Free Air

[Capeduo]

I am new to Oceania and I have a question about the free air offered by Oceania. We are considering a cruise in Asia. If Oceania makes the free air arrangements can I then go to the airline and request an upgrade using freq. fler miles? Thanks for any advise.:o

[MSEm]

I doublt if you will be able to upgrade after Oceania books your air.

I suggest you do the following;

1. Ask Oceania about a credit toward your cabin instead of "Free Air".

2. You can then book your air schedule with your air line of choice and aslo pick your schedule and seats.

 

I booked our cruise with "free air" and asked and received a credit toward the cabin fare.

I will book our air.

 

MSEm

[orchestrapal]

The cruise lines use deeply discounted air which is not eligible for upgrades on any airline we have flown.

Most airlines charge much higher fairs to be able to upgrade.

As MSEm said take the air credit and arrange your own air and you'll be able to use your miles.:)

[Jfultz81]

If you choose to have a credit put on your account, is it even close to what you'd actually pay for the airfare yourself (for example - venice rt would cost me close to $2k, are they going to only offer me a $500 credit or something silly like that)?

 

Will they tell you how much credit they will give you before you book? And when do they apply the credit, at final payment?

 

Thanks so much!

[LHT28]

If you choose to have a credit put on your account, is it even close to what you'd actually pay for the airfare yourself (for example - venice rt would cost me close to $2k, are they going to only offer me a $500 credit or something silly like that)?

 

Will they tell you how much credit they will give you before you book? And when do they apply the credit, at final payment?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Contact your TA they can find out what the air credit is for your particular cruise ...they vary from $250 to $900 + the taxes which will be deducted from the fare.

The air credit is deducted as soon as you decide not to take the free air

 

Lyn

[Cruiser John]

I have just booked my 4th O cruise and learned that there is a huge difference between cruise pricing without air as opposed to booking the "free air" fare and taking the air credit. Including all air taxes and surcharges I feel that my saving for 2 on a med cruise amounted to nearly $800. This makes no sense however it just happened. John

[Jfultz81]

So, booking without air is different than just declining air? I guess this is a bit confusing to me!

 

We don't prefer to use TA's, but we may just have to for this cruise.

[StanandJim]

So, booking without air is different than just declining air? I guess this is a bit confusing to me!

 

Those two things are the same thing. I believe that Cruiser John was saying that sometimes you can save money by paying the cruise only price to Oceania and making your own air arrangements.

If you live near a major airport, especially one with direct service to your port city, this is very possible.

[Bonbeak]

There is no difference in price when booking without air and taking the air credit if your TA priced it out correctly for you.

 

I always ask for the cruise only price and the price with air and what is my air credit + taxes+transfers. I usually book with air to secure the price in case the air increases.

 

For our Oct 2009 cruise, we booked with air but now have made our own air arrangements in order to get the upgrade and take control of our flights and seats - otherwise you are up to the discretion of Oceania.

 

The bottom of the line price now owed to Oceania without the air since we cancelled it, is the same as the cruise only quote. You not only receive credit for the air but your taxes are decreased and the transfers fall off. That extra $800 is not a "wind fall" that just shows up. Your TA can explain all of this to you.

[Meribeth]

We always ask (either the cruise line or our TA) for a price with air and a cruise only price. Then compare them and make the best decision for us. Sometimes especially on repositioning cruises the price with air is best. But most of the time we take the cruise only price.

[myrtlek]

Oceana advertising free air is border line criminal. I was able to recently get my own air for about half of what their so called "free air" was costing after all the fees and taxes were added on. I also got non stop flights at times that were convenient for me as opposed to taking what they would come up with.

[hondorner]

Oceana advertising free air is border line criminal. I was able to recently get my own air for about half of what their so called "free air" was costing after all the fees and taxes were added on. I also got non stop flights at times that were convenient for me as opposed to taking what they would come up with.

Congratulations. Sometimes that is possible and sometimes it is not. I have taken the "free" air and got non-stop flights, and I have booked my own when that worked out better. I am having difficulty, however, visualizing what law they are breaking...

[Bruin Steve]

Oceana advertising free air is border line criminal. I was able to recently get my own air for about half of what their so called "free air" was costing after all the fees and taxes were added on. I also got non stop flights at times that were convenient for me as opposed to taking what they would come up with.

 

Well...Perhaps you are fortunate to live in New York and have a large selection of flights and cheap fares to a number of places.

 

All cruise line air, whatever the line, operates similarly...

Most often, they establish a single rate for all air between particular cruise embarkation locations and a number of gateway airports (larger regional hubs) with a standard add-on for secondary airports...others just have a standard rate from anywhere in the US...They also tend to have the same cost no matter the exact dates of the cruise.

 

They try to keep things simple.

 

But, of course, we know that the exact airfare from, say, JFK to Barcelona is seldom the same as from JFK to Barcelona...or MIA to Barcelona or O'Hare to Barcelona...and the fares available for making the trip on May 25 are likely much lower than on June 25...

 

Airlines also change the fares all the time, run sales, etc. But the cruise line has to establish their rates early on.

 

The result is that some folks make out better with cruise air, others worse. It really depends a lot on where you are flying from and to and what time of year/day of week.

 

Everyone is not getting "ripped off". Last Oceania cruise, we used Oceania's air. Even with deviation costs and fees, we could not find a better fare, LAX to Istanbul, Venice back to LAX than we got through Oceania (Actually one better fare, but it involved multiple stops and terrible flight times including having to spend an overnight in one of the plane change locations)...and believe me, I DO know where to look and know what I am doing.

 

If you can find airfare at half the price, by all means grab it. But for most, seriously consider the cruise line fare--on Oceania or any other line--a valid option...Do not merely automatically drop it.

 

We virtually always book with the cruise line air initially. We book way ahead of time and it's a good hedge...a baseline guarantee. You can always drop it off the booking any time up to final payment.

 

Then, we, from time to time, price our options. If we can do MATERIALLY better on our own, we drop the cruise line air and book our own.

 

But, for all cruise lines, be careful how you price and compare. Some cruise lines include transfers in the cost (Oceania doesn't). With both the cruise line fare and the independent airfare, you need to consider all taxes, fees, ticketing fees and any other costs.

 

If the difference in booking on your own is very slight, consider keeping the cruise line air. On your own often means purchasing a nonrefundable ticket pretty far in advance. Cruise line air does not have to be paid until final cruise payment is due...and, up until then maybe cancelled without penalty. Also, though most cruise lines will disclaim any responsibility for flight delays and such, the cruise lines will take some responsibility for making sure you get to the cruise no matter what. Nowadays, you need to consider the possibility that your chosen cruise line may "go under" sometime between booking and the trip. The cruise line needs to find you flight no matter what...

 

Now, Oceania's hotel package rates often seem borderline "criminal", but their air packages (except for the somewhat misleading "Free Air" tagline) are pretty much industry-typical and work well for a good many people.

[hondorner]

By the way, for our cruise next March, because of high demand, the air option has been removed and the price for the cruise has gone up. Those who booked before the air option was removed did indeed get "Free Air" -- not at all misleading. It doesn't always happen, but potential passengers should keep that possibility in mind ...

[Bowie MeMe]

My problem with air is that we like to go up to a week early and not always do we go to the starting city. We also like to add time at the end in a different city than we did in pre-cruise. Just can not do these things easily from the cruise line so I do the air. Part of the planning fun is to see what I can do pre and post cruise and at what price.

[Bruin Steve]

My problem with air is that we like to go up to a week early and not always do we go to the starting city. We also like to add time at the end in a different city than we did in pre-cruise. Just can not do these things easily from the cruise line so I do the air. Part of the planning fun is to see what I can do pre and post cruise and at what price.

 

An interesting quirk in frequent flier programs is one we've taken advantage of...

American Airlines allows you to book, as part of the standard Europe round trip award, an extra stop and stay somewhere in Europe other than where you're going...They have changed this over the years, though--it used to be ANYWHERE in Europe, then it just became a selected group of cities (still a fair assortment though)...

 

We used this "rule" in 2001 to do a post cruise in England after our Copenhagen round trip Baltic cruise...In 2005, we had a Dover round trip cruise, but used the exception to take a long pre-cruise stay in Madrid...

 

Even though we're using frequent flier miles this time, we're merely flying into Barcelona and out of Istanbul...I can't remember if the rule allows an extra stop when it's a multi-city booking in the first place...

 

When we were on the Nautica in 2006, we used the Oceania Air, but paid for a deviation to fly in 3 days early and out three days late. Adding the deviation cost to our Air credit and tax amount, we still only ended up right around what our own air would have cost--and we cemented in excellent flight times way in advance. Oceania's air deviation people did a great job...they actually found the flights for us--one stop on the way from LAX to Istanbul (I can't rember--either JFK or MIA) and only a quick flight from Venice to Frankfurt and then non-stop Frankfurt to LAX home).

[CarlsbadSally]

I am new to Oceania and I have a question about the free air offered by Oceania. We are considering a cruise in Asia. If Oceania makes the free air arrangements can I then go to the airline and request an upgrade using freq. fler miles? Thanks for any advise.:o

Yes, you can do it. I called the airline and used my frequent flyer miles to upgrade a flight booked by Oceania. It may depend on the airline, but for US Airways to Europe it worked.

[lovecruisingtoo]

The answer is "it depends". Oceania, as well as any other airline, will book the lowest available airfare. If that happens to be a fare bucket that qualifies for an upgrade, you can apply for the upgrade. If the fare bucket does not qualify, you are out of luck. There is no way to tell, in advance, if your fare will qualify for an upgrade (or that upgrades will be available once you know the flights you will be taking).

[Longhauler]

We had a much different result for the Oct. 2009 O cruise. We booked a 14-day Venice Istanbul cruise in February with air but now we arranged our own air and transfers. They said at the time there was no penalty for finding our own air. Now that the final payment is due in 3 weeks, the TA INCREASED our cruise fare by $192 pp, claiming the fare went up. I called Oceania and the fare has NOT gone up. We are four couples and the TA threatened today to "turn back'' the cabins to Oceania unless we fork over the extra $192 pp. because he wants a larger commission.

Seems wrong, but we are unsure of what to do now. He agreed to a price but now is backing out. Any suggestions?

 

There is no difference in price when booking without air and taking the air credit if your TA priced it out correctly for you.

 

I always ask for the cruise only price and the price with air and what is my air credit + taxes+transfers. I usually book with air to secure the price in case the air increases.

 

For our Oct 2009 cruise, we booked with air but now have made our own air arrangements in order to get the upgrade and take control of our flights and seats - otherwise you are up to the discretion of Oceania.

 

The bottom of the line price now owed to Oceania without the air since we cancelled it, is the same as the cruise only quote. You not only receive credit for the air but your taxes are decreased and the transfers fall off. That extra $800 is not a "wind fall" that just shows up. Your TA can explain all of this to you.

[Jfultz81]

No ideas.. other than to find a new TA!!

[LHT28]

We had a much different result for the Oct. 2009 O cruise. We booked a 14-day Venice Istanbul cruise in February with air but now we arranged our own air and transfers. They said at the time there was no penalty for finding our own air. Now that the final payment is due in 3 weeks, the TA INCREASED our cruise fare by $192 pp, claiming the fare went up. I called Oceania and the fare has NOT gone up. We are four couples and the TA threatened today to "turn back'' the cabins to Oceania unless we fork over the extra $192 pp. because he wants a larger commission.

Seems wrong, but we are unsure of what to do now. He agreed to a price but now is backing out. Any suggestions?

 

Did the TA tell you when you booked that any changes would result in higher fees/prices?

I would tell the TA that you will report him to CLIA http://www.cruising.org/ for misleading practices.

Do they charge you a fee for booking?

If not I would cancel & rebook with another agent (unless you cruise is fully booked then you may have a problem)

 

Lyn

[happy cruzer]

We had a much different result for the Oct. 2009 O cruise. We booked a 14-day Venice Istanbul cruise in February with air but now we arranged our own air and transfers. They said at the time there was no penalty for finding our own air. Now that the final payment is due in 3 weeks, the TA INCREASED our cruise fare by $192 pp, claiming the fare went up. I called Oceania and the fare has NOT gone up. We are four couples and the TA threatened today to "turn back'' the cabins to Oceania unless we fork over the extra $192 pp. because he wants a larger commission.

Seems wrong, but we are unsure of what to do now. He agreed to a price but now is backing out. Any suggestions?

 

What do your invoices say? Do they list out the cruise price and the air price? Unless you have the quotes in writing somewhere, it may be hard to sort this out.

 

Also what country are you and the TA in? Different countries have different rules on deposits and changes.

[Dreps]

I, too, would cancel and look for another TA--unless you are in Canada and they have different rules? But first contact another TA so that your bookings can be transferred without danger of losing them.