Viking Air

[Mike07]

21 hours ago, greatver said:

Very disappointed with Air Plus. Flying back from Barcelona to Boston on Delta via JFK leaving Barcelona at 12:15PM arriving in Boston at 7:38PM. Delta changed Barcelona departure to 9:15AM but Boston arrival same so have five hours to kill in JFK. Found that Delta has an earlier flight that would arrive in Boston at 5:07PM. When I asked for earlier flight I was told that it could not be booked because it was not included in Viking’s contract with Delta. So as far as I’m concerned there is no “Plus” in the Air Plus!! Save the extra cost and use it for transportation between ship and airport!

 

 

I'm no corporate shill, but this is more on whatever contract Viking and Delta have than anything. Understand that popular routes with popular times... no surprise, they're popular and preferred for a reason. The majority of travelers would prefer to land in Boston at 5:07 PM... not 7:38 PM.

 

Business travelers will pay the premium. Leisure travelers like yourself are more sensitive to pricing. Boston is a major financial and business hub. Viking, probably 99% of their air bookings are going to be for leisure travelers. You better believe Delta is not going to give away the best travel times to pleasure travelers unwilling to pay.

 

If it's really that big of a deal to you, never using Viking Air, or any other cruise line air reservation system, to book travel. Invariably, the route you want has seats available for a price.

Edited July 4, 2023 by Mike07

[stephenandrew]

16 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

 

If it's really that big of a deal to you, never using Viking Air, or any other cruise line air reservation system, to book travel. Invariably, the route you want has seats available for a price.

I think this is about right.  If one is adamant about the specificity of their travel (like I often am) then it probably makes sense to manage things without Viking’s assistance.  If one is more relaxed about their travel arrangements (like I wish I were), then utilizing Viking for assistance with airfare would probably be very satisfactory.  Can you imagine being a Viking employee dealing with thousands of different customers with thousands of different air travel preferences?  Combine that with the normal difficulties customer service people face when dealing with a some times (maybe often times ?) difficult public, and you have a tough gig.

[CCWineLover]

6 minutes ago, stephenandrew said:

I think this is about right.  If one is adamant about the specificity of their travel (like I often am) then it probably makes sense to manage things without Viking’s assistance.  If one is more relaxed about their travel arrangements (like I wish I were), then utilizing Viking for assistance with airfare would probably be very satisfactory.  Can you imagine being a Viking employee dealing with thousands of different customers with thousands of different air travel preferences?  Combine that with the normal difficulties customer service people face when dealing with a some times (maybe often times ?) difficult public, and you have a tough gig.

Totally agree.

We consider ourselves travel-savvy and are somewhat adamant as well about when and how we travel by air.  We've done Viking Air twice with no so good experiences.  However, we understand the whole Airlines Contract issues with Viking and so were expecting issues.  Too many people don't understand and blame Viking.  When you do Viking Air you are at the bottom of the barrel.

That is why we always do our own arrangements.  Take control.

 

I do realize that Viking Air can be great for those who are newbies, or just don't want to deal with the whole flying thing.  Thus it serves a purpose for them.  For others, a do it yourself approach works wonders.

[CDNPolar]

3 hours ago, rljan said:

This will be our first Viking cruise and first use of Viking Air.  If your flight arrives early on sailing day, do they take you directly to the ship or do they supply a place to wait until boarding time?  Our experience with Crystal was that they would take you to a hotel, where they had a conference room with coffee and food.  My guess is that Viking won't do that, but I'm interested in your experience.

 

This will depend on how early in some cases.  We have been taken to a Holding Room, and we have also been allowed to board the ship but without access to our cabin until a later time.

[PasadenaDave]

I understand the complaints I read about flights here and on FB.  We have not had such issues, but then again, for overseas flights, our home airport is LAX.  We find that there are plenty of flights through London, Frankfurt and Paris.  We also try to avoid flying the months of June, July, August and December.  Those are months with full planes and questionable weather from Denver/Dallas to the Northeast.

 

Yes, we have flexible schedules as we are retired(mostly).  Flight capacity is so tight that any hiccup in the system causes issues.  If your home airport isn’t a major entry point for international flights (I hear the person from Boston with the delay at JFK, but Logan is not a major entry point), you are likely going to have a short internal US flight at the beginning and end of your journey.  This is where disruptions and luggage issues occur.  
 

Returning from Amman two months ago, we arrived at our home airport (California) on schedule earlier than people on the same cruise who live near secondary airports in Florida.  Delays in schedules for internal US flights for final segment of the journey.  Time in transit from one flight to the next including immigration can be extensive.
 

Yes, as always, your mileage may vary.

[flare3192]

We are going on the egypt cruise in 2024 with the pre in Israel and the post to Jordan. We will upgrade to business class but am wondering if we should let Viking handle it or if even in business class you are the bottom of the barrel. I will consider doing it myself but am a little concerned about combining Israel and Jordan on my own. The little I have looked because it is not ticketable yet, I am wondering about Turkish Air. We are Atlanta and would usually prefer Delta but not sure about the return from Amman  Does any one have any insight into this?

 

Thanks

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, flare3192 said:

We are going on the egypt cruise in 2024 with the pre in Israel and the post to Jordan. We will upgrade to business class but am wondering if we should let Viking handle it or if even in business class you are the bottom of the barrel. I will consider doing it myself but am a little concerned about combining Israel and Jordan on my own. The little I have looked because it is not ticketable yet, I am wondering about Turkish Air. We are Atlanta and would usually prefer Delta but not sure about the return from Amman  Does any one have any insight into this?

 

Thanks

I suggest you pose this question too in the 2023 Egypt roll call. Maybe someone with experience this year can reply.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2779792-all-2023-viking-egypt/page/66/

 

We are going to Egypt in Jan. 2024. We’ve arranged our own business class air from Seattle through Brit Air, arriving two days early into Cairo. We’re doing our own four day post trip to Jordan via Egypt air (economy) to Amman. Flying out of Amman business class on Turkish air to Istanbul and on to Seattle (12 hours!).

[FlyerTalker]

5 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I suggest you pose this question too in the 2023 Egypt roll call. Maybe someone with experience this year can reply.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2779792-all-2023-viking-egypt/page/66/

 

We are going to Egypt in Jan. 2024. We’ve arranged our own business class air from Seattle through Brit Air, arriving two days early into Cairo.

 

Hope you know what you bought.

 

From LHR, you have a five hour flight on a single-aisle A320 aircraft.  And "business class" on that airplane is a standard coach seat with 30" of pitch, with merely having the middle seat blocked off.  It's gonna be uncomfortable.

 

5 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Flying out of Amman business class on Turkish air to Istanbul and on to Seattle (12 hours!).

 

This will be a better option.  TK uses a mix of A320 and A330 aircraft -- the 330 has full international business class bed seats.  And the flight from AMM to IST is only 2 and a half hours, so even the 320 will be somewhat bearable.

 

Be sure to arrive hungry at the TK lounge in IST.  Many food stations with both variety and quality.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

7 hours ago, flare3192 said:

I am wondering about Turkish Air. We are Atlanta and would usually prefer Delta but not sure about the return from Amman  Does any one have any insight into this?

 

TK has some very good service in business, even though some of the aircraft have a dated seating arrangement.  But those are being replaced, and their 787 product is quite good.  The lounge at IST is a delight, with fresh food stations with a variety of tasty items.  Only downside to the TK lounge is that they only serve beer and wine for alcohol.

 

I would have no qualms flying TK anywhere.  And as a small note, Turkish flies to more countries around the world than any other airline - over 120 right now.  So they are quite adept at getting you where you might want to go.

 

 

[LindaS272]

6 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Hope you know what you bought.

 

From LHR, you have a five hour flight on a single-aisle A320 aircraft.  And "business class" on that airplane is a standard coach seat with 30" of pitch, with merely having the middle seat blocked off.  It's gonna be uncomfortable.

Oh, I can’t wait! Nice to know what our mileage award gives us (as if we didn’t know…?)

[SJD117]

7 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Hope you know what you bought.

 

From LHR, you have a five hour flight on a single-aisle A320 aircraft.  And "business class" on that airplane is a standard coach seat with 30" of pitch, with merely having the middle seat blocked off.  It's gonna be uncomfortable.

 

Why, thank you for your concern! Because you chose to tell us how we’ll feel after our flight, I’ll tell you why we chose the flight.

 

We researched both legs of our flight before we booked, on our own, so we’re very familiar with the LHR-CAI seating arrangement on BA. It’s not a problem for two reasons. First, that leg is gravy to us; the objective was to get “true” business class on the overnight flight to LHR, which we did at an attractive mileage level. Second, we’ve flown standard coach before for 14 hours non-stop, so we can handle a 30” pitch for five hours.

 

I agree that TA is, on balance, a better product than BA. But mileage awards were not available to us on TA, nor were the flight times as good. So we paid for TA on the return.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, SJD117 said:

Why, thank you for your concern! Because you chose to tell us how we’ll feel after our flight, I’ll tell you why we chose the flight.

 

 

Interesting.

 

You had never posted in this thread about any flight being taken by SJD117.  But somehow, my response to the flight choices of LindaS272 triggered why you chose what seems to be the same flights.  Hmmm?

 

In any case, the "happy posts only" philosophy shines through.  You're right...why bother pointing something out so that others might learn.  Let 'em find out the hard way.

 

 

[stephenandrew]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Interesting.

 

You had never posted in this thread about any flight being taken by SJD117.  But somehow, my response to the flight choices of LindaS272 triggered why you chose what seems to be the same flights.  Hmmm?

 

In any case, the "happy posts only" philosophy shines through.  You're right...why bother pointing something out so that others might learn.  Let 'em find out the hard way.

 

 

I really don’t think that is the message you should take….you clearly have a lot of useful information about commercial flights, at least that’s what I have thought based on reading your previous posts.  But I think your statement “Hope you know what you bought” probably came across to the poster as patronizing (that’s how I certainly thought it would be interpreted) and in turn, prompted their response.  I think your info is great…I never knew business class could mean coach seating with nobody in the middle.  I’d just suggest you take a moment to think about how you convey your considerable knowledge, so the responses are focused on the info you bring to the table, and not the manner in which you raise the issue itself.

[CDNPolar]

23 minutes ago, stephenandrew said:

I really don’t think that is the message you should take….you clearly have a lot of useful information about commercial flights, at least that’s what I have thought based on reading your previous posts.  But I think your statement “Hope you know what you bought” probably came across to the poster as patronizing (that’s how I certainly thought it would be interpreted) and in turn, prompted their response.  I think your info is great…I never knew business class could mean coach seating with nobody in the middle.  I’d just suggest you take a moment to think about how you convey your considerable knowledge, so the responses are focused on the info you bring to the table, and not the manner in which you raise the issue itself.

 

 

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with this message, but I do corporate training and I have done extensive research and training on textual based communication.

 

An accepted percent of the amount of text based communication that is misinterpreted is approximately 50%.

 

I see over and over, a lot of misunderstandings here on CC with someone's answers.

 

I am not convinced that the majority of misunderstandings are intentional, it is the way that the poster has worded their response.

 

There are some here that are very direct with their answers and some of the readers may need a slightly softer touch to the reply...

 

In many cases I would propose that if the conversation were verbal and you heard the inflection and tone of voice in the response, there would not be misunderstandings.

 

Choice of words, is always key too.

 

Now, there are people on here that I believe intentionally are short and rude in their responses on purpose.

 

Don't hate on me - this is just my research and personal opinion.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

 

 

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with this message, but I do corporate training and I have done extensive research and training on textual based communication.

 

An accepted percent of the amount of text based communication that is misinterpreted is approximately 50%.

 

I see over and over, a lot of misunderstandings here on CC with someone's answers.

 

I am not convinced that the majority of misunderstandings are intentional, it is the way that the poster has worded their response.

 

There are some here that are very direct with their answers and some of the readers may need a slightly softer touch to the reply...

 

In many cases I would propose that if the conversation were verbal and you heard the inflection and tone of voice in the response, there would not be misunderstandings.

 

Choice of words, is always key too.

 

Now, there are people on here that I believe intentionally are short and rude in their responses on purpose.

 

Don't hate on me - this is just my research and personal opinion.

Well stated.  I do believe you.  At least Cruise Critic isn't as bad as that other Social Media site full of Faces.

[SJD117]

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Interesting.

 

You had never posted in this thread about any flight being taken by SJD117.  But somehow, my response to the flight choices of LindaS272 triggered why you chose what seems to be the same flights.  Hmmm?

 

In any case, the "happy posts only" philosophy shines through.  You're right...why bother pointing something out so that others might learn.  Let 'em find out the hard way.

 

 

Linda and I are married. I thought a two-million miler could figure that out.

 

As to your suggestion that you commented solely to help others, I’ll point out that you directed your comment right at Linda (and by extension me) — “Hope you know what you bought.” That was indeed patronizing as someone noted above. You assumed we couldn’t do flight research on our own, and that you needed to step in to tell us what we’d done wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

You have a wealth of knowledge on all things aviation — I accept that. What’s unfortunate, however, is how you so often package that information. Callling our comments “happy posts only” is gratuitous bordering on insulting. And believe it or not, you’re not the only person who can research flight availability — including flights from LHR to CAI. 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2023 by SJD117

[FlyerTalker]

5 hours ago, SJD117 said:

Linda and I are married. I thought a two-million miler could figure that out

 

Why of course.  Everyone should be able to see the direct correlation between "LindaS272" and "SJD117".  They both have the letters S and D.  Duh!   What seemed more likely was someone with two accounts and didn't know which they were posting from.

 

Life is too short.

 

And to save you the trouble, I won't let the door hit me on my way out.

 

Enjoy the bliss.

 

 

[SantaFe1]

21 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Why of course.  Everyone should be able to see the direct correlation between "LindaS272" and "SJD117".  They both have the letters S and D.  Duh!   What seemed more likely was someone with two accounts and didn't know which they were posting from.

 

Life is too short.

 

And to save you the trouble, I won't let the door hit me on my way out.

 

Enjoy the bliss.

 

 

Another thumbs down icon needed here.  We, and many others, have been following Dave and Linda for two years, since the inaugural Iceland cruise in 2021.  So now, I guess, you can trash me too.  

[EchoIsland]

Hoping someone can provide clarification for me on this.  We have done 2 River and 2 Oceans cruises with Viking, but always handled flights ourselves.  Our cruise departs on Nov 22 from Athens, we are currently 137 days out.  We have received one flight itinerary on MVJ, Van-Toronto-Athens departing on 21 Nov.  We are considering departing 2 days earlier, on 19 Nov.  

 

This from the Viking Air Website --

Customize Flights & Seats

You can now use My Viking Journey to fully customize your flight itinerary, including seat assignments. Change your dates of travel and preferred airports; add a stopover before or after your cruise; and view or change your seats – all through our convenient online tool.  

 

At this time we cannot make any changes, except seat assignment.  Does this change at 120 days out?  There is no mention of a change fee if you make changes yourself.  Do you pay a deviation fee if you make the change yourself, or do you have to contact Viking Air to have them change the date of the departure flight?  Thanks!

[Azulann]

4 hours ago, EchoIsland said:

 We have received one flight itinerary on MVJ, Van-Toronto-Athens departing on 21 Nov.  We are considering departing 2 days earlier, on 19 Nov.  

If you want fly in  in early  or stay later using VikingAir you pay a deviation fee, this I do know.

Don't know about using MJV  to change items.  I only used Viking during COVID and  we flew in the day of cruise, but ship said import overnight. 

 I booked my own air for our last cruise in June. 

[CHammond]

20 hours ago, EchoIsland said:

Hoping someone can provide clarification for me on this.  We have done 2 River and 2 Oceans cruises with Viking, but always handled flights ourselves.  Our cruise departs on Nov 22 from Athens, we are currently 137 days out.  We have received one flight itinerary on MVJ, Van-Toronto-Athens departing on 21 Nov.  We are considering departing 2 days earlier, on 19 Nov.  

 

This from the Viking Air Website --

Customize Flights & Seats

You can now use My Viking Journey to fully customize your flight itinerary, including seat assignments. Change your dates of travel and preferred airports; add a stopover before or after your cruise; and view or change your seats – all through our convenient online tool.  

 

At this time we cannot make any changes, except seat assignment.  Does this change at 120 days out?  There is no mention of a change fee if you make changes yourself.  Do you pay a deviation fee if you make the change yourself, or do you have to contact Viking Air to have them change the date of the departure flight?  Thanks!

There is a button on the top that says, "Change flights". Click on the button and follow the steps, it will ask what days you want to fly in/out, and then give you options, all with prices next to them. The deviation fee in included  in the prices if you choose a different day.
 

[bluesplayer]

I have had a bad experience with Viking Air plus.  They changed my flight date of departure to 3 days earlier.  They emailed my sister the change (lives in another state) the change of flight..  yet it my flights that were changed to arrive on the wrong day.  Resolving this so late meant of course..  at the bottom of the barrel for seat selection.  I wish Viking would use Flight Ease (Holland America)  you can choose your own flights and check pricing and schedules.  Much better experience there.  We flew to South America this year for thousands less in business class than prices Viking wants for business class.  Viking does not guarantee domestic flights in business class.  Coming from Seattle to Europe that could be half of the journey.  My one thing I dislike about Viking.  Once you are there..  all is good.

[CCWineLover]

40 minutes ago, bluesplayer said:

I have had a bad experience with Viking Air plus.  They changed my flight date of departure to 3 days earlier.  They emailed my sister the change (lives in another state) the change of flight..  yet it my flights that were changed to arrive on the wrong day.  Resolving this so late meant of course..  at the bottom of the barrel for seat selection.  I wish Viking would use Flight Ease (Holland America)  you can choose your own flights and check pricing and schedules.  Much better experience there.  We flew to South America this year for thousands less in business class than prices Viking wants for business class.  Viking does not guarantee domestic flights in business class.  Coming from Seattle to Europe that could be half of the journey.  My one thing I dislike about Viking.  Once you are there..  all is good.

Time to do your own flights without Viking air. That’s what we do!

[Redtravel]

On 6/28/2023 at 9:05 PM, Murt22 said:

We decided to do the Viking Air and the pre-tour in Athens for next year. My spouse is extremely concerned about having no control over the carrier, the connections,  etc. and now i am reading that the pre-cruise tour of Athens is basically on your own and the hotel is far outside of town.  We think we may book our own flight, hotel and tours. We haven't made our final payment yet - can we cancel the Viking Air and pre-tour? Has anyone found that the Viking Air is such a bargain over finding your own flights that it is worth it (besides the transfers). Appreciate any advice.

On one Viking trip, the extension was sold out. We were told that we could pay a deviation fee, and still use Viking air. We booked our own hotel and paid for a transfer.  We stayed in a better location and saved $.

[Redtravel]

On 6/27/2023 at 6:12 AM, CDNPolar said:

 

This is why you should use Air Plus and choose your routes, airlines, and seats.

When I looked for a better way to go from Bergen to Philadelphia, Viking choice was the only way that we could make the trip with one connection.  While I am not thrilled with getting up early to make the 6:15 am flight, I will get to PHL faster than any other arrangement.