Rare LHT28 Posted October 28, 2011 #26 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Got a generous package from O when they were just getting started which included "free" air. Good points were sensible routing and excellent airline(Lufthansa). Drawbacks were 1) connecting flight to ORD was on a separate record so I had to go out of security, wait in line to check in a second time and wait in line to go through security a second time. Don't know what advantage this had for O, but it was annoying 2) I was charged more than double the real taxes and fees shown on the ticket receipt (i.e. O picked my pocket for $150 or so). Did you do the Deviation or was just the FREE air flying in the day of the cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booyakasha Posted October 28, 2011 #27 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Give your TA the dates you want to fly in /out (providing you are in the 270 day range) See what O offers...if you do not like the flights do not accept them You can submit the flights you want then see if there is any UPCHARGE for the flights (sometime no upcharges) If you like them... accept them & pay the deviation fee ...if you do not like them keep working with Oceania or take the credit & DIY Lyn Lyn, Thanks so much. What is the 270 day range? We are cruising in June of 2012 so it is getting close. Whatever it is. :D B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 28, 2011 #28 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Lyn, Thanks so much. What is the 270 day range? We are cruising in June of 2012 so it is getting close. Whatever it is. :D B. Count back 270 day from sailing date ..then start asking about flights for deviation You are probably in range now ;) Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topcellar Posted January 30, 2013 #29 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I just returned (2 weeks ago) from an Oceania cruise which included air. I was extremely disappointed with the service and quality of the flights which I was given. Oceania's air department needs to "up its game". They don't seem to realize that because the air is included with the cruise, the quality of the flight arrangements reflects on them as much as the steak (or other food) they serve on the cruise. They wouldn't accept poor quality steak from a supplier, yet they allow airlines to dump crappy routings on their customers apparently without complaint. My initial itinerary was a disaster. They made little sense both geographically and required that we fly at unsociable hours. Oceania didn't seem to care when I objected (nor did my travel agent, regrettably). In order to get decent flights, I had to both change my gateway (to avoid flying west to go east) and pay the deviation fee. It made me think that all they are trying to do is to get you to pay the upcharge (deviation fee) rather than trying to make decent arrangements for its customers. By analogy, it would be like serving a poor quality steak in their grill, but telling the customer that they could have had a good one for an extra fee. This was my first cruise. The quality of the cruise itself was superb. Unfortunately, the poor travel arrangements reflected so badly on Oceania that I would be loath to book with them again. Interestingly, I did provide feedback regarding the poor flight arrangements through the on board surveys, which were obviously read by ship staff (I had a phone call while on the ship with respect to my comments). However, I invited someone at head office to contact me to obtain further comments, but they have not seen fit to make any contact. Hope this helps anyone who might be considering included air with Oceania. Be very wary and make sure your travel agent knows your preferences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepawa Posted January 30, 2013 #30 Share Posted January 30, 2013 We have used Oceania’s air on 3 of our 5 Oceania cruises. In each case, we gave our TA the airline, routing and times that we wanted to fly. We gladly paid the Deviation fee because besides getting exactly the travel arrangements that we wanted, it allowed us to arrive early pre-cruise and stay a few days post-cruise. On our cruise this September, we were able to get a great fare from Air Canada, Ottawa to Barcelona returning from Lisbon; thus taking the air credit from Oceania. Your TA should have explained the various options. Cheers, Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted January 30, 2013 #31 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I agree with Don We have used Oceania air 3 times as well & paid the deviation fee to fly in early on the flights we wanted Only on the BA flight to LHR did we pay an upcharge, (which was fine with us) I find flying from Canada on U.S, airlines you usually end up on the mail route I will gladly pay extra to avoid U.S. airlines;) Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no fuss travel Posted January 30, 2013 #32 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I agree with Don and Lyn We use Oceania's air as we simply cannot get a deal that is cheaper than what they are offering. We pay the deviation fee as then we get a much better flight times than what we would have and also can arrive earlier and leave later which allows us to enjoy the embarkation and debarkation ports more fully. Air Canada holds us hostage here in the west and we simply do not get great deals. I am flying with another tour company to do the Galapogos Islands in the fall and this time my TA found a better deal than that company offered me and best of all I get to fly from YVR rather than having to drive down to Seattle. Your TA should be your best friend to let you know what is the best deal you can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PirateShark Posted January 31, 2013 #33 Share Posted January 31, 2013 For what its worth, I inquired about flying in a day early to Papeete using Oceania air arrangements (I'm working with them directly and not a TA this time). I was told that if I book the pre-cruise hotel through them also the air deviation fee is waived. Considering the cost of flights from LAX to Papeete, the deviation fee for the two of us plus the cost of the hotel vs. what I would pay directly for that hotel (and book with Oceania instead plus personal air), its basically a wash for us. Of course, your situation may be different. I am finding that flight times from California to Papeete is extremely limited to begin with so there really isn't much difference. Now, if we had to fly somewhere else :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riana Posted February 2, 2013 #34 Share Posted February 2, 2013 To lessen the "milk run" effect when flying with U.S. airlines, we're considering switching our gateway city from Vancouver to Toronto for our upcoming Europe trip, & using air miles to get to & from Toronto. That way, maybe our "milk" won't "runneth" over quite so much! Our TA did complain to O that flying people in on the "red-eye" to embarkation porta on the day of a cruise, rather than the day before, hardly constitutes quality air arrangements from an upper premium line (he used the word "luxury"), but, of course, O wouldn't budge. Such is life...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 2, 2013 #35 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Our TA did complain to O that flying people in on the "red-eye" to embarkation porta on the day of a cruise, rather than the day before, hardly constitutes quality air arrangements from an upper premium line (he used the word "luxury"), but, of course, O wouldn't budge. Such is life...... You can fly in a day early ..just take the hotel package Friends fly from YYC non stop to LHR on BA They also have Non stops from YVR Of course that only works if you are flying to London ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riana Posted February 2, 2013 #36 Share Posted February 2, 2013 If you don't mind O's selected hotels & prices. We'll check out every avenue, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forevertravel Posted February 2, 2013 #37 Share Posted February 2, 2013 What about upgrading to business? We like Regent because one of the things offered is upgrading to business for $999 each way per person. I have not found anything about upgrading to business class on Oceania's website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 2, 2013 #38 Share Posted February 2, 2013 What about upgrading to business? We like Regent because one of the things offered is upgrading to business for $999 each way per person. I have not found anything about upgrading to business class on Oceania's website. check the promotions https://www.oceaniacruises.com/promotions.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GITC Posted February 3, 2013 #39 Share Posted February 3, 2013 We are about to take our first Oceania cruise and, as such, can't rate the air experience yet. I can, however, comment on how it has worked out so far... We requested and received the flights we wanted....initially. Subsequently, the airline changed their schedule resulting in a longer layover on a connection on the return flight. Not ideal but doable, especially with lounge access. :D Our air differential cost for our desired flights was $400 so our total air, including the deviation fee through Oceania, was $3,050. To buy our flights ourselves today would be almost $8,500. Needless to say, without the Oceania air, we would be staying home. It's possible that our cost would have been less had we actually purchased last fall but moot at this point. As it stands, we're very pleased with how it has worked out, so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chai Cruise Enthusiast#18 Posted February 4, 2013 #40 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I am weighing whether to take my own air or to use the air provided by Oceania. My travel agent said that I wouldn't have to pay a deviation fee IF I had Oceania book my hotel room for me for arriving 1 day early and staying 1 extra night. The cost of the room is considerably higher than if I booked my own hotel but the cost includes ground transportation. Also, I am not certain whether I would receive frequent flyer points for my flights. That's a lot of points since my daughter will fly from San Francisco and I fly from Charlotte to Copenhagen and back from Stockholm. I will create a chart to compare the costs. I would NEVER fly the day that I sail. The fine print in Oceania's brochure said that it wouldn't be responsible for extra costs if flights were delayed. Bonnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansy Mews Posted February 4, 2013 #41 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I am weighing whether to take my own air or to use the air provided by Oceania. My travel agent said that I wouldn't have to pay a deviation fee IF I had Oceania book my hotel room for me for arriving 1 day early and staying 1 extra night. The cost of the room is considerably higher than if I booked my own hotel but the cost includes ground transportation. Also, I am not certain whether I would receive frequent flyer points for my flights. That's a lot of points since my daughter will fly from San Francisco and I fly from Charlotte to Copenhagen and back from Stockholm. I will create a chart to compare the costs. I would NEVER fly the day that I sail. The fine print in Oceania's brochure said that it wouldn't be responsible for extra costs if flights were delayed. Bonnie We got frequent flier miles for our trip (Aeroplan points on US Airways going and on Air Canada from LAX). We did have air deviation but I really don't think that matters. However we did fly with carriers where we collect points. I believe we just added our number to our flights in Virtually There. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted February 4, 2013 #42 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I am not saying the "free" air is superb, go for it. I'm also not saying it's awful. Usually we book our own air. But the few times we used O's air it was fine. (On our first Renaissance cruise we were horrified at what we heard about the scheduling for the "free" air". People had hours long layovers in intermediate cities.) Coming from NYC was -- and is -- a lot better than when you need to get to a gateway airport.) The one problem we have had is that O's contracts with the airlines did not permit us to upgrade our seats. Now, we haven't tried to do so more than once or twice so that doesn't mean YOUR miles won't work. It's just something you should check out first. And when we have used the cruise line's air, it's always been with a deviation. That is because we don't want to fly to a foreign city (or leave from a foreign city) and not see it. If it's a city we've visited many times before, we certainly would consider just going home. But I don't think we ever have ... Not on a cruise, anyway. The time may come! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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