Choice Air is HORRIBLE- HELP!!!!

[StrongMinded1]

I made the biggest mistake booking my air through Royal Caribbean's "Partner", Choice Air. I purchased assigned seats for my party of 8 on a 6:40 am flight back on 3/7/2011. The carrier changed the flight time to 7:30 am but since the flight didn't change, I had the same assigned seats. On June 5th, Choice Air took me off my 7:30 am flight with NO reason, DID not notify me and then TWO days later, put us on a 9:00 am flight. Royal Caribbean called me and said the CARRIER made the flight change but after spending 4 hours on the phone yesterday with the carrier and Choice Air, I found out the change was voluntary by my agent, Choice Air.

BOTTOM LINE- CHOICE AIR makes it completely THEIR choice to do what they please with the flights that YOU paid for. You have no control over your own reservation and now I will be subjected to who knows how many more changes they feel like making until my cruise departs on August 27th, 2011. This is THE WORST agent you can deal with. And to add insult to injury, Royal Caribbean takes absolutely no responsibility for their "PARTNER". It's disgusting and obscene. My next stop is a complaint with the BBB. Royal Caribbean should be ashamed of themselves, partnering with Choice Air. Choice Air's customer service is horrible and their agents are untrained. Save yourself the aggravation AND added cost and book your own flights- it's the only way to guarantee you get the flights and seats you paid for.

I'm posting this to get feedback from others as well as to warn others about the pitfalls of using CHOICE AIR.

[wolfcathorse]

When I book with AirTran or Delta they always change my schedule. Last year there were 4 departure changes for one of my pre-cruise flights. I was getting worried I'd miss the ship! So changes are not uncommon for reservations no matter if you book with an agent or with the airline directly.

[firstplacechef]

AA changed my depature time, twice and made it too close for comfort for me to get to the ship, bottom line they charged me to change to an earlier flight because I had a no change ticket. I complained for several days and to several different people and finally got back a voucher for the difference but I felt that since it was them changing the time and not me that I should not have had to pay the difference. Bottom line is I have to travel with them again, but it is covered.

[cruisenfever]

You can have this problem without using Choice Air and booking your own flights direct with any airline.

 

We have flights that we booked through Continental last December for this September to Honolulu. I can't begin to tell you how many changes we have had since then in regards to equipment and time. We found out about each change by going on the CO website and looking up our reservation number.

 

With every new change I had to go in and change our seats back to what we originally selected. With the merger between UA and CO, I know that there will be changes, so I check daily.

[negc]

Your situation sounds horrible but I think we need more information before we can properly assign the blame. Airlines are notorious for changing flight schedules with little or no advance notice. If Choice Air changed your flights because the new schedule would not get you to your departure port in time to make your cruise, there might be justification for their actions but I think they still should have advised you of the situation before acting. If the decision was completely arbitrary, they definitely owe you a full explanation and perhaps some compensation. Fortunately our experiences with Choice Air have all been wonderful and we have been able to get the flights of our choice at prices much lower than what we would have had to pay had we booked directly with the airline. :)

Edited June 13, 2011 by negc

[djandnic]

Sorry you found out the hard way, I will NEVER use cruise line (any cruise line) airfare program. The flights are always terrible and rarely ever direct flights.

 

The only time using the cruise line's airfare program is if you MUST fly in the same day as the cruise, as that is the only way they will hold the ship, or get you to the next port.

 

I want the ability to pick my flights and deal with any changes on my own. I always fly in at least a day ahead of time to have this freedom.

Edited June 13, 2011 by djandnic

[SevenSeas1492]

We always book our own air, and our flights are often changed by the carrier. Last year, Delta changed our flight from LAX to the east coast to a totally different plane and time and had us flying in to another airport to make a connection with a flight that would already be long gone after we landed! This I discovered when I just happened to go online and check the status of our flights. I made a quick phone call to Delta, and they acknowledged that this "probably wouldn't work," apologized, and re-booked us. My point, as others have stated, is this can happen no matter who arranges your flights.

[wantocruisemore]

I ALWAYS book my own air. Not only does it give me one less person to deal with but I usually get the same price. I also fly in at least a day ahead so hopefully no problems.

 

For our upcoming US Airways flight rd. trip to Rome they changed my domestic connections a couple of months after I made the reservation. When they did they notified me by phone and email and requested I verify back if this would work. When I called they said if I was uncomfortable with the reduced layover time I could take a later flight, no problems. They also automatically put us in the same seats. Funny, alot of people bash US Airways but (so far) they've been great. We take the flight in a couple of weeks so opinion may change.

 

I had heard some other horror stories about Choice Air, like multiple airlines used, very little connection time between flights etc.

[believer33323]

I feel better knowing that I am booked 3 days in advance of my cruise.

[wingnutphl]

Airlines always change times and flights according to how full the plane is. In this day and age, an airline will change to get the max number of passengers on a flight. They won't let a plane fly half full if they can help it.

 

Sorry to say if you wanted more control of your flights, you should have booked them on your own.

[negc]

I ALWAYS book my own air. Not only does it give me one less person to deal with but I usually get the same price. ...I had heard some other horror stories about Choice Air, like multiple airlines used, very little connection time between flights etc.

 

The use of multiple airlines and very little connection times shouldn't happen if Choice Air is used properly. You, not someone at Choice Air, choose the specific airlines and flights, so the only limitations should depend on which airlines offer service between your home airport and the airport nearest your departure port. If it requires using more than one airline or minimal connection times those are problems created by the airlines and not something that Choice Air had anything to do with. We always compare all our choices before decidiing how to book and more times than not Choice Air saves us a considerable amount. We, never, always use one method to book our flights. We choose the flight and pay the fare that best fits our schedule and our budget.

[bbbearden]

I made the biggest mistake booking my air through Royal Caribbean's "Partner", Choice Air. I purchased assigned seats for my party of 8 on a 6:40 am flight back on 3/7/2011. The carrier changed the flight time to 7:30 am but since the flight didn't change, I had the same assigned seats. On June 5th, Choice Air took me off my 7:30 am flight with NO reason, DID not notify me and then TWO days later, put us on a 9:00 am flight. Royal Caribbean called me and said the CARRIER made the flight change but after spending 4 hours on the phone yesterday with the carrier and Choice Air, I found out the change was voluntary by my agent, Choice Air.

BOTTOM LINE- CHOICE AIR makes it completely THEIR choice to do what they please with the flights that YOU paid for. You have no control over your own reservation and now I will be subjected to who knows how many more changes they feel like making until my cruise departs on August 27th, 2011. This is THE WORST agent you can deal with. And to add insult to injury, Royal Caribbean takes absolutely no responsibility for their "PARTNER". It's disgusting and obscene. My next stop is a complaint with the BBB. Royal Caribbean should be ashamed of themselves, partnering with Choice Air. Choice Air's customer service is horrible and their agents are untrained. Save yourself the aggravation AND added cost and book your own flights- it's the only way to guarantee you get the flights and seats you paid for.

I'm posting this to get feedback from others as well as to warn others about the pitfalls of using CHOICE AIR.

 

 

As many have stated, I NEVER book throught the cruise line because they give you no choice and no control. That is what happens when you book with them. Also, I fly often and want to earn my frequent flyer miles with my airline of choice, and know that as a good customer they will normally strive to give good service.

 

In the case of the OP I must be missing the issue. Is the new flight going to make you arrive late for the ship, or is it simply that you wanted to arrive earlier? If it is going to make you miss the ship, then you have an issue. Even with the cruise line air program, you have the choice of flying in a day early which is what I reccommend. Please give more details on exactly what it is that upsets you.

[negc]

As many have stated, I NEVER book throught the cruise line because they give you no choice and no control. That is what happens when you book with them. Also, I fly often and want to earn my frequent flyer miles with my airline of choice, and know that as a good customer they will normally strive to give good service.

With RCI's Choice Air you do choose the airline and the specific flight you want and you can still get your frequent flyer miles, and you can check your reservation on the airline's website and select your flights, so you either misunderstand or are misrepresenting what happens when you use Choice Air. For our upcoming one way flight to London, we used Choice Air, chose British Air and the morning flight that they offer from Boston and literally saved hundreds by not booking directly with BA.

[StrongMinded1]

Wow! Thanks so much to EVERYONE for all this feedback! It's very helpful.

To give a little more information as requested...

 

I know we are all subject to Airline changes. That is a given and I totally expect that. When they changed my 6:40 am to 7:30 am, it was no biggie.

 

What's upsetting is that a Royal rep called me to tell me about the change and said it was a carrier change, when Choice Air's Supervisor Camilla never called me back, I called United and then Continental and the Supervisor Joe Urvine in their Salt Lake UT customer service location advised me that the change from my 7:30 am flight to the 9:00 am flight was completely voluntary, BY MY AGENT, Choice Air. They track all changes to a flight and have the CHOICE AIR's computer's IOTTA number to prove the change was voluntary by them. What's more horrifying is there was a TWO DAY delay from when CHOICE AIR took me off the 7:30 am flight and put me on the 9:00 am flight. So now the 7:30 am flight is oversold and we can't be put back on it. I'm lucky I got on the 9:00 am flight considering I was in limbo for 2 days, at the complete mercy of whoever was pushing the buttons on the computers at CHOICE AIR.

 

I booked a 6:50 am flight because we are traveling in a group of 8 with age ranges from 5 year old to 73 year old and my mom who is handicapped (oxygen dependant). We can not push the envelope of arrival time because this group can not navigate anywhere very quickly. That's why I purchased the 6:50 am flight.

 

Has anyone had any success complaining directly to RCCL about the level of service they received from Choice Air? I don't know if that route is just a waste of my time. I absolutely learned my lesson on this one and am thankful for all the input.

[Stags14]

Always fly jetBlue and have not ever had an issue.

[critterchick]

Sorry you found out the hard way, I will NEVER use cruise line (any cruise line) airfare program. The flights are always terrible and rarely ever direct flights.

 

The only time using the cruise line's airfare program is if you MUST fly in the same day as the cruise, as that is the only way they will hold the ship, or get you to the next port.

 

I want the ability to pick my flights and deal with any changes on my own. I always fly in at least a day ahead of time to have this freedom.

 

As many have stated, I NEVER book throught the cruise line because they give you no choice and no control. That is what happens when you book with them. Also, I fly often and want to earn my frequent flyer miles with my airline of choice, and know that as a good customer they will normally strive to give good service.

 

Look again. RCI changed its air program last year (or 2009, can't recall which) and there's tremendous flexibility that was lacking before. As negc said, you can pick your flights and arrival dates (at least you can come in and leave a day early, not sure how long you can stretch it out). And I believe that you can earn FF miles on those flights, although I haven't tried it yet. I know that you can add your FF number to the reservation, so they'll still know who you are.

 

We've never booked air with the cruiselines because on domestic routes the price tends to be more than if we just book directly. But for international flights, especially open jaw ones, the Choice are price is sometimes less.

Edited June 13, 2011 by critterchick

[retiredonthesea]

We always bk our air with FF miles using what ever airlines gives us the best deal plus the schedule WE want--never fails something always gets changed before we actually fly out. This yr our flight got changed from arriving in Orlando at 1:30 PM to 4:30PM:eek:----this is why we always fly in at least one day early. Who knows by Oct.28th it may get changed back and forth many times over!!

 

When you deal with small airports that only has 3 or 4 different carriers we adjust:rolleyes:. Thank heavens once we get to main hub--Minneapolis or Denver things go just fine!

[FLACRUISER99]

Always fly jetBlue and have not ever had an issue.

Get ready you are probably due for one.:eek:

[StrongMinded1]

What I also want to share with everyone, because I never knew this and found out the hard way, is that what I've been told by United and Continental is that when you book air travel through an agent, the airline is not required to inform you (the paying passenger) when your agent makes a change to your booking. As Continental explained to me, "They own your record". That statement alone has solidified my resolve to NEVER BOOK MY AIR THRU AN AGENT EVER AGAIN. I'm the one paying for the flight and the Agent is allowed to make modifications without notifying me and the Airline has no obligation to even inform me when a "voluntary change" is made by my agent, supposedly on my behalf. I don't even have to right to lock the agent out of making additional changes on my booking, NOR can I lock the booking from being changed again.

Does anyone else see that there is something inherently wrong with this?

The Continental Rep said they have to "Assume the changes made are on behalf of the passenger".

Also, in the passenger rights (what they called the Contract of Carriage?), you are allowed to request a full refund for a flight has a time change greater than 4 hours. In other words, if you book a 6am and they change the flight's time to 10:01 am, they have to grant you a refund should you request it. In these same rights, the carrier is NOT limited to the number of times they make a flight change.

 

Back to my personal gripe: :mad:

RCCL has their own set of parameters stating what's the latest flight arrival time for flights they will allow you to travel in on. In other words, if they think I can arrive as late as 1:30 pm and still make the ship, Choice Air will not accomodate me wanting to arrive before noon out of "personal preference". They are abiding by the RCCL guidelines and that's that. This is where I'm talking customer service... I didn't ask RCCL or Choice Air what time they think I should arrive by... I purchased tickets on a flight that I felt comfortable being on. And I booked & paid for it 5 months in advance just to ensure I could get those flights... But none of that was or is being taken into consideration.

So I'm held hostage, literally, by Choice Air. It's a horrible feeling. :(

[Stags14]

Get ready you are probably due for one.:eek:

 

lol... I know I just jinx'd myself right? I fly out of NYC so there's several flights all day long - they don't typically make these types of delays out of NY. Unless of course you are flying into an unpopular area where there are only 1 or 2 flights/day. But there's a ton of flights that go down to FLL all day long.

 

So, aside from mechanical and weather - there aren't really many delays for this particular path. And in NY they typically have a reserve plane hanin around on break :p

[rbuenger]

This is yet one of MANY reasons I always book my own flights directly with the Airline AND I always travel, at a minimum, the day before my cruise. Flight times and equipment gets changed all the time by airlines, especially if you have booked 3+ Months before your trip

[bbbearden]

With RCI's Choice Air you do choose the airline and the specific flight you want and you can still get your frequent flyer miles, and you can check your reservation on the airline's website and select your flights, so you either misunderstand or are misrepresenting what happens when you use Choice Air. For our upcoming one way flight to London, we used Choice Air, chose British Air and the morning flight that they offer from Boston and literally saved hundreds by not booking directly with BA.

 

Your statement that I was misrepresenting something or failed to understand how the program works presumes things I did not say and is in fact rude. I simply stated why I do not like a third party involved between myself and the travel vendors I use. I am a frequent flyer and want control over my own destiny when dealing with the airline. Based upon the status I have earned, I am well treated and expect and receive good service that is responsive to my needs and concerns. Based upon the OP’s original post you can see what can happen when you allow someone between you and your preferred travel provider. That is all I stated. I do not use travel agents to book cruises for this exact same reason.

As to my second paragraph, I was simply asking what issues the OP actually had as I was unclear as to what they were. After hearing the concern about the large group and the age of some of the people traveling the concerns appear to be very valid.

To the OP, I understand your concerns and wish you the best of luck in sorting them out. I still believe you are better off booking your own air in the future, however I really hope this works out for you.

[COMBOY]

I do agree this is a very unfortunate situation. I seems like this Choice Air is a way to book your air through RCCL and have choice over your flight schedule; however, Choice Air does have some "leeway" to reschedule you on a different flight if they so choice as long as it still get you to the ship in time. Maybe it's cutting it way too close by your standards and I would agree with you; however, I think your situation is rare (at least I hope so). It would be interesting to find out way they switched your flights and didn't contact you. But one thing you need to understand is if your flights are delayed and you can't make it to the ship in time RCCL is still responsible to fly you on down to the next port and arrange hotel accommodations to meet up with the ship plus you would get a refund of any missed cruise days. If you do independent air you are so out of luck. You would have to make those arrangements on your own (at last minute one-way prices), pay out of pocket and claim any reimbursement out of any travel insurance your purchases for this cruise. Whatever the case if you are unhappy with those flight arrangements and Choice Air you should continue to escalate the problem up the management chain at RCCL.

Edited June 13, 2011 by COMBOY

[negc]

Your statement that I was misrepresenting something or failed to understand how the program works presumes things I did not say and is in fact rude. I simply stated why I do not like a third party involved between myself and the travel vendors I use. I am a frequent flyer and want control over my own destiny when dealing with the airline. Based upon the status I have earned, I am well treated and expect and receive good service that is responsive to my needs and concerns. Based upon the OP’s original post you can see what can happen when you allow someone between you and your preferred travel provider. That is all I stated. I do not use travel agents to book cruises for this exact same reason.

As to my second paragraph, I was simply asking what issues the OP actually had as I was unclear as to what they were. After hearing the concern about the large group and the age of some of the people traveling the concerns appear to be very valid.

To the OP, I understand your concerns and wish you the best of luck in sorting them out. I still believe you are better off booking your own air in the future, however I really hope this works out for you.

 

If I may quote the sentence in your previous post that I referred to in my response, perhaps you can tell me how I so rudely misstated your position:

"As many have stated, I NEVER book throught the cruise line because they give you no choice and no control."- my emphasis added. Choice Air does indeed offer you "choice and control". You get to select the airline and particular flight that you want to book, and you have the same ability to select your seats as you would if you booked directly. That to me is certainly "choice" and when the price difference is significant, I, and not the "benevolent" airline, will control how much I will pay. Choice Air is not always the best way to purchase your airfare which is why I recommend comparing all your options before deciding which way to go. About the only thing that I "always" believe is that advice that claims that there is "always" only one right way to do things or that one should "never" do something except in one particular way, usually isn't reliable or responsible.

[Happy ks]

Is it too late to cancel the cruise air and book your own?

 

We learned after our first cruise not to use a cruise/air package. It was the worst choice of flights ever, plus our family wasn't seated together. Fortunately a kind lady switched seats with me so I could be seated with our (at the time) 6 year old daughter, the 9 year old son sat a few rows behind me, my husband a few rows ahead of us.

 

The only other time I almost used cruise air was when the agent (AAA) told me they could get a better price from the cruiseline, so I waited for the quote. I was pretty angry with them when the next day they came back with a quote higher than what I had found, I ended up paying $30 more pp the next day X 4 ppl over my original fare. What they quoted was around $50 more than what I finally paid. have never found cruise air to cost less than what you can find for yourself. I do not want to be at the mercy of someone else booking my air ever again.

 

So you are not alone, many people believe they will be treated well by booking with the cruiseline. We only trust the cruiseline for the cruise itself, not the air, nor excursions, nor hotels or any transportation to airports.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Happy ks