Air flights through Celebrity

[JanNSteH]

I apologize if this has been discussed before but has anyone booked flights through Celebrity? What are the pros and cons of getting it from Celebrity as opposed to directly with the airline carrier.  Any info on your experience would be greatly appreciated.  Also if I do decide to go with Celebrity, can you choose your own seats for the flight?  Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Jan

[mahdnc]

32 minutes ago, JanNSteH said:

I apologize if this has been discussed before but has anyone booked flights through Celebrity? What are the pros and cons of getting it from Celebrity as opposed to directly with the airline carrier.  Any info on your experience would be greatly appreciated.  Also if I do decide to go with Celebrity, can you choose your own seats for the flight?  Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Jan

 

Pros

You don't have to pay for your tickets until final payment for your cruise.  If you cancel the cruise before making final payment, you owe nothing on the air. 

 

Some people feel a sense of security thinking that FBC has an obligation to make sure you get to the ship if things go wrong (e.g. your flight just got cancelled).  I am not among those people.  Here is a positive testimony: link.

 

Another potential pro is that sometimes FBC airfare is cheaper than if you booked the same flight yourself independently.  This used to be very true when it came to booking one way long haul flights for a transatlantic cruise for example.  Other times the airfare is cheaper when Celebrity is running a promotion tied to booking a cruise ("$200 off airfare", etc).

 

Cons

You have to work through Flights By Celebrity if you need to resolve a problem with airline (e.g. your flight times have changed and now you have a connection that is too tight and you want to change to a different set of flights).  I have read stories where Flights By Celebrity provided great service in this area (e.g. FBC can book you on a different airline altogether if there is something wrong with your flights) and I have read many stories where they were a hinderance on something that could easily be fixed by you talking directly to the airline.  Here is a very recent and heavily documented example: link

 

Phone wait times with FBC can be very long (I waited an hour on a few occasions) although that can also be said about phone wait times when you call the airline.

 

Personally for me, I don't like the idea of having to work thru FBC when I could otherwise call the airline myself (or do it on the airline website) to resolve a problem.  However if getting air fare thru FBC represented a large savings or if I am hesitant to buy airfare for a cruise I am not 100% sure about, I would consider going the FBC route.

 

Seats

As far as choosing your seats are concerned, it depends on the airline.  I know when I booked my United and Delta flights through FBC, I was able to choose my seats.  I have heard airlines like Air Canada do not allow it.  Here is some more information on the subject: link

Edited August 30, 2023 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Here is another recent thread about FBC service: link

[PinkSandGirl]

The flights (if booked prior to the final Cruise Payment date) can get rolled into your cruise fare - so your flights don't have to be paid at the time of booking.

 

You can use your airline frequent flyer # at the time of booking. 

 

You can pick your seats.  I always have.  Some people say they can't but it may be based on the airline.

 

Celebrity states they will get you to the ship and home.  They will help find you a seat on a new flight or meet the ship at the next available port.  Thankfully I have never needed that 'service' but for the exact wording, you should read the terms under Flights by Celebrity.

 

I find the prices are usually the same as if I booked direct with airline.  Maybe a few dollars either way.  I once saw a price drop with the airline right after I booked.  Flights by Celebrity was impossible to deal with for that.   

 

When I book, I give frequent flyer information for everyone I'm traveling with, pick our seats and then go online to the airline and link the record locators to my airline account.  

 

One note.  They won't show as Ticketed until about 21 days prior to the cruise.  What I do, once I make the Final Cruise Payment I call Flights by Celebrity and explain I would like the flights to be ticketed.    

 

By the flights not being ticketed you are limited to what you can do on your own.  For example, if you wanted seat changes you would have to deal with Flights by Celebrity and not the airline/online yourself.

 

My most recent booking was the easiest yet.  Very quick and the agent was extremely knowledgeable.

 

I find it worthwhile.

 

🍹

[tigervixxxen]

I take it that hotel and transfers are not included, it’s just the flights? My understanding is other cruise lines air programs add this for buying air through them but you don’t get much choice/control on the flights is the difference. I always book everything myself so this isn’t something I’ve done either way but this is my understanding of it. 

[mahdnc]

3 minutes ago, tigervixxxen said:

I take it that hotel and transfers are not included, it’s just the flights? My understanding is other cruise lines air programs add this for buying air through them but you don’t get much choice/control on the flights is the difference. I always book everything myself so this isn’t something I’ve done either way but this is my understanding of it. 

 

No transfers or hotels are included when you buy your flights thru FBC.  

Edited August 30, 2023 by mahdnc

[wrk2cruise]

I've recently used it for 2 sailings.   First is a TA next March Tampa to Barcelona.  Looking at one way Premium Economy flights with the airline they were over $3k ( way more than the cruise!).  I generally use SWA for East Coast flights so wasn't worried about RDU->TPA leg.   When for grins I added the leg to Tampa as an open jaw the price came down to less than $1100.   Delta to TPA and BA/AA back from BCN I booked via FBC.

 

Later the return flight from BCN changed from one stop to 2.   I got a message from FBC about the change and said time to process flight changes at least 30 days.  I called the same day, short wait time < 5 minutes and agent promptly moved me to a United flight 1 stop at a lower price.

 

Just this week flights opened for my B2B sailings out of Southampton in June/July.  Called with my desired flights.  They were showing significantly higher than the AA website.  I asked about their best price guarantee.  After a bit of back and forth and a brief hold the agent came back with the flights I wanted at the AA price, actually refundable at the non-refundable fare.

 

I have seats assigned on all these flights, you have to ask at the time as they seem to want you to go to the airline site to do it.   I know for a fact that AA won't let you do it on their website until the reservation is ticketed but the FBC agent can do it.

 

Another Con is after final payment, any change or cancellation FBC accesses a charge of $200 pp above and beyond any airline charges.

 

[emmas gran]

I have BA booked in Bus and cannot get seats allocated until check in LHR to Rome

[cnktodhunter]

2 hours ago, emmas gran said:

I have BA booked in Bus and cannot get seats allocated until check in LHR to Rome

That's just standard BA policy - they charge a fortune for seat allocation prior to check-in.

 

We were able to select seats on Delta a couple of years ago through their website, even before ticketing.

[emmas gran]

4 hours ago, cnktodhunter said:

That's just standard BA policy - they charge a fortune for seat allocation prior to check-in.

 

We were able to select seats on Delta a couple of years ago through their website, even before ticketing.

Yes I’m aware of BA policy but we don’t know who the OP is flying with .

 

[JanNSteH]

Sorry for the late response but thank you all for your input.  I winded up booking directly with the airline carrier so that I have total control.  Read some of the cons and was afraid to take the chance.

[neverlaysup]

7 hours ago, JanNSteH said:

Sorry for the late response but thank you all for your input.  I winded up booking directly with the airline carrier so that I have total control.  Read some of the cons and was afraid to take the chance.

Good choice.

[terrydtx]

We used FBC for our Business class flights next week from San Antonio to Amsterdam returning from Athens.  Our big advantage is we are flying to Amsterdam on United Airlines on a direct flight from Houston and we are flying home on American Airlines on British Airways from Athens to London to Dallas Ft Worth. The price we booked and paid back in November 2022 was $1300pp less than booking direct with one of the airlines RT.  Being able to book with multiple airlines at a decent price is the big advantage for us as to book direct would require two one way tickets. We were able to pick our seats with United when we booked online. After we paid for our air tickets last May we could go on the BA online site and book our seats for free.

 

We also booked FBC for our flights to Australia in January. We fly to Sydney on Amercian and return from Melbourne on Air New Zealand, again something we could not have done direct at the price we paid with FBC. These flights were all in Premium Economy as BC to Australia were over $10k pp 

[Bobsgonecoastal]

I've used FBC on several cruises and was always able to pick seats.

I did not use them for our next cruise because it goes out of San Pedro Pier in Los Angeles.  The best airport for that cruise is Long Beach, no LAX, which is the only airport that came up in the FBC system.

I don't understand their system well enough to figure that one out, but those kind of issues do pop up.