Regent Air Questions

We plan to booki our second Regent cruise tomorrow. On our first one we let Regent handle the air, and they did a great job. But this time we want to spend a few days pre-cruise in Barcelona (the departure city for the cruise).

Our trip will be roundtrip from Phoenix to Barcelona. There really aren't that many options for this itinerary, as long as you limit the choices to one stop. It looks like you either fly through Miami or Charlotte, and it doesn't matter to us which one we get.

So I guess we need to deviate, but I don't understand the deviation process. Could someone explain the procedure to us? In summary, we want to travel a few days early, aren't fussy, but do want to take advantage of the business class upgrade that Regent offers.

Thanks in advance.

Go Cats

We can relate. We fly out of PHX and over night at the Hyatt Place in Tempe, they will let you park your car free as long as you spend one night !Back to your question. WE always deviate so we have control over our schedule, the cost is $175pp. From what you said you are looking at US Air there flights are very good we were surprised. Look at British Air also but I don't know if Regent will do them. I agree that BCN is a hard place to get to and from. Try looking at itasoftware.com to see your options then call Regent or your travel agent and put in your request and go from there.

John

You can have your agent

You are only an hour's flight from LAX. There are many choices from LA - you can fly through Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Frankfurt, London. Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Delta, Air France, British Air, KLM all fly non stop. Those flights all leave in the afternoon and you arrive in Europe in the morning and with an hour or two layover can fly to Barcelona. We like to fly Air France into Paris. While Charles De Gaulle can be a pain because of size we find a lot of options for navigating to our next destination. KLM to Amsterdam is also on our list. If you fly Business Class via the USA to Europe you will be in Business Class until you arrive in Europe. If you fly to the East Coast and change planes you may have domestic first class - a lesser experience. We like to board, eat and then sleep arriving in Europe with a decent (sort of) night's sleep raring to go.

We did the air deviation for our cruise out of Barcelona so that we could go ahead and reserve better flights and seats. We're on United, which I think is a Regent favorite. If you book through Regent, just tell the representative that you want to speak with someone about an air deviation. There is no deviation fee to talk to someone about your options, only when you decide to go with the deviation. We think it's worth the expense to have better flights -- we were even able to get a nonstop home from London.

Like captjohn I am not sure that Regent will do British Air, but if they do a BA non-stop flight leaves for London Heathrow from Phoenix at 8:00pm. After a three-hour layover in London the next day another BA flight leaves for Barcelona, nonstop. Total travel time is under 15 hours.

We've done British Air through Regent on two occasions. On the flights back to U.S. (day flights) we book premium economy and we're fine, though "need" business for night flights. My memory is that one can book business one way and economy plus the other.

The deviation process is straightforward. Best is to figure out what route you'd like, with specific flights if possible, with alternatives if there are any. Then you talk to the deviation department, or have your TA do it, and propose the flights and routes, specifying that you want the Business upgrade as well. They will tell you if they can or can't do your itinerary, and at what price (i.e., sometimes there's an extra charge.) If it's acceptable to you, then and only then are you charged the deviation fee of $175 per person.

As others have said, there are airlines that have contracts with Regent, so it's easier to get a proposal accepted. Not sure what the current favorites are.

The deviation process is straightforward. Best is to figure out what route you'd like, with specific flights if possible, with alternatives if there are any. Then you talk to the deviation department, or have your TA do it, and propose the flights and routes, specifying that you want the Business upgrade as well. They will tell you if they can or can't do your itinerary, and at what price (i.e., sometimes there's an extra charge.) If it's acceptable to you, then and only then are you charged the deviation fee of $175 per person.

At what point do you do this? Is it when you make your initial deposit, or is it at 75 days? Or is there some other deadline for it?

You can make deviation requests starting 270 days before embarkation. The earlier you make your deviation request, the better your chance of getting the flights you want.

You can make deviation requests starting 270 days before embarkation. The earlier you make your deviation request, the better your chance of getting the flights you want.

I think that it's 270 days before "disembarkation".

I think that it's 270 days before "disembarkation".

I've read that before but my TA has always been able to make air deviation requests and get the flights 270 days before embarkation.

I will look into it, thanks.

And the itasoftware.com site I mentioned before is really great. They do not try to sell anything, just information. I use it to find out who goes where.

JD

Do US Air thru Charlotte direct to Barcelona. Business class is lie flat beds. Great! You pay deviation fee at time of request and it is 270 days prior to embarkation that it is first available.