ticket early?

[flare3192]

The cruise is paid for and I am wondering if there is any downside to having them ticket the air before the 60 days. Would this give me more control over seats and missing flights? Three times since January the first leg of our trip has disappeared from our file. We leave from Atlanta to Reykjavik but there are no nonstop flights and we have been routed through NY and Boston but the AtL JFK part disappears or the ATL Boston disappear.  The closer it gets the more I am concerned that I won't get flights or have to do something crazy like AtL Seattle to Reykjavik

[RELS]

1 hour ago, flare3192 said:

The cruise is paid for and I am wondering if there is any downside to having them ticket the air before the 60 days. Would this give me more control over seats and missing flights? Three times since January the first leg of our trip has disappeared from our file. We leave from Atlanta to Reykjavik but there are no nonstop flights and we have been routed through NY and Boston but the AtL JFK part disappears or the ATL Boston disappear.  The closer it gets the more I am concerned that I won't get flights or have to do something crazy like AtL Seattle to Reykjavik

 

I don't think you can get them to ticket early. I'd love to find out I'm wrong, and also how you got them to do it.

 

Having a ticketed flight is no guarantee that the flight will go. I have had airline imposed flight changes up to the day of the flight, both that Regent booked and that I booked. It's just how airlines are these days.

[flare3192]

When I wanted to change the assigned seats they told me they would not do that until they ticket 60 days out and then we can adjust. She did tell me that since it is paid for I can request ticketing and then I could adjust seats.

I know that flights change all the time but I prefer it under my control than having to call them to do it for me. Sometimes they are difficult to deal with or they just don't understand.

We leave in July but I am not sure I gain anything by waiting. Wanted to know if I am missing anything or if there is a reason to wait to ticket

[DaveFr]

Last year, I was informed that I could have my Regent flights ticketed early but that there was a potential downside to doing so. Normally Regent flights may be canceled until they are ticketed 60 days before the cruise. Within 60 days of the cruise, there is a 100% penalty for canceling flights. So, if you have a flight ticketed earlier than the 60 day mark, the 100% penalty begins on the date the flight was ticketed. The option to ticket early is there but it has risks.
 

Dave

[papaflamingo]

9 hours ago, flare3192 said:

The cruise is paid for and I am wondering if there is any downside to having them ticket the air before the 60 days. Would this give me more control over seats and missing flights? Three times since January the first leg of our trip has disappeared from our file. We leave from Atlanta to Reykjavik but there are no nonstop flights and we have been routed through NY and Boston but the AtL JFK part disappears or the ATL Boston disappear.  The closer it gets the more I am concerned that I won't get flights or have to do something crazy like AtL Seattle to Reykjavik

What you want to do is to Deviate your flight.  You do that by contacting Custom Air.  There is a $175 per person non-refundable Deviation Fee.  When you call you will have a single $75 charge to talk to them, but that will be applied to one of the $175 Deviation Fees IF you accept deviation, so it becomes "free."  Anyway, when you do this you can request any flight itinerary and go any day (up to 30 days before and after the cruise).  So if you want to go a day or two early, or stay a day or two (or more of course) after the cruise you can.  If you choose to do this, research your flights and itineraries and have a list of what you want.  If Regent has "contract rates" on your requested flights then there will be no additional charges (other than the $175 pp).  If they don't have "contract rates" you are likely able to book it for an up charge.  It is up to you if the up charge is worth it or not.  Anyway, Deviation can be done 210 days before your cruise, and IMHO, well worth it.  If you go the same day that Regent would have sent you anyway, I believe you still get transport provided.  If not, you have to find your own transportation to the hotel.  But wisdom (and 29 years as an airline pilot) tells me NEVER GO THE DAY THE SHIP LEAVES!!!!  

Anyway, Custom Air is very easy to work with and will help you find routing (if available) if you don't want to pay the up charge and your desired flights aren't available.  Of course the more you research and more flight options you find, the better chance you'll find one that has no (or very minimal) up charge.  

Once you agree on deviation they will send an email (to your TA if you used one).  This email MUST be responded to as it is the actual acceptance of the deviation.  Also on most airlines you will be able to choose your seats while on the phone with the Regent Agent. 

One more comment about Atlanta to Reykjavik flights.  Not sure what you mean by "disappearing," but if you're looking at Delta, those flights may be seasonal and also NOT daily.  So you may have to fly on a Mon. Wed. or Fri. for example.  

[papaflamingo]

7 hours ago, DaveFr said:

Last year, I was informed that I could have my Regent flights ticketed early but that there was a potential downside to doing so. Normally Regent flights may be canceled until they are ticketed 60 days before the cruise. Within 60 days of the cruise, there is a 100% penalty for canceling flights. So, if you have a flight ticketed earlier than the 60 day mark, the 100% penalty begins on the date the flight was ticketed. The option to ticket early is there but it has risks.
 

Dave

I don't believe that is correct.  I believe you can cancel Regent Air prior to the 60 days as that is when they pay for the tickets.  What you lose if you book Custom Air then cancel it is the $175 per person Deviation Fee. And the 60 days is mostly when 100% penalty for cancelling begins for cruise cancellation. 

The only risk you run booking 210 days out is the non-refundable $175 pp.  But you have secured seats on flights you want so it is, IMHO, well worth it. 

Edited April 4 by papaflamingo

[Chateaunole-du-pape]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

One more comment about Atlanta to Reykjavik flights.  Not sure what you mean by "disappearing," but if you're looking at Delta, those flights may be seasonal and also NOT daily.  So you may have to fly on a Mon. Wed. or Fri. for example.  

There's no ATL-KEF nonstop. You and I, airline guys both, could have an interesting side discussion as to why, but I doubt others here would be interested. 🙂

[flare3192]

What I meant about disappearing is the airline schedule on rssc had atl jfk reykjavik and the o would look and the atl jfk is nit part of my record. They bring me back to atlanta but have me leave from jfk.

I would do delta to go but that option was very expensive. I do have delta back from London but forced to change planes in Boston. 

[danibethb]

6 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

What you want to do is to Deviate your flight.  You do that by contacting Custom Air.  There is a $175 per person non-refundable Deviation Fee.  When you call you will have a single $75 charge to talk to them, but that will be applied to one of the $175 Deviation Fees IF you accept deviation, so it becomes "free."  Anyway, when you do this you can request any flight itinerary and go any day (up to 30 days before and after the cruise).  So if you want to go a day or two early, or stay a day or two (or more of course) after the cruise you can.  If you choose to do this, research your flights and itineraries and have a list of what you want.  If Regent has "contract rates" on your requested flights then there will be no additional charges (other than the $175 pp).  If they don't have "contract rates" you are likely able to book it for an up charge.  It is up to you if the up charge is worth it or not.  Anyway, Deviation can be done 210 days before your cruise, and IMHO, well worth it.  If you go the same day that Regent would have sent you anyway, I believe you still get transport provided.  If not, you have to find your own transportation to the hotel.  But wisdom (and 29 years as an airline pilot) tells me NEVER GO THE DAY THE SHIP LEAVES!!!!  

Anyway, Custom Air is very easy to work with and will help you find routing (if available) if you don't want to pay the up charge and your desired flights aren't available.  Of course the more you research and more flight options you find, the better chance you'll find one that has no (or very minimal) up charge.  

Once you agree on deviation they will send an email (to your TA if you used one).  This email MUST be responded to as it is the actual acceptance of the deviation.  Also on most airlines you will be able to choose your seats while on the phone with the Regent Agent. 

One more comment about Atlanta to Reykjavik flights.  Not sure what you mean by "disappearing," but if you're looking at Delta, those flights may be seasonal and also NOT daily.  So you may have to fly on a Mon. Wed. or Fri. for example.  

We can’t do deviation because we do not have passports. Regent has said we would have to cancel our air part of the package and book our own flights, losing all our transfers and pre-cruise hotel for night before. We were thinking of a morning flight from DFW to VCR, then get on cruise in the afternoon. What is the same day pitfalls? Would travel insurance cover it?

[PhD-iva]

1 hour ago, danibethb said:

We can’t do deviation because we do not have passports. Regent has said we would have to cancel our air part of the package and book our own flights, losing all our transfers and pre-cruise hotel for night before. We were thinking of a morning flight from DFW to VCR, then get on cruise in the afternoon. What is the same day pitfalls? Would travel insurance cover it?

I guess you will have passports soon, correct? Hopefully they will be arriving soon, yes?

[DaveFr]

15 hours ago, DaveFr said:

Last year, I was informed that I could have my Regent flights ticketed early but that there was a potential downside to doing so. Normally Regent flights may be canceled until they are ticketed 60 days before the cruise. Within 60 days of the cruise, there is a 100% penalty for canceling flights. So, if you have a flight ticketed earlier than the 60 day mark, the 100% penalty begins on the date the flight was ticketed. The option to ticket early is there but it has risks.
 

Dave

 

8 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I don't believe that is correct.  I believe you can cancel Regent Air prior to the 60 days as that is when they pay for the tickets.  What you lose if you book Custom Air then cancel it is the $175 per person Deviation Fee. And the 60 days is mostly when 100% penalty for cancelling begins for cruise cancellation. 

The only risk you run booking 210 days out is the non-refundable $175 pp.  But you have secured seats on flights you want so it is, IMHO, well worth it. 

papaflamingo, I don’t understand your post. I agree that you can cancel Regent flights prior to the 60 day mark when Regent normally tickets and pays for them. Until ticketing and payment at the 60 day mark, the flights are cancelable and refundable to Regent. However, the OP’s question was about ticketing flights early. In that case, Regent would have to pay early to have the flights ticketed. I was told that when Regent pays for the tickets earlier than 60 days before the cruise the flights become nonrefundable. Also, the 60 day mark is significant for more than cruise cancellations. As Regent invoices state in the “Cancellation of Ancillary Items“ section, airfare canceled within 60 days prior to the cruise incurs a 100% fee (penalty).

 

Dave

[papaflamingo]

13 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

 

papaflamingo, I don’t understand your post. I agree that you can cancel Regent flights prior to the 60 day mark when Regent normally tickets and pays for them. Until ticketing and payment at the 60 day mark, the flights are cancelable and refundable to Regent. However, the OP’s question was about ticketing flights early. In that case, Regent would have to pay early to have the flights ticketed. I was told that when Regent pays for the tickets earlier than 60 days before the cruise the flights become nonrefundable. Also, the 60 day mark is significant for more than cruise cancellations. As Regent invoices state in the “Cancellation of Ancillary Items“ section, airfare canceled within 60 days prior to the cruise incurs a 100% fee (penalty).

 

Dave

To my knowledge Regent doesn't pay for the flights more than 60 days out.  When I deviated on our Feb. cruise from Hong Kong I made the deviation 210 days out.  About a month later United changed the schedule giving me an uncomfortably short layover in SFO to change planes.  Long story short, I contacted United and they said there was nothing they could do to change the schedule since the tickets hadn't been paid for.  So I called Regent and all they could do was rebook a different day but it would be an up charge and a new deviation fee.  However the agent did give me the date that the ticket would be paid for (60 days or so before the cruise).  So after that date I was able to call United and make an acceptable change directly with them.  So, you can BOOK 210 days out, but the flight won't be paid for until 60 days out. 

[papaflamingo]

3 hours ago, danibethb said:

We can’t do deviation because we do not have passports. Regent has said we would have to cancel our air part of the package and book our own flights, losing all our transfers and pre-cruise hotel for night before. We were thinking of a morning flight from DFW to VCR, then get on cruise in the afternoon. What is the same day pitfalls? Would travel insurance cover it?

When is your cruise?  Because you'll need passports before you go.  Once you get your passports you can again contact Regent Air to deviate, or simply use their included air.  I'm confused by "Regent has said we would have to cancel our air part of the package and book our own flights."  Probably you can't deviate without the Passports, because they have to enter the info with the airlines and it's a $500 charge if you change it later.  So maybe that's what they were talking about.  But wait until you get the passports, then try to deviate again. 

As to traveling the same day, I would never do that (I'm retired airline and know better).  As to Travel Insurance covering a delay, yes....depending.  You really have to read the policy and see what it covers.  It's critical to know what is a covered event.  

[DaveFr]

10 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

To my knowledge Regent doesn't pay for the flights more than 60 days out.  When I deviated on our Feb. cruise from Hong Kong I made the deviation 210 days out.  About a month later United changed the schedule giving me an uncomfortably short layover in SFO to change planes.  Long story short, I contacted United and they said there was nothing they could do to change the schedule since the tickets hadn't been paid for.  So I called Regent and all they could do was rebook a different day but it would be an up charge and a new deviation fee.  However the agent did give me the date that the ticket would be paid for (60 days or so before the cruise).  So after that date I was able to call United and make an acceptable change directly with them.  So, you can BOOK 210 days out, but the flight won't be paid for until 60 days out. 

Your conclusion that you can book 210 days out but the flight won’t be paid for until 60 days out is what normally happens. However, the OP already had flights to Reykjavík from Regent and wanted to know if there was any downside to having the flights ticketed earlier than 60 days out. That question was what I originally responded to. Regent flights are ticketed by the airlines when Regent pays for them. As I stated above, I was told that when Regent pays for flights and they are ticketed, the flights become nonrefundable. This information was the basis for my original post.

 

Dave

[welshfamily]

I don’t understand either.

We, in the Uk, have deviated going out and we have upgraded to business however our flights will not be paid for ( ticketed) until approx 60 days before we cruise. Returning from the ship our TA has done everything to try to get us business class flights even by moving us from a concierge D to a penthouse B and still Regent wanted over £600 extra for an included business class flight. 
I think the amount Regent now are willing to spend on  “ included “ flights is unrealistic and will lead to many of us having problems with the included flights. 
We are currently looking at our options 

[cruisevirgin24]

Perhaps Regent will ask Ryanair to have another look at their standing only tickets, perfect for a ten hour flight.

 

[papaflamingo]

13 hours ago, DaveFr said:

Your conclusion that you can book 210 days out but the flight won’t be paid for until 60 days out is what normally happens. However, the OP already had flights to Reykjavík from Regent and wanted to know if there was any downside to having the flights ticketed earlier than 60 days out. That question was what I originally responded to. Regent flights are ticketed by the airlines when Regent pays for them. As I stated above, I was told that when Regent pays for flights and they are ticketed, the flights become nonrefundable. This information was the basis for my original post.

 

Dave

My "conclusion" comes from personal experience and personal conversations with both United AND Regent.  I'm not trying to argue, there is really nothing to argue about.  It's simply the facts that were given to me by BOTH the airlines and Regent.   Nothing that is booked through Regent becomes non-refundable PRIOR to Final Payment according to the Published Cancellation Schedule except the non-refundable portion of the deposit and the non-refundable $175 Deviation Fee.  To suggest that if you book your flight 210 days out the cost of air becomes non-refundable is simply absurd.  You don't pay for the air until you make your final payment on your cruise.  If you agree to an up charge flight that isn't paid for until you pay final payment for you cruise.  So unless the OP booked inside the final payment period and had to pay in full according to the Cancellation Policy, the only cost is the $175 Deviation Fee and no more.  

[flossie009]

22 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

To suggest that if you book your flight 210 days out the cost of air becomes non-refundable is simply absurd

No one has said, or inferred, that.

What is being discussed is ticketing a flight arranged by Regent, not booking the flight.

 

Certainly in the past we have paid Regent early in order for them to get an airline to ticket a flight earlier. This then allowed us to book specific seats, which otherwise was not possible.

Obviously this experience is with Regent(UK) and with a British based airline. Since the OP is in North America, their options may be different.

[papaflamingo]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

No one has said, or inferred, that.

What is being discussed is ticketing a flight arranged by Regent, not booking the flight.

 

Certainly in the past we have paid Regent early in order for them to get an airline to ticket a flight earlier. This then allowed us to book specific seats, which otherwise was not possible.

Obviously this experience is with Regent(UK) and with a British based airline. Since the OP is in North America, their options may be different.

The poster who stated this is from San Diego, so the UK policy isn't applicable to his comment.  But why, at least in the U.S., would anyone pay to have the flight ticketed early?  What benefit?  I'm not really trying to be argumentative, but it seems that people could be led to believe that if they book 210 days out with Custom Air then they are on the hook for the cost of air.  That is simply not the case.  I was unaware that there was even an option to have Regent pay for the tickets early. 

Anyway, sorry if my comments ruffled any feathers, that was not my intent.  So I'll simply back out now. 

Edited April 6 by papaflamingo

[flare3192]

I am from Atlanta. We leave July 19 as we did pay for a deviation. There are no nonstops to Reykjavik so we must do a stop and change of planes. Asking for Delta over Icelandair was expensive so I took Icelandair. Originally we were Atl Bos Kef but that disappeared and then we were Atl Jfk Kef which is fine but two or three times when I checked my itinerary with Regent, the Atl Jfk mysteriously disappeared and we were leaving from JFK. We have been able to get them to put the ATL JFK leg back. But each time the seats change as well. I understand they normally ticket 60 days out which is May 20. I was told if I had them go ahead and ticket I would be able to change seats and deal directly with the airlines for any time changes and seats. I am within the penalty period -- just not 100% yet.

I know we could still do our own air but the cost was about double so I used theirs. On our own the flight schedule was not better than what I have with them