frankpc123

Just another wrinkle in the world of Biz class flights to consider ..... We did an Air Dev, selecting a Delta/SAS itinerary (SAS "Business Smart" provides the outbound International and intra Europe flights). Regent was able to reserve seats on DL but not SAS. Indeed, SAS assigns seats for "free" 30 hours before departure but charges before that time. We had to request "Early Ticketing" from Regent to be able to call SAS and reserve (and pay for) seat assignments. Early ticketing, of course, does exposure you to change fees ... Here's the amenity list for SAS Business Smart from flysas.com : With SAS Business Smart, you can relax in the highest level of comfort in a seat that converts into a fully flat bed. You also have access to Fast Track through security control and SAS Lounges. SAS Business Smart tickets can be rebooked at no extra charge, but are non-refundable. SERVICES & CONDITIONS Carry-on 2 x 8 kg Checked baggage 2 x 32 kg Fast Track (where available) Lounge (where available) Rebookable Non-refundable

Delta flights here too. Routings that priced exactly the same at Delta.com can be included or upcharged. So it’s beneficial to know what routings you would like before talking to Regent. Without inside Regent knowledge it’s about impossible to predict the answers.

I’ve asked our TA to confirm this very question. The Regent Air Dev itinerary we have states this : ”Complimentary transfers are only offered to and from the airport/ship in conjunction with the air program on the day of the ships embarkation/disembarkation.” Perhaps this is to cover Regent from responsibilities to transport folks who Air Dev to create their own pre/post. One would “think” that folks with a Regent provided pre are covered for transport from airport to hotel to pier but thinking often gets me in trouble ,,,,

Hi, Hopefully this helps some folks through the Air Dev process ... We're Regent newbies booked on the Oslo-London sail 9/3/24. We did an Air Dev with Regent and our TA. We decided to do an early Dev for two reasons: 1.) Outbound flying on Labor Day weekend in the US 2.) We live in Raleigh, NC and RDU has flights on Icelandic Air to Oslo which connect in Reykjavik that offer Business Class at a very attractive price but don't have lie flat seating. We wanted to avoid this. We pretty much followed the process outlined in this thread: 1.) We provided our TA with a list of eight different itineraries that we wanted to consider (flight numbers, times, airports). We built these itineraries to arrive Oslo in the AM (we have one night pre cruise/Concierge) with generous connection times. Our departure from London was timed to be early afternoon to avoid having to leave the ship at 4AM. 2.) For $75 Regent responded with notes on those itineraries - either "OK, no upcharge" or "OK, but an $xxx upcharge", or "Regent cannot book this- out of contract"). Regent also provided an itinerary on Delta/SAS on the outbound leg that we hadn't put on our list as an option (no upcharge). The interesting thing (I'm sure due to Regent/Airline contracts) was that the airline online website pricing was not indicative of which flight would be "free" vs an upcharge. As an example, the Delta Business fares were roughly $2k more that the United fares in the online pricing but Regent didn't charge more for Delta. So there's no harm in trying ... 3.) After you get the response from Regent you have 72 hours to choose from the options provided. If you choose one of the deviation options you then pay $175 per person for the Air Dev with the initial $75 charge applied as a credit to your Air Dev total. So the total Air Dev cost is $350 for two (assuming you choose flights w/o an upcharge). 4.) Now you have another decision - Early Ticketing or not. We elected Early Ticketing primarily because we wanted to reserve seat assignments on SAS. SAS is an interesting creature ... they're just exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy, changing from Star Alliance to Sky Team on 9/1/24 and, well, charging extra ($100 +/- per seat) for advance Business Class seat assignments (we knew this before booking). All in all, I thought Regent was fair and reasonable through the process. Business class fares are crazy these days and when I priced the routing we picked it would have been in the $10k range (per person) to book ourselves. Frank

Thanks all … my bad, I missed the 75 minute gap time in the Regent docs. Understand that tours do tend to open up on board. Last time we were in Lerwick it poured rain all day long. Hopefully better this time …. Take care,,,,

Hi, New to Regent, booking shore excursions for the Sept Splendor Oslo to London. Expected to find some tours full but surprised to see at least one port with no free or pad shore excursion availability, especially on a ship with quite a few cabins available. Does anybody know the minimum gap time for booking tours between the return of a shorex and the departure of another shorex? The RSSC website seems to prohibit booking two excursions in the same port when there in an hour gap between the return time of the first tour and the departure time for the second tour. Or am I missing something? Thanks .....