confused by some charges

[hondorner]

Steve, I was still composing when you posted; you said the same thing in fewer words, which is a skill I wish I had.

 

Also, you said, "I am not sure how Oceania treats removing the air portion, but on MOST cruise lines, the deduction is based on YOUR booking and your confirmation..."

 

I may not have made it clear in my explanation that reduction of removal of the air incentive would only be for new bookings; someone who had booked with prior incentives would not be affected. As I mentioned to JerseyGirl, we booked our first Oceania cruise at a very late date for Oceania -- about 6 months out. Therefore, we did not receive the 2-for-1, but paid 60% of the brochure price, not 50% like the earlier bookers. Similarly, if the "free air" were to be removed from the offering (and Oceania has always maintained that they might do so), it would not be removed from passengers who had already booked.

 

The fact that the incentives can be removed, and have been removed in the past (witness that I did not get the 2-ror-1 pricing) means that the incentives are indeed "free". Certainly, the passengers who got the 2-for-1 pricing on my first cruise definitely got something that I did not get.

 

I do have to correct something I stated earlier, when I said that they published price would not change if the air credit was removed or if the 2-for-1 is reduced. That latter statement is in error; the published fare does in fact increase to reflect the higher price due to the reduced discount. Again, it only affects new bookings.

[caribbeansun]

I'd vote for that if there was a poll and anybody cared ;)

 

It's all a sales gimmick...and, really, I wish EVERYBODY, including Oceania, would stop using it.

 

Face it, "2 for 1" is BS as well..

[jerseygirl3]

I'm a bit uncomfortable with questions based on "What do you think..." rather than "What do you know...", but having said that, I'll venture a guess, as long as you understand that it's just a guess.

 

Oceania has always take the position that "free air" and "2 for 1" fares are promotions that can be modified or removed. Traditionally, in a better economy, they have frequently changed the "2 for 1" (which is 50% off the brochure fare) to 40% off the brochure fare, and rarely, they have reduced it to 25% of the brochure fare. They have also taken the position that the air fare can be reduced or eliminated, but I am not aware of them having done so in the two years or so that I have been watching.

 

I, too, take Shari's warnings seriously, which reinforces my belief that they can reduce the credit or eliminate the air incentive altogether.

 

So, based on that, what would I do? I would keep the air in place until the flights can be booked -- when is that, 270 days out? 330 days? Whatever, once the flight schedules become available, I would make my decision based on the fares when they are first announced. If I found air fares less than the credit and taxes from Oceania, I would book my own at that early date, and live with that amount even if fares dropped later. I would also request a deviation from Oceania at that date (you can do so without paying the $75 per person fee; that is only due if you accept the deviation). I would compare what Oceania offered me to the fares I found on my own, and choose that option if it was better.

 

In either case, I'm so confident that the decision would be well within any window when Oceania might change their offer, especially in this economy. Recently, I have been seeing "2 for 1" and "free air" for many cruises right up to the day of sailing. Our ship was nearly full for our recent south American cruise, but not completely full, and I think that trend might continue for some time. And, of course, they recently reduced fares per their "5th anniversary sale", a further indicator that the old days when they reduced incentives are temporarily over.

 

Even in the best of times with the most popular cruises with demand outstripping supply, Oceania did not reduce their incentives until 6 or 7 months before the cruise. For example, we booked our first Oceania cruise about 6 months prior to sailing, and we did NOT receive the "2 for 1", we got a 40% discount from the brochure rate. However, we did get the free air.

 

Bottom line? I would not worry about Oceania reducing the air credit until much closer to the cruise date, and probably not at all in this economy. But, if they do reduce it, remember I said it was a guess on my part.

 

I'm on the same cruise as you, and I had the air removed right from the beginning, because I am 99.99% confident I can get a flight home from Spain for less than $1004 per person. I don't need a flight to Miami. But, when the flight window opens up, I intend to ask O for a deviation proposal anyway, just to make sure I can beat it.

 

Don, as always, I appreciate your input. So can you ask for an air deviation as soon as most airlines open their schedules to the general public? Or is it closer to sailing that Oceania can give you that information?

 

When you mentioned that you will ask O for a deviation proposal even though you currently do not have air included, if they come back with a great deal, can you add their air later?

 

I think as Bruin Steve mentioned (btw, thanks to you Bruin Steve, as well), I'll keep the air with O for now. We fly from the Philadelphia area (if need be, we can go to Newark or NYC), so I think we'll do okay with flights. Using current pricing as an example (but who knows what next year will bring), I can get a non-stop on USAir coming home from Barcelona to PHL on the day after Easter (when we'd most likely return) for $549 pp (I'm basing this on a RT, and will elect not to use the second half of the ticket). I have enough FF miles with Spirit Air to fly into FLL the day before the ship leaves Miami. We live 20 minutes or so from Atlantic City Airport, so that's no problem getting to Florida.

 

As always, I appreciate the opinions and assistance of all those on these boards.

 

Jo-Ann

[hondorner]

...can you ask for an air deviation as soon as most airlines open their schedules to the general public?

That's my understanding. My travel agent suggests I wait until a little closer to the time; apparently Oceania may be able to get a better deal then, but I'm just guessing. I have requested it about 7 months (210 days) out.

 

When you mentioned that you will ask O for a deviation proposal even though you currently do not have air included, if they come back with a great deal, can you add their air later?

That's what my travel agent says. Of course, theoretically the offer may be different, but I'm confident I will be doing it early enough that there will be no changes.

 

Interestingly, in my research on current flights to get an idea of next year, I have discovered that it is cheaper to fly further. We plan to leave from Madrid. There is a direct flight from Madrid back to Miami, but it is shown as about $2,200 per person!!!?!! If we take the SAME flight, but change planes at Miami and fly on to Orlando, it is only $981 per person! If anyone can explain that to me on a logical basis, I will be properly amazed.

[CintiPam]

Interestingly, in my research on current flights to get an idea of next year, I have discovered that it is cheaper to fly further. We plan to leave from Madrid. There is a direct flight from Madrid back to Miami, but it is shown as about $2,200 per person!!!?!! If we take the SAME flight, but change planes at Miami and fly on to Orlando, it is only $981 per person! If anyone can explain that to me on a logical basis, I will be properly amazed.

 

I call it airline deregulation.:)

 

Actually, I am complaining because I reside in Cincinnati, where more than 95% of the flights are Delta, and we pay the highest airfares in the U.S. I fly out of teeny Dayton, OH, sometimes stopping in Cincinnati, to get some reasonable prices.

[broberts]

Gentlemen-

 

Do we really have to do this dance every time that somebody plays the Free Air card?

 

Perhaps, if we were less conciliatory to those amongst us who feel deceived because they make businesss decisions without reading the fine print, then we could put this matter to rest.

 

If one approaches the Oceania offer in a mature, businesslike way (i.e. not looking to get something for nothing), it boils down to something as simple as this:

 

Oceania defines "free" as "included in the cost" rather than "having no cost".

 

Once you have accepted that definition, everything else falls into place rather nicely.

 

I don't know why the entire English speaking world needs to adjust it's definition of "free" just to facilitate the desires of a marketing campaign. Especially since it is rare to see any marketing campaign provide a glossary in anything but very fine print. It makes much more sense to ask those doing the marketing to stick with commonly held understandings of words and terms. This way far fewer people need to change their understanding of the language. (Frankly, even though I am a strong proponent of free speech, I think the word free should simply be banned from any advertising. If one is promoting a product it is simply not possible to give something away at absolutely no cost.)

 

In the context of this thread, would it really negatively affect the marketing campaign if the term "Included Air" rather than "Free" were used?

[Frede Sander]

Oh boy, I am glad I`m just a simple European who just dont get free air so I dont

have to speculate in trivial matters like this.

 

Fred

[Bowie MeMe]

...can you ask for an air deviation as soon as most airlines open their schedules to the general public?

That's my understanding. My travel agent suggests I wait until a little closer to the time; apparently Oceania may be able to get a better deal then, but I'm just guessing. I have requested it about 7 months (210 days) out.

 

 

That's what my travel agent says. Of course, theoretically the offer may be different, but I'm confident I will be doing it early enough that there will be no changes.

 

Interestingly, in my research on current flights to get an idea of next year, I have discovered that it is cheaper to fly further. We plan to leave from Madrid. There is a direct flight from Madrid back to Miami, but it is shown as about $2,200 per person!!!?!! If we take the SAME flight, but change planes at Miami and fly on to Orlando, it is only $981 per person! If anyone can explain that to me on a logical basis, I will be properly amazed.

I CALL IT THE SWA BREEZE -- IT COOLS OFF THE PRICES.

We live near BWI which is a Southwest hub. Hooray all of our domestic fares that are going to another SWA city are much cheaper than other airlines and even the other airlines try to match. The extreme example is that flying USAir through Charlotte from BWI to Tallahassee, Fl. is $805 from Charlotte to Tallahassee was $779 and flying from BWI to Jacksonville and driving to Tally costs $64 dollars each way. This is why we have completely changed our flying. I flew from Dulles to Barcelona by way of Copenhagen that same month for just $705. TRY IBERIAN AIR I have tickets for Sept. 2009 that takes me IAD (Washington) to Madrid then on to Istanbul and back from Athens to Madrid with 4 days to sightsee and then back to IAD for $805 (already charged to my card so it is a prepay). Try different entry points (big hubs like Chicago, JFK LAX and yes MCO (That's the Mouse effect) and different European entry points (Dublin was big last year) and try the airlines own web site.