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What is restricted business class,posted on my Regent invoice??


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I believe "restricted business" refers to the class of ticket purchased by Regent through their contract with the airline

i.e. the ticket has been purchased at a reduced price and therefore has various 'restrictions' - e.g. non refundable and non changeable once the booking has been ticketed.

 

In practice you will not notice any difference i.e. Club class check-in, luggage allowance, fast-track security, lounge access etc. will all be available to you.

 

I am sure someone will correct me if my interpretation is incorrect.

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I believe "restricted business" refers to the class of ticket purchased by Regent through their contract with the airline

i.e. the ticket has been purchased at a reduced price and therefore has various 'restrictions' - e.g. non refundable and non changeable once the booking has been ticketed.

 

In practice you will not notice any difference i.e. Club class check-in, luggage allowance, fast-track security, lounge access etc. will all be available to you.

I am sure someone will correct me if my interpretation is incorrect.

Greetings from South Beach, flossie009. In my experience, you are correct. As one who uses included Regent flights, our online tickets say the same thing. Lounge access and other perks are the same as when we use the Platinum Card program. I don't care what the tickets say, as long as we get the lounge.

Mary

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Booked inc.business air with cruise...and this was listed on invoice.What exactly does restricted,,,,mean here.Anyone know,,,asked TA but not sure of answer.

 

I just checked my invoice and remember my TA told me that it was the extra charge from not flying from a Gateway City. (I think that is the correct term.) As I fly from RDU, I am charged extra for that flight.

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NCCruzQueen, we do fly from a gateway city and our Business Class tickets are always"restricted business class". Whatever it means, it has no affect on our flights (whether they are deviated or not) or anything else.

 

P.S. Just did some mild research and according to FlyerTalk (several years ago) Restricted Business Class referred to the limited/restricted availability of seats. This seems to fit Regent since their contracts are only for a limited number of seats on contracted flights.

Edited by Travelcat2
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NCCruzQueen, we do fly from a gateway city and our Business Class tickets are always"restricted business class". Whatever it means, it has no affect on our flights (whether they are deviated or not) or anything else.

 

This is what my TA told me when I questioned her about the charge. You and I book through the same agency.

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This is what my TA told me when I questioned her about the charge. You and I book through the same agency.

 

Interesting! Well if you fly through a non-gateway city and we fly through a gateway city (Vancouver), what you were told doesn't make much sense. The P.S. that I added to my last post makes the most sense but there is no way we can verify that answer. It gets curiouser and curiouser:)

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Restricted Business air in my understanding is the lowest cost business fare on the sector you are flying. Airlines, depending on the competition on a route will offer these fares (low cost) to entice travelers to take their airline over another airline. In gateways that have less competition the need to offer these fares is not as great. Most airlines only have a number of these seats on offer. Tour/cruise companies that agree to purchase a certain number of seats in advance would get this low cost fare - called restricted. The restrictions are often a high cost to make changes in routing or dates or high cancellation costs. I myself have bought this type of fare well in advance (often 11 months) with the understanding that changes and cancellations are not possible.

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We are gateway city,so not that...also, how do you know in advance the airline or number of stops,etc...thought info not avail to closer to cruise.Usually do own air,but this one hard to get good price or flights.Asked cruise co and said airlines vary and not sure till near date,,so confused.It s a long flight and need that reclining seat,but seems not even sure of that,right.....

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We are gateway city,so not that...also, how do you know in advance the airline or number of stops,etc...thought info not avail to closer to cruise.Usually do own air,but this one hard to get good price or flights.Asked cruise co and said airlines vary and not sure till near date,,so confused.It s a long flight and need that reclining seat,but seems not even sure of that,right.....

 

IMO, deviation is the only way to go - especially for long fights when lie flat seats (or reclining if you prefer that) are necessary. When you deviate ($175/person in the U.S. and Canada), you can select your own flights 270 days in advance. The airline and flight does have to be one that is contracted with Regent. Once Regent and you decide upon the flights, you can access your reservation online - change seats, etc.

 

With airlines such as BA, if you book it yourself you cannot select seats without paying for it (unless you fly BA frequently). When you book through Regent, you can select seats immediately.

 

We have been deviating almost all flights for as long as we have been cruising with Regent (13 years). Many people deviate which tend to fill up many contracted flights months before Regent assigns flights a couple of months (not sure how many days) before your cruise.

 

If you decide to deviate, I would suggest that you find flights on airlines that you are interested in (2 or 3 choices). Either send your requests to your TA who will work with Regent or call the Regent Air Department and run your choices by them. We usually get the flights that we want (except for flights to and from South America). Keep in mind that you can do this 270 days prior to your cruise.

 

Note: If you decide to deviate, keep in mind that flights within the U.S. are coach (most of the time - if you fly the same airline domestically and it connects to an international flight, you may get business or even first class). We prefer to fly on international carriers.

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I agree with Flossie - I’m pretty sure it’s the fare code that includes Regents blocks of seats. These are not as flexible as normal business class but less expensive.

 

The one time I saw a drawback to those was when we missed a connection last month. We couldn’t just call the airline and get rebooked -we had to go through Regents Emergency Air department. Worked out better, though, letting them handle it.

 

Here’s an article on fare codes: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/3801394/deciphering-airline-fare-codes/

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Well, guess I m stuck since the flights are to s.america....can you tell me why you were nt able to get those.Never did deviation,since usually just book own.But can t find business class seats for cost I d save.

 

Flights from many parts of the U.S. to South America are limited in terms of which airlines fly there. I would first check out flights that are of interest and then do a quick check with your TA or Regent to see if they are contracted with the airlines. The difficulty we had was that United Airlines had the best flights (and I only fly United as a last resort). The first time we flew out of Rio we were able to get United that changed planes in the U.S. and continued on to Seattle so we flew Business Class into the U.S. and then First Class across the U.S. to Seattle. This worked out fine. The next time we were going to South America, Regent wasn't contracted with United for that part of the world.and the flights were so bad that we cancelled the cruise.

 

Since you I've on the West Coast, flights may be easier than from the Pacific Northwest. Hope that you find something that works well for you.

 

P.S. You could use this site to check flights http://matrix.itasoftware.com - I did a quick check from Miami to Rio since I don't know your destination and saw that Delta flies there (and assume they fly to other places in South America). I believe that Delta is contracted with Regent but would double check.

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Thank you for the info,will check it out.Tried Kayak and see no good times ....flying from Orlando to BA but coming back from Santiago.Hear its quite a trip to airport from port there and departs ship at 8am .Most return flights leave very early or much later with long flight times. Wonder if they ever charter for these.My TA doesnt handle air and when I contact Regent,they tell me to use TA,since booked thru them.Wonder if on Regent website,,,list of air carriers they use....

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Thank you for the info,will check it out.Tried Kayak and see no good times ....flying from Orlando to BA but coming back from Santiago.Hear its quite a trip to airport from port there and departs ship at 8am .Most return flights leave very early or much later with long flight times. Wonder if they ever charter for these.My TA doesnt handle air and when I contact Regent,they tell me to use TA,since booked thru them.Wonder if on Regent website,,,list of air carriers they use....

 

I would not accept the answer from your TA. You aren't asking them to handle air, you are asking them to coordinate with Regent. After all, they are getting a large commission off of your booking and this is the least that they can do. Responses like the one you received from your TA is frustrating (to say the least).

 

Regent really couldn't list their contracted air carriers because it differs - depending upon what part of the world you are flying to/from. For instance, when Regent was no longer contracted with United Airlines in South America, they still had a contract with United for Europe.

 

Obviously, I would push the issue with your TA and let them know what Regent said (and I would not use them in the future).

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Thats what I did and lo and behold,my TA said she would take care of deviation and told me too early to find out carriers.Need to wait till 270 to do that.Guess Regent would still do transport to ship regardles,,right.May just do own airlfare,if I can find one cheaper.Prices may go down later,like to be in control and book early so I can check seats,less time,etc.

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Thats what I did and lo and behold,my TA said she would take care of deviation and told me too early to find out carriers.Need to wait till 270 to do that.Guess Regent would still do transport to ship regardles,,right.May just do own airlfare,if I can find one cheaper.Prices may go down later,like to be in control and book early so I can check seats,less time,etc.

 

So good to hear that your TA woke up and realized their responsibilities. BTW, if you go through Regent and book 270 days in advance, you can still check/change seats, etc. And, as you know, if you book fights on your own, you lose the transport to and from the ship. Hope that you find some good flights!

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Thats what I did and lo and behold,my TA said she would take care of deviation and told me too early to find out carriers.Need to wait till 270 to do that.Guess Regent would still do transport to ship regardles,,right.May just do own airlfare,if I can find one cheaper.Prices may go down later,like to be in control and book early so I can check seats,less time,etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We recently went through this. Our TA put in writing on our invoice that ‘restricted business class’ means “may be first point of entry and then coach domestically.” If Regent provides a flight that is routed via a stop in the US, that leg MAY be booked in coach. We chose to do an air deviation. We chose flights from Barcelona to LAX via Paris (avoiding a US point of entry). All of our flights are in business. Also, as was stated earlier, once you do an air deviation or chose to do your own air and take the credit, you no longer get transfers to or from the ship— even though we are in a concierge category suite.

 

 

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travelingduo - first I must say that everyone's guesses about why Regent invoices have "restricted business" is interesting. While we still do not know for sure, I can say that we never have stops in the U.S. (unless we are flying to Miami) and our tickets always state "restricted business". We typically fly out of Vancouver (or Seattle) with a stop outside of the U.S. - on a non-U.S. airline. Although I'm sure if it was correct, I would vote for the FlyerTalk explanation about the number for seats per flight being restricted but I could be 100% wrong.

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