business class airfare

[flare3192]

Has anyone traveled Silverseas and upgraded the air to business class. How did it go -- was it a fairly direct route or did you have extra changes of planes? Could you choose your seats ahead of time? Is it better to do your own air?

Thank you

[Gourmet Gal]

Try doing a search of this SS forum.  SS Air, Business Class Upgrade, etc.  There are numerous threads related to this topic and the more recent ones are worth reading.  If you still have questions come back as there are plenty of CC’ers with answers.

[pf778c]

My last cruise was a port-to-port offering Business Class air for $699.  Silversea booked me on a flight with a transfer at Heathrow, which I was able to change to a non-stop.  I was very satisfied.

 

Given the accounts I've read here (and giving weight to the fact that one tends to only hear the horror stories and not the success stories), I don't think the time was right for Silversea to roll out door-to-door itineraries.  There seem to be an inordinate amount of problems and issues with bookings, and I've seen too many cruises listed on their US website for DTD cruises with NO hotel or air being listed for thousands more than the same cruise PTP.  $2K+ for car service to and from the pier?  How does that even get published??  If the price is right, and I'm not traveling solo, I find the idea of a DTD attractive; all I have to do is pack.  And, when I first started sailing with Silversea, flights and hotels were included, but now I've gotten spoiled by the luxury of traveling solo while having the young man stay home and tend to the fur kids, and as wonderful as that is, it's not worth 2X the price on accommodations, food and beverages, gratuities, excursions, airfare, hotel, and transfers!

[A Tucson Guy]

I was checking Bus Air from Tucson to Lisbon in June of 2023. Using $$ it was $8,000 each. Using miles it was 700,000 miles each. My, how things have changed.

[A Tucson Guy]

3 minutes ago, A Tucson Guy said:

I was checking Bus Air from Tucson to Lisbon in June of 2023. Using $$ it was $8,000 each. Using miles it was 700,000 miles each. My, how things have changed.

Above was on AA. United was a little better- $7,000 each or 330,000 miles each.

[FlyerTalker]

28 minutes ago, A Tucson Guy said:

I was checking Bus Air from Tucson to Lisbon in June of 2023. Using $$ it was $8,000 each. Using miles it was 700,000 miles each. My, how things have changed.

 

Do you bother to check pricing from PHX?  There can be significant savings - worth the drive up I-10.  Helped a friend and found differences of over over 40% on flight costs, and there is often much better award availability from PHX than TUS.

 

Also, have you considered positioning flights from TUS to either LAX or SFO?  Those can be quite cheap, and the onward pricing from LAX to Europe will again be better than what you find from TUS or even PHX.

 

Finally, I am finding lots of business class availability in the range of $4100 to $4500 from TUS to LIS for random dates in June.  And pricing as low as $3700 round trip from PHX.  Just what dates are you looking at, and what source are you finding those high numbers you quote?

[A Tucson Guy]

15 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Do you bother to check pricing from PHX?  There can be significant savings - worth the drive up I-10.  Helped a friend and found differences of over over 40% on flight costs, and there is often much better award availability from PHX than TUS.

 

Also, have you considered positioning flights from TUS to either LAX or SFO?  Those can be quite cheap, and the onward pricing from LAX to Europe will again be better than what you find from TUS or even PHX.

 

Finally, I am finding lots of business class availability in the range of $4100 to $4500 from TUS to LIS for random dates in June.  And pricing as low as $3700 round trip from PHX.  Just what dates are you looking at, and what source are you finding those high numbers you quote?

Thank you for your help and comments. I am using SS Air on the remaining cruise in 2022 and the 4 cruises in 2023 & 2024. I was just curious as to what the costs would be by not using SS Bus Air. So far it is less money using Bus Air on SS rather than booking my own flights. We would love to go back down under in 2024 but the Bus Air upgrade is $14,000 for two and I am not sure I want to go back down under at those prices. The high prices that I found were in AA and United.

[DCPIV]

We've done that a handful of times, and it's gone well.  We've always been able to choose our own seats, but you may need your TA to get you the confirmation number so that you can do so.  If you end up switching airlines along the way, then you may need more than one confirmation number to get it all done.

 

As for the number of changes, I doubt that has anything to do with what fare you are flying (except to the extent availalability may affect it).  

 

We've not done the "door-to-door" since that started, so we can't comment on that.

[ronrick1943]

We’re thinking about SS air—we have a cruise booked, but not sure if it will end at the port stated right now (Hong Kong).  The cruise may be a go, but a different ending port.  We’re looking at SS air just in case—-however if the price isn’t the same we’ll book ourselfs.

[MHF]

With all the flights issues these days, I let my TA and Ss battle with the changes.  My TA will give me the record locator number and I go to the airline's website and choose my seat.  Usually I'm assigned United out of Dulles and I make sure to add the flight to my UAL frequent flyer profile.  I also "garden" my flights which means I check them.  Yes, obsessive but...it has saved me numerous headaches when aircraft changes, etc.  For Med/ME cruise on Spirit in October 2023, I'm letting Ss and TA deal with that haul and I purchased the business upgrade.  Dubai is a longggggg way.

 

Missy in Maryland (who got a call 2 weeks ago switching from AA to UAL on return from Alaska)

 

PS Once, when checking into Air France the day before a flight to Med cruise, I find flight canceled.  Call to TA office, she deals with Ss, and we are re-routed via Delta.  A good TA is a wonder!

[FlyerTalker]

5 minutes ago, MHF said:

PS Once, when checking into Air France the day before a flight to Med cruise, I find flight canceled.  Call to TA office, she deals with Ss, and we are re-routed via Delta.  A good TA is a wonder!

 

Of course, you could have had AF reroute you directly to their alliance partner (and joint-venture partner) Delta.  Without going through two other intermediate levels.

 

[MHF]

7 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Of course, you could have had AF reroute you directly to their alliance partner (and joint-venture partner) Delta.  Without going through two other intermediate levels.

 

Could have but was dealing with taking husband with cancer on his last cruise and couldn't handle one more issue on top of meds, etc.  TA was also handling our car service as this was before door-to-door.  She wound up changing departure airport which is fine because there are 3 within an hour.  One call does it all!

[jeter55]

I am interested in a med cruise next summer with business upgrade. We use JFK NY and I see that Delta has non-stop to Lisbon and rome. On my past cruise SS used only BA american. Has anyone booked Delta recently without an enormous upcharge ?

[A Tucson Guy]

I am on Delta with SS Air this Nov. from US to Lisbon and back on Bus. Air.

[A Tucson Guy]

Just now, A Tucson Guy said:

I am on Delta with SS Air this Nov. from US to Lisbon and back on Bus. Air.

No upcharge!!

[Randyk47]

25 minutes ago, jeter55 said:

I am interested in a med cruise next summer with business upgrade. We use JFK NY and I see that Delta has non-stop to Lisbon and rome. On my past cruise SS used only BA american. Has anyone booked Delta recently without an enormous upcharge ?

We recently researched and booked a January Silversea cruise.  When we considered the door-to-door option versus the port-to-port option the business class upgrade drove the port-to-port option above what we could directly book business class flights.  We obviously picked port-to-port.  While we’ve not had good experiences with Silversea provided air and upgrades some have so you just have to do the research and see what works best for you.

[jeter55]

Thanks for this information !

[mitz18]

The good thing about using the line's (any) air is if there are flight delays & you miss the sailing the line has to find a solution to get you to the boat.  Having said that, we normally book our own flight and always arrive 1-2 days early and leave 1 day after the cruise ends.

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 minutes ago, mitz18 said:

The good thing about using the line's (any) air is if there are flight delays & you miss the sailing the line has to find a solution to get you to the boat.  Having said that, we normally book our own flight and always arrive 1-2 days early and leave 1 day after the cruise ends.

Lots of people believe that, but I don't think you will find it in the T&C.

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, mitz18 said:

The good thing about using the line's (any) air is if there are flight delays & you miss the sailing the line has to find a solution to get you to the boat.

Or, on a return flight back home.

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, mitz18 said:

The good thing about using the line's (any) air is if there are flight delays & you miss the sailing the line has to find a solution to get you to the boat.

 

And remember that any such solution would be on flights of THEIR choosing.  99% that that would be within their existing contracts, not on the open market.

 

Plus, if they get you there and you miss two or three days of your cruise, don't expect a pro-rata refund of your cruise fare.

[mitz18]

7 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

And remember that any such solution would be on flights of THEIR choosing.  99% that that would be within their existing contracts, not on the open market.

 

Plus, if they get you there and you miss two or three days of your cruise, don't expect a pro-rata refund of your cruise fare.

Agree which is why I always book my own flts

[SWFLAOK]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

And remember that any such solution would be on flights of THEIR choosing.  99% that that would be within their existing contracts, not on the open market.

 

Plus, if they get you there and you miss two or three days of your cruise, don't expect a pro-rata refund of your cruise fare.

And while you might have had a business class seat, and might have paid extra for it, the airline will automatically rebook you on their next available flight, which won't be business class since all of those seats have been filled with upgrades before your delayed flight lands. You can complain to the airline about the delay causing you to be downgraded, and after proving it with boarding passes, the cruise line will receive a refund for your downgrade. At that point, you'll need to spend a lot of time trying to get your upgrade fee back from the cruiseline. We're still waiting for 1200 dollars back from a flight booked by Viking on Delta that had a connecting flight with 90 minutes between flights in Atlanta, which was delayed by 60 minutes before arriving, and another 15 minutes at the gate.We were able to make it to the gate for our flight, but they closed the door as soon as we arrived since they had given away our business class sears. The flight was in May, the upgrade money was returned to Viking by Delta in early July, and we're still waiting for the money to be returned to us.

[david63]

19 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Lots of people believe that, but I don't think you will find it in the T&C.

In the UK it is covered by the Package Holiday regulations

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, david63 said:

In the UK it is covered by the Package Holiday regulations

That's fine, but I was replying to @mitz18 who is from Texas.