FlyerTalker

Only if you own 100,000 shares or more. (Slow posting day?)

IIRC, that's the address for Serenity. For Symphony, it's "syweb01" rather than "seweb01". Not near my travel laptop to check what I had saved.

One other thing to keep in mind. It's not so much that the prices are changing, but rather then underlying inventory numbers change. Prices, both for cruiseline air and for air from the carrier, are pretty well determined in advance. Fares are "filed", that specify fare routings, rules and price. Then each is coded with a fare designator, so that each ticket is tied to a specific "fare" (which is not the same as price). Let's hypothetically say that XYZ sets 10 different fares between A and B. These run at $20 intervals from $300 up. So there are now fares at $300, $320, $340, $360, $380, $400, $420, $440, $460 and $480. What happens now is that a certain number of tickets are put into the various "buckets". Let's say you get a distribution of 10 in each to start. People will start to buy the lowest cost ticket, so the $300 bucket sells out first. Now, it's not that the price went up - it's that there is none for sale in the lowest bucket. So it appears that they raised the price -- nope, the market snapped up the most discounted tickets and all that are left are higher priced ones. Now, because yield management systems are so sophisticated, they can monitor how flights are selling and adjust so as to get the maximum return for the flight. They do this by moving inventory between the various buckets. A flight isn't selling well -- move seats into the lower buckets. Higher than expected demand -- move inventory towards the higher buckets. All done with very complex algorithms created by very bright mathematicians. Which is why tickets from A to B are often priced differently. More desirable flights have greater demand, resulting in tickets being in higher buckets. That flight at 6am - seats move downward to try to stimulate demand there. So, when you see prices "disappear", it's just that there is no longer availability at that dollar amount. And when you see it "appear" or drop, that's an inventory move - either because of cancellations or because YM says "add inventory".

For a quality bag, it will be heavier. Lots of lightweight crap out there. And FWIW, the large Rimowa bag is almost 14 lbs. So July is not outlandish.

You are very welcome. The most important parts are: First key is to remember that what you have available through Viking (or any cruiseline) is merely a subset of the overall inventory and pricing available from the airline directly. As such, it may be many different forms of inventory (and of pricing). and Also, it's important to remember....airline tickets are not like the box of cereal on the grocery shelf. They have different fare rules, are associated with different fare buckets, and have dynamically variable quantities available at any given time. Trying to compare them with products that are not dynamically priced is a waste of time.

My apologies regarding the seats on the Copa MAX. I've not been paying close attention and it has been a while since I've flown Copa. Turns out that the seats on the MAX version of the 737 for Copa are the Collins "Diamond" seats. The good news is that they do lie flat. The bad news is that they are in a 2-2 configuration, so there is no direct aisle access for the window passenger.

Ask and ye shall receive. Those aren't "Viking price changes". They are a result of dynamic inventory availability and pricing. First key is to remember that what you have available through Viking (or any cruiseline) is merely a subset of the overall inventory and pricing available from the airline directly. As such, it may be many different forms of inventory (and of pricing). A not-so-brief explainer coming up. The first type may be a "hard block". This is a fixed number of seats, sold by the carrier to the cruiseline. It's now up to the cruiseline to determine their retail price, given that they have already purchased the seats for their resale. It could be a "soft block", where the cruiseline agrees to a certain number of seats, but has the ability to return all or part of any unsold inventory back to the airline under pre-agreed terms. Another form is "moving block", where the inventory block may vary depending on pre-negotiated conditions. As inventory systems become more and more dynamic, this is becoming more prevalent in the airline industry. Inventory may be added, or removed, due to conditions of the overall yield management of a specific flight or flights. An airline may also give the cruiseline "free sale" or "open sale", which means that they have full rights to sell all seats and all inventory. This is usually at the spot market price for tickets, and tends to fill out the gaps when contract blocks become unavailable (usually because the agreed upon block has been sold). There may be contract provisions where the airline can stop or limit this type of sale. Since the specifics of airline contracts is a trade secret of both parties, one can only make informed guesses as to what's happening behind the scenes. I'm going to guess that you got into a moving block situation - tickets were available, then they were available at a lower price, then they weren't, then they were, at still a different price. Highly indicative of changes in inventory. Which can be because of ticket sales through Viking or because of yield management calculations by the airline, or both. Also, it's important to remember....airline tickets are not like the box of cereal on the grocery shelf. They have different fare rules, are associated with different fare buckets, and have dynamically variable quantities available at any given time. Trying to compare them with products that are not dynamically priced is a waste of time. So, to the OP: Congratulations. This time the system worked out for you. You lost out on inventory, found it again, and had the price be lower than what you would have paid originally.

And as a note...that has NOTHING to do with FlightEase, but is an airline function.

Another vote for battery powered tea lights. Easy to find them at Walmart or even at Dollar Tree. And when the battery goes, just toss away.

You can sometimes pick up some delightful limited editions at the Oban distillery. Right in the center of town. And a couple of other excellent whiskey shops nearby. As mentioned, be sure to have rain gear for this cruise -- odds are you will need it somewhere along the way.

A usual situation with airline computer systems. Nothing to worry about. Happens with virtually all of my reservations - the boarding passes have that, but never had a problem.

And note that many of these "cheap ticket" outfits are reselling award tickets - which is against program rules and may result in you having your ticket confiscated.

I would have ZERO qualms flying on a 737MAX. Of far more concern, IMO, is that you know what "business class" on Copa entails. You would be on 737s with recliner-type seating, NOT lie-flat as you would find on most non-stops to the USA. You also would have a connection in Panama along the way. Which is why you are finding your "great deal". Not that it's a MAX. Caveat emptor.

Both are excellent. Al Safwa is much less populated, and at a higher level. But both will be worth your time, if only for some comparison.

I am going to assume that your DXB-DOH-CMN will be on Qatar. If so, there is an interesting "hack" at work. Business class flights within the Middle East on QR price out as "business", but get coded as "first". So a business class ticket that includes DOH-DXB on QR will be a "first class" segment - and that gets you full access to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge, which is an awesome destination on its own. It has full ala carte dining, a collection of art from the Doha Museum of Islamic Art, and many other delightful touches. Plus a superb bar with very premium spirits and wines. On our last visit, we passed on going out into Doha on a long connect and just enjoyed the lounge.