Regent Flights - with and without deviation

[Lonedaddy]

Did they offer an option to fly to lax or ord the day/ night before.  With the savings you could stay at pretty much any luxury hotel and have a nice dinner.  Also breaks up a long flight with a good nights rest 

[TheShag]

No sir. No alternatives were offered. I suppose any further discussions will involve a fee I suppose. 

[SWFLAOK]

3 hours ago, TheShag said:

No sir. No alternatives were offered. I suppose any further discussions will involve a fee I suppose. 

Just wondering why you're trying to fly on an international flight out of RSW since you are from Toronto. We live in Fort Myers, and we never, ever book flights from Regent, or any other cruise line out of RSW. We made that mistake on our first cruise on Regent. They gave us a Delta flight to Atlanta with a 30 minute connection to a flight to Vancouver. We complained about it, but they would not change it. As it turned out, the same flight crew was connecting to the Vancouver flight, so once we boarded they assured it we would make the flight even with a short delay in our arrival. But that's not something I want to worry about when going on a cruise.

Since then, we have never asked any cruise line to book flights for us out of RSW. We would rather drive to MIA or FLL, and get a direct flight that gets us to our destination with as few connecting flights as possible. We just flew to Bangkok from MIA with one stop in Doha, and returned from Abu Dhabi to MIA with one stop in Doha. On a Regent cruise pre Covid, we flew from MIA to Dubai to Singapore, and returned at the end of the cruise from Sydney  to Dubai to MIA.

[SWFLAOK]

I forgot to mention that you need to check if Regent is booking you on Restricted Business class flights. They did this to us on our last trip, but did not tell us this. When we paid Regent to get flights at 210 days, they gave us flights and told us our business class seat assignments. We had a long layover, on the way to Bangkok, but they said the lounge in Doha was available to us. A few weeks later, we signed into the Qatar Airways site, and found that we had no seats assigned on 3 of our 4 flights. We contacted them and found out we had to pay 200 dollars for each seat to reserve it. Otherwise, it would be assigned when we arrived at the airport. Obviously, we paid the additional 1200 dollars. What we didn't realize was that Regent had booked us in Business Lite which is Restricted business class. That meant we had no access to lounges. That included the long layover on our flight to Bangkok. We were allowed to pay for 6 hours of access to the lounge in Doha. It wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. On our return trip, our 1 hour flight from Abu Dhabi to Doha was in First class since there was no Business class. There were 8 seats in First class. They were very comfortable, and had great service. And best of all, it gave us access to the First class lounge in Abu Dhabi (which Regent made sure we reached several hours before our 6 AM flight), as well the lounge in Doha because we arrived on a First class flight.

We booked B2B cruises for next year while we were on our recent Regent cruise, and noticed that it clearly states that they include Restricted business class in the price. Since we need to fly to Paris, and back from Amsterdam, we will take the air credit if they can't give us decent flights from MIA without a large additional payment.

[papaflamingo]

3 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

I forgot to mention that you need to check if Regent is booking you on Restricted Business class flights. They did this to us on our last trip, but did not tell us this

Regent has always booked Restricted Business Class.  It's on your Booking Confirmation under "Additional Items, Air Arrangements.  It also states in the FAQ section "Due to recent airline policy changes, all classes of service, including Business Class, may no longer include luggage, seat assignments and lounge access."

Here is a screen shot of my 2018 cruise on Mariner showing Restricted Business Class.

[papaflamingo]

7 hours ago, TheShag said:

No sir. No alternatives were offered. I suppose any further discussions will involve a fee I suppose. 

If you paid the $175 Deviation Fee then you can call for free to discuss the same booking.  I did this last year for our Feb. cruise a few months ago.  I arranged the Deviation and then United changed the flight schedule giving us a very short turn time.  I called Custom Air and was able to discuss options.  Since it was regarding an existing flight booking there was no additional $75 fee.  You may have to pay a new $175 deviation fee if you make a significant enough change that it becomes a cancellation and rebooking of flights.  

Long story for us, we were flying ATL-SFO-HKG.  The SFO layover changed from 4 hours to 1:40...to short for comfort.  I tried to adjust to a different day since the same day, but longer layover (13 hours) was a significant up charge.  It would have meant a cancellation and a new booking so another $175 pp plus any up charges.  Anyway, found out from Regent that they paid for the tickets about 60 days out (Dec. 20 in our case), so on Dec. 22 I called United (can't do it on line) and was able to change the flights to leave the day before and lay over 13 hours and catch the late flight to HKG and still arrive the same day, only 12 hours earlier.  NO extra charge from anyone and even though I didn't tell Regent, the correct flights were listed on my Final Cruise Summary, so they were aware of the changes. 

Edited May 26 by papaflamingo

[FL Wolfpacker]

11 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Just wondering why you're trying to fly on an international flight out of RSW since you are from Toronto. We live in Fort Myers, and we never, ever book flights from Regent, or any other cruise line out of RSW. We made that mistake on our first cruise on Regent. They gave us a Delta flight to Atlanta with a 30 minute connection to a flight to Vancouver. We complained about it, but they would not change it. As it turned out, the same flight crew was connecting to the Vancouver flight, so once we boarded they assured it we would make the flight even with a short delay in our arrival. But that's not something I want to worry about when going on a cruise.

Since then, we have never asked any cruise line to book flights for us out of RSW. We would rather drive to MIA or FLL, and get a direct flight that gets us to our destination with as few connecting flights as possible. We just flew to Bangkok from MIA with one stop in Doha, and returned from Abu Dhabi to MIA with one stop in Doha. On a Regent cruise pre Covid, we flew from MIA to Dubai to Singapore, and returned at the end of the cruise from Sydney  to Dubai to MIA.

I tried deviation out of RSW for our trip. The connections were poor (best they could do were 2 stops and short layovers for an additional +$2K/pp charge). I figured it couldn’t get worse so I declined the option. 
When Regent gave us the flights 75 days out they were one stop flights with good layovers. Can’t explain why but I’m glad we passed on the deviation 

[papaflamingo]

31 minutes ago, FL Wolfpacker said:

I tried deviation out of RSW for our trip. The connections were poor (best they could do were 2 stops and short layovers for an additional +$2K/pp charge). I figured it couldn’t get worse so I declined the option. 
When Regent gave us the flights 75 days out they were one stop flights with good layovers. Can’t explain why but I’m glad we passed on the deviation 

Did you request the flights you tried to deviate on and were they on the same day as Regent's flights?  That may be why.  Also, when I deviated I asked the Agent for an example of a routing with no up charge.  She told me... I paid the up charge. 

[FL Wolfpacker]

14 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

Did you request the flights you tried to deviate on and were they on the same day as Regent's flights?  That may be why.  Also, when I deviated I asked the Agent for an example of a routing with no up charge.  She told me... I paid the up charge. 

I gave them several flights and they indicated none of them would work. They put me on hold for about 25 min and came back with the “best they can do”.

The only thing I can come up with for the better result is they must have gained a better contract after my first call. 
 

ETA: The best no up charge flights were 3 stops. 

Edited May 26 by FL Wolfpacker

[papaflamingo]

5 minutes ago, FL Wolfpacker said:

I gave them several flights and they indicated none of them would work. They put me on hold for about 25 min and came back with the “best they can do”.

The only thing I can come up with for the better result is they must have gained a better contract after my first call. 

It's possible.  Flight costs seem to change daily these days.  I booked tickets to London in Oct. for June (not a cruise so I paid for them).  I have changed them at least 4-5 times as the costs have shifted.  Ended up with enough E-credits to help significantly with booking our flights for our next cruise AND a trip in Oct. to see friends in Ca.!  

Edited May 26 by papaflamingo

[TheShag]

14 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Just wondering why you're trying to fly on an international flight out of RSW since you are from Toronto. We live in Fort Myers, and we never, ever book flights from Regent, or any other cruise line out of RSW. We made that mistake on our first cruise on Regent. They gave us a Delta flight to Atlanta with a 30 minute connection to a flight to Vancouver. We complained about it, but they would not change it. As it turned out, the same flight crew was connecting to the Vancouver flight, so once we boarded they assured it we would make the flight even with a short delay in our arrival. But that's not something I want to worry about when going on a cruise.

Since then, we have never asked any cruise line to book flights for us out of RSW. We would rather drive to MIA or FLL, and get a direct flight that gets us to our destination with as few connecting flights as possible. We just flew to Bangkok from MIA with one stop in Doha, and returned from Abu Dhabi to MIA with one stop in Doha. On a Regent cruise pre Covid, we flew from MIA to Dubai to Singapore, and returned at the end of the cruise from Sydney  to Dubai to MIA.

Thanks for your note. We have a winter home in Naples so we thought we would have a better chance leaving from USA given that there are more international airlines serving my destination that depart from USA vs. Canada.  Also looked at flights out of FLL, MIA and MCO. On a whole, the best of any of those options was inferior to what I THOUGHT I could get out of RSW [hindsight 20:20!]. As mentioned, I was quite surprised/disappointed that all my options for reasonable travel was not possible [I even went on the various airlines' sites to look at seat availability which ALL showed openings for my preferred options]. As to your other point about restricted business class, the agent verbally 'assured' me that lounge access was provided but in the 'Custom Air - Pending Acceptance' email, there is no mention of 'restricted' travel. When discussing the booking with Air Dept agent I was given seat selection and also told about baggage limits.How can I get documented proof of lounge access prior to accepting the travels? For a past cruise [that we cancelled] it mentioned that the fare was 'Restricted Business Class'. We never had the chance to see what it practically meant. Hell hath no fury if we show up and are denied lounge access!

Edited May 26 by TheShag
additional info supplied.

[TheShag]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

It's possible.  Flight costs seem to change daily these days.  I booked tickets to London in Oct. for June (not a cruise so I paid for them).  I have changed them at least 4-5 times as the costs have shifted.  Ended up with enough E-credits to help significantly with booking our flights for our next cruise AND a trip in Oct. to see friends in Ca.!  

Is it safe to assume that these are flights you booked yourself? Trying to figure out the magical, mystical RSSC Air Dept 'black box' of what is possible vs. not possible is, in a word, impossible!

[papaflamingo]

52 minutes ago, TheShag said:

Is it safe to assume that these are flights you booked yourself? Trying to figure out the magical, mystical RSSC Air Dept 'black box' of what is possible vs. not possible is, in a word, impossible!

Yes. These are flights I booked myself for a non cruise.  I am retired Delta and have access to the Delta Employee Discount program that gives us a minimum of 25% off any scheduled flight worldwide.  But Regent's fares are generally (international Business Class) so low I can't touch them even with my discount.  

It's not that Regent Air Dept. is a "magical, mystical...black box," it's that they are bound by strict contract rates and the airlines, being oversold and understaffed, don't need to cut their rates for anyone.  So it's very hard for Regent to stay within the contract and most often means "undesirable" routing.  

When you call Regent to deviate, you need to research as many options as you can.  Look for flights that have TWO rates, one refundable one not refundable.  Those are generally the flights that have Contract rates.  Also compare among airlines and flights.  It's pretty easy to figure the one's without contract rates as they'll be obviously higher than others.  Also, these days, non stops are very hard to find as they are the "bread and butter" of the airlines and not being discounted. So you have to expect at least one plane change. Also, look at going a day or so earlier than you originally want, sometimes those rates will be lower.   If nothing else, and you can't find anything satisfactory, let them send you on whatever routing they figure out. 

[SWFLAOK]

19 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Regent has always booked Restricted Business Class.  It's on your Booking Confirmation under "Additional Items, Air Arrangements.  It also states in the FAQ section "Due to recent airline policy changes, all classes of service, including Business Class, may no longer include luggage, seat assignments and lounge access."

Here is a screen shot of my 2018 cruise on Mariner showing Restricted Business Class.

In our experience with Regent, they have never booked us in Restricted Business class before our recent cruise. We have always paid the deviation fee, but nothing more, until our recent flight. We have always had seats assigned that we have been able to verify on the airline's website, and did not have to pay extra for them. We have always had access to lounges when on international flights until this year.

If Regent has "always booked Restricted Business Class", then why would they answer an FAQ with "Due to recent airline policy changes". That means it's a recent change. And the recent change was not a change to the airlines "business class'". It was the availability of "business lite", or whatever other airlines call it. And it was Regents decision to book their customers on the lower level of business because that became available.

I usually ignore your posts since they are mostly biased toward Regent, but I had to clarify your post on this.

[wcsdkqh]

Regent, without a doubt, at least for the past 12 years, booked flights with restricted business class. What appears to have changed is some airlines have modified what is included with that class of ticket. 

[TheShag]

36 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

Regent, without a doubt, at least for the past 12 years, booked flights with restricted business class. What appears to have changed is some airlines have modified what is included with that class of ticket. 

Which begs the question, is it a question that is to be directed to each airline in order to ascertain their lounge privileges?

[papaflamingo]

12 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

In our experience with Regent, they have never booked us in Restricted Business class before our recent cruise. We have always paid the deviation fee, but nothing more, until our recent flight. We have always had seats assigned that we have been able to verify on the airline's website, and did not have to pay extra for them. We have always had access to lounges when on international flights until this year.

If Regent has "always booked Restricted Business Class", then why would they answer an FAQ with "Due to recent airline policy changes". That means it's a recent change. And the recent change was not a change to the airlines "business class'". It was the availability of "business lite", or whatever other airlines call it. And it was Regents decision to book their customers on the lower level of business because that became available.

I usually ignore your posts since they are mostly biased toward Regent, but I had to clarify your post on this.

You are misunderstanding Regent's comment.  As I showed with my screenshot from my old booking from 2018 it was, indeed, Restricted Business Class.  Their comment came particularly with Qatar Airlines when they began to offer a Business Lite fare.  That fare, if you look on their website, does NOT include pre-flight seat assignments or access to their lounge.  Restricted Business falls into those fare rules with, apparently, an option to "up grade" to include both pre-flight seat assignments AND entry to the lounge.  U.S airlines, at least, do not discriminate (at this time) between levels of fare. You are able to pre-select seats, enter the lounge, get full business class perks on board. A smart person (you can ignore this comment if you like) would read about offered perks before accepting an airline assignment from Regent on a deviation.  BUT, Regent, at least since 2018, has ALWAYS used Restricted Business Class.  

Regent didn't "decide" to book on  "lower level," they have always booked on a very low contract rate. 

Honestly, you are more than welcome think anything you want about me and are definitely more than welcome to ignore my posts. In fact I highly encourage you do ignore them, although the fact you read this one suggests you don't actually "ignore" them 🤣.  

The opinion of someone I have never met and plan to never meet is completely irrelevant to me and my life.  BUT, I am actually NOT wrong about this. But heck.....it's America... believe whatever the heck you want.  Doesn't change the facts.  

Edited May 27 by papaflamingo

[TheShag]

49 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

You are misunderstanding Regent's comment.  As I showed with my screenshot from my old booking from 2018 it was, indeed, Restricted Business Class.  Their comment came particularly with Qatar Airlines when they began to offer a Business Lite fare.  That fare, if you look on their website, does NOT include pre-flight seat assignments or access to their lounge.  Restricted Business falls into those fare rules with, apparently, an option to "up grade" to include both pre-flight seat assignments AND entry to the lounge.  U.S airlines, at least, do not discriminate (at this time) between levels of fare. You are able to pre-select seats, enter the lounge, get full business class perks on board. A smart person (you can ignore this comment if you like) would read about offered perks before accepting an airline assignment from Regent on a deviation.  BUT, Regent, at least since 2018, has ALWAYS used Restricted Business Class.  

Regent didn't "decide" to book on  "lower level," they have always booked on a very low contract rate. 

Honestly, you are more than welcome think anything you want about me and are definitely more than welcome to ignore my posts. In fact I highly encourage you do ignore them, although the fact you read this one suggests you don't actually "ignore" them 🤣.  

The opinion of someone I have never met and plan to never meet is completely irrelevant to me and my life.  BUT, I am actually NOT wrong about this. But heck.....it's America... believe whatever the heck you want.  Doesn't change the facts.  

Thanks for the note. To be clear, regarding your comment A smart person (you can ignore this comment if you like) would read about offered perks before accepting an airline assignment from Regent on a deviation ...where would I find out about offered perks? All I have from them, at this point, is details of each flight segment with a notation of 'First or Business' in each flight segment together with standard mouse print at the bottom of the email stating 'Any special requests you may have regarding your airline seat assignments or meals should be made directly with the airlines within 60 days of travel. Please note that certain airlines may have seat restrictions based on group blocks, charter or class of service booked.' Its that last sentence that has me a bit spooked!

[chamima]

12 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

Regent, without a doubt, at least for the past 12 years, booked flights with restricted business class. What appears to have changed is some airlines have modified what is included with that class of ticket. 

 

12 hours ago, TheShag said:

Which begs the question, is it a question that is to be directed to each airline in order to ascertain their lounge privileges?

 

 

One of our reasons for trying Regent after many years of cruising (our first cruise was on Home Lines) was the all-inclusive aspect. I'm just tired of all the planning and details and was excited about just booking our cruise and relaxing.

So now it looks like it's the same old "check everything" that I've always done.

At least I know that the US airlines for now still include seats and lounges.

 

Not a comment on any posters on here - just on life.

And I do realize how privileged I am to have these "problems"!

 

***

Edited May 27 by chamima

[frankpc123]

Just another wrinkle in the world of Biz class flights to consider ..... We did an Air Dev, selecting a Delta/SAS itinerary (SAS "Business Smart" provides the outbound International and intra Europe flights).

Regent was able to reserve seats on DL but not SAS. Indeed, SAS assigns seats for "free" 30 hours before departure but charges before that time. We had to request "Early Ticketing" from Regent to be able to call SAS and reserve (and pay for)  seat assignments. Early ticketing, of course, does exposure you to change fees ...

 

Here's the amenity list for SAS Business Smart from flysas.com :

With SAS Business Smart, you can relax in the highest level of comfort in a seat that converts into a fully flat bed. You also have access to Fast Track through security control and SAS Lounges. SAS Business Smart tickets can be rebooked at no extra charge, but are non-refundable.

SERVICES & CONDITIONS

Carry-on 2 x 8 kg

Checked baggage 2 x 32 kg

Fast Track (where available)

Lounge (where available)

Rebookable

Non-refundable

 

[papaflamingo]

38 minutes ago, TheShag said:

Thanks for the note. To be clear, regarding your comment A smart person (you can ignore this comment if you like) would read about offered perks before accepting an airline assignment from Regent on a deviation ...where would I find out about offered perks? All I have from them, at this point, is details of each flight segment with a notation of 'First or Business' in each flight segment together with standard mouse print at the bottom of the email stating 'Any special requests you may have regarding your airline seat assignments or meals should be made directly with the airlines within 60 days of travel. Please note that certain airlines may have seat restrictions based on group blocks, charter or class of service booked.' Its that last sentence that has me a bit spooked!

Check the airline's website. Best example, look at Qatar and read the perks for "Business Lite."  That's what you'll be offered. It's not Regent, it's the airlines.  If you read Delta's website you'll see that you'll see that you are limited, with a Delta One ticket (their business class) to entry to the Skyclub limited to 3 hours prior to departure, but anytime between connecting flights. Also certain destinations aren't considered "Delta One" so no free entry.  This is not dependent on "restricted business," but for ALL Delta One tickets.  So go on the web and research the business class perks of the airline you are interested in and you'll see any limitations. Again, look for terms like "business lite" that you'll find on Qatar.  You'll be, when in restricted business, the lowest (or close to it) level of ticket so any perk restrictions will likely apply. 

[mrstanley]

Need to fly to Venice from East coast of USA. How has Regent been routing passengers for cruises leaving from Venice?

[Lonedaddy]

Here is a good article on Business Lite and what airlines are using it (mostly european as opposed to US legacy carriers.)

 

What are business-class lite fares? And how to avoid them - The Points Guy  

airlines mentioned in article:

• Air France
• Emirates
• Finnair
• KLM
• Qatar Airways
• Zipair

[chamima]

42 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

Here is a good article on Business Lite and what airlines are using it (mostly european as opposed to US legacy carriers.)

 

What are business-class lite fares? And how to avoid them - The Points Guy  

airlines mentioned in article:

• Air France
• Emirates
• Finnair
• KLM
• Qatar Airways
• Zipair

 

 

Air France, KLM and Delta codeshare so be careful when booking a ticket that you are booked through Delta!

[mrstanley]

Question:

 

How are passengers being flown from the US to Venice? How is Regent Air Department getting people to Venice?

 

Thats my question.