FlyerTalker

My apologies regarding the seats on the Copa MAX. I've not been paying close attention and it has been a while since I've flown Copa. Turns out that the seats on the MAX version of the 737 for Copa are the Collins "Diamond" seats. The good news is that they do lie flat. The bad news is that they are in a 2-2 configuration, so there is no direct aisle access for the window passenger.

Ask and ye shall receive. Those aren't "Viking price changes". They are a result of dynamic inventory availability and pricing. First key is to remember that what you have available through Viking (or any cruiseline) is merely a subset of the overall inventory and pricing available from the airline directly. As such, it may be many different forms of inventory (and of pricing). A not-so-brief explainer coming up. The first type may be a "hard block". This is a fixed number of seats, sold by the carrier to the cruiseline. It's now up to the cruiseline to determine their retail price, given that they have already purchased the seats for their resale. It could be a "soft block", where the cruiseline agrees to a certain number of seats, but has the ability to return all or part of any unsold inventory back to the airline under pre-agreed terms. Another form is "moving block", where the inventory block may vary depending on pre-negotiated conditions. As inventory systems become more and more dynamic, this is becoming more prevalent in the airline industry. Inventory may be added, or removed, due to conditions of the overall yield management of a specific flight or flights. An airline may also give the cruiseline "free sale" or "open sale", which means that they have full rights to sell all seats and all inventory. This is usually at the spot market price for tickets, and tends to fill out the gaps when contract blocks become unavailable (usually because the agreed upon block has been sold). There may be contract provisions where the airline can stop or limit this type of sale. Since the specifics of airline contracts is a trade secret of both parties, one can only make informed guesses as to what's happening behind the scenes. I'm going to guess that you got into a moving block situation - tickets were available, then they were available at a lower price, then they weren't, then they were, at still a different price. Highly indicative of changes in inventory. Which can be because of ticket sales through Viking or because of yield management calculations by the airline, or both. Also, it's important to remember....airline tickets are not like the box of cereal on the grocery shelf. They have different fare rules, are associated with different fare buckets, and have dynamically variable quantities available at any given time. Trying to compare them with products that are not dynamically priced is a waste of time. So, to the OP: Congratulations. This time the system worked out for you. You lost out on inventory, found it again, and had the price be lower than what you would have paid originally.

And as a note...that has NOTHING to do with FlightEase, but is an airline function.

Another vote for battery powered tea lights. Easy to find them at Walmart or even at Dollar Tree. And when the battery goes, just toss away.

You can sometimes pick up some delightful limited editions at the Oban distillery. Right in the center of town. And a couple of other excellent whiskey shops nearby. As mentioned, be sure to have rain gear for this cruise -- odds are you will need it somewhere along the way.

A usual situation with airline computer systems. Nothing to worry about. Happens with virtually all of my reservations - the boarding passes have that, but never had a problem.

And note that many of these "cheap ticket" outfits are reselling award tickets - which is against program rules and may result in you having your ticket confiscated.

I would have ZERO qualms flying on a 737MAX. Of far more concern, IMO, is that you know what "business class" on Copa entails. You would be on 737s with recliner-type seating, NOT lie-flat as you would find on most non-stops to the USA. You also would have a connection in Panama along the way. Which is why you are finding your "great deal". Not that it's a MAX. Caveat emptor.

Both are excellent. Al Safwa is much less populated, and at a higher level. But both will be worth your time, if only for some comparison.

I am going to assume that your DXB-DOH-CMN will be on Qatar. If so, there is an interesting "hack" at work. Business class flights within the Middle East on QR price out as "business", but get coded as "first". So a business class ticket that includes DOH-DXB on QR will be a "first class" segment - and that gets you full access to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge, which is an awesome destination on its own. It has full ala carte dining, a collection of art from the Doha Museum of Islamic Art, and many other delightful touches. Plus a superb bar with very premium spirits and wines. On our last visit, we passed on going out into Doha on a long connect and just enjoyed the lounge.

Anyone buying that UA ticket has FAR more money than sense. Take ANA. My only further suggestion is that in your research you use BJS as the code for Beijing and TYO for Tokyo. These are "city codes" and will give you all the airports, not just Beijing Capital (PEK) and Narita (NRT) - as Haneda (HND) is much closer to your port areas in Tokyo than Narita. That ANA pricing is a reasonable one for that kind of routing.

So, your two options are: 1) Fly LAX-PEK, land tour to HKG, cruise to TYO, Fly TYO-LAX 2) Fly LAX-HKG, land tour to PEK, Fly PEK-HKG, cruise to TYO, Fly TYO-LAX I personally doubt that you will be able to find business class tickets PEK-HKG low enough to offset any savings by going to HKG vs PEK for the first leg. But only actual research will answer that question.

If your land tour is either PEK-HKG or HKG-PEK, it makes far more sense, IMO, to end the tour in the city where the cruise starts. One less flight involved and the tour gets you to where you need to be. Thus, your flight booking would be LAX-PEK with a return of TYO-LAX. The land tour takes care of getting you to HKG. For the routing noted above, I would suggest JAL or ANA. Both would bring you back non-stop from Tokyo to LAX. I would also be comparing your options and pricing with Korean, EVA and China Airlines as all have at least equivalent product with ANA/JAL. The mainland Chinese carriers may have lower pricing for their tickets. Only you can determine what the right price/product evaluation is. Remember that simplicity often has a cost.

WHOA!!! Who ever said anything about "women's ability"? Or are you claiming that women have some special ability unique to themselves? Back on topic, please.

You miss my point. Both ER and BM spent time taking their eye off the ball. Even the best customer generates what, maybe half to three quarters of a million in gross income. In the big picture, that's a drop in the bucket. Yep...that's what an individual may want...those great strokes. OTOH, from a company standpoint, is that the best use for a CEO's time and energy? And from my standpoint, I would want my CEO to be focused on making the company, and product, the best it can be. Want to be a touchy-feely, help the customer kind of executive? Lead the customer relations team, not sit in the CEO chair. And to keep this cruise oriented, compare this with the people who want charming, engaging, and sociable captains. Personally, I don't care about those things -- what matters is how they run their ship. Francesco Schettino is a prime example.