Choice Air-good idea?

[sasset]

Changing subjects here, but many of you have mentioned transatlantic experience. Anyone have recommendations for shipping a piece of luggage from Civitavecchia home (California)?

 

Did this years ago (2006) from Southampton when the luggage services were fairly new. Never saw that bag again. Got some advice last year, but it's crunch time and hope to get some more experiences, recommendations and/or warnings.

 

 

Thanks

[Azulann]

Gonzo70,

 

Well said sir!

It all comes down to being informed, understanding your tolerance for risk, and being proactive in case things change.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Rob... I am also headed to FLL this April, but taking Silhouette and flying back from Amsterdam. This will be my 7th transatlantic in 4 years and I have used Choice Air for 6 of the trips, with never so much as a minor hiccup. :cool:

 

I'd like to offer a suggestion for even MORE savings, for you to consider in the future. Book only the long, transatlantic portion through Choice Air like you did. (from Rome) But book the short domestic hop to FLL through Travelocity, or Orbitz. I have found it is almost always significantly less expensive. My Frontier flight from Fargo, N.D. to FLL, connecting through Denver was only $131pp! :eek:

 

For westbound T/As, I again use Choice Air for the long one way TO Europe, but book the short domestic return from MIA or FLL on my own. Check it out and see if it works for you.

 

 

For the general discussion...

 

NO ONE is "forcing" anyone to book through choice air, if you don't want to, DON'T. :rolleyes:

 

Just don't whine about expensive air fares. :o

If you phone into Choice Air , and tell the flights you want , it can work out cheap then do multi city on their website, I did that this year , got a great prices Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, and Amsterdam to Toronto

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Gonzo 70,

The sky is falling, the sky falling look out :rolleyes:

 

If you book a flight directly, or on Chice Air and there an ice storm covering the 75 % of the continent , everyone is screwed equally

[beltane]

We had a bad experience with Choice Air last year. We allowed them to book our flights and I thought it was odd that not only were we flying on the same day we sail, but we could not book our seats even though we were booking our flight 6 months in advance. They told me "you can't do it until 30 days before your flight." So 30 days before I phoned and was told "You can't reserve your seats until 24 hours before." I thought it was odd, I phoned Choice Air, I also phoned Celebrity. They told me not to worry that it was standard. So 24 hours prior to take off I went online and it would not allow me to reserve seats. I phoned again and was told "Don't worry, we will make sure you are sitting beside your husband when you check in at the airport." I am a nervous flyer and do better when my husband is beside me.

 

We arrive at the airport to check in and find we are on STAND BY!!! Celebrity told us that if we didn't make the flight that they will put us up in a hotel and fly us to the first port to meet the ship two days later... which of course is a horrible way to start a cruise you've been looking forward to for months.

 

Thank goodness a couple was willing to give up their seats for us, but right until 20 minutes before our flight we did not know if we would be sailing out later that day. As it was we we seated at the very back of the plane on the seats that say "crew only". At least we did get there but we learned that from then on we will book our own flights.

 

We got nothing but "we're terribly sorry" from Celebrity when we complained about how stressful the experience was.

 

We will never use Choice Air again.

[ghstudio]

We had a bad experience with Choice Air last year. We allowed them to book our flights and I thought it was odd that not only were we flying on the same day we sail, but we could not book our seats even though we were booking our flight 6 months in advance. They told me "you can't do it until 30 days before your flight." So 30 days before I phoned and was told "You can't reserve your seats until 24 hours before." I thought it was odd, I phoned Choice Air, I also phoned Celebrity. They told me not to worry that it was standard. So 24 hours prior to take off I went online and it would not allow me to reserve seats. I phoned again and was told "Don't worry, we will make sure you are sitting beside your husband when you check in at the airport." I am a nervous flyer and do better when my husband is beside me.

 

We arrive at the airport to check in and find we are on STAND BY!!! Celebrity told us that if we didn't make the flight that they will put us up in a hotel and fly us to the first port to meet the ship two days later... which of course is a horrible way to start a cruise you've been looking forward to for months.

 

Thank goodness a couple was willing to give up their seats for us, but right until 20 minutes before our flight we did not know if we would be sailing out later that day. As it was we we seated at the very back of the plane on the seats that say "crew only". At least we did get there but we learned that from then on we will book our own flights.

 

We got nothing but "we're terribly sorry" from Celebrity when we complained about how stressful the experience was.

 

We will never use Choice Air again.

 

We have never had a problem....we always book on a name airline and get the airline record locator from choice air. It sounds like you had some different deal where perhaps the air was included in the celebrity price quote.

[successone]

It would serve them best to offer both first class and economy class one, after all that ensures guests are always in a class unto themselves. I love the accommodations of a subliminally perfect class which is not ever underwritten.

 

This really makes it a whole new type of cruise with the island endorsement. :cool:

[navybankerteacher]

We had a bad experience with Choice Air last year. We allowed them to book our flights and I thought it was odd that not only were we flying on the same day we sail, but we could not book our seats even though we were booking our flight 6 months in advance. They told me "you can't do it until 30 days before your flight." So 30 days before I phoned and was told "You can't reserve your seats until 24 hours before." I thought it was odd, I phoned Choice Air, I also phoned Celebrity. They told me not to worry that it was standard. So 24 hours prior to take off I went online and it would not allow me to reserve seats. I phoned again and was told "Don't worry, we will make sure you are sitting beside your husband when you check in at the airport." I am a nervous flyer and do better when my husband is beside me.

 

We arrive at the airport to check in and find we are on STAND BY!!! Celebrity told us that if we didn't make the flight that they will put us up in a hotel and fly us to the first port to meet the ship two days later... which of course is a horrible way to start a cruise you've been looking forward to for months.

 

Thank goodness a couple was willing to give up their seats for us, but right until 20 minutes before our flight we did not know if we would be sailing out later that day. As it was we we seated at the very back of the plane on the seats that say "crew only". At least we did get there but we learned that from then on we will book our own flights.

 

We got nothing but "we're terribly sorry" from Celebrity when we complained about how stressful the experience was.

 

We will never use Choice Air again.

 

Who is the "THEM" you allowed to book your flights - and why did you let an unidentified "THEM" do it?

 

in all of my multiple experiences with CA, I have selected my flight from a range of possibilities across a number of airlines and a number of dates. I book the flight I want, confirm it with the airline, get my locator code, select seats on the airline's site.

 

Yes, I pay the airfare at the time I book it, but with interest rates what they are, it is a small loss to pay up front. I suspect if you let the cruise line's rep do it all for you - just so you can put minimum amount down, and pay the balance as late as possible then you are giving "THEM" control.

 

The foul-up you describe surely appears to be the result of your letting a disinterested clerk spend a few minutes to do something you surely could have done yourself.

 

The problem was not with CA - it wad with your lack of involvement.

[beltane]

We have never had a problem....we always book on a name airline and get the airline record locator from choice air. It sounds like you had some different deal where perhaps the air was included in the celebrity price quote.

 

You could be right. I'm not that experienced with Celebrity. We booked the cruise ourselves directly through Celebrity in August. At that time they offered to arrange our flights and we said we would like to see what deals we can find on our own. The fellow said "When you are ready to book, would you please give us a call and give us the opportunity to beat whatever price/flight you find?" So in October we did just that. We found what we thought were good, direct flights. He found flights, Air Canada, and gave us a better price. At that time I did ask about them having us fly in the morning and board the cruise ship that afternoon and he assured us that "folks do it all the time". I figured Air Canada, which is a large reputable airline (we're Canadian and use it all the time) we would be fine.

 

It was nerve wracking. Thank goodness it worked out, but I don't think I will give Choice Air another chance to put me through that again. I'm sure we were one in thousands of good experiences, but when you're that one, it's not fun.

 

It's didn't put us off Celebrity... we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and have now booked our 3rd Celebrity cruise.

[RickT]

Beltane, I think part of your problem was Choice Air, but the bigger problem was "Scare" Canada :p

 

The problem with Choice Air was a bit of mis-information along with having you fly in same day as the cruise (and yes, lots of people, including myself, do that). With any company or with airline directly you need to know what you want and insist on it. Whether it be leaving a day prior to the cruise or accepting a "legal" connection that you personally feel is too tight.

 

As far as Air Canada, for North American flights you cannot choose your seat until 24 hrs prior. When you tried to reserve your seats, were you trying to check in or just reserve your seats? With Air Canada as soon as the flight is available for check in you can check in and choose your seats. I'm guessing the flight was oversold and since you weren't checked in (sorry, your note only mentions trying to reserve your seats) you were put on the standby list, same as anyone who didn't already check in and have a seat assignment.

 

I've flown Air Canada on Choice Air tickets and they've been identical to any other Air Canada ticket that I have booked direct. While Air Canada often irks me, they are still an OK airline if you can actually talk to anyone.

 

The other thing to keep in mind, just because you booked through Choice Air, you would still have been able to call Air Canada directly and get things sorted out.

[CathyCruises]

You could be right. I'm not that experienced with Celebrity. We booked the cruise ourselves directly through Celebrity in August. At that time they offered to arrange our flights and we said we would like to see what deals we can find on our own. The fellow said "When you are ready to book, would you please give us a call and give us the opportunity to beat whatever price/flight you find?" So in October we did just that. We found what we thought were good, direct flights. He found flights, Air Canada, and gave us a better price. At that time I did ask about them having us fly in the morning and board the cruise ship that afternoon and he assured us that "folks do it all the time". I figured Air Canada, which is a large reputable airline (we're Canadian and use it all the time) we would be fine.

 

It was nerve wracking. Thank goodness it worked out, but I don't think I will give Choice Air another chance to put me through that again. I'm sure we were one in thousands of good experiences, but when you're that one, it's not fun.

 

It's didn't put us off Celebrity... we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and have now booked our 3rd Celebrity cruise.

 

Okay, that is a different animal than we are talking about and now it makes sense. When I use choice air, I book completely on my own. I go onto their website and put in my cruise dates and a whole range of possibilities opens up. I can choose non-stop, business class, a huge range of airlines, and also a huge range of connections. For instance, I can pick leaving from Paris and connecting in 2 hours at JFK, or connecting in 4 hours in Detroit, or connecting in 3 hours at Dulles, so many that it takes us a while to figure out what we want to pick. Often the non-stop is only a few dollars ($20) more than a connecting flights. I also have used choice air to fly home from an airport in an entirely different country from the one in which our cruise ended, and six weeks later.

 

I agree that I can almost always do better booking the domestic leg on my own and just use CA for the international flight. This go-around, I got a non-stop flight on Virgin America from San Francisco to Ft. Lauderdale for $154, pretty darn good for coast-to-coast nonstop.

[beltane]

Yes, it certainly does sound like a series of unfortunate mishaps. We've flown Air Canada many times and never had such a problem. Each time I spoke to someone on the phone this time I was reassured that we absolutely would be on that flight... and in the end we were.

 

But it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Christine Frances]

Sorry Beltane. That was "cruise air" not Choice air. Cruise Air is usually a pkg with air and cruise, you don't select the flights and you usually fly in the day of the cruise. There has been some lobbying to Choice Air to separate these two programs as it really causes confusion. Give CA a look for your next cruise but do not bundle air into your booking. Research your flights and then see what Pricing Choice Air can do for you

[beltane]

I am confused what you mean... my email confirmation was from "Choice Air". I'm looking at my old reservation confirmation right now (I save everything.)

 

No matter. For me, I will book my flights myself and never do the fly in the morning thing ever again.

[Gonzo70]

Gonzo 70,

The sky is falling, the sky falling look out :rolleyes:

 

If you book a flight directly, or on Chice Air and there an ice storm covering the 75 % of the continent , everyone is screwed equally

 

Sorry, I tried to make my post as objective, factual and easy to understand as possible; apparently I did not make it quite simplistic enough for you - there are always outlying data points.

 

The scenario you provided is ludacris. In real life weather can often result in several flights being cancelled and/or greatly delayed in one (or more) regions, but not all flights. Also common mechanical issues can greatly delay or cancel any given flight. If for instance one is flying New York to London for a cruise and one's flight is cancelled due to mechanical issues, now the entire plane (let's say 250 people) need to be put on other flights. Let's say other flights that day have a total of 200 seats available - guess what 50 passengers are likely out of luck, those with the cheapest (and hence most restricted) tickets. Also the highly restricted tickets may also decrease what alternative flights one may even be allowed to be changed to. Not a big enough reason to avoid Choice Air if it will save hundreds (or even thousands in some cases), but enough of a risk to warrant building in more wiggle room than if flying on a more expensive (less restricted) ticket.

 

Hopefully that was easy enough for you to grasp, if not I am afraid I can not break it down any further.

[CHUCKIE50]

I don't mean to offend anyone but Ludacris is a singer. Ludicrous is an adjective meaning amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity. Just one of my pet peeves.

Edited March 5, 2015 by CHUCKIE50

[Gonzo70]

I don't mean to offend anyone but Ludacris is a singer. Ludicrous is an adjective meaning amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity. Just one of my pet peeves.

 

No offense taken; as I mentioned I tried to "dumb down" my post hoping that it would be basic enough for Air Balancer to manage to understand at least some of it - it pained me to type "ludacris" but figured 1 in 100 he would discern what I was meaning had I used the proper spelling. :p:cool::D;)

[huskerc]

I have a serious question for the people who ended up with undesirable flights. Did you understand that you could go to choiceair.com and choose exact flights/times versus just calling someone and asking for whatever air arrangements they chose for you?

[WpgCruise]

Here's a question that comes to mind...............................

 

If United (for example) is selling a ticket on their web side from here to there for $2,500, how can Choice Air sell the same ticket for $1,500 ? My numbers are just for illustration of course.

 

Are they in fact the same tickets?

 

If they are, why would the airline sell the tickets to us through Choice Air at such a discount ?

 

Logic would suggest they are not the same tickets at all. If they were the airline would not discount them.

[Cuizer2]

We are traveling from Virginia to San Juan this November.

I've been reviewing info and posts on Choice Air. Many are over a year old so I was hoping to get some recent opinions.

What are the pros and cons of booking with CA?

Thanks!

 

I don't like the control one gives up when booking Choice Air, so I would not do it.

[Gonzo70]

Here's a question that comes to mind...............................

 

If United (for example) is selling a ticket on their web side from here to there for $2,500, how can Choice Air sell the same ticket for $1,500 ? My numbers are just for illustration of course.

 

Are they in fact the same tickets?

 

If they are, why would the airline sell the tickets to us through Choice Air at such a discount ?

 

Logic would suggest they are not the same tickets at all. If they were the airline would not discount them.

 

Correct logic; Choice Air used to admit this on their website and state some of their tickets are "specially negotiated" and may come with significant restrictions - but they removed this admission from their website. Airlines sell batches of tickets to various entities (consolidators, cruise lines etc) at a discount but with the catch that the tickets are generally more restrictive than the higher priced tickets the airline sells (i.e. some or all may apply - no or less frequent flyer miles, low priority for being accommodated on standby on other flight if one's flight is cancelled, higher change fees, non-reroutable, non-endorsable etc.). IMHO on one way transatlantic flights the much cheaper fares offered by Choice Air for me are worth the increased risk associated with these tickets, but only if I am able to build in lots of wiggle room.

[grandgeezer]

I don't like the control one gives up when booking Choice Air, so I would not do it.

 

What control?? I pick my own flights, pick out my own seats and upgrade, if available at a decent price. What else is there left to control. Oh yea, I save over 50% in the meantime.

I bet you book through the cruise line for the same reason.

[sasset]

Much of the misinformation in this thread is some are citing what they have heard happens with no personal experience. Here is our personal experience from September 2014:

 

Booked, via Choice Air, AA LAX-JFK-LHR business at 1020 AM with an approximately 2 hour connection at JFK. We taxied and started down the runway only to abort and return to the gate. We were assured by the cockpit it would only be minutes until we were on our way. We were now into an hour delay. About a half an hour later we were told we would have to de-plane and board a different plane. By now it was clear that weren't going to make our JFK-LHR connection and doubtful for the next and last JFK-LHR for the night. I was on the phone with AA rebooking. They put us on a BA (AA partner) nonstop, business, leaving at about 3:30 PM getting us in pretty close to our original arrival time.

 

No issue that it was a Choice Air booking. As far as AA was concerned it was just another AA ticket. It was stressful, especially the aborted take off, but it worked out. We didn't seem to have any issues due to using Choice Air.

 

An added perk: BA's lounge at LAX is much nicer than AA's.

[Rob the Cruiser]

Here's a question that comes to mind...............................

 

If United (for example) is selling a ticket on their web side from here to there for $2,500, how can Choice Air sell the same ticket for $1,500 ? My numbers are just for illustration of course.

 

Are they in fact the same tickets?

 

If they are, why would the airline sell the tickets to us through Choice Air at such a discount ?

 

Logic would suggest they are not the same tickets at all. If they were the airline would not discount them.

 

My tickets are the same as I would have gotten directly from American Airlines. Both carry the same restrictions: non-cancellable, non-refundable, fee for change in itinerary. Fee is charged only if I were to make the change. Weather delays, etc are the airlines problem. Although seats are assigned at time of booking, I went on AA website and selected seats of my choosing.

 

Contrary to worrying about loss of control, last year we missed our connecting flight due to a weather delay. I spoke to an AA customer service representative face-to-face and got the next available flight. No problem. Exactly the same as booking directly with AA. I didn't call Choice Air.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Rob the Cruiser

[Cuizer2]

What control?? I pick my own flights, pick out my own seats and upgrade, if available at a decent price. What else is there left to control. Oh yea, I save over 50% in the meantime.

I bet you book through the cruise line for the same reason.

 

I do not book through the cruise line. I book through a TA. The problem with the Choice Air tickets was highlighted in the post before yours. You loose the ability to make last minute changes.

 

Your savings will not seem all that great if something goes wrong and you can't change the ticket or have it endorsed.

 

In addition, I usually will purchase upgraded tickets, including first class, which was very helpful when on the way home I went west and my luggage went northeast.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Cuizer2