Viking River Cruise Air

[SteadyAT]

Hi Katz, I'm glad to hear that someone else is in the same situation.

 

My sentiments are similar to yours regarding dealings with Viking so far. In fact, I made the original booking and deposit (for 6 of us) directly with Viking myself, and then found out pretty quickly that their customer service was inconsistent in information conveyed, and the amount of time I was put on hold was very frustrating. Thus, I transferred the files to a TA.

 

My TA has the patience of a saint, and worked with me to get the flights that I want (ie., flying direct). I have the booking references but they are not ticketed and I really want to leverage my status with the airline to get preferred seats for me and my family. As the clock ticks and more tickets are sold and seats assigned, this possibility decreases which is so frustrating!

 

As I mentioned, it's through CCers' numerous recommendations about this river cruise that I decided to book through Viking and Custom Air, and I hope after some of these hurdles that my TA is going through to meet my needs, that the trip itself will indeed be spectacular.

[MareT]

We are going on Viking's Rhine Getaway in November. We used Viking's custom air to secure our preferred flights and seats with United Airlines. Some airlines do not let you choose your seats at the time of booking. Our confirmation with United Airlines was finally ticketed approximately 55 days before our departure. Our itinerary packets were received Saturday which is a little less than four weeks before we leave. Hope this information helps.

 

Maryann

[SteadyAT]

Thank you Maryann. Your information gives me context, and reassures me.

And I wish you a wonderful cruise!

[Jgg630]

Katz,

 

I had both a deviation and custom air on our upcoming trip on Viking. We are coming in early and staying late. That is our deviation.

 

On the custom air, I choose my airline program I wanted to fly on. We were originally booked on KLM but because I have status on United wanted to switch to Star Alliance. I called agent and it was only $100 for me to change airlines so I jumped at it. It is not always $100, though.

 

I have noticed that as hard as I try I cannot upgrade any further than Economy+. No first class option, although plenty available. Our flight looks pretty empty so counting on a row to myself.

 

My mom is staying on KLM and I have been able to move her seat around.

[nana541]

Katz,

 

I had both a deviation and custom air on our upcoming trip on Viking. We are coming in early and staying late. That is our deviation.

 

On the custom air, I choose my airline program I wanted to fly on. We were originally booked on KLM but because I have status on United wanted to switch to Star Alliance. I called agent and it was only $100 for me to change airlines so I jumped at it. It is not always $100, though.

 

I have noticed that as hard as I try I cannot upgrade any further than Economy+. No first class option, although plenty available. Our flight looks pretty empty so counting on a row to myself.

 

My mom is staying on KLM and I have been able to move her seat around.

 

Wondering if you have called United direct regarding lack of availability to upgrade??? What did they say to the seeming "wide open" status in First Class or maybe even Business?

[katz]

Thanks Jgg.

 

Nana---We did calll United directly. They say they can't do anything until the tickets are paid for by Viking. That is the frustrating part since we have already paid for the trip, including air, full.

 

Is anyone going on the May 11, 2012 Imperial Jewels of China?

[nana541]

Thanks Jgg.

 

Nana---We did calll United directly. They say they can't do anything until the tickets are paid for by Viking. That is the frustrating part since we have already paid for the trip, including air, full.

 

Is anyone going on the May 11, 2012 Imperial Jewels of China?

 

Sadly, all cruiselines run their "in house" air this way ( or at least most do) your air tickets won't be booked (paid for) until 45ish days or so before your trip. Have you checked with Viking to see if you can pay some kind of deviation fee to get them to book and pay now.... Oh and give you the " locator code" or airline Reservation #... Because all those FF Miles will be useless that close to your cruise :(

Hope it all works out for you...

[pflorio994]

I have customer air since traveling with Viking 4xs. I received an email from Viking 7-8 weeks (tickets issued) prior to my departure and was able to upgrade my seats with Delta (frequent flyer) to Economy Comfort. Delta informed me that they saw no problem when I actually booked the trip. Economy Comfort usually is the last to sell out.

[Viking Cruises]

Thanks Jgg.

 

Nana---We did calll United directly. They say they can't do anything until the tickets are paid for by Viking. That is the frustrating part since we have already paid for the trip, including air, full.

 

Is anyone going on the May 11, 2012 Imperial Jewels of China?

 

Dear katz,

 

We’re sorry to hear about your frustrations and would like to help you out if we can. Please send an email to TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com and we’ll see if there are any additional options available at this time for your particular booking.

 

Sincerely,

Viking River Cruises

[SteadyAT]

katz, I would love to know whether you are able to resolve your issue based on Viking's invitation for you to contact them directly. If so, I will do the same!

[katz]

Thanks for calling the message from Viking to my attention. I did not get a notice from CC that I had one from them. I will contact them later today when I get home from work and have time to pull out my cruise folder. I will let you know what they say.

 

Have a nice day.

Kathy

[katz]

VRC has redeemed themselves---at least in my eyes.

 

I accepted their invitation from the above post to contact their Guest Relations Department concerning my disappointment with their Custom Air policy on upgrades.

 

I wrote to them and within two hours they called to say that they had finalized our tickets and we were now able to upgrade our seats. They followed up with an email to me and my TA. We called United immediatley and were able to upgrade our seats. What a relief, since seating on such long flights (China) is very important to us. Our travel date is May 10, 2012.

 

I would suggest that if you have a question or concern, go directly to VRC Guest Relations.

 

Thank you VRC for your quick response and concern!!

[SteadyAT]

Thanks katz! I appreciate you providing an update, and am happy for you that your problem is now resolved.

 

Since our tour date is earlier than yours (March 5, 2013; flight date March 3, 2013), I will attempt to contact VRC also to see if they can have our tickets issued. I too have fully paid for our tickets a few months ago.

 

Fingers crossed!

[SteadyAT]

Well katz, my experience was the opposite of yours. It took 1.5 days for me to get a response only for a representative from Viking to confirm the timelines they already conveyed through my TA. Tickets will not be issued until 45 days prior to departure, which means I cannot leverage my airline status, and get preferred seat assignments beforehand.

 

Additionally, I was reminded to communicate with Viking through my TA, not directly with them.

 

There you go!

[nana541]

Well katz, my experience was the opposite of yours. It took 1.5 days for me to get a response only for a representative from Viking to confirm the timelines they already conveyed through my TA. Tickets will not be issued until 45 days prior to departure, which means I cannot leverage my airline status, and get preferred seat assignments beforehand.

 

Additionally, I was reminded to communicate with Viking through my TA, not directly with them.

 

There you go!

 

Did katz book thru a TA???? Maybe you need the name of her Viking contact and ask why they responded to you both in "opposite" ways! I guess i would not let one Customer (dis) service agent blow me off! Just sayin :(

[katz]

Wow. Totally different response. Email me, if you want, and we can talk about this. kathyapo@aol.com Maybe I can share some information that might help. They were so accomodating to me and I feel like I shouldn't be publicly putting some of my thoughts out there---if that makes sense.

[SteadyAT]

Thanks for your offer of more information, katz. And nana541, thanks for your encouragement to persist!

 

For now, I will let my TA deal with Viking and try to secure optimal travel (and seat arrangements) for us.

 

It is surprising though that we had such different experiences!

[nana541]

SteadyAT... I am a control freak so take this with a grain of salt. You have been offer the opportunity to get the info you need to fix this problem. That info costs you nothing but your time.

TA's and don't get me wrong are important to our traveling experiance, however the OP had a fast fix to "your" problem... If you leave this in the hands of your TA - well Viking will likely give the party line....

 

Well suit yourself, I'd reach out and take the info offered, I am not a fan of "customer service" folks who only know the rule book and not a way to fix the issue.

Hope it works out for you !

 

Sorry I do not mean to be rude or pissy....

[SteadyAT]

Just want to report that I've heard again (unexpectedly) from Viking, who indicated that they would make an exception and have issued our tickets.

 

I've checked, and our outbound flights indeed have seat selections that I prefer. I will work with my TA to sort out our deviation flight (to HKG) and return flight seats, as well as a glitch with one of the tickets.

 

I'm not sure what has led to this "exception", since I did not pursue the matter further. However, I believe the power of Cruise Critic to be a contributing factor. This "exception" is consistent with the customer service I would have expected from Viking in the first place, based on many others' positive reviews.

 

To be fair to Viking, I want to post this update. Thanks to all who have shared their experiences so I had context and perspective.