Inconvenient flight time

[Gradymax]

numerous sailings on Oceania ships (Europe and the Med) and have never encountered the following: Rome to Venice 10/24 to 11/3, Oceania travel dept booked our departure flight on 11/3 for 7:00am. My best conservative guess for the time required to leave the ship, transport to the airport, and arrive an hour prior to departure is 2-3hours which puts us somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 in the morning. We're then faced with approximate 16hours of air travel before arriving back in LAX. Of course to change this requires numerous fees!! I'm curious if this is happening to others? What happened to customer care, since with Oceania the cruise experience includes airfare?!

[Baby Hughy]

At the end of our TA on Riviera they had us traveling from Miami to Toronto via Phillidelphia. Toyal travel time 10.5 hours. Normal flight time from Miami to Toronto is 3hrs & 10 min. Contacted my travel agent and had her contact Ociania and got direct flight to Toronto and no charges were assessed.

 

Bill

[LHT28]

Another good reason to pay the deviation fee & pick your own flights

 

maybe ask for a later flight ....I would never be up at 4 am for anyone :eek:

[sparty1]

Never flown with Oceania before, but currently our return from Papeete is 17 and 1/2hours and 3 connecting flights. I looked for something better on my own, and I can reduce flight time to 16 and 1/2hrs for a deviation fee. Don't think it's worth the extra $ in our case. But Europe isnt as far to LAX, as Tahiti is to the midwest, so it seems you should be able to get some routing that takes less time. Curious to know.

 

numerous sailings on Oceania ships (Europe and the Med) and have never encountered the following: Rome to Venice 10/24 to 11/3, Oceania travel dept booked our departure flight on 11/3 for 7:00am. My best conservative guess for the time required to leave the ship, transport to the airport, and arrive an hour prior to departure is 2-3hours which puts us somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 in the morning. We're then faced with approximate 16hours of air travel before arriving back in LAX. Of course to change this requires numerous fees!! I'm curious if this is happening to others? What happened to customer care, since with Oceania the cruise experience includes airfare?!

[Love.II.Cruise]

Another good reason to pay the deviation fee & pick your own flights

 

maybe ask for a later flight ....I would never be up at 4 am for anyone :eek:

 

I agree on this. Anytime we've done air with a cruise line we always do the deviation and have never been disappointed in flights. In fact, I find cruise lines to give me the exact flights I want when I ask.

[PaulMCO]

Another good reason to pay the deviation fee & pick your own flights

 

maybe ask for a later flight ....I would never be up at 4 am for anyone :eek:

 

My usual time to get up for work :(

 

Unfortunately if you are traveling to the states from many Med Ports there are no direct flights therefore you must connect through a hub like (FRA, MUC, CDG etc.). To do this since most of the TA flights leave in the peak hours of 1100 to 1300h -- you need a 0700h flight to connect through the hub.

 

I don't blame OC but certainly a deviation does allow for you to pick the best available choice.

[LHT28]

My usual time to get up for work :(

 

Unfortunately if you are traveling to the states from many Med Ports there are no direct flights therefore you must connect through a hub like (FRA, MUC, CDG etc.). To do this since most of the TA flights leave in the peak hours of 1100 to 1300h -- you need a 0700h flight to connect through the hub.

 

I don't blame OC but certainly a deviation does allow for you to pick the best available choice.

YIKES I thought DH getting up at 5am when he worked was bad

 

Thank goodness we fly into Canada then ;)

I have never taken a early morning flights from Europe ... recently we had a 12 noon flight from Budapest connecting in Amsterdam

yes we do get home late it the day but I would rather that

Good thing we have options

[traveler916]

I would never be up at 4 am for anyone :eek:

 

That is my usual wake up time, except on business trip days...like tomorrow

 

I am flying from Sacramento to Newark on United thru Denver.

 

Sacramento to Denver flight departs at 5:32AM.

 

I leave for the airport at 4, arrive at 4:20...boarding for the flight starts at 4:57, 35 minutes before departure. If you don't board early, you sometimes don't find carry-on space.

 

So those days, I am up at 3 instead of 4 :)

 

With the airlines cutting back on flights, I find that the first flight of the day out of Sacramento is really the only option for making sure I get where I need to go. I have a meeting in New Jersey Tuesday and then I fly home.

 

When we came home from Barcelona in March, I believe our flight was at 6:30AM, so we left the hotel at 4. The flight from BCN to FRA was about 2 hours, then leaving time to go through immigration, even though it was transit immigration, then about an hour in the lounge...then boarding our flight to San Francisco...there really wasn't that much connection time...

[JimandStan]

That is my usual wake up time, except on business trip days...like tomorrow

 

I am flying from Sacramento to Newark on United thru Denver.

 

Sacramento to Denver flight departs at 5:32AM.

 

I leave for the airport at 4, arrive at 4:20...boarding for the flight starts at 4:57, 35 minutes before departure. If you don't board early, you sometimes don't find carry-on space.

 

So those days, I am up at 3 instead of 4 :)

 

With the airlines cutting back on flights, I find that the first flight of the day out of Sacramento is really the only option for making sure I get where I need to go. I have a meeting in New Jersey Tuesday and then I fly home.

 

When we came home from Barcelona in March, I believe our flight was at 6:30AM, so we left the hotel at 4. The flight from BCN to FRA was about 2 hours, then leaving time to go through immigration, even though it was transit immigration, then about an hour in the lounge...then boarding our flight to San Francisco...there really wasn't that much connection time...

 

Getting up at the crack of dawn might seem a hassle at first blush, but if you were flying later in the day, particularly Internationally, you'd need to be at the Airport MUCH earlier.

In my neck of the woods, JFK wants us checked in 2 hours before flight time (domestic) and 3 hours (International).

Oh well, it leaves plenty of time for a smart cocktail between security and the Gate :p

[Mura]

Our flight home from Istanbul last week was at 6:30 am, so we left the hotel at 4:00. Of course, traffic was nice and light, and the crowds putting their bags through security (which at Istanbul is the first thing you do) were not bad either.

 

But we used FF miles and that 6:30 am flight was the only one I could find ... I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been nonstop to JFK, but we had to go through Munich ...

 

Mura

[neepawa]

Returning from our Russian river cruise later this month, our departure from St Petersburg is at 6:25 AM. With a one hour drive to the airport plus three hours for check-in and security, we will leave the river boat at 2:30. To add to our long day, we have a five hour layover in Frankfurt before getting home to Ottawa. Ah, the joys of international travel.

Cheers,

Don

[Mexfolkart]

Last year we booked our own airfare back from Venice and HAD to take

that 7am flight to Rome and on to ATL..we were in a hotel and had to do

the transfers all on our own..walking over Venice Canals at 4am!!! One man we saw that early even carried my husband's bag for him!!

We actually CHOSE that flight or we would have had to overnight along the way. At least O will get you TO the airport on time.

Sherry

[traveler916]

Returning from our Russian river cruise later this month, our departure from St Petersburg is at 6:25 AM. With a one hour drive to the airport plus three hours for check-in and security, we will leave the river boat at 2:30. To add to our long day, we have a five hour layover in Frankfurt before getting home to Ottawa. Ah, the joys of international travel.

Cheers,

Don

 

I have never been to Russia...Jody came close but didn't actually get in (long store in a separate post)...but before you go tot he airport at 2:30, make sure the airport is actually open at 3 or 3:30, Most aren't.

 

we flew home from Canada once and got there at 3:30 for a 6:30 flight....the ticket counter didn't open until 5:30 and neither did the food places or coffee places

 

Just check in advance would be my suggestion

[traveler916]

Getting up at the crack of dawn might seem a hassle at first blush, but if you were flying later in the day, particularly Internationally, you'd need to be at the Airport MUCH earlier.

In my neck of the woods, JFK wants us checked in 2 hours before flight time (domestic) and 3 hours (International).

Oh well, it leaves plenty of time for a smart cocktail between security and the Gate :p

 

You absolutely want to avoid the "last flight of the day" if you can...if it's cancelled, you often don't have a lot of other options, other than waiting until the next day.