Any way to change flight with NCL air

[Analog187]

Never booked with NCL before until this cruise but with everything going on, I thought it would be a good idea.  The flight there is fine but the flight back would require us to sit at the airport for 15 hours.  We have no interest in doing that or even finding some alternative such as luggage storage.  We just want to get home.  I was told I have to call NCL Air but they don't answer the phone.  I suppose I can just call everyday until something happens but am I SOL?  Anyone try to change their flight before?  I would have never done this if I knew this was a possibility.  

[G-DawgMN]

2 minutes ago, Analog187 said:

Never booked with NCL before until this cruise but with everything going on, I thought it would be a good idea.  The flight there is fine but the flight back would require us to sit at the airport for 15 hours.  We have no interest in doing that or even finding some alternative such as luggage storage.  We just want to get home.  I was told I have to call NCL Air but they don't answer the phone.  I suppose I can just call everyday until something happens but am I SOL?  Anyone try to change their flight before?  I would have never done this if I knew this was a possibility.  

 

 NCL won't change your flights, but depending on the airline you may be able to do it directly with them. For example, we had a NCL flight last year booked through Delta, for $50 we were able to change our flights to a different time.

 

 

[Analog187]

I thought about that but American's app says all changes have to go through my travel agent which in this case would by NCL.  But I guess I'll try both ways.  

[mjkacmom]

NCL will.book the cheapest flights so many seem stuck with red eyes.

[chillyw]

31 minutes ago, Analog187 said:

I thought about that but American's app says all changes have to go through my travel agent which in this case would by NCL.  But I guess I'll try both ways.  

 

Depending on the travel agent, American sometimes lets you pay them to take over the reservation and deal directly with them.  I've done this for AMEX Travel bookings when I didn't want to deal with their outsourced call center.  You need to ask the phone rep, then you get routed to a special department, where you pay them ~$50 fee per person booked, and they re-issue the tickets as directly booked tickets.

[Analog187]

I called back.  The rep I spoke with was very confused because I should not have even received my ticketing info until 30 days out.  It's 50 days out and I got it a few days ago.  She can't even see it in her system.  Said she was going to try to get someone on the phone with me but all she really did was transfer me to the air department and they don't answer the phone.  I'll probably have to call them first thing in the morning.  The saga continues.  

[Uff da]

9 hours ago, Analog187 said:

I called back.  The rep I spoke with was very confused because I should not have even received my ticketing info until 30 days out.  It's 50 days out and I got it a few days ago.  She can't even see it in her system.  Said she was going to try to get someone on the phone with me but all she really did was transfer me to the air department and they don't answer the phone.  I'll probably have to call them first thing in the morning.  The saga continues.  

Yep, they do place holders on flights and can change them. They did that to ours for a previous cruise. I saw it on the web and then a couple days later got an email with completely different flights. 

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Uff da

[G-DawgMN]

14 hours ago, Analog187 said:

I called back.  The rep I spoke with was very confused because I should not have even received my ticketing info until 30 days out.  It's 50 days out and I got it a few days ago.  She can't even see it in her system.  Said she was going to try to get someone on the phone with me but all she really did was transfer me to the air department and they don't answer the phone.  I'll probably have to call them first thing in the morning.  The saga continues.  

 If you’re looking at flights on the ncl page, they are just placeholders and aren’t what is booked. Good chance they will change one or more times. 
 Wait until you get the official email with actual flight numbers and confirmation numbers 

[Markanddonna]

The only time the cruise air let me change was during Super Storm Sandy. I had to take all the initiative and was on the phone over 3 hours on hold. Finally, the cruise line gave me permission to contact the airline directly. I was allowed to change my first connecting flight in a wise proactive move. If I had not done so, I would have lost all my time before the cruise in Europe. I'm not sure I would have even made it on the flight. I hesitate to use cruise air.

[cruiseny4life]

Sitting in an airport for 15 hours would be terrible! I don't know what city you're flying out of, but there should be some sort of luggage service that would hold your bags for a few hours while you go enjoy the city. Take that last day of the cruise (if it's a sea day), rest up, then go on an adventure in the city you're in. That's what I would do - I do definitely agree I'd probably want to just get home, but might as well make an adventure of it, eh?:-)

[Analog187]

On 7/19/2022 at 7:42 AM, KSSS2013 said:

 If you’re looking at flights on the ncl page, they are just placeholders and aren’t what is booked. Good chance they will change one or more times. 
 Wait until you get the official email with actual flight numbers and confirmation numbers 

 

This is the email that we got. I'm still trying to deal with this but getting through to NCL Air is next to impossible.  

[Analog187]

On 7/19/2022 at 10:25 AM, cruiseny4life said:

Sitting in an airport for 15 hours would be terrible! I don't know what city you're flying out of, but there should be some sort of luggage service that would hold your bags for a few hours while you go enjoy the city. Take that last day of the cruise (if it's a sea day), rest up, then go on an adventure in the city you're in. That's what I would do - I do definitely agree I'd probably want to just get home, but might as well make an adventure of it, eh?:-)

 

I put the thing about not being interested in luggage storage because I anticipated this type of response that is in no way responsive to my question.  Sigh.

[Crazy planning mom]

You could try and fly stand-by if they have availability for an earlier flight.

[cruiseny4life]

14 minutes ago, Analog187 said:

 

I put the thing about not being interested in luggage storage because I anticipated this type of response that is in no way responsive to my question.  Sigh.

Didn't see that line (and I'd say sorry, but you're rude) - rush home and don't experience an adventure. Ugh , people that don't want to have a little bit of discovery annoy me. Ciao! 

[Analog187]

14 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Didn't see that line (and I'd say sorry, but you're rude) - rush home and don't experience an adventure. Ugh , people that don't want to have a little bit of discovery annoy me. Ciao! 

 

People that don't read and people that don't answer the question annoy me as well.  

[Analog187]

On 7/18/2022 at 4:34 PM, chillyw said:

 

Depending on the travel agent, American sometimes lets you pay them to take over the reservation and deal directly with them.  I've done this for AMEX Travel bookings when I didn't want to deal with their outsourced call center.  You need to ask the phone rep, then you get routed to a special department, where you pay them ~$50 fee per person booked, and they re-issue the tickets as directly booked tickets.

 

Thanks.  Working with AA now and they did say it would be $50 per change.  It's a real disaster trying to do this though.  Almost seems like I'm the first person to ever have this request.  I wanted to know how much it would cost to get a better flight and this was too much for the first person to handle so they had to get someone else on the phone.  Now that person is confused. 

[divincenzo]

6 minutes ago, Analog187 said:

 

People that don't read and people that don't answer the question annoy me as well.  

You're quite rude for someone that's looking for help/advice from the forum. 

 

- you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

[Analog187]

2 minutes ago, divincenzo said:

You're quite rude for someone that's looking for help/advice from the forum. 

 

- you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

 

How does this involve you?

[divincenzo]

7 minutes ago, Analog187 said:

 

How does this involve you?

Enjoy your 15 hour layover

[Analog187]

On 7/18/2022 at 4:34 PM, chillyw said:

 

Depending on the travel agent, American sometimes lets you pay them to take over the reservation and deal directly with them.  I've done this for AMEX Travel bookings when I didn't want to deal with their outsourced call center.  You need to ask the phone rep, then you get routed to a special department, where you pay them ~$50 fee per person booked, and they re-issue the tickets as directly booked tickets.

 

So AA says NCL has to change the flight.  I'm sure NCL will say AA has to do it if I ever do get them on the phone.  It'll probably easier to just book a new flight home.

[Analog187]

1 minute ago, divincenzo said:

Enjoy your 15 hour layover

 

Won't have one but thanks

[agrimm01]

18 minutes ago, Analog187 said:

 

Won't have one but thanks

Oh, you will.  😀

[Analog187]

11 minutes ago, agrimm01 said:

Oh, you will.  😀

How do you figure when I already booked a hotel for that night?

[hallux]

1 hour ago, Analog187 said:

 

So AA says NCL has to change the flight.  I'm sure NCL will say AA has to do it if I ever do get them on the phone.  It'll probably easier to just book a new flight home.

Yup, this is the response I got from AA when I had an 11 PM flight out of LAX.  AA stood firm on keeping the flight as it was, and since there's a fee for making the change I'm sure NCL will just tell you it can't be done.  AA allowed me to check the bag and I continued on with the planned rental car, saw some sights around the LA area and got back to the airport for dinner and the wait for the flight to board.

 

This is the risk of allowing NCL to book the flights for you - you lose control over some of the controllable aspects of the flight (you can still pay to upgrade your seat and you can still pick your seat if the airline allows).  These risks have been discussed on this forum at length.  This is where being an informed consumer comes in - doing a little research in advance should have revealed these concerns.  When I used the discounted flight offer from NCL in 2019 I knew exactly what I was in for, though I did still try to make the change to an earlier flight on the off-chance it  was remotely possible.

[Analog187]

6 minutes ago, hallux said:

Yup, this is the response I got from AA when I had an 11 PM flight out of LAX.  AA stood firm on keeping the flight as it was, and since there's a fee for making the change I'm sure NCL will just tell you it can't be done.  AA allowed me to check the bag and I continued on with the planned rental car, saw some sights around the LA area and got back to the airport for dinner and the wait for the flight to board.

 

This is the risk of allowing NCL to book the flights for you - you lose control over some of the controllable aspects of the flight (you can still pay to upgrade your seat and you can still pick your seat if the airline allows).  These risks have been discussed on this forum at length.  This is where being an informed consumer comes in - doing a little research in advance should have revealed these concerns.  When I used the discounted flight offer from NCL in 2019 I knew exactly what I was in for, though I did still try to make the change to an earlier flight on the off-chance it  was remotely possible.

 

100% agree and I normally do that but the sales guy pitched it to me and I asked a million questions and he lied to me to get the sale.  I had cruise credit and a canceled cruise and he called me the day it was about to expire.  I asked about red eye flights, long layovers, everything.  He assured me that it would be at most an afternoon flight but usually would be a late morning flight.  I had no real time to check any of this so I just went with it.  Done with NCL after this I can tell you that.  They don't care that their sales guy lied to me.  It is what it is.  I have more points than anyone could ever use so I got a free hotel and a flight home.  It's just stupid that I can't even pay money to change my flight.   

Edited July 20, 2022 by Analog187
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