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Choice Air: Helpful Information


Andy

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Hi Everyone !

 

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Troy Martin, Director of Travel Services for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. Troy shared with me what his team has been working on, with their guest air programs for Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Royal Caribbean. He said that if the opportunity came up to share what we discussed, that he would be glad to get the word out - and would also be happy to answer any follow up questions. Here's what I learned:

 

 

Background

 

In 2009 Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International rolled out a new air program called ChoiceAir, that was a major departure from the traditional cruise air programs. The drivers behind the new program were to improve customer experience and to adopt a model more consistent with today's more internet savvy consumers - and airlines. ChoiceAir was designed for travelers who make their purchases online at airline and consumer travel websites. It gives them visibility to all of the airlines' schedules and fares that are published, as well as some private negotiated fares on those same flights. The Cruise lines' guests are able to select their flights, study the fare rules, request special services, receive frequent flyer credit, and assign their seats. While this seems fairly basic for a travel website, prior to 2009... none of this was available when purchasing through a cruise line. Choice Air is currently offered in the US and Canada, though the company is evaluating opportunities for all of its international offices as well. In addition to booking ChoiceAir through your travel agent, you can go on the site and book your own. Two of the key value propositions are that the fares are very competitive, and the company provides their Assured Arrival Service. Since both of these offerings have been the topic of several Cruise Critic threads, Troy shared his insights on what is entailed.

 

Competitive Fares

 

RCCL offers nearly all of the same fares offered on consumer and airline websites - typically referred to as published fares, and some web fares. As is typical on the various websites, occasionally you will find a lower fare on one that is not available on the other. This is usually due to timing and airline inventory fluctuations, but for the most part you will see parity. On many routes, you will also find some special RCCL rates that have been negotiated with the airlines. These rates are especially good when shopping closer in, traveling internationally - and even more-so on open jaw (Fly into one city and out of a different city) or one way trips, when many published fares are more expensive. So while there may be some anomalies, you will typically find the same published fares - or better - on ChoiceAir. A frequent topic on Cruise Critic is the value and challenges with Consolidator tickets/fares. Those are not available through ChoiceAir. All ChoiceAir fares carry the standard airline rules, and even the contracted ones are similar. The travelers have all of the airline and RCCL services available to them, and are subject to the airlines rules and restrictions. Troy specifically emphasized that RCCL does not use consolidator-type fares.

 

ChoiceAir: Assured Arrival

 

RCCL is very interested in ensuring you get to your Cruise, and takes advantage of knowing your travel arrangements to monitor your flights, intervening when possible to avert delays due to airline schedule changes, delays, and cancellations. When they are unable to act pre-emptively, they will continue to work with the traveler and airline to find an alternate route - even on another airline - at no additional cost to the guest. This service includes getting the guest to the original embarkation port, or the next available port whenever it is practical. They cover the modified airline ticket, hotels en route (when necessary) and ground transfers. At times, there is controversy over whether this is a guarantee. The truth is... it's not a guarantee. If there are massive flight cancellations for many days due to natural disasters, or if there are simply no commercial seats available that will enable them to re-route, they clearly will not be able to make it happen. If there are government regulations (Jones Act) that preclude the guest from joining in another port (Most often an issue for Alaska, Hawaii, and New England/Canada sailings), they will not be able to help. However, in the vast majority of the situations when flights are delayed or canceled due to weather and mechanicals, the company has been able to get the guest to the ship to enjoy most or all of their Cruise vacation. This is not insurance or a guarantee, but an additional service provided exclusively for guests who book air with them. The benefit to the customer is they have a point of contact if things go wrong, they do not have to spend any money up-front, or file a claim to take advantage of the service.

 

Who owns ChoiceAir ?

 

There is a misconception that ChoiceAir is either a 3rd party website or fulfillment agency. This is not the case. It is a department within RCCL using RCCL technology, and the types of reservations systems used by travel agencies, airlines, and consumer sites around the world.

 

ChoiceAir is a great option for "Do-it-Yourselfers"

 

Troy mentioned that many travel agencies are happy to book ChoiceAir for their customers, and that it is also a great option for people who prefer to "do their own air..." With ChoiceAir, you can shop other sites for pricing and, when ChoiceAir provides comparable or better value, you should feel very comfortable that you will get even more service thana consolidator, consumer site, or even the airline themselves.

 

 

I hope you find Troy's information helpful. If you have questions, please post on this thread, and I will forward your questions to Troy for his response. Please do not ask questions pertaining to your specific booking. Please be patient, as questions will be answered when time permits. Thank you !

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Great timing.

 

Is there any specific assurance on getting home if the ship is delayed and you miss your flight home? Will other airlines be considered to get you home the same day? How does one go about accessing the flight coordination service if you miss your flight?

 

Thanks....

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Hi Everyone !

 

Thank you for your kind comments. Your feedback is much appreciated.

 

As questions are posted, I will forward them to Troy for his reply. Stay Tuned !

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The only problem I've found is that the price is always higher than any other source, including the airlines,Priceline,Travelocity etc.

We've found Choice Air prices very much lower on international flights. Our MIA-Santiago and Sao Paulo-MIA Choice Air prices were extremely lower than the published AA flights that we were actually on.

Domestic flights, DCA-FLL, or -MCO or -MIA, are cheaper booking right thru AA or US Air.

Rick and Deirdra

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Many thanks for the detailed info, much appreciated but I would like to know when this will be available in the UK. We keep hearing the European market is a growth area and more and more ships are sailing the Med so I think it's about time we had the ability to use Choice Air.

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I recently booked great priced tickets from Rome back to the USA on ChoiceAir. We are staying in Rome for four nights after the ship docks before flying home. I know buying through choiceair includes transportation directly from the ship to the airport but if you are staying a few days like we are do they provide any help going from your hotel to the airport?

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Great timing.

 

Is there any specific assurance on getting home if the ship is delayed and you miss your flight home? Will other airlines be considered to get you home the same day? How does one go about accessing the flight coordination service if you miss your flight?

 

Thanks....

 

Hi Mainer59 !

 

Here is Troy's response :

 

Mainer59 asked about support with return flights after a cruise if for some reason the sailing is disrupted, delayed, or diverted. Yes - Guests who purchase ChoiceAir receive the same level of support on their return flight as their flight to the ship. If the ship is delayed or detoured, we will work with the original airline or find an alternate flight on another airline to get the guest home using scheduled airline service, and providing hotels and ground transfers as appropriate, and at no additional costs to our guests.

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Great info....thanks...I shall file this in my brain should the need ever arise for me to book air with RCCL/=X=...

 

if you didn't already, maybe this should be a sticky here, and perhaps on the cruise air board (unless you did that already, in which case, super duper....):p

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WAAAAY back when, the brochure price for a cruise included round trip airfare. And if you were west of a particular longitudinal point, you were flown in a day in advance and put up in a hotel. If you chose the cruise only option, you were discounted $200.00. I really don't remember when things changed, but I remember the program working quite well. I would guess that the cruiselines had some sort of an alliance program worked out with the Airlines, and some way or another it fell apart.

 

 

One question for HOST ANDY: Is there anything planned for incorporating any of the Airlines "pay with miles" programs for frequent flyers?

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Domestic flights, DCA-FLL, or -MCO or -MIA, are cheaper booking right thru AA or US Air.

 

We just booked our domestic flights with ChoiceAir and our price was exactly the same as the fare quoted on the airline (jetblue) website. However, ChoiceAir does charge an additional $15 per ticket fee for the service.

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I hope you find Troy's information helpful. If you have questions, please post on this thread, and I will forward your questions to Troy for his response. Please do not ask questions pertaining to your specific booking. Please be patient, as questions will be answered when time permits. Thank you !

Why does RCCL prohibit the transfer of a reservation to a travel agent if airfare has already been purchased through Choice Air?

Alan

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Great info....thanks...I shall file this in my brain should the need ever arise for me to book air with RCCL/=X=...

 

if you didn't already, maybe this should be a sticky here, and perhaps on the cruise air board (unless you did that already, in which case, super duper....):p

 

Hi Megr1125 !

 

Thanks for your kind comments - it's much appreciated. As for the Sticky, it's an excellent idea. I will forward your suggestion to the Royal Caribbean moderators.

 

FYI, Mr Martin has graciously offered to answer questions from our Cruise Critic friends who frequent the Cruise Air Forum. It will be the same original post, but as there will be different questions, we can look forward to additional insights from Mr Martin.

 

Please keep an eye out for us... we'll be there soon !

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One advantage of Choice Air not mentioned in this thread is the ability to book the air, but delay payment until cruise final payment. Choice Air calls this option Flex. My experience has been that the price for Flex is more than the price for the least expensive option, but the difference was not excessive. For example, our price for a one way trip from St. Louis to Barcelona was $575 using the least expensive option and $615 for Flex. Using Flex allowed us to lock in fares, but not have to pay until 75 days before the cruise. For those who are not 100% sure that their schedule will allow them to take a trip a year in advance, Flex gives the ability to cancel entirely, losing only the $25 per person Choice Air booking fee.

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The only problem I've found is that the price is always higher than any other source, including the airlines,Priceline,Travelocity etc.

I found just the opposite is true -- except for Priceline's set your own price. Especially on international one-way flights, Choice Air is very competitive with the lowest-priced consolidators, and VERY MUCH cheaper than Kayak, Travelocity, Expedia, and the airlines own website. For example, I purchased one-way tickets from Dallas to Paris on Choice Air for $504 (including the $25 Choice Air fee). The airlines were charging well over $2,000, and the cheapest fare I found on a regular travel website (not a consolidator) was well over $1,000. There's no comparison.

Alan

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I recently booked great priced tickets from Rome back to the USA on ChoiceAir. We are staying in Rome for four nights after the ship docks before flying home. I know buying through choiceair includes transportation directly from the ship to the airport but if you are staying a few days like we are do they provide any help going from your hotel to the airport?

 

Hi Notladjr !

 

Here is Troy's response :

 

Notladjr asked about hotel to airport transfers when adding extra days to the cruise vacation. Currently, we do not offer this service through ChoiceAir; however, in September, we expect to begin offering hotel to airport transfers on many sailings. Stay tuned for details.

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We booked our tickets from Phoenix to Barcelona using ChoiceAir. Through ChoiceAir we paid about $560 or so per ticket. On Delta's website, the exact same flight (one way as we are doing a TA) is over $2000. Suffice it to say, I am quite happy with the price from ChoiceAir.

 

Thanks for the great info!

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We booked our tickets from Phoenix to Barcelona using ChoiceAir. Through ChoiceAir we paid about $560 or so per ticket. On Delta's website, the exact same flight (one way as we are doing a TA) is over $2000. Suffice it to say, I am quite happy with the price from ChoiceAir.

 

Thanks for the great info!

 

ChollaChick,

 

My tickets for next May from Rome to Nashville were priced almost the same - $550 each. That was just too good of a deal to pass up so I booked immediately. Apparently RCCL has netogiated some great one way fares for cruisers.

 

Host Andy,

 

Thanks for checking about my transfer question. I will check starting in September to see what kind of hotel to airport transfers RCCL offers vs what I can find on my own.

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In a few months we are flying to Barcelona using Choice Air. I would like to hear Mr. Martin account of what happens at RCL end when there is a problem with air due to delays, misconnections, or cancelations. Does RCL act as an intermediary between me and the airlines? How does having a travel agent change things? Do I have to contact my travel agency first? One other question is what happens if the problems occur outside business hours?

Thanks,

Shak

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WAAAAY back when, the brochure price for a cruise included round trip airfare. And if you were west of a particular longitudinal point, you were flown in a day in advance and put up in a hotel. If you chose the cruise only option, you were discounted $200.00. I really don't remember when things changed, but I remember the program working quite well. I would guess that the cruiselines had some sort of an alliance program worked out with the Airlines, and some way or another it fell apart.

 

 

One question for HOST ANDY: Is there anything planned for incorporating any of the Airlines "pay with miles" programs for frequent flyers?

 

Hi Clean1owner !

 

Here is Troy's response :

 

Great idea, and something we will include on our list to explore in 2012. Of course, our airline partners would have to be interested and provide the mechanism for us to book and ticket the specific award inventory, and redeem miles on their behalf. We will keep you posted.

 

Regarding your comment on the old programs. We still have great partnerships with the airlines, but the Internet has made booking travel so much more accessible, that many of our guests in Canada and the US have said they want to be more involved in flight selection and scheduling, and they want to shop pricing against the many online outlets for airline tickets. We are always here to help and are glad to be as involved as you like in selecting flights, providing the best value, and supporting you before, during, and after you travel.

 

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