Experience with Olife Air flights? what to expect.

[D. B.]

We are booked on our First Oceania cruise for Marina July 11-23,2023 out of Southampton ending in Copenhagen.

 My question is that We have taken the Olife Air with the PE up grade and I would like to know what to expect in Airlines we may be ticketed for?

 Our flights would start and end at SFO.

 I hope we don't get some bargain flights on Turkish Airline hopscotching around with 2 stops and 4 hour layovers?

    Any experience with what we may expect would be appreciated.

 Most of our 30+ cruise have been with Celebrity and we knew at the time we booked what our flight options would be.

[WESTEAST]

You can request the airline routing (airline, date, flight #) of your choice and pay an additional non refundable custom fee 270 days prior to sailing.  We have done and always get our requested routing. We do our research before for our choice routing and then give to our TA who takes care of it for us (she also books our preferred seats on our behalf).  Usually is about $175.0 US each.  As well, we always compare O Air costs to independent air (via our TA) costs and sometimes O Air is a better deal (includes transfers). Some CC posters will disagree but, for us the dollar comparison is always right. 

Link to O's FAQ page: https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005308274-How-do-you-handle-custom-air-requests-

[oskidunker]

All I could  get for business was Turkish so we booked our own pe on United with no stops. 

Edited August 11, 2022 by oskidunker

[mauibabes]

We have taken the same SFO to Heathrow and back and you really are not assured of any specific airline as it will depend on the Contract Carrier O is  using at the time. You could request an airline but you may get a Custom Air Fee to cover the cost over and above the contract carrier price. We were flown British Air in PE the last trip but sometimes it has been Air France or Lufthansa. All 3 have been very comfortable in PE since we do not have all the FF miles others seem to have an endless supply of to fly First or Bus Class. Check Seat Guru for the proposed flights offered and see what kind of plane you will be flying and decline the proposed flight if you do not like it and want to have them look for a different option. 

Your TA should be able to get your flight arrangements made at the 75 day point and be sure to fly in early so the airline fiascos do not claim another traveler, even if it is next year. If no TA, just call Oceania and have the Air department get it done for you. Just stay in the info loop and you will be good to go. 
Mauibabes

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, D. B. said:

We are booked on our First Oceania cruise for Marina July 11-23,2023 out of Southampton ending in Copenhagen.

 My question is that We have taken the Olife Air with the PE up grade and I would like to know what to expect in Airlines we may be ticketed for?

 Our flights would start and end at SFO.

 I hope we don't get some bargain flights on Turkish Airline hopscotching around with 2 stops and 4 hour layovers?

    Any experience with what we may expect would be appreciated.

 Most of our 30+ cruise have been with Celebrity and we knew at the time we booked what our flight options would be.

Firt  I would fly in a day or so early maybe stay a day or so after  the cruise

This will require  you to pay a deviation fee $175 pp

 You can choose the flights you want & see if Oceania  has contracts with  the airline of choice

Start the process at 270 days out

Once you & Oceania air dept agree on the flights  then you will pay  the non refundable  deviation fee

 

IME  they usually use  BA/AC/KLM/LH /AF   but  we are in Canada so they may also use some American carriers 

the PE is only for "over the water" flight

eg SFO-NYC:LHR  you will have econ on the SFO -NYC &  NYC to LHR the PE seating

 

Do the math  & check what the  cost  would be to do your own air  then you can decide  what works best for you

JMO

[mauibabes]

DB, LHT is providing good guidance. Since you are flying from SFO like we normally do, we have never had any problem getting O to give us Premium Economy seating for over the pond flights.  If a Euro hop is required, then we get stuck in Economy for a couple of hours.  We have been able to dodge the hops across the US flights to get to EU embarkation ports. 
 

Enjoy your first Oceania experience, it will be GREAT.

Mauibabes

[godfreyb]

Turkish doesn't have PE, and besides that I read that they are a good airline.  We have just come back from a Mediterranean cruise and found the flights that they had put us on - Lufthansa PE, somewhat second class PE (no spirits served - 'since Covid' - even the FA said it was stupid) and ITA, third class PE serving mystery meat for lunch and a cramped short haul flight to Rome, I didn't dare ask for a gin and tonic.  I didn't quibble with the booking as it avoided having to fly through the NE USA to get back to Florida, but next time I think I will make my own arrangements.

[shank63]

First and foremost, fly in with a minimum of 2 days before sailing.  This requires custom air with a $175/pp deviation fee.  As recommended earlier, chose the flights (or have your TA choose) and submit to Oceania air.  The deviation fee is charged only if you agree to what Oceania offers, and is non refundable at that time and flights may not be changed.  We have used Oceania air in the past and found it to be the most affordable for us, and we fly out of a hub airport.  However, our last cruise we had flights cancelled, missing connections and a one day delay.  Oceania was only able to give advice in rebooking, we were required to deal directly with the airlines for rebooking which was time consuming and frustrating.

[D. B.]

I was wondering if Olife air booked Non-Stop flights SFO to LHR as that would be PE all the way?

  We always do that on our Celebrity cruises out of Southampton.

 I understand that A one stop on the east coast would mean PE only on the over water leg.

 My concern if that O books multi leg flights to pay less than a non-stop flight?

[Hlitner]

21 hours ago, oskidunker said:

All I could  get for business was Turkish so we booked our own pe on United with no stops. 

We actually prefer Turkish Business to United :).  Our most recent Turkish flight was Biz class from Dulles to Athens via Istanbul.  Business Class was terrific, and we even had the usual Turkish Airline Chef (actually dressed as a chef) serving part of our meals.   As to United, in May we had United booked from Prague to Harrisburg PA via Munich and Dulles.  United decided to cancel all their flights between Dulles and Harrisburg so re-rerouted us from Dulles to Newark to Harrisburg.  Than a few hours before we were to leave Prague United cancelled their flight from Dulles to Newark (they claimed there were forecasted (18 hours in advance) T-Storms).  So United changed our United to Dulles flight to a Lufthansa to Newark flight.  Soon thereafter United decided to cancel their daily Newark to Harrisburg flight.....why?  Forecasted T-storms.  United then said they would put us on next days evening flight to Harrisburg thus stranding us in Newark for over 24 hours at our own expense.   A really nice way to treat those paying for Business Class.  

 

So we wish you the best of luck with United :).  Non-Stop is good if the flight even happens.

 

Hank

[osandomir]

In the past we used Oceania air and flew Premium economy to London. Great direct flight on British airways. We’re booked on Sirena Barcelona to Bilbao next April. Anyone can comment on Oceania Premium economy and Coach routings from Bilbao back to US. We expect the itinerary to be more complicated and will appreciate any feedback.

[Mura]

The only time we used O's air in PE it was excellent, but we are in NYC and were flying to Europe so we didn't run into the problems people further west have.  We always go in early and come back late.  Have often used the deviation fee without problems.  But again, flying from NY to Europe is generally NOT a problem.

 

When we did New Zealand/Australia we flew in to L.A. and visited family and then booked our own air to Auckland, back from Sydney.  As I've said before, most of the time we book our own air.

 

Mura

[CorgiToo]

We booked our upcoming Copenhagen to Stockholm trip on the Marina over a year ago using Olife air.

Since we will be traveling on our own after the cruise, our Oceania agent booked one-way Premium Economy tickets flying into Copenhagen one day before embarkation. We did not pay a deviation fee, as there are many flights from Chicago to Copenhagen and we wanted to see what O would choose for us.  

 

In June, we were thrilled when O booked us on a non-stop flight that is less than 9 hours long.

[ORV]

22 hours ago, CorgiToo said:

We booked our upcoming Copenhagen to Stockholm trip on the Marina over a year ago using Olife air.

Since we will be traveling on our own after the cruise, our Oceania agent booked one-way Premium Economy tickets flying into Copenhagen one day before embarkation. We did not pay a deviation fee, as there are many flights from Chicago to Copenhagen and we wanted to see what O would choose for us.  

 

In June, we were thrilled when O booked us on a non-stop flight that is less than 9 hours long.

If I understand correctly you did not request or pay a deviation, but will get in a day before embarkation?

Or is it that your flight leaves Chicago the day before, flies overnight and lands in Copenhagen the day of the cruise?

[mauibabes]

Osandomir,

Our experience flying from the West Coast, we use SFO or LAX, I ask for the long haul over the pond and always get it.  Never hop across the US! They will take you through London or Paris or perhaps elsewhere. You will have a short economy hop flight to Bilbao or BCN as there are no direct flights from LAX.  The PE flights have always been a worthwhile alternative to 💵💵💵 Bus Class w/o miles, IMHO. 

Good luck,

Mauibabes

[CorgiToo]

We will be landing in Copenhagen one day before we embark. We booked the hotel under O's land arrangements, so we arrive a day early and all transfers are included.

[mauibabes]

CorgiToo,

Quite often people comment about the high cost of the Oceania hotels but you have identified a real benefit that helps make the O hotel a decent value.  The combination of the included $175 Deviation Fee, Airport Transfer, Hotel to ship transfer and who knows what else once at the hotel, and Oceania handling/responsible for your travel all the way from your home airport to the ship could be valuable, especially if you are not a world traveler and just getting used to cruising.  
Enjoy,

Mauibabes

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, CorgiToo said:

We will be landing in Copenhagen one day before we embark. We booked the hotel under O's land arrangements, so we arrive a day early and all transfers are included.

That explains why no deviation  fee  😄

You are  sort of paying  for it in the cost of the hotel package

[CorgiToo]

It also helps that we live an hour from O'Hare and don't have to worry about intermediate flights to get to a main hub.

I subtracted the cost of two deviation fees from O's exorbitant hotel price, and the remainder was equivalent to a search engine's booking for one night at the same hotel. And that did not include any airport/hotel/ship transfer fees.

After the cruise we booked our own "free" flights from Stockholm to Prague and Krakow to Chicago using credit card points.

Edited August 14, 2022 by CorgiToo
incorrect text

[osandomir]

3 hours ago, mauibabes said:

Osandomir,

Our experience flying from the West Coast, we use SFO or LAX, I ask for the long haul over the pond and always get it.  Never hop across the US! They will take you through London or Paris or perhaps elsewhere. You will have a short economy hop flight to Bilbao or BCN as there are no direct flights from LAX.  The PE flights have always been a worthwhile alternative to 💵💵💵 Bus Class w/o miles, IMHO. 

Good luck,

Mauibabes

Thank you Mauibabes - that’s exactly what we are hoping for when we fly from LAX to to Europe. The problem is that we’ll need a flight from Bilbao back to US. Most of the direct flights from Europe to the West Coast are the daytime and depart early. Short flight in Europe is OK, but I can’t figure out if Oceania get us to the European hub in time to the long haul flight to the West Coast. We don’t mind to overnight somewhere on our own expense to get on the comfortable flight, but I’m not sure Oceania allow it without paying a deviation.

We mostly book our own business class air, but trying to save some FF miles this time. We have no problem to do daytime Premium economy, but we’re definitely not looking for a cramped coach flight across the US. I don’t think we can ask for any specific routing without deviation. That’s why I asked someone with O air experience for any insight.

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, osandomir said:

 We have no problem to do daytime Premium economy, but we’re definitely not looking for a cramped coach flight across the US. I don’t think we can ask for any specific routing without deviation. That’s why I asked someone with O air experience for any insight.

Pay the deviation fee   & choose the flights /routing you want  or just book your own air

 Just my opinion

[osandomir]

43 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Pay the deviation fee   & choose the flights /routing you want  or just book your own air

 Just my opinion

Thank you.

I completely understand that we have these two options. My question was for someone who had particular experience with Oceania INCLUDED flights from non hub European city to the US.

[pinotlover]

Fwiw, our cruise Embarkment is in Bilboa. I believe most everyone is being routed through/to Madrid .

 

You don’t want to go direct from Bilboa, because that would mean transfers from Chatwick.

Or you could go BIL-MAD-LHR-LAX.

 

We choose to go in 3 days early and do a private tour of Burgos and the Rioja wine region. We’ll sightsee Bilboa and the Guggenheim on Embarkment Day. The day prior is a Monday and everything is closed.

 

Long story short, you should expect a short flight to Madrid and then connecting from there as necessary. 

Edited August 15, 2022 by pinotlover

[LHT28]

10 hours ago, osandomir said:

Thank you.

I completely understand that we have these two options. My question was for someone who had particular experience with Oceania INCLUDED flights from non hub European city to the US.

what they had in the past could be different now

It will depend on the airlines  they have contracts with & other factors

 

waiting until you get the details  closer to sailing   it may be too late  to make changes

This is why we usually book our own flights  ..I do not like surprises 😉

Enjoy

[osandomir]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Fwiw, our cruise Embarkment is in Bilboa. I believe most everyone is being routed through/to Madrid .

 

You don’t want to go direct from Bilboa, because that would mean transfers from Chatwick.

Or you could go BIL-MAD-LHR-LAX.

 

We choose to go in 3 days early and do a private tour of Burgos and the Rioja wine region. We’ll sightsee Bilboa and the Guggenheim on Embarkment Day. The day prior is a Monday and everything is closed.

 

Long story short, you should expect a short flight to Madrid and then connecting from there as necessary. 

Thank you Pinotlover for the very useful information that you provided based on your experience. This routing with direct LHR - LAX flight makes sense. Last year we spent three weeks in northern Spain included Bilbao and we don’t need extra days there. Ours will be return flight so deviation won’t be necessary as I think it will not affect the routing much anyway.