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Air Fare Booked with your Viking River Cruise - what has been your experience?


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Good day fellow travelers! I am excited to be going on my first river cruise, choosing Viking only because my brother and wife picked it and they have river cruised before.

 

We have air at a very, very reasonable price. What has been your experience when you do your air thru Viking? Do they want until the very last minute to book it for you? Do you get stuck in awful middle seats? Do they make take the longest, cheapest route or the most direct?

 

Any help, tips, information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers!

 

Kathi

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Kathi,

 

Did you pay the additional fee for Viking Air Plus? It is a minimal charge, I think only $50 per person. That upcharge does allow you some input in your flight selection, and will help alleviate some of the issues that concern you.

 

We have booked air through Viking for both of our trips so far. One went very smoothly. The other had a layover in Frankfurt both ways, and the connection time was too short. At that time, we didn't know better, and accepted the schedule. We missed our connection on the way home, so that was a real nuisance. Live and learn!

 

For our upcoming Viking Ocean trip, we purchased air through them again, but plan to check the available options and may cancel that if we find flights that are decent on our own. ( Flying to Bergen , Norway, and Air Plus is not available because of the very limited options there.)

 

We have very much enjoyed both our first Viking river and first Viking ocean cruises. I hope you will too.

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Hello.

 

So far all three Viking trips taken have been with Viking Air. We did not pay for the Air Plus on any, and with the exception of a tight connection in Paris en route to Bordeaux, all have gone smoothly. All trips (originating in St. Louis) have been via Delta/Air France/KLM and no complaints. We did upgrade our seats on one trip on our own, but that simply depends on equipment, personal choice of seats, etc.

 

Typically you’ll receive your flight info 90 days out. You’ll want to log onto the airline websites to see if seat selection can be made, but that will vary. I strongly encourage you to keep checking your MyVikingJourney page and occasionally look at the reservation on the airline websites as well. Flight times and numbers can change, so you’ll want to make sure you’re up to date.

 

You’re going to have a wonderful time!

 

Jeff

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For those who have used Viking Air ... can you deviate your arrival date/airport. We have a R/T cruise out of Venice before our river cruise out of Budapest ... this would be about three weeks prior to our river cruise departure. We would obviously prefer to arrive in Venice (or at least Rome) so that we don't have to travel between Budapest/Venice twice. In this scenario, we would then make our way to Budapest on our own.

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Good day fellow travelers! I am excited to be going on my first river cruise, choosing Viking only because my brother and wife picked it and they have river cruised before.

 

We have air at a very, very reasonable price. What has been your experience when you do your air thru Viking? Do they want until the very last minute to book it for you? Do you get stuck in awful middle seats? Do they make take the longest, cheapest route or the most direct?

Any help, tips, information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers! Kathi

How far away is your cruise?

If you do nothing, you will possibly get stuck with worst seats on the plane.

Viking only promises to get you there.... they pay the airlines at the last minute.

By the time we were "ticketed" by Viking, all the "Plus" seats were gone on our flight.

Try to get your "ticket numbers" ASAP. Once you get your numbers, not just flight numbers, you deal with the airline, not Viking.

You need to be "ticketed" (seat paid for by Viking) before the airline will talk to you about seat assignments.

Much more info, but sometimes looking for your own info adds to your journey .:)

Keep asking.

Good Luck !

Edited by $hip$hape
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As soon as Viking gives you your airline booking number you can log into the airline's website and change your seats. We've done this three times with no problem. One caveat, if it's a codeshare flight sometimes you need to go to the actual carrier's website to change your seats. For example our last flight was listed as Lufthansa, but that was a codeshare for an actual United Airlines flight from the U.S. We needed to go to the United website to change our seats.

 

What I like about Viking Air is the door to door service, not only with arrival but also departure. When we departed from Prague our Viking host helped us with our boarding passes and luggage and guided us all the way to the security line. It was first class service.

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We have air at a very, very reasonable price.

Was your very, very special price part of a "deal" from Viking? That may make a difference. We've used Viking's Air Plus before, but when we did a "free air" cruise deal (actually $200 air since Nashville is't a gateway), they wouldn't let us have any input on the air. It was take what they give you with no options. We happened to get good connections (Nashville-Atlanta-Amsterdam-Detroit-Nashville). Others have reported connections that weren't so good. So like others, I highly recommend the Viking Air Plus if it's available.

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For those who have used Viking Air ... can you deviate your arrival date/airport. We have a R/T cruise out of Venice before our river cruise out of Budapest ... this would be about three weeks prior to our river cruise departure. We would obviously prefer to arrive in Venice (or at least Rome) so that we don't have to travel between Budapest/Venice twice. In this scenario, we would then make our way to Budapest on our own.

This is where a good travel agent comes in handy.

Yes, you can deviate your air. You can change your arrival or departure city, your arrival or departure date. A deviation costs $100 per person, for either end you wish to deviate.

As also mentioned, you can work with Viking Air to "customize" your air, having a say in your routing, this charge is $50 per person.

All money well spent.

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This is where a good travel agent comes in handy.

Yes, you can deviate your air. You can change your arrival or departure city, your arrival or departure date. A deviation costs $100 per person, for either end you wish to deviate.

As also mentioned, you can work with Viking Air to "customize" your air, having a say in your routing, this charge is $50 per person.

All money well spent.

 

Agreed, money well spent if their routing works for us. I was just curious if anyone had done this as we would be arriving in Europe about four weeks prior to our river cruise. I’ll look into it further.

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Agreed, money well spent if their routing works for us. I was just curious if anyone had done this as we would be arriving in Europe about four weeks prior to our river cruise. I’ll look into it further.

 

If you do deviate from the 'normal' arrival & departure days you do need to arrange your own transfers to/from the ship.

 

Not a big deal in my opinion, just something to be aware of, so make sure you know where the ship will be and do check on the day to make sure it is where it was expected to be :)

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I was not impressed on the ticketing by Viking. We had three flights in each direction, and a five hour plus layover on the way to Amsterdam. I was jealous of passengers that had direct flights or single stops with a far shorter total trip time. We paid extra for premium economy, but were not allowed to pick our seats on the United portion.

 

 

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If you do deviate from the 'normal' arrival & departure days you do need to arrange your own transfers to/from the ship.

 

Not a big deal in my opinion, just something to be aware of, so make sure you know where the ship will be and do check on the day to make sure it is where it was expected to be :)

Thanks ... we always arrive earlier than the cruise embarkation and leave later, so we are used to getting ourselves to the boat/ship. Like you said it's not a big deal. ;-)

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I was not impressed on the ticketing by Viking. We had three flights in each direction, and a five hour plus layover on the way to Amsterdam. I was jealous of passengers that had direct flights or single stops with a far shorter total trip time. We paid extra for premium economy, but were not allowed to pick our seats on the United portion.

 

 

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Thanks for your experience. Too many connections won't be acceptable, so we would pay the deviation for sure.

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Thanks for your experience. Too many connections won't be acceptable, so we would pay the deviation for sure.

 

Figure out which flights you want and the price to book direct with the airline before you call the cruise line -- you may find that it's cheaper to book direct. That's what happened to us for our Viking Ocean cruise next summer.

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Figure out which flights you want and the price to book direct with the airline before you call the cruise line -- you may find that it's cheaper to book direct. That's what happened to us for our Viking Ocean cruise next summer.

 

That’s what we will be doing. The only reason to consider booking with Viking from our perspective is the included airfare ... for which there is no credit for not using. So, we’ll see how it all works out.

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There are 2 different kinds of extra charges you pay if you book your air with one of Viking’s air deals. Viking Air Plus is $50pp and it gives you flexibility to choose your own flights, times, routes, connections. I always select a few different options before I contact them. They will work with you to get the flights you want, but keep in mind that if the flight you want is on a line they don’t have an agreement with, there may be additional charges. You do have to be somewhat flexible.

 

We originally wanted United out of Newark to Amsterdam for our Rhine Getaway. There was an extra charge because United was not one of the airlines they had a relationship with. We paid the extra over the $50pp charge for Viking Air Plus. We talked it over the next day and decided to upgrade to business/first. I called back and the rate for United was crazy. The Viking rep said they could put us on Delta for the original upgrade price they had quoted when we discussed the possibility to upgrade the day prior.

 

We decided to go with Delta. They booked and ticketed us so we could pick the seats. The return flight had a connection in Paris with not a lot of time. I did some checking and found a direct non-stop flight from Zurich (we did the Lucerne extension) to JFK. Not our preference, but worth the direct flight. We were very satisfied with the flights all around

 

The other fee you may have to pay is a deviation fee. Viking’s standard is to fly you in the day your cruise starts and out the day the cruise ends unless you book an extension through them. If you deviate from that schedule to spend more time on either end on your own, you will incur this charge. It’s usually $100 pp but can be more depending on different circumstances.

 

Also keep in mind that if you do a deviation on your own, you also do not get transfers from the airport to the hotel, nor from the hotel to the ship. You are on your own.

 

You have to consider all the options and choose what works for you.

 

 

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Kath, very well explained.

 

We just paid the $50 to get new flights with longer layover times for our trip next year. We fly from Raleigh to Atlanta to Rome to Cairo. 😕. The original flights had us going through JFK and only 1.5 hours time between flights at JFK and Rome. This new route gives us 3 hours. Well worth the extra $100 total.

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There are 2 different kinds of extra charges you pay if you book your air with one of Viking’s air deals. Viking Air Plus is $50pp and it gives you flexibility to choose your own flights, times, routes, connections. I always select a few different options before I contact them. They will work with you to get the flights you want, but keep in mind that if the flight you want is on a line they don’t have an agreement with, there may be additional charges. You do have to be somewhat flexible.

 

We originally wanted United out of Newark to Amsterdam for our Rhine Getaway. There was an extra charge because United was not one of the airlines they had a relationship with. We paid the extra over the $50pp charge for Viking Air Plus. We talked it over the next day and decided to upgrade to business/first. I called back and the rate for United was crazy. The Viking rep said they could put us on Delta for the original upgrade price they had quoted when we discussed the possibility to upgrade the day prior.

 

We decided to go with Delta. They booked and ticketed us so we could pick the seats. The return flight had a connection in Paris with not a lot of time. I did some checking and found a direct non-stop flight from Zurich (we did the Lucerne extension) to JFK. Not our preference, but worth the direct flight. We were very satisfied with the flights all around

 

The other fee you may have to pay is a deviation fee. Viking’s standard is to fly you in the day your cruise starts and out the day the cruise ends unless you book an extension through them. If you deviate from that schedule to spend more time on either end on your own, you will incur this charge. It’s usually $100 pp but can be more depending on different circumstances.

 

Also keep in mind that if you do a deviation on your own, you also do not get transfers from the airport to the hotel, nor from the hotel to the ship. You are on your own.

 

You have to consider all the options and choose what works for you.

 

 

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Thanks for the excellent explanation. I will also need the consider, in our case, a one way return as we will remain in Europe/Turkey for a couple of months post cruise ... this is assuming the deviation fee does not cover a ticket that far out.

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Thanks for the excellent explanation. I will also need the consider, in our case, a one way return as we will remain in Europe/Turkey for a couple of months post cruise ... this is assuming the deviation fee does not cover a ticket that far out.

 

You should definitely ask to see if they can do just what you want. It never hurts to ask.

 

 

We just booked flights yesterday. Our cruise ends in Amsterdam and we are doing a stop over in Rome on the way back. It's only 8 days (not a couple of months) but it was no problem at all. There was a "stop over" fee but no additional cost for the flights (our cruise included air). The stop over fee was less than it would have cost us to fly to Rome on our own.

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You should definitely ask to see if they can do just what you want. It never hurts to ask.

 

 

We just booked flights yesterday. Our cruise ends in Amsterdam and we are doing a stop over in Rome on the way back. It's only 8 days (not a couple of months) but it was no problem at all. There was a "stop over" fee but no additional cost for the flights (our cruise included air). The stop over fee was less than it would have cost us to fly to Rome on our own.

 

Speaking to Viking today, I was told we can tack on 30 days before and after the cruise. So, the return definitely won't work, and the arrival may be iffy since we might be exceeding 30 days at the front end as well. The research continues. Would love to hear back from anyone who added more than 30 days pre-cruise and managed to get the US to Europe flights through Viking Air (included air promo)

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Figure out which flights you want and the price to book direct with the airline before you call the cruise line -- you may find that it's cheaper to book direct. That's what happened to us for our Viking Ocean cruise next summer.

 

I would add to that looking at bundles. Since OP will be there for weeks before the cruise they may get a better overall deal by bundling the flight and hotel. I did this for an upcoming cruise out of Rome and got specific Lufthansa flights and the specific hotel I wanted for my pre-cruise stay for less than just the plane tickets would have cost booking directly the exact same flights with Luftansa. The big multi headed online booking agency that owns several of the best known booking sites has a ton of flexibility in its bundling options.

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First do your research, get the flights you want then call Viking air pay $50 pp, tell them the flights you want and they will work with you, even tell them where you want to sit. We usually do our own air as we go early on our own and add days at the end but the one time we used them for Portugal we got the flights and seats we wanted. Enjoy

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We are booked on a Viking 14 day cruise that leaves on June 24, 2018 which includes air. I emailed my travel agent on Friday asking if we could get our flights ticketed (paid the $50 for Air Plus) and it's done. Very good route on KLM from Budapest through Amsterdam, I went in today and picked our seats. So far, so good.

 

 

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We have 2 upcoming cruises with Viking, and the one we did last year, that I spoke of in my previous post. I now have more experience with Viking Air to speak of [emoji16]

 

Accidentally hit send before I was done. I hate when that happens!

 

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by an errant finger 🤪 ...

 

One of our upcoming cruises is on Viking Ocean - West Indies Explorer. The air with Viking was listed as $45 pp NY to San Juan. Lovely! But Air Plus was not available (I was told) because it was a domestic flight. I have heard from others doing this cruise that they WERE able to do Air Plus - so your mileage may vary [emoji849]

 

Anyway, I did my research and found very good flights on Delta. $1397 for the 2 of us in Delta Comfort going down and Delta One on the return.

 

I called Viking to cancel our $45 air. The rep I spoke with told me I would get back the $45 pp, plus the $100 pp deviation fee (we were flying in a day ahead) - this I expected, but then she asked me to hold on while she checked something. She came back on to tell me that she was also giving us an air allowance credit. We ended up getting a total of $697 back.

 

Now, Viking will tell you that you don’t get any credit for not using their included air, but now that I know this I will be persistent in the future if I decide to go it on our own. Word to the wise.

 

Now, we just this past couple of days made our final payment for our upcoming Grand European river cruise, so we insisted on getting the air arrangements done. Once you have made the final payment, you can request ticketing. You do not have to wait until that final 90 days out - which is what happens if you don’t ask.

 

So we paid for the $50 pp for Air Plus, and I had picked out flights I wanted, and I also looked at options in case there was an issue with my first choice.

 

Keep in mind that this “deal” included “free” air. We knew we wanted to fly in business/first from the initial booking, so they charged us $3000 pp for the RT flight upgrade. Reasonable when you look at the price of those flights.

 

We never seem to have enough points accumulated anywhere to use for upgrades. I don’t know how people always manage that.

 

So, for this trip we are using a TA. She called Viking with all our options in mind. We picked out a Delta flight to Amsterdam from JFK with a connecting KLM flight from Amsterdam to Budapest. That initial flight was sold out for business/first, but we are on the flight before it - which is a code share Delta operated by KLM. Not my first choice but acceptable.

 

I thought that would be the tricky part, and the easy part would be a nonstop, direct flight home from Amsterdam. Wrong. Oddly enough Viking wanted to fly us on Lufthansa from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and from there home to JFK. Okay, that’s officially nuts!

 

Our TA said we could do a direct flight from Amsterdam on KLM for an additional $847. Also crazy. DH and I talked it over and decided the extra cost for the direct flight was worth it. The other option was Air Canada through Toronto. No thanks.

 

Our TA called back and spoke with a different rep, who told her it would be $175 pp more NOT $847! Big difference!

 

So the moral of this long story is:

A) Do your homework and be prepared

B) Be persistent. If you don’t like the answer call back

 

I don’t know why the phone reps aren’t consistent. My TA assures me that this is the case with other lines as well - and I have heard this from others also.

 

Everything is negotiable - especially when you are spending this kind of money. But you have to be armed with all the information you can muster.

 

Here’s another hint - that early payment deadline... also negotiable [emoji41]

 

Have fun! Hope my tale helps someone get what they want!

 

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Excellent information ... I will call back and speak to someone else and see if we can get air credit for the included air.

 

We have 2 upcoming cruises with Viking, and the one we did last year, that I spoke of in my previous post. I now have more experience with Viking Air to speak of [emoji16]

 

Accidentally hit send before I was done. I hate when that happens!

 

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by an errant finger 🤪 ...

 

One of our upcoming cruises is on Viking Ocean - West Indies Explorer. The air with Viking was listed as $45 pp NY to San Juan. Lovely! But Air Plus was not available (I was told) because it was a domestic flight. I have heard from others doing this cruise that they WERE able to do Air Plus - so your mileage may vary [emoji849]

 

Anyway, I did my research and found very good flights on Delta. $1397 for the 2 of us in Delta Comfort going down and Delta One on the return.

 

I called Viking to cancel our $45 air. The rep I spoke with told me I would get back the $45 pp, plus the $100 pp deviation fee (we were flying in a day ahead) - this I expected, but then she asked me to hold on while she checked something. She came back on to tell me that she was also giving us an air allowance credit. We ended up getting a total of $697 back.

 

Now, Viking will tell you that you don’t get any credit for not using their included air, but now that I know this I will be persistent in the future if I decide to go it on our own. Word to the wise.

 

Now, we just this past couple of days made our final payment for our upcoming Grand European river cruise, so we insisted on getting the air arrangements done. Once you have made the final payment, you can request ticketing. You do not have to wait until that final 90 days out - which is what happens if you don’t ask.

 

So we paid for the $50 pp for Air Plus, and I had picked out flights I wanted, and I also looked at options in case there was an issue with my first choice.

 

Keep in mind that this “deal” included “free” air. We knew we wanted to fly in business/first from the initial booking, so they charged us $3000 pp for the RT flight upgrade. Reasonable when you look at the price of those flights.

 

We never seem to have enough points accumulated anywhere to use for upgrades. I don’t know how people always manage that.

 

So, for this trip we are using a TA. She called Viking with all our options in mind. We picked out a Delta flight to Amsterdam from JFK with a connecting KLM flight from Amsterdam to Budapest. That initial flight was sold out for business/first, but we are on the flight before it - which is a code share Delta operated by KLM. Not my first choice but acceptable.

 

I thought that would be the tricky part, and the easy part would be a nonstop, direct flight home from Amsterdam. Wrong. Oddly enough Viking wanted to fly us on Lufthansa from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and from there home to JFK. Okay, that’s officially nuts!

 

Our TA said we could do a direct flight from Amsterdam on KLM for an additional $847. Also crazy. DH and I talked it over and decided the extra cost for the direct flight was worth it. The other option was Air Canada through Toronto. No thanks.

 

Our TA called back and spoke with a different rep, who told her it would be $175 pp more NOT $847! Big difference!

 

So the moral of this long story is:

A) Do your homework and be prepared

B) Be persistent. If you don’t like the answer call back

 

I don’t know why the phone reps aren’t consistent. My TA assures me that this is the case with other lines as well - and I have heard this from others also.

 

Everything is negotiable - especially when you are spending this kind of money. But you have to be armed with all the information you can muster.

 

Here’s another hint - that early payment deadline... also negotiable [emoji41]

 

Have fun! Hope my tale helps someone get what they want!

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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