Yes, another air deviation issue

[GITC]

I'll try to keep this short...

• We're travelling to Tahiti for the Pacific Mysteries on Marina departing April 18. As we would like to arrive in Tahiti early (five days) and spend extra time in Peru afterwards (five days to go to Machu Picchu), we opted for an air deviation plan.
  
• Received air itinerary, via TA, from Oceania at the end of November indicating fare codes on Air Canada, for three legs of our trip, that would be amenable to receiving the best value on receiving "frequent flyer" points.
  
• Logged into the Air Canada website a few weeks ago to make sure everything looked good on that side and to facilitate web check-in when the time comes. Discovered that fare codes for our inbound trip from Lima had now been changed to reflect a lower economy-class category and now one for which less points would be credited, non-qualifying for status, and higher change fees would apply. (To be clear, this is not an issue of economy versus business class. This is strictly a different "class" of economy.)
  
• Our TA had been largely non-responsive and now claims that there's nothing she can do about it. She claims to not really know anything about how Oceania's air works. I can't deal with Oceania directly, apparently, as we used a TA so now it seems we're stuck.
  

I'm operating under the assumption that our flights with our airline of choice WILL attract points as I've seen other references to this being the case on this board. Having said that, is it unreasonable for me to think that this is wrong and that something should be done to resolve this? If so, what? Am I making a big deal out of nothing and should just suck it up?

 

This seems a bit like a bait and switch to have enticed us with the booking classes that we wanted on the original air deviation plan but now the reality is much different. It should be noted that the booking classes of our outbound flights have not changed.

 

Appreciate any insight anybody may have on this. TIA.

[JimandStan]

I'll try to keep this short...

• We're travelling to Tahiti for the Pacific Mysteries on Marina departing April 18. As we would like to arrive in Tahiti early (five days) and spend extra time in Peru afterwards (five days to go to Machu Picchu), we opted for an air deviation plan.
  
• Received air itinerary, via TA, from Oceania at the end of November indicating fare codes on Air Canada, for three legs of our trip, that would be amenable to receiving the best value on receiving "frequent flyer" points.
  
• Logged into the Air Canada website a few weeks ago to make sure everything looked good on that side and to facilitate web check-in when the time comes. Discovered that fare codes for our inbound trip from Lima had now been changed to reflect a lower economy-class category and now one for which less points would be credited, non-qualifying for status, and higher change fees would apply. (To be clear, this is not an issue of economy versus business class. This is strictly a different "class" of economy.)
  
• Our TA had been largely non-responsive and now claims that there's nothing she can do about it. She claims to not really know anything about how Oceania's air works. I can't deal with Oceania directly, apparently, as we used a TA so now it seems we're stuck.
  

I'm operating under the assumption that our flights with our airline of choice WILL attract points as I've seen other references to this being the case on this board. Having said that, is it unreasonable for me to think that this is wrong and that something should be done to resolve this? If so, what? Am I making a big deal out of nothing and should just suck it up?

 

This seems a bit like a bait and switch to have enticed us with the booking classes that we wanted on the original air deviation plan but now the reality is much different. It should be noted that the booking classes of our outbound flights have not changed.

 

Appreciate any insight anybody may have on this. TIA.

 

To begin with, if the Itinerary that you accepted from Oceania specified the class of ticket that you desire and the tickets that were actually purchased don't match that, then you are 100% correct.

 

Unfortunately, your Travel Agent will have to be the one who goes to bat for you on this.

Incompetence is not an excuse.

If she cannot do her job properly, demand that she refund the commission to you as a consolation....you will be surprised at how quickly she will think of a dozen "remedies".

[LHT28]

I am not sure you get points with Oceania Air

 

I upgraded at check in so got points for the upgrade but not sure about economy class points :confused:

 

I was more concerned that I got the flight routing I wanted

 

Good luck

[Mexfolkart]

I think O air works a little differently from Canada than from the US.

Sherry

[GITC]

To begin with, if the Itinerary that you accepted from Oceania specified the class of ticket that you desire and the tickets that were actually purchased don't match that, then you are 100% correct.

 

Unfortunately, your Travel Agent will have to be the one who goes to bat for you on this.

Incompetence is not an excuse.

If she cannot do her job properly, demand that she refund the commission to you as a consolation....you will be surprised at how quickly she will think of a dozen "remedies".

Thanks for this feedback, Jim and Stan. And I'm not just saying that because you have validated my sanity. :D

I am not sure you get points with Oceania Air

 

I upgraded at check in so got points for the upgrade but not sure about economy class points :confused:

 

I was more concerned that I got the flight routing I wanted

 

Good luck

If it were the case that these flights would not attract points, it seems to me that the booking code would have been such as to reflect this. It didn't and does (or did), in fact, reflect a code that attracts 100% qualifying points.

 

I think O air works a little differently from Canada than from the US.

Sherry

How so, Sherry?

[YoHoHo]

Your point of a change in CLASS of tickets (all within Economy is a point that I have tried to explain. Excellent that you noticed and followed up.

 

A problem with taking cruise line air is without knowing that class you do not know if that ticket, not one someone else got, can get FF points, or advance seat booking, etc.

 

Changes made by the airline are outside of O's direct control and so in O FAQs (hard to find -> teeny link at the very top of some pages such as 'home", labelled Guest Services) they disavow responsibility for points, seats, etc and that it is up to you and the airline to work out.

 

How do you handle custom air requests?

A: "Any pre-flight arrangements, such as seat assignments, frequent flyer programs, wheelchair requests, oxygen or special meal requests must be made by the guest directly with the airlines based on their policies and procedures. Oceania Cruises cannot confirm any special airline requests unless otherwise specified. Due to the special nature of fares used, frequent flyer or past traveler discounts may not apply to air tickets issued by Oceania Cruises. These special requests and services should be arranged by you or your Travel Agent directly with the airlines

 

I'm thinking at some point either the airline changed the class themselves (and that might be allowable in their agreement with O) or O did not actually 'buy' them at the time they were booked and when they did this is the result.

 

JimandStan's comment "the tickets that were actually purchased don't match" is very relevant. I agree that your TA should simply tell O the tickets you now have are not the ones you agreed to with the deviation.

 

However, O could possibly have an out in the Contract that the flights are subject to change and perhaps by the airline and not O, and you have no recourse.

Maybe your last question is the best. Personally I would try once more then let it go. Not worth the stress and annoyance.

 

If you can get those points then great and if not then brush it off as you suggest so as to not tarnish what should be a great vacation.

[LHT28]

When I have agreed to the deviation flights in past I have not seen the class of ticket until after the fact

So you must have asked for a specific ticket code

 

I did notice on our last ticket was Q class which I think is "Bulk Tickets"

 

I will have to ask my friend who is a Rep for an airline how all that works now

 

Next time I will look closer at the ticket codes

 

Lyn

[Jancruz]

Your point of a change in CLASS of tickets (all within Economy is a point that I have tried to explain. Excellent that you noticed and followed up.

 

 

 

If you can get those points then great and if not then [/size][/size][/size] brush it off as you suggest so as to not tarnish what should be a great vacation.

 

YoHoHo. excellent advice!!

Jancruz1

[GITC]

When I have agreed to the deviation flights in past I have not seen the class of ticket until after the fact

So you must have asked for a specific ticket code

 

I did notice on our last ticket was Q class which I think is "Bulk Tickets"

 

I will have to ask my friend who is a Rep for an airline how all that works now

 

Next time I will look closer at the ticket codes

 

Lyn

"Q" is the new "Flex", formerly Tango Plus. "T" is Tango where we are now.

[GITC]

Thank you for this information, YoHoHo.

 

Cheers.

[Hawaiidan]

Your getting to Tahiti and back for a whole lot less money than you could have bought it for. ( for me flying to Tahiti would have cost over $2400 and Oceania would only offer $450, ) Just the massive savings should compensate the small mileage looses.

 

Second a lot of airlines are starting to size miles earned to fare paid. Some however, like UAL actually let you double or triple you miles for about 2 cents a mile. It is possible too, that even when using a ticket paid for in miles that you can buy credit for the miles flown up to 3X the actual flown ( see award accelerator)

Start flying with a decent airline doesn't hurt ( air Canada is part of the star alliance and will give you UAL miles rather than Air Canada ones. The UAL mile is vastly more valuable)

 

So your not getting the miles you deserve or thought you would get? Simple : Go get or use your airline of choice affinity credit card and spend for the whole cruise on it. The 2 of you can each get a UAL card and right off the get go you have 60,000 miles.

 

I book cruises through an agent. I book hotels, cars and airlines myself because many agents don't have a clue as to my wants needs.

 

Smile, because how will this situation effect the rest of your life:D

[LHT28]

"Q" is the new "Flex", formerly Tango Plus. "T" is Tango where we are now.

It is more than just the ticket code there are fare rules & other booking codes

You could look for Fare Class codes on one of the websites like Flyertalk

 

It has been a long time since I had to read all the fare rules but I can tell you it is more complicated than meets the eye;)

 

Thank goodness you do not have to hand write air tickets anymore :eek:

 

 

Lyn

[GITC]

I want to thank everybody for their feedback in this thread.

 

Those that have said that it's nothing to ruin a holiday over are correct. So are those that say we should get what we were provided with in the first place and we'll take another stab at it.

 

At the end of the day, it's going to be what it is and we'll definitely have a great vacation nonetheless. What I don't like, though, as first time Oceania customers, is this sense of the "bait and switch". Oceania is high-end enough that we certainly had no expectation that we would be treated this way. Customers are particularly happy when they get unexpected good service or upgrades out of the blue. Conversely, customers should be PO'd when the opposite occurs.

 

Is it a matter of life or death? Certainly not but it's not much of a first impression that Oceania is making on us and they say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. It would be nice if they would just do the right thing by rectifying this situation.

[GITC]

By way of update on the issues discussed in this thread:

 

I discussed the matter with Oceania's Air Deviation department even up to discussing it with a manager. They claim that they have no control over what booking class a customer ends up in but had no answer at all to the question about indicating such on the air confirmation in the first place. It sounds like their contracted air allows the airlines a great deal of leeway.

 

Bottom line? Not their fault, nothing they're going to do about it and apparently I'm the first person that has ever asked. :rolleyes: The attitude was something along the lines of "please go away". The customer service aspect was a little lacking.

 

Our points have already posted for our first leg and as expected. 100% qualifying miles for Q (Flex) class. Given our downgrade on our inbound legs, we will get 50% non-qualifying miles for T (Tango) class. Again, it's not the end of the world but it's sure a crappy way to make a first impression, given that this is our first Oceania experience.

 

Just wanted to get the information out there about the points applying to cruise air and provide an update to those who participated here.

[LHT28]

Thanks for the update

 

I guess I am the only person that does not worry about the points

I do not travel enough to get enough for free flights

 

I guess the moral of the story is if your really want the points then book your own air