Newbie Pricing Questions

[Mr. Click]

Not new to cruising but new to Oceania and considering something for Sept 2016. I see advertising that trumpets "free airfare" but then when I get quotes I see prices that are lower for cruise only. Am I missing something? In my limited knowledge free means you don't pay for it.....

 

On the serious side, how much input do I have on choosing my airline, my flights if I book with "free" airfare?

[rallydave]

Not new to cruising but new to Oceania and considering something for Sept 2016. I see advertising that trumpets "free airfare" but then when I get quotes I see prices that are lower for cruise only. Am I missing something? In my limited knowledge free means you don't pay for it.....

 

On the serious side, how much input do I have on choosing my airline, my flights if I book with "free" airfare?

 

Most people tend to use the word included rather than free. If you choose to not use the included air, there is a small credit applied.

 

As to your input, if you simply book and don't get the air credit, you have no input unless you deviate. To deviate, you have to pay a non-refundable $175 after you agree with the flights. Using the deviate, you can choose your own flights and times, even coming or going on different days. Depending on Contracts, the deviation cost might cover your full costs however your choice may require a small or not so small cost increase. You work with your TA and the Oceania air desk and can keep trying different flight combinations until you are satisfied and only then do you pay the $175 which does cover your round trip. Any added costs do have to be paid at that time and are non-refundable as well.

 

You can even change flights again at a later time but, pay the $175 again and the process is the same. You only find out about the included flights at the 75 day mark before your cruise but, can deviate as early as 270 days prior to your cuise. More questions, feel free to ask.

[Jancruz]

Most people tend to use the word included rather than free. If you choose to not use the included air, there is a small credit applied.

 

As to your input, if you simply book and don't get the air credit, you have no input unless you deviate. To deviate, you have to pay a non-refundable $175 after you agree with the flights. Using the deviate, you can choose your own flights and times, even coming or going on different days. Depending on Contracts, the deviation cost might cover your full costs however your choice may require a small or not so small cost increase. You work with your TA and the Oceania air desk and can keep trying different flight combinations until you are satisfied and only then do you pay the $175 which does cover your round trip. Any added costs do have to be paid at that time and are non-refundable as well.

 

You can even change flights again at a later time but, pay the $175 again and the process is the same. You only find out about the included flights at the 75 day mark before your cruise but, can deviate as early as 270 days prior to your cuise. More questions, feel free to ask.

 

Dave, You can always ask for flights with or without deviations..

Jancruz1

[Mr. Click]

Having a bit of status with United and United having non-stops from EWR to AMS and BCN back to EWR it is our preferred airline. Right now you cannot book into Sept 2016, just too far out but looking at the other side of the summer shoulder--May 2016 the RT coach fare is about $1150 per person. Pretty cheap for a TA RT and then I could upgrade with miles and about $550 per person, far cheaper than what Oceania offers to upgrade. I guess I need to make some phone calls when I get back to NJ

[rallydave]

Having a bit of status with United and United having non-stops from EWR to AMS and BCN back to EWR it is our preferred airline. Right now you cannot book into Sept 2016, just too far out but looking at the other side of the summer shoulder--May 2016 the RT coach fare is about $1150 per person. Pretty cheap for a TA RT and then I could upgrade with miles and about $550 per person, far cheaper than what Oceania offers to upgrade. I guess I need to make some phone calls when I get back to NJ

 

While it is true doing the flights using your methodology it will be much less expensive than upgrading via Oceania, you've got your upgrade figures quite a bit too low. Earlier this year I did an upgrade on United to London and it is $550 per person each way plus 20K miles per person each way so for two it is $1,100 plus 40K miles per person to upgrade.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

[Mr. Click]

we both have tons of miles.. 1100 is less than 1800.... and I am not even sure right now that 1800 was one way or RT..... went back to read the Oceania promos.. "Free Airfare" was their terminology... Still up in the air about the whole trip but other friends want us to join them. Time will tell I guess. Time to call O and find out some real numbers.

[LHT28]

we both have tons of miles.. 1100 is less than 1800.... and I am not even sure right now that 1800 was one way or RT..... went back to read the Oceania promos.. "Free Airfare" was their terminology... Still up in the air about the whole trip but other friends want us to join them. Time will tell I guess. Time to call O and find out some real numbers.

"FREE" is a marketing term it is included in the price & you can ask for the cruise only price or what the air credit will be if you opt out of the FREE air

 

JMO

I wish they would stop with the FREE air that is not FREE at all & the 2 for 1 pricing just call it what it is

[Tansy Mews]

Most people tend to use the word included rather than free. If you choose to not use the included air, there is a small credit applied. <snip>

 

Sometimes the air credit is reasonably good, especially if you add in the air deviation fee you wouldn't pay. We usually go in a day early (or more) or stay on longer, and that requires the deviation fee if we use O's flights. But sometimes the air credit doesn't seem to come close to the price of me booking the air. I just ask my TA what the credit would be and think about it for awhile.

 

Frances

[2552phxcrzr]

"FREE" is a marketing term it is included in the price & you can ask for the cruise only price or what the air credit will be if you opt out of the FREE air

 

JMO

I wish they would stop with the FREE air that is not FREE at all & the 2 for 1 pricing just call it what it is

 

Like ;-)

[ORV]

we both have tons of miles.. 1100 is less than 1800.... and I am not even sure right now that 1800 was one way or RT..... went back to read the Oceania promos.. "Free Airfare" was their terminology... Still up in the air about the whole trip but other friends want us to join them. Time will tell I guess. Time to call O and find out some real numbers.

 

I'm no expert on airmiles, but isn't the accepted value to figure the cost of using miles vs money placed at .02?

 

If that's the case then you would be using $800 worth of miles, added to the $1100, which would be $100 more than $1800.

[Mr. Click]

United has devalued our miles over the past three years so the real value is closer to $.01 now. We fly back and forth to Las Vegas a lot and you can almost never find seats for Saver rate of 12,500 miles but I can often find one way fares for under $200. Looking at our current return in the fall we are paying $204 one way for coach, If I was willing to take an early AM or later afternoon flight I could have done it for $159 so no miles with United are no longer worth 2 cents.

 

I do agree that all of these "free" things that are not free are getting tiresome. Celebrity is doing as well with their new good better best offers....it just means we all need to be better bottom line shoppers and ask lots of questions.

[wripro]

Don't waste your miles on domestic coach tickets. Save them for international premium seats where you get the most value.

[Mr. Click]

We do....on the rare occasion we need to make a trip on short notice we check the cash fare vs the miles but with any time to plan, domestic cash fares are cheap for us right now. I actually had to work a bit to make my United PDQ for this year.....

[zoncom]

You need to compare what allowance O will deduct for cruise only to best fares you can obtain on your own. Recently did Aspen- Shanghai using Os air. Saved $400 from my best pricing. My cabinmate from Boise saved $400 by booking on her own.

[Mr. Click]

At this point it is too far out to compare because United only books 330 days out. That said, at the moment O is offering a $900 per person credit for booking without air. Looking at United's fares on the spring side of the summer season and the summer season itself I am seeing fares running from $1150 to $1350 for economy. I started this thread to get some input on how O handles all of the "free airfare" stuff and with the help of all of you and a rep I talked to at Oceania I think I have enough info to make up my mind. Personally I am still not seeing the value for me in the O vs X debate.....We all have different needs, desires and favorites. Now I have a few weeks to digest it all and make a decision.

[ronrick1943]

Don't waste your miles on domestic coach tickets. Save them for international premium seats where you get the most value.

 

This I agree with 100%. But Dave you can also get the price down in a way---if you have a very good TA that doesn't think of themself first you can get a high OBC depending on the cabin or suite you get. Plus some other goodies I didn't know you could get before changing TA myself.

Rick

[phillygirl63]

We opted not to book our flights through O, because they had no direct flights for us to take and they don't book until closer to sail date (I think 30 days out). We got a credit of $1,000 for each of us to book our own flights, which was only $110 more than the credit. Of course, that is for flying direct to Stockholm and back from Amsterdam to JFK, and the credit may be more or less depending on where you are flying. Well worth it to us, as we got the flights we wanted and were able to choose our seats.

[ORV]

We opted not to book our flights through O, because they had no direct flights for us to take and they don't book until closer to sail date (I think 30 days out). We got a credit of $1,000 for each of us to book our own flights, which was only $110 more than the credit. Of course, that is for flying direct to Stockholm and back from Amsterdam to JFK, and the credit may be more or less depending on where you are flying. Well worth it to us, as we got the flights we wanted and were able to choose our seats.

 

Don't forget as Rally Dave mentioned earlier about the additional $350 (for 2) deviation fee you would spend to go any time other than the day of the cruise and coming home the day it ends. Many people forget this when they are comparing what they can get a flight for vs the air credit.

 

If you have 15 or more cruises with Oceania then ignore this.

[Mr. Click]

I think you can avoid the deviation fees if you book your hotel thru O...of course those hotels are pretty pricy too. I am still not sold on this whole trip but if we to book it, it will be without air.

[LHT28]

I think you can avoid the deviation fees if you book your hotel thru O...of course those hotels are pretty pricy too. I am still not sold on this whole trip but if we to book it, it will be without air.

You have to weigh out the options on the Included air with or without deviation fee & DIY

for us sometimes using the included air & paying the deviation fee is a lot cheaper than what it would cost to DIY

 

The hotel & transfers are way overpriced in most cases there again you have to weigh the options & what works best for your situation

 

Enjoy whatever cruise you choose

 

Lyn