What's the Advantage of Using Choice Air?

...because it doesn't appear to be lower cost. I've searched flights for an upcoming cruise on Equinox in March and the fares are the same as what I could get going directly through the airline (delta). So is the only benefit that they will wait for you if your flight is delayed? Or is that even a benefit?

Thank you!

If you're ship is departing from a European port, then you save a bundle on business class...if you're flying domestically, you'll probably do better on your own. Biggest perk for using choice air domestic would be guarantee if flight is delayed or cancelled.For foreign travel you'll do better with Choice Air if you fly business or economy plus than booking with the airline (usually)....a lot depends on where you're flying to and from as to what your options are. I fly from JFK and have many options....someone flying from a smaller town and needing to fly from a local airport to a major one might not.

...because it doesn't appear to be lower cost. I've searched flights for an upcoming cruise on Equinox in March and the fares are the same as what I could get going directly through the airline (delta). So is the only benefit that they will wait for you if your flight is delayed? Or is that even a benefit?

 

Thank you!

They have excellent prices for one-way international flights. For purely domestic flights, no price advantage.

For domestic flights in the US, we book direct with our airline of choice.

Internationally in 2014, we booked through Choice Air. It meant that if the ship changed embarkation or debarkation points, we would be covered by the cruise line for changing the airfare. Since we were sailing from Venice to Istanbul, and it was a potential concern. At the time, there were no issues in Istanbul and we enjoyed our time there, but there were already issues at the southern boarder of Turkey. If Celebrity had decided shortly before the cruise that they wanted to skip Istanbul and sail back to somewhere in Greece to end the cruise, it was supposed to be on them to move our flights since we had booked through Choice Air.

The prices/flights were the same or within $10 per person for booking direct (based on what I found on Google Flights) and booking through Choice Air.

If you are doing a Trans-Atlantic, the one way flights through Choice Air are generally a better price than direct.

We were scheduled to sail on the Reflection in June 2015......Flight delays (missed our connecting flight in Washington)....Re-routed to Munich & on to Rome.....We were 8 hours late.....but because we booked "Choice Air"......We missed the tour we were scheduled to take on Rome....Celebrity reps met us at the airport in Rome.....It was 4 PM.....Ship was scheduled to sail at 5PM....Celebrity got us a "crazy" Italian limo driver.....drove over 90 mph......We arrived at the ship.....TEN MINUTES LATE....but the Captain WAITED for us......We told this story many times, but we really felt like "WE WERE CELEBRITIES ON CELEBRITY!"

I recently booked a one way home from Dublin, Ireland in April for about 1/2 the price.

We were scheduled to sail on the Reflection in June 2015......Flight delays (missed our connecting flight in Washington)....Re-routed to Munich & on to Rome.....We were 8 hours late.....but because we booked "Choice Air"......We missed the tour we were scheduled to take on Rome....Celebrity reps met us at the airport in Rome.....It was 4 PM.....Ship was scheduled to sail at 5PM....Celebrity got us a "crazy" Italian limo driver.....drove over 90 mph......We arrived at the ship.....TEN MINUTES LATE....but the Captain WAITED for us......We told this story many times, but we really felt like "WE WERE CELEBRITIES ON CELEBRITY!"

WOW! Great story. Thanks for sharing. I appreciate all the comments. Guess my next international cruise we'll investigate Choice Air! Wish I had known a couple years on our Med. cruise out of Barcelona...

We were scheduled to sail on the Reflection in June 2015......Flight delays (missed our connecting flight in Washington)....Re-routed to Munich & on to Rome.....We were 8 hours late.....but because we booked "Choice Air"......We missed the tour we were scheduled to take on Rome....Celebrity reps met us at the airport in Rome.....It was 4 PM.....Ship was scheduled to sail at 5PM....Celebrity got us a "crazy" Italian limo driver.....drove over 90 mph......We arrived at the ship.....TEN MINUTES LATE....but the Captain WAITED for us......We told this story many times, but we really felt like "WE WERE CELEBRITIES ON CELEBRITY!"

Nice to hear a success story!

We're planning on a TA in 2020. We'll likely use Flights by Celebrity (Choice Air) for the convenience if nothing else.

From our experience, choice air will offer a stop over routing, if it is cheaper. To get them to offer a direct non stop flight is an up charge and then it is not necessarily the least expensive way to go.

One-way international is the best deal with them. We came back to Vancouver from Tokyo in November for $315/each!

As others have noted, no real price break when flying domestically but they do guarantee to get you to the ship (maybe a day later) if your flight is delayed. Another benefit is that if you are purchasing Celebrity's insurance, you simply need to pay for the insurance before you book your flight and the flight is also insured for medical or death if you need to cancel prior to the cruise. The savings is that you don't pay any extra on the premium for the insurance.

It can add an extra layer of hassles to book the air through Choice Air. I've used it a couple of times and didn't really have an easy go of it on the booking end either time. The flights ended up being fine but the airlines consider Choice Air a travel agent so don't tend to help if there is an issue. Choice Air really doesn't help much if there is an issue. If I was purchasing my travel insurance outside of Celebrity and flying domestic, I would simply go directly through the airlines to book the air.

As others have noted, no real price break when flying domestically but they do guarantee to get you to the ship (maybe a day later) if your flight is delayed. Another benefit is that if you are purchasing Celebrity's insurance, you simply need to pay for the insurance before you book your flight and the flight is also insured for medical or death if you need to cancel prior to the cruise. The savings is that you don't pay any extra on the premium for the insurance.

It can add an extra layer of hassles to book the air through Choice Air. I've used it a couple of times and didn't really have an easy go of it on the booking end either time. The flights ended up being fine but the airlines consider Choice Air a travel agent so don't tend to help if there is an issue. Choice Air really doesn't help much if there is an issue. If I was purchasing my travel insurance outside of Celebrity and flying domestic, I would simply go directly through the airlines to book the air.

That's interesting....I've used Choice Air 3x so far: 2 on KLM and 1 on Virgin Atlantic ... and numerous times on Lufthansa when river cruising....I've never had a problem and I've always been treated as a full paying customer. One thing I do as soon after I've booked with an airline for the first time is join their frequent flyer club...I will say they treat members a little differently, but the only time I had a problem was on Lufthansa when the cabin attendants went on strike without warning and we missed our connection from Frankfurt to JFK....they treated us like royalty putting us up in a beautiful hotel, paying for dinner and b'fast in the hotel restaurant and flying us out the next day. They even paid for 1 hour of internet service so I could notify people at home of the change in our arrival.

...because it doesn't appear to be lower cost. I've searched flights for an upcoming cruise on Equinox in March and the fares are the same as what I could get going directly through the airline (delta). So is the only benefit that they will wait for you if your flight is delayed? Or is that even a benefit?

 

 

 

Thank you!

A few days ago I booked a one way DTW to Barcelona for about 20% of the airline’s price as listed on their website. Premium Economy which translates to nice seats on Delta. On the other hand, I looked at a one way from EZE to DTW and Choice was about the same price as the airlines. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it just don’t matter.

Stan

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Last year I tried to use Choice Air to Amsterdam round trip and it was actually substantially higher for the identical flights than either KLM or Delta.

There could also be issues with fare classes. When booking Cruise Air you may, or may not, be able to determine your ticket code. This could affect your ability to select seats even on a domestic ticket. This is akin to a consolidator/travel agent and when something goes awry your best bet is always book with the air carrier(s) of your choice.

For more information research cruise air programs on the CRUISE AIR sub forum on Cruise Critic.

We do a lot of cruising (often over 100 days a year) and will usually check the cruise line's air deals. It has been more than 20 years since we used domestic (USA) cruise air as we can usually book direct, get the exact flights we want, and either pay the same price or something close. But on International flights the cruise lines sometimes have terrific deals...especially if booking premium economy or business class.. There is no harm in looking at all the options.

Hank

My two friends and I were all planning to fly out of different airports for our cruise out of Rome in August, but in looking at the choice air pricing options, we discovered a deal out of Seattle for almost half of what I was seeing through the airlines directly. Portland wasn't seeing the same sort of discounts. So I would definitely assume the deals can be hit and miss.

I tried to book flights for SAN - AMS on Delta through Flights by Celebrity (Choice Air) - business class to Amsterdam and Comfort+ on the return. Flights by Celebrity pricing was higher than Delta's and the explanation given to me by the Flights by Celebrity rep made no sense whatsoever. Apparently their low price guarantee is meaningless.

From what I've read in posts here on CruiseCritic, the best deals seem to be on one way tickets and business class RT. In my case, RT in business class was too pricy so we chose the mixed class tickets as a good compromise and an easily accomplished purchase on the Delta website.

So is the only benefit that they will wait for you if your flight is delayed? Or is that even a benefit?

They don't promise to wait for you.

Biggest perk for using choice air domestic would be guarantee if flight is delayed or cancelled.

Choice Air doesn't actually GUARANTEE anything. If you read the fine print, it says things like "work with the airlines" and "make every reasonable effort." If you're delayed they might wait, or they might not. Probably depends on the length of the delay. If a flight delay or cancellation causes you to miss the ship, they'll try to get you to meet up with the ship at the next port but even that might be hit or miss, as it depends on flight availability etc. And as someone else mentioned above, you probably won't be able to see the full fare code and some flights they sell are highly restrictive in terms of rebooking options if there's a problem. Lots of people book through Choice Air and never have an issue and that's wonderful. Others have reported all manner of negative experiences, including complete lack of a response of any kind when a problem occurs. They can save you a bunch of money, just understand that there are risks that come with that saving. If you're ok with those risks, book away!

They don't promise to wait for you.

 

 

 

 

Choice Air doesn't actually GUARANTEE anything. If you read the fine print, it says things like "work with the airlines" and "make every reasonable effort." If you're delayed they might wait, or they might not. Probably depends on the length of the delay. If a flight delay or cancellation causes you to miss the ship, they'll try to get you to meet up with the ship at the next port but even that might be hit or miss, as it depends on flight availability etc. And as someone else mentioned above, you probably won't be able to see the full fare code and some flights they sell are highly restrictive in terms of rebooking options if there's a problem. Lots of people book through Choice Air and never have an issue and that's wonderful. Others have reported all manner of negative experiences, including complete lack of a response of any kind when a problem occurs. They can save you a bunch of money, just understand that there are risks that come with that saving. If you're ok with those risks, book away!

Yes, that may all be true but if major problems do occur you would be much better off having Choice Air on your side...The airline really couldn't care less about getting you to the ship (where ever it might be now)...vs Choice Air working on your behalf to get you to the ship.

The airline will obviously try their best to get you to your original destination, but they would just laugh at you if you told them you needed to actually get to a different airport to catch up with your ship!

I look at Choice Air really as just another online travel agent (just like any of the major booking sites)...I don't know why people can't figure that out. At least in the 3 times we have used them, we have got the EXACT flights we wanted before we contacted them. They didn't do anything except take my money and purchase the ticket. Almost instantaneously the tickets/booking were available on the airline website (Delta) for me to make changes (pick seats) that I needed.

I could have booked the flights with Choice Air, Delta, or any other online ticketing site and I would have gotten the exact same thing (with the added "benefits" of Choice Air potentially helping me if there was some day of travel problem)

They have excellent prices for one-way international flights. For purely domestic flights, no price advantage.

Agree, we have used Choice Air for one way flights where we were doing a transatlantic the other direction.

How tricky do they get with an itinerary? We are booked on Reflection at the end of June. It sails from/to Rome. We'd like to fly to Rome, but then stay on in Europe after the cruise and fly home from a different city. Would they do that?

How tricky do they get with an itinerary? We are booked on Reflection at the end of June. It sails from/to Rome. We'd like to fly to Rome, but then stay on in Europe after the cruise and fly home from a different city. Would they do that?

Yes. You can fly in weeks prior to a cruise or fly out weeks after a cruise. You can also fly to/from destinations far removed from the cruise ports.

They usually give you a GREAT MANY different flight options on different airlines and departure times. Check different dates as well, sometimes flights on earlier/later dates are less expensive enough to pay for a night or two in a hotel.

Recently flew from Tucson to Zurich for only $297.80 three days early for a cruise out of Rome.

Yes. You can fly in weeks prior to a cruise or fly out weeks after a cruise. You can also fly to/from destinations far removed from the cruise ports.

 

They usually give you a GREAT MANY different flight options on different airlines and departure times. Check different dates as well, sometimes flights on earlier/later dates are less expensive enough to pay for a night or two in a hotel.

 

Recently flew from Tucson to Zurich for only $297.80 three days early for a cruise out of Rome.

Thanks for the info!

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They were cheapest we could find for business class to Barcelona , bonus was Barcelona has a great free lounge for business and first with free wine , beer , drinks and food