Why Viking Air?

[KrisD28]

We have a Viking cruise coming up in June 2024 (Iconic Iceland, Greenland and Canada - Reykjavik to New York) and I'm trying to understand what are the benefits of using Viking Air besides the airport transfer. We currently have air included in our reservation ($1400 pp for economy). Knowing that we want to spend a few a days in Reykjavik pre-cruise we would have to add air deviation to our booking (another $100-150 pp) and if we wanted to pick out certain flights or a specific airline we'd have to use Viking Air+ (another $100-150 pp). After all of that we are now looking at $1600-1700 pp. Additionally, looking at MVJ we won't know our flights until March 10, 2024 which seems really late if you trying to compare to other flights.

 

When looking at flights with similar dates for June 2023 I've found flights for two people for under $1600 round trip, which is half the price as Viking Air. I'm not married to any one particular airline and with coming in a few days early I'm not worried about missing the cruise.

 

Can someone please explain to me what I'm missing.

[CCWineLover]

This is likely one of the hottest topics that people discuss on Viking forums.  Lots of opinions. pluses, minuses, and more.  Suggest you do a search and read tons of material out there.

That being said, our personal experience is:

-Sometimes Viking Air (and Air+, and Deviations) are good and sometimes they aren't.  There doesn't seem to be a pattern.  All depends of what you personal wants and needs are.

-During COVID it was good because Viking would take care of things (like if you got COVID).

-It might be OK to use if you don't plan to upgrade

-If you do plan to upgrade, there might be fewer seats available when you get closer to ticketing

 

Some like Viking to take care of everything for them, even if extra cost.  We personally like to keep control of things, and don't mind the extra effort, and probably about 60% of the time, the reduced cost.

 

But this is a subject that will provoke as many different opinions as discussing politics!

 

We are actually doing NYV-Reykjavik June 2023 and doing our own air from San Francisco.  It was incredibly cheaper and we wanted Saga class on Icelandair.  We don't mind doing it ourselves as we are going to NY many days ahead of time and spending 3 days in Iceland afterwards.  Doing our own airport transfers is something we've been used to for many years, but we've traveled a lot, and are decently fit and travel savy.  So it all depends on how you personally feel and your prior experiences.

Edited February 20, 2023 by CCWineLover

[dd57]

If you pay for Air plus, you can choose your flights as soon as the airlines publish them, usually 300 days out.  You can also ask that they be ticketed whenever you want, so you are assured of actually having the flights.  I'm not saying it is necessarily the right choice for you, just supplying information.   You need to do the research like CCwinelover said.  

[OneSixtyToOne]

34 minutes ago, dd57 said:

 

If you pay for Air plus, you can choose your flights as soon as the airlines publish them, usually 300 days out

 

Everyone should read this article about how airline schedules this far out are only placeholders. It’s all subject to change.

Edited February 20, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Everyone should read this article about how airline schedules this far out are only placeholders. It’s all subject to change.

Scary !!

[SempreMare]

3 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Everyone should read this article about how airline schedules this far out are only placeholders. It’s all subject to change.

 

To me:  I love this.   I have used it to significant $ advantage twice in past year.

 

How? 

1) I book Business class Intl or Domestic first

at the NON-refundable (but since Covid, changeable) rates, saving ~50% off the fully refundable rate.  Changeable means voucher or airlines "wallet" credit.

Refundable > better than >  changeable.

 

2) I book very early such that the schedules are likely to change by the legal minimum amount (a certain # of hours) to trigger the policy (law?) where the airline must REFUND you, not just give you credit / voucher.

 

On  2 of 4 flights where I needed to change to a different day or wanted to fly to a different city, I was able to do this at $0 change cost.  On each of the flights, the schedules changed by more than the x hour(s) that triggers the "must refund" clause.  I believe I was notified of the change at least 8 weeks in advance.  Plenty of time to shift my plans to adjust.

 

Key point:  

When the airline (in 1 case, British Airways) asked me to confirm the schedule change,   I DID NOT REPLY / did not click on the button till it became clear I wanted to change the time. 

 

Had I waited to book closer to my actual date of flight

- the cost would have been more

- the routing would have been terrible

- the connection times available would have been insufficient 

 

On my upcoming Viking Homelands,  I booked my own flights and there have already been a significant enough schedule change to trigger the "must refund" clause. 

 

Refund Example -  I needed to change a Los Angeles flight by months from spring to fall.

Edited February 21, 2023 by SempreMare

[Doh15]

The time I would be most likely to use it is when they are offering free (or discounted) airfare as an incentive.  If there’s no discount and they are charging you for a deviation etc it becomes less attractive. 
 

Sometimes if you are booking far in advance and aren’t sure you will be able to take the cruise it’s nice to have airfare covered by the general refund policy of the cruise and not have money tied up with the airline. Or you can compare what flights would cost on your own as you get closer and decide then (think there’s a new discount airline to Iceland now but who know what prices will be a year from now). 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Doh15

[Insanityx4]

We have an upcoming cruise next month using Viking Air. They had changed our flight three times with different times and airlines before we got an email saying we were being moved from the Polaris (due to repairs) to the Octantis with different dates and different airlines. Our cruise had "air included" so the change of dates was easy for Viking to rebook but we got really frustrated with all of it and the constant changes in flights and seats. We wondered if it was because of the included air that we kept getting moved around from flight to flight. After being moved from the Polaris to the Octantis, we had to change our hotel dates (pre cruise), excursions (pre-cruise), airport parking dates, insurance dates (not Viking insurance) and more. We had already paid the trip deviation fee which is not included in "included airfare". If we had booked our air independently it would have a hassle with the date changes but we could have made it work. Even with the frustration we are glad Viking dealt with all of it. We have used both Viking Air and booked our own flights and both have had hiccups. Usually it's much more cost effective to book your own air. On this cruise we were glad we had everything taken care of by Viking. The new flight times are much better too.

[SempreMare]

I wonder how Viking handled the airfare change costs for people who did not use Viking air?

[Insanityx4]

If you don't use Viking air it's not their problem! Since airfare was included in the cost of the trip I would assume most passengers used it. We were given the option of cancelling and getting our money back but it was only a five day difference and we were looking forward to the trip. Like their ocean fleet, the Polaris and Octantis are exactly the same so it really didn't make any difference to us.

Edited February 21, 2023 by Insanityx4

[oskidunker]

First time i used cruise line air for March 20 trip. Got frustrated spending hours trying to use United mikes fir business class. Terrible cust service.  Anyway travel agent got us Business on klm for about $4500 each. 

[mhb1757]

At that price you will likely be better off booking your own air. But the good news is you can leave Viking air on your reservation until the final payment (or sometimes even up until they ticket the flights) and then just drop it if you find better arrangements on your own after flight schedules for your dates are available. 
if you are going to Reykjavik early on your own, Viking wouldn’t provide transfers from the airport anyway so that’s no loss. And the ship is easy to get to from hotels in town. 

[Avery's Gram]

We were on the Viking Venus which was delayed for a couple of days because of bad weather.  Our flight was originally Sunday night, Viking rescheduled it to Monday when the captain thought we could get there one day late and then rescheduled again when it was clear we would not be landing until Late Monday night and disembarking Tuesday morning.  I was very glad Viking handled everything for us.

 

Barbara M. In NH

[FlyerTalker]

On 2/20/2023 at 3:43 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Everyone should read this article about how airline schedules this far out are only placeholders. It’s all subject to change.

 

Try this CC post, with a great video with Brian Znotins of American.

 

 

 

[dd57]

On 2/20/2023 at 3:43 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Everyone should read this article about how airline schedules this far out are only placeholders. It’s all subject to change.

Yes, but IF the routes are fairly stable ones, from major airport to major airport, you are more likely to end up with something you want.  Rather than being switched from a non-stop to a 3 hop because you aren't ticketed as happened to us.  The original flight's schedule wasn't changed but all the seats were sold out.

 

There are pluses and minuses to both ways.  Staying on top of your flights is needed no matter which way you go.

[OneSixtyToOne]

6 minutes ago, dd57 said:

Yes, but IF the routes are fairly stable ones, from major airport to major airport, you are more likely to end up with something you want.  Rather than being switched from a non-stop to a 3 hop because you aren't ticketed as happened to us.  The original flight's schedule wasn't changed but all the seats were sold out.

 

There are pluses and minuses to both ways.  Staying on top of your flights is needed no matter which way you go.

 

LOL Was just notified of a time change in one leg of our return in April. We now leave Barcelona a 7:30 AM instead of 9:20. Looks like we will be leaving the hotel REAL early. We now have a 4 hour layover.

[Insanityx4]

Our last cruise was a 30 day (part of a world cruise) in Feb, 2020 on the Viking Sun from Sydney to Hong Kong with stops throughout Indonesia, right when Covid hit. Needless to say we didn't make it to China and were turned away from several ports in Indonesia. We called it our "Magical Mystery Cruise" because we didn't know where we would end up or how we would get home. We had Viking air and our flight home was changed about 5-6 times depending on where we were or which country might let us dock, other than for provisions. We ended flying home from Bali, We had be be off of the ship at 9am and our flight wasn't until midnight. Viking put us up in a lovely beach resort for the day including meals and then transported us to the airport that evening. Viking didn't want to book passengers through Asian airports so we were booked on Emirates through Dubai to San Francisco. Our flight time was 26 hours plus a 4 hour layover and we were one of the last flights out of Dubai before they closed the airport. We were very thankful we had Viking air and really appreciated how they bent over backwards trying to accommodate us and get us home safely. We're not sure how we would have made it home otherwise, especially if we had booked our own air.  

Edited February 22, 2023 by Insanityx4

[KrisD28]

Thanks everyone for their input and thoughts. At this point I'll probably hold onto Viking Air while I look into flights on my own. Guess it really comes down to the deal you got from Viking as far as flight costs and how comfortable you are taking on the risks of flights being changed/cancelled.

 

For this trip, it's fairly easy itinerary. Flight from San Antonio to Reykjavik and then from New York to SA. Feel like I can book these on my own for way less than $1600 pp. And since we are going to Reykjavik a few days early I'm not worried about missing the ship and I'll lose the transfer regardless.

[Redtravel]

Viking Air works.  For most trips, their price for air is less than you can book independently. The included transfers are very convenient.    Usually the times and connections are reasonable.  Occasionally you may have an early morning flight after disembarkation.  Viking air tries to book you on flights that get you to and from your cruise without long layovers.  Once you get your flight scheduled, log onto My Viking. You can change seat assignments.

[CCWineLover]

36 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Viking Air works.  For most trips, their price for air is less than you can book independently. The included transfers are very convenient.    Usually the times and connections are reasonable.  Occasionally you may have an early morning flight after disembarkation.  Viking air tries to book you on flights that get you to and from your cruise without long layovers.  Once you get your flight scheduled, log onto My Viking. You can change seat assignments.

Everyone has their opinions.

I would disagree - in our experience, well over 50 % of the time Viking Air (with deviation and Air Plus) is more that I can get on our own.  Transfers mean nothing to us, as we are veteran travelers and it never costs us much to get to and from airports.  Giving up control until a couple months before flights and not being able to guarantee actual seats is the dealbreaker for us.  

[Redtravel]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Everyone has their opinions.

I would disagree - in our experience, well over 50 % of the time Viking Air (with deviation and Air Plus) is more that I can get on our own.  Transfers mean nothing to us, as we are veteran travelers and it never costs us much to get to and from airports.  Giving up control until a couple months before flights and not being able to guarantee actual seats is the dealbreaker for us.  

It depends on the flying distance.  For shorter distances, booking your own air may be less expensive.  We got our reservations yesterday for a cruise next summer.  I was able to access the reservations online using the My Viking Journey. My seats were ok for 3 out of 4 flights. I changed the seats on the 4th flight online.  It was easy.  I always check making my own air arrangements before signing on with Viking Air. So far, Viking wins even if I want to extend my stay.  Extend my stay either before or after by paying the deviation fee.  Often like to arrive early if the cruise departs from an interesting place.  There have often been some trips that we extended after the cruise.  We still got Viking Air.  We booked our own hotel.  

[Mich3554]

On 3/1/2023 at 9:43 AM, CCWineLover said:

Everyone has their opinions.

I would disagree - in our experience, well over 50 % of the time Viking Air (with deviation and Air Plus) is more that I can get on our own.  Transfers mean nothing to us, as we are veteran travelers and it never costs us much to get to and from airports.  Giving up control until a couple months before flights and not being able to guarantee actual seats is the dealbreaker for us.  

This has been my experience as well.  I normally book our own flights, and don’t bother with Viking Air.  

[burnabyjean]

We do not live close to one of Viking's designated "hub" airports in Canada, so we would have to pay to get to one of those airports. We also want to go early or stay late after a cruise. By the time you add up Air Plus, a deviation fee, and the cost to get to the hub airport it's just not worth it to use Viking air. The only time we did was when air was included (Grand European).

[FlyerTalker]

On 2/28/2023 at 8:46 PM, Redtravel said:

It depends on the flying distance.  For shorter distances, booking your own air may be less expensive. 

 

Distances are completely irrelevant.  What does matter are the specifics of the cruiseline contracts for bulk tickets from airlines.

 

 

[YWW]

On 2/20/2023 at 2:09 PM, dd57 said:

If you pay for Air plus, you can choose your flights as soon as the airlines publish them, usually 300 days out.  You can also ask that they be ticketed whenever you want, so you are assured of actually having the flights.  I'm not saying it is necessarily the right choice for you, just supplying information.   You need to do the research like CCwinelover said.  

Not true. Just because airlines release the flight schedule 300 days out doesn't mean you can select them. Only the ones approved by Viking Air can be selected. We paid for Viking Air Plus and just went through the flight selection process with them. We found couple of flights that gave us the best departure and arrival time with decent layover. Viking Air said no because they were not approved. In our case, Viking had a promotional airfare of $999 pp for the cruise. Maybe if you don't have promotional airfare with Viking that's tied into the cruise, it may work.