O Life Air Travel Question

[marine2531]

Hi All,  I have a couple of questions on O Life air travel. My wife & I are booked on a cruise in the spring from Barcellona to Rome. On the front end, We will come in to Spain 2 days early & stay at the O Life hotel & then transfer to the Riviera. On the back end (when the cruise is done in Rome) we want to leave the ship & go to Hotel that we have visted before. Stay their 3 days & use the O Life air back to Miami. I know we will have to cover the transfers from the ship to the hotel & the hotel to the airport.

1-Can we not choose the O Life hotel in Rome & still get the air flights we had picked to leave Rome. 

2 Do we have to leave in 2 days, or can we stay 3-4 days & still have the O Life booked return flights.

 

Thanks for your help

[LHT28]

option#3

Pick your own hotel & air /transfers    front & back    (O hotel packages are PP)

it will probably work out less expensive  in the end

Take the cruise only fare

 

#4  you might have to pay a deviation fee  for the inbound flights   when you choose your own hotel & extra time after the cruise

I would ask your TA to get all the pricing for  your trip  then do the math of DIY   before deciding

 

 FYI The air is not really part of O Life 

JMO

[pinotlover]

18 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

option#3

Pick your own hotel & air /transfers    front & back    (O hotel packages are PP)

it will probably work out less expensive  in the end

Take the cruise only fare

 

#4  you might have to pay a deviation fee  for the inbound flights   when you choose your own hotel & extra time after the cruise

I would ask your TA to get all the pricing for  your trip  then do the math of DIY   before deciding

 

 FYI The air is not really part of O Life 

JMO

+1 to this.

 

Seems to me, there is either a 21 or 30 day window, on both sides of cruise,  one can deviate with the flights.This is dependent upon were you’re trying to fly from. I remember a few years back a cruiser was wanting to do a post cruise  river boat cruise BudaPest to Bucharest. Oceania Air couldn’t work them a deal out of Bucharest and O prices were way high. The issue wasn’t the timing, it was the airport. Rome should be no problem.

[Psoque]

Just to make sure OP knows:  It is possible to book a cruise with OLife benefits without paying for the “free” airfare with Oceania, despite what the website makes it look like.

[LHT28]

36 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Just to make sure OP knows:  It is possible to book a cruise with OLife benefits without paying for the “free” airfare with Oceania, despite what the website makes it look like.

air is not free  but included  & can be removed  ...

 

[oskidunker]

I found o airfare in Business was a bad deal while a good deal on Viking. Go figure.

[Psoque]

24 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

air is not free  but included  & can be removed  ...

 

That’s why I put the word “free” in quotation marks.  Oceania really should stop saying that their OLife Choice package with air includes “free” airfare.  It is very misleading.

[Carol From California]

We always book OLife and remove the air. The included air is "coach" and we like to book business class with miles. We also usually go a few days early before the cruise and add a few days at the end. 

[GICNJC]

If you take Olife, the airfare is included (plus one other item choice).  It is part of O's calculate fee.

Deviation of flight is 30 days either side, but costs $175 pp per flight to and from.

We always take the premium economy when purchasing the trip.  In our experiences there is no additional cost beyond the $175 if we choose other flight dates.  That Premium Economy price is substantially cheaper that doing it ourselves.  Note the Premium Economy is only for the international flight portions of the airfare.

[LHT28]

6 minutes ago, GICNJC said:

If you take Olife, the airfare is included (plus one other item choice).  It is part of O's calculate fee.

Deviation of flight is 30 days either side, but costs $175 pp per flight to and from.

 

Deviation fee is $175 PP   (one time )

You must choose  outbound & inbound flights at the same time 

If not they will charge an additional fee  when you decide what you are doing

[LHT28]

15 minutes ago, Carol From California said:

We always book OLife and remove the air. The included air is "coach" and we like to book business class with miles. We also usually go a few days early before the cruise and add a few days at the end. 

That works if the O Life perk is  something you will use

 

For us  we rarely do the excursions & the drink package is not worth it for us

You basically are paying yourself  to have the NON refundable OBC

 

[jazznruby]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Deviation fee is $175 PP   (one time )

You must choose  outbound & inbound flights at the same time 

If not they will charge an additional fee  when you decide what you are doing

Yes, unfortunately,  I learned the hard way that O will charge the $175/pp a second time if you change your mind, and decide to return on a different day from a different city than your original choices. Still, we saved $$$ by using their air. All depends on the particular situation, but has always been to our benefit, especially if it's just one domestic and one international flight, as for a transatlantic.

[jazznruby]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

That works if the O Life perk is  something you will use

 

For us  we rarely do the excursions & the drink package is not worth it for us

You basically are paying yourself  to have the NON refundable OBC

 

Yes, the O Life OBC is non-refundable, and yes, you're paying for it in advance, but if like us, you know you're going to use it onboard, it's nice to eliminate sticker shock at the end of the cruise for all the extras...bar bill, La Reserve, shorex, gratuities, shopping etc. (Obviously, the other two perks are of no interest.) Whatever floats your boat!😁

[Carol From California]

3 hours ago, GICNJC said:

If you take Olife, the airfare is included (plus one other item choice).  It is part of O's calculate fee.

Deviation of flight is 30 days either side, but costs $175 pp per flight to and from.

We always take the premium economy when purchasing the trip.  In our experiences there is no additional cost beyond the $175 if we choose other flight dates.  That Premium Economy price is substantially cheaper that doing it ourselves.  Note the Premium Economy is only for the international flight portions of the airfare.

You can take OLife and REMOVE the air. There is a credit for the air portion. That's what we always do.

 

[Carol From California]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

That works if the O Life perk is  something you will use

 

For us  we rarely do the excursions & the drink package is not worth it for us

You basically are paying yourself  to have the NON refundable OBC

 

We take the excursions and do all the rest privately. 

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, jazznruby said:

Yes, unfortunately,  I learned the hard way that O will charge the $175/pp a second time if you change your mind, and decide to return on a different day from a different city than your original choices. Still, we saved $$$ by using their air. All depends on the particular situation, but has always been to our benefit, especially if it's just one domestic and one international flight, as for a transatlantic.

Yes I think the  Transatlantics  it makes sense to use O air

We got the PE seats  on the return from LHR  so it worked  better than DIY

we always do the math to see what works for us

[Psoque]

The single time we purchased airfare through the cruise line was a time when we did a Panama Canal cruise that started in Costa Rica and ended in Florida.  It was not cheap to get a pair of one-way flights for this, since airlines did not price this as an open-jaw ticket.  The cruise line, for some weird reason, was offering ridiculously low air add-on, so we used it.  It turned out that the air department for this luxury cruise (and not Oceania) had at least one terrible person working, and when we had fog issues the day of departure, we had to take the matter into our own hands, and it took months to get this reimbursed.  But hey, when everything works perfectly, cheaper flights are, cheaper and good.

 

Anyways, I did the math on the Mediterranean cruise we just booked to show to those who are still fooled by Oceania about the "free " airfare.

 

For this itinerary:

 

-"OLife with Air" prices are consistently higher by $ 1,400 compared to "cruise only."

-When we inquired about "OLife without airfare," the prices were consistently $ 300 higher than "cruise only."

 

Therefore, for this particular 10 night cruise, the breakdown is the following:

 

-Cost of "free airfare" add-on is $ 1,100 per person.  If we want to adjust the arrivals (to arrive at the embarkation city a day earlier, et.) it would cost $ 175 per person.  If we need to fly out of "non-gateway" airports, that approximately $ 200 per person.  So the REAL COST of Oceania airfare could be as high as $ 1,475 per person for someone who likes to arrive a day before the cruise and wants to fly out of, say Indianapolis, instead of Chicago.  We can use this number to see if we can get the flights cheaper. (further Oceania is misleading people by referring to the money you save by not taking air add-on as "air credits.")

 

-Cost of OLife without the cost of "free" airfare is $ 300.  So doing this with an intention of taking an on-board credit of $ 300 is rather silly.

 

Here's my analysis that I use to make the decision re:  OLife with/without air.

 

-If we want to take three ship excursions per person onboard, OLife add-on without air makes sense.

 

-If we plan on consuming 3+ servings of wine/beer on mealtimes, OLife add-on without air makes some sense also, since that drink package is $39.95 per person, per day.  I believe the cost of a single glass of basic wine is around $14 including automatic tips.

 

I hope this would help people make a more informed decision about OLife with or without air add-on.

 

 

[ORV]

7 hours ago, Psoque said:

The single time we purchased airfare through the cruise line was a time when we did a Panama Canal cruise that started in Costa Rica and ended in Florida.  It was not cheap to get a pair of one-way flights for this, since airlines did not price this as an open-jaw ticket.  The cruise line, for some weird reason, was offering ridiculously low air add-on, so we used it.  It turned out that the air department for this luxury cruise (and not Oceania) had at least one terrible person working, and when we had fog issues the day of departure, we had to take the matter into our own hands, and it took months to get this reimbursed.  But hey, when everything works perfectly, cheaper flights are, cheaper and good.

 

Anyways, I did the math on the Mediterranean cruise we just booked to show to those who are still fooled by Oceania about the "free " airfare.

 

For this itinerary:

 

-"OLife with Air" prices are consistently higher by $ 1,400 compared to "cruise only."

-When we inquired about "OLife without airfare," the prices were consistently $ 300 higher than "cruise only."

 

Therefore, for this particular 10 night cruise, the breakdown is the following:

 

-Cost of "free airfare" add-on is $ 1,100 per person.  If we want to adjust the arrivals (to arrive at the embarkation city a day earlier, et.) it would cost $ 175 per person.  If we need to fly out of "non-gateway" airports, that approximately $ 200 per person.  So the REAL COST of Oceania airfare could be as high as $ 1,475 per person for someone who likes to arrive a day before the cruise and wants to fly out of, say Indianapolis, instead of Chicago.  We can use this number to see if we can get the flights cheaper. (further Oceania is misleading people by referring to the money you save by not taking air add-on as "air credits.")

 

-Cost of OLife without the cost of "free" airfare is $ 300.  So doing this with an intention of taking an on-board credit of $ 300 is rather silly.

 

Here's my analysis that I use to make the decision re:  OLife with/without air.

 

-If we want to take three ship excursions per person onboard, OLife add-on without air makes sense.

 

-If we plan on consuming 3+ servings of wine/beer on mealtimes, OLife add-on without air makes some sense also, since that drink package is $39.95 per person, per day.  I believe the cost of a single glass of basic wine is around $14 including automatic tips.

 

I hope this would help people make a more informed decision about OLife with or without air add-on.

 

 

You prove what regulars here have always said, you have to do the math every time. Much depends on your style and desires. For those with enough cruises for free deviation and are ok with PE or regular economy, then O air might be more cost effective, even more so if you live near a Gateway airport, and many times from a secondary airport. 

[goletans]

I think that if you select a pre/post hotel with Oceania that there is no deviation fee of $175. You get "padding" on the arrival in case of flight problems and transfers. This could justify the inflated cost of the hotel. Am I right?

[LHT28]

22 minutes ago, goletans said:

I think that if you select a pre/post hotel with Oceania that there is no deviation fee of $175. You get "padding" on the arrival in case of flight problems and transfers. This could justify the inflated cost of the hotel. Am I right?

no deviation fee  + transfers Airport to hotel & hotel to ship

 

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, goletans said:

You get "padding" on the arrival in case of flight problems and transfers. This could justify the inflated cost of the hotel. Am I right?

I think everyone here will agree that padding on arrival - arriving a few days early is especially important in these uncertain air travel. However you would have this padding if you purchased a less inflated hotel. Do some comparisons. You will have enough for the same rooms plus private transport and a few nice dinners.

[Psoque]

In my experience, cruise lines (not just Oceania, but all others that I have looked at also) charge 2-3x the typical rates for hotels.  I just can't imagine how anybody would want to overpay for their pre- and pos-cruise hotels, when, in many cases, a reservation at the same hotel can be made for much less.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Psoque

[edgee]

2 hours ago, Psoque said:

In my experience, cruise lines (not just Oceania, but all others that I have looked at also) charge 2-3x the typical rates for hotels.  I just can't imagine how anybody would want to overpay for their pre- and pos-cruise hotels, when, in many cases, a reservation at the same hotel can be made for much less.

Generally agree, but if you are only flying in one day ahead, as noted above, when you add $350 deviation fee for a couple plus transfers from airport to hotel and then hotel to the cruise port, it can sometimes make sense to book the inflated cruise line hotel combined with cruise line air.. Some find it more convenient to have everything arranged by the cruise line. Bad aspect of it for me is having to ride a cruise line arranged bus to the hotel and to the port. I hate waiting for the bus to fill up compared to arranging my own taxi, limo, uber or whatever.

[Psoque]

26 minutes ago, edgee said:

Generally agree, but if you are only flying in one day ahead, as noted above, when you add $350 deviation fee for a couple plus transfers from airport to hotel and then hotel to the cruise port, it can sometimes make sense to book the inflated cruise line hotel combined with cruise line air.. Some find it more convenient to have everything arranged by the cruise line. Bad aspect of it for me is having to ride a cruise line arranged bus to the hotel and to the port. I hate waiting for the bus to fill up compared to arranging my own taxi, limo, uber or whatever.

I guess it might be more "convenient" to pay the cruise line to arrange everything, but the fact that you paid air deviation should not really make it an overpriced hotel stay any more palatable.  That makes no sense to me.  That's like volunteering to get scr**ed twice.

[edgee]

15 minutes ago, Psoque said:

I guess it might be more "convenient" to pay the cruise line to arrange everything, but the fact that you paid air deviation should not really make it an overpriced hotel stay any more palatable.  That makes no sense to me.  That's like volunteering to get scr**ed twice.

I was not clear. My point...not well stated..was that one could avoid the $350 per couple deviation fee, get transfers and still achieve the goal of flying in a day ahead of the cruise by purchasing the overpriced cruise line arranged hotel...it could sometimes make financial sense or at least be a breakeven compared to paying a deviation fee and buying your own transfers.