Fee to talk to Regent Custom Air Department

[PaulMCO]

2 hours ago, RJ2002 said:

 

I did not realize that the air credit can change over time.

The credit has been going up and when it does of course the cruise fare follows. 

 

Our Japan March 2024 purchased in Feb 2022 was $4500 and is now $6400. The current cheap refundable tickets are around $6,500.  As we get closer to the 210 day window, will certainly look at what is available but I think anything found will likely have an upcharge.

 

One interesting point is that Oceania has not changed their policy to charging $75 for inquiries on deviation or instituted a 210 day (they have 270 days) prior date.  They have increase the deviation fee to $199 pp.  Maybe they do not generate a similar deviation call volume almost all fares are economy and if you do not like the fare it is easy to take an air credit and find something similarly priced.

[Lonedaddy]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Unfortunately, Regent won't give their IT department a sufficient budget to improve what they are currently trying to run.

True but they would save a lot in the long run and increase customer satisfaction.   They should do a cost benefit analysis.  

[cruiseej]

11 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

Regent should create an online program where you put in your cities and dates for your cruise, and it gives you the Offered flights and flights with cost differential.  Similar to google flights you could select which airline/program as well as duration, departure, arrival, number of stops as filters.  Problem solved.   Agents would be needed for exceptions, flight changes, schedule changes.  

 

I had the same thought. As @Pcardad noted, it's probably a big software undertaking. That said, Seabourn has a Flight Ease system (part of Holland America's software) which comes somewhat close to this. The complexity of air bookings is crying out for automation solutions where humans are needed for the exceptions, not for each booking. And most of the customer base is accustomed to booking air travel on their own. It would be great not to have to call, not to have to pay for the privilege of calling, and to be able to pore over the different possibilities and weigh the tradeoffs of different flights and costs from your computer. 

[Shena]

This whole policy is terrible.  Let me tell you what is happening with me right now.  They want their $75 before you even know what you're options are.  Then, they want to add all kinds of fees on because they can only get the cheapest airfares available.  I have sat on the phone with the custom air department about 6 times and each time have waited about an hour to talk to someone.  Then, they don't follow up with you.  They actually sent us the wrong confirmation.  The whole process is like you are dealing with Carnival Cruise lines and your paying 5 star pricing.  They advertise they are all inclusive yet they nickel and dime you and add air differentials on.  Be very careful with Regent - they are not what they advertise to be.  No only that but we have had to pay extra for many excursions as well.  

[Lonedaddy]

16 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

I had the same thought. As @Pcardad noted, it's probably a big software undertaking. That said, Seabourn has a Flight Ease system (part of Holland America's software) which comes somewhat close to this. The complexity of air bookings is crying out for automation solutions where humans are needed for the exceptions, not for each booking. And most of the customer base is accustomed to booking air travel on their own. It would be great not to have to call, not to have to pay for the privilege of calling, and to be able to pore over the different possibilities and weigh the tradeoffs of different flights and costs from your computer. 

perhaps Mike Moore will read this and have some thoughts for management

Edited March 31, 2023 by Lonedaddy

[Wendy The Wanderer]

So in the past, our TA has done all the dickering about air itineraries for us.  Is it correct what I'm hearing, that they don't want to do it through an intermediary any more, but only directly to us, the customer?

 

But really, in the past the air deviation fee (I remember when it was $75 pp, btw) was only charged if you came to an agreement with them over flights.  Kind of like the old days when deposits were refundable in full.  Then they wanted to discourage people from booking frivolously, fair enough. In this case, it's just no longer quite free.  Seems fair enough.

 

What I have done in the past is do my own research, pick out our flights (with an alternative), and then present them to Regent.  They either accepted those outright, or proposed an alternative.  By that point I would hope that customers had explored their alternatives, i.e., what a business class fare would be on their own or with frequent flyer points.  That way it's a simple, straightforward transaction.

[pappy1022]

I do the same as you. Suspect that many don’t do their own research.

[papaflamingo]

On 3/30/2023 at 8:18 AM, pappy1022 said:

I side with Jack as far as Regent’s motivation. 

Whatever floats your boat (bad pun intended).

[mnocket]

On 3/31/2023 at 7:53 AM, Shena said:

I have sat on the phone with the custom air department about 6 times and each time have waited about an hour to talk to someone.

Are long wait times to talk to the custom air dept. typical?

[mrstanley]

I waited 2 hours just to ask a question not related to booking flights.

[wavefairy]

On 3/27/2023 at 2:31 PM, cruiseej said:

 

The same email from Regent went to me and my travel agent. So I'd guess yes. But the charge isn't to the TA, it's to the customer's Regent account. 

Yes,, I just experienced this situation .  If the travel agent we have calls on our behalf the $75 charge is billed to our credit card on file! 

 

[Pcardad]

15 minutes ago, wavefairy said:

Yes,, I just experienced this situation .  If the travel agent we have calls on our behalf the $75 charge is billed to our credit card on file! 

 

Best $175 you will ever spend in association with a Regent cruise.

[PaulMCO]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:26 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

So in the past, our TA has done all the dickering about air itineraries for us.  Is it correct what I'm hearing, that they don't want to do it through an intermediary any more, but only directly to us, the customer?

 

 

Yes correct. They prefer not to.  My TA has done this back and forth before with Oceania for me and our friends on Regent, but he stated the back and forth needs to be handled in a single call.  They do not want multiple calls.  Of course I would think a conference call with the TA on the line is still an option.

 

This requires homework on the part of the traveler.

Edited April 5, 2023 by PaulMCO

[Pcardad]

14 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

Yes correct. They prefer not to.  My TA has done this back and forth before with Oceania for me and our friends on Regent, but he stated the back and forth needs to be handled in a single call.  They do not want multiple calls.  Of course I would think a conference call with the TA on the line is still an option.

 

This requires homework on the part of the traveler.

Regent has not told TA's that they cannot or should not call the Air Desk. They have unofficially suggested that whomever makes the call should have a general idea of what the client wants. They feel the $75 upfront fee will significantly improve the flow of communications. 

[pappy1022]

I have always done my homework on available flights and given my TA 2-3 acceptable flights before she talks to Regent. I have always received acceptable flights on the first call between my TA and Regent. This last time, I actually got a better flight (direct) than the one’s I chose because I didn’t include an airline (Virgin Atlantic) that Regent and my TA suggested. If Regent’s goal was to make the deviation process more streamlined and efficient and this new policy does just that, then I am good with it. My friends on the other hand didn’t get any of the 2-3 choices they had selected and had to go back a second time to get reasonable flights, which turned out to be very good for them. I guess they would have had to pay the $150 (2 people) to make the second call. Maybe it’s best for the customer to call directly because they could works things out between them and Regent vs having a middle person (TA) do the talking for them. Ideally, it would be a 3 way conversation between the customer, the TA and Regent but that might be too difficult to coordinate given the Regent call wait times.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

On 3/29/2023 at 3:52 PM, mrstanley said:

I want to ask the Air Department if they will fly me back from Madrid instead of Barcelona. We want to stay in Spain for another week after debarking in Barcelona.

 

From personal experience last year, yes they will fly you from a different city. In my case, debarked in Barcelona, traveled for 2-3 weeks, and flew home from Lisbon on the air deviation.  Was told by other passengers or my TA that the policy with an air deviation is you can fly up to 30 days before and/or after the cruise from any airport.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 4/6/2023 at 12:09 PM, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

 

From personal experience last year, yes they will fly you from a different city. In my case, debarked in Barcelona, traveled for 2-3 weeks, and flew home from Lisbon on the air deviation.  Was told by other passengers or my TA that the policy with an air deviation is you can fly up to 30 days before and/or after the cruise from any airport.

That's been my experience too.

[mrstanley]

Did you have a direct flight from Lisbon back to USA or a stop in Europe ?

[Lonedaddy]

On 4/6/2023 at 10:09 AM, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

 

From personal experience last year, yes they will fly you from a different city. In my case, debarked in Barcelona, traveled for 2-3 weeks, and flew home from Lisbon on the air deviation.  Was told by other passengers or my TA that the policy with an air deviation is you can fly up to 30 days before and/or after the cruise from any airport.

As long as it is in the same region.  We wanted to fly back from Singapore instead of Bali and they said asia was a different region as Bali (ocenaia)  and wouldn't do the deviation.  

[PhD-iva]

On 4/7/2023 at 2:30 PM, mrstanley said:

Did you have a direct flight from Lisbon back to USA or a stop in Europe ?

Last week I flew from Lisbon to IAD (Dulles) non stop, then a layover to my home airport in Austin (was using Oceania air).

[2012_Alaska_bound]

On 4/7/2023 at 12:30 PM, mrstanley said:

Did you have a direct flight from Lisbon back to USA or a stop in Europe ?

 

Lisbon to Madrid to LAX to Tucson on Iberia, which was great.