Flights By Celebrity charging $200 flight change fee?

[bh6605]

Since I have grown to distrust some info received from Celebrity phone reps figured I'd check here.  Called FBC just now to see if we could move our flights up to arrive earlier and without even looking up my reservation the rep flat out told me any change to flights 30 days prior to the embarking day is $200. He said regardless if the alirline would charge a fee.  Is this right? I thought this was just for the cruise itself. 

[Jim_Iain]

That has been the normal charge FBC has charged for a number of years.   When changing or cancel any flight regardless  of whether refundable you are charged $200 pp after final payment.    The only good news is that when booking, you don't have to pay the airfare until final payment.

 

When booking if you click the Risk Free / $ it is explained

 

[bh6605]

PThank you for that. Guess I didn't pay enough attention. I will saw, however, I didn't think we paid the full balance yet. Is that possible if our cruise is in less than 1 month? 

[WestLakeGirl]

Something is amiss.  You should have paid Final already

[Bo1953]

5 minutes ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Something is amiss.  You should have paid Final already

Memory... LOL

 

bon voyage

[Arizona Wildcat]

Guess a reminder when one gets their confirmation from an airline, FBC (a consolidator) or a TA to read the details CAREFULLY.   One almost always has 24-48 hours to cancel with no penalties, but change fees are more and more common.  The $200 charge has been in place for a while and disclosed in the confirmation papers.

A thought that if there is a material change to your itinerary you can cancel for free.

[SbbquilterUT]

1 hour ago, bh6605 said:

PThank you for that. Guess I didn't pay enough attention. I will saw, however, I didn't think we paid the full balance yet. Is that possible if our cruise is in less than 1 month? 

Look carefully at your invoice - we have an outstanding balance of $13.68 on a cruise paid in full on March 10.  We called in June and it was blamed on the "glitch" but as of today it still shows.  After another call today I was told it would be forwarded to the dreaded Resolutions department - we spent hours with Resolutions and the Engagement Center in Feb and March sorting out our 9 days of quarantine and refund for second cruise so I finally hung up after that.  

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, bh6605 said:

PThank you for that. Guess I didn't pay enough attention. I will saw, however, I didn't think we paid the full balance yet. Is that possible if our cruise is in less than 1 month? 

 

 

I don't think so.   Final payment is at 90 days prior to cruise.   If you book a FBC after the 90 days you are already in penalty but I believe they have a 24 hour period without a fee (but only going by memory). 

[GRBlizz]

We used FBC for our upcoming cruise starting in Cape Liberty NJ and ending in Reykjavik. I just called to arrange seats and found that the aircraft for one of the legs of our return flight cannot accommodate my husband's power chair. To make matters worse, every airline flying out of the connecting airport (Montreal) to a US city uses Regional Jets, so this is a non-starter.

Since we booked this flight, airfares have gone up substantially. There are other available flights going through JFK instead of Montreal that would work, but they are more expensive. 

I am working with my CVP on this, but he has gone radio silent even though the site says he has been working the past couple days.

Can we count on Celebrity to change our routing at no charge? I did tell the CVP about my husband's power chair when we booked, so I feel this is on them to correct. Cruise is 35 days away!

[Jim_Iain]

7 hours ago, GRBlizz said:

We used FBC for our upcoming cruise starting in Cape Liberty NJ and ending in Reykjavik. I just called to arrange seats and found that the aircraft for one of the legs of our return flight cannot accommodate my husband's power chair. To make matters worse, every airline flying out of the connecting airport (Montreal) to a US city uses Regional Jets, so this is a non-starter.

Since we booked this flight, airfares have gone up substantially. There are other available flights going through JFK instead of Montreal that would work, but they are more expensive. 

I am working with my CVP on this, but he has gone radio silent even though the site says he has been working the past couple days.

Can we count on Celebrity to change our routing at no charge? I did tell the CVP about my husband's power chair when we booked, so I feel this is on them to correct. Cruise is 35 days away!

Sorry to hear of the problems.   It may take some negotiation on your part and you may have to ask to speak with a Supervisor to escalate.   I wouldn't be  shy about dropping the phrase - "American With Disability Act".