Regent Custom Air flight cancelled without us being notified

[Lenbro1944]

We recently checked our flight schedule made with Regent Custom Air, via the website, to find out that one of our connecting flights was not listed. It was the weekend so we called the airline directly and they told us that our connecting fight in Europe to our final destination had been cancelled and no replacement had been reserved. They also told us they had contacted Regent almost 2 weeks prior to inform them. Neither we our our TA were ever notified by Regent, Regent Custom Air or the airline about the cancellation.

We called Regent first thing Monday and they directed us to Custom Air. On speaking to Custom Air we asked why we were never notified. Their inexcusable answer was “ they are under staffed”. We fortunately were able to book alternative flights with no deviation charge but it wouldn’t have been our first choice. So I recommend you constantly check your flight schedule, or you like ourselves, could end up not having one of you connecting flights when you arrive at that airport and maybe miss your cruise.

. We have since contacted Guest Relations at Regent who told us they will forward our concerns to management. We have yet to hear back from them. The whole incident is unacceptable and hopefully Regent will look into this so it doesn’t continue to happen.

 

 

[RachelG]

There is a good reason why I have OCD about checking upcoming flights frequently, and this is it.  I once had a flight where the airline changed the schedule (had nothing to do with Regent, as I do not use Regent air), and the connecting flight was leaving prior to the first flight landing.  I was not notified.  Had I not been checking, I guess we would have found out at the airport. When I called the airline, they had no explanation as to why I wasn't notified other than a computer error. 

[Lonedaddy]

1 hour ago, RachelG said:

There is a good reason why I have OCD about checking upcoming flights frequently, and this is it.  I once had a flight where the airline changed the schedule (had nothing to do with Regent, as I do not use Regent air), and the connecting flight was leaving prior to the first flight landing.  I was not notified.  Had I not been checking, I guess we would have found out at the airport. When I called the airline, they had no explanation as to why I wasn't notified other than a computer error. 

I usually check often at least weekly to make sure of time changes, equipment changes and seats...

[ysolde]

I'm pretty paranoid about this stuff.  One thing I noticed about Regent is that they may bill themselves as a luxury cruise line, but the initial flight arrangements they made for us going back from BCN to PHX were ridiculous and involved so many tight connections we would no doubt have missed a flight somewhere along the line.  I had to do some research to find flights DH and I found much more suitable.  I will never understand how they initially made arrangements for us with three connections (all of them under an hour) when there was a flight with just one connection (via EWR, so several flights to PHX available once in EWR) available for the same price.  So do your research, find the flights that work for you, ask Regent to put you on them (via deviation, if necessary), then stay on top of any scheduling changes with the airlines.  And remember, trip insurance is a good idea.

[loriva]

21 hours ago, Lenbro1944 said:

We recently checked our flight schedule made with Regent Custom Air, via the website, to find out that one of our connecting flights was not listed. It was the weekend so we called the airline directly and they told us that our connecting fight in Europe to our final destination had been cancelled and no replacement had been reserved. They also told us they had contacted Regent almost 2 weeks prior to inform them. Neither we our our TA were ever notified by Regent, Regent Custom Air or the airline about the cancellation.

We called Regent first thing Monday and they directed us to Custom Air. On speaking to Custom Air we asked why we were never notified. Their inexcusable answer was “ they are under staffed”. We fortunately were able to book alternative flights with no deviation charge but it wouldn’t have been our first choice. So I recommend you constantly check your flight schedule, or you like ourselves, could end up not having one of you connecting flights when you arrive at that airport and maybe miss your cruise.

. We have since contacted Guest Relations at Regent who told us they will forward our concerns to management. We have yet to hear back from them. The whole incident is unacceptable and hopefully Regent will look into this so it doesn’t continue to happen.

 

 

 

We had a similar issue this week.  I found a change on our outbound United flights.  When I called the Air Concierge, the agent informed me that our inbound Alaska flight had been cancelled.  I had researched the replacement United flight I wanted (and we eventually received) but had missed the return change.  (And, yes, I should have checked on that leg as well.)  It took multiple calls to Regent and research to find a new connection we liked (and then it came with an upcharge.)

 

The airlines are still constantly changing things as they continue to staff up since the pandemic and I'm sure Regent is facing the same issue.  But there has to be a technical fix for this--a computer program that sends out changes as soon as they are received by Regent.  Maybe our friend Mike Moore can comment?

[papaflamingo]

22 hours ago, Lenbro1944 said:

We recently checked our flight schedule made with Regent Custom Air, via the website, to find out that one of our connecting flights was not listed.

 

I agree 100% that you definitely have to take control of watching your own flights.  But, we arranged our flights a few weeks ago to Hong Kong.  About 2 weeks later we got an email from Regent that one flight had a departure change that made our "turn time" from 4 hours to 2 hours.  So, they WILL notify you, but I wouldn't leave it up to them.  They are handling thousands of flights per year so stuff will slip through the cracks. 

10 hours ago, ysolde said:

 I will never understand how they initially made arrangements for us with three connections (all of them under an hour) when there was a flight with just one connection (via EWR, so several flights to PHX available once in EWR) available for the same price.  

The reason they book flights with short turn times is because that's how the airlines lists the flights and the cheapest routing (that's why the 3 versus 1 connection).  It's not Regent's fault, they can't possibly review every flight that the airlines post as scheduled connections and decide if it's reasonable or not.  So like you said, watch your flights closely and if you get a short turn time, call and try to change it.  I always deviate just to avoid that situation.  However we set our flights to Hong Kong for Feb. with 4 hours turn in SFO.  Got a notice from Regent that the flight from SFO to HKG has changed its departure time and now leaves 2 hours earlier so our actual turn time is now 1:49!  I called to switch to the night before departure with a 13 hour layover in SFO.  Even though United shows that as a scheduled connection, Regent does NOT show it in their system so we would have to pay a "stop over" fee of $250 per person. So guess we'll do a 1:49 connection in SFO.  So, it's just how the airlines list flights and what Regent shows in their system.  

Edited September 1, 2023 by papaflamingo