Business Class Air for Alaska Cruise

[jhenry1]

Has anyone used and paid for Regent business class from DFW in Dallas to Vancouver and Home from Anchorage? What flights do they generally use and are they nonstop?

It was so many years ago that we did this cruise I can’t remember what we did but I know we used Regent air both times?

Times have changed now and not as easy as it use to be.

[papaflamingo]

Alaska flights are "domestic."  They are in coach not business class. 

[Sunprince]

You can pay to upgrade to business class using Regent air.  The schedule for an assigned business class flight will be the same as for the included economy flight, as long as business is offered on that flight.  If you also pay the deviation you can choose the flights that work best for you. Perhaps someone that has recently taken an Alaskan cruise can comment on the actual routings/schedule.

[jhenry1]

I know it is coach but they offer business for 699 each way. Cheaper than I can get. I want to know if I will be lucky and be able to deviate and get the flights I want . Hopefully others have flown from DFW Dallas to Vancouver  and home from Anchorage using Regent Business Class. Just wondering what airlines they used.

[papaflamingo]

1 hour ago, jhenry1 said:

I know it is coach but they offer business for 699 each way. Cheaper than I can get. I want to know if I will be lucky and be able to deviate and get the flights I want . Hopefully others have flown from DFW Dallas to Vancouver  and home from Anchorage using Regent Business Class. Just wondering what airlines they used.

If you deviate you can ask to use whatever airline and go on whatever flight you want.  If they have contract rates it's approved with no additional charge (except, of course, the additional to upgrade).  If they don't have contract rates but can still book the flight they'll offer it with whatever additional it'll cost.  We deviate every cruise. Have all your requested flights in from to of you, and when within 210 days of the cruise you can call and give them your choices. That's the most sure way of getting the airline and flight you want via Regent.  

[DaveFr]

1 hour ago, jhenry1 said:

I know it is coach but they offer business for 699 each way. Cheaper than I can get. I want to know if I will be lucky and be able to deviate and get the flights I want . Hopefully others have flown from DFW Dallas to Vancouver  and home from Anchorage using Regent Business Class. Just wondering what airlines they used.

I think you’ve misscalculated. The business class flights you want would not cost $699 each way per person. You have to add in the air credit amount to get the correct total. In 2024 the Alaskan air credit is $700. So upgrading to business class with Regent air would cost you $699 plus $699 plus $700 for a total of $2098. In addition, if you deviate, there is an additional fee of $175, which I believe is per person. That brings the total per person airfare to $2273. I’m sure you can do better than that on your own.

 

Dave

[RetiredandTravel]

We just made flights on our own from NC to Vancouver and back from Anchorage.  We have no direct flights so connected (1) on Delta for ~2K for First class tickets.  DFW came up on American as a connection so you have direct flights from DFW which is huge especially coming back from Anchorage.  Maybe you can get direct first class on American for about $2K?

 

 

[SWFLAOK]

Our first Regent Cruise was back in late August 2017, with air included. They gave us a flight from FLL to ATL to Vancouver. There was a less than an hour transfer in ATL. Our itinerary showed us having less than an hour to make our flight, with a terminal transfer. We asked our TA twice whether we coul make that flight. She asked Regent and Delta, and they both said "yes".  On the day of our flight, I asked our Flight Attendant if she thought we would make our connection. She told us we would since they were the same flight crew, and our gate was next to ours after arrival from FLL. Why couldn't tell us that before we boarded?  On our flight back from Anchorage, we were on our way to the airport when a flight attendant felt ill, and couldn't board. Luckily we were able to stay with relatives in Anchorage overnight, and didn't have to pay for a hotel overnight as others did. They were able to find a flight attendant who was willing to take the flight the next morning from Anchorage to Dallas, and Dallas to FLL. But we were charged for the upgraded seats on both flights that were originally included in our Regent airfare.

But that was our first Regent cruise, and we've done many others since then, with better results. None of them have been to Alaska, and we really didn't enjoy the Regent Alaska cruise at all. We did, however  enjoy visiting relatives in Anchorage, and definitely enjoyed using their small RV to visit Denali, Fairbanks, and Valdez.

[rcandkc]

2 hours ago, DaveFr said:

I think you’ve misscalculated. The business class flights you want would not cost $699 each way per person. You have to add in the air credit amount to get the correct total. In 2024 the Alaskan air credit is $700. So upgrading to business class with Regent air would cost you $699 plus $699 plus $700 for a total of $2098. In addition, if you deviate, there is an additional fee of $175, which I believe is per person. That brings the total per person airfare to $2273. I’m sure you can do better than that on your own.

 

Dave

I thought he was saying 699 to upgrade to business with regent.  Not taking their air credit.  

[jhenry1]

2 hours ago, DaveFr said:

I think you’ve misscalculated. The business class flights you want would not cost $699 each way per person. You have to add in the air credit amount to get the correct total. In 2024 the Alaskan air credit is $700. So upgrading to business class with Regent air would cost you $699 plus $699 plus $700 for a total of $2098. In addition, if you deviate, there is an additional fee of $175, which I believe is per person. That brings the total per person airfare to $2273. I’m sure you can do better than that on your own.

 

Dave

 

[jhenry1]

Not sure I can. I know it is an additional 699 each way plus the deviation fee. For the non stop ie is close to that amt.

 

[MarEll1]

3 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Our first Regent Cruise was back in late August 2017, with air included. They gave us a flight from FLL to ATL to Vancouver. There was a less than an hour transfer in ATL. Our itinerary showed us having less than an hour to make our flight, with a terminal transfer. We asked our TA twice whether we coul make that flight. She asked Regent and Delta, and they both said "yes".  On the day of our flight, I asked our Flight Attendant if she thought we would make our connection. She told us we would since they were the same flight crew, and our gate was next to ours after arrival from FLL. Why couldn't tell us that before we boarded?  On our flight back from Anchorage, we were on our way to the airport when a flight attendant felt ill, and couldn't board. Luckily we were able to stay with relatives in Anchorage overnight, and didn't have to pay for a hotel overnight as others did. They were able to find a flight attendant who was willing to take the flight the next morning from Anchorage to Dallas, and Dallas to FLL. But we were charged for the upgraded seats on both flights that were originally included in our Regent airfare.

But that was our first Regent cruise, and we've done many others since then, with better results. None of them have been to Alaska, and we really didn't enjoy the Regent Alaska cruise at all. We did, however  enjoy visiting relatives in Anchorage, and definitely enjoyed using their small RV to visit Denali, Fairbanks, and Valdez.

This is off topic but may I ask why you didn’t enjoy the Alaska cruise at all? It’s our first Regent cruise and our first time to Alaska. Wondering if we can learn from what you disliked?

[papaflamingo]

12 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

I asked our Flight Attendant if she thought we would make our connection. She told us we would since they were the same flight crew, and our gate was next to ours after arrival from FLL. Why couldn't tell us that before we boarded? 

I'm a retired Delta pilot.  Gates are never guaranteed, especially in Atlanta.  There are many reasons for gate changes that can affect your flight.  Often the F/A's don't know the gate assignment until they ask the pilots.  But if you want to know the expected gate, you can always go on the web and check the status of the flight. Usually it will include the gate you leave from and gate you'll arrive at. Then check the status of your next flight and it will give the departure gate.  Also, for planning, the gate a flight goes into today is not the gate it'll go into in a week, so don't count on planes being next to each other next week just because they are today.  

[Big Vin]

For what it's worth (like war, what is it good for - absolutely nothing), we took one half the air credit and only had Regent fly us, first class, to Anchorage on Delta. There were no direct flights anyway, so we didn't bother with the air deviation. The long leg of the trip was MSP to ANC.

 

The cost per person for the first class upgrade was $823.50. (Effectively $648.50 since we didn't do air deviation.)

 

With the half air credit, plus some Canadian dollars, I booked a direct flight on Air Canada - whatever their first cabin is called, and it was not much more than the $350 air credit - about $500 each, I think.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Big Vin

[SWFLAOK]

On 8/4/2023 at 6:52 AM, papaflamingo said:

I'm a retired Delta pilot.  Gates are never guaranteed, especially in Atlanta.  There are many reasons for gate changes that can affect your flight.  Often the F/A's don't know the gate assignment until they ask the pilots.  But if you want to know the expected gate, you can always go on the web and check the status of the flight. Usually it will include the gate you leave from and gate you'll arrive at. Then check the status of your next flight and it will give the departure gate.  Also, for planning, the gate a flight goes into today is not the gate it'll go into in a week, so don't count on planes being next to each other next week just because they are today.  

Obviously,  the first thing I do is go on "the web" and check what gates the flights are departing from and landing at. Unfortunately, they aren't always available to us as passengers before we arrive for our flights.  If they're not available to Flight Attendants, then why would they be available to passengers? I would think that once onboard a flight that's continuing on to our next destination with the same flight attendants that they would know where they are heading for the rest of the day.

Since what I described was the only GOOD experience we've ever had in Atlanta flying with Delta, we will never fly on Delta again. And we will also avoid Atlanta if possible on any airline. Thanks for your input.

 

[SWFLAOK]

On 8/4/2023 at 12:58 PM, Big Vin said:

For what it's worth (like war, what is it good for - absolutely nothing), we took one half the air credit and only had Regent fly us, first class, to Anchorage on Delta. There were no direct flights anyway, so we didn't bother with the air deviation. The long leg of the trip was MSP to ANC.

 

The cost per person for the first class upgrade was $823.50. (Effectively $648.50 since we didn't do air deviation.)

 

With the half air credit, plus some Canadian dollars, I booked a direct flight on Air Canada - whatever their first cabin is called, and it was not much more than the $350 air credit - about $500 each, I think.

War, what is it good for, by Edwin Starr. That song just popped into my head for no apparent reason a  couple of days ago, and it's been hard to get rid of. I had that single on a 45, and listened to it many times on my turntable back in my high school days.

We paid for a deviation on our Regent cruise next April several months ago. Our TA told us the deviation fee was applied right away, and was not refundable. A few days later, she told us that Regent wouldn't even be looking at flights for us until September at the earliest. If we don't have flights agreed on by the time our final payment is due a few  months later, we'll cancel and ask for all of our money back. We did that with Ponant last year since they could not ticket us before final payment was due. We recieved a full refund, but still wouldn't book Ponant again.

[cruiseej]

13 minutes ago, SWFLAOK said:

War, what is it good for, by Edwin Starr. That song just popped into my head for no apparent reason a  couple of days ago, and it's been hard to get rid of. I had that single on a 45, and listened to it many times on my turntable back in my high school days.

Listen to a live version of Bruce Springsteen doing it. Even better than the original, IMO. 😀 (Or this one of Springsteen with Edwin Starr.)

 

19 minutes ago, SWFLAOK said:

If we don't have flights agreed on by the time our final payment is due a few  months later, we'll cancel and ask for all of our money back.

 

But you won't get back the deviation fee if you do that, right?

[papaflamingo]

4 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Obviously,  the first thing I do is go on "the web" and check what gates the flights are departing from and landing at. Unfortunately, they aren't always available to us as passengers before we arrive for our flights.  If they're not available to Flight Attendants, then why would they be available to passengers? I would think that once onboard a flight that's continuing on to our next destination with the same flight attendants that they would know where they are heading for the rest of the day.

Since what I described was the only GOOD experience we've ever had in Atlanta flying with Delta, we will never fly on Delta again. And we will also avoid Atlanta if possible on any airline. Thanks for your input.

 

It's a little more complicated than you think.  But good luck on whatever airlines you choose to fly on.  Hope you have a better experience.

[SWFLAOK]

23 hours ago, cruiseej said:

Listen to a live version of Bruce Springsteen doing it. Even better than the original, IMO. 😀 (Or this one of Springsteen with Edwin Starr.)

 

 

But you won't get back the deviation fee if you do that, right?

Sometimes you have to give up a few hundred dollars to save many thousands of dollars for a cruise with bad flights at the beginning and end. After the trip, you don't want to remember the terrible fights rather than the cruise. The deviation fee on Regent flights just became non-refundable. I think it was higher, but refundable (or as a credt ona  future cruise?) in the past.

I really liked the Springsteen with Edwin Starr video. Their voices really seemed to complement each other.

[1982CruzStart]

17 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

The deviation fee on Regent flights just became non-refundable.

I didn't think the deviation fee became non-refundable but just a $75 fee for talking to Regent Air. If you accept the flights then you just pay the additional $100 for a total of $175 which is the deviation fee. if you decide not to deviate, the $75 is forfeited.  If you cancel a cruise whether before or after the penalty period begins, the deviation fee is non-refundable.