Flight Deviation... my experience

[papaflamingo]

Yesterday (July 26) I hit  210 days before departure so I contacted Regent Air to deviate my flights.  Since I book through a TA I had my TA authorize them to talk directly to me (not sure if that's still a requirement, but it was in the past).  I called Regent Air and after hearing the rather long explanation of the fees I was offered an opportunity for a call back or stay on hold.  I opted to stay on hold (roll the dice).  After maybe 2 minutes I was put through.  I wish I had remembered the agent's name because she was fantastic!  After pulling up my booking (if you're logged on you need to log off so they can see it) we began discussing the options.  She did advise me of the $75 non refundable fee (which was also clearly discussed on the recording).  As advised, I had a number of options of flights pre-selected so we could explore them all.  I was able to book my first choice to Hong Kong with no upcharge.  My return from Tokyo was an upcharge for the non-stop ($1000 each) but looking at the included options, we decided it was more than worth it.  When I asked what would be the likely routing if I didn't deviate (or pay the upcharge) she gave me some examples of recently booked flights or offers available.  One offer was JAL to Boston then JetBlue (in coach) to ATL. Another was Qatar from Tokyo to Doha 1.5 hour turn to Atlanta. Qatar would be a 30 hour trip vs. 13 hour trip Tokyo-Atlanta.  So there you go.  Non-stop for me.

I had the airline websites open on my computer so I could look at the flights as we discussed them.  Once we had decide on flights, while looking at the "seat map" on the web, I was able to get assigned seats.  Once done, I had 3 days to accept the flights (which I did as soon as. my TA got the email).  

So... absolutely a wonderful experience.  So happy that the Air Department seems to be back to their previous superior form.  Of course you can have your TA do all this for you, but I prefer to do it myself so I can make all the appropriate decisions immediately, including seat selection.  Personal choice of course.

Anyway just thought I'd share this. 😎

[pappy1022]

I had an equally great experience earlier this year working through my TA. The key is to do your homework beforehand to know what is commercially available and be ready to discuss options.

[tubeamps]

We are on the 10/31 Explorer cruise, RT Tokyo and booked the same non stop to Atlanta for the same 1k upcharge. We didn’t use a TA and worked directly with the Regent Air people.

Pleased with the call and the booking.

[papaflamingo]

33 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

 The key is to do your homework beforehand to know what is commercially available and be ready to discuss options.

Absolutely! Pure words of wisdom!  

[Pcardad]

You guys did it perfectly!!!!

[Lonedaddy]

I'm surprised there weren't any better options without an upcharge.  

[Pcardad]

8 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

I'm surprised there weren't any better options without an upcharge.  

Probably would have been if they were able to travel a day or so later when the demand was far lower.

[papaflamingo]

9 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

I'm surprised there weren't any better options without an upcharge.  

The airlines are just charging high rates these days.  I could have done JAL via Boston but it would have meant economy on JetBlue from Boston and just not worth it for me.  The non-stop shortens the trip by many hours... worth it at the end of an action packed couple of weeks. 

[Lonedaddy]

12 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

The airlines are just charging high rates these days.  I could have done JAL via Boston but it would have meant economy on JetBlue from Boston and just not worth it for me.  The non-stop shortens the trip by many hours... worth it at the end of an action-packed couple of weeks. 

just saying there are lots of Nonstops to west coast, Denver DFW.... with one world connections on AA that probably would have been in first.  Or alternate days - saving 2K would easily pay for a hotel for a couple of nights even in tokyo.

[Michyfis]

 For our upcoming October  cruise in Japan from Boston, we we only offered one flight, coach to Honolulu and business to Tokyo. For a up charge of $1000.  There was a $3000 up charge for the non-stop. That would have been equivalent to the retail pricing. We took the credit and booked using our Amex Platinum card.   It worked out to be only a few hundred dollars differential.  We were told there isn’t much demand  between Boston and Tokyo.  Go figure.

[pingpong1]

25 minutes ago, Michyfis said:

 For our upcoming October  cruise in Japan from Boston, we we only offered one flight, coach to Honolulu and business to Tokyo. For a up charge of $1000.  There was a $3000 up charge for the non-stop. That would have been equivalent to the retail pricing. We took the credit and booked using our Amex Platinum card.   It worked out to be only a few hundred dollars differential.  We were told there isn’t much demand  between Boston and Tokyo.  Go figure.

Sounds like you made the right decision.  👍  I would have done exactly the same thing! Regards

[papaflamingo]

20 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

just saying there are lots of Nonstops to west coast, Denver DFW.... with one world connections on AA that probably would have been in first.  Or alternate days - saving 2K would easily pay for a hotel for a couple of nights even in tokyo.

We considered those possibilities but for us, non stop was worth it.  Alternate days had no bearing on the flight cost, and we simply felt it was worth it to us to cut up to 15 hours off our flight times while staying in Business the whole way.  And considering the flight over had no upcharge we felt it was the best routing for us.  

[Lonedaddy]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

We considered those possibilities but for us, non stop was worth it.  Alternate days had no bearing on the flight cost, and we simply felt it was worth it to us to cut up to 15 hours off our flight times while staying in Business the whole way.  And considering the flight over had no upcharge we felt it was the best routing for us.  

I get it.  I think part of regent strategy is to dissuade people from taking the air and getting the air credit.  That way they make a lot more on the cruise since they built in most of  air cost in the price not the air credit.  

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

I get it.  I think part of regent strategy is to dissuade people from taking the air and getting the air credit.  That way they make a lot more on the cruise since they built in most of  air cost in the price not the air credit.  

No disrespect to you, but you have no idea what Regent pays for the air. They get a huge discount for bulk purchases so comparing what you see (retail) to what they pay is meaningless.

[Lonedaddy]

29 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

No disrespect to you, but you have no idea what Regent pays for the air. They get a huge discount for bulk purchases so comparing what you see (retail) to what they pay is meaningless.

Based on what I have seen for Silversea's vs Regent's pricing.

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

Based on what I have seen for Silversea's vs Regent's pricing.

As a TA, I haven't seen the same. Perhaps Regent gets better pricing due to more buying power...?

[Lonedaddy]

2 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

As a TA, I haven't seen the same. Perhaps Regent gets better pricing due to more buying power...?

From what I have observed it seems to Depend on the route.  If I can use miles I'm seeing Silversea as a better deal, but some routes like A/NZ or South Africa it is a little harder. What SS is charging for Biz is pretty transparent.  Perhaps regent get's better pricing but I suspect their contracts fall in with NCLH deal and likewise SS in with RCL.  But I'm no expert on this, it is just what I observed in the comparison analysis of done.

[papaflamingo]

6 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

I get it.  I think part of regent strategy is to dissuade people from taking the air and getting the air credit.  That way they make a lot more on the cruise since they built in most of  air cost in the price not the air credit.  

I agree that the Air Credit is likely not what they really pay for air, but in that vein I would totally disagree that they are trying to dissuade people from using Regent Air.  Quite the opposite.  I am retired Delta and get a 25% (or better) discount on confirmed Business Class and even with any upcharge and the air credit I'm still much better off using Regent Air.  So contrary to your assertion, Regent does, in fact, encourage me to use their air as it's significantly cheaper. 

[Lonedaddy]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I agree that the Air Credit is likely not what they really pay for air, but in that vein I would totally disagree that they are trying to dissuade people from using Regent Air.  Quite the opposite.  I am retired Delta and get a 25% (or better) discount on confirmed Business Class and even with any upcharge and the air credit I'm still much better off using Regent Air.  So contrary to your assertion, Regent does, in fact, encourage me to use their air as it's significantly cheaper. 

True but what I am saying is the air credit they give comes no where close to what you have to pay whereas SS air credit and not booking their air does and their non air based cruise is significantly cheaper in some cases.  

[pappy1022]

I would agree with papa and say that Regent is actually making it attractive to keep the included business class air at least in my recent experience. The $2,000+ they are offering to make your own air reservations won’t buy you a business class round trip air from the US to international destinations. Now if you can make air reservations with points it may make sense but for our upcoming cruise there was no way for me to come close to being able to make business class reservations for the amount of the credit. I suppose that each cruise is different but for me it was a no brainer to stay with Regent included airfare.

[labonnevie]

OTOH we saved $1200 pp making our own business class reservations in April LAX to Tokyo. 

[papaflamingo]

5 hours ago, labonnevie said:

OTOH we saved $1200 pp making our own business class reservations in April LAX to Tokyo. 

It all comes down to the bottom line.  If you can save money taking the air credit then that is always the best way to go since we deviate anyway so transport to the hotel is irrelevant.  I just haven't found this to be the case for me.  The closest I got to saving money was $1500.  The Regent air credit for that segment, plus the deviation fee, plus the upcharge was STILL $1500 CHEAPER, and I got a 25% employee discount.  

 

[pappy1022]

That’s why it is important to do your homework up front and see where the information takes you. I did that math and I’m my case it made sense to stay with the Regent arranged air. It was an easy decision based on what it would have cost me to make my own air arrangements, even with the air credit. 

[puppyluv1]

Hi. We deviated for our upcoming Mariner cruise by paying a small up charge for a non-stop flight. Can someone remind me if we still get the transfer from airport to the included hotel, or is the transfer forfeited because we deviated. 

[pappy1022]

You still get the transfers