Regent/British Airways question

[poss]

We'd been thinking to splurge and fly business class from Phila to Heathrow; do coach back. I've just learned that in addition to the $2,000 per person upgrade fee, and the $100 per person for choosing one's flight in advance (both of which I'd known about), there's another $200 per person for flying BA.
Question: Is that standard with Regent, i.e. the extra $200? Can TA's ever get around that sort of thing?
Also: The only other non-stop flight is US Airways. It's less convenient, but in addition I've heard that US Air Business pales in comparison with BA.
I'd be interested in hearing opinions on this. The trip seems to be getting crazily expensive and complicated. (And we're getting older and more tired and less able to figure out these things.)
Thanks a bunch.

[cruiseluv]

I believe the extra $200 for BA is due to much higher fees/ taxes charged by the airline.

regarding US airways, I flew last summer in Business Class to Madrid and found it comparable to Business First in Continnental. Have nevr flown BA so can't compare with them.

[Travelcat2]

Indeed, BA is a wonderful airline -- especially Business Class. However, Regent prefers to use Star Alliance when possible. They would allow Lufthansa Business Class without an extra charge (other than deviation). We are using Lufthansa to fly to Rome later this year.

[ptiprof]

I can't speak to the quality of BA, but I have been reading on FlyerTalk about BA's problematic policies regarding advance seat selection. I like to select my seats well in advance and people are reporting that unless you are Elite, you are limited in your ability to do that. This is just what is being reported, so I have no personal knowledge, but if seat selection matters, you might want to check and see if that is accurate We are running into a problem with advance seat selection with Turkish Airlines (we are using them to fly home non-stop from Istanbul in April).

Thanks, cruiseluv, for reassuring me about US Airways. We are flying their business class for the same April cruise LAX-PHL-FCO (Rome), and I had some worries. We figured that since the US Airways/Turkish Airlines gave us good schedules and business class seats all the way for free (very good mileage deal), we'd take a chance.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Poss, nice to hear you're going adventuring again! I thought the Business upgrades across the pond were $999 each way per person? Why is it $2K? am I missing something?

As you may remember, I like Lufthansa business, but if you're going to Heathrow it just does not make sense. If Regent can give you BA with its flatbed seats, it might be worth the extra money--I have not experienced them but would love to try! But check to make sure that the equipment you would be travelling on actually has this type of seat, not all their aircraft have, at least not last time I checked. And the whole seat selection thing might be a pain in the neck.

[cruiseluv]

Poss,

Before making your decision confirm if that day PHL-LHR US Airways is flying their remodeled A330-200. They have remodeled their Envoy (ie First / Business class)class with Flat bed seats and I believe that is the aircraft they use for their PHL- London route. My plane last year was a A330-300 which had regular first class seats, very comfy but not "Flat beds".
Look at a picture here:

http://www.usairways.com/en-US/traveltools/intheair/envoyfirst/envoyclass.html


I also liked their First Class lounge very much.

[Bfson]

If Regent books you onto BA they get you an assigned seat at the time of the booking. We will be flying BA in May to catch the last segment of the World Cruise (Rome to London) and we already have our seat assignments.

[Travelcat2]

It is worth giving BA or Air Canada a try. Regent approved BA once. The second time we requested it, there was a $600 charge. I read this week on one of these boards that someone was quoted an upcharge for Air Canada.

They pretty much always approve Lufthansa or United/Continental if there are discount seats available (just saw the "new" merged planes. . . . a United body with a Continental tail -- very unusual:-)

Remember, you can book deviations 270 days prior to the embarkation date (as my TA just reminded me):o

[Longhorn1]

The Regent upgrade fee to Europe is 999 each way, or 1998 (2k) round trip, per person. That's in addition to the "air allowance" of course. Not a bad deal when you campare what you would have to pay if you buy business class direct. Lots of people use miles/points, and take the air refund but my experience is that the inventory is more and more limited making it more difficult to obtain the flights you want. Re: BA. I have flown them a number of times and think they are fine. I'm personally not nuts about the way they face the seats at one another--it makes it tough to chat. Good for privacy if you are on a business trip but if traveling with your wife/husband not so good imo. Service is good.

[Hambagahle]

We have been flying BA Business class for years - it is excellent. Totally flat beds, good food and wines and very good service. That is the "upside". Downside is that unfortunately lately it has been strike-prone. The cabin crew have been springing strikes on BA with little advance warning (despite the fact that they apparently are paid 50% more than comparable flight crews on other airlines) so this adds some uncertainty to flying BA. (In fact we are due to fly BA Business class MIA-LHR-GVA on Monday having stayed in Miami for two weeks once we got off the Navigator, so I hope there won't be a strike in the next couple of days!!)

As to charging extra for seat selection - unless you pay full fare or are a Silver or Gold FF you pay around $100 per seat on a trans-Atlantic. I find this a very bad policy and it annoyed me so much I have now decided to fly Swiss Business class in the future!!

Lufthansa, air France, American, Qantas (except on their 380's) etc do not have totally flat Business class beds. people complain about sliding down in the bed at night! Virgin Atlantic does have excellent, flat beds. So do Air NZ, Singapore and Swiss.

[Bfson]

We asked Regent for BA on our LAX-London route and then London to Rome. Got it. No up charge, seats pre-assigned.

No mention of any luxury taxes. Called back and the Regent person said she had never even heard of anyone flying via Regent being charged that tax.

[OrpingtonT]

Downside is that unfortunately lately it has been strike-prone. The cabin crew have been springing strikes on BA with little advance warning (despite the fact that they apparently are paid 50% more than comparable flight crews on other airlines) so this adds some uncertainty to flying BA. (In fact we are due to fly BA Business class MIA-LHR-GVA on Monday having stayed in Miami for two weeks once we got off the Navigator, so I hope there won't be a strike in the next couple of days!!)



Although a fresh ballot of cabin crew voted for further strike action, it is by no means certain that this will go ahead. A notice period of 7 days must by law be given anyway, so you are safe for your Monday flight.

Safe journey, Gerry & Ken and I hope all is well when you get back home to Swizerland.

[Travelcat2]

As to charging extra for seat selection - unless you pay full fare or are a Silver or Gold FF you pay around $100 per seat on a trans-Atlantic. I find this a very bad policy and it annoyed me so much I have now decided to fly Swiss Business class in the future!!

.

Both Regent and Silversea pre-assigned our seats, as mentioned above. We just went into the BA website and changed them.

My DH feels that it is almost a certainty that BA will strike every September. Right now we are booked to fly home on BA May 31st. Hope that is a safe date:-)

[OrpingtonT]

Right now we are booked to fly home on BA May 31st. Hope that is a safe date:-)

Not necessarily. As I said earlier, cabin crews have just voted for industrial action in support of their claim. It has not been decided what form this action may take and the vote may spur talks between the sides. BA are confident that any disruption would be minimal especially on long haul flights. I will post if any further news becomes known.

[Travelcat2]

Not necessarily. As I said earlier, cabin crews have just voted for industrial action in support of their claim. It has not been decided what form this action may take and the vote may spur talks between the sides. BA are confident that any disruption would be minimal especially on long haul flights. I will post if any further news becomes known.

Thank you for the information. When I mentioned September, he only meant that they almost always strike in September in addition to various times throughout the year:o

[poss]

Thanks very much to Regent friends, old and new.
Bfson: I've called several times to Regent air dept. Each time they've said it would be an extra $200 to book BA (rather than, say, the US Airways non-stop). Actually, the up-charge is only on Business class. On the return, on which we'd be flying plain old World Traveler, or maybe World Traveler plus, it does not cost extra.

[RachelG]

The "luxury" tax when flying business class or first is not just on BA. It involves any flight originating in the UK as far as I know. I try to avoid flying through LHR when possible, but sometimes it is not possible, esp since most of our FF miles are with AA which is part of Oneworld as is BA. "Luxury" tax on my most recent award flight which was partly on AA and partly on BA but going through LHR were $500. Since this is in first, it is still a bargain relatively speaking, but that is a lot of tax, esp considering that the return flight (on AA and Iberia through Madrid) had tax of about $50.

[Bfson]

Poss-I don't know what to tell you. We are flying LAX to Rome. They offered us a flight on Luftansa but we turned it down when it involved a puddle jumper from Germany to Rome. I asked about Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand and they said they had no contract with them for the LAX-London route. I then asked about BA and they said sure and booked us with no up charge. Maybe it depends on where you are flying from, or some other variable. We are not in a special suite, just a cabin so that can't be the reason. Go figure....

[FlyerTalker]

Poss-I don't know what to tell you. We are flying LAX to Rome. They offered us a flight on Luftansa but we turned it down when it involved a puddle jumper from Germany to Rome.
Just wondering....what are you considering to be a "puddle jumper"?? The FRA-FCO route is served by A320 and A321 aircraft, which hold 168 and 200 passengers respectively. Hmmm???

[Hambagahle]

Yes - I had the same thought! Frankfurt to Rome is nearly two hours...certainly not a puddle jumper. However Frankfurt airport is not the most user-friendly in the world, especially if you come from outside Schengen and then have to enter Schengen in order to get to Rome!

Tom - Thanks for the kind words. After a month away I am ready to get back to Switzerland, even though it means a rather large drop in temperatures! Still there is no snow at home and none on the golf course which means we will be out there playing by the weekend, though considerably colder conditions than yesterday here in FL!!

TravelCat - BA crew and ground staff, if they plan a strike, usually plan it to coincide with holidays - school half terms, summer holidays etc. Inconveniencing the greatest number of people that they can. I suppose this is what striking is all about - but I am afraid I have had enough!

[Bfson]

While it is true that there are some airbusses on the Frankfurt-Rome route, they didn't offer us that. They only had a flight to Munich and then a flight on a regional jet on a local carrier to Rome. (I won't fly anything smaller than a 737.)

[Travelcat2]

Poss: After rereading this thread, it occurred to me that booking your "deviated" air as soon as possible is important. There are apparently a set number of seats that Regent can obtain under contract. We made a decision to fly BA from Vancouver to Cape Town because Lufthansa had an 11 hour layover (which is becoming all too common). Then we learned that BA had a $600 surcharge (probably because the flights were very long) and wanted to go back to Lufthansa and learned that it was no longer available. We ended up with BA (which is lovely when it is flying).

In hindsight, we should have accepted the Lufthansa flight and booked a day room. Oh well, a lesson learned.

[zaby]

Poss

I’ll just add my “two cents” we took two back-to-back REGENT cruise in Oct 2010 and paid the $999 upgrade. On the way to Istanbul we were on British Airways and and on the way back Lufthansa.

On a long plane flight it is well worth the money to pay for the extra comfort.
On BA we had the almost cocoon like seating and on Lufthansa the entire plane was business class so all the seats were all wider and had the expandable foot rests.

It depends on what you prefer - I preferred the cocoon like seating.

[poss]

Thanks cat and zaby.
TC-- thanks especially for goosing me abt getting the reservation made. I hope that will happen early this coming week. I've been having some cervical problems (disc herniation), and there's likely to be surgery in my future. I'm kind of in denial, but have been using the possibility as an excuse to put off getting the air in place. Your prodding is helpful-- I needed it!
zaby-- if I can't cocoon with my honey, fuggedaboutit! :-)

[OrpingtonT]

Not necessarily. As I said earlier, cabin crews have just voted for industrial action in support of their claim. It has not been decided what form this action may take and the vote may spur talks between the sides. BA are confident that any disruption would be minimal especially on long haul flights. I will post if any further news becomes known.
Some further news has just become available. Although cabin crews voted for industrial action, I now understand that BA has threatened to challenge this in the courts. The union has therefore decided to re-ballo (once again) and industrial action look a long way off.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I sure hope this is settled by June, as we are booked on BA for a non-cruise holiday in London, Edinburgh, and Paris then :confused:

[Bfson]

Normally if you book on British (and are not a frequent flyer) you can't get seats until 24 hours before the flight. NOT SO if you upgrade to business with Regent. We don't fly until late May but we have our seats already. Regent gave us our BA locator code. I went to the BA web site, signed in, gave them our passport info, and changed out seat assignments!

No luxury tax, pre-assigned seats. Life is good.