Vantage Air Question

We have always booked our own air travel. This time we will be using Vantage to book it for us. if you had experience with Vantage booking your air, did you find them to select relatively direct flights or were you given flights that flew you all over and had more than one stop over. I know that most often flights booked by us are as/more economical then the company booking them ,but for now I am really just looking for past experiences with having Vantage book for you. I also understand that I can pay to have them book my preferred airline. I'm curious about what happens if you don't pay any of the extra fees and what the basic results are. Do they pick the flights and just let you know what they are or do they select them with you? If you offered specific flights is that always considered a reason for the extra fee? We will be flying from the east coast to France.

Last October our flights for the Irrawaddy River Cruise were perfect!!! And were very happy to be met at the airport by a friendly Vantage face after the grueling flights!!!

However, for our upcoming Amazon River/ Machu Picchu trip Vantage scheduled an OVERNIGHT flight through Miami....not necessary at all for the trip down to Lima. On the way home most flights leaving Lima for us (Detroit) do leave at night.

We found a great deal so booked our own this time, going a few days early and the cost of transportation to the hotel is very reasonable.

I think you can ask Vantage to book the air and if you don't like it either cancel it or request (for a cost) special booking.

We have always booked our own air travel. This time we will be using Vantage to book it for us. if you had experience with Vantage booking your air, did you find them to select relatively direct flights or were you given flights that flew you all over and had more than one stop over. I know that most often flights booked by us are as/more economical then the company booking them ,but for now I am really just looking for past experiences with having Vantage book for you. I also understand that I can pay to have them book my preferred airline. I'm curious about what happens if you don't pay any of the extra fees and what the basic results are. Do they pick the flights and just let you know what they are or do they select them with you? If you offered specific flights is that always considered a reason for the extra fee? We will be flying from the east coast to France.

I can only speak from one experience. Our recent Grand European cruise, Vantage booked the air flights. The original booking had us flying via KLM from LAX to Amsterdam to Bucharest. And returning home on Air Canada - Frankfurt to Vancouver to LAX. I really wasn't happy about the Air Canada part of the trip. A couple of days later Vantage called us and said they had a couple of other options for our flights, and did we want to hear them? (I hadn't called to complain about the original bookings). We said "Yes". The first alternative they gave us was Lufthansa LAX/Munich/Bucharest and returning direct Frankfurt/LA. We said we wanted those flights instead of the original one they made. No extra fees for changing. We did have to purchase seat assignments, if we wanted to ensure we had seats together, otherwise, you take your chances at check in for seat assignments on Lufthansa.

We have traveled with Vantage 12 times and have been very happy with air arrangements. They are willing to work with you to change if possible as long as it is not last minute. We frequently fly in early or stay later and have never had a problem with this. Call them as soon as you know what you want or when your flights are posted. They will work with you.

We have always booked our own air travel. This time we will be using Vantage to book it for us. if you had experience with Vantage booking your air, did you find them to select relatively direct flights or were you given flights that flew you all over and had more than one stop over. I know that most often flights booked by us are as/more economical then the company booking them ,but for now I am really just looking for past experiences with having Vantage book for you. I also understand that I can pay to have them book my preferred airline. I'm curious about what happens if you don't pay any of the extra fees and what the basic results are. Do they pick the flights and just let you know what they are or do they select them with you? If you offered specific flights is that always considered a reason for the extra fee? We will be flying from the east coast to France.

I've used Vantage Air for 7 out of my 8 trips with them and I've never been disappointed. Before I go any further let me say that the International airport I'm closest to is JFK, which is HUGE plus for Vantage and me because there's so many options. If you are close to JFK or Boston or Philly you stand a pretty good chance of flying to Paris directly. We flew Air France to CDG but other than that we usually fly LH. Only downside to them is no matter where you're going if your final destination isn't Frankfurt of Munich, you're stopping at one of them to change plans! Before I paid the extra $100 pp, I would let them book you and if you're flying from Boston to Orlando and then to Paris, leaving at 1 a.m. call them and ask them to reroute you. You can always pay the fee.

They gave you a BOS-MCO-CDG routing? :eek:

They gave you a BOS-MCO-CDG routing? :eek:

No no no no....I was illustrating what would be a nightmare routing....guess I missed the mark, huh? :D

No no no no....I was illustrating what would be a nightmare routing....guess I missed the mark, huh? :D

I got it :D !

I got it :D !

Maybe you've been hanging out with me too long... :D

I appreciate for the informative responses! Thank you!!

We have done Vantage Russia and Vantage China. Both flights were on United more or less.

On both trips the flights were just fine. We had a direct flight from Jacksonville, FLA to Chicago Ohare then direct flight to Bejing, return was from Hong Kong to Ohare, then another flight to JAX. We did have a five hour layover in Ohare on the way home.

For the Russia trip, we had to fly to Dulles then Frankfurt, then to Kiev. Return was from Vilnus, Lithuania to Frankfurt then to the USA, don't remember which airport.

We experienced cancelled flights last year, when Air France was on strike! (Vantage had booked our flights.) What we found out from Vantage was that it was our responsibility to find new flights to Paris! Our notification of the cancelled flights came only 4 days before we were to leave. It did all work out but we were a little "miffed" that was up to us to find our new flights. Thank goodness the strike was over before we headed home, as again Vantage had booked us on Air France. We've booked flights with Vantage for our September cruise, but our flights are with United and Lufthansa.

We experienced cancelled flights last year, when Air France was on strike! (Vantage had booked our flights.) What we found out from Vantage was that it was our responsibility to find new flights to Paris! Our notification of the cancelled flights came only 4 days before we were to leave. It did all work out but we were a little "miffed" that was up to us to find our new flights. Thank goodness the strike was over before we headed home, as again Vantage had booked us on Air France. We've booked flights with Vantage for our September cruise, but our flights are with United and Lufthansa.

That's really surprising.....since Vantage booked and paid for your flight to Paris, were you expected to rebook AND pay for them again? Or did Vantage ask you to find flights and then they would book you....which would also be strange. We got caught up in the Lufthansa strike when we were in Russia and the work stoppage caused our St. Petersburg flight to be delayed several hours with the result that we missed our US flight.... LH took care of everything....rebooking, hotel rooms, meal vouchers and internet access was all arranged before we even landed in Frankfurt, but we were on the way home and Vantage had already turned us over to the airline when they dropped us off at the airport so they had no involvement with the airline.

If I remember correctly, Bob worked everything out directly with United, as they were our first flight out of Cleveland. Vantage just need to know what flights we booked. There was no additional charge for the re-bookings.

We experienced cancelled flights last year, when Air France was on strike! (Vantage had booked our flights.) What we found out from Vantage was that it was our responsibility to find new flights to Paris! Our notification of the cancelled flights came only 4 days before we were to leave. It did all work out but we were a little "miffed" that was up to us to find our new flights. Thank goodness the strike was over before we headed home, as again Vantage had booked us on Air France. We've booked flights with Vantage for our September cruise, but our flights are with United and Lufthansa.

It's not just Vantage. Once Celebrity booked our overseas air, and when weather cancelled the first leg of the trip, Celebrity told us that it was up to the airline to reschedule us to the next port. Although we didn't have to pay any additional fare, it was a big hassle. Apparently our original bookings only covered one transfer and now we required two. Thank goodness the airline ticketing agent was a big sweetheart as it took him over two hours to rebook us.

It's not just Vantage. Once Celebrity booked our overseas air, and when weather cancelled the first leg of the trip, Celebrity told us that it was up to the airline to reschedule us to the next port. Although we didn't have to pay any additional fare, it was a big hassle. Apparently our original bookings only covered one transfer and now we required two. Thank goodness the airline ticketing agent was a big sweetheart as it took him over two hours to rebook us.

That's a shame, especially since it violates Celebrity's promise on their Choice Air webpage: "We have experts on hand monitoring your flights, and if any delays or cancellations jeopardize your travel plans, we work quickly with the airline to get you on the next available flight to get you to your ship." I would be spitting bullets if they told me it's on me to get it fixed!

We experienced cancelled flights last year, when Air France was on strike! (Vantage had booked our flights.) What we found out from Vantage was that it was our responsibility to find new flights to Paris! Our notification of the cancelled flights came only 4 days before we were to leave. It did all work out but we were a little "miffed" that was up to us to find our new flights. Thank goodness the strike was over before we headed home, as again Vantage had booked us on Air France. We've booked flights with Vantage for our September cruise, but our flights are with United and Lufthansa.

Strange that Vantage didn't help with the rebooking. When we were with friends in China and there was a HUGE snowstorm back home, many early flights were cancelled and Vantage rebooked travelers while we were all still at the last hotel. (We were staying for the post-tour so snow melted before we got home!)