Help booking Flights by Celebrity on line?

[39august]

I have only booked by calling. I do see acceptable flights on" manage my booking". If I go ahead and select, what happens next please?

[PinkSandGirl]

I have always called.  My most recent booking I made, I thought I would try to book online. I was able to link all of the reservations with those traveling with me, put in everyone's information and then nothing.  I would get error messages or it would freeze.  I tried on different computers and changed computer/cookie settings.  It was frustrating.  I think I was so determined to get it to work I was trying everything and then it was like...Why am I wasting this much time?!  😅   I had to call to book.  It took no time to do it over the phone.  That was my experience.  Online booking did not work at all.

 

If you do attempt to do it online, it walks you through.  You need reservation #'s for those traveling with you (if applicable), names, birth dates and frequent flyer #'s (if applicable), etc...the same information when you call.   It would let me get that far and that was it.  If you decide to try and it doesn't work the first time then I would suggest calling and not waste any more time trying online.  😉

 

Perhaps others have had luck booking online.  ???

 

🍹

Edited February 27, 2022 by PinkSandGirl

[BEAV]

Personally, I’ve had no problem booking on line. The process seemed like any other online airline purchase. 

[KruznKimmie]

No problems booking online & for me it has usually been cheaper versus calling.

 

[CruiseOrRust]

I also have booked FBC online several times without issues.  Just be aware that once you have booked that first flight itinerary for a particular cruise all future changes/rebookings for that cruise will have to be done via phone call to FBC.  Hold times are currently about an hour (similar to calling airlines directly).

[39august]

Have tried 3 times and get thru' all screens, but it won't complete. So, I'll be calling this PM. I have found in the past calling about 7:30 Eastern time yields a shorter hold time. 

[canderson]

Calling may be preferable in any case.  Numerous times I've found that what is displayed online isn't the whole available inventory.  For our last booking, I had a specific itinerary in mind.  Not shown on the Celebrity online site, but still available for booking with a phone call to Celebrity.  What I had found was far saner than what was shown online (departure/arrival, layovers, total travel time, etc.)

 

So:

1) Do a bit of homework in advance to see if there is an itinerary you particularly like

2) Make the call to see if Celebrity can accommodate your preferences when booking.  Give them specific dates, airlines and flight numbers to work with.

 

 

[PinkSandGirl]

5 hours ago, 39august said:

Have tried 3 times and get thru' all screens, but it won't complete. So, I'll be calling this PM. I have found in the past calling about 7:30 Eastern time yields a shorter hold time. 

That's what happened to me.  

 

Why some people get it to work and others don't...???

 

🍹

[Jim_Iain]

It is pretty straight forward and booking would be like most online reservation systems.   I believe you now have the options of either paying for the reservation with credit card or select reservation to be payed at time of Final Payment.

 

Personally if you are paying now I would go to the airline direct and you will find the same flight and amount.   If you select pay with final payment the reservation is just held and there are no cancellation or change  fees until after final payment.   After final Payment there is a fee of I believe $200 pp for changes or cancellation,  while most airlines have waived change fees and will give you a credit for cancelled flights.

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, 39august said:

Have tried 3 times and get thru' all screens, but it won't complete. So, I'll be calling this PM. I have found in the past calling about 7:30 Eastern time yields a shorter hold time. 

Surprised to hear this as I've never called to make a reservation and always do it on line.  Knock on wood I've never had a problem.   Curious as to what screen you get a failure on and what if any error code it shows. 

 

I find on many Celebrity screens there's a little check box that has to be checked to complete something and doesn't always show where the error is.   Often it is the block agreeing to T&C's.

[BEAV]

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Personally if you are paying now I would go to the airline direct and you will find the same flight and amount.   If you select pay with final payment the reservation is just held and there are no cancellation or change  fees until after final payment.   After final Payment there is a fee of I believe $200 pp for changes or cancellation,  while most airlines have waived change fees and will give you a credit for cancelled flights.

 

That’s a very good point. 

 

Until the airlines return to imposing change fees again, you are free to alter your reservations when advantageous to you. Whereas Flights By Celebrity will charge you $200. They’re not passing on to you an airline’s fee to charge, it’s their own fee. Unless Flights By Celebrity’s air fare is considerably less than booking direct with the airline, take into consideration the airline’s current no fees for voluntary changes. 

[Jim_Iain]

You can also play the game in the opposite way.   I booked what I thought was a good flight 9 months per-cruise  and the prices dropped.   I called up and got the reduced price.    As we got close to final payment and I knew for sure we were going I checked again and found the flight at the same price with the airlines so I cancelled with Flights by Celebrity (no fee or penalty) and re-booked direct with the airline.    Due to a schedule change by the airlines I had a 3 hours layover in Atlanta -  I was able to change the flight without any penalty or payment to one that matched my original arrival time. 

[Tierun]

I called after many failed attempts online. Calling was easier and they honored the special discount price I had online. The flight to port was only $1 and then it was $200 for the return flight. That was basically a round trip for less than the price of a one way ticket via the airline website.

[39august]

OP here. I called yesterday at 6:35 PM central time and had no wait time at all. But the line was very static, so had to ask for repeats several times. Nevertheless, the young woman was very efficient, and got exactly what I asked for about $30 pp less than shown on-line. She also booked seats for us.