Regent - Unreasonable Air Itineraries - Never Again

[Golfess]

2 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Wow!  So much for the claim that it's safer to have Regent book your flights because they will stand behind you if anything goes wrong.  It seems people really need to think twice before trusting Regent with their flights.

Agree.  We have now learned not to book cruises that include airfare.  And, if we do, we will be sure that we book the cruise early enough so we can pay the up-charge to change to a day earlier.  In this case, we booked the cruise too late to have any options - so we had to go with what they offered.  

[Lonedaddy]

Just read the Israel thread and you will realize that the air department director ought to be fired or re-incentivized.  Regent air  is a horrible service and not on par with the cruise ship itself.  If the company offers included business class air it absolutely should be a smooth first class part of the offering otherwise discontinue it.  They way it is operating now is like offering box wine and chicken nuggets for dining options and is certainly hurting the brand.  Frankly silverseas is a better value if you are going to book your own air (imhop and experience.). Sorry pcardad but regent air is on par with carnival.

[mnocket]

40 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I think they are offering to all who booked. If you no-showed at the gate, it doesn't effect the credit.

In this case they no-showed because the connecting flight booked by Regent was missed due to an unacceptably short connection - one the customer complained about and tried fruitlessly to get Regent to change.  Regent then refused any compensation for the missed cruise.  Surely, you don't think this is acceptable?

[papaflamingo]

10 minutes ago, mnocket said:

In this case they no-showed because the connecting flight booked by Regent was missed due to an unacceptably short connection - one the customer complained about and tried fruitlessly to get Regent to change.  Regent then refused any compensation for the missed cruise.  Surely, you don't think this is acceptable?

I think you misunderstood.  If you re-read the original post they were completely compensated for the missed cruise by their travel insurance.  

[Pcardad]

24 minutes ago, mnocket said:

In this case they no-showed because the connecting flight booked by Regent was missed due to an unacceptably short connection - one the customer complained about and tried fruitlessly to get Regent to change.  Regent then refused any compensation for the missed cruise.  Surely, you don't think this is acceptable?

Edited to remove post pending re-reading the thread so I don't quote bad info. Sorry for the delay. If you would like a callback, please press 1.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Pcardad

[Gray Lady]

All I can add to this is when we booked our flight to Barcelona, the agent wanted to give us a shorter timed stopover in Frankfort than I thought acceptable. (The reason for this is all the great information I found here from fellow travelers!)I asked for a longer layover, 3 hours, and it was gladly given. Without extensive reading in this forum I would have put us in the situation of possibly missing our connecting flight. Yes, we are flying in a day earlier. Yes, we deviated. Yes, I was up at 6AM to call Regent at our 210 day mark. My experience was a very good one, but I had done extensive homework. 

[mnocket]

59 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

I think you misunderstood.  If you re-read the original post they were completely compensated for the missed cruise by their travel insurance.  

No, I said they were not compensated by Regent.  They were lucky they had travel insurance.  The burden for Regent's poor flight arrangements should have been born by Regent, not the insurance company.  I'm fine if you believe this is appropriate, I do not. People see things differently. 

[Pcardad]

4 minutes ago, mnocket said:

No, I said they were not compensated by Regent.  They were lucky they had travel insurance.  The burden for Regent's poor flight arrangements should have been born by Regent, not the insurance company.  I'm fine if you believe this is appropriate, I do not. People see things differently. 

Did they go and miss a flight or did they decide not to even try?

[mnocket]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

Did they go and miss a flight or did they decide not to even try?

From the OPs original post...

 

"Not surprisingly, we missed our connection and the cruise. By the time our delayed Detroit-Chicago flight returned from the tarmac, there were no alternative flight arrangements to get us to our cruise."

[Pcardad]

17 minutes ago, mnocket said:

From the OPs original post...

 

"Not surprisingly, we missed our connection and the cruise. By the time our delayed Detroit-Chicago flight returned from the tarmac, there were no alternative flight arrangements to get us to our cruise."

So they took Regent's air, missed a connection, Regent couldn't get them to the cruise or any other port and they went home and insurance made them whole?

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Pcardad

[mnocket]

Just now, Pcardad said:

So they took Regent's air, missed a connection, Regent couldn't get them to the cruise or any other port and they went home and the Voyager is still sailing?

Please read the OP's original post.

[mrstanley]

Regent Air is not good at looking at connection times when arranging flights.

Don’t accept a flight unless you really look at the connection time. 

[wineoclock]

6 hours ago, Pcardad said:

So they took Regent's air, missed a connection, Regent couldn't get them to the cruise or any other port and they went home and insurance made them whole?

 

How on Earth is this in any way acceptable? Insurers having to make up for a mistake that was most likely foreseeable. 
 

We’ve booked our first regent cruise (concierge) next year and I’ve sold it to my husband as a wonderful experience from start to finish. If it isn’t great I’ll be miffed. 

[papaflamingo]

14 hours ago, mnocket said:

No, I said they were not compensated by Regent.  They were lucky they had travel insurance.  The burden for Regent's poor flight arrangements should have been born by Regent, not the insurance company.  I'm fine if you believe this is appropriate, I do not. People see things differently. 

The Travel Insurance will always kick in first.  Since they were fully compensated, why would Regent ALSO compensate them?  You don't get paid twice.  And any money's, be it refund or FCC, would be deducted from the Travel Insurance.    

[papaflamingo]

6 hours ago, wineoclock said:

How on Earth is this in any way acceptable? Insurers having to make up for a mistake that was most likely foreseeable. 
 

We’ve booked our first regent cruise (concierge) next year and I’ve sold it to my husband as a wonderful experience from start to finish. If it isn’t great I’ll be miffed. 

If you go on line to any airlines you'll find these itineraries as "bookable."  Regent simply has contract rates on certain flights.  The close connection flights are least desirable so most likely to have contract rates.  You need to look at your flights very carefully and if it's a very close connection, see if you can get it changed.  That's why we always deviate 210 days out and go at least a day early.  But it isn't really Regent Air's job to determine what published itineraries are "reasonable" or not.  If the airline publishes it, they'll book it.  

My advice to you is to pay the $175 deviation fee and book flights 210 days before your cruise departs.  Then you'll most likely get what you want, and will at least get something you can control and will be acceptable to you. 

  

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by papaflamingo

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

 

My advice to you is to pay the $175 deviation fee and book flights 210 days before your cruise departs.  Then you'll most likely get what you want, and will at least get something you can control and will be acceptable to you. 

  

 

Best advice ever - I do this for all my bookings be they for me or others.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

12 hours ago, wineoclock said:

...

We’ve booked our first regent cruise (concierge) next year and I’ve sold it to my husband as a wonderful experience from start to finish. If it isn’t great I’ll be miffed. 

My advice is to bow out of the included Air, take the credit and book your own air.  Since your cruise is next year you should have plenty of time for that. 

[kirtihk]

On 10/12/2023 at 11:31 AM, Golfess said:

Further, we will not book any line that includes airfares with itineraries the day-or-embarkation as the only option.

When air is included, it's unknown until air is ticketed by a cruise line whether it's on a day of embarkation or not (most likely, the former unless the arrival air itinerary is not available on the day of embarkation a few hours prior to the embarkation).  The guaranteed ways to fly a day before (or earlier) are either booking on your own (a cruise line will provide a listed cruise fare credit in the amount of air fare) or requesting air deviation (with paying a fee and in case of, for example, Silversea, a difference in price between of advertised (booked) air fare and a deviated air fare; Regent will also charge $75 fee just for a fact of calling their air department - they added this fee a few months ago for any call to that department regardless of whether you request a deviation or just ask them any air related question).

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, kirtihk said:

When air is included, it's unknown until air is ticketed by a cruise line whether it's on a day of embarkation or not (most likely, the former unless the arrival air itinerary is not available on the day of embarkation a few hours prior to the embarkation).  The guaranteed ways to fly a day before (or earlier) are either booking on your own (a cruise line will provide a listed cruise fare credit in the amount of air fare) or requesting air deviation (with paying a fee and in case of, for example, Silversea, a difference in price between of advertised (booked) air fare and a deviated air fare; Regent will also charge $75 fee just for a fact of calling their air department - they added this fee a few months ago for any call to that department regardless of whether you request a deviation or just ask them any air related question).

The fee is not per call - it is a one-time fee and if you deviate, only $100 is charge to match the original total of $175. It is still the best $175 you can possibly spend on your vacation. I deviate ALL my clients - it isn't optional - even if I have to pay for it.

[kirtihk]

40 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

The fee is not per call - it is a one-time fee and if you deviate, only $100 is charge to match the original total of $175. It is still the best $175 you can possibly spend on your vacation. I deviate ALL my clients - it isn't optional - even if I have to pay for it.

Thank you, good to know.  I didn't experience it yet, because our first Regent cruise we booked air on our own, and our next Regent cruise is more than 11 months away, so we cannot look at air yet.  My impression of what I wrote was based on a. the original email from Regent regarding new air department call fee (it didn't specify at all what you wrote), and b. I called the Regent reservation department and asked some questions regarding new air rules, and again, the person just told me about $75 fee, but didn't say it's only 1 time.  So, is it 1 time per a booking (so the air department keeps a record of calls for each booking)?  Also, in your opinion, is it better to book on your own or deviate and wait until the itinerary is released (ticketed)?  The Regent told me that there is a small time-frame window between a ticketed air and deadline air penalty meaning that the air is ticked around 4 months prior to a departure date, and at that point it might be too late to book on your own a good itinerary (price- and/or route-wise).

Edited October 19, 2023 by kirtihk

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

Thank you, good to know.  I didn't experience it yet, because our first Regent cruise we booked air on owe own, and our next Regent cruise is more than 11 months away, so we cannot look at air yet.  My impression of what I wrote was based on a. the original email from Regent regarding new air department call fee (it didn't specify at all what you wrote), and b. I called the Regent reservation department asked some questions regarding new air rules, and again, the person just told me about $75 fee, but didn't say it's only 1 time.  So, is it 1 time per a booking (so the air department keeps a record of calls for each booking)?  Also, in your opinion, is it better to book on your own or deviate and wait until the itinerary is released (ticketed)?  The Regent told me that there is a small time-frame window between a ticketed air and deadline air penalty meaning that the air is ticked around 4 months prior to a departure date, and at that point it might be too late to book on your own a good itinerary (price- and/or route-wise).

One time per person per booking. I ALWAYS deviate at max time window (currently 210 days). I research flight option beforetime taking into account what airline the client wants miles on/prefers and what can be done with as few stops possible. There is nothing worse than arriving in your departure city tired and jet-lagged. I submit up to 3 different flight options that I want to know availability and pricing on. Also, you can fly up to 30 days before and 30 days after your cruise so very often a client will roll in an extended vacation with land packages on each end. Regent offers standard land packages as well as special concierge packages (both very expensive and difficult to plan). We often will book these outside of Regent.

[kirtihk]

5 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

One time per person per booking. I ALWAYS deviate at max time window (currently 210 days). I research flight option beforetime taking into account what airline the client wants miles on/prefers and what can be done with as few stops possible. There is nothing worse than arriving in your departure city tired and jet-lagged. I submit up to 3 different flight options that I want to know availability and pricing on. Also, you can fly up to 30 days before and 30 days after your cruise so very often a client will roll in an extended vacation with land packages on each end. Regent offers standard land packages as well as special concierge packages (both very expensive and difficult to plan). We often will book these outside of Regent.

A lot of times Regent has one of 3-night standard land packages included in booking ("free" so to speak) either pre- or post-cruise.

[Pcardad]

13 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

A lot of times Regent has one of 3-night standard land packages included in booking ("free" so to speak) either pre- or post-cruise.

Yep - that's what I call a standard land package. They are perfectly fine (I love them personally) but most of my clients customize their vacations to the point that the Regent cruise is just a small part of their trip.

[kirtihk]

4 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Yep - that's what I call a standard land package. They are perfectly fine (I love them personally) but most of my clients customize their vacations to the point that the Regent cruise is just a small part of their trip.

You wrote "both very expensive"; so, I thought you meant a standard package to buy.

[Pcardad]

1 minute ago, kirtihk said:

You wrote "both very expensive"; so, I thought you meant a standard package to buy.

Apologies - I can't edit it - the "concierge" land packages are super pricey and communication goes through a Regent Rep and it can take weeks to make a single change. We have started booking them outside now because of this.