Viking Air

[Mpc524]

When do you usually hear about your flights when you book through Viking? It's our first cruise and I am excited/anxious!! 74 more days!!

[CharTrav]

Did you book standard or premium Viking Air? If standard, you'll get your reservations 75 days before departure. http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/air-services/viking-air.html. If you paid for the Viking Air premier, you are able to pick your exact flight itinerary.

[Lumpy1509]

Has anyone used standard Viking Air from Cincinnati to Barcelona. How were the connections?

[Mpc524]

We booked standard air. I contacted Viking and was told we were in the "scheduling phase" and should hear shortly. She said airfare can be booked anywhere from 65-100 days out.

[austinetc]

Dec 8th cruise, flight notification Sep 29th. 71 days. The connections weren't bad. British Airways, partnered with American. I believe the actual carrier is BA, which is much better than American in my experience. We have a 4.5 hour layover on our return, which means we should be able to do a short train ride and tour of London. My SO hasn't been to Europe at all, so that's a great prospect.

[TERRIER1]

Dec 8th cruise, flight notification Sep 29th. 71 days. The connections weren't bad. British Airways, partnered with American. I believe the actual carrier is BA, which is much better than American in my experience. We have a 4.5 hour layover on our return, which means we should be able to do a short train ride and tour of London. My SO hasn't been to Europe at all, so that's a great prospect.

 

 

Heathrow security is very tight and it takes a long time to get through. Also, if you have to change terminals then that also takes longer than you think since the terminals are far apart depending where you are coming from and where you are going. We were on a 30 minute bus ride to go from the intra European terminal (British Air) to the international terminal to come home to the U.S. Just be careful of your timing since although 4.5 hours sounds like a lot of time it really isn't.

[KyOh]

What happens if you don't like the flights you get? Can you change them through Viking? And what is the possibility of booking your own and receiving a refund from Viking?

 

We aren't going until next July but we had friends who lost luggage and now I'm wishing we'd gone in early.

Thanks.

[Dauntless]

What happens if you don't like the flights you get? Can you change them through Viking? And what is the possibility of booking your own and receiving a refund from Viking?

 

We aren't going until next July but we had friends who lost luggage and now I'm wishing we'd gone in early.

Thanks.

 

We're going in September and just cancelled our flights through Viking. We're suppose to get a full refund. I couldn't find the starting price they were suppose to be discounting from and when we started talking customization of arrangements, the cost kept creeping higher and the services were decreasing. That still had not included choice of seats. I was told I would have to arrange that through the airlines--I'm sure for another fee. I could get what I wanted and pick the seats when I book through the internet at a price cheaper than Viking was offering as a discount.

[TERRIER1]

What happens if you don't like the flights you get? Can you change them through Viking? And what is the possibility of booking your own and receiving a refund from Viking?

 

We aren't going until next July but we had friends who lost luggage and now I'm wishing we'd gone in early.

Thanks.

 

We were on the ill fated 7/25 terminated cruise. We had booked close to two years in advance and at time of the booking the cost of the included air to Stockholm and leaving from Bergen from NYC was $825. As time went on the cost increased. We had heard Viking used indirect flights with long layovers getting cruisers into the embarkation port late in the day and therefore missing a full day of sightseeing. You can use Viking's Custom air for $50 pp and arrange your own air for an upcharge. However, our cruise was not eligible to partake in the Viking Air program. We were told that we would not have our flight info until as late as 60 days from before the cruise which is way to late to book air on your own for most places at a reasonable price. We were originally told that we could use the custom air and select our flights but this was not accurate and we ended up cancelling the air 260 out since that is the first time you can start using Viking Custom air. Had we known this we would have cancelled earlier and booked on our own at the 330 day mark when airlines release their fares. We cancelled the Viking Air through our TA and the credit was on our charge card within the next billing cycle. We flew to Stockholm on Delta direct several days early to see the city. We then flew from Bergen to Paris for a week on SAS for $100. Our flight home from Paris was on Air France direct which is a code share with Delta. You can book 330 days out and "usually" those are the best prices. I really don't trust Viking with anything especially managing my air. I also wanted to avoid Heathrow. If you are willing to make a connection there are some really inexpensive flights out there from NYC on Icelandic Air, KLM and SAS. There is also a new airline Norwegian Air. You need to check it out and compare. If you use Viking they include the transfers from the airport to towm. We took the Arlanda Express direct from the airport to our hotel in Stockholm which was a block away (if that). There is a bus that goes from Bergen to the airport all the time and is very inexpensive.

Edited October 6, 2015 by TERRIER1

[utexplore]

We are sailing on Viking next February with 3 other couples. We did everything ourselves with frequent flyer miles at the 330 day mark. One of the couples bought Viking Custom Air and had to fight with Viking every step of the way to get decent flights. Everything seemed to be an up charge. It look them 3 weeks and many long phone calls to get it done. The other 2 couples are using Viking Air (standard). They haven't been told their flights yet. At this point I am delighted we didn't use Viking.

[AtF&IW]

We had standard Viking Air for our July 24, 2015 cruise. Our flights were in & out of BWI & extremely convenient in both directions. Our TA helped us choose our seats on the trans Atlantic portions for $35 airline fee. Perhaps it depends on your departure airport.

[TERRIER1]

We had standard Viking Air for our July 24, 2015 cruise. Our flights were in & out of BWI & extremely convenient in both directions. Our TA helped us choose our seats on the trans Atlantic portions for $35 airline fee. Perhaps it depends on your departure airport.

 

 

Whom did you fly and did you connect? Thanks.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Dauntless,

 

Although we are disappointed to learn of your canceled air arrangements, we respect your decision to do so. Our guests do enjoy many benefits of booking airfare through Viking but, unfortunately, per our agreements with airline partners, we are not able to guarantee seating assignments. If you encounter trouble with your promised refund or have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

We are looking forward to welcoming you aboard next September!

 

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

 

We're going in September and just cancelled our flights through Viking. We're suppose to get a full refund. I couldn't find the starting price they were suppose to be discounting from and when we started talking customization of arrangements, the cost kept creeping higher and the services were decreasing. That still had not included choice of seats. I was told I would have to arrange that through the airlines--I'm sure for another fee. I could get what I wanted and pick the seats when I book through the internet at a price cheaper than Viking was offering as a discount.

[AFL Kiwi]

We were on the Viking Homelands cruise that left Bergen on 13th June.

 

We used Viking Air's two for one flight deal that was offered (we are in New Zealand) and included a stop in London rather than flying direct to Norway and a stopover in Singapore on the way home.

 

Through our travel agent we chose the flights we wanted to take and she submitted these to Viking. They came back to us with pretty much what we wanted and we had 24hrs to confirm if these were ok.

 

We had no problems whatsoever. Everything went smoothly.

[Emptynesters38]

Our cruise leaves January 17, 2016 and we received our flight information on October 5, 2015 which was 104 days in advance. The flight we received are on Lufthansa and are fairly close to the flights we would have booked if we made the travel arrangements ourselves. There are no non-stop flights between our home city and the ports at the start and end of the cruise so we have a stop in each direction. Our flights are close to the shortest total duration available on any airline. When we called after receiving our email, Viking even provided us with seat assignments on the “over the ocean” legs of the flights at no additional charge which usually costs $35 a flight on Lufthansa. The person we spoke to was very helpful. Our only concern is that the flight going home leaves at 6:55 AM which means an early wake up but on our previous Viking cruise my main complaint is that they dropped us the airport many hours early so hopefully we will not have that happen this time.

[AtF&IW]

We flew Baltimore to Chicago on United, then Chicago to Stockholm on SAS. Arrived in Stockholm at 7:50 AM on July 25. Initially, it seemed illogical to fly from Baltimore to Chicago.

On closer examination the northern flight path from Chicago to Stockholm made a lot of sense. We left Chicago at 4:25 PM & our 7:50 AM arrival in Stockholm gave us almost the entire day to see the city.

Return flights were on British Air from Bergen to London, then London to Baltimore. Arrived in Baltimore 7:55 PM. Heathrow is never fun but we had sufficient time to get from arrival to departure terminal.

[Mpc524]

So we are now at day 68 and have heard nothing yet. I emailed them and just heard back from a Valerie Kepler at Viking who now tells me air is booked at 45 days out! The 75 days listed on the website is erroneous.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Mpc524,

 

We apologize for any confusion. While the air schedules are available 75 days prior to departure, the flights are not confirmed and ticketed until 45 days prior to departure.

 

That said, we recognize you are past the 75 day mark. Our air department is currently a few days behind schedule and anticipates completion of your schedule in the next week.

 

Again, our apologies for the confusion. We do hope this explanation helps clarify. You are welcome to contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com if you have any additional questions.

 

Warm regards,

Viking Cruises

 

So we are now at day 68 and have heard nothing yet. I emailed them and just heard back from a Valerie Kepler at Viking who now tells me air is booked at 45 days out! The 75 days listed on the website is erroneous.

[Mpc524]

No worries! Now that I know, I won't be watching and watching for it. This is our first cruise and we are used to making all our own arrangements! It's tough to give up control! Have a great day!

[rjscott]

No worries! Now that I know, I won't be watching and watching for it. This is our first cruise and we are used to making all our own arrangements! It's tough to give up control! Have a great day!

 

It is tough to give up that control! We have done 5 Viking cruises; 4 river cruises and the maiden cruise of the Viking Star. We have done a combination of booking our own air and using Viking Air and Viking Custom Air. All times we have let Viking book our air, we have been very pleasantly surprised ( the giving up control issue ;) ) . Twice we had a non-stop flight and our last flight ( just last week), we had just one connection, but with a reasonable layover.

 

Becki

[Mpc524]

Just to update, we received our flight info yesterday and it is really great! DFW-LHR-FCO, BCN-MIA-DFW. We are really pleased! They will actually complete purchase in 7 days.

[rmmbc]

I booked air through Viking & my flights seem pretty good. One question I do have though is in regards to layover in Heathrow. I have never flown through there & thought I had read somewhere in the discussions that it is busy & chaotic. On both going & return we have a 4 hour connection time and I assume that will be fine?

[id4elizabeth]

You heard right - Heathrow is a disaster, particularly if you have to change terminals, which you probably will. But, assuming your flights are close to on time, you should be fine with a 4 hour layover. Be prepared for a LOT of walking. If you're mobility challenged, you might want to think about requesting a wheelchair.

[rmmbc]

Luckily, I just looked at the flights and we fly into & out of Terminal 5, so hoping that will be the case & won't require to much running around. I don't mind walking around, but don't want to be stressed about time.

[jkerr]

we depart on 12/27 for Rome so we are about 65 days out and Viking is not offering Custom Air for our cruise. I would really like to see what flights they have us on so we can upgrade or purchase our seats in advance. Viking... if you are reading this, can you please respond?