Condor and Choice Air questions

I have been thru PAGES of posts...and thanx to all of you for all of the info!

We have booked a TA for next Nov.....yes I am a planner! and am trying to get my options lined up!

So we need airfare to Rome.... we live in S Texas - and getting anywhere is not easy! I will most likely book as soon as I can, because of our location.

I have investigated the miles option - DH has in the past done some traveling for business, but on all different airlines - the result is 5,000 - 7,500 miles on EVERY airline!...and have buying miles questions covered!

So....

Anyone flown on Condor recently?

What was your experience?

Anyone flown their Business Class?

How was that?...I do know it is not like the Big Airline's

And.....

If I use Choice Air... to fly Delta - can I pick my seats?

More specifically can I upgrade my seats to "Delta Comfort"?

When you book directly with Delta - after you choose your flights and you reach the point of choosing your seats you are given the opportunity to choose "Delta Comfort" ...does that happen with Choice Air?

and 1 more for Choice Air....

I have to put in my sail date to access the flights....we are looking at spending a week before the cruise in Rome....

Will Choice air let me book a flight that far in advance of the sail date?

Thanx for your help.... Trish

... If I use Choice Air... to fly Delta - can I pick my seats?

More specifically can I upgrade my seats to "Delta Comfort"?

 

Yes to both questions. I have a flight booked on Choice Air right now, and I was able to pick seats and upgrade to Delta Comfort right after I booked the flights with Choice Air.

 

... and 1 more for Choice Air....

I have to put in my sail date to access the flights....we are looking at spending a week before the cruise in Rome....

Will Choice air let me book a flight that far in advance of the sail date?

 

Yes, Choice Air will let you book a flight in advance of the cruise. You can go to the Choice Air website and put in your dates to double check.

...

Answers in RED above.

Thanx Bob.....

I would much rather fly Delta, they have flights from San Antonio to Atlanta then Atlanta to Rome that I hope are available when I go to book in a couple of months. ...if not there are many other combos!

My alternative is Condor out of Austin...just not sure if I want to fly with them!

trish

And.....

If I use Choice Air... to fly Delta - can I pick my seats?

More specifically can I upgrade my seats to "Delta Comfort"?

Delta will only sell you upgraded seating IF:

a) You are purchasing the ticket directly from Delta and the seating is included in the ticket payment, or

b) Your third-party reservation has already been ticketed and DL has been paid.

You got the second scenario. Either Choice Air had bulk tickets on the shelf that they assigned to you or they bought a flight from DL at the spot market rate. If you had the scenario where the ticket isn't issued until much later, DL would not have given you a Comfort seat.

So, to the OP....it depends. You may or may not get a ticket on DL that is "paid for", which is the criteria for upgraded seating. (note: this is different than regular "assigned seating" which can be changed at any time and is at no cost).

I would much rather fly Delta, they have flights from San Antonio to Atlanta then Atlanta to Rome that I hope are available when I go to book in a couple of months. ...if not there are many other combos!

 

My alternative is Condor out of Austin...just not sure if I want to fly with them!

Interesting. On the one hand you say "there are many other combos" and then you follow with "my alternative is Condor".

Guessing they are not talking about a meal at McDonalds. Probably means many other routings then their preferred routing, but the flights are on DL.

Interesting. On the one hand you say "there are many other combos" and then you follow with "my alternative is Condor".

My reference was to "other combos" from Delta.... the SA to ATL then ATL to Rome would be my #1 choice. However if I could upgrade to "Comfort" I would take another "combo" and fly Delta rather than fly out of Austin on Condor.

The Condor option would be in Business class.

Thanx for your help

Guessing they are not talking about a meal at McDonalds. Probably means many other routings then their preferred routing, but the flights are on DL.

yes...you said it much better, than I!!

However if I could upgrade to "Comfort" I would take another "combo" and fly Delta rather than fly out of Austin on Condor.

 

The Condor option would be in Business class.

 

I have no idea what business class is like on Condor, BUT if it is even half of what business generally is on other airlines, then it would be a fair step above Delta's Comfort+. With DL Comfort+, all you really get is a couple inches of additional legroom (biz usually has more) and a tiny bit of extra seat recline (biz usually has more). Again, I know nothing about Condor biz class specifically, and you don't say how the price of the two options compares, just don't be thinking that DL C+ is something akin to biz (it's not!) and thus worth taking a crazy out-of-the-way routing to choose it over biz class on another airline.

I have investigated the miles option - DH has in the past done some traveling for business, but on all different airlines - the result is 5,000 - 7,500 miles on EVERY airline!...and have buying miles questions covered!

Two thoughts on this:

-DH really should be trying to consolidate his miles into one program per airline alliance (Star Alliance, SkyTeam, OneWorld), a thought for future travel;

-Have you fully explored credit card bonuses? I would be looking at what program he has the most miles in, then check to see what credit cards he can get associated with that program; you could end up with enough points for one-way business class tickets to FCO.

Anyone flown on Condor recently?

What was your experience?

Anyone flown their Business Class?

How was that?...I do know it is not like the Big Airline's

I've never flown Condor, but a Google search did show up this review: http://www.airlinereporter.com/2014/10/flight-review-checking-condor-airlines-business-class-frankfurt/

You should also search Youtube, as there are plenty of flight reviews posted there.

Sorry Bob, but your example was not the rule.

 

Delta will only sell you upgraded seating IF:

a) You are purchasing the ticket directly from Delta and the seating is included in the ticket payment, or

b) Your third-party reservation has already been ticketed and DL has been paid.

 

You got the second scenario. Either Choice Air had bulk tickets on the shelf that they assigned to you or they bought a flight from DL at the spot market rate. If you had the scenario where the ticket isn't issued until much later, DL would not have given you a Comfort seat.

 

So, to the OP....it depends. You may or may not get a ticket on DL that is "paid for", which is the criteria for upgraded seating. (note: this is different than regular "assigned seating" which can be changed at any time and is at no cost).

I believe I had scenario a couple of years ago similar to what you mention, in which I purchased tickets through Choice Air, but did not really have tickets from Delta. I was able to select seats using Delta's website, and Delta's record locator, but when I tried to upgrade to Comfort using Delta's website, I got some error about not being eligible.

I called Delta and they said I did not have tickets, which was news to me.

I then called Choice Air and related the situation to them, and they said to give them a day and they would purchase the tickets. So the next day, I was able to use Delta's website to upgrade to Comfort.

I'm not saying that this would be everyone's experience with Chocie Air, but they did show me some flexibility.

I have no idea what business class is like on Condor, BUT if it is even half of what business generally is on other airlines, then it would be a fair step above Delta's Comfort+. With DL Comfort+, all you really get is a couple inches of additional legroom (biz usually has more) and a tiny bit of extra seat recline (biz usually has more). Again, I know nothing about Condor biz class specifically, and you don't say how the price of the two options compares, just don't be thinking that DL C+ is something akin to biz (it's not!) and thus worth taking a crazy out-of-the-way routing to choose it over biz class on another airline.

Thank you....very informative!!!

From what I can see on their website, Condor's Business Class has a dedicated cabin...like the old days with a curtain....slightly wider seats that fully recline now...2 checked bags...free drinks... meals....lounge privileges (if your airport has one).....

As far as price.....Condor allows for 1 way fares thru their website....comes in less than $1300....and can be as low as $1000!...from Austin. This has been based on random dates I have chosen...we will have to see when I put in our real date!

Of course this price is way less than Delta's website....but was hoping Choice Air would lower the price considerably!

So.....with your info...Condor is looking pretty good.... now if I could find someone that has flown Condor Business recently.... there are a couple of posts but they are several yrs old!!!

Thanx again.....trish

Two thoughts on this:

 

-DH really should be trying to consolidate his miles into one program per airline alliance (Star Alliance, SkyTeam, OneWorld), a thought for future travel;

-Have you fully explored credit card bonuses? I would be looking at what program he has the most miles in, then check to see what credit cards he can get associated with that program; you could end up with enough points for one-way business class tickets to FCO.

 

I initially began on the "mile option" especially because I found out on these boards that purchasing miles was very cost effective - especially for 1 ways. However in the last several weeks when checking mile amounts required things have changed.... the market is volatile.. and with the lag time of purchased miles hitting the account I am not willing to chance it! As I said in the original post...the mile thing has been covered.

 

And do not get me started on flying the same airline.....preaching to that choir for over 20 yrs.... luckily ( or not so ) he rarely travels now!

 

 

I've never flown Condor, but a Google search did show up this review: http://www.airlinereporter.com/2014/10/flight-review-checking-condor-airlines-business-class-frankfurt/

 

You should also search Youtube, as there are plenty of flight reviews posted there.

Thanx for the links will check them out!

trish

Two thoughts on this:

 

-DH really should be trying to consolidate his miles into one program per airline alliance (Star Alliance, SkyTeam, OneWorld), a thought for future travel;

-Have you fully explored credit card bonuses? I would be looking at what program he has the most miles in, then check to see what credit cards he can get associated with that program; you could end up with enough points for one-way business class tickets to FCO.

 

 

 

I've never flown Condor, but a Google search did show up this review: http://www.airlinereporter.com/2014/10/flight-review-checking-condor-airlines-business-class-frankfurt/

 

You should also search Youtube, as there are plenty of flight reviews posted there.

OMGosh....soooooo glad you posted this...I have looked everywhere for something.....

Looks good to me...... more and more of a "No Brainer"!!!!

From what I understand Choice Air does Condor also...so I will check their cost of Business Class....

Thank you again.....very informative review....

trish

Thank you....very informative!!!

 

From what I can see on their website, Condor's Business Class has a dedicated cabin...like the old days with a curtain....slightly wider seats that fully recline now...2 checked bags...free drinks... meals....lounge privileges (if your airport has one).....

 

On a transatlantic flight to Europe, you will also get free drinks and meals on DL, regardless of cabin. They tout "free drinks" as a perk of comfort+ but even regular economy gets fere meals/drinks on those flights. That said, the biz meals (on Delta) are much better than those in economy, and I don't know which type of meal the Condor biz meals would be closer to so I'd look into that more if that's important to you. All other things equal, the main factor for me would be the wider/fully reclining seats.

(Then again, I'm rarely in an "all other things equal" situation because I prefer to earn the vast majority of my frequent flyer miles on DL.:)) But for your situation, I would tentatively be leaning toward the Condor biz seats over the DL comfort+ seats.

So.....What is they say about the best laid plans.....

Hours of investigations.....

I had no idea I could go on Choice Air this early to get an idea of $$$$

Seems American (and I know not the best at Business Class, but not a smashed in Economy) has great prices on Choice...with good connections!

If I had just started there.....

Oh well.....

Thanx for all y'alls help!

trish

We flew condor from Frankfurt to Los Angeles this spring returning from a transatlantic. It was pretty cheap and we were able to upgrade to lay flat business class for 300 euros each. What a deal! Beware - many Condor flights go only once or twice a week.

My alternative is Condor out of Austin...just not sure if I want to fly with them!

You say you are travelling in November. Condor does not fly to Austin in the winter.

Seems American (and I know not the best at Business Class, but not a smashed in Economy) has great prices on Choice...with good connections!