants (Davidoffs) right around the corner from the Stafford on St James St where you can purchase fine Cuban cigars.  

 

 

 

[Cancun01]

On 7/21/2022 at 6:52 PM, hsheffield said:

Update:

 

Agreed to the $1170 for one night at the Corinthia since I understood that would not incur a deviation fee for changing my flights to get in one day early.

 

Guess what?

 

SS wants to charge $150/person deviation fee for going in a day early despite staying at their hotel.

They also want $1750/person for additional airfare.

 

Grand total: $4900 in extra charges to go one day early.

 

For that much money, I'll take my chances on flight cancelations.

 

 

What you have stated is  our experience in May on the Dawn Barcelona to Rome.  We only had the D2D option.  If you can switch to P2P you may find it much more economical and you will have greater control except you will loose the ss protection.   We wanted to go into Barcelona a few days early.  Even though we used business class air up grade which was really quite reasonable compared to the air on our own and the ss grand hotel we had to pay an air deviation fee even if we went in the day prior to embarkation.  I had great discussions with my high-profile agency  TA and SS about it but we ended up paying it. It does not make sense to me to fly in from North America to Europe the morning of embarkation so why do you have to pay a deviation.  This included a private transfer airport pick up and group transport to the ship.  We had a rebate for the home to airport as Blacklane does not service our city. We also had to pay another deviation air charge  for a 20 minute flight to Montreal as our city is not one of 4 Canadian gateways.  We wanted the Grand hotel in Rome but it was fully booked. We were told if we took a hotel of our choice we would have to pay a hotel deviation unless we stayed at the Simply Hotel.  I wish I had booked my own hotel even with a deviation fee. The Simply hotel was not great.  All this to say I don’t blame you for taking your chances on cancellations.  It was an extremely disappointing experience. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Cancun01

[hsheffield]

Does anyone have the phone number for me to call Silversea Air? 

 

My TA wrote them and they told her that the 1 hr 5 min layover in Frankfurt was the best they could offer. I'd like to call them and see if I can have any luck.

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

We won't arrive in Frankfurt until late and I suspect that if we miss our connection, we'll have to wait until the next day. Does anyone know if Lufthansa or SS would be responsible for a hotel? 

 

I'm afraid I've not been very impressed by the luxury aspect of Silversea. I really hope the wonderfulness of the cruise makes up makes up for all this hassle. 

[Gourmet Gal]

If you’re booking air through SS they are responsible for getting you to the ship.  Your late arrival in FRA could be a problem for rebooking but then flight delays begin to accumulate as the day progresses so you may get lucky. So sorry to hear this is such a problem.

[hsheffield]

thanks Gourmet Gal! I hope we get to meet on the ship.

 

the late arrival into Frankfurt is on the way home from Lisbon. 

We are booked on LH 1167: it wasn't late today as it was last weekend, it was outright canceled.

 

Any idea if SS puts us up in Lisbon in case the outgoing flight is canceled or are we on our own?

 

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Oh, right.  Well, you could ask but they’re responsible for getting you home so I would think they should be on the hook for hotel but worst case, Lisbon hotel prices are very reasonable and there should be plenty of options.  I also don’t think you should have to spend the night at FRA if thngs break down there.  Again, you should speak with SS to discuss options  for the various scenarios.  Best of luck!

 

Look out for us onboard….my DH and I will be traveling with our son and his beautiful fiancé - a young gorgeous couple!

[dawntrdr]

For the record, Lufthansa ground crews announced a one day strike for July 27 so Lufthansa canceled just about every flight for Franfurt and Munich arriving today and tomorrow. 

 

 

 

[cruiseej]

5 hours ago, hsheffield said:

Does anyone have the phone number for me to call Silversea Air?

 

I don't think you can call them. Even our travel agent can't call them; she can only email them. I don't know  if you can communicate with them directly at all; I think you have to go through your TA or SS consultant. 

[chrism23]

I agree with cruiseej.  You cannot call Silversea air directly.  Your SS cruise consultant has to do it.  From my experience, if possible, develop a relationship with your CC.  They will work with their air department in accommodating your needs.  This is essential.  It also matters what kind of relationship your CC has with the air department. Some are better than others.  We have been fortunate to have two CC's over the years who have done just that.  In almost every case we have used them (8) the initial flight selection offered by the air department has been unacceptable for one reason or the other.  What we have to do nearly every time is to receive their initial routing, then do our own research, come up with the best flights for us, then call up our CC and tell him this is what we want.  This has invariably worked.  

[hsheffield]

3 hours ago, chrism23 said:

I agree with cruiseej.  You cannot call Silversea air directly.  Your SS cruise consultant has to do it.  From my experience, if possible, develop a relationship with your CC.  They will work with their air department in accommodating your needs.  This is essential.  It also matters what kind of relationship your CC has with the air department. Some are better than others.  We have been fortunate to have two CC's over the years who have done just that.  In almost every case we have used them (8) the initial flight selection offered by the air department has been unacceptable for one reason or the other.  What we have to do nearly every time is to receive their initial routing, then do our own research, come up with the best flights for us, then call up our CC and tell him this is what we want.  This has invariably worked.  

I've been using a TA and in the past (though I never actually took the cruises bec. of COVID) I was able to get routes that I've proposed. But for this trip (my first cruise ever despite trying for the last 2.5 years) they wanted to charge large amounts of money to book the flights I proposed. My understanding is that the airlines are becoming less willing to enter contracts with the cruise lines though I don't know this for sure. 

 

12 hours ago, dawntrdr said:

For the record, Lufthansa ground crews announced a one day strike for July 27 so Lufthansa canceled just about every flight for Franfurt and Munich arriving today and tomorrow. 

 

 

 

THAT explains it!!

[Cancun01]

17 hours ago, hsheffield said:

Does anyone have the phone number for me to call Silversea Air? 

 

My TA wrote them and they told her that the 1 hr 5 min layover in Frankfurt was the best they could offer. I'd like to call them and see if I can have any luck.

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

We won't arrive in Frankfurt until late and I suspect that if we miss our connection, we'll have to wait until the next day. Does anyone know if Lufthansa or SS would be responsible for a hotel? 

 

I'm afraid I've not been very impressed by the luxury aspect of Silversea. I really hope the wonderfulness of the cruise makes up makes up for all this hassle. 

Our experience is that  you have to deal with Silver air through  your TA who will forward you the email correspondence between the two of them.

 

  It may sound ridiculous (because it is) but in your enquiry you may want to enquire as to any restrictions on hotels if  you must spend the night in Lisbon.  As you are on D2D I would hope ss would be responsible for the hotel if there is a delay but if not and you choose a hotel of your choice …would they charge you a deviation fee.  I am still baffled why on a D2D fare, and ss do not include the hotel, why they charge a hotel deviation fee if you want to stay at a hotel of one’s choice ( even if you want to forfeit the included transfer ) so by extension of their practice who knows what they would do in your case.  If you are responsible, Lufthansa may pick up the tab….but perhaps only if you specifically ask. We have learned that many airlines will quite happily provide compensation but they don’t voluntarily offer….you must specifically ask.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Cancun01

[hsheffield]

On 7/27/2022 at 12:51 PM, Cancun01 said:

Our experience is that  you have to deal with Silver air through  your TA who will forward you the email correspondence between the two of them.

 

  It may sound ridiculous (because it is) but in your enquiry you may want to enquire as to any restrictions on hotels if  you must spend the night in Lisbon.  As you are on D2D I would hope ss would be responsible for the hotel if there is a delay but if not and you choose a hotel of your choice …would they charge you a deviation fee.  I am still baffled why on a D2D fare, and ss do not include the hotel, why they charge a hotel deviation fee if you want to stay at a hotel of one’s choice ( even if you want to forfeit the included transfer ) so by extension of their practice who knows what they would do in your case.  If you are responsible, Lufthansa may pick up the tab….but perhaps only if you specifically ask. We have learned that many airlines will quite happily provide compensation but they don’t voluntarily offer….you must specifically ask.

just checked the stats: our flight from Lisbon to Frankfurt is only on time 20% of the time. it's 'excessively' late 35% of the time. There are no flights connecting to CLT leaving after 5:10 pm. Since we only have an hour window if everything is on time, it's looking likely we'll be spending the night in Frankfurt. I tried to get my TA to answer who'd be responsible if we had to stay the night but no answer.  

 

Has anyone asked to have their return flights changed once they get on the ship? I was wondering if I might have better luck with customer service onboard if we're face to face.

[Gourmet Gal]

I would try really hard right now to escalate this issue because as time goes by, the fewer options there will be.  It’s so shocking that SS will just knowingly push off this problem that will create a bigger problem in real time in your return.

 

I’m having an issue with them right now regarding my son’s fiancé’s name on her ticket.  We used SS for their flight because they will be returning earlier from a different airport and the flights worked.  But when we look at the rez on BA’s website it is misspelled and her middle name is broken up.  When my TA brought it to the attention of SS they’re saying just wait until after the ticket is issued and then they’ll attempt to fix it.  That makes zero sense because it will be harder to change then.  We’re going to escalate this and we’ll definitely not use SS air again and we’re really souring on SS in general.

[hsheffield]

1 hour ago, Gourmet Gal said:

I would try really hard right now to escalate this issue because as time goes by, the fewer options there will be.  It’s so shocking that SS will just knowingly push off this problem that will create a bigger problem in real time in your return.

 

I’m having an issue with them right now regarding my son’s fiancé’s name on her ticket.  We used SS for their flight because they will be returning earlier from a different airport and the flights worked.  But when we look at the rez on BA’s website it is misspelled and her middle name is broken up.  When my TA brought it to the attention of SS they’re saying just wait until after the ticket is issued and then they’ll attempt to fix it.  That makes zero sense because it will be harder to change then.  We’re going to escalate this and we’ll definitely not use SS air again and we’re really souring on SS in general.

unfortunately I'm coming to the same conclusion. I'm afraid my TA is tired of all my pushing. I'm hoping to talk to other passengers on the cruise and find a different and perhaps more effective TA. the trouble is that it appears all the cruise lines are having issues with air right now so I'm not sure I'm being reasonable. I'll ask my TA again if there is a way to escalate...unless you know of a way?

[Port Power]

1 hour ago, Gourmet Gal said:

I would try really hard right now to escalate this issue because as time goes by, the fewer options there will be.  It’s so shocking that SS will just knowingly push off this problem that will create a bigger problem in real time in your return.

 

I’m having an issue with them right now regarding my son’s fiancé’s name on her ticket.  We used SS for their flight because they will be returning earlier from a different airport and the flights worked.  But when we look at the rez on BA’s website it is misspelled and her middle name is broken up.  When my TA brought it to the attention of SS they’re saying just wait until after the ticket is issued and then they’ll attempt to fix it.  That makes zero sense because it will be harder to change then.  We’re going to escalate this and we’ll definitely not use SS air again and we’re really souring on SS in general.

It is so sad that all the air problems (which could easily and quickly be fixed) are causing you and others to sour on the ship experience as well.  Hopefully once on board you will all feel much better.  SS Air are creating a huge PR problem though. Have you emailed an executive officer about the issues?

[Gourmet Gal]

31 minutes ago, hsheffield said:

unfortunately I'm coming to the same conclusion. I'm afraid my TA is tired of all my pushing. I'm hoping to talk to other passengers on the cruise and find a different and perhaps more effective TA. the trouble is that it appears all the cruise lines are having issues with air right now so I'm not sure I'm being reasonable. I'll ask my TA again if there is a way to escalate...unless you know of a way?

I think our concerns are such simple fixes and the problem is with SS in their mistake in my case and booking a very bad connection in your case.  The problem is not with the airlines.  Our TA’s are making an excellent commission on these cruises so they shouldn’t mind pushing a little more.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Gourmet Gal

[Cancun01]

18 hours ago, hsheffield said:

unfortunately I'm coming to the same conclusion. I'm afraid my TA is tired of all my pushing. I'm hoping to talk to other passengers on the cruise and find a different and perhaps more effective TA. the trouble is that it appears all the cruise lines are having issues with air right now so I'm not sure I'm being reasonable. I'll ask my TA again if there is a way to escalate...unless you know of a way?

Perhaps you could start with calling their general 1-800 number.  It has a prompt which says “ if you have a travel agent press xx”.  I found them very helpful even thought I have an excellent high-volume TA. Explain the situation and ask for their assistance in contacting whomever you need to remedy the situation.

We were less than impressed with SS however I did find their 1-800 people in Miami very kind and very helpful....

Edited July 29, 2022 by Cancun01

[A Tucson Guy]

Here is the phone number for the emergency Air desk- 786-2757089

 

I was able to speak with somebody this July when SAS went on strike. Good luck but SS took perfect care of us. Post cruise our flight was delayed for one day and SS put us up (no charge) at the same hotel pre-cruse.