Oceania Arranged Air Travel

[pappy3393]

How far in advance does Oceania book their air travel for people who get this service from them? How do they notify you once it is booked? Can you then select your own seat assignments? I would prefer to book my own air travel but I purchased a trip that had "free" air included. At this time, given the credits I would receive from Oceania for booking my own air, there is a $500 difference per person and I have 5 people in my party, so that would be another $2,500 out of my pocket. That will pay for a few guided tours so I am inclined (but nervous) to stay with the Oceania arranged air travel.

[LHT28]

Cannot help with the time line of O air included flights

 

Another option is to do the deviation...you select the flights you want get your TA to submit them to O and if they can get them for the same price as they would get the bulk fares you pay a deviation fee of $75. PP ...

if there is a difference in the fare they will let your TA know & you have 48 hrs (I think)to accept or reject the fares then you can try a different routing or just let O pick flights for you.

 

This is a good option if you want to fly in a day or two earlier or stay longer post cruise.

 

If you choose to do a deviation I would start early as the price of airfare rises the closer to sailing.

 

Some people have had no extra charges and some have minimal extra $$

Talk to your TA to find out the best option for you

 

There are several thread on the deviation setup

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=615944&highlight=airfare

[Penzance]

I'm sure there will be far more knowledgeable people to answer your questions but I thought you would like to know about our recent experience with booking "free" flights with Oceania. Next May will be our first cruise, Istanbul to Athens with Oceania so I, like you, didn't know the routine. I also checked various flights to/from our city/destination and found the fares to be expensive - that's why we decided to rely on Oceania's choices of flights.

 

After many weeks of emails back and forth to our online TA and reading the many CC letters on the subject, here's what I found out. Oceania is able to suggest air schedules 270 days prior to the end of your particular cruise. Oceania prefers to use United and/or Lufthansa, so if you choose a different air carrier, it will cost you extra. If you plan to arrive/depart before sail dates, it will cost $75 per person deviation fee, if you are not satisfied with the air schedules that Oceania presents, then it will cost you an extra $50 per person to make a change. However, if you have an experienced, knowledgeable, helpful TA, which we did not, they should already know all this and save you many hours of work.

 

Oceania's first suggested air schedule was unsatisfactory, with two flights changes and 6 am early morning departures, so after searching the flight Websites, we found more suitable times and flights. We were very pleased when Oceania agreed with the changes and it was well worth the $50 pp.

We've been told that you can book your own seat assignment if the air carrier allows it, or your TA can book them for you.

 

I hope this has been helpful.

[Sharicruz]

Oceania has a tentative air schedule approximately 75 days prior to sailing, which is subject to change. Your TA should be able to let you know when it is available. Once you have your record locaters for the carrier, or carriers being used, you can call them directly to arrange your seat assignments.

 

 

Shari

*****

[XTEACH281]

If you accept O air---and if it is an airline that you have "miles" in ---can you do a class upgrade ? or has O paid such a low fare that no upgrades are possible ?

Thanks-

[Sharicruz]

If you accept O air---and if it is an airline that you have "miles" in ---can you do a class upgrade ? or has O paid such a low fare that no upgrades are possible ?

Thanks-

 

The bulk fares that Oceania uses are normally not upgradeable, however, you can always call the airline directly, to see if they will let you use your miles for an upgrade.

 

Shari

*****

[CateW]

We are also on a cruise that included free airfare. I was thinking about this just last week because dh prefers non-stops and I was somewhat concerned about rolling the dice and waiting to see what we would get and then it being too late to make a change. We're lucky to be flying out of JFK where we can get direct flights to Venice and then a direct back from Barcelona which I was able to secure for just $1,000 p.p. For once it looks like I did this at just the right time, especially with the price of oil skyrocketing . O refunded us $500 on the air and $445 on taxes so for us it was almost break even - so now flights are set, we have seats and no chance to change our minds because our air is non-refundable. Also we were doing pre and post cruise hotels through O - I booked these direct and was able to save about $1500. Hope this is helpful.

[pearls-trips]

Recently returned from Venice to Istanbul cruise, used O air, called the airlines for seat assignment as soon as we had the info for booked airfair from O. It was easy to arrange preferred seat assignment, O air was good from Boston - just 1 change in Rome on the way to Venice & 1 change in Frankfort Germany on return from Istanbul. Flew Alitali from Boston to Venice & Lufthansa from Istanbul to Boston. Definitely preferred the Lufthansa flights - more leg room & superior service. This is the only time I have used O's flight arrangements, they were satisfactory. Had no previous experience with either airline so upgrade to business class out of line w/benefits. Great cruise, air travel tolerable. Shirl

[happy cruzer]

I booked my air deviation just this week which is about 4 months before the cruise. I did not want to pay any extra amounts until I was more sure of cruising. I started seeing the fares go up. So I got sure I was going and requested the air deviation.

 

I followed the advice of several folks on cc. I sent an email to my TA. My first choice was for specific flights on specific days. I mentioned cost was very important as were the travel dates. So my second choice were flights on the same days at a better rate.

 

Well, O came through with better flights and the only fee being the $75 pp air dev fee. They picked a direct American flight going to Miami and a return 1 stop Delta flight from Barcelona.

 

I was very pleased!!!! Hope this helps. I found it helpful that everyone shared what they had experienced.