Flights by Celebrity vs Booking on Your Own

[JKHawaii]

On 3/30/2022 at 10:28 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

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.

I would beg to differ:  not flying Spirit is a PRO for me.

[boxkite]

For Fights by Celebrity:

Pros

If you plan to fly in the day of the cruise, this is a safer option than booking direct with a airline

Can wait and pay for the flight when you make final cruise payment

Can sometimes be less expensive, especially for international flights

 

Cons

May not be able to choose your seats until you either make final cruise payment or pay for the flights separately

If flying American Airlines, will not be able to upgrade to Premium Economy

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, boxkite said:

For Fights by Celebrity:

Pros

If you plan to fly in the day of the cruise, this is a safer option than booking direct with a airline

Can wait and pay for the flight when you make final cruise payment

Can sometimes be less expensive, especially for international flights

 

Cons

May not be able to choose your seats until you either make final cruise payment or pay for the flights separately

If flying American Airlines, will not be able to upgrade to Premium Economy

 

Are you saying if you have AA status that you won't be upgraded?  You can add your loyalty # to any flight they sell and receive the status benefits.  I cleared the 1st class upgrade list this past July.

[jgroth619]

Took a cruise with celebrity in Dec. did my own flights. No issues. Next cruise is in June. Figured we’d use flights by celebrity and it’s been a nightmare. Never again. 

[RichYak]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:38 PM, boxkite said:

If you plan to fly in the day of the cruise, this is a safer option than booking direct with a airline

I see this posted often, yet I don't see any posts about how it works in practice if downline boarding is no longer an option post-covid.

[donovanrs28]

I booked via Celebrity on British Airways (Prem Econ) from Austin to Italy and saved me $500 per ticket versus booking direct and I got to choose my seats at time of booking without the standard fees that BA charges! This saved me about another $200 across the 4 total flights (1 Stop, Roundtrip). 

 

Also getting to lower cost of flight before final payment was a huge perk. Took advantage of that twice!

[boxkite]

On 4/5/2022 at 8:24 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Are you saying if you have AA status that you won't be upgraded?  You can add your loyalty # to any flight they sell and receive the status benefits.  I cleared the 1st class upgrade list this past July.

 

Hello Nuts AboutGolf, I'm not saying that if you have AA status that you won't be upgraded. Only saying that if booking with FBC, there is not an option to pay more money to upgrade your AA flights to Premium Economy. If you book your flights with AA you can choose to pay more money to upgrade to Premium Economy.

[gracebest]

On 3/30/2022 at 4:31 PM, Jim_Iain said:

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.  

Actually, you can no longer join a cruise in progress according to the FAQ section on the Celebrity website.  I don’t know  know if you would get a refund or FCC if the flight was delayed or cancelled causing you to miss the ship.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, boxkite said:

 

Hello Nuts AboutGolf, I'm not saying that if you have AA status that you won't be upgraded. Only saying that if booking with FBC, there is not an option to pay more money to upgrade your AA flights to Premium Economy. If you book your flights with AA you can choose to pay more money to upgrade to Premium Economy.

Thanks for clarifying, a follow up question, have you tried calling FBC, asking for a paid upgrade and we’re denied?

[NutsAboutGolf]

Another flight dynamic I just wanted to share, if you have status on united including the lowest of silver, if you’re within 24 hours of checkin, they now allow same day flight changes for free, they used to charge a $75 fee but you did avoid a potentially costly re-fare.  I just did this for the first time for a flight tomorrow.  No option for my flight online unless I was willing pay the difference but it worked by calling in.  The earlier flight was about $200 more but it let me change to that flight for free.  There’s never a guarantee they’ll be availability

[Algebralovr]

If I'm flying from my middle of the US airport to do a closed loop cruise out of Florida, I see no reason to book air through Celebrity.  I typically book my air the day before if not 2 days before, and then I watch the weather like crazy, and know that if I need to, we can drive to the cruise port.  Won't be fun, but it is possible.

 

If I'm NOT doing a closed loop cruise, like I'm doing a Panama Canal or a Vancouver to Seward, or something that is not closed loop not in the US, having something through the ship may be of assistance.  For example, we did Venice to Istanbul a few years ago.  While there were not issues with Istanbul at the time I booked, there was a potential for it.  So I booked via Celebrity since if the ship changed the end location, the Celebrity team would already be on the job to move my air as soon as the decision was made.  Same with the one way to Seward.  If the fog is really bad and the ship can't dock, they are supposed to get ahead of the rescheduling.  

 

Best answer is, it depends.

[cachouonacruise]

Big pros:

 

No hassle if a problem arises and your cruise needs a change in departing/arriving ports or is cancelled. 
 

No payment required until final payment date.

 

If you watch the prices and a better price is found after your initial booking, it is possible to obtain the better price.

 

Only one company is responsible to bring you from home to the ship. If something goes unplanned that is not under your control, Flight by Celebrity will provide you with available options.

 

Small cons:

 

Trying to speak to a Flight by Celebrity representative, often require patience...

 

Flight by Celebrity does not seem to have access to all flights from a specific airline. For example, with Air Canada, Flights by Celebrity scheduled me with a one hour layover in Toronto. Taking in consideration, Canadian weather, Airports involved and air traffic, I was a bit nervous about that. The airline had many flights departing earlier, which would have extended my layover in Toronto and made me feel more secure, but these flights were not available with Flights by Celebrity.

 

Another example, for 2023, there is a direct flight from my home to San Juan....however, Flights by Celebrity only seems to offer the flights to San Juan via a lay over in Toronto.

 

Lastly, seat selection. With some airlines, seat selection does not become available until final payment is made.... 

 

Good Luck! 

 

 

[drakes2]

On 4/8/2022 at 5:01 PM, cachouonacruise said:

Trying to speak to a Flight by Celebrity representative, often require patience...

It requires a lot more than patience. The one time I used them was in January when my West Jet itinerary was cancelled and I was 2 weeks away from my sail date. Called flights by Celebrity got someone in Guatemala with terrible English who had difficulty with pronunciation. She finally was able to book flights after sending the info to another department. I stressed it had to be in CAD which it was but seat selection was in USD. Couldn't even find the record locator number on the email as in very small print. When asked why seat selection was in wrong currency no one seemed to know and they insisted booking was in Canadian.  I just gave up with them and called Air Canada and the agent had the right answer had to do with the IP address. Just don't understand why Celebrity reps are so ill informed yet an Air Canada rep knows more.  

[mnocket]

On 3/31/2022 at 7:28 PM, Jim_Iain said:

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.  

This is really discouraging. I loved the fact that we could get Business Class flights at significant discounts.  It would be so sad if this is lost forever.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

This is really discouraging. I loved the fact that we could get Business Class flights at significant discounts.  It would be so sad if this is lost forever.

My November 2021 flight was cheaper booking directly with airline by $80 but my January flight was the same price so booked with Celebrity. I have never found Celebrity to be cheaper than booking with airline 

[Islander500]

Just off Edge cruise out of FLL which forced many cruisers whose flights were cancelled as a result of weather and other events last weekend, to miss the sailing.  Met a couple who boarded 2 days later in San Juan, PR.  They were told by Celebrity supervisor that this boarding option was allowed for them ONLY because they had booked at least 1 leg of their flight via Celebrity Air. They were surprised but thankful they had done just that.       

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

This is really discouraging. I loved the fact that we could get Business Class flights at significant discounts.  It would be so sad if this is lost forever.

 

Essentially FBC are a travel agent and if they can offer a rate cheaper than the airline directly you can find the same rates on other TA.  The only exception is when FBC offers a sale (often only $50 or $100 off airfare).  But what the person you quoted was talking about was that FBC seems to not be offering the cheaper non-refundable rates at all for international rates.

[ScottC4746]

However, yesterday my Delta flight booked through X for Seattle in September had a schedule change and Flights by Celebrity notified me of it.  Delta still has not.

[JBare]

On 4/8/2022 at 2:23 PM, RichYak said:

I see this posted often, yet I don't see any posts about how it works in practice if downline boarding is no longer an option post-covid.

 

We always book directly with the Celebrity reps who are excellent and usually give you their direct dial tel no's. For cruises in Europe from the UK we always have same day arrivals for ports like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome or Venice. Celebrity nearly always have block bookings on certain flights so can get good rates and its quite likely you will be on the same flight with other guests, Celebrity reps meet you at the airport with a checklist of everyone booked with them, you give them your luggage and get on a bus.  Several flights will be arriving from different UK and other European airports. Not sure about downline boarding but if a flight is delayed significantly on the day reps will wait for it. We have been on a couple of departures from Rome where the ship has delayed departure for several hours to await a coach with a few passengers arriving late because the reps have reported to the ship the late arrival of an aircraft or even more than one late arrival. If you're on your own, it may not wait.

Edited April 11, 2022 by JBare
typo

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, JBare said:

 

We always book directly with the Celebrity reps who are excellent and usually give you their direct dial tel no's. For cruises in Europe from the UK we always have same day arrivals for ports like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome or Venice. Celebrity nearly always have block bookings on certain flights so can get good rates and its quite likely you will be on the same flight with other guests, Celebrity reps meet you at the airport with a checklist of everyone booked with them, you give them your luggage and get on a bus.  Several flights will be arriving from different UK and other European airports. Not sure about downline boarding but if a flight is delayed significantly on the day reps will wait for it. We have been on a couple of departures from Rome where the ship has delayed departure for several hours to await a coach with a few passengers arriving late because the reps have reported to the ship the late arrival of an aircraft or even more than one late arrival. If you're on your own, it may not wait.

This reads to me like you may be assigning some value of purchasing Celebrity Transfers to Flights by Celebrity. Perhaps I'm reading it incorrectly.

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, RichYak said:

This reads to me like you may be assigning some value of purchasing Celebrity Transfers to Flights by Celebrity. Perhaps I'm reading it incorrectly.

 

I had to read it twice, they are stated that they believe if a FBC flight is late, the ship will wait.  They are claiming the transfer company will call the ship, which may be true but I wouldn't be surprised if flight delays are automatically reported to the ship.  We've seen a few reports where this was unfortunately not the case.  Simply depends how late after sail away folks arrive.

[JBare]

17 hours ago, RichYak said:

This reads to me like you may be assigning some value of purchasing Celebrity Transfers to Flights by Celebrity. Perhaps I'm reading it incorrectly.

 

I'm not advocating anything, believing or claiming anything as another poster has suggested. Simply stating some facts. Same day arrivals are extremely common, if not the norm, for European passengers cruising in Europe. Taking Rome as an example, thousands of passengers arrive in the morning for a cruise the same day on the many different cruise lines. There is a constant merry go round of coaches leaving for the port and back.
Flights from the various European airports are limited so there maybe as many as 30 or more passengers on a particular flight for a particular cruise. It is a fact that if you booked with Celebrity there will be a Celebrity rep, and I mean an actual Celebrity employee not a transfer company rep, often an actual crew member from the ship in question, if not more than one. They will have a clip board containg full lists of every passenger booked with them, I have seen the lists and it runs into hundreds, you report to them at or just outside baggage claim and they tick you off.
A delayed flight then may have up to 30 or more passengers on it. In Europe such delays can be quite common, strikes etc or currently UK airports have delays due to lack of staff.
Clearly there is a limited amount of time a ship can wait, that much is obvious,  but what is the ship more likely to wait for, a coach or coaches carrying 30 or more passengers and potentially a crew member or a taxi containg two people that Celebrity have no idea should be at the airport.
We have taken many many cruises from Rome and as I said we have been on a couple of cruises where the ship has delayed departure for a couple of hours with the Captain announcing the reason for the delayed departure.
I don't believe the ship will wait indefinitely, I do believe it's not likely to wait for the odd couple of independant travellers.
People have many reasons for how they travel personal preferences, I'm just stating facts.

[RichYak]

6 minutes ago, JBare said:

It is a fact that if you booked with Celebrity there will be a Celebrity rep, and I mean an actual Celebrity employee not a transfer company rep, often an actual crew member from the ship in question, if not more than one.

Sorry, from this point on is where you lose me. I find it difficult to believe that when booking air via FBC, you are met by a Celebrity rep.

 

I believe that what you say are facts, but I don't believe they are facts about Flights By Celebrity.

[JBare]

3 hours ago, RichYak said:

Sorry, from this point on is where you lose me. I find it difficult to believe that when booking air via FBC, you are met by a Celebrity rep.

 

I believe that what you say are facts, but I don't believe they are facts about Flights By Celebrity.

You have selectively taken a quote out of context.
You need to take what I say in the context of your original post re same day arrivals and my response is an example of what happens for same day arrivals in Europe. Don't quote out of context.
I book a flight with my Celebrity rep for a same day arrival,  I have always been met by a Celebrity rep in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Rome, what can I say.
Clearly same day arrival is the relevant point here. I'm not saying if you book a flight with Celebrity you will be met, that definitely will not be the case for pre cruise day arrivals for individuals.  But for same day arrivals in Europe there has, to date, always been a rep there with a list of the many hundreds arriving that day, go figure, they are there all day, not meeting anyone personally obviously.

[Carolinacruzwife]

I booked flights through Celebrity this time, but don’t see the airline reservation # anywhere. Does that mean it’s not booked yet? Final payment already made for May 21 departure.