Choice Air quick question...

[firstcruiserDB]

Just wondering if I can choose Choice Air for my transportation to the port city if I booked my cruise with a TA? If I can, does Celebrity do the reservations for me, or my TA?

 

Have always booked my own flight, so I'm not sure about this. Thanks!

[zlato]

Did you have your TA book the cruise with Celebrity? If so, there should not be a problem with your TA assisting you in making air arrangements through Choice Air. I, also, usually make my own flight arrangements; however, this time I decided to have my TA assist me in obtaining first class flight for my wife and I through Choice Air. Flights have been booked, ticketed , and seat selection completed. This will be our first "test" of using Choice Air.

[helen haywood]

You don't need to go through your TA. You can book the flight on the Choice Air website or call them and do it over the phone.

[TeaBag]

You just need your reservation number and the date you want to fly etc like you have done when you have booked your own flights previously to book the flight. Or you can go in as a guest just to see what the cost of the flight will be.

[RickT]

Be sure to check out all available flights BEFORE contacting Choice Air. Depending on where you are I find the flights listed with Choice Air may only represent a fraction of flights available and may not even list some of the more direct options.

 

Once you've researched flights be sure to have your preferred choices handy when talking to Choice Air as they can normally book those same flights.

[vulcan1971]

Just wondering if I can choose Choice Air for my transportation to the port city if I booked my cruise with a TA? If I can, does Celebrity do the reservations for me, or my TA?

 

Have always booked my own flight, so I'm not sure about this. Thanks!

 

Yes, you can use Choice Air to book your air transportation even if you use a travel agent to book the cruise. I have done this twice. I prefer taking the time to look through the available options and pricing to book when I'm ready. The nice part about using Choice Air is that prices don't seem to vary much whether you book far in advance or close to your sail date. This is good if you don't want to book the air till you have reached final payment and know for sure that you are going on the trip.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

[vulcan1971]

Thanks RickT

 

I forgot to mention that in my post.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

[ptrpanpens]

I have frequently gotten some real bargains through choice air within 60 days or before of sailing date.

 

Like FCO to JFK OW on Lufthansa Business class for $830 last year!:D

 

But don't cut it too close on certain routes or prices may start increasing.

[CathyCruises]

Check matrix.itasoftware dot com to see what the lowest possible flight cost could be before you look at choice air. That will give you an idea of whether their prices are good or not. In general I have found that booking a round-trip flight I can do better on my own but booking a one-way flight, such as for a TA, I do way way better using choice air.

 

I have also found that prices vary little from the time I first looked until the time I decide to book. On one TA, I booked my return flight about three days before we left and it was the same price within a few dollars that it had been when I first looked months before

[teecee60]

I have frequently gotten some real bargains through choice air within 60 days or before of sailing date.

 

Like FCO to JFK OW on Lufthansa Business class for $830 last year!:D

 

But don't cut it too close on certain routes or prices may start increasing.

 

I have also found that prices vary little from the time I first looked until the time I decide to book. On one TA, I booked my return flight about three days before we left and it was the same price within a few dollars that it had been when I first looked months before

 

I have used Choice Air seven different times so far with never even a minor glitch. Prices are WELL below other discounters (Orbitz/Expedia/Travelocity) and WAAYYY below airline prices.

 

Booked a fantastic last minute deal on Reflection last October, in part due to a Choice Air flight from Fargo to FCO for only $508pp... only 8 days before flying out! :) ;)

 

Just booked with Choice Air for a transpacific cruise-return flight from Sydney to LAX... for only $619pp. :D

Edited August 23, 2014 by teecee60

[firstcruiserDB]

I appreciate the info! Right now, prices are all about the same as booking on my own. Any benefits to going with Choice Air? We will be flying in the day before the cruise. Cruise isn't until next summer, so we usually don't book air until the first of the new year. Is it better to wait until final payment?

[Hlitner]

We used Choice Air one time (about 1 1/2 years ago) with near disasterous results. We had booked back to back Med cruises on the Silhouette and received an air credit that could only be used if we booked Choice Air. So we called them and after nearly 30 min on the phone the agent booked our air with flight times that met our specifications. Several days later, after I received all the confirmations, I noticed that Choice Air had booked the wrong return date! In fact, they booked us on a flight from Rome to Phila on the same day we would have been at sea on the Silhouette. I sent them an e-mail and a few hours later got a phone call. The Choice Air folks tried to blame me...even though they did the booking, chose the dates, etc. They explained that the flights I wanted would now cost more money on the day we needed to return (USAIR had raised the prices during the prior day). They also said there would be penalties to change the flights from our "sea day" to the correct days. I told them that was all fine, they needed to change the flights to the right day, they had to pay any penalties and the new higher cost! It took 3 phone calls, and about an hour of my time...but they finally did correct the errors (and they did pay the additional several hundred dollars in costs).

 

We normally do all of our own travel arrangements and air (online) and I will double and even triple check air arrangements for errors. This was the first time in many years we used cruise air (because of the air credits) and we would never consider doing it again unless their was a substantial air credit. The last time we used Celebrity air was several years earlier when it involved a hotel package in Buenos Aires. On that trip we let Celebrity handle everything and they managed to lose the luggage of over 20 people between the ship and the hotel (about 1 mile apart) after the cruise). When that happened the Celebrity reps were useless (it was a weekend and they were not even reachable) but our hotel Concierge saved the day by personally intervening and finding everyone's luggage sitting miles away at the airport. And even then, the hotel had to arrange to get the luggage from the airport to the hotel with no help from the local Celebrity reps.

 

So bottom line is that DW and I still love Celebrity, but will leave the cruising operations to them...and not rely on them for any land or air issues :)

 

Hank