Regent Air to Tokyo….my experience

[tubeamps]

Yes another air thread, here goes.

We are on the10/31 Tokyo sailing with 3 day pre cruise stay.

I called Regent Air to try and get my preferred flights and this is what I ended up with:

 

I tried to get Delta non stops both directions. Outbound it was a 6300/per person up charge, I passed on that. They offered a few options that didn’t work for one reason or another, finally they offered Air Canada, Atlanta to Montreal, layover 1hr 40 minutes. Then Air Canada to Narita. No upcharge.

I know Air Canada is not known as a preferred carrier but my choices are limited.

 

I was concerned about the 1:40 connection time but we will only have carry on luggage, sending luggage ahead to hotel with Luggage Forward. Since we arrive in international terminal, same carrier, I think the 1:40 connection will work. Someone reassure me please.

 

Return worked out well, got the Delta non stop to Atlanta for 1000/pp upcharge.

I need to confirm by morning.

Comments welcome.

[Gpilon]

23 minutes ago, tubeamps said:

Yes another air thread, here goes.

We are on the10/31 Tokyo sailing with 3 day pre cruise stay.

I called Regent Air to try and get my preferred flights and this is what I ended up with:

 

I tried to get Delta non stops both directions. Outbound it was a 6300/per person up charge, I passed on that. They offered a few options that didn’t work for one reason or another, finally they offered Air Canada, Atlanta to Montreal, layover 1hr 40 minutes. Then Air Canada to Narita. No upcharge.

I know Air Canada is not known as a preferred carrier but my choices are limited.

 

I was concerned about the 1:40 connection time but we will only have carry on luggage, sending luggage ahead to hotel with Luggage Forward. Since we arrive in international terminal, same carrier, I think the 1:40 connection will work. Someone reassure me please.

 

Return worked out well, got the Delta non stop to Atlanta for 1000/pp upcharge.

I need to confirm by morning.

Comments welcome.

Just know that the Delta gate at YUL is the farthest point in the airport. Long walk…..then lines and wait at Customs. We fly to Montreal often (originally from there) and I doubt I would ever do a transfer flight on Delta with only an hour forty to an AC flight in Montreal. 

[tubeamps]

We aren’t going from Delta to AC. It would be AC all the way outbound from the same terminal.

[snorkle lover]

Since Delta has a non stop from Atlanta to Tokyo why is there this huge up charge? We will be flying from Atlanta to Barcelona and Rome to Atlanta in April. I will be very unhappy with any up charge since one of the many reasons we picked this itinerary was assuming non stop flights.

[tubeamps]

My sincere apologies, the upcharge on the outbound was 6300 for two.

still a bit much.

[Gray Lady]

I thought Canadian airports had an international corridor where you can just go from one flight to another without going through customs?? You also have an advantage by flying both legs on the same airline.

[PaulMCO]

Good deal.

 

Because prices are WAY UP for airline flights especially to Asia/Pacific cities.

Presume the credit was around $6,000 for the biz flights.

We are on the March 2024 Tokyo cruise and most 1 stop Air is around 8K to 10K RT.

The loan airline discounting is AC which is around 6K.

 

We elected to do FF miles and surprising found a 1 stop using UA Saver award.

Our return we are going to spend a week in the Aloha state.

Edited June 14, 2023 by PaulMCO

[Gray Lady]

2 hours ago, snorkle lover said:

Since Delta has a non stop from Atlanta to Tokyo why is there this huge up charge? We will be flying from Atlanta to Barcelona and Rome to Atlanta in April. I will be very unhappy with any up charge since one of the many reasons we picked this itinerary was assuming non stop flights.

Perchance you are on the same cruise we are on next April? Barcelona to Rome?

[papaflamingo]

15 hours ago, snorkle lover said:

Since Delta has a non stop from Atlanta to Tokyo why is there this huge up charge? We will be flying from Atlanta to Barcelona and Rome to Atlanta in April. I will be very unhappy with any up charge since one of the many reasons we picked this itinerary was assuming non stop flights.

Regent doesn't have contract rates on that particular flight.  Non stops, especially international, are high profit flights. We're doing Delta from Atlanta to Athens then coming home on Delta from Rome to Atlanta.  To get the non-stop on the day that I wanted to fly to Athens was $1300 per person.  It was the same even if we went through JFK.  So it was worth it to get a non-stop.  Cost was still well below what I would have to pay.  The flight home had no upcharge because Regent had contract rates on that flight.  

[loriva]

10 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

Regent doesn't have contract rates on that particular flight.

 

Does anyone know if you can still call the Regent Air Concierge to obtain the carriers with whom Regent has contract rates for a particular route or routes?  Or does the $75/pp charge apply even to that?

[1982CruzStart]

21 hours ago, tubeamps said:

I know Air Canada is not known as a preferred carrier but my choices are limited.

Actually in BC, AC has a very good reputation. I think you will be happy with the product.   Make sure you book your seats immediately when you accept the flights as AC (at least in the past) would not allow you do seat selection online so to avoid the extra call do it now. 

 

16 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

I thought Canadian airports had an international corridor where you can just go from one flight to another without going through customs?? You also have an advantage by flying both legs on the same airline.

As far as i know, when transiting through YUL you will scan your passport at a kiosk and then proceed to the international departure area as AC will check your luggage all the way through to your final destination. 

[tubeamps]

Thanks for the input. We decided to stay with AC outbound.

We arrive in international terminal at AC gates, and leave from the same terminal on AC flight.

Since we will not have checked luggage it should be (famous last words) an easy transfer.

[snorkle lover]

20 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

Perchance you are on the same cruise we are on next April? Barcelona to Rome?

Yes, it is on the Splendor from Barcelona to Rome. So looking forward to being back on the Splendor. Have you booked your excursions?

[Gray Lady]

1 hour ago, snorkle lover said:

Yes, it is on the Splendor from Barcelona to Rome. So looking forward to being back on the Splendor. Have you booked your excursions?

Yes, we have. I booked them in April. I did my best as this is a trip of “firsts” for us. First cruise ever, first time in Europe, first time with international flights across an ocean, etc. It has been a huge learning curve to figure out how everything works. Fingers crossed it all comes together for us.

[snorkle lover]

56 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

Yes, we have. I booked them in April. I did my best as this is a trip of “firsts” for us. First cruise ever, first time in Europe, first time with international flights across an ocean, etc. It has been a huge learning curve to figure out how everything works. Fingers crossed it all comes together for us.

You will love Regent and Europe!

[Gray Lady]

3 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

You will love Regent and Europe!

We also booked the pre and post cruise packages so we could experience Barcelona and Rome. You will have an easier time getting to Europe from Atlanta than us. We will have at least one stop somewhere leaving from San Francisco. 

[snorkle lover]

Hopefully, it will be a direct flight for us. We have been to Rome and Barcelona before. We might go into Barcelona a couple of days before the cruise. Maybe we will meet on board.

[papaflamingo]

11 hours ago, loriva said:

 

Does anyone know if you can still call the Regent Air Concierge to obtain the carriers with whom Regent has contract rates for a particular route or routes?  Or does the $75/pp charge apply even to that?

The $75 will apply.  But what you need to do is contact them with your itinerary's, they suggest 3 acceptable, and see what they can do.  They'll offer one with no upcharge if available, or with an upcharge if necessary.  I haven't done it on the new system yet, but we deviated for our upcoming cruise a few months ago and I gave them my requested flights and got my first choice with an acceptable upcharge and my first choice home with no upcharge.  Last year we were in the process of working flights and I could only get my choice home.  But going they gave me alternatives.  Not sure how that works with them now with the $75 charge.  But here's their guidance: 

https://www.rssc.com/frequently-asked-questions/flight-information

[Gray Lady]

22 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

Hopefully, it will be a direct flight for us. We have been to Rome and Barcelona before. We might go into Barcelona a couple of days before the cruise. Maybe we will meet on board.

Yes, that would be very nice. Just look for the old “newbies” and that will be us!

[snorkle lover]

Sounds good!  We are old too lol !

[edgee]

We will be cruising on another cruise line when our 210 day point comes up for our next Regent cruise. Would rather just submit my request in writing and hopefully have an answer and ability to respond on line before I return home a few weeks later. Does anyone know what the process is if i want to do custom air at the 210 day point, but would rather submit my requested itinerary options in writing. Is there a form to email in? What is normal turnaround time?

[papaflamingo]

10 hours ago, edgee said:

We will be cruising on another cruise line when our 210 day point comes up for our next Regent cruise. Would rather just submit my request in writing and hopefully have an answer and ability to respond on line before I return home a few weeks later. Does anyone know what the process is if i want to do custom air at the 210 day point, but would rather submit my requested itinerary options in writing. Is there a form to email in? What is normal turnaround time?

Have your TA to it for you.  Give your TA your requested flights and they can submit then send the email results to you.  But be aware, you only have 3 days to confirm or the request will expire.  Also you might keep in mind the 210 days is only the earliest you can request deviation.  If your cruise isn't all that long, just wait until you get. home.  In all honesty the options likely won't change all that much over a few days or weeks.  

[loriva]

12 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

The $75 will apply.  But what you need to do is contact them with your itinerary's, they suggest 3 acceptable, and see what they can do.  They'll offer one with no upcharge if available, or with an upcharge if necessary.  I haven't done it on the new system yet, but we deviated for our upcoming cruise a few months ago and I gave them my requested flights and got my first choice with an acceptable upcharge and my first choice home with no upcharge.  Last year we were in the process of working flights and I could only get my choice home.  But going they gave me alternatives.  Not sure how that works with them now with the $75 charge.  But here's their guidance: 

https://www.rssc.com/frequently-asked-questions/flight-information

 

Thanks for the summary of the new procedure.  That was not my question, however.  On these boards, people have suggested calling Regent a week or so in advance of the 210-day mark  to get the names of the carriers with whom Regent has contracts for a particular route.  Then with that information in hand you can prepare itineraries you find acceptable for the call at the 210-day mark.  It was that first call--not actual booking--on which I had the question of the $75 charge.  I've also asked the question on the flight deviation thread, perhaps a more-appropriate place for the query.

Edited June 16, 2023 by loriva
Addition

[mariners]

tubeamps, you should have no difficulty with the connection times.  I believe that the transit time for a flight from the USA through Montreal to an international destination is around 50 minutes.  Montreal is a small airport.  Air Canada has the transfer streamlined and it's easy to find your way to your next gate.  Because you are connecting flights, you do not have to go through customs, nor, if you had it, would you have to retrieve checked luggage as it would be checked through.  We much prefer flying through Montreal rather than Toronto (except for the airport options for a long layover).  Wishing you a fabulous cruise!

[tubeamps]

mariners, thanks for your input.