Problem with RCL Custom Air

[hobo1937]

We are involved in a situation with a Custom Air request on RCL and wonder if anyone else has had this happen to them.

 

Last Dec I called our TA regarding doing a Custom Air request for our Jewel Transatlantic on 9/11. We requested and received our flight confirmations in early Jan and were billed an additional fee for a nonstop flight on America West from Boston to Las Vegas.The custome air fee was waived as we were platinum crown and anchor members. I called the airlines and even received seat assignments. Fast forward to last week. I had the TA process the final payment for the cruise which showed up the next day on our online access for our credit card. The amount seemed to be off by the amount we had paid for the non stop flight. I called America West and when the agent pulled up the conf # she said they had the conf # but there was no itinerary associated with it. I then called Virgin Air(the flight from LV to London). They had our flight info but then started telling me about some flight on Delta. Come to find out we had been rebooked from the America West non stop to one on Delta that had us going from Boston to Atlanta and changing planes for another flight to LV. The original America West flight is still going from Boston-LV except leaving 20 minutes earlier so it isn't as if the original flight had been cancelled.

 

No one contacted either the TA or us to advise of this change or ask if it was acceptable. I have been working with our TA and what we have found out so far is that RCL has cancelled their contract with America West. What is really weird is they have a contract with US air, which is who Am West purchased. I have found a US air flight # for the same flight we originally booked and tomorrow we will see what we can do to get this fixed.

[texancruzer]

Let me start out by saying I will never ever use RCI custom air again.....

 

We had a big mess last November on our flights to San Juan for our southern Caribbean cruise on the Serenade.

 

We ended up eating $200.00 worth of "air deviation charges" and cancelling our airfare through RCI and booking our own.

 

Chalked it up to lesson learned.

[negc]

Let me start out by saying I will never ever use RCI custom air again.....

 

We had a big mess last November on our flights to San Juan for our southern Caribbean cruise on the Serenade.

 

We ended up eating $200.00 worth of "air deviation charges" and cancelling our airfare through RCI and booking our own.

 

Chalked it up to lesson learned.

 

We have used RCI custom air several times and had no problems and will use them again if the price is advantageous (it was on those occasions where we used them for our flights). However, the problem experienced by the OP is disconcerting and I hope it can be settled satisfactorily. We have had problems with some major airlines when we have dealt directly with them, so bad things can happen regardless of how you book your flights and it pays to be attentive and monitor your flight arrangements continually from the time you book until flight time.

[Host Kewlguy]

One thing I can say is it takes forever to get them to respond to my custom air email request. I was also under the assumption it would be no charge to request a non stop flight since I'm a platinum member, yet we were charged about $170 in so called "additional fees" with no satisfactory explanation as to why these fees were charged. When I try to call for assistance I'm told all international custom air requests must be done through email. From what I've seen so far the system needs an upgrade.

[just4kixx]

One thing I can say is it takes forever to get them to respond to my custom air email request. I was also under the assumption it would be no charge to request a non stop flight since I'm a platinum member, yet we were charged about $170 in so called "additional fees" with no satisfactory explanation as to why these fees were charged. When I try to call for assistance I'm told all international custom air requests must be done through email. From what I've seen so far the system needs an upgrade.

 

The first thought that came to mind was that this was the difference RCL had to pay for the non-stop, versus what they would have payed for the standard flight. Platinum members do not have to pay the $50. deviation fee to be able to choose different flights, but they are still responsible for the difference in cost of flights. Perhaps that is what the $170. is in your case?

 

A~

[hobo1937]

Earlier today I had a conference call with my TA and the RCI Custom Air Dept.

 

What I have been told is that RCI will not book you on an airline they do not have a contract with, even if you do custom air , in this case America West. In addition, they will not book you as a code share passenger. This means that even though the same AW flight can be booked as a US Airways flight (flight number is different but it's the same flight) since they consider this a codeshare they will not book it.

 

We were able to get them to change our flight to one that is more agreeable to us but we will never use Custom air again. In the past we have always booked our own air but because of this being a transatlantic with one way international travel involved it seemed to be better to go with the cruise line. Not so sure of that now.

[travelteam]

This sounds very confusing. I intend to use the custom air for our Transatlantic. We will need to fly from NYC to Barcelona Spain, then upon the end of the cruise in Miami, fly firect to NYC. When I booked I was told, by RCL, I could use custom air(for a fee) and then pay an additional fee for a deviation. In this case, I need non-stop flights since my DH is disabled and we do not choose to land and take off and have to change planes. Are you saying I'll be screwed if I let RCL book my air? I'm in need of some help here. Hate to have a nightmare and ruin the trip. Was I given misinformation when I booked?

[negc]

You should ask them exactly how much they will charge you for your flight. If you are not at least a Platinum member, you will be charged a fee ($50 or $75 per person). If the cost of the airfare for the flight you request is more than the standard fare that RCI is charging for flights to your destination, they will charge you the additional difference. If not, you will only be charged their standard fare plus the custom air fee. (Only once has this happened to us and when we were informed of the additional cost, we declined to book through the cruiseline and booked our own air.) This information should be provided to you before you decide how to book and if the price is not agreeable, you do not have to book your airfare through them. You can also cancel the RCI airfare without penalty if you do so before final payment is due. Ask questions and make sure you understand the answers before you decide. If you do so, you won't be screwed by RCI or anyone.

[cb at sea]

Next time you go through a TA, let the TA book your flights independent of RCI. I can understand not booking your own when it's trans-atlantic: I'd rather have someone else do that kind of trip, too. But, I wouldn't go through the cruise line--ever!

[cmich068]

America West Airlines no longer exists, period.

 

That would explain why they moved your flight, and RCCL no longer has a contract with them.

 

(from now on, I will refer to America West as HP, since that is their air code).

 

So, even though HP bought US, the new airline has taken on the US identity. The problem is, the flight you want, although it is now a US Flight, is still operated on an old HP Plane, and as a result, uses the old HP air certificate, meaning they need to register it with an HP flight number to the FAA. It is a US Airways flight though.

 

therefore, it appears as a codeshare, but since it isn't, i'd get back on the phone and keep bugging them.... at the airport and onboard, it will be annoucned as "The New US Airways Flight 5959 operated by America West", not "America West Flight 2929 codeshared with US Airways Flight 5959" (i obvously made up the flight numbers)

[isujim]

We have never had a problem with air deviation..........but have found out several things over the years through experience.

 

1. RC WILL put you on the flights you request......if they don't have blocked out group space on the flights you are requesting......that is where the additional charges come in to play.

 

2. Have your ta or you yourself if you don't use a ta..........ask for the flight itinerary with the AIRLINE RECORD LOCATOR on it.......RC will have a locator number also..........this one you don't want. By the way.......what you are asking for is a CUSTOM AIR ARRANGEMENTS CONFIRMATION WITH AIRLINE RECORD LOCATOR.

 

This will show your booking number, guest name, air add on charge, additional airline chare if any and the Totla Air Charges Per Person.

 

Have your ta say the client is waiting across from her or him.........and to fax that immediately because the client wants it.........if you don't get it in 10 minutes..........call air deviation department back and have your ta ask again...........don't leave without it. Only that way can you check that RC got the information right.

 

Jim

[katydyd]

I had a hideous experience with Custom Air when my DS and I did a SOS cruise over Easter weekend. I booked Custom Air (first and last time) b/c for that weekend the air cost was much cheaper through the cruiseline. However, when I received my docs in the mail, I realized that the included air itinerary was listed as leaving in MARCH....not APRIL! I spoke to several different people in Custom Air, who kept giving me different confirmation numbers for "corrected" flights, that I couldn't confirm with the assigned airlines. Finally, after about a week of frustration, I called C&A, and went off on the poor guy who answered the phone. I explained that I was a platinum member who was one cruise away from diamond status, and that this experience had really made me question continuing as a loyal RCCL customer. He was very apologetic, and got me in touch with a "conflict resolution" supervisor. Who acted as a liason between me and the Custom Air supervisor, and finally got everything straightened out. Of course, the new (funcitoning) confirmation numbers showed two other non-related people attached to our reservation! Apparantly, that is common b/c RCCL purchases blocks of seats, however, I had FULL access to the reservations on the airline's website, and could easily cancelled their reservation (in fact when I called Delta about it, the rep on the other end of the phone offered to do that...I gave a strong "DO NOT DO THAT"...to the girl on the other end of the phone). Back on the phone with RCCL...*sigh*...never really got a satisfactory answer from them, just made a resolution to NEVER give anyone control over my travel arrangements again.

 

So...in answer to your question....no...you are not alone in having trouble with Custom Air.

[isujim]

So glad you got it resolved........sounds like the first confirmation number you recieved was the RC "group space" number. I have been given that as well.

 

Again I have learned to have my ta request MY Record Locator number, not the cruiselines........and to wait until the confirmation is faxed immediately to the ta office.

 

I have had problems......but usually requesting these two things and waiting on them resolve 90% of the problems.

[travelteam]

HOW many months before the cruise can u book the air with RCL? I understand I need to ask for the locater number so I can keep track of the flight. Is this a normal process for the air program employees? How do I know what flights/airlines RCL is using for a specific destination? Is there a specific board on CC for this that I missed? Hate to have troubles with air flights for our grand transatlantic...just not sure what the process, and time frame for doing.

[AFT_LOVER]

with the FREE transfers that range from $50-$300 and their rates are much lower than Orbitz rates. And if they decide to change the port of departure, they change our air for free. I also get an email 9 months before my cruise on what our air is. Maybe it is my TA who is marvelous & one of their top contributors. But RCCL service is terrific.

 

We are Continentals hub here in CLE so I fly them nonstop to Gatwick & a few times I have been changed to VA to Heathrow (which is far more hectic than Gatwick). Last time in the UK for a cruise, we flew CO to Gatwick but DL home since CO flew at 11:30AM, now they are 12:30PM so we can make it getting off the ship at 6:30AM.

 

Domestic cruises, we are using up our DL SM then closing the AMEX charge. They have doubled miles on all flights, so I want a card with ANY airline's miles. But we use cabs to the ship RT so no transfer is needed.

[hobo1937]

travelteam, we booked the air for our transatlantic about 9 months in advance. We started this thread because of our problems with Custom Air and one thing I have learned is once you are booked keep calling the airlines every week or two to make sure you are still booked on the flights because you may not be notified if RCL makes any changes to your itinerary.

[AFT_LOVER]

As a good major carrier's web site has your FF # as the key info, then they tell you itineraries you have booked. Then click on each to see any changes in times, etc. We get seats booked when we know the flight # & date of flying. So we make sure they didn't change them on line at the site. Then 24 hours before the flight we print out the on line check in & scan the UPC code on it at their airport kiosk to check luggage in under 2 minutes.

 

 

travelteam, we booked the air for our transatlantic about 9 months in advance. We started this thread because of our problems with Custom Air and one thing I have learned is once you are booked keep calling the airlines every week or two to make sure you are still booked on the flights because you may not be notified if RCL makes any changes to your itinerary.