Booking Air through Silversea

[Reesetiff]

Hello cruisers, we are exploring Silversea all inclusive program on the Silver Dawn. I did a search through the treads and didn’t see many comments about their all inclusive program. Would love feedback including the flexibility to choose Air carrier.  TYIA 

[canderson]

All depends upon which carriers and routes SS has contracted with.  You can certainly request a particular airline or alliance, but there's no assurance that SS will have access to the flights you prefer.

 

You can request alternate flights, but don't bet on receiving them on a door-to-door fare.

 

[david63]

I would also suggest that you look at port-to-port prices and arrange your own flights - there could be significant savings and you are in control of when/who with/how you fly.

[Port Power]

4 hours ago, Reesetiff said:

Hello cruisers, we are exploring Silversea all inclusive program on the Silver Dawn. I did a search through the treads and didn’t see many comments about their all inclusive program. Would love feedback including the flexibility to choose Air carrier.  TYIA 

There are numerous threads on this topic.  One called “Why I love Silversea Air” (on Page 4), and the previous one something along the lines of “Why I hate Silver Air”!  I’m not good at links, but I’ll try to find their exact titles.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Port Power

[pavementends]

I suspect that many more use the "air-inclusive" than not because port-to-port is not always available.

 

The story seems to be- and it seems to be the same on other lines- that sometimes included air works out well and sometimes it doesn't. Not working out often means inconvenient or long flights. Maybe it works best if you live near a major airport.

 

 

[bobolz]

I think a lot depends on your home airport. If it’s a major hub, that offers  nonstops to your major destination airport ,  there is a better chance of a good outcome. So far we have been very satisfied with the flights SS has booked for us. We have successfully completed one return journey which included nonstops to/from PhL to LHR. There are 3 nonstops a day and the carriers are American and BA. SS has contracts with both airlines, but as others may have mentioned , there may be  limited seats at a certain price point on select flights.

 

However, next year SS had reserved an outbound flight that was undesirable, I requested a different day and nonstop to LIS. They got it for me, but I paid a deviation fee that still kept the price way  below the market price I would have paid on my own. I have yet to take that flight, so anything could change, since only 1 nonstop a day, but if all goes as planned,  I will once again be very satisfied w SS air. 

The other advantage of having SS book the air for you is you do not have to pay for that flight until your final payment is due . So you protect yourself from locking in that payment early with no refund , except for a future credit, since most people purchase more affordable non refundable seats. 
 

I would see what they offer, research your options, submit a request for an alternative flight if what they offer is not desirable , and decide accordingly. 
 

good luck 

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by bobolz

[cotto22]

We received our return flight info for a cruise at the end of February a while ago, and there were 2 plane changes. The timing also was not great, so we asked our TA to see what alternatives they might have, and the next flights were much better. There was no charge to us. 

[drron29]

And you can do as we do book door to door and ask for the air, transfer and hotels to be taken out. A bit dearer than port to port but then a better cancellation policy. 
 

Airline travel is still not back to normal so not all problems are due to Silversea.

 

BA in her Q&A 2 weeks ago on the Muse told us of the many problems that they have had since Covid including hotels cancelling long term contracts they had with SS and airlines reducing the discount for group bookings. On top of that frequent cancellations.

 

However SS air has been folded into RCL air but she said that for 3-4 weeks there would still be problems with the intergration. But the RCL air is fully automated whereas SS air was still all manual.

[FlyerTalker]

12 hours ago, drron29 said:

But the RCL air is fully automated whereas SS air was still all manual.

 

And automated is only as good as the flights that are loaded into the system and the operational programming to go with it.  Might be better than some bad agents, but might also be worse than good ones.

 

Always be careful what you wish for.  RCL's system might work great getting people from Milwaukee to Miami, but who knows about to Athens or Cape Town.

 

 

[canderson]

When using RCG's system, I'm always mindful of the fact that what they display online for available flights is NOT the full picture.  Several times I've conversed with the RCG air desk and they've been able to come up with better flights at the same prices that were NOT among those listed on their web site.  Of course, we only used that service to get better one way Transatlantic prices (which worked).

 

RCG, being as big as it is, has no doubt contracted for a much larger number of itineraries than SS would have done, and will be able to fold the rather different SS itineraries into their contracts, so it may turn out that the consolidation brings a lot more options to SS customers.  One can hope.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

When using RCG's system, I'm always mindful of the fact that what they display online for available flights is NOT the full picture.  Several times I've conversed with the RCG air desk and they've been able to come up with better flights at the same prices that were NOT among those listed on their web site.

 

As mentioned...you only will see what they choose to program in.

 

1 hour ago, canderson said:

RCG, being as big as it is, has no doubt contracted for a much larger number of itineraries than SS would have done, and will be able to fold the rather different SS itineraries into their contracts, so it may turn out that the consolidation brings a lot more options to SS customers.  One can hope.

 

OTOH, remember that you are now competing for flights with those tens of thousands each week who are using RCL provided air.   That's mostly for the domestic legs to get you to gateways.  You are likely not going to see a big increase in intercontinental inventory, and in fact may lose out to RCL pax wanting to go overseas.

 

Caveat Emptor.