Viking Air Information

There have been some questions about how early you get your flight info from Viking. Our cruise is August 28 and I received our info yesterday from my TA. I did not pay the extra $50 to choose the flights. I was pleased with the arrangements. We're flying Swiss International through Zurich to Budapest. Coming home is a direct flight from Amsterdam on Lufthansa. Joanne

Thanks for posting this. I didn't realize you could pick your own flights for a $50 fee, which is very helpful to know, along with when you got your information for your flights.

Thanks for posting this. I didn't realize you could pick your own flights for a $50 fee, which is very helpful to know, along with when you got your information for your flights.

To clarify; the $50 is to deal with Viking Custom Air services. Depending on the flights you want, there may be an upcharge over and above the $50. So, do your homework and find out what purchasing the flights on your own would cost, what flight(s) you prefer and what the cost of transfers would be should you book the flights on your own (flights purchased thru Viking Air include transfers).

Becki

Pretty darn impressed with this info about Viking.... I got to remember to "never say never"!

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For our recent Portraits of Southern France cruise, we had rec'd a promotional air with Viking. We had no say in the flights, so I was a bit anxious about connections, layovers, etc. We rec'd our flight info about 90 days b/f departure (we were advised 60 days was typical) and the flights were great. Only one connection, with short layovers and on our preferred carrier.

Becki

We would have incurred both $50 for "Viking Air Plus" to choose Delta and another $100 for date deviation (we wanted to arrive in Budapest 3 days early not 2). For us it was less $$ to make our own flight arrangements and transfers.

Becki, I am going to be on the lookout for one of those promotional air with Viking for the fall, but that's the one thing I was concerned about. I was hoping you could still pay the extra and fly in a few days ahead. From what you are saying though, I guess you fly in and arrive the day the ship is departing and then fly home the day the ship disembarks. Is that correct? I think I need a little time to adjust to the time difference, so we always fly to Europe about 3 days ahead.

Becki, I am going to be on the lookout for one of those promotional air with Viking for the fall, but that's the one thing I was concerned about. I was hoping you could still pay the extra and fly in a few days ahead. From what you are saying though, I guess you fly in and arrive the day the ship is departing and then fly home the day the ship disembarks. Is that correct? I think I need a little time to adjust to the time difference, so we always fly to Europe about 3 days ahead.

CasaM,

The promotional deal we got was a sale on unsold cabins with special airfares. So, it was kinda a combo deal. My cruise-only TA let me know about it. If you have a TA who specializes in river cruising they should be aware of these specials and if you can travel when they become available, then you can take advantage of them.

But, yes, if you book a cruise and air with Viking w/o an extension, then they will book your air for the day of the cruise embarkation and debarkation. If you want to do an extension on your own, as DeeDC has mentioned, but still want to use Viking Air, then there is a deviation fee for adding days at either end. And, you have to consider the cost of the transfers. In some cases, it is simple to do the transfers on your own, in others, not so easy or inexpensive. We have done both. On our first cruise with Viking, I priced out our airfare, as I knew which flights we wanted. Our TA got on the phone with me and Viking Air, to assist me if I needed help. We weren't doing any extension, so it was simply a matter of getting the flights I wanted. We did end up using Custom Air, as the flight we wanted going over was an included flight, but the flight back was not. So, we did pay a bit more for that. So, it was the $50 fee plus an upcharge to get the specific flight we wanted. But, that included transfers from Schipol airport, which is over 1/2 hr from where the ship docks, so would have been a costly transfer for us to pay for. Overall, we saved about $200pp, even using Custom Air.

Now, we have a Passage to Eastern Europe cruise coming up in June. For that cruise, the Viking Air was more than we could find on our own for the flights we wanted, considering we wanted to do a Prague extension on our own. That was because of the deviation fee that would be tacked on to the initial airfare cost. But, the costs of the transfers to/from the airports in Bucharest/Prague were not that great and the distances were not a consideration there, so we were comfortable with doing this one on our own.

That said, you do have to do your homework to do the comparisons. And, if you decide to do the air on your own, you also have to be comfortable doing your own transfers in a foreign country, so be sure to ask on CC for recommendations for those. Viking does do a wonderful job on the transfers and luggage handling, which can be a pain after hours of traveling.

Becki

I hope these questions makes sense!

It's almost time to book our air for our 2015 China trip. We are planning to use Viking's Custom Air service because we like to book early and are picky about seats. I'm curious about the way the process works, though. We definitely do our homework, and have a general idea of what we want, but we are certainly open to options. Is it more of an "order-taker" situation, or does the Viking agent take time to go over choices that we may not know about? Also, has anyone been in a situation where they use one carrier/group for the departure leg and a different carrier for the return leg? For example, Delta out and American back rather than being forced (because of pricing) to stay with one carrier?

We used Viking Custom air for our upcoming June China trip. As that was our 4th Viking cruise..custom air was free. I had selected our preferred airline / flights in advance, and Viking was able to meet our requests with no up-charge.

As for seat assignment, it was computer generated at the time of the booking. When Viking makes the bookings, you have a confirmed reservation, but not a ticket. To change your seat via the airline (like upgrade to Economy Plus) you have to have a ticket. We paid a flat fee of $25.00 to have our reservation - ticketed early so that we could move to Economy plus.

We have used Viking Air on 2 of our 4 trips and been thrilled with the price / connections.

Always ask if they have any flight promotions (like free air) when making your cruise reservation, or try to negotiate a lower airfare. The agents seem to have some play in their quotes.

I hope these questions makes sense!

 

It's almost time to book our air for our 2015 China trip. We are planning to use Viking's Custom Air service because we like to book early and are picky about seats. I'm curious about the way the process works, though. We definitely do our homework, and have a general idea of what we want, but we are certainly open to options. Is it more of an "order-taker" situation, or does the Viking agent take time to go over choices that we may not know about? Also, has anyone been in a situation where they use one carrier/group for the departure leg and a different carrier for the return leg? For example, Delta out and American back rather than being forced (because of pricing) to stay with one carrier?

When we were booking the air for our first Viking cruise, the preferred air was indeed one airline over (Delta) and another (Air France) back. As to whether numerous options will be presented to you, I think that might depend on the rep you speak with.

We used Viking Custom air for our upcoming June China trip. As that was our 4th Viking cruise..custom air was free. I had selected our preferred airline / flights in advance, and Viking was able to meet our requests with no up-charge.

 

As for seat assignment, it was computer generated at the time of the booking. When Viking makes the bookings, you have a confirmed reservation, but not a ticket. To change your seat via the airline (like upgrade to Economy Plus) you have to have a ticket. We paid a flat fee of $25.00 to have our reservation - ticketed early so that we could move to Economy plus.

 

We have used Viking Air on 2 of our 4 trips and been thrilled with the price / connections.

 

Always ask if they have any flight promotions (like free air) when making your cruise reservation, or try to negotiate a lower airfare. The agents seem to have some play in their quotes.

We just returned from a Viking cruise on which we had a promotional low- cost air. So, we had no input on our flights. We rec'd our flight info about 90 days prior to our departure. We did not pay a fee to Viking to ticket early in order to upgrade to Economy Plus, but wereable to do so, simply using our confirmation # at 60 days out.

Only tried to use Viking Air once and doing myself was easier and less expensive. We don't go out of one of their portals, so that was an upcharge. We always go in several days, this time a week, early and stay past the disembark date, more deviations. I found tickets, on my preferred airlines, for considerably less than the Viking offer.

We typically fly Economy Plus. If one waits on many of the long leg flights until the 60 day out time period and attempts to then upgrade to EP, good luck! This is especially true going to Europe June-Oct, or AU/NZ Dec-Mar. We booked our upcoming Sept. Viking cruise early last Oct as soon as airfare/reservations became purchasable. Friends, travelling with us, didn't book the flight portion until about Thanksgiving. All EP seats were gone, they'll be riding coach for playing around for 45 days. If you're serious, and the Viking deal works for you, pay the extra and book EP ASAP!

How much does it typically cost to upgrade to economy plus?

It can cost b/t $49 & $99. When we flew to Israel last yr, we pd $79 pp going, but caught a sale of $59 for the return trip. For our trip Detroit-Paris recently, it was $59pp. We booked our Detroit-Amsterdam and return flts last yr and Economy comfort each way was only $49 pp.

Please help me follow Viking's logic regarding phone conversation I had with them...

We booked Rhine cruise with a 2 night pre-stay in Lucerne. I was told we would therefore fly into Zurich and return home from Amsterdam... fine...

I called Viking to ask about Viking Air Plus (or whatever it's called). I had mentioned to them that my home airport is JFK in New York City and was wondering how Viking flew their guests from JFK to Zurich and Amsterdam to JFK.

I am under the impression that since JFK is a pretty sizeable airport with many options it shouldn't be too difficult to fly there and back non-stop.

I had asked the Viking representative if I could speak to someone in their Air department to see if they generally flew their JFK passengers non-stop from NY to Zurich as well as Amsterdam to NY non-stop. Her reply was that in order for me to speak to someone and find out that information I would have to pay $50 per person... are you kidding me??

I told her that I would gladly pay $50 per person plus any additional fees if I were told that I was being given a flight that included 3 stops and would take 24 hours, but how can I decide if I need Air Plus arrangements if I don't know what they're offering to begin with.

Maybe I misunderstood, or I didn't have enough coffee...

any insight from anyone??? Thanks :confused:

When we received our flight arrangements (last week for Aug. 28 cruise), it said we had 7 days to request the custom thing for $50 if we didn't like the flights. We're in Chicago and flying to Budapest via Zurich (non stop to Zurich) and back home non-stop from Amsterdam. I'm not a gambler but would certainly bet New York arrangements are at least as good as Chicago. And if not, you will be able to make the change when you see what your flights are.

How much does it typically cost to upgrade to economy plus?

We upgraded on our Atlanta-Amsterdam flight two weeks ago, and it was $124 each. A day before flying back I checked and upgrades for Amsterdam-Atlanta were $99. When we checked in at the airport, they were down to $94.

FuelScience

Fuel Science;

I'll repeat what I said earlier. Seating availability on flights to and from Europe is entirely different in the June-mid October time frame as the rest of the year. Upgrades that may be easily obtainable right now , at the last minute, are impossible to achieve even months out in those time frames.

One other word of caution. The various cruise lines often have very low group air rates which is designated on the ticket as the ticket type. If you have booked on that fare and try to upgrade to E.P., at the airport, the price quoted may be significantly higher for the upgrade.

We have used Viking air several times and have been very pleased.

The flights have not been non-stop.

We use EWR (Newark) and have always had to change planes.

We were going to Ukraine 2 years ago and the return was to JFK. When I checked on one of the booking sites, all Odessa to EWR flights required a second change. We gladly accepted the JFK 1 stop return.

We will be on our 6th Viking cruise but it's our first time taking the Viking air special. So far it's a mixed bag. Too little time was allotted for our plane change in Paris. Also, Delta changed our seat assignment a few days before our long overseas flight and put us in non-reclining seats backing onto the restrooms. Very unacceptable and no-one let us know about the change until we were checking in. We had to pay dearly to upgrade our seats to avoid having to move to the back few rows with openings. We'll see how the rest of the connections go and how the transfer experience goes.

Viking does allow stopovers enroute for a fee. We paid an extra $200 ea in order to have a five day precruise stopover in another country on our own. This is giving us a chance to revisit a favorite city and get over our jetlag before boarding. For us it is a definite plus.

We have used Viking air several times and have been very pleased.

 

The flights have not been non-stop.

 

We use EWR (Newark) and have always had to change planes.

 

We were going to Ukraine 2 years ago and the return was to JFK. When I checked on one of the booking sites, all Odessa to EWR flights required a second change. We gladly accepted the JFK 1 stop return.

We are flying out of EWR, and I was wondering what airline Viking used?

Thanks

We upgraded on our Atlanta-Amsterdam flight two weeks ago, and it was $124 each. A day before flying back I checked and upgrades for Amsterdam-Atlanta were $99. When we checked in at the airport, they were down to $94.

 

FuelScience

Did you use Viking Air?

The cost to upgrade is $900 through Viking.

Can I call the airline directly and upgrade myself when I get the tickets?

Thanks

Derrick, are you referring to upgrading to first-class? If so, you will likely not be able to do that thru the airline as the tickets are purchased in bulk and so you have to go thru Viking. The only upgrade we have been able to do when we use Viking Air is to Economy Comfort.

Becki

We took an all inclusive last minute deal that included air from certain gateway cities. The closest gateway was Pittsburgh with non gateway Detroit being equal driving distance. They put us on a flight Pittsburgh to Detroit, coming home Detroit to Pittsburgh. It seemed to me they paid for an extra unnecessary leg as we wanted to drive to Detroit to eliminate one leg of the trip. It seems Viking should expand their gateway cities and add Detroit because so many flights originate there to Amsterdam.

Otherwise we were satisfied with the air package, flights on Delta. We were able to upgrade the overnight leg to economy comfort but the planes were pretty full when we booked. We upgraded with Delta on their web site.