choice air

[waterbug123]

I did see any fine print

• Assured Arrival means that any delays or cancellations to air travel booked through Celebrity's ChoiceAir will not keep a guest from getting to their cruise. Celebrity's ChoiceAir team monitors guests' flights and, in case of an unexpected travel snag, works quickly with the airline to get the guest on the next available flight to the ship, even providing hotel stays and ground transfers at no additional cost when necessary - resulting in greater peace of mind for vacationers.

 

 

There is also verbiage (can't access it at the moment) that clarifies this and says things like "will work with the airlines to TRY...." or "will do what we can" etc. In the end, it's a lot of feel good verbiage that reads like a guarantee but isn't. Will they work with the airline and try to find a solution? Most of the time yes (anecdotal stories say not 100% of the time though) but they simply cannot guarantee that they will get you to the ship on time. I mean, if your flight isn't taking off for whatever reason (mechanical problem, whatever), then it isn't taking off, and there's isn't a thing CA can do to make it take off and be on time. Nor can they snap their fingers and make a new flight appear that isn't scheduled, or kick a passenger off the next flight that will get you there on time but is full.

 

And for the record, I am not a Choice Air "hater," it just bothers me to see people make decisions based on incomplete information, or assume something is a guarantee when it really just means "we'll try our best to help."

[ghstudio]

Except that in the post I referred to, there was no clarification of "with corresponding restrictions." Just the generalization that "If you buy the cheapest fare directly from (European) airlines, they have same restrictions"

 

"cheapest air" and "cheapest air with corresponding restrictions" are two very different things, and it's an important difference.

 

 

 

Go to the cruise air forum and search for a post by Greatam. She has posted such restrictions several times. The airlines don't make them up; they are there, buried in the terms of the ticket. Unfortunately, with Choice Air, it's extremely difficult if not impossible to see them BEFORE you purchase the ticket.

 

Interesting reading....thanks. I am now more of a believer that there is a difference...although, in our case, it doesn't change the way we book flights. We always book directly with airlines with the one exception of one way fares between Europe and the US for transatlantics.

[RickT]

They ARE different. The difference arises during irregular opps - i.e. missed connection, extreme delay or flight cancellation. Has NOTHING to do with seat selection, ff miles etc. As I said earlier - if things wrong according to plan you will never know the tix are different; the pitfalls only materialize when setting goes awry.

 

I'd love to know what your experience is with Choice Air that would cause you to say that? I've used Choice Air a number of times and each time the class code on the tickets was the same class code that I would have purchased had I dealt directly with the airline.

 

Perhaps it varies by airline but last year due to flight delays we missed our connection in Frankfurt. Lufthansa handled the issue (even though the delay was caused by a late inbound Air Canada flight) wonderfully. They offered to put us on another carriers flight or on their next available flight, the choice was ours.

 

The only issue I've ever had with choice air is ensuring the prices are in fact the best. If I've found a better price/route then they have been offering I was able to get them to match/beat the flight without any problem.

 

I'll choose Choice Air in the future even if their prices simply match what I can get. The assurance that they will deal with getting you to the ship in the event of a major delay make it worth it.

[RickT]

Seems like this thread has taken off in a new direction, but YES - I, too am unable to access the choiceair website. Haven't been able to all week.

 

It has taken off in a new direction... Sorry, I got caught up in it as did others :o

 

I've had no problems connecting to choice air in fact I've been going there almost every day for the past week or two.

 

I have no problem accessing the website via the Celebrity website. I either choose the Choice Air link under plan a cruise, or the link that appears when you search for a cruise (it's right below the cabin pricing).

 

Maybe it's your browser? I use Firefox mostly but have also had no problems using Explorer.

 

Good luck.

[kjaooo]

it does appear there website is back up and running again, first time in a week I could get on it

[nittany lion fan]

Since I started this thread , I will tell you that I got the site back earlier this week. I don't know how or why ---but it is back.

[Gonzo70]

I'd love to know what your experience is with Choice Air that would cause you to say that? I've used Choice Air a number of times and each time the class code on the tickets was the same class code that I would have purchased had I dealt directly with the airline.

 

Perhaps it varies by airline but last year due to flight delays we missed our connection in Frankfurt. Lufthansa handled the issue (even though the delay was caused by a late inbound Air Canada flight) wonderfully. They offered to put us on another carriers flight or on their next available flight, the choice was ours.

 

The only issue I've ever had with choice air is ensuring the prices are in fact the best. If I've found a better price/route then they have been offering I was able to get them to match/beat the flight without any problem.

 

I'll choose Choice Air in the future even if their prices simply match what I can get. The assurance that they will deal with getting you to the ship in the event of a major delay make it worth it.

 

Was the flight you are speaking about a DEEPLY DISCOUNTED fare that Choice Air was selling for MUCH CHEAPER than the airline was? If not, what you are saying is a mute point. The fare rules (not fare code) generally associated with these deeply discounted tickets are the ones that generally are highly restrictive when irregular operations occur. If you want to believe that Choice Air can assure you make the ship, so be it, most experienced travelers see it for what it is - advertising.