Silversea Air Screws Up Again

[gcornell]

@Lois R  Hope it works out and agree regarding the price difference. My family of 4 is going Athens/Venice in July. When I had SS get the flights the price from United was about $17,000 and I paid SS roughly $12,000.  Those same exact flights are now $46,000 and climbing weekly and we are still 6 months out. 

[bubbulz]

I am really torn about having SS do my flights. I am going to see what they come up with and then decide. This will be my first cruise with them, and since it is in Antarctica I am hesitant to book my own in case there are schedule changes with the charter flights. If I do book my own, I will probably pad the international flights with extra days on the front and back. 
 

Hope all works out well for you, Lois. It is disconcerting to hear of all the issues. 

[Lois R]

25 minutes ago, gcornell said:

@Lois R  Hope it works out and agree regarding the price difference. My family of 4 is going Athens/Venice in July. When I had SS get the flights the price from United was about $17,000 and I paid SS roughly $12,000.  Those same exact flights are now $46,000 and climbing weekly and we are still 6 months out. 

Hi,  whenever I have looked at Business Class flights on my own I have never found anything less than what SS charging.......so not sure what price difference you are referring to? 

 

And looking at my itinerary, it shows we arrive back in Athens at 7am........I hate rushing on disembarkation day☹️

[silkismom]

I THINK my flts to Japan are finally settled--at least they have stayed the same for over a week. We had to use frequent flyer miles DEN-LAX, it lands at the regional terminal, then need to get to T5 to p/u bags, then to International for JAL flt (3 hours to do that including security again and check bag)  to Haneda, less than 2 hr on ground to Osaka arriving about 8:30PM. Not a lot of wiggle room anywhere. Of course I have 2 1/2 months for things to change again.I have requested wheelchair service for every leg, don't know if they will do the changes at LAX.

[gcornell]

13 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi,  whenever I have looked at Business Class flights on my own I have never found anything less than what SS charging.......so not sure what price difference you are referring to? 

 

And looking at my itinerary, it shows we arrive back in Athens at 7am........I hate rushing on disembarkation day☹️

Sorry I wasn’t clear.  Booking flights with SS is saving me a ton of money.  Min $5,000 when I booked 9 months in advance and over $30,000 based on todays fares and still 6 months to go.  

Edited January 22, 2023 by gcornell

[Lois R]

3 minutes ago, gcornell said:

Sorry I wasn’t clear.  Booking flights with SS is saving me a ton of money.  Min $5,000 when I booked 9 months in advance and over $30,000 based on todays fares and still 6 months to go.  

Ahhhh ok🙂

[Lois R]

3 minutes ago, gcornell said:

Sorry I wasn’t clear.  Booking flights with SS is saving me a ton of money.  Min $5,000 when I booked 9 months in advance and over $30,000 based on todays fares and still 6 months to go.  

Ahhhh ok🙂

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, gcornell said:

@Lois R  Hope it works out and agree regarding the price difference. My family of 4 is going Athens/Venice in July. When I had SS get the flights the price from United was about $17,000 and I paid SS roughly $12,000.  Those same exact flights are now $46,000 and climbing weekly and we are still 6 months out. 

 

I sincerely doubt those numbers.  But since you provide no cities, dates or flights, you can't be fact checked.

[gcornell]

39 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I sincerely doubt those numbers.  But since you provide no cities, dates or flights, you can't be fact checked.

Challenge accepted. Although today the flights did drop to $40,000.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

UA has completely sold out everything except full-fare business class.  So wanting the non-stop puts you into the most expensive price range.

 

If you took a single connection in both directions, your business class price drops to $3900 per person.  This price would be even cheaper if bought before the lowest bucket sold out.

 

You could also fly SAS for $3460 round-trip, bought today.

 

It is extremely rare that full-fare J is the only bucket available six months out.  Fly the day before from EWR and your non-stop fare drops to $5100

 

 

[gcornell]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I sincerely doubt those numbers.  But since you provide no cities, dates or flights, you can't be fact checked.

 

2 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

UA has completely sold out everything except full-fare business class.  So wanting the non-stop puts you into the most expensive price range.

 

If you took a single connection in both directions, your business class price drops to $3900 per person.  This price would be even cheaper if bought before the lowest bucket sold out.

 

You could also fly SAS for $3460 round-trip, bought today.

 

It is extremely rare that full-fare J is the only bucket available six months out.  Fly the day before from EWR and your non-stop fare drops to $5100

 

 

Understood. But my point was SS got us great flights for a great price. Even the best fare (with a connection) is significantly more than we paid for non stop with a solid business class product. Even rearranging the dates works out much higher. I don’t recall exactly but it think we paid SS $995 + $1,600 for the upgrade, $350 fare differential + $150 deviation so about $3,100pp. 

[FlyerTalker]

14 hours ago, gcornell said:

 

Understood. But my point was SS got us great flights for a great price. Even the best fare (with a connection) is significantly more than we paid for non stop with a solid business class product. Even rearranging the dates works out much higher. I don’t recall exactly but it think we paid SS $995 + $1,600 for the upgrade, $350 fare differential + $150 deviation so about $3,100pp. 

 

For the benefit of everyone:  it makes little sense to compare prices when the date of purchase is different.   Plus one needs to remember that the tickets bought through a cruiseline are often not the same as the tickets bought from the airline directly.  Underlying fare rules can be different and can have some significant differences, especially in terms of endorsement to another carrier and other restrictions in the case of irops.

 

If you are happy with your purchase, and you are aware of what you bought, fine with me.  I just want informed consumers.

 

Caveat Emptor.

[gcornell]

29 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

For the benefit of everyone:  it makes little sense to compare prices when the date of purchase is different.   Plus one needs to remember that the tickets bought through a cruiseline are often not the same as the tickets bought from the airline directly.  Underlying fare rules can be different and can have some significant differences, especially in terms of endorsement to another carrier and other restrictions in the case of irops.

 

If you are happy with your purchase, and you are aware of what you bought, fine with me.  I just want informed consumers.

 

Caveat Emptor.

For the benefit of everyone:  I agree and my original post did not do that.  3rd sentence " When I had SS get the flights the price from United was about $17,000 and I paid SS roughly $12,000".  You doubted my numbers so provided the only proof I could find now as I can't go back in time for fares.  You then took a different route to discredit my story.  Anyway, I give up.  You win!

[A Tucson Guy]

Some of us are very happy with SS air (like me) and some of us are not happy with SS air. So many things in life are this way. I don't think anybody wins or loses. It is just a different experience.

[Lois R]

Just got off the phone with my gal at SS and she agrees that a 10:20am flight home is not feasible. 

She is contacting the air dept so I will see what my other options are and so right now it is just a waiting game. And for those of you who are interested, she cannot even call the air dept........it all has to be done via email.  

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

2 minutes ago, Lois R said:

she cannot even call the air dept........it all has to be done via email.  

I agree Lois.  I mentioned this was also my experience in an earlier post.  My SS Rep indicated all communication with the air department needs to be documented in their system and he can't even walk down the hall to talk to them if they are taking too long to respond to his emails.  

[Lois R]

3 minutes ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

I agree Lois.  I mentioned this was also my experience in an earlier post.  My SS Rep indicated all communication with the air department needs to be documented in their system and he can't even walk down the hall to talk to them if they are taking too long to respond to his emails.  

Many folks are still working from home so walking down the hall? Definitely not happening. I don't know where the actual air dept is located but I do know some reps are not necessarily working from an office. They are in different locations Well, some are anyway.

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

1 minute ago, Lois R said:

Many folks are still working from home so walking down the hall? Definitely not happening. I don't know where the actual air dept is located but I do know some reps are not necessarily working from an office. They are in different locations Well, some are anyway.

Mine is based in the Miami office and does still work from home occasionally, but is primarily back in the office.  I can tell when he's in the office with the background chatter from working in a cubicle environment.  He indicated the Air Department is in the same office he is located.  

[Lois R]

37 minutes ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

Mine is based in the Miami office and does still work from home occasionally, but is primarily back in the office.  I can tell when he's in the office with the background chatter from working in a cubicle environment.  He indicated the Air Department is in the same office he is located.  

Thanks for that information. My gal works from home.

[les37b]

14 hours ago, Lois R said:

Many folks are still working from home so walking down the hall? Definitely not happening. I don't know where the actual air dept is located but I do know some reps are not necessarily working from an office. They are in different locations Well, some are anyway.

The London office sales team are on the same floor as the air department and my SS rep stated they certainly can pop in to speak with them directly. Might not be like that in Miami.

 

My Japan flights continue to be an issue. We were forced to accept Emirates, which I was ok with, but poor times and just learned they have a 7Kg cabin bag limit, not the 20kg and 2 bag I would get with BA. Alas I had to accept when they tell me they have no contract with BA and cannot book. So it’s very strange I learned they were able to provide one of the 2 options I asked for to another guest and request made just yesterday. This is the second time on this booking this has happened. The same occurred on the return…. Which we managed to get reserved for a week before they moved us again to have a 6 hour connection once more!

 

There is something else that’s weird for this trip too.

 

An American guest has only been given flights to Tokyo and the cruise starts in Osaka. They think that the “transfer to Hotel” shown, might be a 500Km bullet train transfer which I suggested was highly improbable. They have also had continual problems via the TA with communication to the Silver Air department. With just 3 months to go, someone there needs to respond and provide flights to the correct destination for this guest. Just seems so strange it’s been pointed out but no urgency to respond. I suggest they get the PNR in case the error is on my.silversea just not showing the connecting flight. Hopefully it’s that.

 

For my next sailing, flights have not been an issue at all and have been ticket now, but Osaka to Anchorage has just been a nightmare.

 

I intend to reach out again today for my outbound flights. I would leave mine with Emirates, but that 7kg limit is a killer. I’d consider booking an extra hold case, but they want £250 for an extra bag. That just seems crazy!  Their prices for going over the 7kg limit is extortion! Puts me off completely.

Edited January 24, 2023 by les37b

[Lois R]

Hi Les, it is different in Miami........there are some folks who are working in an office but other people are definitely working from home. And as for speaking to each other in person? That must be something special for those in the London office.

 

Good luck on getting your flights fixed. I am waiting on the information on my  flight home..........it will soon be 60 days from the cruise and that is when they usually "ticket" the flight.....they need to find me a new flight soon.

[dougburns]

I passed the 60 day point yesterday, but no word yet. My TA is working the issue with SS. My flights are filling up fast and I want to do a cash upgrade with the airlines to get out of the cattle car. I can understand why SS doesn't want to ticket earlier given the problems with the airlines, but it's frustrating.

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

54 minutes ago, Lois R said:

they need to find me a new flight soon

I wish you the best Lois.  Our Rep went back and forth with the Air Dept several times and we ended up paying an upcharge to get a decent flight with decent connections back home for our trip this spring.  The outbound flight schedule was great, but on the return flight, they were only able to offer us one option without excess charges and it didn't allow enough of a connection time.  Despite the irritation, we still spent far less for our business class flights than if we had booked the same flights ourselves.

[Fsulaw1]

2 hours ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

 Despite the irritation, we still spent far less for our business class flights than if we had booked the same flights ourselves.

And herein lies the crux of the problem.  We all prefer the cheaper air. I am leaving Friday from Miami to Santiago on a direct Latam flight that I requested because flights from tampa or Orlando sucked.  I think the price of the tickets were cheaper than the SS business fare I had paid, so I didn’t get charged a deviation fee.  (My guess anyway).  Then I have a May trip to Europe.  After selecting My choice for business class air from SS, I paid an up charge and deviation only to have DL do schedule changes within a week that would not work.  Took me 2 months and 3 emails to get a reply.  I actually sent a proposed revision to SS so they wouldn’t have to do anything.  They finally revised, so I am praying the schedule doesn’t change again!  I’m seriously considering just sticking with Oceania and regent from now on!

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, Fsulaw1 said:

I’m seriously considering just sticking with Oceania and regent from now on!

Probably the best decision.