Custom air

[chelseabelsea]

Hi everyone, just curious if anyone knows who the contract carriers are for Asia in February 2025? I am on the precipice  of booking custom air, but really kind of surprised by the air differential fee. . . hence, the question. We are overnighting en route to break up the trip from US to Hong Kong, so I get the add-on for a stopover. (I did check roll call, but there’s been no activity over there, so no one I can ask). Thanks!

[papaflamingo]

In Feb. we went to Hong Kong on United via SFO for contract rates.  But it changes daily it seems.  The best bet (if you aren't doing this) is to Deviate as early as you can (210 days out) and pick your own flights.  Research all the airlines and routes you are willing to fly and you can get a pretty good idea by price which are more likely to be contract rates.  Then prioritize them and ask for them.  All they can say is no. Also decide if an up charge is worth it.  I just did this last week  for return from South Africa.  Wanted Delta non-stop... nope...can't even book it through Regent (no surprise, it was 3 times more expensive than others).  But I knew I had a chance at Virgin, Turkish, Qatar, etc. as they all ran much cheaper and very close to each other. So I asked the Agent what he had available and he offered Qatar through Doha with only a 3 hour turn time. All the other airlines included 8-9 hour sits somewhere.  Jumped on it and NO up charge.  So try that and don't hesitate to ask what they can offer. Sometimes the answer surprised you.  But well worth the $175pp deviation fee. 

By the way, the Agent was able to assign us seats AND according to the Qatar website we WILL have entry to the lounges.  So if you agree on a flight, make sure the Agent assigns seats and if it's an American carrier you can always go in and change them later.  

[Tnkbstr55]

We will be on the back to back itinerary from Singapore to Tokyo in February, 2025.  We fly from the NYC area.  We chose to deviate and were offered several options.  We chose to fly Singapore Air nonstop from Newark for an up charge of $500 pp.  We return from Tokyo on ANA non stop to JFK for an up charge of $2,000 pp…expensive, yes, but worth it to us at the end of a long trip.  The other options offered to us would have involved over 24 hours of travel door to door.

 

We have friends living in Sarasota who will be on the trip.  I believe they have been booked on Qatar from Miami through Doha to Singapore.  I’m not certain of their return flight.  Hope this is helpful.

 

We did this through our TA and she got us seats reserved at the same time.  I suggest you do a little research beforehand on a site such as Google Flights.  Papaflamingo is spot on with his advice.  You may be surprised at your options.  But always good to be prepared…Semper Paratus.

[Dolebludger]

From other posts here on this board, Regent seemed to want to book with the maximum number of connections back in the old “included air” days. And often the layovers were unreasonably short or long. And it is a rule that every plane change greatly increases the odds of missed flights. If we waited until Regent announced the flights it selected for us, it would be too late for us to book the good flights and seats. They’d be sold out. Especially as we require business class on flight legs over an hour. So we request the deviation at time of booking with info on requested flights, and compare prices with self booking on those flights. 

[chelseabelsea]

Thanks for your replies, everyone! 😊

[Kwaj girl]

22 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

From other posts here on this board, Regent seemed to want to book with the maximum number of connections back in the old “included air” days. And often the layovers were unreasonably short or long. And it is a rule that every plane change greatly increases the odds of missed flights. If we waited until Regent announced the flights it selected for us, it would be too late for us to book the good flights and seats. They’d be sold out. Especially as we require business class on flight legs over an hour. So we request the deviation at time of booking with info on requested flights, and compare prices with self booking on those flights. 

 

I don; think Regent WANTS to book with the max number of connections - it's the airlines that will dictate the price for what the market will bear.  People want "better" itineraries or nonstops, so the airlines will charge top-dollar for those routes.  OTOH people scream that they want "lower prices" which the airlines will accommodate with multi-stop itineraries...and those are likely the flight combinations that the airlines will provide for those lower contract rates vs published rates.  Let's put the blame where the blame is due.

[Dolebludger]

You are right. I did not intend to imply that multi connections and unsuitable layovers were Regent’s fault. They are the airlines’ fault. Because of this, our cruising is now limited to one connection (in addition to that at our available hubs) and no economy flights over one hour at a price we can afford. Anything more just wears us out.

[papaflamingo]

On 9/6/2024 at 8:46 AM, Tnkbstr55 said:

Semper Paratus

Were you Coast Guard?  😎

[Tnkbstr55]

Yes.  Direct commission O-3 out of law school.  Active duty 1980-1985 at HQ, Wash., DC.  Fantastic experience and most rewarding legal work.

[papaflamingo]

On 9/13/2024 at 9:10 AM, Tnkbstr55 said:

Yes.  Direct commission O-3 out of law school.  Active duty 1980-1985 at HQ, Wash., DC.  Fantastic experience and most rewarding legal work.

Sorry, was out of town and just got this.  I was 12 years Active Coast Guard Pilot (Fixed wing) and 8 years Reserve then retired.  The flying was "most rewarding" also. 

Semper Paratus fellow Coastie!  

Edited Saturday at 11:02 AM by papaflamingo