Flights by Celebrity vs Booking on Your Own

[ScottC4746]

What are the pros and cons of Flights by Celebrity vs booking on your own?

[Dancing Shoes]

I would book on my own.  Easier to make changes on their website.  

[Jim_Iain]

The only real advantage in my opinion is that you don't need to pay  for the reservation until final payment date.   Negative is after final payment you have to pay a penalty of $200 per ticket to cancel or change regardless if your ticket might be fully refundable.

 

They promise to get you to the ship if there is a problem but basically they are just a travel agent and will work with the airlines to get you there.  

[blackshirt]

The biggest pro for me, automatic refund if the cruise is cancelled. That came in handy in 2020. They also generally have lower prices for international flights and I only use them for international flights. 

[Denny01]

I agree with the general lower prices on international flights, and especially one-way. When we do TransAtlantic’s we usually get a One-Way and since we live on the Fla Panhandle, we drive back. 

 

Den

[NutsAboutGolf]

Sometimes are there sales and sometimes international flights are cheaper; if there isn't a discount book directly with the airline

[Cruising89143]

I just don’t trust allowing anyone else to be in control of my flights. For our upcoming trip in May United has now changed our flights to Italy seven times including the last three weekends. Each time I quickly caught it and contacted United directly to make sure that I was happy with any changes made. At times it’s been a pain but in the end I got what I wanted out of it so I’m not sure how it would work with someone else dealing with the airline on my behalf. 

[edgee]

I have an international flight in early 2023 booked with Celebrity. Have had no trouble dealing directly with the airline regarding seats. No changes to flights as of yet.

 

[georgiaguy]

The pro for us is that when the prices on flights dropped we were able to call and rebook and saved $600.

[yogini06]

31 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

I just don’t trust allowing anyone else to be in control of my flights. For our upcoming trip in May United has now changed our flights to Italy seven times including the last three weekends. Each time I quickly caught it and contacted United directly to make sure that I was happy with any changes made. At times it’s been a pain but in the end I got what I wanted out of it so I’m not sure how it would work with someone else dealing with the airline on my behalf. 

I was given the record locator and put it in my UA account.  I received a notice from Celebrity when UA changed my flights.  I picked new seats on the transatlantic because the plane had a different configuration.

 

The Celebrity flight sale last fall was amazing.  Saved $700 on business class flights to Europe.  Didn't have to pay for them until I made final payment for the cruise.

[NutsAboutGolf]

25 minutes ago, georgiaguy said:

The pro for us is that when the prices on flights dropped we were able to call and rebook and saved $600.

 

Was this before or after final payment?  You can do this if you book directly with the airlines and in some cases you can do this online in seconds.  At worst, you can cancel your old flight, receive a credit and rebook.  At best you receive a refund for the difference, depends on the airline and the time frame.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Another con is you're limited to the legacy airlines, no Southwest, Jetblue (they partnered with AA so this could change), Breeze, (if you can tolerate the following) Spirit, Frontier, Sun Country or Allegiant along with no basic economy.

[georgiaguy]

It is before final payment. Our final payment isn’t until next month. Also I did a search for the same flights and couldn’t get the same flights at the price Celebrity offered. Not saying they are perfect, but it worked for us. 

[Lazy in NC]

I booked for the first time because flying back from Barcelona can be very expensive. The airline was Delta and I had my seats for months, received an email about a change in connecting flights with my seats listed on February 28. Then a week later (one month before my trip), my flight disappeared from my delta  account. Celebrity had cancelled the flight. After two hours with Celebrity flights (one hour on hold) and waiting a day, I had new tickets but lost my seats, instead of row 33, I am in row 39 which is 4 rows from the back of the plane. Never again!!! I want to control my flights.

[odysee]

For me biggest pro is that when embarkation or debarkation port are changed, X adjusts airport and flight automatically without extra cost and trouble.  Happened to us already and we wete very pleased how they handled it.

[HFW1601]

We used the Celebrity offer for flights recently for our itinery for a ABC Cruise from FLL we paid GBP 199.00 x 2 return from UK/US vv it was a AA/BA codeshare we couldn't get anywhere near that doing it ourselves.

[MBP1]

I saw some pretty big discounts on some domestic one-way flights for our cruise, but the times were not great so we booked on our own elsewhere. 

[Majkman]

I guess here is a good place to ask a question. We are booked on International flights, and someone in our group has stated that since we are booked thru Flights By Celebrity, one of the perks is our drink package is automatically upgraded to the premium....?

 

I don't personally care (being a simple beer guy), but I do like having all of the facts.

Can anyone confirm or deny this alleged benefit??

 

Keep the sun out and the waves calm,

 

Andy

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 minutes ago, Majkman said:

I guess here is a good place to ask a question. We are booked on International flights, and someone in our group has stated that since we are booked thru Flights By Celebrity, one of the perks is our drink package is automatically upgraded to the premium....?

 

I don't personally care (being a simple beer guy), but I do like having all of the facts.

Can anyone confirm or deny this alleged benefit??

 

Keep the sun out and the waves calm,

 

Andy

 

Not true (I booked a flight this past July), if it were true it would certainly have been listed as a "pro".  Since airlines dropped their change fees and flights by X didn't, they have become far less attractive.  However they do occasionally offer sales, when that happens its worth looking into.

[Gist Ducky]

13 minutes ago, Majkman said:

I guess here is a good place to ask a question. We are booked on International flights, and someone in our group has stated that since we are booked thru Flights By Celebrity, one of the perks is our drink package is automatically upgraded to the premium....?

 

I don't personally care (being a simple beer guy), but I do like having all of the facts.

Can anyone confirm or deny this alleged benefit??

 

Keep the sun out and the waves calm,

 

Andy

We have used Flights by Celebrity several times, most recently in January. We never received an upgrade to a premium drink package, either internationally or domestically.

[Jim_Iain]

We use to get some pretty good Business Class International flights through Flights by Celebrity but since the shut down almost all they will book are fully refundable fares and I find I can buy them direct with the airline for the same price or lower.  

 

Like other things I think the best suggestion is to shop around the airlines and Google Flights and know the prices.   If you can get a better deal with FBC go for it.    I've found that even with booking direct with the airlines prices change on almost a daily basis and promotional fares popup all the time but may be capacity limited.    Also often little know carrier can offer some really great deals. 

 

I usually set alerts on Google Flights and they advise when fares drop or jump up as well as a suggestion of where fares are in relationship to "normal".

 

I've also gotten some sweet deals on Chase Sapphire Flight booking area.   Sometimes a combination of points and cash other times points significantly less than if I transferred to the airlines and booked it.

[BEAV]

If you find a good price on Flights By Celebrity, check also the price directly with the airline. I found a great Biz class flight US-Europe, but before I pulled the trigger, I checked the airline’s site directly and it was the same price. So I booked directly with the airline in order to have full control of my booking. 

 

Check, check, and re-check. 

[sunpsyche]

On 3/30/2022 at 7:37 PM, Denny01 said:

I agree with the general lower prices on international flights, and especially one-way. When we do TransAtlantic’s we usually get a One-Way and since we live on the Fla Panhandle, we drive back. 

 

Den

My brain skipped the “one way” and I was Perplexed at you driving back! Had a good laugh 😅.

[Denny01]

9 hours ago, sunpsyche said:

My brain skipped the “one way” and I was Perplexed at you driving back! Had a good laugh 😅.

Yup. Would have been a soggy drive! 
 

den

[edgee]

Now frustrated by Flights by Celebrity. Booked RT business class flights for down under cruise in 2023. Twice Air NZ has cancelled my flights due to them not yet being ticketed. I thought that was one of the best features of Celebrity Air..no payment until final cruise payment date. Celebrity air keeps telling me they will fix the problem but each time they "fix" it and I get a new airline record locator number, the airline cancels the reservation again. I may have to look for alternatives.