Choice Air

We are considering using Choice Air and have a few questions. How often should we be checking the cost? Does this change daily/weekly? Has anyone had issues with their flights and needed assistance? How was that handled? Anything else we should know about it? Thanks for any help with this.

Cheers!

We booked flights for our cruise in Jan using ChoiceAir. The prices were identical to the prices quoted by the airline. We did have problems getting seats assigned but after we completed the booking with choice air, we went on the airline website with our reservation number and were able to get our seats booked.

With the prices being the same, we opted to use Choice Air since the cruise line claims they will assist you with travel plans in the event of problems. Hopefully we will not have that problem!

In my experience booking one way fares to/from Europe, prices never changed more than a few dollars either way from the time I first looked unil I actually booked. Price have been 20-25% of what the airlines were charging for the identical flights. San Francisco to some was $550, delta quoted over $3000 for the same flight

we are going one way from Calif to Fort Lauderdale to start our cruise and coming home one way from Amsterdam at the end of the cruise. i spent hours on different travel sites checking prices for one way tickets and finally went through choice air. The cost from Calif to Fort Lauderdale was about the same that I could have booked myself, but the one way home from Amsterdam was a bargain. I also got refundable tickets.

we are going one way from Calif to Fort Lauderdale to start our cruise and coming home one way from Amsterdam at the end of the cruise. i spent hours on different travel sites checking prices for one way tickets and finally went through choice air. The cost from Calif to Fort Lauderdale was about the same that I could have booked myself, but the one way home from Amsterdam was a bargain. I also got refundable tickets.

Wow that is amazing that you got refundable tickets

We have used Choice Air many times and were always pleased with the one way fares but never had refundable tickets

Good for you

Peggy

Choice Air is great for International flights.

We've used them many times. I first start my research by looking at flights and times on the airline site of my choice. I then go on Choice Air's site, and book my selected flight with them. The prices have ALWAYS been substantially less.

After receiving my confirmation with Choice Air, I use the "locator" number to choose seating directly with my chosen airline.

Choice Air is basically a consolidator. Another good site to use is BT-Store. I believe I can use that name here, as it is not a cruise site.

I also got refundable tickets.

That is very unusual. Are you sure these tickets are fully refundable?

With the prices being the same, we opted to use Choice Air since the cruise line claims they will assist you with travel plans in the event of problems. Hopefully we will not have that problem!

Always trying to learn new things; can you point out where Choice Air guarantees they will do this for you, if there's a problem?

We've used Choice air a few time in conjunction with a TA or European cruise. The price was ALWAYS a good bit less than what I could find on my own. But when inquiring about domestic air, I could do better on my own.

we opted to use Choice Air since the cruise line claims they will assist you with travel plans in the event of problems.

They do claim that, although it is not a guarantee; they use words like "will try" and "when feasible." There have been numerous anecdotal reports over the years from people who did have problems the day of travel. The reported response received from CA has ranged from "fantastic, they were on top of it and took care of everything," to "they were no help at all and just told us to try to talk to the airline" or "it was a weekend and we couldn't even get through to them on the phone."

One other note: When you book tickets directly through the airline and experience travel disruptions, the airline WILL assist in getting you rebooked. Some people seem to think the airline will just say "sorry, tough luck" and just leave you out in the cold.

we are going one way from Calif to Fort Lauderdale to start our cruise and coming home one way from Amsterdam at the end of the cruise. i spent hours on different travel sites checking prices for one way tickets and finally went through choice air. The cost from Calif to Fort Lauderdale was about the same that I could have booked myself, but the one way home from Amsterdam was a bargain. I also got refundable tickets.

Do you have your 13-digit ticket number? (Not the 6-character confirmation number, or PNR). Just to make sure you're clear, there is a difference between a reservation and a ticket.

Read the sticky at the top of this forum about Cruiseline air. When you make a reservation (with the cruise line's air department, an online travel agency, your own travel agent, or directly though the airline) you get an itinerary and can usually request seats, using the confirmation number. The reservation can be changed, cancelled, etc. up to the point a ticket is purchased. Cruise lines usually issue tickets 1-4 weeks before travel (but sometimes only a few days prior). Until then, the cruise line makes use of any money you've prepaid. When the time comes to issue tickets, it's usually the flights you reserved. Sometimes those flights are no longer in their stock of tickets purchased in bulk, months ago (the "specially negotiated fares"), When that happens they will piece together a new itinerary from their remaining ticket stock and issue tickets. The flight schedules may be similar or better, or could be far worse. Also be aware the bulk-purchased tickets have significant restrictions if something goes amok with your flights and they are low priority for rebooking.

That said, if you do have your 13-digit ticket number, you got a great and very unusual situation if they are indeed fully refundable.

we are going one way from Calif to Fort Lauderdale to start our cruise and coming home one way from Amsterdam at the end of the cruise. i spent hours on different travel sites checking prices for one way tickets and finally went through choice air. The cost from Calif to Fort Lauderdale was about the same that I could have booked myself, but the one way home from Amsterdam was a bargain. I also got refundable tickets.

You didn't have to look at two one-way tickets; you could have built an open-jaw ticket (or multi-city, depending on the website). Some airlines still do this; cheaper than two one-ways, but a little more than a round-trip. I've used this frequently for various trips. It's like this: fly a-b, fly c-a...

You didn't have to look at two one-way tickets; you could have built an open-jaw ticket (or multi-city, depending on the website). Some airlines still do this; cheaper than two one-ways, but a little more than a round-trip. I've used this frequently for various trips. It's like this: fly a-b, fly c-a...

SFO-FLL: 2584 miles

FLL-AMS: 4163 miles

AMS-SFO: 5473 miles

Since the unflown leg must be the shortest, you don't have an open jaw for cruising between FLL and AMS. However, had this been a Panama canal cruise, it would qualify since the shortest leg (FLL-SFO) is unflown one.

The "multi-city" would most likely just spit out the sum of the two one-ways

Actually, in this case, you couldn't book an open jaw pricing ticket. The distances don't work (picked SFO at random but all California fits the example):

 

SFO-FLL: 2584 miles

FLL-AMS: 4163 miles

AMS-SFO: 5473 miles

 

Since the unflown leg must be the shortest, you don't have an open jaw for cruising between FLL and AMS. However, had this been a Panama canal cruise, it would qualify since the shortest leg (FLL-SFO) is unflown one.

 

The "multi-city" would most likely just spit out the sum of the two one-ways

I forgot about the shortest leg thing… Last one I did for a cruise was for a Pacific Coastal repo: SLC-LGB, cruise LGB-YVR, YVR-SLC, on Delta a few years ago. The SLC-LGB was definitely the shortest, but DL still gave me a ticket for at good prices…I do my flights to/from Europe using different European airports all the time, but the intra-Europe part is always the shortest.

Thank you FTer for pointing out my missing info. Did not want to lead anyone astray.

One other note: When you book tickets directly through the airline and experience travel disruptions, the airline WILL assist in getting you rebooked. Some people seem to think the airline will just say "sorry, tough luck" and just leave you out in the cold.

Sorry, did you mean to say "When you book tickets directly through the cruiseline (instead of airline)"? Regardless, my experience has been that the airline will assist you in both situations.

And to Kenish, it would help if you pay attention to how Choice Air tickets work rather than blindly regurgitating what greatam wrote in the Cruise Air and Air Deviation sticky. Your comments pertain to consolidator tickets which are currently not what Choice Air sells (and yes, I am aware that in many instances the Choice Air tickets are not the same as tickets you would buy directly from the airline). In the case of Choice Air the passenger chooses their flights and they do get tickets on those flights, not some random assignment based on doling out allotment from consolidator inventory. For the choice air flights I have booked I certainly had tickets issued (not just a locator number) and NEVER had my routing changed by Choice Air (but did have it changed by the airline when they cancelled a particular flight that was part of my original routing).

To the OP, when searching for airline tickets (choice air or otherwise) I try to check almost daily as you never know when the price could change. I generally use ITA Matrix or Google Flights to see what my options are then use airline sites, well known travel sites and choice air to compare.

Choice Air tickets may or may not have the same rules/restrictions as a ticket you would buy directly from the airline. Unless you run into a problem you'll never notice the difference. I have had one issue on a Choice Air flight and I cannot comment on the effectiveness/responsiveness of the Choice Air team since the airline (Lufthansa) immediately put me on the next available flight without question.

All in all I have no set rule about using Choice Air vs. Regular tickets. I usually let price and routing be my two main criteria. Sometimes Choice Air is better and sometimes it's not. The only thing I would comment on is to check with Choice Air on any routing your find. I've flown a number of Choice Air flights where my routing/price was not originally showing on their website but was quickly located and priced once I gave them the routing details.

I have always booked my own flights, but looking into Choice air for prices for a Med cruise next fall. When you look at Choice air it asks you date of cruise... and then shows you prices for that date. Can you use choice air but fly over several days before you cruise without booking hotel and all through them? Thanks for any advice... Flights will be from Florida to BCN

I have a sneaky suspicion that Choice air is still getting negotiated pricing for their tickets, even if they aren't being stockpiled on a shelf. And, in exchange, the fare rules are more restrictive.

Of course, not being able to see the fare basis codes prevents me from checking them versus the published fare listing on ExpertFlyer. If the CA fare basis is the same as what I can see published on EF, I'll buy a drink for everyone at the SkyClub.

Sorry, did you mean to say "When you book tickets directly through the cruiseline (instead of airline)"? Regardless, my experience has been that the airline will assist you in both situations.

 

No, I meant to say airline. That comment was an aside, or a reminder to folks in general that the airlines DO help you get rebooked if you have problems. People often post that they are using CA so that they'll have help if problems arise and the wording is often such that I can't help but think that there are infrequent flyers who actually believe that if you book through the airline and miss a connection or your flight is canceled the airline will just respond with "gee, that's too bad but we can't help you so move along. Next please!"

I have always booked my own flights, but looking into Choice air for prices for a Med cruise next fall. When you look at Choice air it asks you date of cruise... and then shows you prices for that date. Can you use choice air but fly over several days before you cruise without booking hotel and all through them? Thanks for any advice... Flights will be from Florida to BCN

Yes, you can. Choice Air's departure date defaults to the day of your cruise, which in our case would have meant arriving the day after the ship departs. We are sailing from CPH, but booked a flight from LAX to BRU a week prior. We will explore a bit of the Continent and work our way to Copenhagen as we go.

We'll likely book the return from BOS on our own since Choice Air's domestic fares rarely beat the airlines' fares.

I have always booked my own flights, but looking into Choice air for prices for a Med cruise next fall. When you look at Choice air it asks you date of cruise... and then shows you prices for that date. Can you use choice air but fly over several days before you cruise without booking hotel and all through them? Thanks for any advice... Flights will be from Florida to BCN

Yes you can put in any date that is before your sail date.... and any date after the date of the close of your cruise. And you do not have to book hotels.

Hope this makes sense...

trish

Were thinking of booking with Delta, how easy would it be to book the comfort select for the added charge?

Were thinking of booking with Delta, how easy would it be to book the comfort select for the added charge?

The booking page on Delta's website is pretty straight forward. You can click to view or select seats and a little window will appear on the next screen that shows you the add-on price to book comfort plus seating. Do understand though, that the pricing is per segment so the first price you see is just for that particular segment. You can click on the next segment and it will tell you the price to upgrade that segment and so forth.

When booking with DL, things can be strange with their upgrade and C+ pricing.

Just looked at a flight of mine and saw that C+ would be $55 in each direction for a mid-con trip. Upgrade to first was $102 for both directions.

Didn't take a degree in economics or in higher math to figure this one out.

Eyes wide open...

I booked with Celebrity Choice Air for MSP,ATL,BCN and back for next summer.

Been watching the particular flights since August. On Delta site,they went up

to over $1800. Booked with CA, same flights, picked my own seats, a 3hour layover in ATL each way, and paid a little over $1600.

My sister who will be flying from Nashville, her price has stayed the same, but CA it was $70.00 cheaper.

I know I have a non refunable ticket. I know the risks. I can live with it.:cool:

Now to figure out the private tours, etc. for this wonderful cruise around the Iberian Pennisula.

I think I am going to bite the bullet and buy CA too... We are flying from Orlando to Paris..and from BCN back to Orlando and they are much cheaper for sure. In Sept when we were heading to Rome for the Reflection, we had booked our own AA tickets (Not CA) to stop in Philly -- Rome and they changed it a couple weeks out to Charlotte which was not near as convenient so I think we risk changes no matter how we book tickets. Plus we are planning on going a week early before the ship leaves so we definitely have a little leeway....

Eyes wide open...

I booked with Celebrity Choice Air for MSP,ATL,BCN and back for next summer.

Been watching the particular flights since August. On Delta site,they went up

to over $1800. Booked with CA, same flights, picked my own seats, a 3hour layover in ATL each way, and paid a little over $1600.

 

I know I have a non refunable ticket. I know the risks. I can live with it.

Your ticket price isn't that much different than what you saw on Delta, so it may well be a published fare ticket with generous rules and restrictions attached to it. But just for fun.....

Do you know for sure whether or not your ticket is re-routable, in the event your flight is delayed or canceled and the next available flight of the same itinerary will get you to your destination too late?

Do you know for sure whether or not your ticket is endorsable to another airline, in the event of the same scenario described?