Understanding the "New" Regent Air

[Kane]

I'm not a Mensa and am having a difficult time trying to understand the "New" Regent Ultimate Upgrade Air.  Our cruise price quoted Air Arrangements at an outbound cost of $3,820 for the April voyage.  This would change up/down when the custom air request was made at 210 days. The Regent website says: "*Airfares listed with Ultimate Upgrade Air are based on available flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)" so $3,820 seems to be what an NYC resident must pay.

 

Now, the business air for the flight from our home (not NYC) on Delta is available via Google Flights and other booking sites at $2,140.  At 210 days, I submitted this to Regent Air as our custom air request.  Their response was "... can’t offer the Delta nonstop flight you requested. They don’t have a contract in economy, premium, or business class for that route with Delta."  Their proposal was an air differential of $800 on another airline, making it $4,620.  This is more than twice the "retail" cost of the Delta flight.  Did they think I would really fly to JFK to "save" $800?

 

Again, I'm not a Mensa and just can't figure out the advanced math and business rationale Regent Air is utilizing.

 

[Henk123]

You pay for the admin costs. If the cruise change it is you who must change your air trip or if you use Regent Regent has to do it.

 

[papaflamingo]

11 hours ago, Kane said:

I'm not a Mensa and am having a difficult time trying to understand the "New" Regent Ultimate Upgrade Air.  Our cruise price quoted Air Arrangements at an outbound cost of $3,820 for the April voyage.  This would change up/down when the custom air request was made at 210 days. The Regent website says: "*Airfares listed with Ultimate Upgrade Air are based on available flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)" so $3,820 seems to be what an NYC resident must pay.

 

Now, the business air for the flight from our home (not NYC) on Delta is available via Google Flights and other booking sites at $2,140.  At 210 days, I submitted this to Regent Air as our custom air request.  Their response was "... can’t offer the Delta nonstop flight you requested. They don’t have a contract in economy, premium, or business class for that route with Delta."  Their proposal was an air differential of $800 on another airline, making it $4,620.  This is more than twice the "retail" cost of the Delta flight.  Did they think I would really fly to JFK to "save" $800?

 

Again, I'm not a Mensa and just can't figure out the advanced math and business rationale Regent Air is utilizing.

 

We have pretty much beaten this to death on here.  All the reasons for Regent Air costs, contracts, no contracts, etc.  No need to be a "Mensa," no "advanced math and business rationale," the bottom line is very simple... if you can get the flight you want for less on your own than through Regent Air  then buy it.  If you can get the flight for less via Regent Air, then buy it.  

Edited 16 hours ago by papaflamingo

[Kane]

Apologies for my rant.  I actually receive a waiver on the custom air fee and, therefore, have no real basis for griping.

 

The person, however, that has to bite the non-refundable $75 fee for making a custom air request should be able to gripe a little if they don't successfully get their request fulfilled.

[mj_holiday]

13 minutes ago, Kane said:

Apologies for my rant.  I actually receive a waiver on the custom air fee and, therefore, have no real basis for griping.

Please explain what you mean by a waiver.

[Kane]

As part of the RSSC loyalty program, after you sail a bunch of nights you become entitled to one free $175 custom air fee, which we get ... the "waiver".

 

I admit I did not check whether there has been a change to the fee policy.  Last year, those without the waiver had to pay a non-refundable $75 fee just to request custom air.  If booking was made, the fee was rolled into the $175 total.

 

It  is possible that this has all gone away.  When making our first sailing on RSSC, we had to pay for WiFi.  This became free on our second voyage.  We had to sail many nights before getting one free laundry a week.  Now everyone gets daily free laundry.

 

I guess the trick is to just wait until it becomes a free Bennie.😁

[DaveFr]

25 minutes ago, Kane said:

As part of the RSSC loyalty program, after you sail a bunch of nights you become entitled to one free $175 custom air fee, which we get ... the "waiver".

 

I admit I did not check whether there has been a change to the fee policy.  Last year, those without the waiver had to pay a non-refundable $75 fee just to request custom air.  If booking was made, the fee was rolled into the $175 total.

 

It  is possible that this has all gone away.  When making our first sailing on RSSC, we had to pay for WiFi.  This became free on our second voyage.  We had to sail many nights before getting one free laundry a week.  Now everyone gets daily free laundry.

 

I guess the trick is to just wait until it becomes a free Bennie.😁

The full waiver for Platinum and above still applies. Of course the waiver may go the way of the Dodo bird in the future. 😪

 

Dave

[chuckw]

We were going to book a Tokyo to Vancouver cruise for next spring. the Regent flights were really overpriced.  Our return flight from to Seattle they wanted $600 for a $180 flight. While they were more expensive than other cruises, in the past, we knew what we were paying for the total cruise, and willing to pay for it. We have over 200 nights on Regent and our November cruise may be our last.

[rcandkc]

1 hour ago, chuckw said:

We were going to book a Tokyo to Vancouver cruise for next spring. the Regent flights were really overpriced.  Our return flight from to Seattle they wanted $600 for a $180 flight. While they were more expensive than other cruises, in the past, we knew what we were paying for the total cruise, and willing to pay for it. We have over 200 nights on Regent and our November cruise may be our last.

Why? Just do your own air.  

[chuckw]

Because we liked the all-inclusive Regent.

[Pcardad]

21 minutes ago, chuckw said:

Because we liked the all-inclusive Regent.

You can still opt for all-inclusive...that option still exists. I always have everyone deviate and pick the option that works best for them. Just remember that Regent doesn't have access to every flight you see on the internet. They buy blocks of flights and when they run out they are gone.

Edited 1 hour ago by Pcardad

[Kane]

17 minutes ago, chuckw said:

Because we liked the all-inclusive Regent.

 

I agree.  The all inclusive include transfers to/from the airport which you lose if you book your own air.  This often means finding then dragging your luggage to/from the taxi queue or private transfer companies.

 

Yes, it's your option but this becomes problematic when the all inclusive cost differential is orders of magnitude of "book your own" ... sometimes thousands of dollars.  It then becomes less of an option.