Oceania Air Deviation Experts - Help!

Hi there,

 

I am asking here because we seem to have the worst TA there is. (She replaced our awesome TA who left the company)

 

She does not know the answer to these questions and has given me false information on many accounts.

 

I would like to ask if anyone knows the answers before I speak with her in the morning. That way I will have a little knowledge if she tries to tell me otherwise.

 

Our invoice was priced with OLife but without air. Later we added the option of O air and they added a second line showing $2,200 for air.

 

We requested air deviation.

She quoted Economy at $875pp and PE at $1,873pp

 

I asked these questions but she didn't know the answer:

 

1.Does the quoted air deviation REPLACE the $2,200 air on the invoice, or is it IN ADDITION to the $2,200?

 

2. Can we purchase PremEconomy one direction, and Economy on return?

 

3. If we have the $99 (per direction) Premium Economy promotion, why is the PE quote so much more than the Economy quote?

It seems like it would just be $99 to upgrade to PE, per person per direction ($200pp), but it is more like $800 more than Economy after adding the ($200pp) PE promotion.

 

4. If we pay our cruise in full after paying for deviation, can we chose our seats?

 

THANK YOU for any information you can offer.

1.Does the quoted air deviation REPLACE the $2,200 air on the invoice, or is it IN ADDITION to the $2,200?

From the way in which you have phrased this, it seems like the $2200 should represent the reversal of the Air Credit which you were granted when you priced the cruise without Air.

When you request an Air Deviation, Oceania will come back to you with various routes and pricing options until you: A) accept one of them or B) decide to discontinue the process.

 

Can we purchase PremEconomy one direction, and Economy on return?

Yes, PE is purchased by segment.

 

3. If we have the $99 (per direction) Premium Economy promotion, why is the PE quote so much more than the Economy quote?

Likely because the PE seats that were included in that Promotion have all been snapped up already, that is what they mean by "based on availability" in the fine print.

The early bird, and all that sort of thing......

 

If we pay our cruise in full after paying for deviation, can we chose our seats?

Oceania will agree to purchase your Airline Tickets after final payment is made.

Airlines typically enable seat selection on purchased tickets.

Our invoice was priced with OLife but without air. Later we added the option of O air and they added a second line showing $2,200 for air.

Was this the same amount you got as an air credit??

We requested air deviation.

She quoted Economy at $875pp and PE at $1,873pp

 

I asked these questions but she didn't know the answer:

 

1.Does the quoted air deviation REPLACE the $2,200 air on the invoice, or is it IN ADDITION to the $2,200?

 

2. Can we purchase PremEconomy one direction, and Economy on return? YES if PE is offered on that leg

 

3. If we have the $99 (per direction) Premium Economy promotion, why is the PE quote so much more than the Economy quote?

 

 

If you took the air credit when you booked & the promotion ended before you added the air back on do you still get the Promo price?

 

 

It seems like it would just be $99 to upgrade to PE, per person per direction ($200pp), but it is more like $800 more than Economy after adding the ($200pp) PE promotion.

 

4. If we pay our cruise in full after paying for deviation, can we chose our seats?

 

Depends on the airline

 

 

Hopefully someone will have better answers

 

We either take the air & do the deviation or take the air credit & book our own flights

Hi,

 

Yes the air charge on our invoice is the same as the air credit $1,100pp

 

They came back with Economy and PE pricing including the air deviation fee that is slightly less than purchasing on our own, that's what surprised me.

 

If we can get PE one direction...that's what we will do! I want to be armed with information because this TA is something else!

 

Thank you!!!!

Hi,

 

Yes the air charge on our invoice is the same as the air credit $1,100pp

 

They came back with Economy and PE pricing including the air deviation fee that is slightly less than purchasing on our own, that's what surprised me.

 

If we can get PE one direction...that's what we will do! I want to be armed with information because this TA is something else!

 

Thank you!!!!

I do not understand where the extra pricing is from

It should be $175 pp deviation + $99 pp per leg on international flights which should be $274 pp if you only use PE one way

Unless there are other charges like flights from a non gateway airport or flights on a different routing that O uses & there is an upcharge

I would ask if you can have a conference call with the air dept, your TA & you all on the line at the same time that way you can get the answers direct

JMO

The extra charges are for the deviation. Deviation cost is the fee + extra cost. Most cases it would be $0 plus the $99 PE fee each way. In the OPs case it was $875 and $2273pp. Likely done well after the 270 day window where in most cases the delta is usually zero.

The extra charges are for the deviation. Deviation cost is the fee + extra cost. Most cases it would be $0 plus the $99 PE fee each way. In the OPs case it was $875 and $2273pp. Likely done well after the 270 day window where in most cases the delta is usually zero.

Exceptionally well stated, Paul.

I admire your communication skills. :hearteyes:

Exceptionally well stated, Paul.

I admire your communication skills. :hearteyes:

It's the Engineer in me :D

So if the Economy is $875pp +$175 deviation +$198 (PE both directions), then PE should be $1,248, instead of $1,873 correct?

Any "upcharge" for this particular flight would have already been added to the $875 in Economy.

 

Also does anyone know if the Air Deviation quote replaces the $2,200 air charge on the invoice or is it in addition to that? I would think it should replace it or we are paying for air twice.

So if the Economy is $875pp +$175 deviation +$198 (PE both directions), then PE should be $1,248, instead of $1,873 correct?

Any "upcharge" for this particular flight would have already been added to the $875 in Economy.

 

Also does anyone know if the Air Deviation quote replaces the $2,200 air charge on the invoice or is it in addition to that? I would think it should replace it or we are paying for air twice.

 

No, the 2,200 is the air charge, just like it was the credit. The $175 pp for deviation is in addition to that. Sounds like a mess. I'd say the PE is no longer available and that's why it's a grand more than economy.

 

I thought you'd found a good TA and were changing, or is that for future cruises? Or is that someone else?

I agree , it sounds like the $99 PE upgrade is no longer available, I think it is capacity controlled. So the prices are as stated in the OP:

She quoted Economy at $875pp and PE at $1,873pp

 

And being as the received a $220 credit for not taking air then yes, the $2200 would be added back

 

No mention of timing but I think they booked some time ago or the cruise is fairly soon so there is limited air available and that is why there are these costs

 

I don't recall seeing where they are changing TAs (which would be a great idea to get a new one) but it sounds like this is well after the booking was made so outside of the 30 day window to transfer to a new agent. Well maybe still could transfer but the new TA would be working for free.

 

Sorry for the OP, this is messy and confusing. llarsen maybe you can get someone senior in that agency to get involved as the TA they assigned to take over is not up to speed. You need good advice not more confusion.

Part of the issue is we don’t know all the facts, which without we can’t answer your questions.

 

Biggest issue is the use of the term deviation. You never stated what kind of a deviation you wanted. Earlier and/or later dates? If so exactly how much earlier and/or later? Was a specific airline and a specific routing requested as part of the deviation? I could go on and on, but a request for a deviation can mean a lot. Without full details it’s a waste of time guessing your situation! How close are you to trip time?

I agree , it sounds like the $99 PE upgrade is no longer available, I think it is capacity controlled. So the prices are as stated in the OP:

She quoted Economy at $875pp and PE at $1,873pp

 

And being as the received a $220 credit for not taking air then yes, the $2200 would be added back

 

No mention of timing but I think they booked some time ago or the cruise is fairly soon so there is limited air available and that is why there are these costs

 

I don't recall seeing where they are changing TAs (which would be a great idea to get a new one) but it sounds like this is well after the booking was made so outside of the 30 day window to transfer to a new agent. Well maybe still could transfer but the new TA would be working for free.

 

Sorry for the OP, this is messy and confusing. llarsen maybe you can get someone senior in that agency to get involved as the TA they assigned to take over is not up to speed. You need good advice not more confusion.

 

I'm sorry for the confusion, it was another poster on another thread. But this poster should consider it.

You wouldn't even believe the stress, time and trouble this TA has caused me.

She replaced the TA we loved right after we booked this cruise (Nov 2016). I had no idea she was so awful at her job since I haven't had to deal with her until this last month.

 

Basically, she has been on vacation or out of the office more time this month than she has been in the office.

I contacted a manager asking for another TA, explaining that I no longer trusted this person to handle our reservation.

The manager requested the air deviation for us and our travel companions while she was on vacation and assured me she was qualified to handle our reservations.

 

Looooong story short...Monday she calls giving me Economy pricing for our friends. I told her we requested both Premium Economy and Economy pricing and asked where our quote was? she did not know. (I felt she was punishing me for contacting a manager).

 

Tuesday she called with Premium Economy pricing...for our friends. I asked about our quote and she told me again that she did not know anything about it since it was a manager who requested the air deviation and not herself. (You would think on Monday that she would have requested ours if she did not see it come through....or Tuesday when she called to quote me our friends Premium Economy price...nope. She told me I would have to put in another request for our deviation and it would take another 48hrs to hear back from Oceania.

 

Wednesday (today) she calls and suddenly has our quote, saying Oceania did have our deviation request on file. (I think she had it since Monday but was mad at me for involving a manager.

 

So, we accept the offer for Premium Economy and I'm about ready to hang up and I ask, "The LHR-LAX flight gets into LAX at 7:25pm correct? She says "No- 7:20pm it's only a few minutes different". I asked "It's AirNZ, correct?" She says "No! it's British Air, that's what you requested!". I told her NO, I requested ANZ flight #1. She started raising her voice and reading the email I sent...until she got to the part where I requested ANZ flight #1!

 

She appologized and said we have to start all over again with another deviation request. I told her NO...we already made that request...and for some reason Oceania substitued BA for the ANZ flight and you need to ask why. She called them and they said they could not ticket the 1:10pm BA flight with ANZ, so they gave us BA on the return.

 

I was so over it and dealing with her that we accepted it.

I never received an email outlining the details of our flight or I would have caught it right away. Obviously she never double checked the details of our flight or she would have caught it.

 

She's an awful TA and I will never use her again.

 

BTW, we did get the $99 promotion, but the reason the PE price was more than just $99 (each way) over Economy is this:

Oceania gave us a $2,200 air credit. Adding air back on was $2,200 (even if the Economy price was less)

So they start from the $2,200 ($1,100pp) add the Deviation Fee, the PE Fee and any upcharge (ours was $400) and that is the price quoted.

 

Thanks to everyone for helping, now I just need to find a new TA before our next cruise.

Also...the new Deviation quote will replace the $2,200 Air charge on our invoice. In our case the air charge was $2,200 ($1,100pp) for Oceania air (without any deviation) We decided to fly in through London, spend the night in London. Catch Vueling short flight next day to Florence, spend 4 days in Florence...train to Rome, spend 1 night in Rome...then catch our Rome-Venice cruise.

 

All I know is...this better be a darn good trip! lol

You will need a vacation after all that nonsense ;)

Also...the new Deviation quote will replace the $2,200 Air charge on our invoice. In our case the air charge was $2,200 ($1,100pp) for Oceania air (without any deviation) We decided to fly in through London, spend the night in London. Catch Vueling short flight next day to Florence, spend 4 days in Florence...train to Rome, spend 1 night in Rome...then catch our Rome-Venice cruise.

 

All I know is...this better be a darn good trip! lol

Is your O deviation to London, a layover, then the flight to Florence or is the O flight just to London and you are purchasing the London to Florence flight on your own?

Your perceived problems with your TA notwithstanding, let me suggest a simpler solution for next time.

 

1. Upon booking, do NOT take the Air credit.

 

2. Upon booking, sign up for any promotions, such as lower cost PE, that Oceania may be offering.

 

3. Monitor airfares , looking for sales, along the way.

 

4. Learn which airlines Oceania typically uses and has contracts with. If you insist upon using an airline O doesn’t contract with, you will pay extra.

 

After doing the above, no later than about 120 days out, you need to pull the trigger. Either procure the tickets on your own and take the Air credit, or use O Air. Even if you’ve made final payment on the cruise, O will still credit you back the Air credit. Just be aware that by waiting until 120 days out, the Air credit may have dropped.

 

The longer one waits to use O’s Air the lesser the options becomes. Entire thread on that if you care to locate and read it.

 

As I pointed out earlier, if one comes here for help, it is most useful to give as many reverent facts as possible, so to receive good help. Had you chosen to provide the very pertinent information that your deviation request was for a specific flight on a specific airline, that would had provided an enormous amount of clarity to your situation . Even after reading your rambling thread above, we still don’t know the full details of your deviation request. Facts always matter. When discussing airlines, airfares, and scheduling they are imperative.

Edited November 30, 2017 by pinotlover

pinotlover explains very good about details needed to try and help.

 

I still have no clue what OP ended up paying at the end with O but, it sounds like OP went online to figure out what flights they wanted. Saying that, I can see for 2018 the AirNZ non-stop flight LHR-LAX in PE runs anywhere from $1,268 to $1,412 pp (a few hundred more $ than O air credit). I'm getting a feeling OP ended up paying more than this with all the add on's but, have no clue what they actually paid and exact day they wanted.

 

I know it's likely too late for OP to just book their own flight but hope someone else reads this thread and understands that there are times it's much better and less expensive to book your own flights and use O air credit to offset costs.

 

Cheers,

John

You missed one important point. If you do the air deviation do it early. If possible at the 270 day point. This way you get the best of all including most likely no add on costs (other than the deviation fee).

Paul;

 

I basically agree with you, I just put the 120 day out there as an absolute cut off for pulling the trigger one way or the other. Also airfare sales appear to be more seasonal. Sometimes waiting a little long than 270 in can net a good airfare. With the airfare sales that have occurred in the past couple of weeks, anyone waiting for better prices later is foolish,IMO. I scored some seats at prices lower than I’ve seen in a couple years!

Okaywe have our air deviation!

Thereason I didn’t go into detail because I was looking for a quick answer ifanyone had one.

Whichflights or what type of deviation really didn’t matter…deviation is deviationand the fee is the same.

Ourcruise is 205 days away. We usually book our own flights about 1 year out, butthey have been in the $1,495-$1,695 range for our pre-stay itinerary. I found agreat non stop by going into London. (We are flying from the West Coast, CA)And was able to PE for only a couple hundred more than Economy flying intoFlorence.

Weare flying PE AirNewZealand (LAX) nonstop to (LHR). Spending 1 night inLondon, flying (LGW) to (FLR) the following day for 4 nights, taking train toRome for 1 night. Catching our cruise on June 26th 2018. We return(VCE) – (LHR) – (LAX) on British Air.

Theflight into Florence we purchased on our own.

Weactually did better with Oceania air than purchasing on our own.

MyQuestions and the Answers:

1.Doesthe quoted air deviation REPLACE the $2,200 air on the invoice, or is it INADDITION to the $2,200?

Answer:YES

2. Can we purchase PremEconomy one direction, and Economy on return?

Answer:YES

Did wedo it? NO, because for some reason the cost was $100 more buying it only one direction.

3. If we have the $99 (per direction) Premium Economy promotion, why is the PEquote so much more than the Economy quote?

Answer:O starts with the price of your air add on, in our case it was $2,200 (or$1,100pp). They add the $175 deviation fee, any upcharge for flight (if youpicked your own as we did) which was $200, plus the $99pp each direction (orwhatever the PE promotion was when you booked).

4.If we pay our cruise in full after paying for deviation, can we chose ourseats?

ANSWER:Yes, but we were able to pick our seats anyway, possibly because they are PE?(I don’t dare ask my TA for the answer, lol)

I requestedcertain seats for ANZ with my deviation, request but haven’t been able toaccess the booking yet. ANZ said to wait 24hrs.

The BA flight werequested an isle seat and Oceania gave us great seats! We were able to access theBA booking immediately.

 

Thanks to all!

Don't ask what happened to the sentences...lol.

I used word and it just pasted it like that when I submitted the reply.

Had you told us up front your deviation request included ANZ from CA to Europe we could have told you it would involve extra cost because that Airlines is not a contract carrier for Oceania on those routes.

 

For the record, not knowing your business background, but Oceania runs its Air Department as a Profit Center not a Cost Center. As a convenience to their cruisers they arrange AIr to and from their ships. They provide that service while that Department contributes to the corporate bottom line. There should be no confusion that the Air credits offered or the various fees applied in any way represents actual costs to Oceania. Those packages are offered at prices which cover their total Departmental costs plus a profit for Oceania. As a cruiser, you can accept their services, along with the costs, or take the air credit. Any attempt to correlate your fees and costs to what might be their actual cost is a useless exercise.

Oh yes, we have only used Oceania air one other time. It was our first Oceania cruise (when deviation was only $75, and it was worth $150 more than buying on our own to arrange air with friends in PA which we met on our first cruise in 1989! We picked them up on our stop in PA on a layover.

 

This time, Oceania was less than purchasing on our own...even with the air deviation. ANZ PE through ANZ was $2,159 (which did not even include the VCE-LHR leg which they could not book.

The other booking sites were in the $2,300 range depending on what time of day you looked at it. We paid $1,873 for PE through Oceania, including all other costs. The LAX-FLR and VCE-LAX flights were in the $1,500 range for ECONOMY when we accepted the PE.

:-)