Fed up with free airfare

[sterling9]

Well, I have to tell you - I am thinking this free airfare thing is a real joke. If anyone has been through this or has any suggestions please let me know.

 

We were given our "free airfare" schedule a few days ago. In my opinion it wasn't too great. Our return flight was the problem. We had a six hour layover. Am I crazy or is that excessive? We aren't going to a small airport or anything...the return is from Athens to Philadelphia. Anyway, we asked Oceania to come back with something better and the best Oceania can come back with is a 5 and half hour layover, PLUS (here is the kicker) the first flight out which leaves at 6:am. So not only do we need to wake up at 3:00 in the morning on our last night of the cruise (which is the night we when we usually celebrate the most)- but we then have to sit in the airport during a connection for 6 hours......PLUS (second kicker) this flight would be $150 more. Mmm, worse flight, more money. Did they do this to make us think the flight they were offering was better? I just don't think a 6 hour layover is acceptable. We sent Oceania our requested flights which were too expensive. Cancelling the free air and doing our own ends of being more expensive because our TA has to adjust the price of the cruise if we don't take the free air because it was part of her commission.

 

I promise I'm not unreasonable......I just think this schedule is lousy and doing anything to fix it jacks up the price of the cruise significantly.

 

Is there anything I am not thinking of? We still haven't submitted our final payment so there is time to cancel.

 

Again, I want to thank all of you on this board who have been so kind and helpful!

[HappyMe_]

Hello Sterling, I cannot help you in your dilemma, but I am sure there are others that can. I do have question tho. When is your particular cruise? I am just gathering lots of facts, forwarned is to be forebeared. Thank you.

[LHT28]

Find the flights you want then ask for the air deviation.

It will cost you $50. pp plus any extra that Oceania has to pay for those flights.

It cost us $150. pp total to get the flights we wanted.

 

If you decline the "free air" you should get an "air credit" from O

 

Sometimes comeing back from Europe there are longer connection times depending on the routing.

[garykool81]

Those schedules to sound a tad ridiculous to me. No one wants to spend six hours in an airport, especially when they are on their way BACK from their vacation and already in a bad mood because of returning to the real world :-)

 

I tend to pass up these offers, take the credit and simply book airfare on my own. I'd prefer to even pay a little more to get the flights I want.

 

My partner and I lucked out for our Oceania transatlantic from Lisbon to Miami this November, and we got one way airfare to Lisbon for only $350 per person! Since then, the lowest I've seen it priced at is around $500-$700+

 

And, we get to fly on a new 777....ooooooooooooooooh :-)

[sterling9]

Find the flights you want then ask for the air deviation.

It will cost you $50. pp plus any extra that Oceania has to pay for those flights.

It cost us $150. pp total to get the flights we wanted.

 

If you decline the "free air" you should get an "air credit" from O

 

Sometimes comeing back from Europe there are longer connection times depending on the routing.

 

We did that. If it was $150, I'd have no problem with it. It was too expensive. Also, if we decline the free air, our TA is upping the price of the cruise because it was part of her commission. I am surprised with the buying power that Oceania has with airlines that it can't do better. The air deviation agent that my TA is dealing with isn't the most helpful. I'm frustrated.....bottom line is that I think Oceania will lose 8 new potential customers.....we've done just about every other cruiseline, and this is pretty frustrating.

[sterling9]

Hello Sterling, I cannot help you in your dilemma, but I am sure there are others that can. I do have question tho. When is your particular cruise? I am just gathering lots of facts, forwarned is to be forebeared. Thank you.

 

We were scheduled for a November 2005 cruise.

[mike35]

We had a very similar situation coming back from Athens last April. 6 a.m. departure, 5 hour layover, etc. So - I went to my TA, expressed my displeasure, and voila - he interceded (read "ranted and raved") with Oceania and got us a flight that left at noon and - this is the important part - arrived at our destination (LAX) at the same time as the first lousy flight would have. And the best part - no additional cost on our part! His main argument with Oceania was the 6 a.m. departure, and they capitulated. Good luck!

 

Mike

[LHT28]

Also, if we decline the free air, our TA is upping the price of the cruise because it was part of her commission.

I would transfer my booking to a better TA then.

 

I would not think they would try to get more commission from you.

 

I am not sure how the commission works these days with the cruiselines but I didn't think TA got commission on the Airfare portion anyway.

[digby]

Olympic Airlines has a NONSTOP flight from Athens at 12:30 PM to New York arriving at 4:05 PM. Connections to your home city should be easy from JFK.

[nparmelee]

Something sounds really goofy there. Our TA gave us the prices up front for the cruise with air and without air and our cruise doesn't cost us more if we decide to do the air on our own, and now I know what my price point is for finding my own flights or possibly using FF miles for an upgrade on the flights. I hope you are able to transfer this booking to a different TA that will get what you need done taken care of because this TA doesn't sound like a very good one.

[drwong]

Sterling, you've got my sympathies. Sometimes the free air works great, while other times it leaves much to be desired. Much of it depends on Oceania finding enough cheap seats on an aircraft to accommodate all their departing passengers. Flying out of (or into) a low traffic airport like Venice can be difficult due to the relative small number of daily flights. Barcelona, in contrast, has five times more arrivals and departures, consequently, your chances of finding a cheap seat are much greater. The problem is usally with your connecting flight within Europe - finding a cheap seat on a trans-Atlantic flight is much easier, given the number of carriers and the larger aircraft they use.

 

Do a quick search via Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz to find out how much it would cost to purchase a ticket on your own, compared to the credit you'd receive from Oceania for booking your own air, plus the savings from avoiding the taxes and surcharges associated with that "free" ticket, plus the $50 deviation fee you would have been charged. If the open jaw ticket is close to the sum of what you would have "paid" for Oceania's "free" air, take it!

 

And while we're on the subject, don't forget to buy travel insurance, just in case you happen to miss a connection somewhere along the way - based on complaints elsewhere on CruiseCritic, insurance offered by most cruise lines tends to be very limited in its coverage.

[ClaudiaF]

I also don't understand why your TA is making commission on your "free air".. something sounds fishey to me.

Second, did your TA tell you about the above mentioned ( a few times) deviation that you can get for $50.00 per person? That means you look for the flights you want and then the ship will try to get them. If they wind up being more money then you would have to make up the difference. ( You can always decline).

We always just book our own air ( take the credit if one is offered).. so we do not have to deal with the 3 am wake up calls.

Since you have not paid your final payment you could always cancel and rebook.. maybe you should check around .

Something just sounds so wrong.??

[Andee]

"Also, if we decline the free air, our TA is upping the price of the cruise because it was part of her commission"

 

Our TA told us the same thing. If we had gotten the "full" air credit back, it would have been a little cheaper for us to book our own flights. This way, it's a very little bit more expensive (including the air deviation and the extra charge), but we like the flights, and since they're on two different airlines, we couldn't easily do it on our own.

 

"Since you have not paid your final payment you could always cancel and rebook.. " I have what is probably a dumb question, but if you cancel with the intent of re-booking with a different TA, and there is a waitlist, does the next person on the wait list get the cabin you just cancelled? Could you then be out of luck?