Air deviation-- anyone try this?

Again, thank you for the info. John the sailor, what is American metal? We live in The Colony, Bastrop..a 20 minutes drive to ABIA.

TravelCat, my TA says that BA has “restricted” seats and never has luck booking them. Especially can’t pick seats. How can I give her more info to help with this. She is a Regent “something or other”. Meaning she has access to executives.

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Again, thank you for the info. John the sailor, what is American metal? We live in The Colony, Bastrop..a 20 minutes drive to ABIA.

TravelCat, my TA says that BA has “restricted” seats and never has luck booking them. Especially can’t pick seats. How can I give her more info to help with this. She is a Regent “something or other”. Meaning she has access to executives.

 

 

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Sorry for being confusing. American metal means it is actually an American Airlines plane. There are many flights that are "codeshared" these days which means that a flight, even though it is booked on AA with an American flight number, could actually be on another airlines plane with a sharing agreement with American. Sometimes these present difficulties in assigning seats or being flown business/first on a domestic leg of a business class international flight. While codeshared flights can be fine many folks that fly a lot prefer to be on the "metal" (plane) owned and operated by the same airline that is being booked. If there is any confusion concerning the airport, ABIA is technically the name for the Austin Airport but the airport code is AUS.

Best,

John

Again, thank you for the info. John the sailor, what is American metal? We live in The Colony, Bastrop..a 20 minutes drive to ABIA.

TravelCat, my TA says that BA has “restricted” seats and never has luck booking them. Especially can’t pick seats. How can I give her more info to help with this. She is a Regent “something or other”. Meaning she has access to executives.

 

 

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Sorry for the confusion. Neither you nor your TA can book BA seats - only Regent can do that (and they do it automatically). You would have to deviate in order to request BA. Then you (not your TA) can go in and change the seats to ones that you prefer on the BA website. We have done this at least a dozen times with no problem. However, when we book BA ourselves, we would have to pay to book a seat. In any case, your TA should be aware of this as I learned this from our TA.

So, if you want to deviate, either you or your TA can call Regent and give them at least two choices of flights. Assume that BA will be one of your choices and you will likely get it but it will cost $175/person. I email our TA and give them our choices (date(s), airline(s), flight # and times. They let our TA know if it is accepted or not. If it is accepted, the $175/person kicks in. Regent sends our TA the flights that includes the booking number/I.D. We look up the flights and make necessary changes. It is really simple.

Hope that this helps.

We opted (and paid for) air deviation for our flight to Barcelona and via our TA, chose flights we are comfortable with. Interestingly, in regard to changing seats, I was able to change them for the first leg, a Delta flight from MSP to CDG. But not the second leg, on Delta affiliate Air France. We’re happy enough with the assigned seats, so is not a big deal. We also could change them on our domestic flight home, on AA. So does make one wonder if perhaps making changes is dependent on the airline.

We opted (and paid for) air deviation for our flight to Barcelona and via our TA, chose flights we are comfortable with. Interestingly, in regard to changing seats, I was able to change them for the first leg, a Delta flight from MSP to CDG. But not the second leg, on Delta affiliate Air France. We’re happy enough with the assigned seats, so is not a big deal. We also could change them on our domestic flight home, on AA. So does make one wonder if perhaps making changes is dependent on the airline.

As JOhnthesailer said, many times you book on a particular airline and due to code sharing you actually fly on a different airline, in your case Air France. They are not an affiliate but, a code share. When this happens and you want to change or select seats on the code share, you have to go on the code share airline site or phone that other airline and then it is easy to change or select your seats.

You have to do any seat bookings or changes on the actual airline you are flying on even when your reservation says your flight number is with the airline you booked with. This is why when you are waiting for your flight, the schedule on the TV the may actually show 2, 3, or more flights to your destination at the same time with different flight numbers. That is code sharing.

And, the metal of the plane you will be flying determines where you check in. For instance in your case with a booking with Delta and flying on Air France, you have to check in or make changes only with Air France and not Delta.

We opted (and paid for) air deviation for our flight to Barcelona and via our TA, chose flights we are comfortable with. Interestingly, in regard to changing seats, I was able to change them for the first leg, a Delta flight from MSP to CDG. But not the second leg, on Delta affiliate Air France. We’re happy enough with the assigned seats, so is not a big deal. We also could change them on our domestic flight home, on AA. So does make one wonder if perhaps making changes is dependent on the airline.

Yes - changes are dependent upon the airline. Suggest that you contact Air France ..... they should be able to assist you if you decide that you would like to change your seats.:D While I have yet to find an airline that we can not "change" our seats on, some airlines are easier than others. There is at least one airline that we fly when we always have to call rather than go into the website to make changes. We find British Airways, Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific amongst the easiest to deal with online.

Glad that you found flights that you are comfortable with and that your TA was able to get approval from Regent!

Yes, I understand code sharing. We have flown on many airlines over the years. Air France would not allow the change on their website. That’s all I was saying. If it had been important to us, I would have called Air France.

Hello. We have sailed before with Regent but always booked the air using FF miles. This trip I am thinking of booking a concierge suite which gives us 1 night in Lisbon included. I do plan on using Regents air at least for the flight from San Diego to Lisbon as business class air is included. On the return flight from Miami to San Diego we would like to use our miles. Does Regent give you a credit for only using half their air?

Also since we are getting the night in Lisbon precruise would we have to pay a deviation fee?

I really don't know about Regent air. If we don't pay for deviation do we have a choice of what flights are available? I would not like being assigned a flight with no choice in the matter that had horrible times and very long times for change of flights.

We have cruised a lot on Holland America doing transatlantic crossing like this cruise and it is so simple. You do it on their website and their is quite a lot of flights to choose from.

Changing the subject a bit. When it comes to booking specialty restaurants how many are we allowed on a 14 day cruise?

Thank you very much for all the help in advance,

In addition we will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary and my birthday on this sailing.

Nan and Ted

50Hi Nan and Ted - will try to make this brief. Yes -- you can get a 50% air credit from Regent. We do it all the time.

If you don't deviate (which you can do at 270 days prior to the cruise), you will be assigned flights by Regent at 75 days prior to sailing. I strongly recommend deviating.

You can make one dining reservation in each specialty restaurant. So, for the Mariner and Voyager, this would be one reservation for Prime 7 and one for Chartreuse. On the Navigator, there is only one specialty restaurant - Prime 7 and you still get one reservation. On Explorer there are three specialty restaurants and - you probably guessed that you still get one reservation in each (this is the same if you cruise is 7 days, 14, 25 or more. You can only make more reservations if you are doing a back to back cruise.

Hope that this helps. Want to wish you an early Happy Birthday and 50th Anniversary.

Jackie

P.S. If you have not booked as yet, you can get a percentage off of your cruise fare and possibly some onboard credits if you use one of the travel agents that regularly books Regent cruises. Unfortunately, we cannot make a recommendation due to CC rules, but luxury TA's are fairly easy to find!

Travelcat2

Thanks so much for the quick response. We will definitely do air deviation. Regarding our travel agent she has cruise specials and found out this cruise is a Virtuoso cruise. I believe we have one of the better luxury agents and have used her for quite some time. In addition she is located on the west coast and are in the same time zone. Don't use anyone out east due to the time change

Will be glad to get the credit on the air.

Thanks again

Nan and Ted

Travelcat2

 

Thanks so much for the quick response. We will definitely do air deviation. Regarding our travel agent she has cruise specials and found out this cruise is a Virtuoso cruise. I believe we have one of the better luxury agents and have used her for quite some time. In addition she is located on the west coast and are in the same time zone. Don't use anyone out east due to the time change

 

Will be glad to get the credit on the air.

 

Thanks again

Nan and Ted

To answer your other question regarding choosing flights, if you don't deviate you will get what Regent gives you, no choices, and by the time you get your flights at 75 days out, better options become difficult to get and if you deviate at that point, more possibility of Regent upcharges for your chosen flights.

As an aside, many FF points blogs recommend using your points for overseas trips and paying for domestic trips to get the most bang for the buck with your points. Suggest before using points for your Miami-San Diego flight check the First Class fares. First Class Domestic fares have been significantly lowered recently. Airlines have realized that most seats were going to free upgrades for elite flyers and have decided they would be better off selling the seats at a small upcharge rather than giving them away for free. We recently flew from Houston to Miami for about $300 in First. believe domestic First is 25,000 points one way which is a lot of points and not much bang for the buck for points chasers.

Additional question regarding fees associated with deviation. So...you pay $175 to pick your flights early. Does this fee include flights not originating from gateway cities, or are there additional fees to add this?

Additional question regarding fees associated with deviation. So...you pay $175 to pick your flights early. Does this fee include flights not originating from gateway cities, or are there additional fees to add this?

The $175 per person is just to choose your flights, is non refundable and not paid until you agree with the flights and not any added costs that your flights might incur. Do not include anything else including the extra costs for a non gateway city.

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Additional question regarding fees associated with deviation. So...you pay $175 to pick your flights early. Does this fee include flights not originating from gateway cities, or are there additional fees to add this?

Assume that non-gateway cities will cost extra - just as wanting an airline that is not contracted will cost more. The $175/person just covers the cost for Regent to do the special fight bookings for you

We have deviated air for years. Just tonight my DH and I discussed what fight(s) that we are interested in for our November, 2018 cruise that Regent will book on February 15th. Our flight is one-way - from Vancouver to Barcelona. There are no direct flights. Our top choices are on Lufthansa and British Airways - both flights are on a 747-400 which we like (upstairs only). So, we will advise our TA of our first and second choices (first choice Lufthansa - second choice British Airways - due to times of arrival in Barcelona). We will likely get our first choice.

 

!:D

Hi TC2,

I was just wondering if you got the flights you requested. Lufthansa or BA? Was there a surcharge beyond the deviation fee?

On a slightly related note, do you get FF miles for flights arranged by Regent?

Thanks

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Hi TC2,

 

I was just wondering if you got the flights you requested. Lufthansa or BA? Was there a surcharge beyond the deviation fee?

 

On a slightly related note, do you get FF miles for flights arranged by Regent?

 

Thanks

 

 

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Hi,

Yes - Regent approved the Lufthansa flights which wasn't surprising because they usually approve Lufthansa. It is a nice airline (good food and service - flatbed seats just okay). We don't pay a deviation fee because we are Titanium Seven Sea Society members but there would not have been an extra charge in any case.

I'm not sure about FF miles because we don't use them anymore. We were accumulating miles on BA but if you don't use them enough, they disappear. I'm not sure if you can get FF miles - it may depend upon the airline.

Are you planning on deviating flights in the near future?

Jackie

Maybe the rules are different for us in the UK but over here BA FF miles (Avios) do not disappear and just continue to accumulate. Using them on rewards flights is the usual challenge as it is difficult to use them on popular date/itinerary choices.

It is the tier points for BA that are cleared down each year for us. So for example if you fly enough to get say a Gold membership in one year then at the end of that year you will only retain the Gold level if you have flown enough times to get to that level again. If you do not fly BA at all in the relevant time period you will be rest back to their entry (blue) level.

The exception to this is the 'golden handcuffs' of having 35,000 lifetime tier points when you are given a lifetime gold membership. This equates to having flown roughly 125 times from Heathrow to SFO return in business class so it is not that common!

Hi TC2,

 

I was just wondering if you got the flights you requested. Lufthansa or BA? Was there a surcharge beyond the deviation fee?

 

On a slightly related note, do you get FF miles for flights arranged by Regent?

 

Thanks

 

 

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We have always managed to get BA FF miles (Avios) for flights arranged by Regent (UK). We just enter the flight locator number into our BA account and the Avios are credited in the normal way after flying.

Do not know about other FF programmes or the situation with flights arranged by Regent in Miami.

Reference the expiry of BA Avios points, this is the rule from the BA website:

"Your Avios stay with you as long as you collect, spend, purchase or share at least one Avios every 36 months — any longer and your Avios will expire and be removed, so remember to take action before those three years are up"

So it is fairly straightforward to ensure that any Avios accumulated are not lost.

Thank you for correcting me on the Avios retention period point. Very remiss of me to forget that. I don't have a problem spending them with my eldest son and his family being in BC!

Hi,

 

 

 

Yes - Regent approved the Lufthansa flights which wasn't surprising because they usually approve Lufthansa. It is a nice airline (good food and service - flatbed seats just okay). We don't pay a deviation fee because we are Titanium Seven Sea Society members but there would not have been an extra charge in any case.

 

 

 

I'm not sure about FF miles because we don't use them anymore. We were accumulating miles on BA but if you don't use them enough, they disappear. I'm not sure if you can get FF miles - it may depend upon the airline.

 

 

 

Are you planning on deviating flights in the near future?

 

 

 

Jackie

Thanks, TC. We just booked Barcelona to Venice on the Explorer next April. We decided a few years ago that transcontinental coach travel is not for us, especially if it connects to Business Class. The contrast is just too stark.

Our 270 day mark is July 23 and we will be requesting a deviation at that time. I followed one of your earlier posts to the ita matrix site to search for flights. I found the Gantt chart type display very helpful.

We’ll be flying out of SFO after a drive from southern Oregon. The itineraries that start with an intercontinental flight all seem to arrive at BCN in the afternoon and since we have never been there I have my numbers two and three choices in that group. There is a United flight pair that gets us to BCN in the morning bit it connects through EWR. I’m hoping that Regent will book us that way with business class from SFO to EWR. Otherwise we’ll go for the afternoon arrival.

I’ve been assuming that Regent’s contract fares won’t come with FF miles but I’d be happy to be wrong.

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Thank you for correcting me on the Avios retention period point. Very remiss of me to forget that. I don't have a problem spending them with my eldest son and his family being in BC!

Everywhere I’ve lived United has seemed to have the best routings to most of the places I wanted to go, so that’s where I have accumulated most of my miles. Like you I have family far enough away that we need to fly to get there. So my MileagePlus miles also never expire.

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I’ve been assuming that Regent’s contract fares won’t come with FF miles but I’d be happy to be wrong.

I have always received frequent flyer miles when booking flights through Regent. Just make sure you go to the airline website and input your frequent flyer information.

Thank you for correcting me on the Avios retention period point. Very remiss of me to forget that. I don't have a problem spending them with my eldest son and his family being in BC!

Having done a few years paying for flights (with BA & Qatar mainly), we amassed quite a store of Avios. We then acquired a credit card which gives us plenty more as well as the added bonus of Companion tickets (B.O.G.O.F.)

Agree that getting reward flights can be a challenge but where possible we try to book what we want on the day the flights are released.

In order to make use of our Avios we now tend to take Regent's air credit and book reward flights ourselves.

We got a very good deal for our cruise on Mariner in September - First Class to San Francisco and Business back from Miami; booked with Avios and a Companion ticket, just the taxes to pay in cash :D

Where do you live in Buckinghamshire? We are near Aylesbury.