Is celebrity air dependable ?

[NutsAboutGolf]

9 minutes ago, SFCAcruiser said:

i was surprised to see Southwest listed as an option with "Wanna get away" fares when I was looking for flights from SFO to LAX recently. Southwest flights do not appear on any other flight search sites, so FBC has made some deal with this airline. 

 

No one should blindly book anything, need to do some research.  Ghost booking on FBC from LAX to MIA, only shows me ONLY 3 airlines, not only is SW not there but no Delta options.  Using google flights, there's a total of 9 airlines so it's missing Alaska, Delta, SW, Frontier, spirit and Sun Country.  While most on an X sailing wouldn't consider an ultra low carrier, a couple traveling with 2-3 kids could saving a couple hundred a ticket or over a grand in total.

 

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

No one should blindly book anything, need to do some research.  Ghost booking on FBC from LAX to MIA, only shows me ONLY 3 airlines, not only is SW not there but no Delta options.  Using google flights, there's a total of 9 airlines so it's missing Alaska, Delta, SW, Frontier, spirit and Sun Country.  While most on an X sailing wouldn't consider an ultra low carrier, a couple traveling with 2-3 kids could saving a couple hundred a ticket or over a grand in total.

 

I looked at FBC for our flights today to FLL in June and was surprised to see Southwest as an option on the website. That was from San Antonio to FLL.

[NutsAboutGolf]

37 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I looked at FBC for our flights today to FLL in June and was surprised to see Southwest as an option on the website. That was from San Antonio to FLL.

 

South West isn't coming up for a flight from LAX to FLL on the dates I checked but I'm sure SW is there.  There's also people that bought the Frontier unlimited flight pass who probably won't use FBC

Edited November 20, 2022 by NutsAboutGolf

[terrydtx]

23 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

South West isn't coming up for a flight from LAX to FLL on the dates I checked but I'm sure SW is there.  There's also people that bought the Frontier unlimited flight pass who probably won't use FBC

I wouldn't use Frontier to fly my worst enemy on. They are absolutely the worst airline in the US.

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I wouldn't use Frontier to fly my worst enemy on. They are absolutely the worst airline in the US.

 

I totally agree but those willing to fly on them through the flight pass are saving a boatload (terrible pun) of cash

[NMTraveller]

39 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I wouldn't use Frontier to fly my worst enemy on. They are absolutely the worst airline in the US.

In the last week or so I looked at booking a flight on Frontier because they were having a 100% off sale.  I was skeptical when I saw their advertisement for the deal.  When I did a mock booking it was actually 10% off. 🙂  There were numerous other issues.  They only had one flight back from where I was going.  If the flight was cancelled I would have to wait the next day.  Add all of this to them being a below par airline and no way would I fly them.

Edited November 20, 2022 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

South West isn't coming up for a flight from LAX to FLL on the dates I checked but I'm sure SW is there.  There's also people that bought the Frontier unlimited flight pass who probably won't use FBC

If your dates are after July 10th the schedule is not up yet for Southwest.

[1Virgo]

We have used FBC many times. As others have said, great prices and they look after you. We were on a flight to Ireland and had to return to base due to mechanical. I called FBC, got an agent, said he d call me right back.  He did. They booked us for next day on a different carrier and a private driver picked us up at destination

People that booked through an online agent, were scrambling trying to get flights, and since the ship had moved ports, trying to get to new port.    Lots of unhappy people.   Us.  We were fine

[mahdnc]

19 hours ago, horseymike said:

Looking at some Mediterranean cruises on celebrity, also looking at the flights by celebrity.

has anyone had any experience from the USA to Barcelona and back booking through Celebrity Air ?

 

 

 

 

 

We used FBC for our Constellation GA (Rome to Tampa). As previously said, a big advantage is not having to put money up for the airfare until you pay for the cruise. 

 

At the time Celebrity was offering a discount on airfare purchased through FBC. We ended up buying our ORD-FCO (nonstop) & TPA-ORD (nonstop) air fare for $647 pp for Economy class seats which was $100 pp cheaper than if we bought them directly through United. We also received 5 Club Points each through a promotion that Celebrity had at the time for using FBC.  We did our purchase through the FBC website. 

 

We did have to call FBC four separate times after making our reservation to get seats assigned, get our freq flyer & KTN numbers added (it didn't take when we made our booking on their website), and to get a favorable price adjustment. Call wait times were 45-60 min. 

 

There were some disadvantages with buying our air through FBC. First we were unable to get credit for a free (second) bag from using my MileagePlus Visa to buy the airfare. This apparently only works when you buy directly from United with their Visa card. That cost us $100 pp which pretty much wiped out the air fare discount we got by booking through FBC. 

 

The second disadvantage is that the fare class for our tickets, K, only earns 25% of the frequent flyer miles that we would otherwise get. 

 

All of our flights occurred without any issues so I could not evaluate FBC's performance with handling problems. 

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

We have used FBC many times. As others have said, great prices and they look after you. We were on a flight to Ireland and had to return to base due to mechanical. I called FBC, got an agent, said he d call me right back.  He did. They booked us for next day on a different carrier and a private driver picked us up at destination

People that booked through an online agent, were scrambling trying to get flights, and since the ship had moved ports, trying to get to new port.    Lots of unhappy people.   Us.  We were fine

 

That's partially why I book everything myself, so I can change it online on the fly, no need to email or call a TA

[NMTraveller]

My experience with them is that they do an average job.  They may not get you the shortest flights or the best seats.  They are a good value though.  I don't like a middle man between me and the airlines.  I book mine myself without a TA.  When things go south I want an answer back right away.

Edited November 21, 2022 by NMTraveller

[1Virgo]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

That's partially why I book everything myself, so I can change it online on the fly, no need to email or call a TA

in the case I mentioned others that had booked themselves online through an agency, or travel website,  were scrambling trying to get flights.  Some were told no available  flights for days.   We were stress free. 

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, 1Virgo said:

in the case I mentioned others that had booked themselves online through an agency, or travel website,  were scrambling trying to get flights.  Some were told no available  flights for days.   We were stress free. 

A day's delay would not cut it with my schedule.  Perhaps it would be fine for others.

[NMTraveller]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I totally agree but those willing to fly on them through the flight pass are saving a boatload (terrible pun) of cash

$800 for a flight pass and $800 of stress.  I have never flown Frontier nor do I have intentions of doing so.  But those that have, have told me that they charge for everything.  Just don't bring any bags.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 minute ago, NMTraveller said:

$800 for a flight pass and $800 of stress.  I have never flown Frontier nor do I have intentions of doing so.  But those that have, have told me that they charge for everything.  Just don't bring any bags.

 

I can tolerate Frontier and their non-reclining seats for up to a 2 hour nonstop flight yet avoid them unless it's a significant savings.  Their flight pass was $600, they had so much demand they raised the cost to $800.  Their checked baggage fee is $55, picking a seat has a variable fee, you just have to factor that into the cost.  It should be noted except for southwest, all airlines charge for luggage and have seat picking fee although most other airlines offer some seats for free.

[NMTraveller]

So I looked into this a bit.  AND:

 

 

"Not only will there be 60+ days worth of blackout dates, but on top of that travel can only be confirmed the day before departure for domestic flights, so you really can’t consistently rely on this to get anywhere. We also don’t know what inventory this availability will come out of, which seems like an important detail."

 

I suppose that to me that the dealbreaker is that travel can only be confirmed the day before departure...  

 

It kind of sounds like they are doing a fire sale for their unsold seats.  Probably a good deal if you are flexible and don't have a cruise or sailing to meet.

Edited November 21, 2022 by NMTraveller

[D. B.]

22 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

FBC stands for Flights by Celebrity.   It is a consolidator organized to provide deals on airline  flights to cruise customers.  It gets discounted fares by reserving blocks of seats -- putting together groups.

The advantage and disadvantage are the same - you don't pay for your ticket until final payment so you are also not ticketed tuntil then as well.  Being part of a group makes changes sometimes more difficult when things go sideways.  Any changes must be done by the group organizer.

Pretty much every cruiseline operates a similar system. 

If things go smoothly , you are not picky about seat selection and are aware FBC is at the mercy of airlines and flight changes then a good deal.  Usually best on international flights 

 

As for "not picky about seat selection" If you are booking a flight with FBC that is Not listed as Operated By an airline other than the one headlined, you can almost always Chose your Seats at the time of the booking even if it is months before they Pay the airline. But you have to Ask the FBC agent.

 That has been my experience and I book a Lot of flights with FBC.

[D. B.]

14 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

The stars must have bee aligned just right. First, the airport is huge to get through in a timely matter. Secondly, apparently you didn’t have checked luggage, the one time we flew into Rome it took about 45 minutes to get our luggage. Thirdly,  the ship doesn’t leave from Rome, it leaves from Civitavecchia which is about 45 minutes away, with no major traffic problems. Lastly, if I remember right, you have to be checked in and on the ship an hour, or an hour and a half before sailing.

We did have checked bags and Celebrity was able to Expedite our bags by having them tagged at the start as some kind of special handling. and yes I know the Port is a long way from the Airport but with a Personal Driver not a bus we made it with one hour to spare.

 Yes the Stars were aligned. You can doubt what I said happened but that's the Truth and I have no reason to make up anything.

 Celebrity made All these arrangements at no added cost to us.

[mcrcruiser]

when we did fly before any cruise we booked a local hotel for 2 nights before the ship was to leave .That worked best for us & a lot of safety 

[kenb]

21 hours ago, terrydtx said:

When we booked online yesterday with FBC, I received a confirmation email with the record locator numbers for all the airlines involved. Made getting seats very easy online.

Delta let me get seat assignment online. American would not so I called Celebrity Air and they were able to do it .

[terrydtx]

5 minutes ago, kenb said:

Delta let me get seat assignment online. American would not so I called Celebrity Air and they were able to do it .

My experience is Delta, United, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa will allow you to get seats online in their websites. American and British airlines will not, but you can call FBC to get this done.

[NutsAboutGolf]

13 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

So I looked into this a bit.  AND:

 

 

"Not only will there be 60+ days worth of blackout dates, but on top of that travel can only be confirmed the day before departure for domestic flights, so you really can’t consistently rely on this to get anywhere. We also don’t know what inventory this availability will come out of, which seems like an important detail."

 

I suppose that to me that the dealbreaker is that travel can only be confirmed the day before departure...  

 

It kind of sounds like they are doing a fire sale for their unsold seats.  Probably a good deal if you are flexible and don't have a cruise or sailing to meet.

 

Fire sale to increase end of year annual revenue.  It can save folks quite a bit, but the downside in the flyer community is that since you're not flying on your favorite big three airline (American, Delta and United) domestically, you're not earning status on them.

[Bo1953]

I must say that our FBC booking is saving me 50% of the published fare for EWR - BCN, FCO - EWR in business class.... I grabbed them when I saw it.

 

I was also able to reserve seats right away, too, with the understanding that aircraft and schedule changes will most likely take place between now and August 2023...

 

All non-stops on legacy carriers... so not worried about connections.

 

I only wish I could now get similar fares on leaving/returning to PHL... but with fare alerts I may be able to get a great fare from there... time is on our side now.

 

bon voyage

[wisteria1019]

On 11/20/2022 at 9:00 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Yes..   to be honest I believe it is just a name rebranding.   Choice Air is still in use by Azamara  and RCL rebranded to Air2Sea.   

 

The interface is the same.

Thank you Jim

[terrydtx]

20 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

I must say that our FBC booking is saving me 50% of the published fare for EWR - BCN, FCO - EWR in business class.... I grabbed them when I saw it.

 

I was also able to reserve seats right away, too, with the understanding that aircraft and schedule changes will most likely take place between now and August 2023...

 

All non-stops on legacy carriers... so not worried about connections.

 

I only wish I could now get similar fares on leaving/returning to PHL... but with fare alerts I may be able to get a great fare from there... time is on our side now.

 

bon voyage

Bo, we are saving about $2000pp on our business class seats for next September by using FBC over current published fares for SAT-AMS and home from ATH-SAT. BC fares for next year are ridiculously high but by booking now with FBC we can rebook or cancel if fares go down with no penalty.  We are on United and AA and we also have seats reserved.

Edited November 22, 2022 by terrydtx