Post your air credit here

[titong]

Oh yes, another issue with posting experiences in order to understand the Air Deviation process is that some of what is written will be so self aggrandizing that it will be impossible to decipher any usable information at all....:rolleyes:

 

Wow, "self aggrandizing." As the saying goes: "pot meet kettle."

[pinotlover]

During our last cruise on the Marina we had people in the hotel with us (pre cruise) on our cruise. They said they had received an Offer from O to fly in two days early, with paid hotels, to come early and pay no deviation fees. Others came in the day before the cruise under the same plan. It appears that for some cruises O has more takers for their Air than the same day air system can accommodate. Does anyone know how often this occurs, and under what type of a pecking order the Offers are made?

[ginabab]

Wow Never heard of come in days early with hotel and no charge Lucky

 

We pay the deviation and often pay extra to get our preferred air carrier On one trip the carriers O worked with were none of our preferred airlines

We really like to avoid any o'dark thirty flights at the end of the cruise

[travelingduo]

I think I posted my question on the wrong thread:eek:

Do you have to pay the "deviation fee ($175 pp)" just to have them give you a potential routing and possible differential fee? Or do you have the option to just reject the air completely and take the air credit without their air? We have always booked our own air so we have no experience with this, but we are considering it. Also, do they allow you to upgrade to Premium Economy if that is available on the flights selected?

[Mura]

Yes!

 

By that I mean, if you don't like the routing they suggest for a deviation you are free to reject it -- or amend it. You don't pay the fee until you accept the flights. And if you don't like the flights, you can suggest other routings (which means doing your homework). There MAY be an additional fee in that case, but O will tell you what it is. (Or you can let your TA do the negotiating.)

 

You are free to take the credit if you don't want the flights. That is usually what we do although on occasion (very rarely) we have used O's air.

 

Upgrades depend on the contract O has with the airline, so sometimes you can, sometimes you cannot. Others here have had more success in this respect than WE have.

 

Mura

 

P.S. I'm not an expert here since we rarely use O's flights. But I'm going by what I've read from other posters in the past!

Edited December 5, 2014 by Mura

[sitraveler]

During our last cruise on the Marina we had people in the hotel with us (pre cruise) on our cruise. They said they had received an Offer from O to fly in two days early, with paid hotels, to come early and pay no deviation fees. Others came in the day before the cruise under the same plan. It appears that for some cruises O has more takers for their Air than the same day air system can accommodate. Does anyone know how often this occurs, and under what type of a pecking order the Offers are made?

 

If you buy Oceania's hotel package, the "deviation" is built in. Most of us realize you can do better on your own, especially if you don't want the 5 star hotel. Remember the hotel package is per person, it does also include transfers.

[edgee]

My solution is simple - always do my own air. I'm fussy about routing, airlines, seating, transfer time and airports. I nail down arrangements at earliest possible date and put it all to bed - except for subsequent flight changes by airlines. This has never been a signifcant problem.

 

I am with you in theory and almost always do my own air. But sometimes, such as a one way (return) from a transatlantic itinerary, Oceania air is unbeatable. In coach, Oceania air NS including deviation fee-- total cost one way London- Washington is $1050 for two of us. Total cost to purchase one way self air and take Oceania air credit for two comes out to $3100. For a $2000 savings and still getting my preferred flight, I will deal Oceania air.

[TERRIER1]

During our last cruise on the Marina we had people in the hotel with us (pre cruise) on our cruise. They said they had received an Offer from O to fly in two days early, with paid hotels, to come early and pay no deviation fees. Others came in the day before the cruise under the same plan. It appears that for some cruises O has more takers for their Air than the same day air system can accommodate. Does anyone know how often this occurs, and under what type of a pecking order the Offers are made?

 

Was this perhaps a French Polynesia cruise? Oceania uses a combination of charters and scheduled flights for their air. Since the cost of a flight is high to this area, many cruisers opt for the Oceania flights with no deviation. Depending on the number of people and the planes Oceania chartered than they may have to schedule some of the cruisers on scheduled flights and have them come in early. Flights to Tahiti from LAX aren't that plentiful so they have to take what is available. It's a numbers game. This is just my guess from our experience in 2013.

[pinotlover]

terrior;

 

It was actually Copenhagen. Seems O contracts with the companies they contract with and that is it. We had people on the cruise that O had connected through Iceland, Amsterdam, Frankfort, and London besides the non stops to Copenhagen, plus some people got the Offer to come in early. My guess, and it's only that, is that since it was a mid Summer cruise, seats got tight before O locked in their flights/seats.

[TERRIER1]

terrior;

 

It was actually Copenhagen. Seems O contracts with the companies they contract with and that is it. We had people on the cruise that O had connected through Iceland, Amsterdam, Frankfort, and London besides the non stops to Copenhagen, plus some people got the Offer to come in early. My guess, and it's only that, is that since it was a mid Summer cruise, seats got tight before O locked in their flights/seats.

 

I agree.

[ChucktownSteve]

Oct 28, 2014 cruise. We flew O air from Savannah to Rome via ATL on Delta. Arrived at 7:45am day of cruise.

 

Lisbon to Savannah via EWR on United. The crediit for air would have been $850pp. I Could not find flights for less than $1,100. I took the air deviation for $175 to stay two extra days in Lisbon. Competing airlines were not available in a timely fashion to/from those ports.

 

What I liked about the deviation was locking up early seat selection.

[travelingduo]

Thanks everyone. I think it boils down to where you are flying to/from and whether or not you want to do your own thing or fly business. We usually fly business, but O's business fares are crazy and it is difficult to use miles to upgrade when using their air. We decided to book our own air as we can book our flights now for a November 2015 Europe sailing and we can choose the most convenient airline and get PE (on an international carrier) for only a few hundred $ more than the air credit, plus we won't have to pay for the air deviation (we are flying in a week ahead). Your comments helped us make our decision. :)