ChoiceAir There for you on travel day

[travelplus]

"Did You Know? Remember with ChoiceAir's Assured Arrival program, when you book your airfare with us you can feel confident that we will be there for you on your day of travel to support you if there are any flight interruptions, delays, schedule changes and cancellations.."

 

Assured Arrival Let's see:

 

Day of Travel. You arrive at the airport and the airline has no reservation under your name. There is nothing that can be done. First check to see that your ticket has a "Status HK or OK" that means your ticket has been confirmed. Also look for the E-Ticket Number.

 

With the Ticket# and Status"HK(Holding Confirmed) or OK this means the airline is obligated to fly you to your destination even if they must use a different carrier. Do not in under any circumstances leave the counter and state that the E-Ticket# and Status "HK" means that you the carrier is obligated to get us to our cruise. We are here on time for checkiin and your end of the contract says that you must get us there even if its via Air France etc.

Assured Arrival says" Will be there for you but can't guarantee you will make the ship".

 

A Frantic Customer calls in to ChoiceAir saying their flight got cancelled. The rep starts tapping away and finds out the passengers can't make the ship because all flights are booked and the next port of call is St.Maartin. We can get you there but your own your own for hotels and food.

 

Before using ChoiceAIr read the Terms and Conditions and be sure you are paying the best fare. In fact arrive a day or two early.

 

I think their Day of Travel Assistance is a Band Aid to make people feel like they are being taken care of without worries . But in reality I've read horror stories about people booked with ChoiceAir and not getting any assistance whatsoever.

 

This is the reason to Buy Insurance and to consider booking your own airfare and arrive a day or two before and stay a day or two after the ship arrives your final port of call.

 

I could open up a Travel Business and claim"Oh yea we will get you to your final destination in First Class if need be". In reality it wouldn't work out. Too many people forget to read the Terms and Conditions or are too excited and then get upset with the agent because they were not fully aware of the ticket they booked etc.

 

Please take all precautions before using a service that claims to be there for you. I once had a Credit Card that claims to "Be there for you". They were charging me late fees and did not post my payment to the account. Needless to say I cancelled the card.

 

The"We'll be there for you on day of travel" is another way in my opinion to say "We'll be there for you but only on our terms".

 

Having taken courses in Travel and Tourism I have become more and more aware of gimmicks such as on Expedia"Hurry Inventory is Limited".

 

The "Hurry Inventory Is Limited" shows up whether you book a year or 2 days in advance. This just means that Expedia wants you to think your getting the best rate and hotels and that there are Only"1 room left". This si far from the truth. The one room left in most cases means that the "Block Of Rooms" assigned to Expedia is running out. Go to another web booking webstite and voila you have just saved yourself money and got the same or better hotel.

 

Same with airfare" Only 3 seats left at this price". Ah this should mean that the Fare Class on Expedia is almost booked up and I should go with another webstie to find a better deal". A haste traveler would just go ahead and book it only to find out they could have gotten a better airfare.

 

Oh and how about those individuals who think the "24 Hour Best Rate Guarantee is really what it means"

 

You go and find a better rate and send in a copy with proof to Expedia. Tough luck Expedia says you have to get the same itinerary at a higher rate booked on Expedia or a competitor. But chances are if you booked with an affiliated company they would have the same inventory. Same goes for airlines its quite rare for an airfare to change drastically in 24 hours. Basically its a false sense of confidence and yet people fall for it and get upset when it does not work in their favor.

 

Do your research and don't fall for gimmicks such as" If you book today we'll give you an additional $25 OBC". The "Today Offer" is there for a long time and of course you can always find a better deal or offer if you do your homework.

 

So in the end I don't fall for the gimmicks such as "We'll leave the light on for you" or "American Airlines Something Special In the Air".

Edited January 24, 2014 by travelplus

[travelplus]

Meant to say"You found a lower Rate on Expedia" for Best Rate Guarantee.

[RickT]

Are these things that happened to you? Or are they things you believe have happened to other people?

[travelplus]

Are these things that happened to you? Or are they things you believe have happened to other people?

 

They have happened to other people.

[FlyerTalker]

When SHTF, there is only ONE person you want to be "there for you". That's yourself. In the final analysis, you can either be knowledgeable, prepared and pro-active OR you can be a docile follower waiting for someone else to take care of you.

 

Your choice.

 

Or, as some say in a political realm: A nation of sheep begets a government of wolves.

[greatam]

Are these things that happened to you? Or are they things you believe have happened to other people?

 

 

While travelplus is a student that sometimes has some valuable input, you seem to keep trying to make the point that Choice Air is a GOOD choice without knowing all the particulars. THE THREAD BELOW PROVED that what someone THOUGHT was a "regular" airline ticket was far from it. And how would you KNOW??? You cannot see the fare rules BEFORE you purchase that Choice Air CHEAPEST ticket. Caveat Emptor And when you get stuck in an airport, can't get re-routed, can't get on another airline, please don't come back and let us know you "done screwed up". There is very rarely NOT a way to meet very closely the Choice Air price if that is the only criteria you use for buying airline tickets

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1962913

[greatam]

dup post

Edited January 25, 2014 by greatam

[thechicagoans]

It's really much simpler than all of this.

 

1. Can ChoiceAir save you money?

Yes

 

2. Can ChoiceAir end up costing you a lot more money (and years of your life) if things go wrong?

Yes

 

3. Is this like many other tradeoffs in life?

Yes

 

I personally don't use ChoiceAir and between frequent flier miles and understanding how to get decent one-way air fares, have always been fine.

 

The deal is if save money, it's because you gave up something else. Have I done this in other types of travel? Yes. I've used Priceline and Hotwire for over hundreds of nights of travel and saved tens of thousands of dollars. Does that mean I've never gotten a really terrible room? No. I've had a few bad stays. But I know the risk and I'm willing to take it.

 

As long as you know what you're getting into, it's fine. Just don't complain when something goes wrong. It's part of the deal you got.

[greatam]

It's really much simpler than all of this.

 

1. Can ChoiceAir save you money?

Yes

 

2. Can ChoiceAir end up costing you a lot more money (and years of your life) if things go wrong?

Yes

 

3. Is this like many other tradeoffs in life?

Yes

 

I personally don't use ChoiceAir and between frequent flier miles and understanding how to get decent one-way air fares, have always been fine.

 

The deal is if save money, it's because you gave up something else. Have I done this in other types of travel? Yes. I've used Priceline and Hotwire for over hundreds of nights of travel and saved tens of thousands of dollars. Does that mean I've never gotten a really terrible room? No. I've had a few bad stays. But I know the risk and I'm willing to take it.

 

As long as you know what you're getting into, it's fine. Just don't complain when something goes wrong. It's part of the deal you got.

 

BRAVO!!!! Great post!!!

 

And those last lines say it all. Most of the time you truly DON'T KNOW what you are getting into with a Choice Air ticket.

Edited January 26, 2014 by greatam

[sambamama]

I am very grateful for this forum and the many posters who offer advice and explanations for free. An educated consumer is a wise consumer. Knowing what choice air isnow- I don't think I would ever take that risk. The camera analogy is an excellent one. Thanks for all the help:)!

[thechicagoans]

BRAVO!!!! Great post!!!

 

And those last lines say it all. Most of the time you truly DON'T KNOW what you are getting into with a Choice Air ticket.

 

Thanks to you, Flyertalker, and the other veterans on here. It's because of folks like you that I went over to Flyertalk and tried to learn all of this stuff myself after years of traveling a lot for work and not really having a clue on what to do with my miles.

[odysee]

Just a word of caution : the restrictions mentioned on Choice Air are also valid if one books the lowest fares directly with European Airlines (don't know enough about others). It really depends on which tariff is chosen and is applicable if one books directly on-line with airline, via airline agents or on sites like ebookers, etc.

Example on economy fares directly from Lufthansa booking website :

Economy Economy Economy Economy

Saver Basic Basic Plus Flex

Rebooking Fee*** Rebooking not possible EUR 120 EUR 120 none

Refund Fee Refund not possible Refund not EUR 120 none

Mileage Credit * 25% 25% 50% max 150%

Mileage Upgrade ** not allowed not allowed not allowed not allowed

[odysee]

Sorry, just noticed my previous posting of the Lufthansa fares is very garbled. Don't know how to do it right, but will try to clean up below.

 

.............................Economy.....................Economy................Economy........Economy

.............................Saver..........................Basic....................Basic Plus.......Flex

Rebooking Fee***....Rebooking not possible...EUR 120..................EUR 120 .......none

 

Refund Fee..............Refund not possible.......Refund not possible...EUR 120........none

 

Mileage Credit *........ 25%.........................25% .......................50%.............max 150%

Mileage Upgrade **....not allowed................not allowed..............not allowed....not allowed

 

We have also experienced that it is possible to select higher fares with Choice Air that would have less or no restrictions. All a matter of price !

Edited January 28, 2014 by odysee

[travelplus]

While travelplus is a student that sometimes has some valuable input, you seem to keep trying to make the point that Choice Air is a GOOD choice without knowing all the particulars. THE THREAD BELOW PROVED that what someone THOUGHT was a "regular" airline ticket was far from it. And how would you KNOW??? You cannot see the fare rules BEFORE you purchase that Choice Air CHEAPEST ticket. Caveat Emptor And when you get stuck in an airport, can't get re-routed, can't get on another airline, please don't come back and let us know you "done screwed up". There is very rarely NOT a way to meet very closely the Choice Air price if that is the only criteria you use for buying airline tickets

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1962913

 

 

So what it seems like ChoiceAir and othe Consolidators should do is have the Fare Rules available before purchasing even on Expedia than an unhappy misinformed passenger who gets so upset.

 

For me I would much rather know beforehand that my fare can or can't earn miles and then weigh the pros and cons. Now I don't have anything against using a Consolidator but when I used it they don't say this flight is in booking code N or L or offer the Fare Basis Code W1AP30 etc for someone to ask the company what is the restrictions on this fare.

 

I thought there is a rule stating that the airline/consolidator/travel agent must provide all fare basis codes as part of the booking process and lay them out in an easy to decipher way for the layman traveler. Such as:

 

WL12AP30 Must Travel by December 30th,2014 in L Booking Class with advanced purchase of no more than 30 days. This fare can earn miles but is non-endorseable non-transferable and must be used for the same routing on American Airlines etc.

 

My point is when you go to buy a laptop you know exactly the features you are buying before and not after. A lot of people would save a lot of disappointment if they would have asked questions before or doing research beforehand on the airfare or product they are purchasing.

 

Remember this a well-informed buyer is for the most part a happy consumer.

[travelplus]

I am very grateful for this forum and the many posters who offer advice and explanations for free. An educated consumer is a wise consumer. Knowing what choice air isnow- I don't think I would ever take that risk. The camera analogy is an excellent one. Thanks for all the help:)!

 

You are most welcome sambamama. This is why there is Cruise Critic for you the participant of the forum to make your own decisions and not let someone at ChoiceAir push you to use them so they can earn their commission. This is why they are competing airlines and services for you to research the best option for you and only you.

 

For instance a consolidator fare worked well for my upcoming cruise as we have time before the cruise just in case something happens. I knew the pros and cons before going in and booking it and have used the same consolidator in the past with no problems. As an informed consumer I know how to be proactive if there is a problem and am not afraid to speak up when necessary.

 

Your needs are different and I can appreciate that you want to book directly with the airline or other service . Thats great that you can make an educated decision without someone trying to say otherwise. You are strong in your thought process and won't let someone try to cheat you out of money just for their own profit.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Edited February 2, 2014 by travelplus