Included air with Regent

[eric4395]

On this cruise we have booked it's  return business class flights from UK to Miami. They were doing them on selected cruises which is the reason we jumped at it.

[swansong]

18 hours ago, eric4395 said:

On this cruise we have booked it's  return business class flights from UK to Miami. They were doing them on selected cruises which is the reason we jumped at it.

Again from past experience, if you are booked on BA you wont be able to choose seats until the e-ticket is issued usually around 70 days pre cruise. If you wish to sit together ( well as near together as business in BA allows!) you should keep checking around the 70 day mark to choose your seats which of course our wonderful BA charges extra for. You can risk it and leave it until 24 hours before the flight but I wouldn’t as we have been bumped twice in the past due to overselling. ( both with Regent ).

 

If you are booked on Virgin you can choose seats at no extra cost when the booking is first made.

 

Apologies if you knew all of that!

[eric4395]

Just now, swansong said:

Again from past experience, if you are booked on BA you wont be able to choose seats until the e-ticket is issued usually around 70 days pre cruise. If you wish to sit together ( well as near together as business in BA allows!) you should keep checking around the 70 day mark to choose your seats which of course our wonderful BA charges extra for. You can risk it and leave it until 24 hours before the flight but I wouldn’t as we have been bumped twice in the past due to overselling. ( both with Regent ).

 

If you are booked on Virgin you can choose seats at no extra cost when the booking is first made.

 

Apologies if you knew all of that!

Thanks swansong. So if we don't reserve seats and leave it and BA says there overbooked at last minute and can't accommodate us in business class then that's going against Regents policy of guaranteed business class seats on this cruise and then what would happen ?

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, swansong said:

……. which of course our wonderful BA charges extra for.

….,.. unless you have exec club status with BA

Bronze can book 7 days before; Silver from time of booking

[swansong]

1 hour ago, eric4395 said:

Thanks swansong. So if we don't reserve seats and leave it and BA says there overbooked at last minute and can't accommodate us in business class then that's going against Regents policy of guaranteed business class seats on this cruise and then what would happen ?

On the two occasions it happened to us we were bumped to economy after a couple of passengers accepted a ‘bribe’ to change flights as per then EU regulations. Regent refunded the upcharge. We were allowed our extra baggage with no extra charge.

 

If I remember correctly Regent do not take responsibility for third party contractors in their contract with us.

 

We were offered later flights but there was no guarantee of being in business although they would do their best.

 

It was the stress of waiting at the gate not knowing if we were able to get on the flight until the very last minute that made me to never leave it to the last minute to choose seats.

 

If you have Avios points these can be used to offset the cost

 

Flossie is correct in saying that seat choice charging varies by BA status. Unfortunately we are only bronze and to me seven days is not long enough to be certain.

[eric4395]

Just now, swansong said:

On the two occasions it happened to us we were bumped to economy after a couple of passengers accepted a ‘bribe’ to change flights as per then EU regulations. Regent refunded the upcharge. We were allowed our extra baggage with no extra charge.

 

If I remember correctly Regent do not take responsibility for third party contractors in their contract with us.

 

We were offered later flights but there was no guarantee of being in business although they would do their best.

 

It was the stress of waiting at the gate not knowing if we were able to get on the flight until the very last minute that made me to never leave it to the last minute to choose seats.

 

If you have Avios points these can be used to offset the cost

 

Flossie is correct in saying that seat choice charging varies by BA status. Unfortunately we are only bronze and to me seven days is not long enough to be certain.

To be honest if we hadn't been offered the deal of upgrade to business class flights to Miami we wouldn't be doing the cruise so we wouldn't even want to contemplate the chance of not flying business class, so we may have to pay the extra to guarantee our seats which is obviously extra expense which isn't really made clear by Regent when you book the cruise.

[pappy1022]

On our cruise this past September, our TA worked with Regent to get us business class seat assignments on BA as soon as our flights were agreed to via the deviation process. We actually changed those seat assignments again by our TA talking to Regent a second time. If you have a TA, see it that will work for you. Our return flight was on Virgin Atlantic and we were able to change seats ourselves.

[mj_holiday]

Our TA always gets us seat assignments at time of booking.

[swansong]

22 minutes ago, mj_holiday said:

Our TA always gets us seat assignments at time of booking.

Unfortunately in the UK BA treats us differently. Don’t know why.

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, swansong said:

If I remember correctly Regent do not take responsibility for third party contractors in their contract with us.

This is the situation for those booking in North America, but U.K. Travel Regulations do not allow Regent to abrogate their responsibilities.

 

47 minutes ago, swansong said:

Unfortunately in the UK BA treats us differently.

This is a Regent(UK) issue that we have complained about previously ……… to no avail 🤨

 

3 hours ago, swansong said:

Unfortunately we are only bronze and to me seven days is not long enough to be certain.

You could always keep checking to see how many seat assignments remain before choosing to pay.

However, I agree that BA’s policy of charging for Business Class seat assignments is appalling.

 

 

[fruitmachine]

4 hours ago, swansong said:

If I remember correctly Regent do not take responsibility for third party contractors in their contract with us.

 

As you're in the UK, if Regent book the flights then it's a package holiday, with all the protections that gives you (including the fact that Regent will be responsible for fulfilment of all components booked via them).

 

If your TA adds yet another travel element (say a non-ship excursion or car hire in one port) then you'd need to check which of them has overall responsibility, but I'm fairly certain it will be just one of them.

 

 

[SusieAV8R]

On 12/3/2023 at 11:27 AM, Pcardad said:

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.

Doi you get to select the class of seat (i.e. economy or business) when you book Regent Air.  If not and you make your own arrangement, do you get a credit?  Thanks for any information.

[Pcardad]

4 minutes ago, SusieAV8R said:

Doi you get to select the class of seat (i.e. economy or business) when you book Regent Air.  If not and you make your own arrangement, do you get a credit?  Thanks for any information.

If you elect to book your own airfare, you get a credit. Regent will give you economy for North America flights and Business for others. You might get the first leg in First on a 2 leg flight out of North America.

[SusieAV8R]

1 minute ago, Pcardad said:

If you elect to book your own airfare, you get a credit. Regent will give you economy for North America flights and Business for others. You might get the first leg in First on a 2 leg flight out of North America.

I appreciate your quick and informative response, Pcardad.  What can you use the credit for, if you book your own air fare?

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, SusieAV8R said:

I appreciate your quick and informative response, Pcardad.  What can you use the credit for, if you book your own air fare?

It is an invoice credit...reducing the cost of the cruise.

[SusieAV8R]

16 hours ago, swansong said:

Again from past experience, if you are booked on BA you wont be able to choose seats until the e-ticket is issued usually around 70 days pre cruise. If you wish to sit together ( well as near together as business in BA allows!) you should keep checking around the 70 day mark to choose your seats which of course our wonderful BA charges extra for. You can risk it and leave it until 24 hours before the flight but I wouldn’t as we have been bumped twice in the past due to overselling. ( both with Regent ).

 

If you are booked on Virgin you can choose seats at no extra cost when the booking is first made.

 

Apologies if you knew all of that!

VERY informative for this Newbie.  Thanks Swansong!

 

[SusieAV8R]

Just now, Pcardad said:

It is an invoice credit...reducing the cost of the cruise.

 

Just now, Pcardad said:

It is an invoice credit...reducing the cost of the cruise.

Fabulous!  Thanks Pcardad!!!

[SusieAV8R]

14 hours ago, swansong said:

On the two occasions it happened to us we were bumped to economy after a couple of passengers accepted a ‘bribe’ to change flights as per then EU regulations. Regent refunded the upcharge. We were allowed our extra baggage with no extra charge.

 

If I remember correctly Regent do not take responsibility for third party contractors in their contract with us.

 

We were offered later flights but there was no guarantee of being in business although they would do their best.

 

It was the stress of waiting at the gate not knowing if we were able to get on the flight until the very last minute that made me to never leave it to the last minute to choose seats.

 

If you have Avios points these can be used to offset the cost

 

Flossie is correct in saying that seat choice charging varies by BA status. Unfortunately we are only bronze and to me seven days is not long enough to be certain.

Thanks to you, Swanson, and to Pcardad, for your detailed responses!!  We usually fly business class on American Airlines (or its partners) on airmiles and I don't want stress (like do I have a seat "next" to DH, etc. or am I being bumped to economy?) when I am going on vacation.  (I go to work to be stressed but at least I don't pay for that privilege.  😂)

[Lonedaddy]

16 hours ago, flossie009 said:

….,.. unless you have exec club status with BA

Bronze can book 7 days before; Silver from time of booking

Or American status which translates to one world.

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, SusieAV8R said:

Thanks to you, Swanson, and to Pcardad, for your detailed responses!!  We usually fly business class on American Airlines (or its partners) on airmiles and I don't want stress (like do I have a seat "next" to DH, etc. or am I being bumped to economy?) when I am going on vacation.  (I go to work to be stressed but at least I don't pay for that privilege.  😂)

Deviate at 270 days and pick your flights. Your TA will know what to do.

[wcsdkqh]

Actually, you can deviate from 210 days on. No longer 270.

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

Actually, you can deviate from 210 days on. No longer 270.

Old habits die hard...

[wcsdkqh]

They do indeed. Kinda hoping you would correct me and say they are back to 270 🙂

Wonder if perhaps part of the 270 to 210 change was due to the fact that with so many flight changes that occur when booking flights many months in advance, Regent Air was trying minimize their work required with flight changes.

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

They do indeed. Kinda hoping you would correct me and say they are back to 270 🙂

Wonder if perhaps part of the 270 to 210 change was due to the fact that with so many flight changes that occur when booking flights many months in advance, Regent Air was trying minimize their work required with flight changes.

Sorry, just a skipped beat in the old brain....210 days = 7 months so I carried the 7. I know it makes no sense but its better than admitting I was drinking alone in the dark. 🤪

[SusieAV8R]

On 12/12/2023 at 7:33 AM, eric4395 said:

To be honest if we hadn't been offered the deal of upgrade to business class flights to Miami we wouldn't be doing the cruise so we wouldn't even want to contemplate the chance of not flying business class, so we may have to pay the extra to guarantee our seats which is obviously extra expense which isn't really made clear by Regent when you book the cruise.

These 'small" details are what's important in my decision-making, so thank you eric4395😀