Celebrity air - pros and cons

We've always booked our own air and cruise... like to be in control of it all. Just thought I'd see what air is like on Celebrity air site and found our trip San Diego to Amsterdam next summer to be $1500 cheaper per person than I can book myself. We fly business class (non-refundable) on major carriers only. This itinerary happens to be Delta with one KLM codeshare.

 

What am I missing here? Is the Celebrity air a different kind of non-refundable? It looks to be the exact same flights I can book online, although I cannot see the fare codes on the Celebrity air site.

 

What is the deal with seat selection? Do you just wait for your booking/locator number and go on the airline website and select seats?

 

If you've used Celebrity air (old Choice air?) and have experienced something that I should consider, please let me know. We travel quite a bit and have never had a bad experience or had to rebook... guess we've been very lucky... so I may not be aware of issues that can come up.

 

Thanks for any input!

We use Choice Air often, and yes the fares are substantially lower. Book through them, get your locator number, and them go to KLM's site and choose your seating.

I'm flying British Air (San Francisco - Rome next week, and my fare is $1600.00 R/T. And that is Business Class.

 

 

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We always use Choice Air for 1 way flights to/from Europe if we don't have miles we can use.

 

We are sailing out of Dublin next year & DH is using Delta miles for his flight & I booked mine with Choice Air; same flights and sitting next to each other.

On OW from Europe, the prices are significantly cheaper.

 

Last year returning from Dublin to Atlanta, Choice Air on Delta $295. Delta website (and others) $1350.

 

Now US domestic, not so much.

We're flying to Rome from JFK on Nov 1, choice air (Alitalia/air france) I have tried to pick seats ahead and no one will let me. Said I have to do it at check in:mad:

What am I missing?

Help. I like to have seats ahead of time........

Helaine

We got good deals on Delta too, half the price, was able to reserve our seats, and even got frequent flier miles at full rate. Had one KLM code share which I had to pay $5 for reserving seats ahead of time. It pays to check and at least with Delta seems to be virtually what you'd get booking direct.

We're flying to Rome from JFK on Nov 1, choice air (Alitalia/air france) I have tried to pick seats ahead and no one will let me. Said I have to do it at check in:mad:

What am I missing?

Help. I like to have seats ahead of time........

Helaine

 

Try this:

 

Go to the airline website with your reservation number. When you input your reservation # you often can pull up seat selection. Not sure about Air France but KLM charges you for a selected seat. No charge if you want to wait. On my upcoming Infinity cruise down the West Coast of So America, I am flying on KLM from Santiago to Buenos Aires. I had to pay like $10 for a reserved seat. I wanted a window seat in the back to hopefully take some pictures of the Andes Mountains. Normally I wouldn't care since the flight is just over 1 hour. .

We're flying to Rome from JFK on Nov 1, choice air (Alitalia/air france) I have tried to pick seats ahead and no one will let me. Said I have to do it at check in:mad:

What am I missing?

Help. I like to have seats ahead of time........

Helaine

 

We are flying on Alitalia next week on flights we booked through ChoiceAir. We were able to get seats assigned by calling Alitalia. We tried to do it online, but were unable to.

We use Choice Air often, and yes the fares are substantially lower. Book through them, get your locator number, and them go to KLM's site and choose your seating.

I'm flying British Air (San Francisco - Rome next week, and my fare is $1600.00 R/T. And that is Business Class.

 

 

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What a great price! My DH and I are traveling from Reno to Rome and then Milan to Reno next April/May. Our seats in business/first class using American were almost $6000 round trip for two! Honestly, we also wanted to have certain flights, but the others were not much cheaper...I had been looking for ever for these flights. Last year one way was just 1200 per person on American. So, I guess if I look over the years it does even out??? i have heard that airline seats will be going up substantially over the next few years.

What a great price! My DH and I are traveling from Reno to Rome and then Milan to Reno next April/May. Our seats in business/first class using American were almost $6000 round trip for two! Honestly, we also wanted to have certain flights, but the others were not much cheaper...I had been looking for ever for these flights. Last year one way was just 1200 per person on American. So, I guess if I look over the years it does even out??? i have heard that airline seats will be going up substantially over the next few years.

 

 

 

I always look at the airline's site first, to choose which flight I want. Then I'll go onto Choice Air's site and book.

 

Basically, Choice Air is a consolidator, and it's amazing how much lower their fare are.

 

 

 

 

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I always look at the airline's site first, to choose which flight I want. Then I'll go onto Choice Air's site and book.

 

Basically, Choice Air is a consolidator, and it's amazing how much lower their fare are.

 

 

 

 

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Sorry, this was using Choice Air! I know, amazing! I keep checking and they have been more, but never less!

 

 

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What am I missing here? Is the Celebrity air a different kind of non-refundable? It looks to be the exact same flights I can book online, although I cannot see the fare codes on the Celebrity air site.

 

 

As Karynanne posted, what you're seeing in this case with Choice Air are negotiated, consolidator fares that may have different rules, such as restrictions on rerouting in the event of a cancellation or flight delay requiring a change of flights. The overwhelming majority of time the flight goes off without a hitch, but just know that you may be governed by a different set of fare rules than someone else sitting across the aisle from you in the unlikely event of a flight cancellation, etc.

 

For example, let's say the rules of your consolidated fare stipulate your routing must remain as ticketed (SAN-ATL-AMS). Your flight from SAN to ATL gets cancelled. Delta is able to reaccommodate those on non-consolidator tickets on a flight connection via JFK (instead of ATL). But in your case, the rules of your ticket cannot deviate from a connection in ATL and the next flight to AMS via ATL isn't leaving until the following day. So in this hypothetical case, you're delayed by a day due to the rules of your consolidator fare.

 

We used Choice Air a few months ago from Amsterdam to SF in business class on KLM for a mere $855 (one way). Everything went off just fine - no issues, delays or flight cancellations. But we were prepared for delays and inconveniences due to the type of tickets we held in the event things went south!

Just an added note, if you call ChoiceAir, they can sometimes do even better than what you see on the website. I've gotten some amazing deals calling them directly. One trip to Rome, they routed me in first from Orlando to Dulles, then business to Rome on United for just over $900. Never showed on the site. I've called ever since. They did another great job on an upcoming Rome flight. Got it cheaper than the website.

We got good deals on Delta too, half the price, was able to reserve our seats, and even got frequent flier miles at full rate. Had one KLM code share which I had to pay $5 for reserving seats ahead of time. It pays to check and at least with Delta seems to be virtually what you'd get booking direct.

 

Decided to go ahead and get the Celebrity air... $3000 was too much of a difference to pass up. Also able to book seats free of charge on our one KLM flight. Identical fare class to what I would get on Delta website. Thanks for the encouragement!

As Karynanne posted, what you're seeing in this case with Choice Air are negotiated, consolidator fares that may have different rules, such as restrictions on rerouting in the event of a cancellation or flight delay requiring a change of flights. The overwhelming majority of time the flight goes off without a hitch, but just know that you may be governed by a different set of fare rules than someone else sitting across the aisle from you in the unlikely event of a flight cancellation, etc.

 

For example, let's say the rules of your consolidated fare stipulate your routing must remain as ticketed (SAN-ATL-AMS). Your flight from SAN to ATL gets cancelled. Delta is able to reaccommodate those on non-consolidator tickets on a flight connection via JFK (instead of ATL). But in your case, the rules of your ticket cannot deviate from a connection in ATL and the next flight to AMS via ATL isn't leaving until the following day. So in this hypothetical case, you're delayed by a day due to the rules of your consolidator fare.

 

We used Choice Air a few months ago from Amsterdam to SF in business class on KLM for a mere $855 (one way). Everything went off just fine - no issues, delays or flight cancellations. But we were prepared for delays and inconveniences due to the type of tickets we held in the event things went south!

 

Thanks! Yes, we are always aware of change issues since we buy non-refundable Business class tickets, sometimes with lots of restrictions. It's nice to be retired and not have a pressing reason to get home. Always fly in 1-2 days before as well.

Just an added note, if you call ChoiceAir, they can sometimes do even better than what you see on the website. I've gotten some amazing deals calling them directly. One trip to Rome, they routed me in first from Orlando to Dulles, then business to Rome on United for just over $900. Never showed on the site. I've called ever since. They did another great job on an upcoming Rome flight. Got it cheaper than the website.

 

 

 

I have even called CA with the flights I wanted and they could do 200 cheaper, but the flight times were awful; my point being that one way international is the best and it is always good to watch the fares/ call and then give it your best shot. If you get a CA Supervisor, they are better at getting those cheaper fares, but not last time for round trip, but out of a different city on the return...next TA and the prices should be so much better!

 

Glad you got a great deal...time of year seems to be much better. Our cruise in April/May in Europe was a fantastic price for a suite, but then we are going to Cinque Terre for 6 nights and flying back from Milan instead of Rome!!!

 

 

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We sailed on the 9/4 Equinox cruise out of Miami. I was going to use miles but the Choice Air price EWR to MIA was $212 R/T non-stop via United. Why waste my United miles when Celebrity Choice Air offers a deal like that. On past cruises we have also let Celebrity choose the air route. Always seems to be a better price.

You are so lucky. I just wish they would offer Choice Air for UK customers.

 

 

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How far in advance would you book fares? I'm on a Western Med cruise on Reflection out of Rome on May 28, 2018

 

- Joel

How far in advance would you book fares? I'm on a Western Med cruise on Reflection out of Rome on May 28, 2018

 

 

 

- Joel

 

 

 

Our cruise is August, 2018. We started watching fares online months before they became available for our dates. Saving 1500 per person was pretty nice!

 

 

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We are flying on Alitalia next week on flights we booked through ChoiceAir. We were able to get seats assigned by calling Alitalia. We tried to do it online, but were unable to.

I did call and they said "no". at check in only.

I'll try again. Maybe I'll get someone else who will do it....

Thanks

Helaine

I just booked Choice Air in Business for our Eclipse sailing in July and was able to call them and book one way on each leg since we are going to fly to Salt Lake City to London pre-cruise and then take the train to catch the ship in Amsterdam. We will fly home from AMS. The price was $1,000 less overall and by pricing it as one ways it was $500 less the Choice Air's round trip price. Both flights are nonstop It pays to look at all ways of booking. I did have to call them directly to book it this way.

 

Kathy

I'm reading this with interest. We have always booked our own air - usually with a combination of shopping around for a good deal and using airmiles. However we have a cruise booked in the future on Connie and am still a little concerned about the rumours about her sale. On that basis we feel safer booking flights with Celebrity. However, am I right in thinking that we don't get the opportunity to book Choiceair in the UK. Perhaps some UK folks could chime in

I did call and they said "no". at check in only.

I'll try again. Maybe I'll get someone else who will do it....

Thanks

Helaine

 

Hopefully when you call back you will be able to get someone to assign you seats. We have been booked twice with Alitalia (once by ChoiceAir, and once by Travelocity) and we were able to call Alitalia and get coach seats assigned both times.

I just booked Choice Air in Business for our Eclipse sailing in July and was able to call them and book one way on each leg since we are going to fly to Salt Lake City to London pre-cruise and then take the train to catch the ship in Amsterdam. We will fly home from AMS. The price was $1,000 less overall and by pricing it as one ways it was $500 less the Choice Air's round trip price. Both flights are nonstop It pays to look at all ways of booking. I did have to call them directly to book it this way.

 

 

 

Kathy

 

 

 

You were very lucky with that! I spoke with a supervisor and was told that was not allowed. It always amazes me how one can and one can’t do the same thing. Although, our savings would not have been that much!

Since we have to fly out of Reno, it is always more expensive.

 

••••••Can anyone share with me how business class with KLM differs from our home carriers in the US?••••

 

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