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Deviation


eliana
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Could someone explain what Deviation means regarding Regent flights. We have flown a number of times with flights arranged by Regent but never come across this. Is it just for US based passengers as we are UK based? What costs are involve?

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According to the Regent UK Ts&Cs (Clause 17), the Deviation Fee for UK customers is "£50 per person plus any applicable fare increases fees/penalties charged by the airlines"

In our experience, the charges would normally only be levied if you wanted to fly in or out of the port a few days earlier or later than scheduled. It might also be levied if you request a specific airline or routing.

 

I understand that the Deviation Fee in the US is a more per person, but flight bookings are handled differently than in the UK.

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Thanks Flossie.

So far Regent have always booked us direct flights, so we have not needed to "deviate", even transatlantic to Miami. Next year we are considering a couple of cruises in South America flying from London to either Rio or maybe BA. We would want direct flights, but the airline is not important. Will we have to pay deviation if Regent choose to fly us via the US or elsewhere, or can we negotiate with them at the time of booking which might well be onboard?

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I also have some questions about "deviation". We have a cruise booked on the Explorer in December, 2018. It is a long way off but this cruise is a Cape Town to Cape Town cruise, so a great distance from us. We usually do our own air with miles, and if something comes up where we are able to use our miles we will take the air off. There is a strong possibility we will use Regent's air since the flight distance is so long and we would want to select the best most direct route with least number of flights. From what I understand we will most likely have two very long flights...one from Los Angeles to somewhere in Europe, and then Europe to Cape Town. We are also doing the pre-cruise safari with Regent. What we are thinking of doing is going in to Cape Town a couple of days before the safari so we can spend some time in Cape Town, so does this mean it becomes a deviation? If so, what are the fees? And, would we then be able to really choose the exact flights we want? That seems very important. When exactly would be the time to actually choose our flights? I know it is too early now.

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Thanks Flossie.

So far Regent have always booked us direct flights, so we have not needed to "deviate", even transatlantic to Miami. Next year we are considering a couple of cruises in South America flying from London to either Rio or maybe BA. We would want direct flights, but the airline is not important. Will we have to pay deviation if Regent choose to fly us via the US or elsewhere, or can we negotiate with them at the time of booking which might well be onboard?

 

Flights to South America can be difficult (at least from the U.S.). You may want to check a website like yapta.com to see if there are any non-stop flights to either Rio or BA (actually I just checked and the price for a non-stop flight is three times that of a 1 stop flight -- Regent will likely put you on a 1 stop flight).

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I also have some questions about "deviation". We have a cruise booked on the Explorer in December, 2018. It is a long way off but this cruise is a Cape Town to Cape Town cruise, so a great distance from us. We usually do our own air with miles, and if something comes up where we are able to use our miles we will take the air off. There is a strong possibility we will use Regent's air since the flight distance is so long and we would want to select the best most direct route with least number of flights. From what I understand we will most likely have two very long flights...one from Los Angeles to somewhere in Europe, and then Europe to Cape Town. We are also doing the pre-cruise safari with Regent. What we are thinking of doing is going in to Cape Town a couple of days before the safari so we can spend some time in Cape Town, so does this mean it becomes a deviation? If so, what are the fees? And, would we then be able to really choose the exact flights we want? That seems very important. When exactly would be the time to actually choose our flights? I know it is too early now.

 

First you might not fly through Europe though that is probably the most common route. When we returned from a cruise that ended in South Africa we flew home through Atlanta and then across the States to our west coast destination.

 

If you want to go into Cape Town early that is a deviation and requires a $175 per person deviation fee.

 

You would be able to chose the flights you want ASSUMING that Regent contracts with the airline(s) you want to use. Flights can be arranged 270 days before the cruise. We deviate as we always want to fly in at least a day or two before the cruise starts and we do like to pick our airline and route whenever possible.

 

I start researching airlines and routes before the 270 day mark and then give our TA which flights we want along with a couple of alternatives in case our first choice is not available.

 

We have been lucky and gotten what we wanted.

 

BTW we are getting off the ship as you get on in 2018. Really looking forward to it.

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Oh, and here's something surprising that I only recently learned: you can use Regent air in just one direction, and get half the air credit if you book your own in the other direction. For example: I'm booked on a transatlantic crossing on Explorer in November. That sailing offers included business class intercontinental flights. The flight for embarkation is to Lisbon. Disembarkation is Miami. The air credit round trip is $1300. By booking our own flight from Miami, we got half that air credit, meaning we got a business class flight to Lisbon for $650. We were able to book a first class flight home from Miami for $270 (Regent Air would have put us in economy for essentially double the price).

 

Regent did initially give us the Routing From Hell for the Lisbon flight. But the person I'm traveling with is platinum, and because we're staying in the same cabin, we both the get the benefits of her status, so were able to get free deviation.

 

It's those little tricks that help. And a good TA who knows those little tricks.

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Hi Carol,

 

Like Bruce and you we also have also used miles to get to/from the port of embark/disembark. One exception is tomorrow when we're using Silversea air (nice BC upgrade they did not offer until Mark Conroy joined the senior leadership of SS).

 

So, we do have Regent air on our invoice for the Mariner 2019 Shanghai to Tokyo. Wanted to save coin ($6kpp)if we have good flight routings using miles we are using juicymiles.com (at much less than Regent's deviation fee). Our JMmiles pro has planned for our FC Korean air from ATL to Shanghai, and BC back from Tokyo for about 285K Korean Air Skypass miles (folks this is reasonable). We will thus save near $12K using miles. Carol, glad to send you our JM contact to see if they could work routing magic for y'all to CPT and back from LAX.

 

Btw, for our Antarctica cruise in Feb from Ushuaia to Capetown we are using Qatar to fly us back from CPT to ATL (BC for just 95K American Airlines miles pp)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Thanks Flossie.

So far Regent have always booked us direct flights, so we have not needed to "deviate", even transatlantic to Miami. Next year we are considering a couple of cruises in South America flying from London to either Rio or maybe BA. We would want direct flights, but the airline is not important. Will we have to pay deviation if Regent choose to fly us via the US or elsewhere, or can we negotiate with them at the time of booking which might well be onboard?

Flights to South America can be difficult (at least from the U.S.). You may want to check a website like yapta.com to see if there are any non-stop flights to either Rio or BA (actually I just checked and the price for a non-stop flight is three times that of a 1 stop flight -- Regent will likely put you on a 1 stop flight).

 

 

We have used Regent arranged flights twice in the past flying from Rio to London Heathrow.

On both occasions Regent booked us on a non-stop BA flight without extra charges or deviation fees. We did pay extra to fly Business class.

 

However, as we have seen on other threads Regent appear to be having some issues recently with booking BA non-stop flights for their UK customers.

 

It would be useful if you could get some assurance from Regent at the time of booking but in our experience Regent UK will not commit to flight arrangements until the airlines release flights (approx 11 months prior to the cruise) and on-board cruise consultants have limited knowledge of UK arrangements (they tend to email the UK office for advice).

 

 

It is certainly best to book on-board (low deposit, price guarantee, cancellation with minimal penalty etc etc :D)

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I also have some questions about "deviation". We have a cruise booked on the Explorer in December, 2018. It is a long way off but this cruise is a Cape Town to Cape Town cruise, so a great distance from us. We usually do our own air with miles, and if something comes up where we are able to use our miles we will take the air off. There is a strong possibility we will use Regent's air since the flight distance is so long and we would want to select the best most direct route with least number of flights. From what I understand we will most likely have two very long flights...one from Los Angeles to somewhere in Europe, and then Europe to Cape Town. We are also doing the pre-cruise safari with Regent. What we are thinking of doing is going in to Cape Town a couple of days before the safari so we can spend some time in Cape Town, so does this mean it becomes a deviation? If so, what are the fees? And, would we then be able to really choose the exact flights we want? That seems very important. When exactly would be the time to actually choose our flights? I know it is too early now.

 

As has been said, you would have to deviate if you want to get to Cape Town early. If you want to know exactly when you can book flights (deviated - 270 days before the cruise) go to https://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html It is a great way to figure out dates - you just put in the date of your cruise and deduct 270 days. IMO, it is worth the $175/person deviation fee.

 

As you know, we have been to Cape Town twice and did the safari last time. It is magical. Cape Town is one of my top two places in the world! The flights are extremely long. Our first flight was on BA and left in the early evening. After drinks and dinner and a bit of reading, I took a prescription Ambien (which does not make me wake up drowsy) and was ready for breakfast. After landing (at Heathrow), we went into the lounge where they have great showers and cleaned up - changed clothes, etc. We were then ready for our next flight (also a night flight where we repeated pretty much the same thing as we did the night before). After arriving in Cape Town, we were picked up and taken for a tour and went back to the hotel in time for check-in!

 

You'll have a great time!

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Please note that Travelcat and her DH travel very well. It is really my recommendation that you arrive in Capetown at the very least one day before boarding or doing the safari..but better two days. It is a long long trip, but well worth it. The time zones you will go through are astounding and to really enjoy this trip it is better to allow time to equalize.

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We are also booked on the Explorer Lisbon to Capetown cruise Dec 2018. We are doing the Wine lands and wildlife post cruise we are from Phx Az we started a roll call for this cruise please join! Jerry and Jeanie. 5 trip on Regent first on Explorer can't wait!

 

 

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We too are booked on the Lisbon to Capetown cruise but are still thinking about it because of the flight time to get home. Travelcat is indeed lucky to have had her flights go so easily.

 

It's kinda of mind over matter (and the drinks and Ambien help as well);p. IMO, it was worth every hour that we spent on the plane and at Heathrow during the flights. Cape Town is absolutely amazing!

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Be very careful with Ambien. My sister took one on a overseas flight after two drinks and she ended up on the floor trying to reach the bathroom and had to be assisted to her seat. I have taken Ambien but I was warned no alcohol four hours before. It is a great sleeping aid but please be careful.

 

 

Here is a link about the medication.

 

https://www.drugs.com/food-interactions/zolpidem,ambien.html

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I also have some questions about "deviation". We have a cruise booked on the Explorer in December, 2018. It is a long way off but this cruise is a Cape Town to Cape Town cruise, so a great distance from us. We usually do our own air with miles, and if something comes up where we are able to use our miles we will take the air off. There is a strong possibility we will use Regent's air since the flight distance is so long and we would want to select the best most direct route with least number of flights. From what I understand we will most likely have two very long flights...one from Los Angeles to somewhere in Europe, and then Europe to Cape Town. We are also doing the pre-cruise safari with Regent. What we are thinking of doing is going in to Cape Town a couple of days before the safari so we can spend some time in Cape Town, so does this mean it becomes a deviation? If so, what are the fees? And, would we then be able to really choose the exact flights we want? That seems very important. When exactly would be the time to actually choose our flights? I know it is too early now.

 

Carol, expertflyer.com is also a good website to see airline schedules. Currently the only nonstops from the US to South Africa and only to JNB are South African from JFK and IAD (stops for fuel) and on Delta from Atlanta. There are no nonstops to CPT. It is indeed a challenge to find good flights to SA. I would be interested whether Regent offers the nonstops as part of their contract because those flights are very expensive. Good luck, sounds like a great trip.

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Carol, expertflyer.com is also a good website to see airline schedules. Currently the only nonstops from the US to South Africa and only to JNB are South African from JFK and IAD (stops for fuel) and on Delta from Atlanta. There are no nonstops to CPT. It is indeed a challenge to find good flights to SA. I would be interested whether Regent offers the nonstops as part of their contract because those flights are very expensive. Good luck, sounds like a great trip.

 

Agree but since Carol said that she is on the west coast, there are no non-stops. IMO, the best flights are either with a very short layover or a long one that will allow you to perhaps book a dayroom at the the airport and get some rest. Another option could be to fly to NYC (but that would be Coach unless upgraded) stay for a day or so and then get a non-stop to CPT. Of course, this would incur a deviation fee but, especially in the case of Cape Town, it is more than worth it.

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We are also booked on the Explorer Lisbon to Capetown cruise Dec 2018. We are doing the Wine lands and wildlife post cruise we are from Phx Az we started a roll call for this cruise please join! Jerry and Jeanie. 5 trip on Regent first on Explorer can't wait!

 

 

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I am so glad to see that there are some from CC going on that cruise. I will check out the roll call.

We are doing a post cruise safari. We did one on the last cruise that ended in Cape Town and it is still at the top of my favorite trips so jumped on booking this cruise when i saw that they offered a post cruise safari. This cruise is ideal - starting in one of our favorite places,ending with one of favorite activities and seeing a number of ports we have never been to before in between. win win

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We too are booked on the Lisbon to Capetown cruise but are still thinking about it because of the flight time to get home. Travelcat is indeed lucky to have had her flights go so easily.

 

It is a long trip home that is for sure. We flew home non-stop from JNB to ATL (just under 17 hours) onto SEA, YVR then one last flight home. It was pretty good being in business class to ATL on Delta and then domestic first to SEA.

Getting to go to Lisbon again with another safari at the end makes the long flights worth it or at least i hope i will feel that way on the never ending trip home. We certainly felt it was worth it last time.

We will deviate because we want extra time in Lisbon so will try and get the best flights possible at the 270 day mark.

Hope to see you onboard.

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1982 CruzStart, that is interesting routing. The fact that the direct flight is only 17 hours seems doable. Even if we have the extra f light from Atlanta to LAX. Our flight home from Dubai and Abu Dahbi was 16 hours. Of course Emirates made the time go fast.

 

I am encouraged and will sign on to the roll call.

 

I will also explore flyer talk routing.

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UK Arrangements

Flight information, i.e. airlines & routings, will be issued by Regent UK , via your TA if applicable, around 11 months prior to your cruise.

However the flights will not normally be ticketed until after you have made final payment for your cruise.

 

As far as I am aware (but best check with Regent UK to be sure!) you can request changes (e.g. different routings, upgrades, air credits etc) anytime up until flight tickets are issued. Make your request as early as possible via your TA or direct with Regent UK who will advise what alternatives are available and what additional costs will be charged.

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As far as I am aware (but best check with Regent UK to be sure!) you can request changes (e.g. different routings, upgrades, air credits etc) anytime up until flight tickets are issued. Make your request as early as possible via your TA or direct with Regent UK who will advise what alternatives are available and what additional costs will be charged.

 

Thank you Flossie

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