Airfare No Longer Included?

[nancygp]

Originally Posted by Keith1010

I also checked about custom air earlier today and that is still available for those who want to request specific flights.

Keith

Yes, Crystal will still offer custom air for those who desire this service.

Nancy

[8dimsum]

Originally Posted by Roland4

I find it intersting that Oceania released their Summer 2013 program today and in big letters, right on the cover, it says "Two-for-One Cruise Fares with FREE AIRFARE" (their capitals). Soooo, it would appear that if the rules changed, someone forgot to tell Oceania. Who started this whole "Free Air" nonsense in the first place!

It has been a few years since we took an Oceania cruise...we got the "free air" AND the taxes and fees were quite high!! -- Mother and her friends wanted the cruiseline to set up the air per the "free" come on.

[Roland4]

Originally Posted by 8dimsum

It has been a few years since we took an Oceania cruise...we got the "free air" AND the taxes and fees were quite high!! -- Mother and her friends wanted the cruiseline to set up the air per the "free" come on.

And most amusing, if you decide NOT to use their FREE air, they will give you a CREDIT against your total cruise fare. How can something that is FREE have a value to give you credit for?? Unfortunately people fall for the gimmick all the time. Just like "2-for-1 Pricing". Had a lady call who was most dissapointed to lean the advertised fare of $5,100 WAS the "2-for-1" price and she was not getting a 10 night cruise for her and her significant other for $5100!! Not sure which irritates me more, the "2-for-1" or the "FREE air"!!

(End of rant!!)

[ijkh]

We are using the Crystal "free air" for V2221 because our frequent flyer miles don't allow one way tickets. For us purchasing one way air from the US west coast to London and then one way NYC to west coast was very expensive. Crystal's charge was $1,000 (which would have been a credit if we had used miles) It turned out to be a bargain. There was no charge for tax on the airfare. No extra fee other than the $100 for custom air. Still the lowest price I found our there for this same air routing was $1,800 to $2,000. Cruise air wins this time.

We did book the Crystal custom air and got our first choice in routing. We fly nonstop from the west coast direct to London Heathrow. We are now enquiring about the cost of an upgrade. No word on that yet. Still overall we are delighted with Crystal air so far. It is saving us a bundle and making life easier.

Anyone out there ever upgraded using Crystal's air? Is it super expensive?

[BWIVince]

ijkh, I've used Crystal's air about a third of the time, because it was cheaper and/or made more logistic sense and have always been very happy with it. I've upgraded twice, once to Europe and once to Asia. The Europe flights were the $999 or whatever each way promotion, and while one city was London where we do have cheap business class fares from here, the other was Rome which we couldn't even find available seats anymore, let alone reasonable fares. Crystal honored the promo where they could have easily said there was no longer inventory.

The Asia trip didn't have any kind of promotional fare, but Crystal's upgraded fare in that case was lower than anything I could get elsewhere for the same itinerary.

I don't know if this is standard or not, but in both cases I didn't pay an additional $100 for custom air, I just paid the fare difference even though I had picked particular flights. I did pick a carrier that Crystal has a big contract with though.

Vince

[Roland4]

Originally Posted by ijkh

We are using the Crystal "free air" for V2221 because our frequent flyer miles don't allow one way tickets. For us purchasing one way air from the US west coast to London and then one way NYC to west coast was very expensive. Crystal's charge was $1,000 (which would have been a credit if we had used miles) It turned out to be a bargain. There was no charge for tax on the airfare. No extra fee other than the $100 for custom air. Still the lowest price I found our there for this same air routing was $1,800 to $2,000. Cruise air wins this time.

We did book the Crystal custom air and got our first choice in routing. We fly nonstop from the west coast direct to London Heathrow. We are now enquiring about the cost of an upgrade. No word on that yet. Still overall we are delighted with Crystal air so far. It is saving us a bundle and making life easier.

Anyone out there ever upgraded using Crystal's air? Is it super expensive?

Please don't get me wrong. I am not dissing cruise air, in fact we use it a lot with Crystal, but I am annoyed with the concept of "free" air. Nothing is "free", but it is "included" in the cruise fare you are quoted. I would have absolutely no problem with a promotion that said "$6,000/person including air", which is entirely different from "$6,000/person with FREE air"! I was very glad to see Crystal drop that particular practice. I don't know if it was because no one used it (Crystal's published reason) or because of a change in government advertising rules, as some have stated on these boards. I am just glad it is gone.

We have used Crystal's air numerous times and have almost always upgraded to Business Class. BEFORE the "free air" thing Crystal's upgrades were usually cheaper than anything I could find from any of our suppliers. The one time I checked during the "free air" days, the upgrade was ridiculously expensive. I have not had a need to check since the latest change, so have no current experience.