Reasons not to book cruise air through cruise lines

[greatam]

One thing the ChoiceAir customer service person also told me applies here. The value of an unused non-refundable ChoiceAir ticket can be applied to another ticket within one year of the original issue date, minus the usual change fee of the issuing airline. The value of a cancelled refundable ChoiceAir ticket will be refunded minus the usual cancellation fees of the issuing airline.

 

The value of the unused ticket can be applied to another CHOICE AIR ticket, obviously minus the change fee. Except in limited circumstances (there goes that fine print in the fare rules again), you cannot use the residual value of your Choice Air ticket to purchase a ticket that CHOICE AIR does NOT have available to them-ie, I want to use my residual value to fly to Kenya via AA/BA. Choice Air would have to go on the open market and TRY to get me a ticket. And then I would be STUCK trying to use my residual value at whatever price Choice Air CHOSE to price the ticket at. That could be a really big money loosing proposition.

 

Certainly NOT the same as an airline direct issued ticket where the residual value can be used for a sale fare, a business class upgrade, two short trips between New York City and Albany, etc. etc. ANOTHER BIG difference.

 

And the cancellation fee on a REFUNDABLE ticket was $200 per the fine print on Choice Air. Did you miss the part in reference to my reply to Shorex' question about Choice Air's REFUNDABLE price on the itinerary I posted? Choice Air charges a $200 FEE for cancellation and the price was about $200 MORE than purchasing the same flight, same date direct from Delta. So in essence, if you purchased a REFUNDABLE ticket from Choice Air, you LOST about $400. REFUNDABLE tickets purchased from an airline have NO cancellation fee. That is what FULLY REFUNDABLE means.

 

 

 

Yes, but none of them were booked through ChoiceAir, so you really don't know how that program actually works. You deal with 500-700 tickets to satisfy your business purposes, not a cruiser's purpose. Those two purposes are not the same.

 

I would never think of telling you how the purchasing process for business travel is since I have never had the need, and I am not an expert in the way these tickets are structured. But, you admit that you refuse to use ChoiceAir based on your assumptions, and yet you seem to feel you are an expert in the way this program operates. How the heck would you know if you won't even considered them?

 

I also wouldn't purchase tickets for our customers through CheapoAir, BestFares, Vayama, Mobissimo, etc. etc for the same reason I wouldn't purchase Choice Air. The underlying RULES on these "whatever you want to call them type tickets-consolidator, specially negotiated fares, bulk purchase, contract purchase- may very well prevent you from re-routing your ticket or using that ticket without extra expense on another airline. Doesn't matter whether you are going on a cruise, to a wedding or an important business meeting. If it is time sensitive travel, you need to get there at a certain time. Why would you buy a ticket that may very well PREVENT you from arriving on time just because of the way the FARE RULES are written?

 

I certainly am not basing my refusal to use Choice Air on ASSUMPTIONS. I am basing it on facts and my knowledge of the underlying fare rules. All of our tickets for customers, employees and myself are purchased individually. We don't buy through a consortium, we don't purchase at group rates. We purchase PUBLISHED fare tickets with full endorsability and re-route possibilities because we don't want anyone STUCK at some airport with a ticket that does not allow them to continue other than on the ORGINATING airline with the ORIGINAL routing. And we normally buy the CHEAPEST tickets we can, as we work with many small businesses who have very limited budgets.

 

PS-the phones aren't ringing off the walls yet this morning so I did call the Choice Air number. I asked about the cancellation fee on a REFUNDABLE ticket first. She told me the change fee was $150. I said I might not be able to take the trip at all so there would be no change. I just want my money back. She went on and on about the CHANGE FEE. "But M'am, I'm not going to be FLYING anyplace in the next year so how do I get my money back?" Again-You have one year to use the value less CHANGE FEE. SO I directed her to the Choice Air page with the info on the AA flight I posted previously where it CLEARLY states cancellation fee is $200 on a REFUNDABLE ticket.

 

She told me that was wrong-it should be $150 with the "balance left on the ticket" to be used within a year. She wasn't getting the REFUNDABLE part of the ticket in the least. And she didn't understand the term residual value-kept telling me that the airline would take the change fee out, then I could change the date. I then said, so I can use the BALANCE which was $4639 to book a business class ticket on an AA codeshare via Etihad to Abu Dhabi. She told me I couldn't book an AA codeshare and why would I want to go to Abu Dhabi (she asked where that was) when the cruise was to Rome. DUH!!!

 

If that is the kind of help you get on a weekday, how bad would it be on a weekend?

 

I gave up. I had the call on speaker and everyone in the front part of the office was laughing. I didn't even get around to asking about the NON REFUNDABLE tickets.

[SantaFeFan]

I have had enough of discussing this topic with closed minded people. Good bye.

 

I'm with you on this. It is glaringly obvious that no amount of facts will change the tightly guarded, and incorrect, opinions of those three. A shame really. I hate to see CC being taken over with the "my opinion is what matters" types.

 

These three have won the dubious IGNORE prize. I will no longer be wasting my time reading what they have to say - I can no longer trust that what they are posting is true.

 

I feel sorry for anyone who is tricked into believing what these three claim. Passing along incorrect information to unsuspecting readers should be a reason to be disbarred from CruiseCritic. There is no excuse for misleading people who are only looking for factual information, but instead end up being the victim of supersized egos that refuse to admit they are wrong.

[slidergirl]

I'm not trying to push anything on anyone. I'm just trying to get answers that match up with what people are proposing.

1) to the OP: please let us see the class codes for your tickets that you used. It would help all of us know how it was coded. A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose…

 

2) As far as the vitriol about me asking about if the CSA actually said the value of the ticket (minus the change fee) could be used for ANY airline ticket, not just another airline ticket for a cruise: what was wrong with asking that??? There certainly are cases where someone may not be able to do a different cruise with the same cruise line within that year time period. I was just asking if that meant the money paid for that airline ticket would be lost. How hard is that to understand?

 

3) Not implying anyone is an idiot. If you want to self-identify, that is OK. It sounds like all of you have had no hiccups on your travels. Like what most of us have been searching for - what happens when it does go sideways??? How were you treated? That's the important part of cruise-purchased air vs TA-purchased air vs air you buy via Orbitz/Priceline/Travelocity vs air you buy yourself from the airline.

 

Among frequent flyers and frequent hotel guests, there is a time-honored axiom: If you don't like what you hear the first time from an agent, hang up and try again until you get the outcome you want… it's kind of the same here ;)

 

And, I think I am honored to be mentioned in the same Pantheon of "experts" with Greatam, Flyertalker, CruiserBruce, Cruisemom42…

[RickT]

To SanteFeFan, swsfrail and fortinweb, found this IGNORE feature on the website earlier in the week. One of the forums best features if you ask me :D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/profile.php?do=ignorelist

 

Here is a little more info on how it works. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1953598&highlight=blocking+members+posts

Edited December 19, 2013 by RickT

[Gonzo70]

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Edited December 19, 2013 by Gonzo70

[slidergirl]

sddssd

 

??????

I know "ssdd", but have never seen "sddssd" :confused:

[ducklite]

Using Choice Air I have had all the rights/privileges when booking an Air Canada flight as I would have if booked directly with Air Canada.

I have been able to select (and change) my seats.

I have been offered an upgrade (as a frequent AC flyer)

I have received my frequent flyer points

I have been able to deal with rerouting due to flight delays directly with Air Canada and Lufthansa without needing to get Choice Air involved. I have no idea if/how Choice Air would have helped because I didn't need to even get them involved.

 

The only thing I believe that I can't do by booking through Choice Air is to cancel the flight but that would be no different than if the flight was booked through a TA. Maybe not all cruiseline air is the same and maybe it's not even the same with other airlines but for me and Air Canada it was.

 

Maybe you don't deal with Choice Air but booking with them you can choose your Airline, specific flight and class of seat. In addition, my tickets booked on Air Canada with Choice Air have definitely not been consolidator tickets.

 

 

I know I couldn't use my Envoy upgrade cents if I hadn't booked directly with the carrier. Let's see, sit up front for the price of a coach sear, or pay for a coach seat and sit in the back of the bus. Pretty easy choice, no?

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[taglovestocruise]

Experienced and savvy travelers will have a far more positive outcome if they book on their own as they know how to anticipate problems and how to proactively handle them rather than wait for the cruise line to scramble to find them seats. If I "own" my ticket I can be on the phone with the airline (or in some cases, online) and be rebooked before the cruise line is even informed of a delay. With very few empty seats these days, the early bird gets the worm--or last seat as the case may be.

 

Also for those who remain loyal to one carrier, booking through cruise air generally eliminates the opportunity for free upgrades, free bags, earning miles, and any number of other perks.

 

While it might give the once in a while traveler peace of mind (which may or may not be realized in the case of ir ops) the reality is that it is generally not the best option for many.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

 

You also don't know what you are talking about. We have used Choice Air many times, usually book with Delta and ALWAYS get the miles added to our account. You seem unable to accept any fact that is contrary your own misinformation.

[ducklite]

You also don't know what you are talking about. We have used Choice Air many times, usually book with Delta and ALWAYS get the miles added to our account. You seem unable to accept any fact that is contrary your own misinformation.

 

 

This is not the case on all carriers.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[taglovestocruise]

CASE CLOSED.. Lets start arguing about the virtues of RUMRUNNERS...