First time celebrity air question

[FeelingCruisy]

Celebrity air first time question.  I've heard that they will get you on a new flight to your destination if there's cancellations and delays.   Is this actually true? Anyone experienced this?  And do you need to buy travel insurance with Celebrity or anybody else in order for them to rebook you?   

What's the advantage of *risk free (and disadvantages of non *risk free flights). Please help.   Thanks

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, FeelingCruisy said:

Celebrity air first time question.  I've heard that they will get you on a new flight to your destination if there's cancellations and delays.   Is this actually true? Anyone experienced this?  And do you need to buy travel insurance with Celebrity or anybody else in order for them to rebook you?   

What's the advantage of *risk free (and disadvantages of non *risk free flights). Please help.   Thanks

Always book my own flight and I ALWAYS buy travel insurance, I use Allianz.

[High on the Seas]

Celebrity has a long section on their website that explains what they consider the benefits to be. They don’t appear to be doing much more than a travel agent function. It’s not like they can somehow magically get you to your destination if your flight is cancelled. They are at the mercy of the airlines, just like us. I would definitely consider insurance as it covers many things, not just flight cancellations. Never used it since I didn’t find the prices any better and they wouldn’t guarantee my wife and I would be seated together. 

[Lastdance]

You have to do the research and choose what works best for you, along with your priorities.  FBC are a consolidator.  I always purchase insurance, but not for my airline tickets; I purchase comprehensive insurance.  Steve and his insurance store could be worth a call.

Edited January 1, 2023 by Lastdance

[blackshirt]

1 hour ago, FeelingCruisy said:

Is this actually true? Anyone experienced this?  And do you need to buy travel insurance with Celebrity or anybody else in order for them to rebook you?

They will try to reschedule you, that doesn’t mean they will succeed. As someone else mentioned, they are basically a travel agent, they are at the mercy of the airlines the same as if you booked your air through Expedia or similar site. You do not need travel insurance for Celebrity Air to reschedule you.

[FeelingCruisy]

Thanks for all the info.   Expedia for example, will not reschedule you if there's a cancellation will they?  Our TD insurance expired or they cease existence and we never found any reasonable ones.   So we always have our medical covered but taking a risk with the travel portion, although I think my credit card does cover up to a mere 2K per person for travel.   Anyway, just wanted to confirm how good celebrity air was since I've heard good things about them but always from a friend of a friend of a friend.   Also we liked the fact that you don't pay until final payment of the cruise, cancellable before the cruise.   Someone wrote Celebrity has a long write up of their Celebrity Air, I may have missed.   Will google it more carefully.   

[RickT]

Also from Canada and have used Celebrity Air.  I’m under no illusion that they can magically get you to the ship in the event of flight issues and always research the route options to give myself sufficient time and options in the event of flight delays or cancellations.  
 

Only once have I had an issue.  My flight to Frankfurt was delayed and I unfortunately missed my connection to Barcelona.  The Lufthansa rep at Frankfurt gave me a number of options to try and get me to my cruise on time.  After being rebooked on a flight that would certainly cut it very close to making the ship on time they gave me a phone to call Celebrity and see if they had any other suggestions or options.  Ultimately the Celebrity rep agreed that the flight booked by Lufthansa was my best option.  They indicated they would advise the ship of my pending later than expected arrival and reminded me to call them for additional help if I missed getting onboard.  
 

After additional delays I made it to the ship less than 30 minutes to sail away.  There was an officer waiting dockside for me who said they had been advised of my late arrival and had been on the lookout for me.  That was a few years ago and luck was on my side but it did seem as if Celebrity was on top of things.  

[Silkroad]

I have found Celebrity air most useful for transatlantic cruises, for which we essentially book two one-way flights, one domestic and one international. Booking the flights directly with the airline would have cost a ridiculous amount. Note that I am a US resident. Being a Canadian resident, your experience with direct airline pricing may be different. 
 

Another advantage to using Celebrity air is that most tickets are refundable, but we pay the non-refundable price. Note that not all airlines allow immediate seat selection when you use Celebrity air.
 

At the end of our first transatlantic cruise, we had our return flight from Rome cancelled - while we were en route to FCO from the cruise port😡. I didn’t even consider trying to reach Celebrity air or my TA. Given their hours and the time difference, had I tried to do so, we’d have waited for hours. We simply got into the long United line hoping we’d be rebooked on a flight leaving the same day. I did check the United site while waiting in line, but couldn’t find seat availability for both of us on other United flights. We’d had a direct flight in Premium Economy. We ended up in the last Economy row on US Airways with a long connection in Charlotte, but we did make it home late that night. Had we been caught in a mass flight cancellation event (weather, volcano eruption, earthquake, Covid shutdown) Celebrity air or our TA might have been useful.

We do purchase travel insurance (not from the cruise line). We also fly to embarkation ports early (at least one day early for short hops, and at least two days early for long flights & international flights).

 

Edited January 2, 2023 by Silkroad

[FeelingCruisy]

Thanks everyone for giving your input.   In the past we have always made our own arrangements for flights believing we are much better at getting good prices but only the last two cruises ago when we started looking at celebrity air that we were completely taken aback to find very good prices flying into Florida.  I'm saying 70% off from what we could find from Skyscanner.  This time around the price was about $100 usd more on celebrity air but I liked the idea where you can rebook if you find something cheaper later on.  Also, them rerouting your flight in case of any problems is a bonus.   Of course I do realise there's only so much they can do under the confines of the airlines in general.    Anyway appreciate all your inputs.