Viking Air

[Canal archive]

CDNPolar your rope analagie reminds me of taking the playgroup(preschool) kids on a walk woo betide any of them who let go of THE ROPE!

[sharkster77]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We still get the red Viking stickers, but we don't put them on...  We scan the airport area while waiting for luggage and then on exiting the luggage hall for folks wearing RED  with clipboards and have always found them in the first 30-45 seconds.

 

Many folks do put on the stickers, but I kind of feel like I am on a school field trip and waiting for someone to pass me the rope to hold on to as we walk to the bus.

 

I feel that the Red Leather luggage tags that Viking send are enough.

Lucky you---we must have walked 20 minutes through a shopping mall-like gauntlet of shops before finding the Viking folks.  Photos we had seen showed a larger banner, but there was none, so luckily they spotted us before we spotted them.  Our plane had been late, and they were just about to give up on us!!  Based on prior experience, we plan on wearing the sticker in April.

[CDNPolar]

9 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

Lucky you---we must have walked 20 minutes through a shopping mall-like gauntlet of shops before finding the Viking folks.  Photos we had seen showed a larger banner, but there was none, so luckily they spotted us before we spotted them.  Our plane had been late, and they were just about to give up on us!!  Based on prior experience, we plan on wearing the sticker in April.

 

The Viking Reps should have a manifest with your names, airline, flight numbers, etc.  They SHOULD know that your flight was late and should have still been expecting you.

 

I find this odd that they were "about to give up on you".  This is what they are there for - to locate you and get you to the ship.

[sharkster77]

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

The Viking Reps should have a manifest with your names, airline, flight numbers, etc.  They SHOULD know that your flight was late and should have still been expecting you.

 

I find this odd that they were "about to give up on you".  This is what they are there for - to locate you and get you to the ship.

We were flying BOS--ZUR--AMS and were probably 3 hours late.  We were held at Zurich at least 1. 5 hours (we were told that if we took off on time there would be no gates at Schipol available to accommodate us).  After landing at Schipol we just sat on the runway for close to an hour, then FINALLY spent 30 minutes taxiing to a gate.

 

Viking reps were waiting with at least 2 other couples who seemed irked that they had to wait so long for us (too bad!)  We were doing a pre-cruise in Amsterdam, so instead of getting to the hotel around lunchtime, we got there around 4:30, essentially losing that first day in Amsterdam.

 

In April we are flying BOS--AMS direct, so we hope to avoid the foolishness of 2019.

Edited February 26 by sharkster77

[901CiCi]

Hi all! Has anyone dealt with Viking air flying from South America? We are doing the Amazon river cruise next January and I'm concerned about 31 hour flight schedules from Manaus with my bad flyer mother.  How does improving your air class work and are they booking these at the most basic economy level to start with? So many questions 😂

[sharkster77]

1 hour ago, 901CiCi said:

Hi all! Has anyone dealt with Viking air flying from South America? We are doing the Amazon river cruise next January and I'm concerned about 31 hour flight schedules from Manaus with my bad flyer mother.  How does improving your air class work and are they booking these at the most basic economy level to start with? So many questions 😂

If you pay for Air Plus you can do your homework before talking to either Viking or your travel agent and suggest flight itineraries that you'd be happy with.

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, 901CiCi said:

Hi all! Has anyone dealt with Viking air flying from South America? We are doing the Amazon river cruise next January and I'm concerned about 31 hour flight schedules from Manaus with my bad flyer mother.  How does improving your air class work and are they booking these at the most basic economy level to start with? So many questions 😂

As sharkster77 says - go for Viking Air Plus.  This will be $100.00 per person more.

 

You research your airlines, schedules, routes, etc., and then call Viking and ask for your preferred air itinerary.  This is not always available at the Viking published price.  If you are asking for an air itinerary that is inside Viking's contract rates, then you will get that.  If the air itinerary is outside of Viking's contract rates, it is not that it is not available, but you may have to pay more.

 

Viking Air do ONLY book economy for you and if you are not using Air Plus, you take what you get and then try to modify after the air is booked.

 

If you are using Viking Air Plus, then you can ask for upgrade to Premium Economy or Business/First but then you will pay a premium over the Viking published air fare.  NOTE, that upgrades are not always available through Viking even if you are using Air Plus because it is all down to their contract rates and if upgrades are included in their contract rates.

 

We have come to the point after 10+ cruises with Viking that we only book air through Viking if the following is the case:

 

* The air is free through Viking or we cannot find a cheaper fare on our own.

 

We book the air on our own if the following is the case:

 

* We can find our preferred air itinerary at a lower price than the Viking air on our invoice

* We want to upgrade and Viking cannot offer us that

 

Note that when you book your air through Viking using Air Plus or not, it gives you your transfers from the airport to the ship and back to the airport included.  If you book your air on your own, then you have to purchase the transfer from Viking or arrange your own transfer.

 

And - from my perspective - for the journey you are undertaking from Texas to Manaus that I would book to arrive one day ahead of the cruise departure.  You have two connections at least, and a journey that is anywhere from 17 to 31 hours from Texas which allows for many potential challenges.  This will cost you an extra hotel night when you get to your destination but for a journey like this we always go one to two to more days early.

 

 

 

[901CiCi]

Thank you @CDNPolar for the details! I'm not currently seeing cheaper fare but I have alerts on Google flights and capital one travel. The flights for January 2025 only just published of course.

 

Fortunately we are flying from Manaus to Houston at the end of the trip. We are flying in a day early to San Juan tho bc many moons ago I had a near disaster trying to get to the start of our Russia cruise when I was rerouted from Amsterdam to Paris.  Thankfully I spoke French and there are trains.  My luggage eventually caught up 😂

 

[CDNPolar]

1 minute ago, 901CiCi said:

Thank you @CDNPolar for the details! I'm not currently seeing cheaper fare but I have alerts on Google flights and capital one travel. The flights for January 2025 only just published of course.

 

Fortunately we are flying from Manaus to Houston at the end of the trip. We are flying in a day early to San Juan tho bc many moons ago I had a near disaster trying to get to the start of our Russia cruise when I was rerouted from Amsterdam to Paris.  Thankfully I spoke French and there are trains.  My luggage eventually caught up 😂

 

 

If you are only finding matching fares to Viking - and you are going to fly in a day early - then book the ticket on your own would be my advice.  

 

Don't wait too long as it is OUR experience that fares for popular routes only go up and rarely if ever go down.

 

We did an Antarctica cruise a year or so ago and flew from Toronto to Buenos Aires via Delta.  We did the air on our own, but the fare we got allowed cancellation for a small fee - very small.  Also because we booked so early (about 300 days) and we originally booked Premium Economy we got a ridiculous offer to upgrade to lay flat business so we took it.

 

We often book our flights - and pay for them - 300 days out as long as there is a cancellation option that is reasonable.  We have found that the extra cost of the fare to have a cancellation option can be cheaper than insuring the flight cost, especially if you are flying business.

[HSBC]

I got free Viking Air and it has been ticketed.

If I want to change my seat, should I change on the My Viking Journey or airline website?

Thanks!

 

[HSBC]

After my Viking Free Air has been ticketed, I changed my seats at My Viking Journey.

Would Viking send me another Viking Air Itinerary due to seat change or not?

Thanks!

 

[CDNPolar]

8 hours ago, HSBC said:

After my Viking Free Air has been ticketed, I changed my seats at My Viking Journey.

Would Viking send me another Viking Air Itinerary due to seat change or not?

Thanks!

 

 

Good that you changed your seats.  We do this often, but we prefer to do so on the airline website - if we can.

 

Which ever way we do it, we then check the other to ensure that it has transferred across and is the same on both MVJ and the airline.

 

In our experience NO, you will not get an automatic air itinerary from Viking because of this.  If you really want one, you would have to call.

 

I take the original and with a pen cross off the original, and mark the new seat number.

 

Viking's paperwork with seats is not the "final" say anyway.  The airline may change your seating at any time because of an equipment change, schedule change, etc.  The airline will always be the final say.

 

We watch our seats on the airline and MVJ often - sometimes weekly - because the seats have been dropped all together, or changed on us many times and then we have to go proactively and reinstate our choices.  AND we never seem to get any notification of this especially if it is an airline generated change.

[sharkster77]

We have an interesting situation.  After we booked our flights with Viking, our travel agent went ahead and selected our seats (aisle and window).  We then got a notice a few months later from Viking that our booking had changed and we were now in the middle section of the plane.  MVJ displays this--middle seats.  FYI, the equipment did not change, still same make and model of plane.

 

The travel agent, when we mentioned this to her, went to the airline website and looked up our booking.   The airline still, even to this day (we fly in 5 weeks) shows us booked in to the aisle/window seats.

 

I guess we will find out the truth when we check in and receive our boarding passes!

[HSBC]

2 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

We have an interesting situation.  After we booked our flights with Viking, our travel agent went ahead and selected our seats (aisle and window).  We then got a notice a few months later from Viking that our booking had changed and we were now in the middle section of the plane.  MVJ displays this--middle seats.  FYI, the equipment did not change, still same make and model of plane.

 

The travel agent, when we mentioned this to her, went to the airline website and looked up our booking.   The airline still, even to this day (we fly in 5 weeks) shows us booked in to the aisle/window seats.

 

I guess we will find out the truth when we check in and receive our boarding passes!

sharkster77,

Please let us know after you take your flight.  

Have a nice trip in April.

 

 

[ural guy]

3 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

We have an interesting situation.  After we booked our flights with Viking, our travel agent went ahead and selected our seats (aisle and window).  We then got a notice a few months later from Viking that our booking had changed and we were now in the middle section of the plane.  MVJ displays this--middle seats.  FYI, the equipment did not change, still same make and model of plane.

 

The travel agent, when we mentioned this to her, went to the airline website and looked up our booking.   The airline still, even to this day (we fly in 5 weeks) shows us booked in to the aisle/window seats.

 

I guess we will find out the truth when we check in and receive our boarding passes!

I would trust the airline site, that's what your boarding pass is going to reflect.  You can check yourself with the booking code (6 digit code, just letters) and head to that airlines web site.  Should be a manage my flight tab you can select.

 

We added our frequent flyer numbers and were able to move our seats/upgrade directly with airline.  I'd think you could make the same adjustments without the loyalty numbers.  Good luck.

[HSBC]

1 hour ago, ural guy said:

I would trust the airline site, that's what your boarding pass is going to reflect.  You can check yourself with the booking code (6 digit code, just letters) and head to that airlines web site.  Should be a manage my flight tab you can select.

 

We added our frequent flyer numbers and were able to move our seats/upgrade directly with airline.  I'd think you could make the same adjustments without the loyalty numbers.  Good luck.

ural guy,

After you move your seats directly with airline, would the change reflect at My Viking Journey?

Thanks!

[Mitina]

37 minutes ago, HSBC said:

After you move your seats directly with airline, would the change reflect at My Viking Journey?

We done this and MVJ usually reflects the change very quickly.

[CILCIANRQTS]

9 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Good that you changed your seats.  We do this often, but we prefer to do so on the airline website - if we can.

 

Which ever way we do it, we then check the other to ensure that it has transferred across and is the same on both MVJ and the airline.

 

In our experience NO, you will not get an automatic air itinerary from Viking because of this.  If you really want one, you would have to call.

 

I take the original and with a pen cross off the original, and mark the new seat number.

 

Viking's paperwork with seats is not the "final" say anyway.  The airline may change your seating at any time because of an equipment change, schedule change, etc.  The airline will always be the final say.

 

We watch our seats on the airline and MVJ often - sometimes weekly - because the seats have been dropped all together, or changed on us many times and then we have to go proactively and reinstate our choices.  AND we never seem to get any notification of this especially if it is an airline generated change.

Viking’s website is notoriously bad at updating flights, seats, etc.

We simply using the airline ticket locator to pull up our file on the airline’s website, then print out an up-to-the-minute copy.

once your tix are issued, it’s always better to deal directly with the airline, in our experience. 
When it comes to air reservations, Viking is serving as a ticket agent, not your personal travel agent.

Which is why they DO NOT guarantee to get you to the ship if your flight is delayed or cancelled, although they have jumped in to help in some cases. They don’t do much to dispel this misconception, as they want to keep selling you airline tickets.

[CILCIANRQTS]

P.S. For an upcoming November Bordeaux cruise, Viking offered us a routing with a 1 hour 25 minute connect time in CDG. We said, “What, are you crazy?? No!!” They then offered a reasonable connect time for $800 more. Not sure why we should pay extra for a reasonable connect time. Waiting for a better offer.

[greydog]

24 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

P.S. For an upcoming November Bordeaux cruise, Viking offered us a routing with a 1 hour 25 minute connect time in CDG. We said, “What, are you crazy?? No!!” They then offered a reasonable connect time for $800 more. Not sure why we should pay extra for a reasonable connect time. Waiting for a better offer.

Consider NET cost of going a day early to give yourself a cushion against the cheaper 1:25 layover resulting in a delay (might trigger air+fee).   Of course, air+ fee would give you more control of air routing/layovers.  RE Nov. sailing - we've experienced delays due to bad weather halts on US E coast - ended up with 3 doz pax boarding at midnight.  Good Luck

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, greydog said:

Consider NET cost of going a day early to give yourself a cushion against the cheaper 1:25 layover resulting in a delay (might trigger air+fee).   Of course, air+ fee would give you more control of air routing/layovers.  RE Nov. sailing - we've experienced delays due to bad weather halts on US E coast - ended up with 3 doz pax boarding at midnight.  Good Luck

 

We now routinely go one day early for any cruise unless the river or ocean ship is in port overnight and not leaving until the next day in the evening.

[ural guy]

15 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

P.S. For an upcoming November Bordeaux cruise, Viking offered us a routing with a 1 hour 25 minute connect time in CDG. We said, “What, are you crazy?? No!!” They then offered a reasonable connect time for $800 more. Not sure why we should pay extra for a reasonable connect time. Waiting for a better offer.

'Sir/Ma'am, that is a legal connection.'

 

Me:  OK, but sounds close for a busy Airport, immigration...would you chance it?

 

'Sir/Ma'am, this is a legal connection.'

 

A frustrating game to play, for sure.  Flying in the day (or five) early really lowers the stress and 'protects' the important part of the trip, your time on the river.

 

***Above I said an airline booking code is just 6 letters...wrong, it can also include numbers, so it's alpha/numeric.  Sorry for any confusion.

 

Edited March 3 by ural guy

[CILCIANRQTS]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We now routinely go one day early for any cruise unless the river or ocean ship is in port overnight and not leaving until the next day in the evening.

Our cruise overnights the first night, but no matter when I fly, I’m not accepting that tight an international connection.

[CDNPolar]

5 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Our cruise overnights the first night, but no matter when I fly, I’m not accepting that tight an international connection.

Oh, I agree with you on the connection.  We never do a connection internationally less than 2.5 hours and we don't mind longer as we have had the nightmare of RUNNING and being stressed and almost missing flights.

 

This is why we book a lot of our air ourselves so that we pick the connections.

[Redtravel]

Booking Viking with air is usually a good value. Viking Air has been good for us.  The flights that we have been assigned have been good choices.  You may not get your first choice.  Viking has contracts with several airlines.  If you want specific routes, wait to see what Viking gives you. If it isn’t good, ask for custom air.  Only once did we balk when we got the air.  We were flying out of Bergen to Philadelphia.  Our first flight left at 6 am to FRA.  Next we were on Nonstop to PHL arriving same day.  We looked at 6 am and couldn’t believe it.  At first glance it looked terrible. However, it was the best arrangement to get us home the same day.  
We like using Viking Air.  They will tell you the air flights shortly after you book.  That way, you can get seat assignments early if you book early.

 

When we cruise on other lines, we usually book our own air. That way you have control.  However, the down side is if the cruise line cancels the cruise, you will get stuck with an air credit.  since resuming travel during the pandemic, we have booked most cruises with air.  Since some have been cancelled, it becomes easier to get a refund.  
 

Good luck with air.  Sometimes you win. Sometimes you get a crazy arrangement.  It’s like playing air roulette.