Regent's "New" Fare Options are Much Ado About Nothing imho

[Dolebludger]

I can’t tell if the deviated fare was less or more. The overseas portion of our Denver to London trip BC was of course included in the cruise fare. But we were aware that Regent tends to book this route economy from Denver to the US east coast, require a connection and layover there, and BC on the overseas leg. We wanted to avoid such routing. Had we waited until Regent assigned routing, our chances to get the flights and seats we wanted would have been slim. So we did the deviation to avoid the chance of a rather long domestic leg in basic economy, and an additional connection and layover of unknown duration.

 

On a different subject I agree that we will have to wait a couple of weeks to see how Regent’s new air program works, and how much it costs. And, frankly, I am not much of a fan of the old system. As I said, Regent has tended to use basic economy legs as much as possible within the US and North America, without regard to the number of connections to eventually reach BC. That’s not how we travel. 

[rallydave]

It is not necessarily regent booking you in coach for the domestic portion of yor overseas flights  you see it is the airlines who are booking you in coach

 

sn international overseas flight with domestic segments if both are on the same airline or code share will be first class domestic business class over water unless the domestic flight does not have first class availability 

 

this is the same no matter who books the flights based on booking date so you can’t blame regent if the airline gives you coach. 

[papaflamingo]

9 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

we were aware that Regent tends to book this route economy from Denver to the US east coast, require a connection and layover there, and BC on the overseas leg.

Actually this is not necessarily correct.  Airline dependent, if the flight is booked "Business Class" from Denver to London, then any domestic leg is in First Class.  You only get a coach seat if the domestic leg is on a different airlines, or includes a coach only airlines like JetBlue.  But if it's "single ticketed" as a "Business Class" ticket, especially on the same airlines (or ticketed on the same airline with a "code share"), you won't be put in coach. 

One way to find out is simply deviate your flights up to 210 days out.  You can call Regent and give them your desired flights and either get them for no up charge (contract rate) or with an up charge, and then you can decide if you want to book your own flights or not.  There is that "pesky" $75 charge (single charge, not per person) but if you choose to accept a deviation and  use Regent air, the $75 is "rolled" into one of the $175 pp deviation fees.  

But at least you'll know which is cheaper, you'll have your reservation early, and on U.S. airlines (at least) you'll have your seat assignments. 

[rallydave]

See my post on this subject. You are not necessarily correct. All dependent on the airline having availab  one first class seats in first. You may or may not get first domestically

 

actually regents moving the deviation time to 210 days significantly dff icreases the chances of first. Not deviating and letting regent book significantly the chances of not getting first. 
 

would be great if always first but totally untrue. 

[Dolebludger]

Well, perhaps we will be pleasantly surprised with Regent’s new method of booking flights. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

From the Travel Advisor FAQ's I have seen nothing about the actual flight booking process will change.  The change to the flight inclusive fare that will be offered going forward will allow guests to choose their preferred class of service at time of booking.   Rather than all international bookings with flights including business class and all domestic bookings including economy the guest will now be able to choose their class of service  - standard economy, premium economy or business/first (business internationally/first domestically).  

 

Just like today if the guest lets Regent assign the flights automatically it will happen approximately 75 days out and changes can only be made for a fee possibly incurring airline change fees on top of the regent custom air fee.  For those guests who want to personalize their travel they may do so starting at 210 days out by using custom air and paying any air differential for their preferred flights/routings as well as the custom air fee.

[mrlevin]

Atlanta Cruiser, thank you.  I book all trips without air and then decide if I need regent air later so no change for me.  I just need to figure out how titanium transfers work with blacklane transfers. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

@mrlevin my understanding is that the black lane transfers consist of a credit of $250 pp/$500 per couple and is ONLY provided to guests who book the “ultimate”all-inclusive fare that includes air (regardless of class of service).
 

The funds can be used through Blacklane limo service however you wish in conjunction with the trip. Want home/airport service? You can use it for that. Want airport/port,or airport/hotel or hotel/port transfers? You can use it for those as well. There are some caveats with distances, availability in home city / destination, and if you set up private transfers that would replace any normally included transfers there is no additional offset/credit for making that choice. You do not have to be flying in/out on cruise days or staying at a regent hotel to use the credits intra trip if desired. The guest is responsible for any cost that exceeds the credit once used up. It cannot be carried over to another trip either. 

At least this is my understanding at this point in time. 

 

Edited June 17 by AtlantaCruiser72

[The Hudson Co. Landlubber]

 

Edited June 18 by The Hudson Co. Landlubber

[mnocket]

35 minutes ago, The Hudson Co. Landlubber said:

 

I wonder if there will now be a line of Blacklane SUVs at the hotel servicing customers who opt to use their credit to avoid the bus transfer to the ship?  If you've got Blacklane credit left to spend, why not?

[forevertravel]

Hudson Landlubber, where did you find this information? I looked at Regent website and all I see if what we received about the changes. Thank you.

Edited June 18 by forevertravel
error

[The Hudson Co. Landlubber]

1 hour ago, forevertravel said:

Hudson Landlubber, where did you find this information? I looked at Regent website and all I see if what we received about the changes. Thank you.

I registered for this webinar about the '26-'27 itineraries:

 

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1965363178846985568

 

...and when I did it immediately played a previous presentation and that's where.  I thought it might be helpful for this thread so I clipped a few pages and posted them here.  Hopefully I did not break any Regent or CC rules!

 

My assumption is that if you register you'll get the same thing.  There was a lot more to the preso, I didn't have time to watch all of it.

 

 

[forevertravel]

Thank you Landlubber. I usually get invited to those webinars but I don't recall.

[Dolebludger]

About the Black lane credit of $500 per couple, if I understand correctly we will be reimbursed for any ground transit needed for the cruise up to that amount, whether we can use Black lane or not. I had never heard of them before this thread, and we have traveled a lot. Now, we don’t need a limo with a uniformed driver in our travels. We also don’t “need” or want those crowded busses Regent has been providing. An ordinary cab is fine with us. So, question: does the $500 per couple credit apply to cab fare?

[DaveFr]

15 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

About the Black lane credit of $500 per couple, if I understand correctly we will be reimbursed for any ground transit needed for the cruise up to that amount, whether we can use Black lane or not. I had never heard of them before this thread, and we have traveled a lot. Now, we don’t need a limo with a uniformed driver in our travels. We also don’t “need” or want those crowded busses Regent has been providing. An ordinary cab is fine with us. So, question: does the $500 per couple credit apply to cab fare?

No. Yes I understand it, you will get a voucher for $500 for use with Blacklane. Blacklane is a worldwide company. We have used them in many countries and they are very reliable and reputable.

 

Dave

[Kwaj girl]

36 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

No. Yes I understand it, you will get a voucher for $500 for use with Blacklane. Blacklane is a worldwide company. We have used them in many countries and they are very reliable and reputable.

 

Dave

 

As Diamonds we already get private transfers to/from the ship.  Thus, I would like to use said voucher for home/airport transfers but Blacklane does not server our home city/airport.  

[gabelle]

21 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

As Diamonds we already get private transfers to/from the ship.  Thus, I would like to use said voucher for home/airport transfers but Blacklane does not server our home city/airport.  

Therein lies the problem. If Blacklane doesn't serve your area (it doesn't ours), then this perk becomes a bit useless.