Custom Air

[dmk]

It's been awhile since I purchased air from celebrity but I did for a TA next year. I have forgotten how far in advance you can get your custom air.

I'd appreciate the information. Thanks!

[Lsimon]

At least nine months maybe more. I arranged ours for the Sept. Connie TA in early January and they were able to set up the flights then. Not sure how much earlier it could have been, but I think I thought about it when a few others on our roll call started talking about cruise air flights.

[dmk]

Thanks, Larry. I appreciate the information.

[biker1972]

Normally airlines don't do bookings more than 9 months out. Custom air is 9 months.

[Schplinky]

Do the custom air arrangements typically cost the same as the original air quote or does a deviation add to the cost? I know about the $75 fee for deviation (waived by the Captain's Club) but am wondering about actual differences in air fare.

[Fblack]

When you book custom air you need to be very proactive and watch your flights and seat assignments. Celebrity will NOT notify you about flight time changes, seat assignment changes, equipment changes and even airport changes.

 

This all happened to me several times before my last cruise.

[Lsimon]

Do the custom air arrangements typically cost the same as the original air quote or does a deviation add to the cost? I know about the $75 fee for deviation (waived by the Captain's Club) but am wondering about actual differences in air fare.

 

We gave our agent a sample itinerary and dates (a few days pre-cruise on our own) we wanted out of Chicago and also indicated we'd prefer American airlines for miles and the possibility of using points for seat upgrades. She came back with a couple available flights. Our requested "sample" itinerary would have had a steep up-charge. There was one that had a smaller up-charge (a couple hundred per person) and one with no up-charge on another airline (Delta). Neither was our choice in itineraries but both were not bad at all. We went with the flights with no up-charge as there was a question as to whether we could use our points for seat upgrades and even if we could the fees for the up-charge and the upgrade fees (they charge a fee in addition to points for the FF class upgrades) wasn't worth it to us.

[Schplinky]

Thanks! while we have preferences (we'd rather conenct in North America than in Europe, preferring to actually just arrive in Rome and be there), we are pretty well open to almost any airline. What you write sounds promising to us.

[hajekfam]

We gave our agent a sample itinerary and dates (a few days pre-cruise on our own) we wanted out of Chicago and also indicated we'd prefer American airlines for miles and the possibility of using points for seat upgrades. She came back with a couple available flights. Our requested "sample" itinerary would have had a steep up-charge. There was one that had a smaller up-charge (a couple hundred per person) and one with no up-charge on another airline (Delta). Neither was our choice in itineraries but both were not bad at all. We went with the flights with no up-charge as there was a question as to whether we could use our points for seat upgrades and even if we could the fees for the up-charge and the upgrade fees (they charge a fee in addition to points for the FF class upgrades) wasn't worth it to us.

Watch the Delta flights - we did that for one of our transatlantics - let Celebrity choose our custom air flights so that we wouldn't have an upcharge - and were booked on Delta Chicago to Barcelona. We changed planes at JFK. Our Delta ORD to JFK was on their commuter flight, our JFK to BCN was on a code share with a Mexican airline - worst flight I have been on. The plane was dirty, the terminal used at JFK was dark and dingy and I was actually afraid to eat at the restaurant in the terminal.

We do custom air and give our TA a couple of airlines that we would prefer. She then contacts Celebrity and asks what airlines they are dealing with and if one of them matches our preferences she then books our flights letting Celebrity decide on the flight times for the day we specify. If an airline doesn't match, she gets back to us with airlines that Celebrity is dealing with for that cruise and we pick from them. Doing it this way, we have never had an upcharge on four transatlantic flights that we booked through Celebrity custom air.

We prefer connecting in Europe as we figure that if a bag gets lost, it is more likely to get lost making the connecting flight than the originating flight. Since most airlines only have one flight to the European destination each day, it would take a day for your bag to make it over. At least in Europe, there are more flights between the cities each day, so your bag will more likely make it there the same day.

For our last transatlantic, we got our flights in Feb/Mar for a Nov 18 sailing.

[hajekfam]

When you book custom air you need to be very proactive and watch your flights and seat assignments. Celebrity will NOT notify you about flight time changes, seat assignment changes, equipment changes and even airport changes.

 

This all happened to me several times before my last cruise.

That is possibly because the airlines didn't let Celebrity know. That happened to us (our flight number was cancelled and another flight number was assigned our flight time) and luckily I caught it when I was checking the airlines website. When I called my TA about it, she immediately called Celebrity who had not been informed about the cancellation and immediately went to work to get us on the new flight number.

[TravelerThom]

Normally airlines don't do bookings more than 9 months out. Custom air is 9 months.

I can't tell you about Custom Air bookings, but most airlines book 330 days [just shy of eleven months] out.

[Belle]

Check your flights all the time.

We have custom air for our b2b

in Nov. Dec..

 

Checked yesterday our returning flight

doesn't exsit anymore. They gave a us

a new flight. Never told us.

Hope they keep our flight going.

 

Think this is going to be happening

all the time with fuel costs. Planes

dropping flights, ect.

 

Did check..so far..international flights

can still have TWO SUITCASES FREE.

[Fblack]

I like to book my custom air early so I can get seats fairly close to the front. By getting off quickly, it's easier to make a connection. But as with my last Custom Air problem, when the airline changes equipment or flight numbers, they automatically re-assign the seats starting from the back.

 

So I started in row 12. Then with an equipment change that I never knew about, they stuck me in row 43 or so. So I called and the best available was row 22. Then they did it again. Changed equipment and pushed me back to row 43. Now the best I could get was row 35.

 

I called the airline to complain and ask why they could not notify me of a change. They said since the cruise line does not officially pay for the tickets until 30 days before the cruise, I was technically an un-ticketed passenger and they had no way of contacting me. They said they do tell the cruise line however.

 

Bottom line, check your flights and seat assignments every week or so.

[Costest]

I like to book my custom air early so I can get seats fairly close to the front. By getting off quickly, it's easier to make a connection. But as with my last Custom Air problem, when the airline changes equipment or flight numbers, they automatically re-assign the seats starting from the back.

 

So I started in row 12. Then with an equipment change that I never knew about, they stuck me in row 43 or so. So I called and the best available was row 22. Then they did it again. Changed equipment and pushed me back to row 43. Now the best I could get was row 35.

 

I called the airline to complain and ask why they could not notify me of a change. They said since the cruise line does not officially pay for the tickets until 30 days before the cruise, I was technically an un-ticketed passenger and they had no way of contacting me. They said they do tell the cruise line however.

 

Bottom line, check your flights and seat assignments every week or so.

 

 

good points. So, how do I check. Do I get confirmation numbers from X or call airlines directly? Thanks.

[flashdog_1]

This is alll good to know.

 

We were told we would not get our flights until 3 weeks or less before the cruise. This makes sense if the cruise line does not actually pay for the seats until a month out. From reading the above, there are obviously exceptions! I was also told that you cannot use your frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class.

 

I did get Delta sky miles with the booking which was good. I've seen ads saying they do not do this, but I did.

 

Remember that if you do custom air and fly in a day or two before your cruise departs that your transfer to the port is only good on embarkation day and only from the airport, so you may lose that aspect of booking with the cruise line. Depending upon the city you fly into, that can be a big perk (Valparaiso/Santiago is one that comes to mind).

[greatam]

This is alll good to know.

 

We were told we would not get our flights until 3 weeks or less before the cruise. This makes sense if the cruise line does not actually pay for the seats until a month out. From reading the above, there are obviously exceptions! I was also told that you cannot use your frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class.

 

I did get Delta sky miles with the booking which was good. I've seen ads saying they do not do this, but I did.

 

Remember that if you do custom air and fly in a day or two before your cruise departs that your transfer to the port is only good on embarkation day and only from the airport, so you may lose that aspect of booking with the cruise line. Depending upon the city you fly into, that can be a big perk (Valparaiso/Santiago is one that comes to mind).

 

The "added in" transfer cost, even in Santiago,Rome or even Beijing is generally MUCH more than what you can find independently. Transfers last year on X out of Santiago were $85.00pp. TOURS (not just transport) were about $60pp. We rented a car and drove ourselves-$92.00.

 

PLEASE read the first few pages of this thread BEFORE you book cruise air. You need to be FULLY aware of what you are purchasing. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322

[Baseball fan]

Having worked in the airline industry, most airlines can book 330 days out.

[greatam]

Having worked in the airline industry, most airlines can book 330 days out.

 

Cruise air contracts are let a year or more in advance. The seats purchased are merely "placeholders". Airline "saves" XXXX seats for cruise line on YYY city pair flights. The actual schedules covering those place holder seats are then released to the cruise line at 330 days out.

 

Actual bookings are NOT released to cruise air pax until after final payment. The only exception is custom air WITH NO UPCHARGE. Those type of seats come out of the "regular cruise air" allocation and can be put back in "the pot" for other cruise air customers. If you have to pay an upcharge for custom air, the normal airline rules (cancellation penalty) applies for changes or cancellations.