JerseyGirlatHeart Posted July 4 #1 Share Posted July 4 It is my understanding that I can book a flight on Celebrity Flights and if the price goes down between now and final payment, I have the option to change the booking, refare, or completely cancel the booked flight without penalty. What is the downside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NutsAboutGolf Posted July 4 #2 Share Posted July 4 35 minutes ago, JerseyGirlatHeart said: It is my understanding that I can book a flight on Celebrity Flights and if the price goes down between now and final payment, I have the option to change the booking, refare, or completely cancel the booked flight without penalty. What is the downside? After the final payment, they require a $200 fee to make changes. When booking directly with the airlines, as long as you don't book their "basic" fares, they allow you to change your flight without any fee, even on the day of the original flight. When booking with the airline, non-basic fares, you can cancel the flight and receive a future flight credit 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastdance Posted July 4 #3 Share Posted July 4 (edited) If you book insurance, you must cover your flights(FBC), in the price. If you book your own flights, you do not have to cover those. Edited July 4 by Lastdance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NutsAboutGolf Posted July 4 #4 Share Posted July 4 1 minute ago, Lastdance said: If you book insurance, you must cover your flights(FBC), in the price. If you book your own flights, you do not have to cover those. You mean if you book "Cruisecare" through X? If you book independent insurance which many are able to find better coverage for less money than X's cruise care, you can have them insure your flight. You can also purchase insurance directly with the airline if you wish yet, since there's no fee to change or cancel a flight you booked on your own, many may find they don't even need flight insurance 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastdance Posted July 4 #5 Share Posted July 4 (edited) 10 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said: You mean if you book "Cruisecare" through X? If you book independent insurance which many are able to find better coverage for less money than X's cruise care, you can have them insure your flight. You can also purchase insurance directly with the airline if you wish yet, since there's no fee to change or cancel a flight you booked on your own, many may find they don't even need flight insurance Sorry, not referring to Cruisecare at all, as I have never booked it. Yes, if you book your own personal insurance, you can choose to cover it or not cover it. There are many ways to do insurance depending on personal preference. I always book my own insurance for my needs, never covering flights due to what you have mentioned above. Edited July 4 by Lastdance 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 4 #6 Share Posted July 4 I am independently flying to a cruise on AA-JL then on separate ticket SQ. Some folks on the internet say I should have gotten a TA to do this on one ticket not two, so luggage can be checked from origin to destination and save me some time. If I book flights by Celebrity could they do this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHEZMARYLOU Posted July 4 #7 Share Posted July 4 Several things come to mind and might not apply to all airlines. Cannot pick your own seat Will not get free luggage on an airline branded credit card Less control over flight changes Will not get double miles since you are not paying the airline directly on the branded CC Might not get miles at all Less of a choice of flights, times and airlines We booked air to Alaska through Celebrity when it looked like cruises would be cancelled due to Covid. When we decided to cancel the cruise we were able to cancel the air also. This is the only time we saw an advantage to flights by Celebrity. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 4 #8 Share Posted July 4 50 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: Several things come to mind and might not apply to all airlines. Cannot pick your own seat Will not get free luggage on an airline branded credit card Less control over flight changes Will not get double miles since you are not paying the airline directly on the branded CC Might not get miles at all Less of a choice of flights, times and airlines We booked air to Alaska through Celebrity when it looked like cruises would be cancelled due to Covid. When we decided to cancel the cruise we were able to cancel the air also. This is the only time we saw an advantage to flights by Celebrity. Can’t pick your seats? Really? I don’t want to be stuck at the back of the plane near the bathroom. 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39august Posted July 4 #9 Share Posted July 4 We always get free luggage with FBC on Delta with our Delta credit card. Delta also allows seat selection with FBC, tho' I understand some airlines do not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotoal Posted July 4 #10 Share Posted July 4 1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: Several things come to mind and might not apply to all airlines. Cannot pick your own seat Will not get free luggage on an airline branded credit card Less control over flight changes Will not get double miles since you are not paying the airline directly on the branded CC Might not get miles at all Less of a choice of flights, times and airlines We booked air to Alaska through Celebrity when it looked like cruises would be cancelled due to Covid. When we decided to cancel the cruise we were able to cancel the air also. This is the only time we saw an advantage to flights by Celebrity. Yes, you can pick youor own seat. And if you do research you can choose almost any flight, time and airline. For example we are flying into one port 4 nights before our cruise, and flying home a week after our cruise ends. The airfare was the same cost if we booked through the airline or through FBC, the only difference was that we didn't have to pay for the flights until the cruise final payment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwlane Posted July 4 #11 Share Posted July 4 1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: Several things come to mind and might not apply to all airlines. 1. Cannot pick your own seat 2. Will not get free luggage on an airline branded credit card 3. Less control over flight changes 4. Will not get double miles since you are not paying the airline directly on the branded CC 5. Might not get miles at all 6. Less of a choice of flights, times and airlines 1. By our experience, not true. 2. By our experience, have always included 1 bag. 3. Maybe? 4. OK, but you get double X points on the branded card. 5. Never had this experience. 6. Not by our experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelayne Posted July 4 #12 Share Posted July 4 AA has not allowed seat selection until the flight has been ticketed which FBC does not do until after final payment. We have not used FBC in a few years as the price is usually equal or higher than booking direct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabear Posted July 4 #13 Share Posted July 4 (edited) 2 hours ago, zitsky said: Can’t pick your seats? Really? I don’t want to be stuck at the back of the plane near the bathroom. 😂 I've had no problem booking seats on both AA , UA & others for international flights before final payment. You just need the airline confirmation number (not the fbc number). My problem with fbc was when airline prices decreased on an international flight fbc did not decrease their price, thus I effectively overpaid by $800 by using them. Edited July 4 by dabear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynncarol Posted July 4 #14 Share Posted July 4 Ok, this happened 15 years ago, but it was so traumatic, we have NEVER again booked with Celebrity for flights. My husband and I were scheduled for a Baltic cruise that left out of South Hampton via a flight from Pittsburgh to Philly to England. Unfortunately, our flight from Pittsburgh never got off the ground due to bad weather. I phoned Celebrity Air and was told because that was the airline's fault, we were on our own to get rescheduled. Unfortunately, the only flight available was for the next day and had an additional stop-over in Frankford, since we now had to catch the ship in Oslo, But as Celebrity had only authorized one stop-over, we had a terrible time until a ticketing agent finally took pity on us and comped us that extra leg. Also, since we were supposed to meet my elderly folks in Philly who were joining us on the cruise, we had no way of contacting them, since neither of them had a cell phone. Celebrity Air promised to contact the ship and let my folks know what happened, but never did and they so frantic looking for us that my father tripped going down an escalator in South Hampton port and got badly bruised. When we finally made it to Oslo, because we had no ship card, we were refused entrance into the port area. Thank goodness two other couples were in the same situation and between the 6 of us, we made a big enough fuss that one of the ship's officers finally came over to remedy the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NutsAboutGolf Posted July 4 #15 Share Posted July 4 (edited) 4 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: Several things come to mind and might not apply to all airlines. Cannot pick your own seat Will not get free luggage on an airline branded credit card Less control over flight changes Will not get double miles since you are not paying the airline directly on the branded CC Might not get miles at all Less of a choice of flights, times and airlines We booked air to Alaska through Celebrity when it looked like cruises would be cancelled due to Covid. When we decided to cancel the cruise we were able to cancel the air also. This is the only time we saw an advantage to flights by Celebrity. All of the following is assuming you added your airline loyalty number to your FBC booking and you can do that at any time, not just during booking: SEATS...You can pick your own seat if the airline allows it; to be clear, if you can pick your seat for free when booking directly with the airline, you can pick your seat when booked on FBC LUGGAGE...You get the same luggage allowance as if you booked the flight directly with the airlines FLIGHT CHANGES...The downside with FBC and changing a flight could be speed. If you booked directly with the airlines, you can make changes on their app/website. If FBC, you need to call them and there could be a long wait. Additionally, if you want to change flights after the final payment you are charged a $200 fee CC EARNING...This is true yet some credit cards give you 3% on travel which could be worth close to or even more than the value of "double miles", for some. Us "point brahs" usually have the CSR credit card to book our travel on the Chase portal as we get 10 points per dollar and it's incredibly easy to get $.02 per point effectively giving us at least 20% back. We would give that up if booking with FBC EARN MILES...You will earn miles as long as your loyalty number is linked SELECTION...Absolutely true, FBC has less selection The benefit of FBC is that it usually, but not always, helps you if there are itinerary deviations Edited July 4 by NutsAboutGolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stockjock Posted July 4 #16 Share Posted July 4 Here's a thread I started about a year ago. It starts off sounding as if I got an advantage from Flights by Celebrity, but then things went south. I can't say I'd never use them but generally, I'd try to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted July 4 #17 Share Posted July 4 4 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: Several things come to mind and might not apply to all airlines. Cannot pick your own seat Will not get free luggage on an airline branded credit card Less control over flight changes Will not get double miles since you are not paying the airline directly on the branded CC Might not get miles at all Less of a choice of flights, times and airlines We booked air to Alaska through Celebrity when it looked like cruises would be cancelled due to Covid. When we decided to cancel the cruise we were able to cancel the air also. This is the only time we saw an advantage to flights by Celebrity. I agree with the above however the key words in CHEZMARYLOU's post is "might not apply to all airlines". For example, we were able to pick our your own seats on United, but some other airlines (Air Canada comes to mind) will not allow you to. Some airlines require you to use your co-branded credit card to buy your tickets directly from the airline in order to get baggage and boarding group perks. Some airlines deem it sufficient that you are a co-branded credit card holder to get the perks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canderson Posted July 4 #18 Share Posted July 4 (edited) 6 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: Several things come to mind and might not apply to all airlines. Cannot pick your own seat Definitely a by-airline question. I selected my 787-900 DEN > FRA seats on United for a cruise we won't be taking until November 24. Lufthansa, on the other hand, is more of a PITA, and won't let me select seats for FRA > BCN until the tickets are paid for by X and issued. So in this case, it's more of a question of when I can pick them, not if. I do hate codeshare flights, especially with Lufthansa on the far end. As for baggage and boarding group, isn't an issue depending upon how you choose to travel. Edited July 4 by canderson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NutsAboutGolf Posted July 5 #19 Share Posted July 5 12 hours ago, zitsky said: I am independently flying to a cruise on AA-JL then on separate ticket SQ. Some folks on the internet say I should have gotten a TA to do this on one ticket not two, so luggage can be checked from origin to destination and save me some time. If I book flights by Celebrity could they do this? FBC should have the capability to link two different segments together assuming that if they are two different airlines, the airlines have a luggage agreement. However, FBC only allows you to book two flights per sailing so assuming they'll let you book both flights on the same day, you could only use this for one way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWFM Posted July 5 #20 Share Posted July 5 We are using FBC in August. So far our experience has been great. We are flying AA MCO to Barcelona Round trip. FBC allowed us to pick our flights, we saved $500 per person and we were assigned Main Cabin Seats with bags. Our fare is refundable. Although AA has changed the flight times twice FBC gave us sufficient notice of the change and they were minor changes. Once we paid for the ticket I was able to upgrade our seats for a nominal amount to seats with extra leg room. Our last trip through Frankfurt was a nightmare and coming home from Amsterdam was a disaster so we opted to fly to MCO to MIA to BCN. We always allow a 2-3 day window when flying to Europe. 🤞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 5 #21 Share Posted July 5 7 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said: FBC should have the capability to link two different segments together assuming that if they are two different airlines, the airlines have a luggage agreement. However, FBC only allows you to book two flights per sailing so assuming they'll let you book both flights on the same day, you could only use this for one way FBC only allows two flights? You mean I can only have one connection say Raleigh-JFK-SFO but not Raleigh-JFK-SFO-Tokyo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canderson Posted July 5 #22 Share Posted July 5 43 minutes ago, zitsky said: FBC only allows two flights? You mean I can only have one connection say Raleigh-JFK-SFO but not Raleigh-JFK-SFO-Tokyo? That's not what was meant, I don't think. You couldn't break them up this way, creating a third and sorta separate leg on the outbound part of the trip. The assumption here is that it's three tickets instead of two for some reason. Ralengh-JFK-SFO SFO-Tokyo Tokyo-SFO-JFK-Raleigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celebrity cruiser Posted July 5 #23 Share Posted July 5 The one reason I don't use FBC, is that I have not been able to use credit card or airline points to book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canderson Posted July 5 #24 Share Posted July 5 58 minutes ago, celebrity cruiser said: The one reason I don't use FBC, is that I have not been able to use credit card or airline points to book. Not to book, but in the past, I've upgraded FBC tickets with miles on United. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 5 #25 Share Posted July 5 1 hour ago, canderson said: That's not what was meant, I don't think. You couldn't break them up this way, creating a third and sorta separate leg on the outbound part of the trip. The assumption here is that it's three tickets instead of two for some reason. Ralengh-JFK-SFO SFO-Tokyo Tokyo-SFO-JFK-Raleigh I am asking about traveling on a *single* ticket on FBC. I am asking how many stops are permitted on a single ticket? I don’t mean stop and get off the plane. I mean how many connections am I permitted by FBC to get from point A to point B? It was suggested up thread that there is some limit. Does FBC allow layovers where I *do* get off the plane and stay for a few days along the way or at beginning or end? Fewer connections are better but there are times where adding a connection might change the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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