Viking Air Information

[SM77]

22 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

 

vnb2003 - so Viking's "standard" upgrade fare for business class is $1999 p/p?   

 

No, it depends on where you are flying.  For flying to Auckland and back from Bali, we paid close to $5500pp.  The airlines were AA (economy from IAD to LAX, business from LAX to Auckland), Garuda Indonesia (Bali to Hong Kong, business; Cathay Pacific (business, nonstop from Hong Kong to IAD).  Coming home is when AA canceled our original flight(s) from Hong Kong - LAX, LAX - IAD and Viking Air worked w/ AA and booked us on Cathay Pacific.  

 

We agree that one should price shop but we haven't found the airlines to be that much less than what we wind up w/ Viking Air.  Also, we have not deviated that much when traveling w/ Viking so it works out that we use the transfers, etc.  We miss that Viking Air use to handle upgrades using miles & $$ - we haven't tried ourselves yet w/ United.  We are trying premium economy to Europe in April 2020 to see if that will work.  Business was just too expensive.

 

We plan to use Oceania's air when we fly to Athens roundtrip but we plan to come in early & leave later and we have a great company to use for our transfers and tours in Athens.  We will see if their air department is as good as Viking Air.

[Homosassa]

39 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Yes the transfers are nice, but how much are they worth?  I wouldn't pay $500 extra just for that.

Up to you, but here is what we received because we used Viking Air and had the transfers:

 

Luggage went astray and didn't make it to Florence (pre-cruise Tuscany extension): Viking representative worked with the airport personnel, rode their  - uh - rear ends to locate where the luggage was. Ensured that the luggage was sent on to Florence and arranged a pick up as soon as the luggage arrived.

 

We didn't touch our luggage from the time we left it outside our door at the Villa until it showed up in our cabin on board ship.

 

When British Air delayed our flight, Viking representative rearranged our transportation to the airport (private taxi) and we were met at the airport by a Viking representative to start the procedure to rebook our connections. When the total chaos left us stranded for over four hours with no rebooking from British Air sales desk, one call to the Viking Air emergency number had us rebooked while I was on hold for five minutes.

 

Viking Air and the transfers were invaluable to us.  

[vnb2003]

5 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

vnb2003 - so Viking's "standard" upgrade fare for business class is $1999 p/p?   

I am just now learning that you CAN do business class using Viking - depending on costs and desires for transfers/etc and help in case the airlines muck it up (see other posts on this one - the value of Viking Air sometimes when an airline abandons you).

 

I had always thought that Viking Air was just economy and it was up to the individual to figure out how to add to get Business Class.    Still not sure I'd do Viking Air for us though, since we tend to want to DIY tour ahead of a cruise and DIY for many days after.  Seems like Viking Air is best for those who just want to fly in, cruise, and fly out.

You could still have Viking Air. We are flying in a day ahead of cruise. We do loose transfers but it’s ok.  We booked a hotel in Valparaiso and they will book our private transfer ($140 per car). 

[vnb2003]

5 hours ago, SM77 said:

No, it depends on where you are flying.  For flying to Auckland and back from Bali, we paid close to $5500pp.  The airlines were AA (economy from IAD to LAX, business from LAX to Auckland), Garuda Indonesia (Bali to Hong Kong, business; Cathay Pacific (business, nonstop from Hong Kong to IAD).  

I didn’t know this. I saw only “our business class upgrade is $1,999”. Maybe I missed “from”😱  would need to check it out.

Did $5500p/p include Economy price?

[vnb2003]

6 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

Yes the transfers are nice, but how much are they worth?  I wouldn't pay $500 extra just for that.

You won’t pay $500 extra

Transfer was $40p/p if you bought it from Viking. I’m afraid this info is old because I was told by Viking Air that if I deviated I can’t buy transfer. This sounds ridiculous to me. 

[jasardeax]

6 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Up to you, but here is what we received because we used Viking Air and had the transfers:

 

Luggage went astray and didn't make it to Florence (pre-cruise Tuscany extension): Viking representative worked with the airport personnel, rode their  - uh - rear ends to locate where the luggage was. Ensured that the luggage was sent on to Florence and arranged a pick up as soon as the luggage arrived.

 

We didn't touch our luggage from the time we left it outside our door at the Villa until it showed up in our cabin on board ship.

 

When British Air delayed our flight, Viking representative rearranged our transportation to the airport (private taxi) and we were met at the airport by a Viking representative to start the procedure to rebook our connections. When the total chaos left us stranded for over four hours with no rebooking from British Air sales desk, one call to the Viking Air emergency number had us rebooked while I was on hold for five minutes.

 

Viking Air and the transfers were invaluable to us.  

What was the reason given for your BA flight delay?

[SM77]

31 minutes ago, vnb2003 said:

I didn’t know this. I saw only “our business class upgrade is $1,999”. Maybe I missed “from”😱  would need to check it out.

Did $5500p/p include Economy price?

Yes, it included the economy price which was $1395 pp (there was a savings of $500pp), otherwise business would have been closer to $6K.  We have flown business almost all of our Viking cruises - prices have varied depending on destination.

[Peregrina651]

21 minutes ago, vnb2003 said:

You won’t pay $500 extra

Transfer was $40p/p if you bought it from Viking. I’m afraid this info is old because I was told by Viking Air that if I deviated I can’t buy transfer. This sounds ridiculous to me. 

 

Ridiculous but true.

 

 

[Homosassa]

33 minutes ago, jasardeax said:

What was the reason given for your BA flight delay?

No reason was given on the first email sent 16 hours before the scheduled departure, just that it was delayed.

 

Second one said "ector (sic) and operational constraints."

 

We were verbally told several reasons: a strike at Heathrow, bad weather (two days before our flight) and just a flat "we don't know."

[jasardeax]

9 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

No reason was given on the first email sent 16 hours before the scheduled departure, just that it was delayed.

 

Second one said "ector (sic) and operational constraints."

 

We were verbally told several reasons: a strike at Heathrow, bad weather (two days before our flight) and just a flat "we don't know."

Just wondering if it was a delay that would have entitled you to compensation pursuant to EU 261. 

Aldo wondering if Viking Air mentioned that you may have a claim against BA

 

[m2inor]

1 hour ago, vnb2003 said:

You won’t pay $500 extra

Transfer was $40p/p if you bought it from Viking. I’m afraid this info is old because I was told by Viking Air that if I deviated I can’t buy transfer. This sounds ridiculous to me. 

If you book extra days with Viking before or after a cruise tour, you will pay a large fee PER PERSON. This is for hotel room and your airport transfer to/from hotel.

Most will find that arranging independent transfer (taxi/Uber/Metro) and hotel will be less expensive. Just need to be sure to know the hotel that is included with your cruise tour, or be willing to stay at a different hotel.

We recently returned from the  Portugal River of Gold cruise tour.

We booked economy travel with Viking Airplus, and paid extra fee to select our own flights. United changed the schedule several times, but I had entered the PNR with my United Mileage Plus account, so was well informed by United. Viking Airplus was out of sync with the most current info, ranging from seat assignments (which I changed), to flight times. With one of the changes by United, I was successful in changing the original flight routes. One of the original flights was PDX-IAD-LIS. Due to United change, flight was changed to PDX-DEN-IAD-LIS. That original outbound was upgraded to me using $$ and points to business class for the IAD-LIS leg. I was able to call United and using the original upgrade, change to PDX-EWR-LIS, and still get biz class upgrade on the EWR-LIS leg. Lie flat seats!

As I mentioned in a different post, I was disappointed that I did not get dollar-spend  (PQD) credit for the airfare paid, since this was a bulk fare. I did get United FF Mileage Plus mileage and segment credit.

The included hotel in Lisbon was the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa. Quite expensive. For our extra days beforehand, we booked the Hotel Fontecruz Lisboa just a block away Considerably less expensive, in the same area, and another 5-star hotel. Also affiliated with Marriott so got points.

Both hotels were excellent, but both were expensive. Very convenient to walking to all the popular areas of Lisbon, and we did a lot of walking.

We also purchased the 3-day transit pass: took Metro from Airport to Hotel, and the Metro was across the street from both the Fontecruz as well as the Tivoli. The pass got us on all the street cars, the Metro, the suburban trains to Sintra and Cascais; needed a separate bus pass for the day for Sintra and for travel from Sintra to Cascais, which included a short stop at westernmost city of Continental Europe, Cabo da Roca.

[Clay Clayton]

12 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

vnb2003 - so Viking's "standard" upgrade fare for business class is $1999 p/p?   

I am just now learning that you CAN do business class using Viking - depending on costs and desires for transfers/etc and help in case the airlines muck it up (see other posts on this one - the value of Viking Air sometimes when an airline abandons you).

 

I had always thought that Viking Air was just economy and it was up to the individual to figure out how to add to get Business Class.    Still not sure I'd do Viking Air for us though, since we tend to want to DIY tour ahead of a cruise and DIY for many days after.  Seems like Viking Air is best for those who just want to fly in, cruise, and fly out.

This is the first I’ve heard of a reasonable upgrade charge. We would have jumped on a $1999 biz upgrade seat last year, but Viking wanted $4000 for us to be in domestic first from RDU>MIA>SJU and in biz from Rome to RDU after our TA.(all we really cared about was the long haul return but they said it was all or nuthin)

 

 The cruise fare included “free” Econ but Viking wouldn’t give us a credit if we didn’t use their air nor would they budge from the upgrade cost...which was more than what we could have bought it for directly.

 

Same thing for our upcoming cruise from Beijing to Hong Kong. They wouldn’t give us any credit for not needing a US to Beijing flight (we are doing a transpacific cruise on X), nor would they include our flight from Japan to Beijing, and the cost to upgrade the only segment they are providing was almost twice as much as what the airlines wanted.  

 

So we will be flying long haul Econ for the first time in 10 years or so (we were able to upgrade our post TA flights with AA points and $ last Spring) unless Cathay Pacific’s bidding algorithm honors us with seats in Premium Economy.  🤞

[zitsky]

I've done two Viking trips with another next month.  On one of them I did my own air arrangements .  I booked directly with the airline to use miles in my account.  So we did our own transfers.  

[Homosassa]

15 hours ago, Homosassa said:

No reason was given on the first email sent 16 hours before the scheduled departure, just that it was delayed.

 

Second one said "ector (sic) and operational constraints."

 

We were verbally told several reasons: a strike at Heathrow, bad weather (two days before our flight) and just a flat "we don't know."

I don't know if we do. We are from the US and not familiar with EU regs.

 

Our flight was the only BA flight that was delayed from Athens that morning.

 

The whole situation was an abysmal fail on customer service on BA's end. 

 

We also just received an email confirmation of the iternany that Viking Air set up for us while I was on hold and was changed ten minutes later by the time we checked.

 

The newer itinerary was an improvement (direct from Gatwick to Tampa at the fare class we paid for) instead of the multiple flights in economy (especially now that I know BA economy is to be avoided at all costs).

 

I still don't know where the last booking came from. My bet is on Viking Air after I hung up as BA certainly didn't know what flights we were on based on text messages and emails that reference flights we didn't take.

 

In any case, I am a fast learner, and BA will never have any business from me in the future.

 

We are experienced travelers and know that problems can arise during trips. It happens. It is part of the adventure. We have had problems before with airline delays (the worst being a trip home from Germany where it was a two day delay before we left), but the problems were always handle in a professional and courteous manner by the airlines involved.

 

[jasardeax]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

I don't know if we do. We are from the US and not familiar with EU regs.

 

Our flight was the only BA flight that was delayed from Athens that morning.

 

The whole situation was an abysmal fail on customer service on BA's end. 

 

We also just received an email confirmation of the iternany that Viking Air set up for us while I was on hold and was changed ten minutes later by the time we checked.

 

The newer itinerary was an improvement (direct from Gatwick to Tampa at the fare class we paid for) instead of the multiple flights in economy (especially now that I know BA economy is to be avoided at all costs).

 

I still don't know where the last booking came from. My bet is on Viking Air after I hung up as BA certainly didn't know what flights we were on based on text messages and emails that reference flights we didn't take.

 

In any case, I am a fast learner, and BA will never have any business from me in the future.

 

We are experienced travelers and know that problems can arise during trips. It happens. It is part of the adventure. We have had problems before with airline delays (the worst being a trip home from Germany where it was a two day delay before we left), but the problems were always handle in a professional and courteous manner by the airlines involved.

 

Some time ago we were supposed to fly home from Paris (CDG)

to Atlanta. Upon arriving at CDG we were advised that our flight to Atlanta had been cancelled due to a mechanical problem. 

They tried to find us alternate flights, but could not find anything that would get us home that day. So they booked us on the same flight for the next day, put us up in a hotel far from Paris and the airport, gave us a meal voucher, and drop off and pick up from the hotel. 

During this time I heard nothing or received any notifications from Viking Air 

(we had Viking Air Plus)

 

We arrived home a day late. 

I did remember reading about EU261 some time ago, and an internet search gave me all the details. 

We made a claim to the airline, and 

eventually received nearly $1400

($700 each) due to this cancellation/delay,

which was classified as a non-extraordinary event. 

 

I now urge anyone I know flying to Europe with a European carrier, or flying back from Europe with ANY carrier, to familiarize themselves with this regulation for delays or cancellations. 

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, jasardeax said:

 

They tried to find us alternate flights, but could not find anything that would get us home that day. So they booked us on the same flight for the next day, put us up in a hotel far from Paris and the airport, gave us a meal voucher, and drop off and pick up from the hotel. 

 

 

That sounds better than what BA provided to us.

 

While they provided a hotel room (minimal accommodation), we were expected to take a free shuttle bus that dropped us off about a tenth of a mile from the hotel (we were told that it would drop us at the front door) and struggled with our luggage up ramps and an overhead walkway to reach the motel.

 

BA laid on a buffet for its passengers for which it was providing accommodations. It consisted of overcooked white rice, french fries (chips), chicken breast cut into strips, a brown goop they claimed was lamb curry (it tasted worse than it looked), and a mix of overcook, mushy green vegetables (from the bits that were still identifiable there was broccoli, some type of green bean and something that was unknown). Water and juice were provided. Coffee and tea were extra.

 

Of course, we were expected to take the shuttle back to a terminal to get the bus that runs between Heathrow and Gatwick. We found alternate transportation.

[jasardeax]

If your flight was delayed or cancelled due to mechanical or operational issues, there is a very good chance that you are entitled to compensation under the provisions of EC261. 

 

You probably have at least 5 years to make this claim from the date of the flight.  

If you still have copies of boarding passes,

flight itinerary, etc. it should be easy to file a claim. 

[Homosassa]

9 minutes ago, jasardeax said:

If your flight was delayed or cancelled due to mechanical or operational issues, there is a very good chance that you are entitled to compensation under the provisions of EC261. 

 

You probably have at least 5 years to make this claim from the date of the flight.  

If you still have copies of boarding passes,

flight itinerary, etc. it should be easy to file a claim. 

Thank you. I am not a litigious person as I figure everyone can make mistakes and things happen.

 

However, in this case, it was such a complete mess I will look into EU 261.

 

I do have copies of everything.

[jasardeax]

Of course, whether you want to file a claim or not is completely up to you. I only wanted to let you, and anyone else on this board with a similar circumstance, know that you may possibly have this option. 

 

By the way, I share your opinion about BA

[vnb2003]

22 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

This is the first I’ve heard of a reasonable upgrade charge. We would have jumped on a $1999 biz upgrade seat last year, but Viking wanted $4000 for us to be in domestic first from RDU>MIA>SJU and in biz from Rome to RDU after our TA.(all we really cared about was the long haul return but they said it was all or nuthin)

 

 The cruise fare included “free” Econ but Viking wouldn’t give us a credit if we didn’t use their air nor would they budge from the upgrade cost...which was more than what we could have bought it for directly.

 

Same thing for our upcoming cruise from Beijing to Hong Kong. They wouldn’t give us any credit for not needing a US to Beijing flight (we are doing a transpacific cruise on X), nor would they include our flight from Japan to Beijing, and the cost to upgrade the only segment they are providing was almost twice as much as what the airlines wanted.  

 

So we will be flying long haul Econ for the first time in 10 years or so (we were able to upgrade our post TA flights with AA points and $ last Spring) unless Cathay Pacific’s bidding algorithm honors us with seats in Premium Economy.  🤞

Clay,  we had similar situation last January. Viking Air Plus wanted over $4500 for IAD to Miami and Buenos Aires to IAD (domestic first and business on a way back) plus deviation fee for flying earlier to Miami. I bought domestic flight directly from airline-$680 First total for two. We bought our return business class tickets from Viking. This way we saved almost $1000.

Talk to them again. Maybe they find a reasonably priced flight for you.

I think you have free air not included free air. If I’m not mistaken Viking doesn’t have included free air anymore. They used to have it and people could get credit for not using Viking Air.  Good luck!

 

Enjoy Portland! ;)

[Clay Clayton]

You are correct I guess. We have free air which was included as a promo. At this point we have purchased the flights from Japan to China and exit row seats for the long haul back so too late to talk to them. But I’m watching the Buenos Aires to Barcelona cruise for next March waiting for a promo on it.  If that shows up, I’ll heed your advice and see if we can’t get them to do something. 

 

Thanks!

oh and we are enjoying Portland and the nearby coast.  Especially the Tillamook Creamery and their ice cream!

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Clay Clayton

[jasardeax]

On 8/14/2019 at 11:20 AM, jasardeax said:

Some time ago we were supposed to fly home from Paris (CDG)

to Atlanta. Upon arriving at CDG we were advised that our flight to Atlanta had been cancelled due to a mechanical problem. 

They tried to find us alternate flights, but could not find anything that would get us home that day. So they booked us on the same flight for the next day, put us up in a hotel far from Paris and the airport, gave us a meal voucher, and drop off and pick up from the hotel. 

During this time I heard nothing or received any notifications from Viking Air 

(we had Viking Air Plus)

 

We arrived home a day late. 

I did remember reading about EU261 some time ago, and an internet search gave me all the details. 

We made a claim to the airline, and 

eventually received nearly $1400

($700 each) due to this cancellation/delay,

which was classified as a non-extraordinary event. 

 

I now urge anyone I know flying to Europe with a European carrier, or flying back from Europe with ANY carrier, to familiarize themselves with this regulation for delays or cancellations. 

Afterthought...……………

  The original point I was trying to make is, through this whole ordeal, I was never contacted by Viking Air. 

  I am disappointed that I was never contacted by them after the trip either, to advise me that I was probably entitled to compensation from the airline.

   The EU261 compensation is so common that BA actually has a link to it on their website. I believe there are other carriers who also have a link to a claim form.

[Homosassa]

19 hours ago, jasardeax said:

Afterthought...……………

  The original point I was trying to make is, through this whole ordeal, I was never contacted by Viking Air. 

  I am disappointed that I was never contacted by them after the trip either, to advise me that I was probably entitled to compensation from the airline.

   The EU261 compensation is so common that BA actually has a link to it on their website. I believe there are other carriers who also have a link to a claim form.

 

We were actually told about EU 261 and the arrangements that BA might be obliged to give us by both the Viking representative at our hotel (we were on a post cruise extension) and the Viking representative at the Athens' airport.

 

Of course, both women were long time residents of Athens and British and were very aware of the BA level of service we could expect.

[SM77]

21 hours ago, jasardeax said:

Afterthought...……………

  The original point I was trying to make is, through this whole ordeal, I was never contacted by Viking Air. 

  I am disappointed that I was never contacted by them after the trip either, to advise me that I was probably entitled to compensation from the airline.

   The EU261 compensation is so common that BA actually has a link to it on their website. I believe there are other carriers who also have a link to a claim form.

 

I don’t have the expectation of being contacted by Viking Air once the flights have been ticketed.  I usually check on the flights through the airline.  When we had a cancellation by AA & the email said to contact your TA.  The TA got in touch w/ Viking Air to rebook the flights.  I also had the local Viking rep check w/ Viking Air via email (we were in Bali on a post extension).  Due to the time difference I was able to get it resolved before the local Viking rep got back to me the next AM.   I haven’t had a cancellation experience @ the airport so I’m not sure if I would have involved Viking Air if I was dealing w/ the airline directly unless there was a problem in getting us to the ship on time.  

 

 

 

[zitsky]

If you don't have a TA, Viking Air *is* the TA, whether they like it or not.