Vantage Deluxe World Travel - WARNING

[deec]

MikieF please let us know how the trip is once you are onboard...

[DonnaMW]

MikeF. Yes same thing happened to me had to call yesterday airline disappeared. Now most legs are united but 2 are on Austrian air thru united. And of course on austrian air site it says not paid.  But it is booked thru united and will keep an eye on it saying paid. And yes booked this in 2019 and still problems. 

[MikieF]

6 hours ago, DonnaMW said:

MikeF. Yes same thing happened to me had to call yesterday airline disappeared. Now most legs are united but 2 are on Austrian air thru united. And of course on austrian air site it says not paid.  But it is booked thru united and will keep an eye on it saying paid. And yes booked this in 2019 and still problems. 

Donna MW...I am not at all doubting you about Austrian being paid for...But, how do you know?  I have been told (by a Vantage rep, of course) that Austrian gives priority seat assignments to THEIR Austrian preferred customers...then they get to us (the other people)!  PLEASE let me know what steps to follow to find out if we are also not paid for on Austrian Airlines!

[MikieF]

23 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Frankly I don't think you are acting entitled at all.  If it were me, I would be writing Vantage off after this treatment.  No matter how good the onboard experience is, this level of shoreside incompetence would send me packing elsewhere.  There are too many better-run cruise lines to risk having this happen again.

I totally agree!  We did do Best of S. Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia with them in 2017.  EVERYTHING was perfect!!!  They charge way too much money to have to go through the BS and Hassles we've received this go around.  I am sure you all get brochures and e-mails from them almost daily.  I wish they cared about their customer service even a tiny bit as much as grabbing our money.

[MikieF]

7 hours ago, DonnaMW said:

MikeF. Yes same thing happened to me had to call yesterday airline disappeared. Now most legs are united but 2 are on Austrian air thru united. And of course on austrian air site it says not paid.  But it is booked thru united and will keep an eye on it saying paid. And yes booked this in 2019 and still problems. 

Donna, are you on the same trip 4/14 to the Eastern Med that we are?

[DonnaMW]

Yes Mike same 

 

and I have a confirmation (different number) for Austrian air but booked thru united  Comes up do you want to pay.  Have to wait to Monday when they say it will be ticketed. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Edited March 23, 2023 by DonnaMW

[GerryL13]

On 3/22/2023 at 10:35 AM, NightFlight said:

Hi All, I am on the Ocean Odyessy for the Lisbon to London trip June 2023.  I booked the Owners Suite for the 2020 cruise in May 2019.  It has been re-scheduled twice.   I was checking to see if flights have posted (they havae not) and noticed that my cabin had been downgraded.  I was never notified or given any options.  I contacted Vantage last week and today and was told that I couldn't speak to a manager and that my only option was a $4k credit for a future  trip with them.  Last thing I want to do is book with them again after being treated like this.  I have sent an email to the address the customer service team suggested a week ago and haven't even had the courtesy of telling me that they received it an are working on it.  NOTHING.  They refuse to give refund me the difference.  I have travel with them many times but they have gone down hill.  I wonder if they are financially on the edge.

The only time I was able to get a response from Vantage -- after several emails to executives over several months -- was by filing a formal complaint with the Massachusetts BBB. And even then, the response went to the BBB and not to me.

 

--Ex Vantage Customer

[NightFlight]

Late yesterday I got a call from management & my room was put back to category OS.  While I am thrilled this has been straightened out, it was an unnecessary aggravation.  I doubt I will be traveling with them again.  

[MikieF]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:48 PM, DonnaMW said:

Yes Mike same 

 

and I have a confirmation (different number) for Austrian air but booked thru united  Comes up do you want to pay.  Have to wait to Monday when they say it will be ticketed. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

WOW!!  Thanks for that, Donna!  I have a different confirmation number through Austrian also, but when I enter that and our last name I get a blank screen!  I will also call Austrian soon and hear what they have to say!  I typed a (long, venting) message to Vantage on Thursday.  We'll see if they respond at all!

[ColdCruise]

As I read this thread, I thought of the. Numerous Vantage travel brochures I’ve received and thought of. They have several itineraries that are very attractive and not badly priced. Those flyers and brochures will go straight into the shredder from now on.

 

I am contrasting all these Vantage experiences with our own - we had booked a trip with a small expedition company for July 2020. The company through our travel agent told us to hold off on paying our balance in May per the contract. Due to 2020 being the summer of COVID the trip was cancelled. The company then offered us 1) a refund, 2) apply our deposit towards a different trip, or 3) carry our deposit forward to the same itinerary on a 2021 expedition FOR THE SAME PRICE. We chose #3. 2021 rolled around, rinse and repeat. We moved our deposit to 2022 - same itinerary, same price, (well, actually 1 day longer). So we ended up paying a 2019 sale price for a 2022 trip that was 1 day longer (and with 2022 booking cost almost double what we paid). THAT was excellent customer service and now that we’ve seen their new ship, that’s also a company we’ll gladly sail with again.

 

Vantage on the other hand - into the shredder for composting.

 

good luck all of you people with your money stuck in this terrible company (such a shame as the actual trips seem well received).

[GerryL13]

2 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

As I read this thread, I thought of the. Numerous Vantage travel brochures I’ve received and thought of. They have several itineraries that are very attractive and not badly priced. Those flyers and brochures will go straight into the shredder from now on.

 

I am contrasting all these Vantage experiences with our own - we had booked a trip with a small expedition company for July 2020. The company through our travel agent told us to hold off on paying our balance in May per the contract. Due to 2020 being the summer of COVID the trip was cancelled. The company then offered us 1) a refund, 2) apply our deposit towards a different trip, or 3) carry our deposit forward to the same itinerary on a 2021 expedition FOR THE SAME PRICE. We chose #3. 2021 rolled around, rinse and repeat. We moved our deposit to 2022 - same itinerary, same price, (well, actually 1 day longer). So we ended up paying a 2019 sale price for a 2022 trip that was 1 day longer (and with 2022 booking cost almost double what we paid). THAT was excellent customer service and now that we’ve seen their new ship, that’s also a company we’ll gladly sail with again.

 

Vantage on the other hand - into the shredder for composting.

 

good luck all of you people with your money stuck in this terrible company (such a shame as the actual trips seem well received).

Take a few minutes to call the Vantage number and ask them to remove your name from their mailing list. It will save some trees -- and bring home the point that their business practices are losing them potential customers.

[Shmoo here]

17 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

As I read this thread, I thought of the. Numerous Vantage travel brochures I’ve received and thought of. They have several itineraries that are very attractive and not badly priced. Those flyers and brochures will go straight into the shredder from now on.

We get Vantage brochures (at least every other day) and I do like to look at them

 

We've cruised with Vantage several times, but I'm starting to rethink booking with them again (ever).

 

When we finally got to take our twice-cancelled cruise from 2020 in 2022, we booked a future trip onboard.

 

Several months later, we were contacted and told that ship was no longer doing that itinerary, and did we wish to transfer the booking to a different trip (with a nice monetary additional credit for changing).

 

Just this past week I got an email - our cruise has been cancelled and they've transferred our booking to a "similar" cruise.  New departure date.  And, "please contact us if this won't work for you".  Oh, and, BTW it's $4,000 more each.

 

At this point I just want my deposit back, but we'd lose the past traveler credit we used as well as the onboard booking credit from the original booking (not to mention the extra credit for changing the cruise in the first place).

 

 

[jimdee3636]

@Shmoo here

Push---and push hard, if necessary---to get your deposit back and forget about any credits you're giving up. They're probably illusory, anyway. If you give them any more money you'd be throwing good money after bad.

[deec]

20 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

As I read this thread, I thought of the. Numerous Vantage travel brochures I’ve received and thought of. They have several itineraries that are very attractive and not badly priced. Those flyers and brochures will go straight into the shredder from now on.

 

I am contrasting all these Vantage experiences with our own - we had booked a trip with a small expedition company for July 2020. The company through our travel agent told us to hold off on paying our balance in May per the contract. Due to 2020 being the summer of COVID the trip was cancelled. The company then offered us 1) a refund, 2) apply our deposit towards a different trip, or 3) carry our deposit forward to the same itinerary on a 2021 expedition FOR THE SAME PRICE. We chose #3. 2021 rolled around, rinse and repeat. We moved our deposit to 2022 - same itinerary, same price, (well, actually 1 day longer). So we ended up paying a 2019 sale price for a 2022 trip that was 1 day longer (and with 2022 booking cost almost double what we paid). THAT was excellent customer service and now that we’ve seen their new ship, that’s also a company we’ll gladly sail with again.

 

Vantage on the other hand - into the shredder for composting.

 

good luck all of you people with your money stuck in this terrible company (such a shame as the actual trips seem well received).

would you please share this customer focused company?

 

I so want to trust Vantage and book one of their trips ( we have had 3 great  River Cruises, Irrawaddy, Amazon and Mekong, with them) but until these negative comments stop we won't risk our money, peace of mind or hassle free travel!

[Shmoo here]

19 hours ago, deec said:

I so want to trust Vantage and book one of their trips ( we have had 3 great  River Cruises, Irrawaddy, Amazon and Mekong, with them) but until these negative comments stop we won't risk our money, peace of mind or hassle free travel!

I really wish Vantage hadn't taken this turn.  We really loved our previous Vantage trips, but since COVID (and I'm not saying that's what changed things) they just don't seem to care how they do things.

[ColdCruise]

On 3/26/2023 at 6:57 PM, deec said:

would you please share this customer focused company?

 

I so want to trust Vantage and book one of their trips ( we have had 3 great  River Cruises, Irrawaddy, Amazon and Mekong, with them) but until these negative comments stop we won't risk our money, peace of mind or hassle free travel!

@deec We were on Ocean Atlantic it’s owned by a Danish company I think - Albatross. That was a bit of an older ship, but still nice. They have 1 or 2 newer ships. I don’t know that you can book directly with em, we used an agency 

[lynncarol]

After reading these posts, I got nervous that our flight reservations through Vantage might have a problem, despite MY PORTFOLIO saying all was in place, including giving us the flight schedules and seat assignments.  When I called American airlines, they had NO record of any of the flights. Further investigation by the airline informed us that although the initial reservations were made, Vantage was supposed to call back and reaffirm which they never did. It took hours on the phone with Vantage flights to get this corrected.  So warning:  Check with the airline to make sure that the flights have been reaffirmed. Otherwise, we would have shown up at the airport only to learn no tickets were in our name.

[lynncarol]

One more thing:  American airline's site did have our flights listed, but when you checked at the top of their page, it did NOT say ticketed. So be sure to look if the flights on the airline's website actually say 'ticketed'.

[GerryL13]

3 hours ago, lynncarol said:

One more thing:  American airline's site did have our flights listed, but when you checked at the top of their page, it did NOT say ticketed. So be sure to look if the flights on the airline's website actually say 'ticketed'.

In my experience, the agent booking the flights (in this case Vantage) does not actually ticket the flights until closer to departure. They should provide you with a booking confirmation code that you can then use to keep an eye on your reservation with the airline, but you won't be able to work through the airline to make any adjustments to the flights until they are actually booked.

 

Last year, with constant changes to booked flights, it got very frustrating making flights through a cruise/program agent. Almost every week, I got a notification that my flights had been changed. Often it was just an adjustment of a few minutes to an hour, but once it was to a different day -- to the day AFTER I wanted to depart. 

 

If the airfare is included in the price of the cruise, the best you can do is frequently (weekly?) check the booking. If it is not included in the price of the program, you might be better off managing flights on your own, although that could mean no transfers included.

[lynncarol]

18 minutes ago, GerryL13 said:

In my experience, the agent booking the flights (in this case Vantage) does not actually ticket the flights until closer to departure. They should provide you with a booking confirmation code that you can then use to keep an eye on your reservation with the airline, but you won't be able to work through the airline to make any adjustments to the flights until they are actually booked.

 

Last year, with constant changes to booked flights, it got very frustrating making flights through a cruise/program agent. Almost every week, I got a notification that my flights had been changed. Often it was just an adjustment of a few minutes to an hour, but once it was to a different day -- to the day AFTER I wanted to depart. 

 

If the airfare is included in the price of the cruise, the best you can do is frequently (weekly?) check the booking. If it is not included in the price of the program, you might be better off managing flights on your own, although that could mean no transfers included.

I would think that flights coming up in the next 2 1/2 weeks would be paid for already.  The airline specifically told me (and I talked to the supervisor because I didn't believe the first agent) that Vantage had passed the date to reconfirm our tickets.  Also, I usually do book our own flights when we travel but as Vantage was offering free airfare on this particular voyage, I went along with them.

[DonnaMW]

Well finally done today. Ticketed. Sent me email confirmation. Of course it took me numerous calls complaining. But done good got my ticket number

[deec]

do you have terrible seats since it is so close to your departure date?

[MikieF]

On 3/26/2023 at 4:56 PM, Shmoo here said:

We get Vantage brochures (at least every other day) and I do like to look at them

 

We've cruised with Vantage several times, but I'm starting to rethink booking with them again (ever).

 

When we finally got to take our twice-cancelled cruise from 2020 in 2022, we booked a future trip onboard.

 

Several months later, we were contacted and told that ship was no longer doing that itinerary, and did we wish to transfer the booking to a different trip (with a nice monetary additional credit for changing).

 

Just this past week I got an email - our cruise has been cancelled and they've transferred our booking to a "similar" cruise.  New departure date.  And, "please contact us if this won't work for you".  Oh, and, BTW it's $4,000 more each.

 

At this point I just want my deposit back, but we'd lose the past traveler credit we used as well as the onboard booking credit from the original booking (not to mention the extra credit for changing the cruise in the first place).

 

 

I'm sorry this is happening to you  I just don't understand their rationale!  Unfortunately, I DOUBT that you will ever get a penny back!

[MikieF]

15 hours ago, DonnaMW said:

Well finally done today. Ticketed. Sent me email confirmation. Of course it took me numerous calls complaining. But done good got my ticket number

 

Just now, MikieF said:

I'm sorry this is happening to you  I just don't understand their rationale!  Unfortunately, I DOUBT that you will ever get a penny back!

 

Just now, MikieF said:

I'm sorry this is happening to you  I just don't understand their rationale!  Unfortunately, I DOUBT that you will ever get a penny back!

Congrats, Donna!  We got assurance from Austrian that we, too, are confirmed.  When I put my confirmation number into their "my flights' part of their website it just gives me a blank page.  I do wonder about checking in for their portion of the flights...

[DonnaMW]

Deec.    No I was able before to book my united flights for seats just 2 legs I could not and when they paid I got a window my preferred on my long leg.  Really glad