Very unhappy with O Air

On Feb 23 we are going from Miami to Montreal with a stop in Atlanta.It will take double the amount of time to come back. There are many direct flights that day with AA, Air Canada and West Jet.

Oh...we have a notice from Oceania stating that we may use their Air Deviation.

Did they choose a bad return flight on purpose ? They want us to pay money for Air Deviation? We flew the day before the embarkation but we did not pay for Air Deviation because we booked one night hotel pre cruise with O cost a lot of $$$

Last year we flew with Regent Seven Seas and we were happy with their schedule with AA.

It is my understanding that O will book whatever is cheapest, not with any negative purpose.

When we got the brochure with the flights O had selected, I didn't like them (as there were non-stop flights I preferred), so I immediately called O and was able to cancel their flights, get the air credit, and book the non-stop flights for $50pp more than the credit.

First, it's been my experience that Oceania makes the very best reservations it can, consistent with their contracts. It's also my understanding that Oceania offers the deviation process as an additional service to their guests, not to make money. There is an administrative cost involved with special requests (which is what the deviation is), and they do charge a fee to cover that cost, but in my wildest paranoid suspicions, I never imagined they did it to increase profit.

Same thing here ..we are off to

LAX via Atlanta from Montreal .I had to pay deviation to get nonstop or would have gotten a stop in Minneapolis in winter with about 1hour to run from one terminal to the other to catch that flight to return home

I was told they get the cheapest routes and that means stops in snow country ...inwinter ..not exactly the best choice

Option 1 just book your own hotel & Flights

Option 2 book your own hotel less $$ than O package ..take a taxi (cheaper than O transfers)

then pay the deviation & pick the flights you want

Compare prices with O packages then decide

Option 1 just book your own hotel & Flights

 

Option 2 book your own hotel less $$ than O package ..take a taxi (cheaper than O transfers)

then pay the deviation & pick the flights you want

 

Compare prices with O packages then decide

+1. If you want control and choices book your own as we always do.

On Feb 23 we are going from Miami to Montreal with a stop in Atlanta.It will take double the amount of time to come back. There are many direct flights that day with AA, Air Canada and West Jet.

 

Oh...we have a notice from Oceania stating that we may use their Air Deviation.

Did they choose a bad return flight on purpose ? They want us to pay money for Air Deviation? We flew the day before the embarkation but we did not pay for Air Deviation because we booked one night hotel pre cruise with O cost a lot of $$$

 

Last year we flew with Regent Seven Seas and we were happy with their schedule with AA.

My recommendation- PAY the DEVIATION, choose the flights you want, get there when you want, stay in a Hotel you want and leave when you want...A small price to pay in my opinion.

Oceania does not go out of it's way to give you poor flights nor do they push for the deviation option. They have contracts with certain companies and that is what they offer without the deviation..

On Feb 23 we are going from Miami to Montreal with a stop in Atlanta.It will take double the amount of time to come back. There are many direct flights that day with AA, Air Canada and West Jet.

...

My recommendation- PAY the DEVIATION, choose the flights you want, get there when you want, stay in a Hotel you want and leave when you want...A small price to pay in my opinion.

Oceania does not go out of it's way to give you poor flights nor do they push for the deviation option. They have contracts with certain companies and that is what they offer without the deviation..

Better yet, if it's not too late, cancel the air with Oceania completely, along with the pre-cruise hotel (at the outrageous price), and book your own flights, at your own convenience. Then book your own hotel. Yes, you'll have to pay for cabs, but so what?

Better yet, if it's not too late, cancel the air with Oceania completely, along with the pre-cruise hotel (at the outrageous price), and book your own flights, at your own convenience. Then book your own hotel. Yes, you'll have to pay for cabs, but so what?

It is too late. They gave me the schedule after the final payment...

On the February 12 they gave us Montreal to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami.

Their pre cruise hotel is in Miami.

Fort Lauderdale is really not a long distance to the Miami port, The difference is roughly equivilent to choosing to fly into either JFK or Laguardia in New York and then driving into Manhattan, sure, one is a little longer but really not a huge difference in my opinion and living in Greater Miami, I will fly out of either for fare advantage or a prefered schedule.

If you purchase Oceania's airfare, is it considered a 'deviation' if you want to fly over a couple of days early and fly back a couple of days later than the actual cruise dates? Same airports, just different days.

We like to get used to 6-hour time zone changes before just hopping on the ship and avoid being zombies for a few days during the start of the cruise. So I always book hotels (not through the ship!) before and after a cruise. We're glad to pay cab fares to get to ports and to hotels.

Will we be paying more (deviation fee) just to have the planes scheduled 2-days before and 2-days after the cruise?

One Deviation fee (per passenger) will cover date changes as well as any flight schedule changes which you may request.

What may be an additional cost to you is if the flights that you request are significantly more expensive than others within the same travel window, then the difference in cost may be passed on to you....this is commonly called the "air differential" cost.

One Deviation fee (per passenger) will cover date changes as well as any flight schedule changes which you may request.

 

What may be an additional cost to you is if the flights that you request are significantly more expensive than others within the same travel window, then the difference in cost may be passed on to you....this is commonly called the "air differential" cost.

Thanks. I hadn't thought about "another day" costing more or less, but that's normal in the airline business. I'd probably just try and pick a day that "costs the same or less" and stay longer before/after the cruise. After all, we don't get to that area often!

Does anyone know what the current differential cost charged by Oceaia actually is when making such a change? Or does Oceania charge a different "differential fee" depending on what the differentiality is?

The current deviation fee is $175. per person. If you are flying to Miami RT, I'll bet you're ahead with air allowance and book your own flights.

Does anyone know what the current differential cost charged by Oceaia actually is when making such a change? Or does Oceania charge a different "differential fee" depending on what the differentiality is?

The Differential Fee is based upon the true difference in the flight prices.

The beauty of the Oceania system, however, is that the Flight Differential costs (if any) are quoted as a part of any requested Route, BEFORE the passenger accepts the Deviation.

Before accepting any Route, you'll know EXACTLY what your options are; -and the Differential Fee does not kick in until the Route is accepted by the Passenger.

But do you have to pay the "deviation fee ($175 pp)" just to have them give you a potential routing and possible differential fee? Or do you have the option to just reject the air completely and take the air credit without their air? We have always booked our own air so we have no experience with this, but we are considering it. Also, do they allow you to upgrade to Premium Economy if that is available on the flights selected? :confused:

But do you have to pay the "deviation fee ($175 pp)" just to have them give you a potential routing and possible differential fee? Or do you have the option to just reject the air completely and take the air credit without their air? We have always booked our own air so we have no experience with this, but we are considering it. Also, do they allow you to upgrade to Premium Economy if that is available on the flights selected? :confused:

You can ask what flight they will give you for your cruise ..if you do not like them ask again ..if you see flights you want ask for those & see if there is any upcharge

sometimes yes sometime no

You have 48hrs to accept them

Once you accept the flights you are charged $175 pp non refundable

I usually cut to the chase & give my TA the flights I want to see if O can get them & any upcharges

No charge to ask

I usually cut to the chase & give my TA the flights I want to see if O can get them & any upcharges

No charge to ask

+1

By FAR the easiest way to do it :D

For domestic flights (and to Canada) you can do much better than O on your own -- especially if you add the deviation fee cost to the credit.

I become accustomed to taking the credit.

The last O flight we took was to Rio from Florida where they sent us to Atlanta to connect on Delta right into a snow storm. And this was a deviation because they could not get us a direct flight out of MIA at a reasonable price (this was done at 270 days so no excuses on O's part.

So deviations do not guarantee anything!!!! (despite what the cheerleaders say)

After I booked my btb...i requested a nonstop flight home because I had to pay deviation fees as my original tickets were made so I asked and got otherwise hip hopping all over the country in winter is not my idea of fun

I did but now i only have 1stop to come home

For domestic flights (and to Canada) you can do much better than O on your own -- especially if you add the deviation fee cost to the credit.

I become accustomed to taking the credit.

 

The last O flight we took was to Rio from Florida where they sent us to Atlanta to connect on Delta right into a snow storm. And this was a deviation because they could not get us a direct flight out of MIA at a reasonable price (this was done at 270 days so no excuses on O's part.

 

So deviations do not guarantee anything!!!! (despite what the cheerleaders say)

On Dec 2013 we have cruised with Regent and we flew directly Miami Rio and did not have to pay air deviation because we were satisfied and this year with Oceania I would have to pay Air deviation to come back directly from MIAMI to MONTREAL

I think people may be misunderstanding the basics of the deviation.

When you request a deviation, the following are the possible outcomes:

• Your requested flight is available at the same fee that O negotiated for the included fare
  
• Your requested flight is available but the fare is higher (you have to decide if you are willing to pay the difference)
  
• An alternative flight that is acceptable to you is available (the cost may be more than the included fare)
  
• No acceptable flight is found
  

What the deviation GUARANTEES is the research to determine YOUR options. You don't pay the fee (and any additional airline costs) unless you accept the offer. In my opinion, the advantage of trying the deviation is that you may end up with a desirable flight at less cost than you could get it on your own. If not, all you are out is the time spent.

Bob;

I believe that is a very good summation of the process. The system is fair, I believe, on O's part. I would advise everyone that takes O's Air offer to fully understand what they accepting, including who O is actually buying the ticket from. This last bit of info can greatly affect one's ability to change or upgrade seating.

My greatest complaint with the system is that O Air will not talk to you before 270 days out. I purchased tickets for our August/Sept trip to Europe a little over a month ago. In that our stay in Europe is about a month, we could not buy the outbound until about 303 days out (330-27 days until return). At that point, I had trouble finding P.E. seats on the most convenient flights on the outbound. I ended up taking my third choice in flights to ensure that my wife and I got seats together in P.E. I have miles for upgrade to Business, but all those seats were already reserved, so I could only wait list for the upgrade (even with status). I have threaded before about our upcoming cruise to Australia. All of the P.E. seats on our flights on Quantas were sold out at about 315 days out.

Because of the shrinking number of seats going to many of these popular vacation destinations, waiting until Day 270 can often yield less than desirable results. To get the better seats, on the more popular and convenient routes, the ability/desirability to wait for the O offer is greatly reduced. Best left for those booking the cruise later on.

Thanks everyone. We decided to take the air credit and do our own thing. :)

Thanks everyone. We decided to take the air credit and do our own thing. :)

Smart move!