Viking Air

[utexplore]

I am pretty sure your Viking Air reservations are not upgradable.

[Mpc524]

Jkerr, we were told our proposed flights at 61 days out. We were told they'd actually book them 7 days later.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear jkerr,

 

Thank you for reaching out. Air schedules are typically communicated to guests at 75 days prior to embarkation and we apologize yours has not yet arrived at 65 days.

 

Unfortunately, we will need your booking information to research further and would appreciate you providing it to us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. Once received, we are happy to provide you with a more accurate response.

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

 

we depart on 12/27 for Rome so we are about 65 days out and Viking is not offering Custom Air for our cruise. I would really like to see what flights they have us on so we can upgrade or purchase our seats in advance. Viking... if you are reading this, can you please respond?

[jkerr]

Dear jkerr,

 

Thank you for reaching out. Air schedules are typically communicated to guests at 75 days prior to embarkation and we apologize yours has not yet arrived at 65 days.

 

Unfortunately, we will need your booking information to research further and would appreciate you providing it to us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. Once received, we are happy to provide you with a more accurate response.

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

 

 

I sent an email on Tuesday 10/20 to the email address you suggested in earlier posts and referenced my booking number. I have sent another email today. looking forward to hearing from you, Jkerr

[jkerr]

this website works. We received our flight details today. Flights are fine, considering what we paid per person round trip. Thank you Viking for getting back to us. :D

[clk430]

When we booked our cruise for December, we were told tickets would not be purchased until "x" days before trip. WE were told which airlines and which flights we would be on. When I checked the first trans-Atlantic leg found almost all seats taken; I was however able to book the seats myself.

 

On the return leg (2 months out)was not able to reserve seats so I called Viking. I was told that we could only request seat assignments from the airline 24 hours before the flight. What if there were no seats? What if wife and I had seats apart from each other? Viking finally was able to reserve 2 seats together but what if they couldn't? The excuse that the airlines reserve the seats is a poor one because you may not be able to sit with your partner after paying a lot for the cruise. No where in their ads does Viking advise of this possibility.

 

As it stands now the third leg of our flight home has no seats together and the Viking rep only said we could pay extra to the airline to get upgraded seats.

 

I believe Viking should ALWAYS guarantee that wives/husbands will sit together. Nothing in their advertising says you may have to be separated. :(

[sitraveler]

We've used Viking for our April cruise on the Star. The arrangements were fine, the only glitch was Air Canada separated my wife and I. This was solved only on arrival to Toronto. You expect Viking to have more input on seating than they do.

[utexplore]

Viking Air buys wholesale bargain basement seats that have virtually no status other than you will get on the plane. They are a cheap alternative, but you get what you pay for. IMHO it does not match their highbrow British accent advertising. It takes the luster off the trip if you don't have a good flight experience.

[OKCowboy]

My TA gets seat assignments. On a Viking River Cruise we paid extra to get more leg room. I hope to do the same on our upcoming Dec. 20 sailing.

[rjscott]

Even when you purchase your own air and arrange your seat assignments, you can end up separated when there is a change in aircraft. This has happened to my husband and I more than once. We left on a trip and when checking in for our flight home, found that we were seated nowhere near each other. We had to wait until we got to the airport to have this fixed. They had one gate agent assigned to this task, as several couples had been separated due to the change in aircraft and the computer simply shifting the seat assignments.

 

So, no guarantees. Need to keep checking to assure your assignments.

 

Becki

[roothy123]

Heathrow security is very tight and it takes a long time to get through. Also, if you have to change terminals then that also takes longer than you think since the terminals are far apart depending where you are coming from and where you are going. We were on a 30 minute bus ride to go from the intra European terminal (British Air) to the international terminal to come home to the U.S. Just be careful of your timing since although 4.5 hours sounds like a lot of time it really isn't.

 

So agree with this. Connecting at Heathrow is not an easy or quick thing. Don't dally.

 

Someone mentioned they were hoping they wouldn't be dropped off at the airport extremely early when using Viking transfers. Unfortunately, this is what cruise lines do (and not just Viking), so yes, you'll likely have time at the airport for breakfast and more. We've learned to accept this, especially since the alternative (cutting it close and missing a flight) is worse. If the airport you're going to is far away, the traffic in that city is horrendous, or some other aspect of getting there isn't ideal, you will probably have an even longer wait than others going to a different airport. People disembarking in Istanbul weren't happy with what time they had to leave for the airport, but Istanbul's traffic is bad, the airport is pretty far away, and it also isn't exactly known for efficiency and speed. Therefore, if you have an early flight from Istanbul, you'll likely be arriving at the airport very early. As least we found Lufthansa to be a great carrier for our 5:50 AM flight to Frankfurt, although that airport can take a long time to navigate as well. The problem is that with many of these flight pairs and connections, you're going from a terminal that's used for mostly local flights to one used for international flights (or vice versa), with numerous checks and walks/rides in-between. I think the checks (passports, x-rays) have increased recently. From the time we left Istanbul to the time we left the airport near home, we went through 9 passport checks in 3 airports.

Edited October 26, 2015 by roothy123

[Viking Cruises]

Dear clk430,

 

We appreciate the recommendation and apologize for any disappointment. Unfortunately, current arrangements with our airlines partners do not enable us to guarantee seat assignments for our guests. We are able to make requests, but, ultimately, the airline has the ability to reassign these requests at the time of check-in. Typically, travel companions are able to sit together; however, separating seat assignments can occasionally occur.

 

Please accept our apologies for any frustration this has caused in your planning process. If you wish to discuss further or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

We look forward to the privilege of welcoming you aboard in December!

 

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

 

When we booked our cruise for December, we were told tickets would not be purchased until "x" days before trip. WE were told which airlines and which flights we would be on. When I checked the first trans-Atlantic leg found almost all seats taken; I was however able to book the seats myself.

 

On the return leg (2 months out)was not able to reserve seats so I called Viking. I was told that we could only request seat assignments from the airline 24 hours before the flight. What if there were no seats? What if wife and I had seats apart from each other? Viking finally was able to reserve 2 seats together but what if they couldn't? The excuse that the airlines reserve the seats is a poor one because you may not be able to sit with your partner after paying a lot for the cruise. No where in their ads does Viking advise of this possibility.

 

As it stands now the third leg of our flight home has no seats together and the Viking rep only said we could pay extra to the airline to get upgraded seats.

 

I believe Viking should ALWAYS guarantee that wives/husbands will sit together. Nothing in their advertising says you may have to be separated. :(

[ABDK]

On same cruise. Have direct flights both ways. Late plane back from Rome

[ducklite]

Dec 8th cruise, flight notification Sep 29th. 71 days. The connections weren't bad. British Airways, partnered with American. I believe the actual carrier is BA, which is much better than American in my experience. We have a 4.5 hour layover on our return, which means we should be able to do a short train ride and tour of London. My SO hasn't been to Europe at all, so that's a great prospect.

 

 

Unfortunately that isn't enough time to do any type of touring. It would take up to an hour (or more) to clear customs on landing, about 45 minutes each way by Tube to the major site seeing areas, and you would need to be back to LHR a MINIMUM of two hours prior to your flight to clear security (which is absurdly slow at LHR unless you are flying BA First with private lines). There's a good chance you'll be coming into T3 and leaving from T5 which means you will need the majority of your 4.5 hours to make your way through all of the check points and get to your gate.

[porrah]

Security is much stricter. We flew from Toronto and had to change at LHR. My carry on baggage which was fine in Toronto did not pass muster at Heathrow.

ALL liquids must be taken out and carried through in a see through plastic bag- even lipstick and toothpaste. It can cause quite a delay when you have to wait while they inspect everything in your hand luggage. They are very nice about it, but apparently some people have missed flights because of this. So yes, allow a lot of time at Heathrow. We had an hour and a half in the same terminal and barely made it.

[clk430]

Just learned that airplane seats which Viking rep. told us were reserved for us were not. When I called Lufthansa they said that we had no reserved seats for our Jan 2 flight to return home from Viking Star (Munich to Miami). When I called Viking they said there was nothing they could do and we had 2 choices - (1) wait until the night before the flight (when vacant seats, if any, were freed up) and call airline and reserve whatever seats we could, or (2) reserve seats now with the airline and pay $70 to reserve 2 seats, which we did. Luckily we found 2 seats together in the rear of the plane; we may have had to be separated on the plane. We had similar problems last year when we took a Viking River Cruise.

 

It seems that the inability of Viking to obtain reserved airline seats for Viking cruises is very questionable customer treatment. What if we waited until the day before our flight, when we were directed to call airline to reserve our Viking Air seats, and found there were no seats?

 

I simply can not understand a policy of forcing passengers who use Viking Air to make their own seat reservations with airline and pay additional fees.

:confused::eek:

Edited November 25, 2015 by clk430

[clk430]

Couldn't find out how to make this 2nd edit of my post. I only want to say that my experiences with Viking Cruises in the past (Romantic Danube) have been wonderful. Everything is first class, from the Staff, to the food, to the cabins, to the tours, as well as the ship itself. I have cruised quite a bit and have never experienced anything as wonderful as our past cruise. My assumption is that this next cruise will be as exciting and as good as the last. Viking Cruise Lines can not be beat.:):D

Edited November 25, 2015 by clk430

[Viking Cruises]

Dear clk430,

 

We regret to hear you are still experiencing frustration with your flight arrangements. As we described in our previous response, unfortunately, Viking does not have the ability to confirm any seat assignments with our airline partners. You are, of course, guaranteed a ticket, but the seats assignments are subject to change.

 

Despite the challenges you’ve encountered with your air arrangements, we are confident you will find your overall experience to be enjoyable and look forward to welcoming you aboard!

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com should you have any additional questions prior to your departure.

 

Warm regards,

Viking Cruises

 

Just learned that airplane seats which Viking rep. told us were reserved for us were not. When I called Lufthansa they said that we had no reserved seats for our Jan 2 flight to return home from Viking Star (Munich to Miami). When I called Viking they said there was nothing they could do and we had 2 choices - (1) wait until the night before the flight (when vacant seats, if any, were freed up) and call airline and reserve whatever seats we could, or (2) reserve seats now with the airline and pay $70 to reserve 2 seats, which we did. Luckily we found 2 seats together in the rear of the plane; we may have had to be separated on the plane. We had similar problems last year when we took a Viking River Cruise.

 

It seems that the inability of Viking to obtain reserved airline seats for Viking cruises is very questionable customer treatment. What if we waited until the day before our flight, when we were directed to call airline to reserve our Viking Air seats, and found there were no seats?

 

I simply can not understand a policy of forcing passengers who use Viking Air to make their own seat reservations with airline and pay additional fees.

:confused::eek:

 

Couldn't find out how to make this 2nd edit of my post. I only want to say that my experiences with Viking Cruises in the past (Romantic Danube) have been wonderful. Everything is first class, from the Staff, to the food, to the cabins, to the tours, as well as the ship itself. I have cruised quite a bit and have never experienced anything as wonderful as our past cruise. My assumption is that this next cruise will be as exciting and as good as the last. Viking Cruise Lines can not be beat.:):D

[austinetc]

I hope that there are logistical reasons for airlines to resist assigning seats until 24 hours before a flight and not just another way to squeeze money from a traveler. I'm sure that Viking is not the only entity that suffers from the airlines' policy, though they aren't going to risk aggravating their leisure partners by coming right out and criticizing them. In any case, it would certainly make sense that the algorithm used to assign seats includes a priority to seating together persons with the same locator code. Airlines may be greedy, but I hope that they aren't malicious.

[ducklite]

Ono one forces anyone to buy air through a cruise line, and those that include it will offer a credit to be used towards fare reduction if air is rejected (Antarctic expedition cruises being the only exception I am aware of). If it is that important to be seated together, buy air independently and book the seats you'll be happy with. In six cruises we have never used cruise air and never regretted our decision.

[JamesD263]

I took air deviation on my Oct. Star cruise. They charged $200 to return from NYC 3 days after ship docks. I asked to be allowed to choose flights and said I would pay any increase in fares. Vikings air department said I could not choose flights and if I declined to take air (so called free air) I would no credit on my cruise cost. This may well be my first and last Viking Ocean cruise and that is after 5 River cruises with them.

[Dauntless]

JamesD263--I understand how you feel. I only hope that the air department of Viking is a sub contractor. Viking prides itself on 'not nickle and diming you' but this area seems to go against this principal. I booked my flights originally through Viking Air. Since I was paying for my flights(though at an imaginary large discount) I was met with the same dilemma when I wanted to customize the trip. People who travel like this all the time may not mind this type of treatment but this is a trip of a lifetime for me and I want to make sure everything is right for me. When I started researching, I couldn't find a flight at the price they were quoting(I know you are also paying for transfers in the fare, but if you change the dates, there are no transfers). At any rate, I cancelled the plans through them and when I made reservations this month, I got the ticket for $260 less than the imaginary discounted rate. Without the additions they were going to add on for changes. Maybe if I needed 'hand holding' this wouldn't be a big deal but I thought it was way out of line. I also thought the extensions were priced way too high for my cruise so I also did them on my own. Though I have never sailed, Viking appears to have a superior product and cruising is their business. The extras, not so much. I do understand them not giving you credit for a service you declined since you had not made a financial contribution for the service in the first place. Now you know how that works here. If you choose to use Viking again, just remember that if it appears to be too good a deal, you may not have read the fine print. I hope once on board, this will all be a distant memory and you can fully enjoy all they have to offer.

[utexplore]

I agree. Viking Air's practices and policies are totally inconsistent with the rest of Viking and their image.

[OziNewbieCruiser]

I booked flights through Viking as they were so much cheaper than what I could get from Australia. Having never cruised before I had no previous experience but was a bit concerned after I read the posts.

My flights were ticketed in December for this August, and a week later I logged on to the airlines website and selected our seats for all legs with no additional cost.

Sorry to hear it's not as flexible in the U.S.

[swafluffy]

our air through Viking is terrible.... Feb 14 cruise.. 4 legs to Rome 3 legs back from Barcelona to Boston.. I tried to have them look at the craziness but was told we didn't purchase the better air for a $50 fee PLUS the price of the difference in the ticket.. If I wanted to do that I would have just booked my own air...