Troubles with Flights by Celebrity?

[MsDolly]

The flight system is very unfriendly to customers doing b2b repositioning cruises!  

 

I finally managed to get one reservation number to accept a multi city reservation that didn’t match the cruise routing but then it wouldn’t allow me to purchase it.  I called the Flights by Celebrity 1-800# and after a half hour on the phone with them they could find my flights but couldn’t sell them for the amount on their website, their price was almost double.

 

i tried to book them as two one ways but that price was ridiculous on one of the two legs.  Celebrity rep said he would try again today and call me back first thing today, but surprise surprise he has not.

 

Interestingly I can still pull up the flights on their website but today the price is $10 cheaper.  Another frustrating call is in my future but I am not holding out much hope.

 

Anyone else had this problem?

[JaneStarr]

2 hours ago, MsDolly said:

The flight system is very unfriendly to customers doing b2b repositioning cruises!  

 

I finally managed to get one reservation number to accept a multi city reservation that didn’t match the cruise routing but then it wouldn’t allow me to purchase it.  I called the Flights by Celebrity 1-800# and after a half hour on the phone with them they could find my flights but couldn’t sell them for the amount on their website, their price was almost double.

 

i tried to book them as two one ways but that price was ridiculous on one of the two legs.  Celebrity rep said he would try again today and call me back first thing today, but surprise surprise he has not.

 

Interestingly I can still pull up the flights on their website but today the price is $10 cheaper.  Another frustrating call is in my future but I am not holding out much hope.

 

Anyone else had this problem?

 

I’ve run into this ridiculous issue with B2B cruise air myself. It was with last April’s Transpacific from Sidney to Honolulu and then to Vancouver.

 

If you can get them to (temporarily) unlink your reservations, you *may* have access to book flights online yourself.

 

Celebrity air phone reps weren’t able to get me airfare anywhere near the Flights by Celebrity online quoted price.

 

They insisted that the prices I could see through Celebrity online were just “estimates” and would change from moment to moment. They were also unable to get the direct flight shown through the online search. The connections offered were unacceptable, very expensive and on different airlines.

The phone agents finally admitted to me that they do not have access to the same “bucket” of choice air fares and have to go into a different system when booking by phone (maybe they said Amadeus?).

I was given conflicting information as to why. The most logical explanation seemed to be that linking my B2B bookings locked me out of online air booking.

 

Eventually, I was able to sign into my first reservation and book the exact flights that were initially quoted online— and at an even lower price!  It took repeated attempts over several days to get the booking to take.

 

At that point, my reservation for the second cruise had somehow gone “offline”. This was after I begged the Captain’s club/OneTouch reps to unlink them so that I could handle the air online myself. (I believe the reservations were unlinked for a short period of time.)

Because I was fortunate to have suite bookings, a wonderful  Celebrity OneTouch shoreside concierge went to bat for me. Unfortunately, her hands were mostly tied, but I was finally able to resolve the issue myself.

 

Nobody could officially ever explain why this worked. Once the flights were booked, the concierge made sure our reservations were properly relinked.

 

Jane

PS Sorry if this is confusing. 

[MsDolly]

41 minutes ago, JaneStarr said:

 

I’ve run into this ridiculous issue with B2B cruise air myself. It was with last April’s Transpacific from Sidney to Honolulu and then to Vancouver.

 

If you can get them to (temporarily) unlink your reservations, you *may* have access to book flights online yourself.

 

Celebrity air phone reps weren’t able to get me airfare anywhere near the Flights by Celebrity online quoted price.

 

They insisted that the prices I could see through Celebrity online were just “estimates” and would change from moment to moment. They were also unable to get the direct flight shown through the online search. The connections offered were unacceptable, very expensive and on different airlines.

The phone agents finally admitted to me that they do not have access to the same “bucket” of choice air fares and have to go into a different system when booking by phone (maybe they said Amadeus?).

I was given conflicting information as to why. The most logical explanation seemed to be that linking my B2B bookings locked me out of online air booking.

 

Eventually, I was able to sign into my first reservation and book the exact flights that were initially quoted online— and at an even lower price!  It took repeated attempts over several days to get the booking to take.

 

At that point, my reservation for the second cruise had somehow gone “offline”. This was after I begged the Captain’s club/OneTouch reps to unlink them so that I could handle the air online myself. (I believe the reservations were unlinked for a short period of time.)

Because I was fortunate to have suite bookings, a wonderful  Celebrity OneTouch shoreside concierge went to bat for me. Unfortunately, her hands were mostly tied, but I was finally able to resolve the issue myself.

 

Nobody could officially ever explain why this worked. Once the flights were booked, the concierge made sure our reservations were properly relinked.

 

Jane

PS Sorry if this is confusing. 

 

Wow, while we would like the more direct flights at the price quoted online I really don’t have your perseverance.  Good to know I am not alone and if I didn’t have another option I could perhaps come at this as you have.  I will end up spending more per person but I will also be flying home in seats upgraded to business, that will help us feel better about the extra cost and travel time!

 

Thanks for posting 

[JaneStarr]

1 hour ago, MsDolly said:

 

Wow, while we would like the more direct flights at the price quoted online I really don’t have your perseverance.  Good to know I am not alone and if I didn’t have another option I could perhaps come at this as you have.  I will end up spending more per person but I will also be flying home in seats upgraded to business, that will help us feel better about the extra cost and travel time!

 

Thanks for posting 

The flights were actually Qantas business class at a VERY fair price. I don’t regret having persevered, although it should not have been necessary. Felt like a bait & switch to me. 

I’ll avoid booking Celebrity Air with a B2B booking in the future. 

Jane