Included air with Regent

[jjwoben1]

What experience have you had? What time of day do you arrive……any problems with transfers and luggage?  Anything else we should know? TIA

[jjs217]

It depends upon where you are flying in from, and flight availability.

[Tsunami74]

We have been on several Regent cruises using their air with no problems.  We always book a concierge level so go in one day ahead of cruise.

[Pcardad]

Always book Regent Air, always Deviate at max time frame, always arrive at least 1 day early if overseas and always take a direct flight if possible. You can travel/return up to 30 days from the cruise dates...roll in an additional vacation.

[LovesPurple]

If you aren’t in concierge class or higher, be aware that Regent will fly you in on the same day.  I’ve used Regent Air twice and was very happy.

 

However, now where I live, Regent won’t arrange for flights leaving my closest airport (even for an extra charge) and I would have to stay overnight in Vancouver in order to use their service.  This ends up costing quite a bit more so this time, we booked our own flights.  

[1982CruzStart]

LovesPurple, Vancouver is also our gateway city and as we almost always travel when the roads or weather can be bad we go to Vancouver and stay overnight before our flight. With Regent we always take their flights using deviation but when we have cruised with other lines and booked our own flights we still went to Vancouver the night before. Consider it just part of the overall cruise price. 

 

We use the extra time in Vancouver to visit our favorite foreign exchange place to pick up all the foreign currency we take for tips etc. 

 

Flying from the West coast i haven't found that i can get the flights we want for the air credit from Regent so wouldn't consider booking our own flights. 

[LovesPurple]

48 minutes ago, 1982CruzStart said:

LovesPurple, Vancouver is also our gateway city and as we almost always travel when the roads or weather can be bad we go to Vancouver and stay overnight before our flight. With Regent we always take their flights using deviation but when we have cruised with other lines and booked our own flights we still went to Vancouver the night before. Consider it just part of the overall cruise price. 

 

We use the extra time in Vancouver to visit our favorite foreign exchange place to pick up all the foreign currency we take for tips etc. 

 

Flying from the West coast i haven't found that i can get the flights we want for the air credit from Regent so wouldn't consider booking our own flights. 

It is more about the time than the money for us - two extra nights away (one on each end) is often not manageable for us.  

[mj_holiday]

50 minutes ago, LovesPurple said:

It is more about the time than the money for us - two extra nights away (one on each end) is often not manageable for us.  

We fly out of Dallas.  And we just find it better all around.  We don't take any commuter/regional flights which are crowded/small/don't have room for our carry-ons.  We do Park, Sleep and Fly at a Hotel at the Airport and considering the costs of parking, this works for us.  We leave a clean set of clothes in the car, so we have comfy things to wear.  Since we no longer have to count vacation days, this just works for us.

[PhD-iva]

OP, there is a wonderfully helpful sticky thread at the top of this forum. Please review it, it will answer many questions, and provide excellent information.

[Lonedaddy]

Seems like regent air is a crap shoot.  Had great flight selection once and horrible service arriving later night before cruise on another.   I have it booked on upcoming SA dec 24 cruise but will search for my own booking or using miles 330 days out and if I find a comparable fare than the regent air plus deviation fee, I'll definitely book it.

[UUNetBill]

We use Regent Air almost exclusively and have had mostly good to great luck with it - but you need to do some research on your own.  Our last several cruises have been out of Miami so it was easier for us to book airfare from SC on our own, but we switched over to our upcoming cruise to South America at a late date (moving from a Middle Eastern itinerary) and flights were limited.

 

We usually fly out of CLT but looked at both CLT and ATL and there were no good routings available (there was one non-stop from ATL to SCL but Regent didn't have slots on that one) so we had them look at flights from MIA and found some good ones.  So we'll drive to Miami the day before, fly out, and drive home a few weeks later.

 

I guess my point is - if you're using Regent Air, do your research and find the flights you like and see if they're available.  And be flexible, maybe think outside the box.  Oh, and pay the deviation fee - we just consider that a part of our cruise fare.

[Pcardad]

I had a beer in Greenville the other day!

[UUNetBill]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

I had a beer in Greenville the other day!

And you didn't tell me you were in town?  I'd have bought you that beer...

[Pcardad]

Sry sir - I was passing though and didn't realize you were there until I made that post.

[UUNetBill]

Yep, I know how that goes.  But if you ever make it through this way again, first beer is on me.

[briar14]

28 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Sry sir - I was passing though and didn't realize you were there until I made that post.

Or I would have bought but . . . We’re on Grandeur now 😊. Next time.

[rkaratsu]

On the flip side, since we fly out of LAX, particularly when flying west (Asia, AUS/NZ, etc.), we have found it worth our while to take the air credit and book our own air.  (Have saved a LOT on a couple of occasions, and using Chase points has also been helpful.)

 

But like others have said, do your research first...

[labonnevie]

We too fly from LAX and have found the same thing. 
Flying west, take the Regent air credit (saved $1200 pp to Tokyo this year). 
Flying east, use Regent air as I can’t come close on my own. 
But always check for yourself. 

[eric4395]

Anyone fly in from Heathrow UK to Miami what is your normal arrival time before going to your pre cruise hotel for 1 night and what airline  did  Regent fly  you with.

[swansong]

We have been several times on this route, Regent mostly have used BA but last year it was Virgin. Arrival in Miami about 15:00 to 16:00. Immigration is a nightmare, last year it took well over an hour as we followed A 380 into the terminal.

Then there is the wait for all passengers to emerge which again last year was about another hour as they may be on different flights.

Depending on which hotel you are allocated it could be another half hour and again depending on numbers it could be a 15/20 minute wait at reception. Normally it’s about midnight our time before we look for food at or around the hotel.

Next February we are flying independently as Regent’s up charge for business class was ridiculous and choosing our own hotel and transfers…still many £s less than Regent. We also avoid the scrum to get on the coaches to the pier. This is the first time Regent’s up charge for business was excessive so it pushed us to go independently. We’ll see how it goes.

 

 

[eric4395]

Just now, swansong said:

We have been several times on this route, Regent mostly have used BA but last year it was Virgin. Arrival in Miami about 15:00 to 16:00. Immigration is a nightmare, last year it took well over an hour as we followed A 380 into the terminal.

Then there is the wait for all passengers to emerge which again last year was about another hour as they may be on different flights.

Depending on which hotel you are allocated it could be another half hour and again depending on numbers it could be a 15/20 minute wait at reception. Normally it’s about midnight our time before we look for food at or around the hotel.

Next February we are flying independently as Regent’s up charge for business class was ridiculous and choosing our own hotel and transfers…still many £s less than Regent. We also avoid the scrum to get on the coaches to the pier. This is the first time Regent’s up charge for business was excessive so it pushed us to go independently. We’ll see how it goes.

 

Regent was doing a special offer that included business class flights from London to Miami in the price of the cruise that's why we snapped the offer up. Normally I believe you only get the upgrade  for European flights

 

[swansong]

Yes this is a great offer unfortunately it didn’t cover our next cruise, it did cover a similar one we booked for 2025. However, the price for the offer has increased significantly above that we achieved when we booked it some time ago which made it borderline to take advantage compared with what we hope to do independently with air and hotel credit.

[eric4395]

4 minutes ago, swansong said:

Yes this is a great offer unfortunately it didn’t cover our next cruise, it did cover a similar one we booked for 2025. However, the price for the offer has increased significantly above that we achieved when we booked it some time ago which made it borderline to take advantage compared with what we hope to do independently with air and hotel credit.

Hi swansong i asked on another post regarding the last day when disembarking , i would imagine our flight back to London will be in the evening and  then overnight. What have you done that day as obviously we  dont want to spend all day at airport so was wondering if Regent lays on a tour of Miami or similar trip before maybe taking you back to the airport  sometime in the afternoon.. what have been your previous experiences. 

[swansong]

There has always been a tour available on disembarkation, free if included air and a ( hefty) charge if independent. It has varied over the years but always included a visit to the Everglades with a ride on an air boat and an alligator talk ( live alligators). The bit that has varied is that sometimes it ended at Bayside centre or a tour of Miami with a stop in Little Havana. Once we were given tickets for the hop on hop off Miami tour ending at Bayside meeting the coach and our luggage. I hadn’t seen this option for a few years.

We were usually dropped off at the airport just before 16:00. Luggage stays in the hold of the coach.

The option for the tour will be delivered to your suite a few days before disembarkation. You can if you wish still go straight to the airport as an option.

[cruisevirgin24]

For our January 25th 2024 Miami to Miami cruise, we took the air credit of £800 each and booked our own BA Heathrow return Business class for £1,500 each in a sale. Regent only includes economy flights for UK customers. BA always has a January sale.

For our return journey we are booked on the 9.30pm BA flight Miami to Heathrow. On the recommendation of CC members I have booked a day room on South Beach (dayuse.com). This will allow us to see the Art Deco sights, lunch in the Versace Mansion, ride the free Miami trolley and then shower and change so we are fresh for our flight.

Miami airport immigration can be a trial. There is an alternative. BA fly into the new Terminal C at Orlando. The immigration has been situated after baggage reclaim. This means if you travel with hand baggage only, you beat the queues. I have passed through the terminal twice in the last 6 months. Once I queued for 5 minutes and the other journey I walked straight up to the immigration and had a choice of 5 desks! The transfer to Miami is a four hour drive but the new Brightline train takes just over 3 hours and leaves Orlando from Terminal C of the airport. Additionally a Premium Brightline ticket includes a door to door service which will take you to a hotel or directly to the cruise port.