Viking Air , yes another question.

[tubeamps]

Im pretty sure this has been addressed but I couldn’t find a thread with the information.

 

If you customize your air through Viking Air will Viking still handle transfers?

Thanks for any responses.

[Dauntless]

Im pretty sure this has been addressed but I couldn’t find a thread with the information.

 

If you customize your air through Viking Air will Viking still handle transfers?

Thanks for any responses.

 

Viking will handle the transfers if you use their service and arrive ad depart on the first and last day of the cruise. Otherwise, your going to have to figure that out.n

[CharTrav]

Not just the first & last day of the cruise but first day and last day of any pre or post cruise extensions booked with Viking.

 

 

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[tubeamps]

Thanks for the responses, I’m just now trying to figure out the best flights to get to Bangkok and return from Hong Kong.

[Dauntless]

Not just the first & last day of the cruise but first day and last day of any pre or post cruise extensions booked with Viking.

 

 

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Point taken and I haven't done that so didn't think of it.

[CharTrav]

Sometimes I'm a bit pedantic. [emoji848]

 

 

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[Parsley Cruises]

Not quite clear what you mean by 'customize your air through Viking Air'; however we asked Viking to sort out our flights for us, heading straight to the ship on embarkation day (the day of the outbound flight), and we are doing a post-cruise extension (booked with Viking).

 

So, firstly we got exactly the flights we wanted; secondly we asked for the flight upgrade to business and that all went very smoothly indeed. We now have our pre-cruise documents, and it's got all the hotel details etc. there for us to read.

 

I've been in touch with Viking, to double check about the transfers - and it's all included, done and dusted.

 

Hope all goes well for you.

[Peregrina651]

Not quite clear what you mean by 'customize your air through Viking Air'; however we asked Viking to sort out our flights for us, heading straight to the ship on embarkation day (the day of the outbound flight), and we are doing a post-cruise extension (booked with Viking).

 

 

What it means is that if you get your air arrangements through Viking you are expected to take what you are given UNLESS you pay the custom air fee for the privilege of having a say in which flights you are assigned. You will also pay the custom air fee plus a deviation fee if you wish arrive earlier or depart later than the stated arrival and departure days without doing a Viking extension. I don't know if this applies to other than US/Can passengers.

 

Some people balk at the fee but personally I don't have a problem with it because limits the volume of calls that the Air Department has to handle.

[philw1776]

What it means is that if you get your air arrangements through Viking you are expected to take what you are given UNLESS you pay the custom air fee for the privilege of having a say in which flights you are assigned. You will also pay the custom air fee plus a deviation fee if you wish arrive earlier or depart later than the stated arrival and departure days without doing a Viking extension. I don't know if this applies to other than US/Can passengers.

 

Some people balk at the fee but personally I don't have a problem with it because limits the volume of calls that the Air Department has to handle.

 

I view it as an a la carte perk or benefit that I can elect to have/pay for, or not. Glad it's offered. I use it.

[NanciEA]

We booked using custom air. We had to pay a $100 each deviation fee as we wanted to arrive in port a day early. No transfer is included, but we will take of this with our hotel. We are departing the day of departure, so Viking said they would not charge us for this transfer, although apparently this is not standard and I had to ask for it. Usually a deviation either way negates both transfers.

[Peregrina651]

We booked using custom air. We had to pay a $100 each deviation fee as we wanted to arrive in port a day early. No transfer is included, but we will take of this with our hotel. We are departing the day of departure, so Viking said they would not charge us for this transfer, although apparently this is not standard and I had to ask for it. Usually a deviation either way negates both transfers.

 

Odd. Maybe it is because my TA asked, but the first time we deviated only on the departure, we did not lose our transfers on the arrival. On our upcoming trip, we are arriving early but not departing later and it is my understanding that we have transfers on departure. But as I said, maybe it is because my TA knew to ask.

[Mitina]

Usually a deviation either way negates both transfers.

 

 

That wasn’t my understanding when booking through Viking Air. Just checked our Guest Statement and on page 4 with the day by day itinerary, our non-deviation arrival includes a transfer. Shows up as a separate line with a car/bus icon.

[$hip$hape]

Odd. Maybe it is because my TA asked, but the first time we deviated only on the departure,

we did not lose our transfers on the arrival. On our upcoming trip, we are arriving early but not departing later and it is my understanding that we have transfers on departure.

But as I said, maybe it is because my TA knew to ask.

Simply put,

Most TA know how Viking operates.

It's worth it, just pay for Custom Air and leave the rest to your Travel Agent.

[Dauntless]

We booked using custom air. We had to pay a $100 each deviation fee as we wanted to arrive in port a day early. No transfer is included, but we will take of this with our hotel. We are departing the day of departure, so Viking said they would not charge us for this transfer, although apparently this is not standard and I had to ask for it. Usually a deviation either way negates both transfers.

 

I think that if you arrive or depart on the day of the cruise, Viking has people to run the transfers on those days, that's doing nothing but running between the ship and airport. If you arrive on a different day they don't have have the people scheduled so it would be an extra expense for them that they don't want to absorb.

[Choose Something Fun]

Odd. Maybe it is because my TA asked, but the first time we deviated only on the departure, we did not lose our transfers on the arrival. On our upcoming trip, we are arriving early but not departing later and it is my understanding that we have transfers on departure. But as I said, maybe it is because my TA knew to ask.

 

We deviated our return trip and only lost the return transfer. Viking still picked us up for the arrival as we purchased our air through them. We were able to add the return airport transfer right through Viking for and additional $50 pp from the Civitavecchia port to Rome FCO airport.

[bobmd11]

One caveat about viking air plus or custom air. We had paid for business class air. Due to some factors such as our distance from the nearest airport, we requested certain flights. They told me these flights weren't among their contracted discount fares. They told me rather curtly that I should read the fine print that says "some restrictions may apply". Luckily I was far enough out from the cruise that I was able to book my own reservations. Unfortunately I am out an additional $3200 more than the business class charge I had on my booking.

[Peregrina651]

One caveat about viking air plus or custom air. We had paid for business class air. Due to some factors such as our distance from the nearest airport, we requested certain flights. They told me these flights weren't among their contracted discount fares. They told me rather curtly that I should read the fine print that says "some restrictions may apply". Luckily I was far enough out from the cruise that I was able to book my own reservations. Unfortunately I am out an additional $3200 more than the business class charge I had on my booking.

 

Sounds like it might have been cheaper to let Viking fly you from one of their gateways while you arrange to get to the gateway on your own. How odd that the AirPlus agent didn't think of that solution to the problem; sounds more like he just wanted to get you off the phone rather than to have to deal with your issues.

 

 

I hope that you have shared your dissatisfaction with your interaction with AirPlus with the folks at tellus@vikingcruises.com.

[Peregrina651]

Simply put,

Most TA know how Viking operates.

It's worth it, just pay for Custom Air and leave the rest to your Travel Agent.

 

I pay the custom air fee but I don't leave it all to my travel agent. I tell her exactly what I am looking for. Then she places the call to Viking and tells me what they offering for my situation. Viking usually gives a couple of alternatives and I choose which one works best for me. I do not get on the call with Viking to make the decision then and there; the time lag in the communication gives me time to think.

[philw1776]

I pay the custom air fee but I don't leave it all to my travel agent. I tell her exactly what I am looking for. Then she places the call to Viking and tells me what they offering for my situation. Viking usually gives a couple of alternatives and I choose which one works best for me. I do not get on the call with Viking to make the decision then and there; the time lag in the communication gives me time to think.

 

That's the way to do it.

Usually works for me, but just yesterday Viking Air quoted me an upgrade fare hundreds of $ more for reasons nobody can explain, so I booked on my own direct with the airline. Getting a refund of the Air I bought with the cruise from Viking no problem but paid for the Viking transfers.

It is very important to shop around before using the service or committing to their offer.

[cocopico]

That's the way to do it.

Usually works for me, but just yesterday Viking Air quoted me an upgrade fare hundreds of $ more for reasons nobody can explain, so I booked on my own direct with the airline. Getting a refund of the Air I bought with the cruise from Viking no problem but paid for the Viking transfers.

It is very important to shop around before using the service or committing to their offer.

 

I'll second that. I paid for the Air Plus, called with my desired reservations and was pretty quickly told the return flight out of Athens was not available on their contract. I was trying to avoid a 6:00 a.m. departure time on what I was sure would be the standard Viking Air flight -- a departure time that presumably would mean a disembarkation time of 3:00 a.m. at the latest. I was told that the flight over (a non-stop to Rome from Atlanta) was fine, and that the half of the return flight from Paris to Atlanta was also fine, but that the originating return flight from Athens to Paris that departed at 11:50 a.m. was "not available." When I asked if I could do anything (meaning "pay extra") to get that flight, I was told they would have to book the entire flight package outside the contract, which would result in an increase in fare of $1,800 (plus the added transfer fees for an additional $200). I guess for that kind of money I'll bite the bullet and get up in the middle of the night for our departure! In any event, I am watching prices on my own because I was told I can get a full refund of both the money I paid for the "included" air AND the Air Plus fee ($50/pp) if I cancel before the tickets are purchased, which is 75 to 90 days out from the cruise. In the meantime, I've kept my Air Plus reservations as a backup and will use those if I can't get reasonable tickets on my own by the cutoff time to cancel. One other lesson learned, you can't do anything about upgrading seats until the tickets are actually purchased, at least with Delta if you want Comfort Plus seats. Viking Air says they can't hold those seats at the time of reservation. That seemed strange but I called twice and got the same answer. And, to make it even more difficult, they won't purchase the airline tickets until the cruise has been paid in full. In my case, my payment is not due until December so they cannot/will not purchase the tickets until that payment is made. (I booked this cruise on our last cruise, so the payment is not due until 6 months before departure.) The bottom line: Viking Air Plus has many limitations so you can't assume they will get you your desired flights. In my case, when I go to the Delta website, the first itinerary that comes up when I plug in my travel plans, and the one that is the same price as the one Viking wants to put me on, isn't available. The desired flight is wide open as far as seats are concerned. Given those two factors (price and availability) I was sure it would be available but apparently not. Still, I think it is well worth it to use Air Plus if your flights are in fact available.

[tubeamps]

I just went through the customized air dance and got hit with a hefty up charge for the flights I wanted. It was still several thousands less than I would have paid if I had booked with the airline so I accepted and paid the additional fee, in this case an additional $1500 /pp, ouch.

 

For the curious, this is for a Southeast Asia itinerary sailing in April 2019.

With upgrade to business class the original charge for air was approximately $4200/pp.

I was on a conference call with my TA and Viking trying to secure the flights I wanted, which I did, however the Viking rep said the flights and dates I wanted were beyond Vikings contracted rate.

 

Considering the distances involved I was not willing to accept whatever Viking had in mind for their flights. Based on my prior Viking Ocean experience the flights would likely include at least 2 connections and possibly 3.

So I bit the bullet and paid an additional $1500/pp bringing my airfare cost up to $5700. If I had booked directly with the carrier the charge would have been$8100/pp round trip, so I still came out ahead using Viking.

 

I was able to get flights with only one stop in either direction, got seats in the upper level business class section on 747s.

[Marykatesmom]

So the cost if you are flying business can be significantly cheaper according to tubeamps. What are the other benefits? It sounds like you need to do your homework before deciding to use Viking. I usually fly in and out a day or two before a cruise and after the cruise. Is it much more expensive to do that in business? It sounds like you have to pay both a deviation fee and the custom fee.