Flights arranged by Oceania

[cherokeesmom]

In your experience, what airlines does Oceania generally use.  We’re going from Washington, D.C. to Singapore, with return from Dubai..  thanks!

[Aging Fast]

Oceania has contracts with many airlines which enables them to get the best pricing the airlines offers.  As a result you will get the one that offers them the best price to get to your final destination. In most cases it is not a direct  flight but one with one or more stops.  Watch what you get and make sure there is enough time between connections and also plenty of time to reach your ship before it sails. 

[LHT28]

I would request the flights you want  & fly in a day or more prior  to the cruise

 

Once you & Oceania agree on a route  pay the non refundable deviation fee

 

I would not leave long haul flights to chance

 Or just book your own

Do the math  then decide what works best for you

JMO

[lackcreativity]

I am a potential new Oceania cruiser.  Previously, I have booked air through another cruise line and paid a nominal fee for the ability to work with the Air Department in selecting our flights. Is there a fee to do so with Oceania?

[jazznruby]

6 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

I am a potential new Oceania cruiser.  Previously, I have booked air through another cruise line and paid a nominal fee for the ability to work with the Air Department in selecting our flights. Is there a fee to do so with Oceania?

Air deviation fee of $199/pp plus any fare differential. Once you and O decide on itinerary, fee is non-refundable.

[pinotlover]

Oceania has dropped its deviation fee for flying in a few days early or after disembarking. So currently no fee.

 

At 270 days pre cruise, you can request your air arrangements from Oceania. I believe it is best to have an itinerary picked out and have your TA submit it to Oceania Air. Oceania Air will then come back and either accept your itinerary or tell you how much extra it will cost. Then the negotiating begins.

[ORV]

31 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Oceania has dropped its deviation fee for flying in a few days early or after disembarking. So currently no fee.

 

At 270 days pre cruise, you can request your air arrangements from Oceania. I believe it is best to have an itinerary picked out and have your TA submit it to Oceania Air. Oceania Air will then come back and either accept your itinerary or tell you how much extra it will cost. Then the negotiating begins.

Well now wait a minute. Paragraph 1 is if you don't pick flights, but the day. Your flight will still be assigned at about 75 days out and ticketed around 40.

 

For paragraph 2 it does require a Deviation fee. Unless I've missed something that's changed recently. 

[jazznruby]

2 minutes ago, ORV said:

Well now wait a minute. Paragraph 1 is if you don't pick flights, but the day. Your flight will still be assigned at about 75 days out and ticketed around 40.

 

For paragraph 2 it does require a Deviation fee. Unless I've missed something that's changed recently. 

Correct. Paragraph 1 - O picks itinerary. 

[lackcreativity]

If flying early and booking a hotel through Oceania, does Oceania include transfers to the hotel if I book air with them?

 

If flying in early and I want to have input on the flights, then I pay the deviation fee?

 

(Sorry, I am trying to get all my information before making a decision to book!)

Edited September 17, 2023 by lackcreativity

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, lackcreativity said:

If flying early and booking a hotel through Oceania, does Oceania include transfers to the hotel if I book air with them?

 

If flying in early and I want to have input on the flights, then I pay the deviation fee?

 

(Sorry, I am trying to get all my information before making a decision to book!)

O has hotel packages  that include air + transfer to hotel then to the ship

Check the cruise you are looking at 

Under  HOTELS & LAND  tab it will show the hotel & price PP

 I think if you want a specific  carrier/route  then you still pay the deviation fee otherwise  Oceania will put you on a flight of their choice

 Do the math then decide

JMO

 

[Vineyard View]

I think that I read someplace on here that Oceania Air is generally not attractive in pricing for Business class.  Is that correct or am I making an incorrect statement?

[jazznruby]

12 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I think that I read someplace on here that Oceania Air is generally not attractive in pricing for Business class.  Is that correct or am I making an incorrect statement?

Correct. Others will elaborate.

[zalusky]

While it worked out I would definitely do things different in the future.  We had Oceania book the embarking flight for our cruise last year.   It was SFO to Bali.  We did not fly in a day early.

 

They first had a domestic connection from SFO to LAX domestic terminal which could not check us all the way in.  We had to walk from the domestic terminal in LAX to the international terminal which was a long way with a lot of carry on stuff.  The Singapore business lounge at LAX was helpful in that they checked us in to the international segment.

 

We then flew from LAX to Singapore.  We had a tight connection and could not enjoy the Singapore airport which is suppose to be fabulous.  We then had a to take an airport train to another terminal to make the flight to Bali.  We had to go through luggage screening again at that gate.

 

We did make all the connections but it was awkward and nervous.   Also I was less than impressed with the quality of the long haul aircraft relative to other Singapore aircraft’s.  The business class lay flat seats were pretty hard and we had a baby crying the whole way.  My wife finally got permission to move to another section.

 

So the answer is yes figure your flights, aircrafts, layovers, hotels and don’t trust Oceania to figure it out.

 

As a side note the initial flight Oceania had picked before they changed it was a Qatar flight from SFO east to Jakarta, and then to Bali.  I was sort of interested in that only to try out business class on Qatar airways but they yanked.  I could have said it was effectively an around the world experience when adding the cruise and return flight to SFO.

[osandomir]

39 minutes ago, zalusky said:

While it worked out I would definitely do things different in the future.  We had Oceania book the embarking flight for our cruise last year.   It was SFO to Bali.  We did not fly in a day early.

 

They first had a domestic connection from SFO to LAX domestic terminal which could not check us all the way in.  We had to walk from the domestic terminal in LAX to the international terminal which was a long way with a lot of carry on stuff.  The Singapore business lounge at LAX was helpful in that they checked us in to the international segment.

 

We then flew from LAX to Singapore.  We had a tight connection and could not enjoy the Singapore airport which is suppose to be fabulous.  We then had a to take an airport train to another terminal to make the flight to Bali.  We had to go through luggage screening again at that gate.

 

We did make all the connections but it was awkward and nervous.   Also I was less than impressed with the quality of the long haul aircraft relative to other Singapore aircraft’s.  The business class lay flat seats were pretty hard and we had a baby crying the whole way.  My wife finally got permission to move to another section.

 

So the answer is yes figure your flights, aircrafts, layovers, hotels and don’t trust Oceania to figure it out.

 

As a side note the initial flight Oceania had picked before they changed it was a Qatar flight from SFO east to Jakarta, and then to Bali.  I was sort of interested in that only to try out business class on Qatar airways but they yanked.  I could have said it was effectively an around the world experience when adding the cruise and return flight to SFO.

I understand that you booked BIZ Class to Singapore through Oceania, right? I’m interested in what was the price compared to booking on your own. 
 

Thank you.

[zalusky]

16 minutes ago, osandomir said:

I understand that you booked BIZ Class to Singapore through Oceania, right? I’m interested in what was the price compared to booking on your own. 
 

Thank you.

 

We had done a Bali to Sydney cruise starting last December,  Bali flights are more complicated than Sydney flights so we decided to go through Oceania because we felt they would guarantee us making the ship and deal with it if we did not.

 

The return flights were less of an issue and we stayed extra days in Sydney.  We also used points that I had acquired.  We flew back on United Polaris that we had booked.

 

Flying there we via Oceania.  They booked us on Air Canada from SFO to LAX and then as I mentioned it was Singapore Air LAX to Bali with a connection change in Singapore.

 

The Restricted Business one way air arrangement was $3699 per person but I also see a $850 air allowance discount above probably from the Oceania oLive pricing.

 

The United Polaris Business class Sydney to SFO pricing was 200K points +$79.87 fees / person

The points I assume would translate to $2000.

 

Of course that stuff varies constantly.

 

Now with hindsight if I could talk to myself in the past I would have said do the full roundtrip and add the extra 2 weeks to the 3 week Bali to Sydney.  It would not be that large of an increment and the RT to Sydney would have been easier and cheaper than trying to fly into Bali.

[Redtravel]

 We booked late. We tried to arrange our own air. Prices were extremely high. Many flights were sold out.  We decided to let O book air. This was our first experience using O air.  We weren’t thrilled with the arrangements. However, we got to the cruise and got home.  Going we changed planes once. PHLto FRA to LGW and a 2 hour bus to Southampton.  Got to ship 2 hours before it sailed. Flying home, we had 2 changes.  We had a few hiccups with delayed flights.  OSL to AMS to MSR to PHL.  Crazy route.  We got home. Our bags didn’t arrive until the next day.  
on the ship we met many people who had crazy routes.  If you can find air at an acceptable fare, skip using O air.  However, if you can’t, accept that O will get you air.  

[Vineyard View]

2 hours ago, Redtravel said:

 We booked late. We tried to arrange our own air. Prices were extremely high. Many flights were sold out.  We decided to let O book air. This was our first experience using O air.  We weren’t thrilled with the arrangements. However, we got to the cruise and got home.  Going we changed planes once. PHLto FRA to LGW and a 2 hour bus to Southampton.  Got to ship 2 hours before it sailed. Flying home, we had 2 changes.  We had a few hiccups with delayed flights.  OSL to AMS to MSR to PHL.  Crazy route.  We got home. Our bags didn’t arrive until the next day.  
on the ship we met many people who had crazy routes.  If you can find air at an acceptable fare, skip using O air.  However, if you can’t, accept that O will get you air.  

When you say you booked late, how far in advance did you look to book your air?  I am looking at next May and prices are insane

[lackcreativity]

12 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

When you say you booked late, how far in advance did you look to book your air?  I am looking at next May and prices are insane

I've been checking for next June and same problem. Prices are very high and available flight options seem limited too.

[Vineyard View]

It’s crazy pricing!  We always fly business but looked at PE because of that for the first time…....even that was almost the same price as the cruise to fly an open jaw ticket. Round trip tickets are a bit more kind in pricing, but the itinerary doesn’t work for that this time. Not sure what we are going to do.  I spent quite a chunk of time over the weekend on this, then asked TA if she could find something I was missing. Nope. That Avenue wasn’t really better

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Vineyard View said:

It’s crazy pricing!  We always fly business but looked at PE because of that for the first time…....even that was almost the same price as the cruise to fly an open jaw ticket. Round trip tickets are a bit more kind in pricing, but the itinerary doesn’t work for that this time. Not sure what we are going to do.  I spent quite a chunk of time over the weekend on this, then asked TA if she could find something I was missing. Nope. That Avenue wasn’t really better

 

If you are flying USA-Europe-USA, you should be able to get open jaw pricing.  Don't just look at two one-ways.

 

Of course, giving your cities and dates always helps in providing accurate information.

 

 

[Vineyard View]

I have been looking at multi city and not one way, but I appreciate this tip. I am out of SFO and includes BCN going, FCO back. 

Luthansa wants $11,828 BC

BA wants $10,918

UA wants $12,985

I will keep looking, but this pricing is crazy. DH has a bad back, so long haul economy can’t happen. 
PE is ranging $6-$8k, with the lower end on Iberia. We haven’t flown on them, but I read less than stellar reviews of their PE. 
 

IDK. I want to make this trip work, but these types of airfares are certainly lending more exploring of the lines that include Business. 

 

[mr_reiter]

17 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I have been looking at multi city and not one way, but I appreciate this tip. I am out of SFO and includes BCN going, FCO back. 
 

IDK. I want to make this trip work, but these types of airfares are certainly lending more exploring of the lines that include Business. 

 

Vineyard View (Terri?),

I recognize your moniker from the roll call.  We're on the same cruise.  

I also was astonished by the pricing.  I found a reasonable business class fare from RDU on Air Canada via Toronto (to BCN; return from FCO).  It may not be pertinent to you, but you might want to look at them and maybe even consider breaking it into two separate flights.  

Best of luck!

Mark

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Vineyard View said:

I have been looking at multi city and not one way, but I appreciate this tip. I am out of SFO and includes BCN going, FCO back. 

Luthansa wants $11,828 BC

BA wants $10,918

UA wants $12,985

 

Do you use ITA matrix to look for the flights ?

 

 I see A/C   for about 2500 PP   BIZ  May 15     Lie flat  seats 

 Restricted fare   & 8:50 am flight  outbound   but a good deal 

 

 

You could  do PE on the return to save some $$

 

 

[Croooser]

 

Here's my story FWIW:

 

We were booked on Vista ATH-VCE next June with PE at $1598/pp through O as a fail safe against the rapidly increasing air fares. But that PE would have been only over the water and we would have other flights both in the USA and Europe that would be coach. Also would not have any idea of carriers/flights/connections/layovers until much closer to cruise. And then a deviation fee/pp to go early for a couple of extra days. And ,aybe an upcharge for acceptable flight schedules. So after looking for a while, I was able to get refundable UAL BIZ from/to TPA for $5722/pp. But the route over was a 17hr TPA-EWR-CPH-ATH on UAL/SAS. The return was an excellent UAL with a good connection in IAD. Not ideal but doable.

 

Then O changed to Trieste which is much harder to arrange decent flights from because we did not need/want to spend extra days in Venice. Then O said that to change to SM we would need to refare at the current SM price despite the fact that we had booked last November well before two price increases not related to SM.

 

So I looked at options after reading some of the comments on the SM threads on here. Found a somewhat similar itinerary on Seabourn with RT TPA-ATH BIZ flights on Flight Ease at $3938/pp. We cancelled Vista and are booked on Seabourn for the first time at not much more than Vista after adjusting for drinks and flights. 

 

We really like Oceania. The onboard product suits us perfectly. But the flight program is lousy and SM has hurt the value proposition for us. We would much rather be on O than Princess or Celebrity. But our experience is that their prices for BIZ flight to/from Europe are hard to beat unless we have miles or Chase points. Maybe Seabourn with the CCL based Flight Ease is the answer for us.

 

YMMV

 

 

[osandomir]

I’d think to be competitive Oceania needs to revamp their air department. Once they came out with very attractive PE promotions which seems not to be a case anymore. Their BIZ Class fares never were good especially when compared with some other lines. A lot of people don’t want to fly economy while booking upscale cruise lines. Doing your own air using cash or rewards miles just became too difficult and expensive lately. Paying more for air than the regular cabin cruise fare itself doesn’t seem right. 
 

It’s time for Oceania to use their consolidator power to offer more attractive upper class airfare which proved to be a good business model for others luxury and premium cruise lines.