Free air travel

[LHT28]

We just put deposit on a cruise for next May. The O air allowance is $1000.00 with $100 deviation. We will definitely change the dates as we will want to go earlier and return later. Now my question: If airfares go up between now and when we do the devation or when we make the final cruise payment would O charge us more for airfare?

 

Larry

 

confused:confused::confused:

You either take the air credit of $1000. & book your own air

Or you can pay the $100 pp deviation fee to fly in/out on different days for the cruise start/ finish days you can ask Oceania for the flights starting 270 days from departure

You can ask what flights they will give you for the dates you want or you can choose the flights you want and ask if there is an upcharge (more$$) for those specific flights

Once you accept the flights they charge you the deviation fee & it is non refundable

 

The longer you wait to do a deviation the less likely you will get a good routing

You should work with your TA to get the flights that suit you

Before you decide see what booking your own will cost you then you can make an informed decision

 

Hope that is clearer than mud ;)

Lyn

[giraffelt]

confused:confused::confused:

 

You can ask what flights they will give you for the dates you want or you can choose the flights you want and ask if there is an upcharge (more$$) for those specific flights

 

Lyn

 

Lyn,

 

Thanks for the response. The point I was trying to get clarity on and which you addressed is that the O $1000 credit plus deviation fee will get us the dates we want irrespective of any airfare increases 270 days out.

 

We might however not like the routing/seat selection.

 

Larry

[Mura]

Larry,

 

Is the deviation you are considering just a date change, and not a city change? I'm assuming that it is but we once changed both and that can cause extra problems and difficulties.

 

I can't recall a time when Oceania switched rules just because fares changed. It may average out for them ... sometimes fares go down! (Too bad that doesn't happen more frequently!)

 

Sometimes it's a little trickier to get the exact flights you want. But if your deviation is simply going in 2-3 days early and leaving 2-3 days late, I'd be surprised to hear you had a problem.

 

But there probably are never any guarantees ...

 

But I agree with Lyn that you should first check to see what you can do on your own. In prior years we usually could do better than the discount, but that hasn't happened lately.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

Lyn,

 

Thanks for the response. The point I was trying to get clarity on and which you addressed is that the O $1000 credit plus deviation fee will get us the dates we want irrespective of any airfare increases 270 days out.

 

We might however not like the routing/seat selection.

 

Larry

 

I think you may be confused still or just not understanding O air & the way it works Or maybe it is me;)

 

If you take the air credit you are on your own they deduct the $1000 off the fare quoted

EG: if the cruise fare is $3999. pp & you take the air credit of $1000 pp then the fare now becomes $2999. & you book your own air (just an example)

You do not need to pay the deviation fee

 

If you take O air & want to change dates different from embarkation /debarkation days then you pay the $100 pp

So now your fare becomes $4099 as per example above

[JimandStan]

Lyn,

 

Thanks for the response. The point I was trying to get clarity on and which you addressed is that the O $1000 credit plus deviation fee will get us the dates we want irrespective of any airfare increases 270 days out.

 

We might however not like the routing/seat selection.

 

Larry

 

If you pay the deviation fee, then you get to choose the routing. It works like this:

 

Once you have opted to use Oceania for your air transportation, then you have three choices.

 

1) If you do nothing, then Oceania will pick a route for you.

Naturally, if you express no interest, they pick the least expensive route

which will get you to the ship on time.

 

2) If you decide to pay the air deviation fee, then Oceania will further research what is on offer and "suggest" routes until you agree to one. Keep in mind that if the route that you choose costs more than that least expensive route, you may be asked to pay the difference.

 

3) Once you've paid the deviation fee, you may do the research yourself, and tell Oceania which route you would prefer. They will get back to you about pricing.

 

In all cases, Oceania would be responsible for any changes to the airfare, post booking.

[LHT28]

Lyn,

 

Thanks for the response. The point I was trying to get clarity on and which you addressed is that the O $1000 credit plus deviation fee will get us the dates we want irrespective of any airfare increases 270 days out.

 

We might however not like the routing/seat selection.

 

Larry

 

 

If you do the deviation just pick the flights/routing you want and ask if O can do it

They may charge a small upcharge but you have 48 hr to decide to take the flights or not

you have a better chance of getting what you want when you try early ;)

 

Lyn

[TKS]

It appears you're also asking about routing from your specific city. O will route you from wherever you are, if you like, but if you do not fly out of one of their "gateway" airports you will pay their fee from your airport to their "gateway" city. Check your contract of carriage you got with your O invoice/booking to see if your city is a "gateway" or not.

 

You can use this in combination with the air deviation, no problems.

 

I definitely agree with others here, though. No. 1, check to see what credit O offers for airfare. No. 2, do your own research regarding fares, before your decide. We've usually found O's fares less expensive, but not always. No. 3, book as early as you can to give you the greatest flexibility.

 

Oh, and No. 4. Have a great cruise.

[LHT28]

Oceania Cruises Primary Air Gateways: ATL, BOS, ORD, DEN, DFW, EWR, IAH, LAX, MIA, IAD, JFK, MCO, PHL, PHX, SAN, SEA, SFO, TPA, YUL, YYZ, YVR.

 

So both posters would either have to drive to their gateway airport or pay for the an additional charge to fly from their local airport o a gateway airport

 

looks like a short drive for either poster to a "gateway" airport

 

lyn

[giraffelt]

thanks to all that took the time to explain Oceania's Air / deviation process. I will wait for the 270 window and then start the process with O through my TA.

 

larry