Regent's "New" Fare Options are Much Ado About Nothing imho

[CJANDH]

4 hours ago, RELS said:

 

If it's anything like Silversea, if there is no Blacklane in your city, there should be a credit.

But what makes you think it is like Silversea? They are very clear that the Blackstone charge is refundable if not used. The Regent wording is not clear. They talk of a "voucher" for the service, which if you don't use it you might lose it.

[papaflamingo]

Here's the bottom line.  When the new pricing terms come out, look at the cruise, priced at the class of air service you want, be it economy or Business Class (or something in between). decide if Blacklane is of interest to you, see if the $500 credit is optional.  Then look at the bottom line.  If you can get it cheaper by purchasing your own air and transportation... then book without air and transportation.  If it's cheaper to book through Regent, then book through Regent.  It really is no different from what we've been doing for years.  

July 1 is only a few weeks away. We'll all know for sure then.  Until then, ALL of this is pure speculation. 

[Tsunami74]

17 hours ago, rallydave said:

 

knowns  on any given cruise everyone pays the exact same amount for air no matter where you live. Everyone gets the exact same credit no matter where they live for not taking sir. 
 

Not exactly true!

Living in a non gateway city, we have always had a surcharge for air added on - usually about $250.

This was true on Oceania also.

[ysolde]

19 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

If you choose to use Regent Air today on an International flight you are already paying for Business Class.  If you choose to use Regent Air for a Domestic flight to a cruise, say Alaska or Miami, you are already paying for Economy Air.  If you choose to not use Regent Air you get the cost of air reduced from the cost of your cruise.  

What you will most likely find is that Regent will continue to offer Contract Rates for the cruise in whatever class you want to fly.  So if you want to fly Business Class you'll pay the Contract Rate just like today, and if you want to deviate you'll pay the contract rate plus any up charge if necessary, like today.  If you decide you want to save money and fly to Europe you'll pay the Contract Rate for economy or premium select.  Or you can simply not pay for Regent Air and buy your own tickets....just like today.  

Most the cruise lines offer an air option if you want.  That cost of air is whatever the cruise line pays for it.  Regent, as a marketing tool to differentiate from the other lines, simply include Business Class Air, but the cost of that air is about the same as you can find it on other cruise line.  I compared our cruise on Explorer last Feb. to a similar itinerary on Royal Caribbean, and was able to price Business Class Air via Royal Caribbean and it was about the same cost as Regent's Air Credit.  So...  they all offer Contract Rates.  There's absolutely no reason to think Regent won't continue to offer Contract Rates in all classes.  

Not exactly true, at least in our experience.  We have priced out Viking sea cruises several times, and as soon as we add in the business class air fare from our airport, the price becomes outrageous.  We have changed our minds about the cruises every single time, and gone for a Regent cruise, which prices out at considerably less.  This is what is concerning to me.

[mnocket]

18 hours ago, rallydave said:

Unfortunately nobody as yet knows how regent is going to price these changes

I completely agree.  Isn't it interesting that there are some people here who seem to believe that they do know😁

[Dolebludger]

These items being shuffled about by Regent are what I’d call “external items” not controlled as to price or quality by Regent. Airlines, ground transfer services, and hotels are not owned or controlled by Regent. (I wish they were, but they’re not.) prices and availability of those things have been very volatile post pandemic. As I see it, Regent is just unwilling to be economically damaged by this volatility. I can’t really blame them. As some here may know, Celebrity initiated a program last fall, mainly impacting suite class, of cutting inclusions and raising fares (higher than Regent’s in many cases). And it caught hades over it. To me, that is different than what Regent is doing, because inclusions reduced by Celebrity were those provided and controlled by it. This is not the case with Regent’s actions. And excessive BC airfares? Just before the pandemic, we had an MSC Yacht Club Cruise on hold around the British Isles. Now understand, we fly BC all the way from Durango, CO and back, or we don’t go. And when we priced BC air for that cruise, it was more costly than the cruise! Needless to say, we didn’t go on that one.

[papaflamingo]

18 hours ago, ysolde said:

 This is what is concerning to me.

Why is it concerning?  Regent will charge for air whatever they have to pay for air.  Yes, contract rates are getting harder and harder to find so the cost is going up.  We have a cruise from Papeete to Auckland next March.  The air credit is $9800 per person!  THAT'S Regent's cost! Prices are simply going up and beyond Regent's control.  So all they're doing is recognizing that to continue to offer Business Class means pricing in whatever Business Class fare they can get.  Like I said, our cruise is about $10,000 per person.  To go Coach, I can do it for around $2000. That's a $15,500 savings in the price of the cruise for 2.   So a $30,000 cruise for 2 becomes a $14,500 cruise for 2.  

This entire change is nothing more than a Marketing tool to show a more competitive price for the cruises.  

[zak477]

We have never used Regent air for domestic travel as we only fly business class. We have so much more flexibility too. Domestically we also use our own car service, again more flexibility. Internationally we have used our own air travel because in most cases Regent only offered flights with 1/2 stops. We only fly non-stop. We have always had the costs for airfare removed from our pricing.  This past fall we used Regent air business class internationally because the flights would have cost us over $9000 each. My TA worked with Regent for non-stop only and even our preferred airlines.  We had no deviation charges. But we did have issues with the transfers. Last transfer to the airport never showed up. 

I don't see this Regent announcement has a big deal. Yes, they are becoming more and more expensive but all cruise lines are doing something to increase revenue. 

 

 

[rallydave]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

Why is it concerning?  Regent will charge for air whatever they have to pay for air.  Yes, contract rates are getting harder and harder to find so the cost is going up.  We have a cruise from Papeete to Auckland next March.  The air credit is $9800 per person!  THAT'S Regent's cost! Prices are simply going up and beyond Regent's control.  So all they're doing is recognizing that to continue to offer Business Class means pricing in whatever Business Class fare they can get.  Like I said, our cruise is about $10,000 per person.  To go Coach, I can do it for around $2000. That's a $15,500 savings in the price of the cruise for 2.   So a $30,000 cruise for 2 becomes a $14,500 cruise for 2.  

This entire change is nothing more than a Marketing tool to show a more competitive price for the cruises.  

Actually your post should read “regent will charge what the want for your air”  same for credit   Not necessarily what they actually pay or would pay. 
 

Because fares that include air are identical no matter your starting airport actual fares paid by regent will vary widely depending on the length of your flight while under the current process everyone on the same cruises has the same amount of money included in their fare. 
 

since we don’t know exactly how costs will work starting July 1 we don’t know if the calculations will stay the same or be different. 

[Dolebludger]

On a side note, I just received the SS Society newsletter in the mail. I clearly states that the $250 pp ($500 per suite) credit can be used for any needed ground transportation — not only for Black lane. 

[papaflamingo]

22 hours ago, rallydave said:

Actually your post should read “regent will charge what the want for your air”  same for credit   Not necessarily what they actually pay or would pay. 
 

Because fares that include air are identical no matter your starting airport actual fares paid by regent will vary widely depending on the length of your flight while under the current process everyone on the same cruises has the same amount of money included in their fare. 
 

since we don’t know exactly how costs will work starting July 1 we don’t know if the calculations will stay the same or be different. 

You are making assumptions.  You don't know if Regent contracts a flat rate from any published hub or not or how much they pay. You only know the air credit and if you don't like it, don't pay it. If you go on any airline website and put in city pairs, I looked at Atlanta to Auckland then Los Angeles to Auckland on Delta,  San Francisco to Auckland on United, and American through DFW.  Ironically on Delta it was about $700 MORE from Los Angeles than Atlanta (which may explain why it's hard to get Regent Air on Delta), on United about $300 LESS from San Francisco than Atlanta, and on American about $300 less from DFW than Atlanta.  So really nothing significant, and leads to the possibility of a flat rate from any published U.S. hub.

But even if it's city specific, so what?  Some will see costs go down, some go up.  But it'll still be what the airline charges Regent, it'll likely still be less than you can book yourself, and no matter what, you can always not use Regent Air and book on your own.  

What's the problem? It's really no different than today, so why all the anger and angst?  It'll either be a better air deal through Regent or not and you can accept Regent air or not.  

[ysolde]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

You are making assumptions.  You don't know if Regent contracts a flat rate from any published hub or not or how much they pay. You only know the air credit and if you don't like it, don't pay it. If you go on any airline website and put in city pairs, I looked at Atlanta to Auckland then Los Angeles to Auckland on Delta,  San Francisco to Auckland on United, and American through DFW.  Ironically on Delta it was about $700 MORE from Los Angeles than Atlanta (which may explain why it's hard to get Regent Air on Delta), on United about $300 LESS from San Francisco than Atlanta, and on American about $300 less from DFW than Atlanta.  So really nothing significant, and leads to the possibility of a flat rate from any published U.S. hub.

But even if it's city specific, so what?  Some will see costs go down, some go up.  But it'll still be what the airline charges Regent, it'll likely still be less than you can book yourself, and no matter what, you can always not use Regent Air and book on your own.  

What's the problem? It's really no different than today, so why all the anger and angst?  It'll either be a better air deal through Regent or not and you can accept Regent air or not.  

If it turns out that Regent charges substantially more for a business air package than they have in the past (when business air was just part of the cost of booking with Regent), it's not that we will accept Regent air or not.  It's that we will make a decision whether to go on a cruise or not.  For us, cruising with Regent was a cost-effective way to travel in the manner that we usually do (business class air, a certain level of hotel, good food, etc.), while getting to sip at bits of the world in comfort.  If it is no longer cost-effective to do so, it is simple enough to travel by air/rail and stay at hotels for longer periods of time so that we can actually experience the places we are traveling to more fully while we are still young enough to do so.  We just had such a trip to Germany and Austria in May (three weeks) and had a lovely time.  It takes a bit more organizing, but it is certainly do-able.

[Dolebludger]

Yes, as I posted above, we once cancelled a cruise (that did not include BC air because the cost of this air was too high.

[Kwaj girl]

Has anyone considered that regent's current airline contracts (and prices!) may be up for renewal July 1 and thus a reason for the change?

[Dolebludger]

Yes, now that you mention it, that sounds like a distinct possibility. On the only booking we have on a future Regent cruise involves flights from Denver to London, and we were able to deviate for $350 to get BC on United direct both ways. Realizing that we may not do so well in the future, and that we may have to book our own flights, we are concerned about putting up a deposit not knowing if available flights will suit our budget and style. If they don’t, would we be able to recover the deposit? 

[papaflamingo]

20 hours ago, ysolde said:

If it turns out that Regent charges substantially more for a business air package than they have in the past (when business air was just part of the cost of booking with Regent), it's not that we will accept Regent air or not.  It's that we will make a decision whether to go on a cruise or not.  For us, cruising with Regent was a cost-effective way to travel in the manner that we usually do (business class air, a certain level of hotel, good food, etc.), while getting to sip at bits of the world in comfort.  If it is no longer cost-effective to do so, it is simple enough to travel by air/rail and stay at hotels for longer periods of time so that we can actually experience the places we are traveling to more fully while we are still young enough to do so.  We just had such a trip to Germany and Austria in May (three weeks) and had a lovely time.  It takes a bit more organizing, but it is certainly do-able.

Regent's air cost for Business Class is, and always has, been dependent on their cost for tickets.  You weren't getting "free air,"  you were paying for it in the cost of the cruise. Hasn't changed, never will change.  The cost of air has been climbing significantly since Covid, and Business Class, the airline's premium product, has risen the fastest and highest.  The flights are flying full. There is no reason to discount their premium product, that would be silly in a business sense, to lose profits so a cruise line passenger can get a better deal on a cruise.  And Regent isn't going to "eat" the cost increases, they'll continue to pass it on to us.  That's simply good business.

As to future cruising, we all have our opinion on "value."  It's personal.  For me, I like cruising and will continue to do so.  I will use Business Class as long as I can and will purchase my flight by the cheapest method, either through Regent or directly from the airlines, just like I have always done.  

Anyway.. it's simply  how things are today.  

Edited June 12 by papaflamingo

[ysolde]

4 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Regent's air cost for Business Class is, and always has, been dependent on their cost for tickets.  You weren't getting "free air,"  you were paying for it in the cost of the cruise. Hasn't changed, never will change.  The cost of air has been climbing significantly since Covid, and Business Class, the airline's premium product, has risen the fastest and highest.  The flights are flying full. There is no reason to discount their premium product, that would be silly in a business sense, to lose profits so a cruise line passenger can get a better deal on a cruise.  And Regent isn't going to "eat" the cost increases, they'll continue to pass it on to us.  That's simply good business.

As to future cruising, we all have our opinion on "value."  It's personal.  For me, I like cruising and will continue to do so.  I will use Business Class as long as I can and will purchase my flight by the cheapest method, either through Regent or directly from the airlines, just like I have always done.  

Anyway.. it's simply  how things are today.  

Please do not claim to quote me and then misquote me.  I never once called it "free air."  I said Business Class was included in the price of Regent's International sailings.

 

And yes, I understand some choose Regent because it is a high-end cruise product.  Some of us choose Regent because it is a high-end travel product.  It is those of us who were choosing Regent as a travel product more than a cruise product who are likely to fall off here.

 

Edited June 12 by ysolde

[mnocket]

2 hours ago, ysolde said:

And yes, I understand some choose Regent because it is a high-end cruise product.  Some of us choose Regent because it is a high-end travel product.

Great point👍

[flossie009]

5 hours ago, ysolde said:

And yes, I understand some choose Regent because it is a high-end cruise product.  Some of us choose Regent because it is a high-end travel product.  It is those of us who were choosing Regent as a travel product more than a cruise product who are likely to fall off here.

I don’t think I understand 🤔
Regent is a cruise line that happens to offer some of its passengers the convenience of also booking flights to & from the cruise; as do many other cruise companies.

 

We choose Regent for the on-board experience, and realise that they have little or no influence on the service provided by any airline they book on behalf of their guests.

 

We also realise that the total price we pay to Regent will depend on what extras we ask them to include (flights, hotels, transfers etc). We weigh up the value & convenience of each of those extras on a cruise by cruise basis.

I don’t see the new fare options changing the way we look at Regent’s offerings.

[ysolde]

19 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

I don’t think I understand 🤔
Regent is a cruise line that happens to offer some of its passengers the convenience of also booking flights to & from the cruise; as do many other cruise companies.

 

We choose Regent for the on-board experience, and realise that they have little or no influence on the service provided by any airline they book on behalf of their guests.

 

We also realise that the total price we pay to Regent will depend on what extras we ask them to include (flights, hotels, transfers etc). We weigh up the value & convenience of each of those extras on a cruise by cruise basis.

I don’t see the new fare options changing the way we look at Regent’s offerings.

Some of us are travelers, not cruisers, by nature.  Cruising is one way (and, frankly, not a preferred way) to travel.  Cruising on Regent has allowed us to sample little bits of parts of the world oh so briefly in the style and comfort we enjoy travel.  Ultimately, however, we are able to travel by air and rail and see other parts of the world (or even the very same parts of the world) more extensively at our leisure.  Regent's pricing offered a value proposition.  If that value proposition is no longer there, I have to assume those of us who are essentially travelers more than we are cruisers will fall away from Regent.  We will simply go back to traveling primarily by air and rail.  For example, DH and I had a lovely time this spring in the mountains of Germany and Austria (think the Interalpen Hotel in Telfs, for one).

[Dolebludger]

We travel as well as cruise, and sometime combine the two. Either way somebody needs to work with us on the air. In the past, TAs would serve if all you needed was air, that stopped when the airlines stopped giving TAs comission. So we now have to include a commissionable booking (like a cruise or resort) to get TA help,with the air. And since air fares are now being set by airline whim, there is no way of knowing if airfare might kill the travel,plan without considerable research by a TA, cruise line, or other experienced entity..it appears that Regent is making the air arraignment much more complicated, and I understand this all goes on after payment of deposits. That is too late in the process. Regents air advice and information should be available before any commitments as an aid to the customer’s consideration of whether to take the cruise. 

[flossie009]

@ysolde, Thanks for your explanation, but I cannot say that I am any the wiser with your arguments regarding the value you place on a Regent cruise against another form of vacation; especially when you say that cruising is not your favoured method of travel.

 

8 hours ago, ysolde said:

Regent's pricing offered a value proposition.  If that value proposition is no longer there ………..,,,,,,

What leads you to believe that future Regent offerings will give less value than previously when compared to other forms of travel ?

 

[flossie009]

8 hours ago, ysolde said:

For example, DH and I had a lovely time this spring in the mountains of Germany and Austria

It goes without saying that many locations around the world are best visited by methods other than cruising.

[ysolde]

6 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

@ysolde, Thanks for your explanation, but I cannot say that I am any the wiser with your arguments regarding the value you place on a Regent cruise against another form of vacation; especially when you say that cruising is not your favoured method of travel.

 

What leads you to believe that future Regent offerings will give less value than previously when compared to other forms of travel ?

 

On trips going where we wanted to get there slowly (such as on a TA, particularly on one with ports of call we found attractive but did not want to spend four+ days) or where we wanted an introduction to a part of the world about which we were curious but unsure (such as our recent foray to Brazil), Regent is often a perfect way to get from point "A" to point "B".  

 

On trips where we want to arrive at our destination and spend four+ days at a location, then move on to the next place, a cruise, any cruise, is not ideal.  We have never been the, "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium," type of travelers.  

[papaflamingo]

18 hours ago, ysolde said:

Please do not claim to quote me and then misquote me.  I never once called it "free air."  I said Business Class was included in the price of Regent's International sailings

Actually you didn't say "included air" either.  What you said was "If it turns out that Regent charges substantially more for a business air package than they have in the past (when business air was just part of the cost of booking with Regent)."  Air was never "part of the cost of booking with Regent," it was always optional.  You could opt out and receive a credit for the air portion.  "Part of" indicates there is no other choice.  

You're right, you didn't say "free."  But your statement, "just part of the cost of booking,"  indicated to me that you believed it was never optional, so...I used "free." But I wasn't clear in my comment, so my bad, I do apologize.

 

Edited June 13 by papaflamingo