Air Deviation Fee AND a Differntial Fee ?

[pratzert]

We are booked on the Sept. 17th sailing of Insignia Vnc to Bcn.

 

We planned to take the air thru "O" but wanted to do a "Deviation" in order to stay in BCN two additonal days then fly home.

 

Our T/A had informed us from the beginning that there was a $100 "Deviation Fee" for changing our the days outside the day of embarking and disembarking and we we OK with that.

 

But our agent also just hit us up with an additional $100/pp for a "Differential Fee", so flying home later is costing us $200/pp.

 

There was never any mention of that previously.

 

Is this something normal and usual with the "O" air arrangements or something new.

 

We have to accept these flights by today at 4PM.

 

Thanks for any comments.

[pratzert]

Forgot to mention it looks like they booked us on Air France on the flight from Dulles to Venice connecting in Paris.

 

And we are booked on Lufthansa for the return trip.

 

We love Lufthansa, but have never flown Air France.

 

How is Air France ? Good, Bad... just Ok ?

 

Thanks.

[dino2067]

Is this something normal and usual with the "O" air arrangements or something new.

 

It is not new and may be affected by your choice of airlines, air itin, etc., etc.

 

We have to accept these flights by today at 4PM.

 

If you don't like the flights, etc., you don't have to accept.

 

One question...did you pick out your air itin with your choice of airlines, flight times, etc.?

 

Kathleen

[dino2067]

Forgot to mention it looks like they booked us on Air France on the flight from Dulles to Venice connecting in Paris.

 

And we are booked on Lufthansa for the return trip.

 

We love Lufthansa, but have never flown Air France.

 

How is Air France ? Good, Bad... just Ok ?

 

Thanks.

 

Okay, it looks like you allowed someone to pick your flights for you. One suggestion is do some homework and offer up alternatives of air itins (and preferred airlines) that you like and would find acceptable. I'd recommend using:

 

http://itasoftware.com/

 

to search for available flights for your itin...just log-in as a guest and put in your flight info.

 

Kathleen

[Dreps]

I recently posted a long thread on the CC Regent site about advice booking Regent air given my recent first-time experience. I don't know how similar the process is with Oceania, given that they are owned by the same parent. As I suggested and what dino also mentions is that it pays to do your homework. First, our TA found out what airlines were relevant for our cruise, then I used Kayak (though ITA software is also excellent) to examine alternatives. Given that I have status on DL, and it was one of the airlines Regent was using, it was easy to focus on DL and search for flight combinations. I literally submitted the exact flights we wanted because I cared about aircraft type and seating, and I provided this information to our TA. Within 24 hours, we had the flights I wanted confirmed, and I was given the reference locator so that I could fiddle with our seat assignments. Regent charged $100 per person even though we were arriving in our embarkation city a few days early and leaving from our disembarkation city several days after the end of the cruise.

[hondorner]

Nearly every thread about airlines on the Oceania forum in the past 5 years has mentioned bothy the deviation fee and the possibility of a differential if the flights that Oceania finds for you on a deviation are more expensive than the flights they normally offer. Back inthe days when a deviation fee was $75, I paid a differential of $225 per person, for a total of $300 per person in order to arrive early -- and I was happy to do it, because the total was still less than what I could have booked on my own.

 

Before you say "yes" to the deviation, you are not obligated to accept it, and no fees are assessed until you do accept the terms. That gives you the opportunity to see if you can make a better deal on your own. If you can, say "no" to Oceania. If Oceania is still cheaper even with the fees, you should have no complaint.

 

Besides, it sounds like your complaint should be with your agent, not with Oceania. You say you received "no mention; it was up to your agent to mention it to you -- if the agent ever knew in the first place. This is routine for agents who are familiar with Oceania.

[pratzert]

Thanks for all the comments and advice. It clarifies things for me.

 

 

Our agent had made us well aware of the initial deviation fee but had completely failed to mention the possibility of the differential cost. So I am disappointed in the T/A for that.

 

But I can understand that there is a difference in air costs depending on days of the week and times etc. I know it's a fact of life that some flights are more or less depending on the flight. I wonder if "O" gives a refund of the air allowance if we find something cheaper ?

 

In any event, we had orginally found some flights which were $399/pp cheaper but still decided to go thru "O" for the arrangements.

 

But now that there is an additonal $100 on top of the Deviation fee, it makes the difference $499/pp..... which is nothing to sneeze at.

 

We going to try to confirm the flights are still available and may just go ahead and take the air credit from "O" and do our own thing.

 

We have to committ today.

[PaulMCO]

Our next cruise we just did an air deviation and had the same monetary result 100 + 100 as you. However we did not like the the connections (on one they a took us to Charlote from Miami to connect to Us air to Rio). It took us 4 tries to do this. The differential these days is almost always there as there are cancel and change fees imposed by the airlines no matter what. The later you make the change of course the higher this may be because of a higher fare class.

 

As for your Air France question. I have always found them better than LH anytime (better food and better service). However this is just my opinion with over 3 million air miles (many on UA and LH which I hate but forced to fly). :)

[LHT28]

 

We going to try to confirm the flights are still available and may just go ahead and take the air credit from "O" and do our own thing.

 

We have to committ today.

Just remember once you commit to the deviation you lose that $100. pp fee

Just something to consider

[pratzert]

Our next cruise we just did an air deviation and had the same monetary result 100 + 100 as you. However we did not like the the connections (on one they a took us to Charlote from Miami to connect to Us air to Rio). It took us 4 tries to do this. The differential these days is almost always there as there are cancel and change fees imposed by the airlines no matter what. The later you make the change of course the higher this may be because of a higher fare class.

 

As for your Air France question. I have always found them better than LH anytime (better food and better service). However this is just my opinion with over 3 million air miles (many on UA and LH which I hate but forced to fly). :)

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Nice to know that Air France is good AirLine.

 

It was our agent who actually requested the specific flights for us to be on, and we were actually please with the flights and times. So no complaints there.

 

It's that extra $100 that may have pushed us over the edge to make our own travel arrangments.

 

That extra $499/pp savings will pay for a good chunk of the Bar bill or an excursion.

[LHT28]

Thanks for the info.

 

Nice to know that Air France is good AirLine.

 

It was our agent who actually requested the specific flights for us to be on, and we were actually please with the flights and times. So no complaints there.

 

.

 

Ask her to find out what flights O suggests

we did a deviation for our cruise in Feb ...we got good flights from O at no extra charge other than the deviation fee

 

Lyn

[pratzert]

Just remember once you commit to the deviation you lose that $100. pp fee

Just something to consider

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Today is the lats day for the Final Payment and we have to committ one way or the other about taking the "O" air or doing our own and getting the credit.

 

I assumed that there won't be any fee (Deviation or other), as long as we tell them today we are making our own air arrangments.

 

The Deviation notice we got from "O" said it had to be accepted by 6/22.

 

Am I correct in thinking they won't be charging us any fee if we do our own thing ?

 

Or are thry going to charge us for it regardless at this point ?

[LHT28]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Today is the lats day for the Final Payment and we have to committ one way or the other about taking the "O" air or doing our own and getting the credit.

 

I assumed that there won't be any fee (Deviation or other), as long as we tell them today we are making our own air arrangments.

 

The Deviation notice we got from "O" said it had to be accepted by 6/22.

 

Am I correct in thinking they won't be charging us any fee if we do our own thing ?

 

If you do not confirm their flights then no they should not charge the fee

 

Just check with your TA to make sure

[pratzert]

If you do not confirm their flights then no they should not charge the fee

 

Just check with your TA to make sure

 

Will do.... Thanks !

[dino2067]

With the recent "ash" issue in Europe along with how Oceania successfully dealt with their stranded sea-air passengers affected by it who were disembarking in Europe, you might look at that as an additional consideration when choosing your options between Oceania air and booking independently.

 

 

 

Kathleen

[pratzert]

With the recent "ash" issue in Europe along with how Oceania successfully dealt with their stranded sea-air passengers affected by it who were disembarking in Europe, you might look at that as an additional consideration when choosing your options between Oceania air and booking independently.

 

Kathleen

 

Thanks Kathleen.

 

I read that "O" was exceedingly helpful to their Pax who were affected.

 

I think I also read that they went above and beyond to help those who didn't even use their air.

 

We did take the insurance and both our agent and the Travel Insurance company informed me that at this momentin time, they airports are all pretty much back to normal and that any "new" eruprion woul dbe considered a "new" event and we would have coverage.

 

Of course, to have "O" on our side wuold be a huge plus.

 

In fact, reading those posts about how "O" reacted and helped, actually helped us in our decision to proceed with the cruise rather than cancelling it due to the volcano related problems.

 

That's another reason why we decided to still book the air thru "O" even though it was more expensive.

 

But now we're talking $1000/couple which makes us reconsider.

[Jancruz]

I suggest you find out what the flights are that O would put you on for the deviation fee..you might be happy with them and only have to pay the $100 mper person fee.

Jancruz1

[StanandJim]

Thanks Kathleen.

 

I read that "O" was exceedingly helpful to their Pax who were affected.

 

I think I also read that they went above and beyond to help those who didn't even use their air.

 

We did take the insurance and both our agent and the Travel Insurance company informed me that at this momentin time, they airports are all pretty much back to normal and that any "new" eruprion woul dbe considered a "new" event and we would have coverage.

 

Of course, to have "O" on our side wuold be a huge plus.

 

In fact, reading those posts about how "O" reacted and helped, actually helped us in our decision to proceed with the cruise rather than canceling it due to the volcano related problems.

 

That's another reason why we decided to still book the air through "O" even though it was more expensive.

 

But now we're talking $1000/couple which makes us reconsider.

 

You definitely need to have a stern talk with your TA for letting you get this far into the process without your knowing what you were buying. :mad:

 

 

The deal is that when you opt to use Oceania Air, and to deviate, YOU may select the flights that you want Oceania to book on your behalf.

 

Oceania then compares the cost of the flights that you want to the cost of the flights that they would have chosen to get you there.

 

If the flights that you chose are more expensive, then you may be asked to pay the difference. Which is what happened here.

 

It sounds like you may have picked the flights that you wanted without considering the fare because you assumed that the cost would be Oceania's' problem.

 

If that is the case, then you may want to choose another set of flights with an eye toward the finances of the situation.

[Acrusa]

Has anyone done an air deviation bying 3 tickets for 2 passengers tru Oceania?

We are on the March 11 2011 Beijing to Hong Kong cruise.I am booking my own air but thought that I might use oceania's air.I have booked with them 4 yrs ago and used the airdeviation specifing my own routs.Worked out great . But this time looking to book a full 3 seat row for the 2 of us.

[rallydave]

Has anyone done an air deviation bying 3 tickets for 2 passengers tru Oceania?

We are on the March 11 2011 Beijing to Hong Kong cruise.I am booking my own air but thought that I might use oceania's air.I have booked with them 4 yrs ago and used the airdeviation specifing my own routs.Worked out great . But this time looking to book a full 3 seat row for the 2 of us.

 

You might just consider going Business Class for the two of you. Might be less expensive than than buying the third ticket and really much more comfortable and significantly better amenities for two long flights.

 

Would expect O to charge you full coach for the third seat and that should be more money than two upgrades. Not sure what O charges but, Regent, as sister company would be $999 each way pp or $3996 for two Business seats.

 

Another trick I do when traveling with my DW is to reserve a window and aisle in a three row seating and mostly the center seat is empty and if not, one of us slides over and never had anyone complain about an aisle or window rather than center seat.

 

One more consideration is the type of aircraft you will be on. Oftentimes the wide bodies flying the Pacific don't have only three seats, aisle, center and window. They have aisle and window on each side of the aircraft and five to seven in the middle. Find out from the airline website which aircraft are on your routing then go to seatguru.com who has seat maps for almost all airlines and aircraft in the world.

 

Thanks,

[Acrusa]

Our flights are on AirChina. All 3 abrest. Couch round trip is $1400.00 PP so 3 tickets are $4200.00.Buss. Class is $6500.00pp.

[LAexNY]

Our flights are on AirChina. All 3 abrest. Couch round trip is $1400.00 PP so 3 tickets are $4200.00.Buss. Class is $6500.00pp.

 

I always sit in couch when I fly. ;)

[LHT28]

Our flights are on AirChina. All 3 abrest. Couch round trip is $1400.00 PP so 3 tickets are $4200.00.Buss. Class is $6500.00pp.

I wonder if Air china has a provision like KLM where you can buy economy seats then purchase an upgrade to Business or Economy Comfort as they call it?

I should clarify & say we did book our own air so not sure if you would be able to upgrade with O air

 

 

I would ask O what they would charge for the extra seat then decide

 

Lyn

[Acrusa]

I wonder if Air china has a provision like KLM where you can buy economy seats then purchase an upgrade to Business or Economy Comfort as they call it?

I should clarify & say we did book our own air so not sure if you would be able to upgrade with O air

 

 

I would ask O what they would charge for the extra seat then decide

 

Lyn

 

We did just book our own fare with Airchina. They are the only nonstop from JFK to Bejing.We also have to stay one night in Hong Kong because the flight from Hong Kong departs at 8:30 Am. For the extra few dollars we have sn extra seat to more room..