Airline Points

[duquephart]

Forgive me if this has been worked over elsewhere but ----- what is the procedure for using points to upgrade flight arrangements on Viking? My guess is that we would purchase air+ in order to get our preferred carrier and then upgrade with that carrier once Viking chooses flights. Am I on the right track here?

[Selion]

15 minutes ago, duquephart said:

we would purchase air+ in order to get our preferred carrier and then upgrade with that carrier once Viking chooses flights

Procedurally, that's correct. 

 

However, some airlines don't allow upgrades on contracted tickets.  I had a United flight for our now-cancelled river cruise, and United did not allow upgrades.  My current return flight on Delta, I was able to upgrade with Delta miles (although it was only from econ to Comfort+).  It all comes down to the fare rules for your tickets.

[duquephart]

It would be Delta for us if that factors in. Thanks!

[sfocruiser]

As another poster mentioned it all depends on the fare rules and those change. 

 

I have had a United ticket which I successfully upgraded and another where i was told it was ineligible

 

Also at least for United the reservation had to be ticketed before I could attempt to upgrade, not sure about Delta

[FlyerTalker]

For DL, only certain fare categories are upgradeable with miles, and each is specific to the rules of the fare.

 

And most assuredly, you need to be ticketed - because it is the rules of that ticket that govern.

[broker1217]

Make sure you understand the difference between Viking showing your flights and those flights actually being ticketed.

Until the flights are ticketed, you can't really do much about upgradi;g.
Those of us with status can choose upgraded coach seats and get on upgrade lists when we purchase our tickets direct (not via Viking) because the tickets are actually issued.

Cruise air tickets are only theoretical until the ticket is issued. Having a record locator number does NOT mean the ticket is issued- you need the actual ticket number.

So understand when your ticket will be issued, the know the fare class to see if it is upgradable.

In short, don’t use cruise air if you can avoid it. You give up most of the control, can’t get on upgrade lists, and are last in line for upgrades. If the air Viking is giving you is not issued until, for example, 60 or 90 days prior to travel, everyone who purchased their tickets direct will be ahead of you as far as getting upgrades, getting on upgrade lists, and getting premium seats.

I'm sure someone can explain it better as far as Delta and their particulars.

[oskidunker]

On 11/8/2022 at 3:38 PM, broker1217 said:

Make sure you understand the difference between Viking showing your flights and those flights actually being ticketed.

Until the flights are ticketed, you can't really do much about upgradi;g.
Those of us with status can choose upgraded coach seats and get on upgrade lists when we purchase our tickets direct (not via Viking) because the tickets are actually issued.

Cruise air tickets are only theoretical until the ticket is issued. Having a record locator number does NOT mean the ticket is issued- you need the actual ticket number.

So understand when your ticket will be issued, the know the fare class to see if it is upgradable.

In short, don’t use cruise air if you can avoid it. You give up most of the control, can’t get on upgrade lists, and are last in line for upgrades. If the air Viking is giving you is not issued until, for example, 60 or 90 days prior to travel, everyone who purchased their tickets direct will be ahead of you as far as getting upgrades, getting on upgrade lists, and getting premium seats.

I'm sure someone can explain it better as far as Delta and their particulars.

Viking business was much less than what I could do on my own. Oceania, no.

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Viking business was much less than what I could do on my own. Oceania, no.

Glad that was true for you but I think just as often (in our case always😢) it is the opposite. 

Edited November 11, 2022 by Clay Clayton

[CCWineLover]

On 11/10/2022 at 5:54 PM, oskidunker said:

Viking business was much less than what I could do on my own. Oceania, no.

We have seen 50/50 in terms of whether Viking Air is cheaper or more expensive than we get on our own.  As the previous poster noted, you give up a lot of control to use Viking Air.   So for us as long as doing it on our own isn't too much more expensive, we'll go that route and consider the expense as worth it to give us control over seats, upgrades, etc.  and not have to pay AirPlus and Deviation fees.

 

It all depends.  We also often look at cruises where Viking Air is "expensive" and the cruise price will be cheaper.  The cruises where they advertise "free" or very inexpensive air will often have the cruise price itself be higher than normal (on a per day basis).  Something else to keep in mind.   So we'll definitely do our own air with a cruise that charges a lot for Viking air since that means we get the cruise itself probably cheaper than usual.

[duquephart]

"Free" air. Does anyone actually fall for that?

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, duquephart said:

"Free" air. Does anyone actually fall for that?

 

Yes.

 

Later, they sometimes realize TANSTAAFL.

[Clay Clayton]

19 hours ago, duquephart said:

"Free" air. Does anyone actually fall for that?

While I recognize that nothing is free we have taken advantage of the “free” air several times when it was offered. In our case, usually relatively last minute (by Viking standards-3 months or so in advance) when it’s offered without an increase in cruise price.  This helped us afford one of the transatlantics we have taken and the one Asian cruise.  Since we didn’t have to pay for the air and elected to pay the air+ fee, we were able to upgrade ourselves and have some control over our routings.  Hoping that Viking offers a promo for the cruise we have booked (using the $25 deposit) for next summer before our final payment date in January.  If they do, we will look at “falling”’ for it if it’s a better deal than what we can book on our own. 

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

While I recognize that nothing is free we have taken advantage of the “free” air several times when it was offered. In our case, usually relatively last minute (by Viking standards-3 months or so in advance) when it’s offered without an increase in cruise price. 

 

And there you have it.  What those promos do is to effectively provide a discount on the overall cruise without an apparent attack on the price integrity of the brand.

 

Contrast with mass-market lines that significantly discount the cruise fare itself.