How much MORE did Custom Air Cost? Beware, Is it a Ripe-off?

[NHRAgroup]

On a past cruise I booked out of Galveston Tex, we bought the air from RCCI, When we received out Docs in the mail I called right away to get custom air which they said can be done at any time and no fee but the difference in air price, the price difference was 175.00 each for just departure time change only. The best part was we did not take the custom air for the extra 175.00 each, RCCI was so nice to have us off the ship at 9:00am and wait our departure air at 5:20pm with all the connecting in between it took us 15 hours to get home from the ship. When we booked our own air from San Jaun, it only took us 4 hours to get back to Cleveland, with air cheaper to San Jaun (booking our own) then from Cleveland to Galveston (RCCI booking it). Anyone else out there have the same problem with booking air with RCCI? Long flights and high prices? It seems cheaper to book your own air and get there a day early even with the cost of a room and food on top of air price, then to book with RCCI again.

 

Rhapsody of the Seas 04-04

Navigator of the Seas 05-03

Adventure of the Seas 04-02

Nordic Empress 04-02

Grandeur of the Seas 10-00

Majesty of the Seas 09-98

Sovereign of the Seas 08-96

[Travel Angel]

As most will probably concur, you will 99% of the time come out with much less out of pocket $$$ doing air on your own than thru the cruiseline. Now there are exceptions to this rule, but very rarely.

 

Safe Travels.......

 

 

Curtis Thorsen

YOUR Travel "angel"

Cruise & Resort Connection, Inc.

[BaumD]

So, what's your point. You knew from past experiences that RCCL air can cost more and give you lousy flights. Why did you still book the air thru them?

[pieshops]

wow, get up on the wrong side of the bed did we?

 

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Carnival Holiday 1991

Norwegian Sea August 2001

Carnival Triumph August 2003

Celebrity Horizon October 2003

[dougp26364]

I haven't had this problem because I haven't used them for air. It always seems to be high enough that I can pay for a hotel room the night before the cruise, transportation to the ship and still have $$ left over.

 

I also liken it to using Hotwire for your air. You know the price but not the times. The difference is that it's usually considerably higher than what can be booked on your own.

 

It seems to me that the only reason for booking through RCI is the flights leave the same day as your cruise departure and they guarentee the ship won't leave without you. We are fortunate that we have enough flexiblity that we can arrive a day early for our cruises. If we didn't have that flexiblity, I'm sure I'd be writing the same post as you.

 

Future cruises

Monarch OTS - Mexico Baja 1/05

Explorer OTS - Eastern Caribbean 11/04

 

Past cruises

Vision OTS - Alaska 7/03

Legend OTS - Alaska 7/02

[hdawson]

Cruise-air has always been a profit center. No big mystery here. Also you can often save on the cruise fare booking with a good travel agent.

[NHRAgroup]

In the past all my flights booked by RCCI were all direct flights and no lay-overs. We were also booked on flights that were departing no later then a few hours, this is the first that is was soo many hourssss later.

 

Rhapsody of the Seas 04-04

Navigator of the Seas 05-03

Adventure of the Seas 04-02

Nordic Empress 04-02

Grandeur of the Seas 10-00

Majesty of the Seas 09-98

Sovereign of the Seas 08-96

[hdawson]

All major airlines have reduced service by cancelling flights and retiring airplanes. Two years of that have reduced the number of flights by about 18%. The majors are bleeding billions of dollars. I think only Airtran and Jetblue are increasing service and buying new airplanes. Maybe Spirit too. Flying is going to be more expensive and less convenient now.

[London, Canada]

I will not book with anyone other than with the cruiselines choice of airline. Coming from the North, where there could be flight delays or cancellations due to weather (in the winter of couse) we are protected and the cruiseline has the obligation to get us to the next port...or if we are going to be one or two hours late then can even hold the ship for late arrivals.

 

So I would rather pay the extra for peace of mind.

[BJane]

Since we live on the West coast, sometimes if we are sailing from Florida it is actually cheaper to use RCI air. We get air deviation and pick the flights we want. Since we are Diamond C & A members there is no extra charge for that service.

[Family of 14]

Custom Air and Air Deviation are the same thing. You pay extra (around $55 pp) to pick your own flight times, unless you are a Diamond member (pay $0).

 

NHRAgroup - What you are describing is not Custom Air. You just bought the air through RCCL. They picked the times.

 

Yes it is true, most of the time, cruiseline air is more expensive.

 

We are flying out of Atlanta into Vancouver and cruise to Honolulu and then fly back from Honolulu to Atlanta. This was going to cost anywhere from $1500 to $2000 pp air if we booked it on our own. We bought the cruiseline air and paid the deviation fee. We get the flights we want and it is costing us only around $400 pp.

 

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[Cruise Rookie]

last year sailing rhapsody - I was able to get the price of air down to $99 per person roundtrip with NO connections - dont ask me how but I did. Of course they put us on some rinky dink airline which I will never fly again after going into what seemed like a nose dive over st louis (flying from chicago to Houston). Flight attendant fell over screaming hold on everybody like we were going down - she should of never graduated airplane drink passing out school! While at the airport, I tried to upgrade to first class using RCC's fare as base and they would not allow - telling me RCC purchases seats in bulk and therefore gets a lower rate than even the $99 they offered me (GO FIGURE) so yes, this is the biggest racket in the cruising industry (next to the johnny rockets dilemma of course

 

leaving for miami tomorrow!!!

 

Voyager Here We Come!!!

 

--RCI Rhapsody 4/2003

[NHRAgroup]

We are also C & A Platinum members with the benifit of COMPLIMENTARY custom air with and added 175.00 extra fee for a different time for a 12:30p departure rather then the 5:20p RCCI booked us on (that is alittle much.

 

Rhapsody of the Seas 04-04

Navigator of the Seas 05-03

Adventure of the Seas 04-02

Nordic Empress 04-02

Grandeur of the Seas 10-00

Majesty of the Seas 09-98

Sovereign of the Seas 08-96

[Family of 14]

I understand what you are saying now. It was hard to follow your original post.

You are a Platinum/Diamond member and did not have to pay extra for a flight time change with the exception of a difference in price for the flights. Because you waited last minute and didn't like what flights RCCL assigned you, they didn't have the cheaper flight/seats available for you. Had you taken the custom air early on, there would have been more flights/seats available and you probably would not have had to pay extra.

 

Are you sailing on the Mariner 7/18/04?...Click here!

or HERE!

 

Disney Wonder 3/2000 ~ Disney Magic 9/2000 ~ RCI Vision 2/2001 ~ Carnival Victory 12/2001 ~ Celebrity Millennium 3/2003 ~ RCI Adventure OTS 9/2003 ~ RCI Mariner OTS 7/18/2004 ~ RCI Serenade OTS 9/26/2004

[Diane&4girls]

That's too bad. I've booked RCI's air 2 times and have gotten MUCH lower rates both times (that's why I booked it). It saved me $1000 last week.

 

Like one poster said... it's no secret that the cruiselines air is usually more. If you book it and don't book it early, you'll most likely have a stinky schedule.

 

Diane

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[NHRAgroup]

14II was just called from RCCI customer service and you cannot take/get custom air no more then 30 days before you sail and that is when I did go for the custom air. We got our Docs aprox. 30 days before we sailed and I did what they told me to do, so how far in advance did you say you got your custom air 14? I did not post in any of my posts that I was a Diamond member, you my be reading to many posts. Did I read in one of your post that you have RCCI stock or am I reading too many posts to.

 

Rhapsody of the Seas 04-04

Navigator of the Seas 05-03

Adventure of the Seas 04-02

Nordic Empress 04-02

Grandeur of the Seas 10-00

Majesty of the Seas 09-98

Sovereign of the Seas 08-96

[Murphy]

Our friends are joining us for a Hawaii cruise and we had just the opposite happen. The airfare from Chicago to Hawaii thru RCI was going for a promo rate of $299 per person. No way I could get that on our own. AA flies non-stop from Chicago to Honolulu so I had TA check out using the air deviation and picked the non-stop AA flight to HNL and non-stop San Diego flight back. They got their requested flights at NO additional cost at all and are only Gold level C & A. But, they booked this months in advance, not within weeks of the cruise.

 

You certainly are told what if any the additional charge will be and its up to you to decide if you want to do it.

 

7 previous cruises, Hawaii on Legend scheduled May 2004, and Enchantment Oct 2004

[woodz]

Question, if you book custom air are transfers to the pier/airport included?

 

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[Guest]

1. Cruise Line Air>>>Usually the one and only time that it's a good deal is if you fly into one location and then out of another -- e.g., a repositioning cruise.

 

2. AIR DEVIATION FEE>>>The administrative cost (@$50-$75) to book you on specific flights of your choice.

 

3. AIR DIFFERENTIAL FEE>>>The added cost if any (in NHRAgroup's case $175) or difference between the flights you choose and those the Cruise Line would have given you. And, since the Cruise Line's buy in bulk, this fee could be anything!!

 

Serenade of the Seas

[sandhillwings]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Is it a Ripe-off? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I will fly on no plane before it's time...

[Mark_K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by RichardK:

1. Cruise Line Air>>>Usually the one and only time that it's a good deal is if you fly into one location and then out of another -- e.g., a repositioning cruise.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Using RCI for air is normally a good deal when they're running reduced air promos also.

 

e.g. Right now you can get R/T air from them for several Mariner sailings for as little as $99 and R/T to Barcelona for as little as $599 for some Brilliance sailings. (plus taxes, including airport/pier transfers)

 

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K

[Murphy]

Woodz, yes the airport to pier transfers are included in custom and/or air deviations, but personally, except for the Ensenada, MX to San Diego transfer, we just hop in a taxi. Usually not more than $20 at most ports and you are not arriving with 75 other people. Less chaos for us.

 

7 previous cruises, Hawaii on Legend scheduled May 2004, and Enchantment Oct 2004

[buzzandjulie]

I just this morning was checking arifare for our cruise in October. East coast to SJU for the Adventure of the Seas and as of right now the airfare from the cruise line is cheaper than if I book on my own. Yes I could go out of Boston for about $150 cheaper but the fact that I would then need to drive 90 miles pay to park car and go a day early to ensure arrival it is still a better deal to go with the cruise line so I think when traveling in US it has its advantage I personally do not want to risk it.

[Brad1185]

We have always done the custom air and there has never been any extra charge for anything other than their standard charge. We always pick our airline that we want, and the schedule we want. We do the custom air at least 6 months before and get approved immediately with the cruise line. I can see an extra charge if you want to change and do custom air after they have already set your flight arrangements.

[Hoopster3145]

DUe to a holiday conflict, once it was 50.00pp above the 50.00 service charge. Otherwise there has been no addl charge.

 

One thing i have noticed is the POOR customer service of the AIR department

 

1/01 NCL Majesty

1/02 NCL Majesty

1/03 RCCL Brilliance of the Seas

3/03 Carnival Jubilee

8/03 RCCL Navigator Of the Seas

1/04 RCCL Adventure of the Seas

3/04 RCCL Radiance of the Seas

 

 

8/15/04 Rhapsody of the Seas

 

14 DAY LEGEND OF THE SEAS PANAMA CANAL CRUISE (12/26/04)

 

3/13/05 SPRING BREAK on the Explorer of the Seas