Viking Air suddenly feels like a Bait & Switch...

[Twitchly]

Threads like this cement my resolution to just book our own flights. 

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, tcuprof said:

Based on my experiences, I will not let Viking book my air again. 

 

1) When Viking books your air, you pretty much give up control. They can change your flight as they see fit - EVEN IF YOU HAVE Air+. (see example below)

In the current post COVID world, this is common, not just limited to Viking

2) Viking air can appear to offer a good price, but that is often because they're going to give you a routing you do not want. To get the routing you DO want (e.g., non-stop), you'll have to pay the fare difference, thus eliminating what seemed a good price.

Yes - this is common practice with cruise line air, who purchase bulk fares. Surely you researched this before booking. This is discussed on a regular basis and Cruise Critic even has a separate board. It pays to be an informed consumer.

3) If you want to cancel the Viking air, Viking will not refund your money. They will only give you credit.

Not true - we have just cancelled a cruise and Viking Air and received cash back, less the deposit, in accordance with the cancellation terms & conditions. Our refund included the Air+ fee.

4) If it matters to you, you will not get credit towards an elite program (e.g., AA loyalty points) for your flight, because YOU did not buy the ticket.

Not true - we have received award miles from both British Airways and Air Canada for flights booked and paid for by Viking. Perhaps the problem is with American Airlines

 

 

Please see responses in red, as that is not our experience.

[Heidi13]

3 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

Threads like this cement my resolution to just book our own flights. 

 

We use Viking Air or book our own flights depending on what works best for that particular cruise. However, even booking your own flights, at this time, doesn't ensure smooth sailing. 

 

DD & SIL just had their flights to UK cancelled by BA. 

[whitbob]

GUC is a Global Upgrade Certificate.  Delta gives them to Diamond Medallion (highest loyalty level) customers.  Enables you to upgrade right when you purchase the ticket, but are restricted by class of ticket you purchase.  Which is probably not going to work with the type up bulk fares Viking is using.

[OnTheJourney]

10 hours ago, Twitchly said:

Threads like this cement my resolution to just book our own flights. 

I agree completely and am very tempted to do so again, having found a terrific price on business class AND I can actually choose seats directly on the airline website, unlike on expedia (unless paying first). Just hate the idea of winding up with a lot of airline credit if we'd decide to cancel the cruise or can't go. I'll give my TA the new itinerary I came across and see how Viking responds to her. If they have no contractual arrangement with any non-stop flights (and thus charge alot more - especially more than I can find myself) then I just might book on my own and hope for the best. 

[OnTheJourney]

10 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

However, even booking your own flights, at this time, doesn't ensure smooth sailing. 

Andy...for sure! The current airline situation is dicey at best, no matter if it's domestic or international. Cancellations and rescheduling is crazy of late. Our next Viking cruise isn't till January, so hopefully things settle down by then, but I have some domestic flights in fall. Never know. 

[longterm]

On 8/3/2022 at 7:58 PM, purpleally said:

Does Viking ever do one way air?  We have flights booked to, but coming home is proving to be more difficult 

Yes; we flew into Rome and flew out of Athens; the first was 5 days before the cruise, so we used Viking Air.

[OnTheJourney]

34 minutes ago, longterm said:

Yes; we flew into Rome and flew out of Athens; the first was 5 days before the cruise, so we used Viking Air.

Exactly what we'll be doing. Did you do nonstop to Rome? Not sure why they are telling my TA that they have no contract for any non-stop flight and hence alot more money. I found nonstop with Delta at a really good price so will foward a different itinerary to my TA to mention the next time she calls the air department. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[longterm]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

Exactly what we'll be doing. Did you do nonstop to Rome? Not sure why they are telling my TA that they have no contract for any non-stop flight and hence alot more money. I found nonstop with Delta at a really good price so will foward a different itinerary to my TA to mention the next time she calls the air department. 

No, we went from Dallas (DFW) to NY (JFK) to Rome on American Airlines, then on the way back, from Athens to London to Dallas (British Airways).

 

I asked about a nonstop but was told that there were none available; I *think* I looked on my own as well, and didn't find any from DFW.

Edited August 6, 2022 by longterm

[OnTheJourney]

51 minutes ago, longterm said:

from Dallas (DFW) to NY (JFK) to Rome

I was wondering about lack of non-stop from where you are. The JFK-FCO is the one I came across so hopefully Viking's price won't be too insane. On my own, I can get B-class out of JFK for almost $5k less than Viking quoted for the PHL-FCO (nonstop) itinerary that my TA asked them about. That's crazy. JFK is about a 2 hr. 20 min. drive for us. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[FetaCheese]

From PHL to Europe off season, nonstops are very few:  LHR, FRA that I know of. To BCN, for nonstop, must use EWR, JFK --  major airports.  Due to airline issues this year, I switched to EWR/BCN for nonstop to avoid connection in FRA.  Paid deviation fee, thought it was worth it for less travel anxiety.

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by FetaCheese
Clarity

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

From PHL to Europe off season, nonstops are very few

Yes, there were only a few every time I've checked, so does that have something to do with Viking indicating that they have no contract for them? Seems a bit ridiculous to make a concession on going with a connection for the sake of saving money, i.e. an itinierary that they contract with. The whole thing is just frustrating. I'm not going to pay way over what I can get on my own just for the sake of it being protected under risk-free. Seats are going quick though in B-class, so I'd like to get this thing done. 

 

If I pay for early ticketing, then how does that work? Do I get to choose the seats on MVJ? I think my agent said something about that, but not sure. How early is "early" anyway? Once I get into final trip planning such as making the necessary reservations - be they hotel or air - I want it done and over with. Then, if changes come along from the airline, just have to deal with it. 

[FetaCheese]

4 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

From PHL to Europe off season, nonstops are very few:  LHR, FRA that I know of. To BCN, for nonstop, must use EWR, JFK --  major airports.  Due to airline issues this year, I switched to EWR/BCN for nonstop to avoid connection in FRA.  Paid deviation fee, thought it was worth it for less travel anxiety.

 

Forgot to say I am going 2 days early -- that's why I paid deviation fee.  Don't think I would have had to pay dev. fee if just changing basic routing.

[FetaCheese]

6 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Yes, there were only a few every time I've checked, so does that have something to do with Viking indicating that they have no contract for them? Seems a bit ridiculous to make a concession on going with a connection for the sake of saving money, i.e. an itinierary that they contract with. The whole thing is just frustrating. I'm not going to pay way over what I can get on my own just for the sake of it being protected under risk-free. Seats are going quick though in B-class, so I'd like to get this thing done. 

 

If I pay for early ticketing, then how does that work? Do I get to choose the seats on MVJ? I think my agent said something about that, but not sure. How early is "early" anyway? Once I get into final trip planning such as making the necessary reservations - be they hotel or air - I want it done and over with. Then, if changes come along from the airline, just have to deal with it. 

My V air+ rep told me ticketing is about 60 days prior.  If a changed is wanted after ticketing, one may incur extra fees.  For flexibility, I'm not requesting early ticketing.  Since I purchased V air+, I was able to initially select seats.  I was able to change to seats later, after checking chart.  ( a minor change --  to port side of plane from starboard).

[OnTheJourney]

Thinking of scrapping this whole idea of buying air through Viking. It just seems complicated and a hassle. Instead, I'm considering paying extra for refundable tickets. I've never done that before but from everything I read they truly are fully refundable even up to a few hours before the flight. Given the (much) higher cost of Viking AND the significant increase in insurance when adding the flights, I don't see how I can lose by going refundable, the total cost of which is still over $4k less than the price they quoted my TA. I still don't understand why they don't have contracts for the nonstop flights. 

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[FetaCheese]

9 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Thinking of scrapping this whole idea of buying air through Viking. It just seems complicated and a hassle. Instead, I'm considering paying extra for refundable tickets. I've never done that before but from everything I read they truly are fully refundable even up to a few hours before the flight. Given the (much) higher cost of Viking AND the significant increase in insurance when adding the flights, I don't see how I can lose by going refundable, the total cost of which is still over $4k less than the price they quoted my TA. I still don't understand why they don't have contracts for the nonstop flights. 

 

We have nonstops EWR/BCN on UA, and SJU/PHL on AA.  Air is from V.  I think it is dependent on city pairs.

[janetcbl]

10 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Thinking of scrapping this whole idea of buying air through Viking. It just seems complicated and a hassle. Instead, I'm considering paying extra for refundable tickets. I've never done that before but from everything I read they truly are fully refundable even up to a few hours before the flight. Given the (much) higher cost of Viking AND the significant increase in insurance when adding the flights, I don't see how I can lose by going refundable, the total cost of which is still over $4k less than the price they quoted my TA. I still don't understand why they don't have contracts for the nonstop flights. 

 

For the past year we have only purchased fully refundable tickets. If you consider the cost of insurance for cancelling and peace of mind, to us it only made sense. And for the past three trips, we  of course have had no problems, thanks to “Murphy’s Law”.😁 

 

 

[longterm]

11 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Thinking of scrapping this whole idea of buying air through Viking. It just seems complicated and a hassle. Instead, I'm considering paying extra for refundable tickets. I've never done that before but from everything I read they truly are fully refundable even up to a few hours before the flight. Given the (much) higher cost of Viking AND the significant increase in insurance when adding the flights, I don't see how I can lose by going refundable, the total cost of which is still over $4k less than the price they quoted my TA. I still don't understand why they don't have contracts for the nonstop flights. 

 

There are some routes that can be improved upon by booking oneself, but the ease of letting Viking do the booking, then having them meet you at baggage claim, is a big plus. We've not booked our own flights for Viking cruises, so I have a question: if you book your own flights, do you still get transfers to and from the airport, or do you have to find your own?

[philw1776]

4 minutes ago, longterm said:

There are some routes that can be improved upon by booking oneself, but the ease of letting Viking do the booking, then having them meet you at baggage claim, is a big plus. We've not booked our own flights for Viking cruises, so I have a question: if you book your own flights, do you still get transfers to and from the airport, or do you have to find your own?

No transfers INCLUDED if you book your own flights. You can pay Viking for the transfers. Prices vary.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

There are some routes that can be improved upon by booking oneself, but the ease of letting Viking do the booking, then having them meet you at baggage claim, is a big plus. We've not booked our own flights for Viking cruises, so I have a question: if you book your own flights, do you still get transfers to and from the airport, or do you have to find your own?

We have mostly booked our own flights and always gotten to/from the airport on our own.  Viking charges per person, so it never works out in our favor.  
The only time we have ever used Viking for transit was getting from Valparaiso to Santiago.  It is a 2+ hour trip, and we had Viking schedule us a private car as we had non refundable OBC to chew up.  I think that was over $300, but we’d have lost the money otherwise as we had paid and purchased everything else we wanted onboard.  I think there was $12 in non refundable OBC when we left.   

[stcroixguy]

I was told by a Viking agent, that the transfer without air is $50.00.  I would assume that is for arrival, departure is probably an additional $50 per person.

 

[TERRIER1]

I believe my friend just paid $75. She booked her own airfare but to  use the Viking transfer you need to come in the day of embarkation. 

[OnTheJourney]

6 hours ago, janetcbl said:

For the past year we have only purchased fully refundable tickets

You mean directly from the airline or does Viking also offer that option (I''m thinking not)?  

 

4 hours ago, longterm said:

if you book your own flights, do you still get transfers to and from the airport, or do you have to find your own?

Great question....I actually started to wonder about this. We have the pre and post extensions...so if I'm going independent flight booking, do I have to arrange all those transfers with Viking? I'd need to know what all that would cost in order to run the numbers and see which way it comes out best. And, it's not all about which 'appears' to be cheapest but also which is the easiest / most convenient. 

 

18 minutes ago, TERRIER1 said:

but to  use the Viking transfer you need to come in the day of embarkation. 

What about in the case of a pre-cruise extension?   I'll chat with Viking about some of this. 

 

4 hours ago, philw1776 said:

You can pay Viking for the transfers. Prices vary.

Not so much worried about the cost as I am the service. Do they do as well for people who book their own air? 

[Twitchly]

4 hours ago, longterm said:

There are some routes that can be improved upon by booking oneself, but the ease of letting Viking do the booking, then having them meet you at baggage claim, is a big plus. We've not booked our own flights for Viking cruises, so I have a question: if you book your own flights, do you still get transfers to and from the airport, or do you have to find your own?

We had to find our own transportation. But we wouldn’t have been eligible for Viking transfers in any case since we like to come at least a day or two before the cruise and depart a day or two after. 

[Twitchly]

2 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

What about in the case of a pre-cruise extension?   I'll chat with Viking about some of this. 

Transfers are usually (always?) included with extensions. Unless you’ve arrived before the extension date.