Recent experience with Flights by Celebrity

[Susanb10567]

I have posted before but wondering if anyone has had any luck with FBC replacing their flights that have been canceled by the airline. I know they are a consolidator but I still need a flight and they promote such great service.

 

I am on the 9/3 Edge cruise out of Rome. I had booked business class flights with FBC and on 6/29 I discovered that the first leg of my flight JFK to ZHR was missing. I confirmed with United that the flight had been canceled. FBC never contacted me or my TA. 
 

After being told of the cancellation I called FBC and was told it could take up to 30 days for a replacement. At the time I thought this was excessive but we are way past that benchmark. Since then I have been told it will be another 14 days since they escalated the mater to 30 days before the flight it will be taken care of. Still no flight….they say they contacted the airline and have not heard back…I asked do you ever contact them again when the flight continues to get closer?

 

The latest response from FBC is that if you don’t have a flight on 9/1 go to the airport and call the emergency line and they can “help” you. To me that is completely unacceptable.. I would never go to an airport knowingly without a flight and have to deal with FBC …the hold times are so excessive.

 

Anyone have a similar experience where FBC came through in the end or have a different way to contact them that helped the situation.

 

This whole situation has put a bad taste in my mouth…we are recently Elite after cruising pretty much exclusively with Disney as my daughter grew up and became Platinum there…we were counting on Celebrity as being our new go to cruise line…but this situation has made us second guess our thoughts.

[xDisconnections]

Flights by Celebrity has been very frustrating to work with for our upcoming cruise. I'm not sure I would use them again. 

[jelayne]

I appreciate your frustration. We are booked on a October TA and booked our own flights so far our flight to JFK to catch our international flight has been cancelled 4 times.  Each time the airline has automatically rebooked us but every time we either arrive to later to made our international flight or after are flights scheduled departure. I just rebooked the 4 set of flight a week ago and DH saw on the news that AA was reducing their October flight schedule.😡.  
 

Since you are way beyond final payment and now under 30 days the tickets should have been paid, do you have a record locator # to check.  I would search out the options myself and then call United direct and see if they will rebook you.

If that doesn’t work call FBC and tell them which flight you want.  

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, Susanb10567 said:

I have posted before but wondering if anyone has had any luck with FBC replacing their flights that have been canceled by the airline. I know they are a consolidator but I still need a flight and they promote such great service.

 

I am on the 9/3 Edge cruise out of Rome. I had booked business class flights with FBC and on 6/29 I discovered that the first leg of my flight JFK to ZHR was missing. I confirmed with United that the flight had been canceled. FBC never contacted me or my TA. 
 

After being told of the cancellation I called FBC and was told it could take up to 30 days for a replacement. At the time I thought this was excessive but we are way past that benchmark. Since then I have been told it will be another 14 days since they escalated the mater to 30 days before the flight it will be taken care of. Still no flight….they say they contacted the airline and have not heard back…I asked do you ever contact them again when the flight continues to get closer?

 

The latest response from FBC is that if you don’t have a flight on 9/1 go to the airport and call the emergency line and they can “help” you. To me that is completely unacceptable.. I would never go to an airport knowingly without a flight and have to deal with FBC …the hold times are so excessive.

 

Anyone have a similar experience where FBC came through in the end or have a different way to contact them that helped the situation.

 

This whole situation has put a bad taste in my mouth…we are recently Elite after cruising pretty much exclusively with Disney as my daughter grew up and became Platinum there…we were counting on Celebrity as being our new go to cruise line…but this situation has made us second guess our thoughts.

 

I remember reading your post on another thread not too long ago.  Although not based on any relevant experience I have with FBC, I am surprised that they still have left you hanging.  I hope things work out for you and that you don't have to resort to the actions that FBC suggested.

 

We have booked with FBC for our upcoming Rome to Tampa TA.  It's the first time that we have used them and even if things go without a hitch for us, I don't know if I will use them again after reading about other people's experiences such as yours.

 

One of the things that worry me is that I think Celebrity will continue to offer attractive promotional discounts on FBC airfare in an attempt to minimize damage to their cruise fare structure.  Obviously all of us would rather see discounts applied directly to the cruise price.

[kathynorth]

I would call back if I were in your shoes and ask for a supervisor if the rep can't take care of your problem. We booked via FBC for our next 2 trips and both had flights cancelled by the airlines. The one where had tickets with seats issued was automatically rebooked by the airline. The one where tickets with seats had not been issued was rebooked by Celebrity. We were told that all flights get ticketed approximately 45 days prior to flight, so yours should have been ticketed by now. 

 

By the way, for one of the flights we were charged a $200 change fee by FBC because someone internally didn't catch that the change was due to a cancelled flight. I saw this and had to call for them to take off the charge, which they did. Be sure to check your documents after the change is made.

Edited August 5, 2022 by kathynorth

[Jeremiah1212]

I've seen some of your posts regarding this problem and IMO their response is completely unacceptable. I would not hesitate to send the CEO email address a concise email and ask that someone fixes this today. Normally that approach is overblown but to tell someone to just go to the airport and call an emergency number is ridiculous. 

 

I handled a similar situation a few weeks ago and had to go this route to get it fixed and it was done within a few hours. In this case FBC insisted that a simple $8,000 payment to pay for different flights was a workable solution. 

[Susanb10567]

Thanks for all your suggestions…the situation has been frustrating…but when I was told to go to the airport without flights and contact the emergency number …that was the icing on the cake…

 

I think I will send an email to the CEO. What is the one that people have used that has gotten a resolution?

[chemmo]

4 hours ago, jelayne said:

 

Since you are way beyond final payment and now under 30 days the tickets should have been paid, do you have a record locator # to check.  I would search out the options myself and then call United direct and see if they will rebook you.

If that doesn’t work call FBC and tell them which flight you want.  

Before contacting anyone else at this stage this is exactly what we would do…

 

If United can’t sort you then find 2/3 flights that would be acceptable to you then contact FBC, copy in the CEO with a brief summary of your experience (bullet point). Request a response within 2 days.

 

Asking you to turn up at the airport with no flight!?!?!? Words fail me…One of the ‘selling’ points of FBC is the additional ‘security’ of having your flights and cruise linked…

 

 

[wrk2cruise]

1 hour ago, Susanb10567 said:

Thanks for all your suggestions…the situation has been frustrating…but when I was told to go to the airport without flights and contact the emergency number …that was the icing on the cake…

 

I think I will send an email to the CEO. What is the one that people have used that has gotten a resolution?

 

Google "Celebrity Cruises Ceo email"  I think you will find it easily.

[roysue]

6 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

Flights by Celebrity has been very frustrating to work with for our upcoming cruise. I'm not sure I would use them again. 

That has been my experience as well.  The advantage of not having cash on the line for a flight if your cruise gets cancelled, is far outweighed  by their rigid policies.

[Jeremiah1212]

2 hours ago, Susanb10567 said:

Thanks for all your suggestions…the situation has been frustrating…but when I was told to go to the airport without flights and contact the emergency number …that was the icing on the cake…

 

I think I will send an email to the CEO. What is the one that people have used that has gotten a resolution?

 

llutoff-perlo@celebritycruises.com

 

[goofysmom99]

6 hours ago, jelayne said:

I appreciate your frustration. We are booked on a October TA and booked our own flights so far our flight to JFK to catch our international flight has been cancelled 4 times.  Each time the airline has automatically rebooked us but every time we either arrive to later to made our international flight or after are flights scheduled departure. I just rebooked the 4 set of flight a week ago and DH saw on the news that AA was reducing their October flight schedule.😡.  

I've been having the same experience with AA.  Every time they squeezed the connection time, they raised the mileage required for a decent change.  Last week I finally reached my limit and canceled Oct flights to Italy (mileage) and paid for tickets on UA.  My holiday AA flights were so far beyond simply being messed up, that today I canceled those AA flights and paid for UA.  Not happy.  Hoping to be able to safely use miles next Oct.

[jelayne]

5 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I've been having the same experience with AA.  Every time they squeezed the connection time, they raised the mileage required for a decent change.  Last week I finally reached my limit and canceled Oct flights to Italy (mileage) and paid for tickets on UA.  My holiday AA flights were so far beyond simply being messed up, that today I canceled those AA flights and paid for UA.  Not happy.  Hoping to be able to safely use miles next Oct.

We are using AA miles for the international flight but it is on Iberia and so far the only change they made was a 4 min. change to the arrival time.  

[Loracpin2]

22 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I've been having the same experience with AA.  Every time they squeezed the connection time, they raised the mileage required for a decent change.  Last week I finally reached my limit and canceled Oct flights to Italy (mileage) and paid for tickets on UA.  My holiday AA flights were so far beyond simply being messed up, that today I canceled those AA flights and paid for UA.  Not happy.  Hoping to be able to safely use miles next Oct.

Same issues using miles on United. Now more miles needed to fly coach to FLL in Jan 2023 than flying to Italy in late May of 2023.  

[PaperSniper4]

I've got a similar, sort of, situation. We booked our  Caribbean cruise about 3 months ago.  Our ship docks in FLL on 29 October. We used FbC to book our reservations MEM-CLT-FLL (AA) and FLL-ATL-MEM (DL). Connections were not so great, but the price was good compared to not using FbC, and we like having the airlines and cruise "together" for insurance reasons. We've used FbC and Princess Air, etc several times and usually had a good experience.

 

Not this time. Our ATL-MEM flight was changed from a B737 to a CRJ 900, a much smaller aircraft. The capacity on the smaller CRJ 900 is about half of the larger B737. I received notification from FbC of the revised scheduled times which was not unusual; I've gotten four of them in the last 30 days. Anyway, I always check our seat assignments any time I get one of those change notifications; I noted that on the ATL-MEM along with an equipment change I now read NO SEATS ASSIGNED, but I was still "Passenger Status: Confirmed". Oh oh, that does not sound logical? I went on line to select seats but was not able to do so, got a screen message telling me to contact our TA, which is this case is Flights by Celebrity.  Forty five minutes on hold with Celebrity where I was told "We can do nothing, contact Delta", then another 60 minutes on hold with Delta. The Delta agent told me yes, I was confirmed on the flight, and no, I had no seat assignment. "Don't worry, you will be assigned a seat when you get to the gate in ATL."

 

Well.....I'm not to comfortable with that last from Delta. I believe I will call FbC tomorrow and try to find a different flight FLL to MEM. Ya'll wish me luck, y'hear?😁

 

 Doug

 

PS - Anyone had that, where you were confirmed on the flight but had no seat assigned? Delta told that happens "sometimes", but it has never happened to me in 50+ years of commercial air travel.

[adhncruisers]

We are having similar issues with FBC for our Sep 15 sailing. Flying to Venice on Sep 10. Outgoing flight not yet ticketed and now no flight details showing in our British Airways account.

 

Return flight from Barcelona was cancelled in March. No notification from FBC. Found out when it was time to make final pmt. They told our TA that it would take 10 days to sort out. Took 2 months and only lasted 2 days. We were then notified there had been another change in our return flight. Looks like we are no longer on the second leg of the journey. We are travelling with friends who have the same return flights so I know the flight is available. 

 

At this point, I will be happy to arrive in Venice on Sep 11 as planned. 

[PaperSniper4]

It's beginning to look like arranging our flights are the most difficult thing in planning a cruise! We are about to the point where I only want to cruise from ports to which we can drive! Bummer!😪

 

Doug

[kimberlydrzymala]

Buyer Beware of Choice Air!!! It sounds great when you book it, price is good, no money needed now, changes are free, blah, blah, blah!

 

However, after the ticket has been paid for you then have NO CONTROL at all over your flights. My daughter booked a flight for her family for an up coming trip to Alaska. AFTER, the flight was paid for Delta changed the schedule and now there is 30 minutes between her connections. This flight is also leaving at night so when she misses the connection there is no chance of getting another flight out the day she is supposed to travel.

 

This will cause a chain reaction of other things that are nonrefundable to be missed. (train tickets, fishing trips) She has called choice air at least 10 times since May when her flight time was changed. She has been told the same story - call back in 10 days, call back in 20 days, call the emergency line on the day of the flight. (how do you say this to a customer)

 

I have another European flight booked with Choice Air that I will now be cancelling and booking on my own. I do not ever want to deal with this again. I understand this is a horrible summer for all airline passengers but this is just to much. If she could have called Delta herself this would have been resolved in May when the schedule changed.

[Covepointcruiser]

Welcome to air travel these days.    Even booking our own flights we have seen numerous changes in schedules, types or aircraft and cancellations.    We now fly at least two days before we need to be at our destination and check the airline’s site constantly.    

[kimberlydrzymala]

We will make the cruise as this is 3 days later than the airline travel. However, that does not help the already paid for train ride and fishing trip. I still believe that Delta would have changed this back in May when they made the change but Delta will not speak to her because the flight is owned by Choice Air. I also check my reservation for this trip every day! 

[roysue]

22 minutes ago, kimberlydrzymala said:

We will make the cruise as this is 3 days later than the airline travel. However, that does not help the already paid for train ride and fishing trip. I still believe that Delta would have changed this back in May when they made the change but Delta will not speak to her because the flight is owned by Choice Air. I also check my reservation for this trip every day! 

We are in a similar situation.  Delta cancelled our flight.  Delta or FBC rescheduled us later in the day.  With the current airline difficulties, I would prefer to go out on the first flight of the day. They told me there would be a $200 fee and a 30 - 45 day wait while they ask Delta if it's ok to change the flight.  Since our cruise is in 39 days, we are stuck with the flight they picked as a replacement.  We are going in non-stop, one day ahead so will probably be ok but I don't see myself every using FBC again.  Had I booked directly with Delta, I could have changed the flight once they cancelled my scheduled flight.  

[num1crewsfam]

We are using Celebrity for our air for our Alaska cruise in September.  This will be the last time I use them.  Like several other people have said, our flights were canceled by Delta and then rebooked.  Out connection time on one of the three legs is less than 35 mins.  Have called Celebrity several times.  One of the customer service agents “booked” an appointment with me for a call back 14 days after submitting a change request with Delta…never called back.  Very frustrating.  Fingers crossed now that the emergency desk is actually a thing and can help us when we miss the connection 🙃

[Susanb10567]

OP here, still no flights for me….as each day goes by I get more and more  discouraged. DH even said we should look into a different trip for the week we are scheduled to be on the Edge. Which is so unlike him …..he is usually the person who thinks things will always work out…

 

Sent out the email to LLP this afternoon…maybe I will get some resolution??

 

I guess it depends on the airline..it seems like Delta replaced people’s canceled flights( with not feasible choices) but United has just ignored the situation all together…

[PaperSniper4]

16 hours ago, kimberlydrzymala said:

We will make the cruise as this is 3 days later than the airline travel. However, that does not help the already paid for train ride and fishing trip. I still believe that Delta would have changed this back in May when they made the change but Delta will not speak to her because the flight is owned by Choice Air. I also check my reservation for this trip every day! 

Ah, Delta................that explains a LOT!😲

[Bo1953]

16 hours ago, kimberlydrzymala said:

We will make the cruise as this is 3 days later than the airline travel. However, that does not help the already paid for train ride and fishing trip. I still believe that Delta would have changed this back in May when they made the change but Delta will not speak to her because the flight is owned by Choice Air. I also check my reservation for this trip every day! 

I know that stinks, but your third party travel insurance would cover any non-refundable costs associated with this situation.

 

I trust all will work out in the end and nothing has to be cancelled...

 

Good luck and bon voyage

Edited August 9, 2022 by Bo1953