CRUISE LINES CUSTOM AIR DEMYSTIFIED

Cruise Lines offer air packages as part of their overall services. For those who have used these benefits you may have learned by now that they can be both a blessing and a curse. Offering substantial savings on air travel, these can reduce your over-all travel costs by thousands of dollars, however, due to frequent changes in itineraries, inflexibility or incompatibility to other offers, it might be wise to consider your options when using them.

Failure to understand how these air services work and what their requirements are, may result in a considerable loss: additional funds needed to cover any mistakes or at worst, loosing your flights and vacation entirely with no time to re-book.

One of the first things that needs to be done is to go to My Cruise on the their website (for Viking, save and use Ted’s handy link here) and register your cruise and accurately and completely fill out the Guest Information Form (GIF) which contains basic, contact and passport information for each guest. 

You will not be able to discuss your air arrangements with the cruise line until the GIF is fully completed. Make sure everything is filled in and that it matches your travel documentation, failure to do so may result in huge penalties or even cancellation of your travel plans. Only until you complete this step are you are ready to discuss your air options, hopefully with someone who has experience along this line.

Cruise Line Air Services

To find out more about Cruise Line Air Services, go to the their Website, go to “My Trip” (For Viking Cruisers, Save and Use My Exclusive MY VIKING JOURNEY Viking Website Link) at the top of the page and choose “Air Services” (for Viking save and use this Link for Air Services) for the different air services and how they work. Cruise Lines  standard air normally gets issued around about 75 days prior to the cruise. This may be fine for you if you are not concerned about flight times, using air miles and not coordinating your flight times with other travels. You air will then be issued with little or no opportunity to make any changes or select the seats you want.

Cruise Lines also offers upgrade options for Premium Economy which offers more legroom and extra amenities on select airlines and Business Class which give even more legroom and amenities.  Both of these options may only apply to the transatlantic portion of the air travel.

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Included Air

The hassle free Included Air programs offered by most cruise lines  leaves the complexity of planning air travel with the air experts. Flight schedules are usually sent around 75 days prior to departure which allows them to negotiate the best deals and flights for our guests. This includes economy, Premium Economy and Business Class.

Listed below are some of the benefits of Included
Air.

• Best flights available
• Minimum connection standards, 90 minutes for large airports (London, Frankfurt, Paris & Rome), 60 minutes for mid-size airports (Munich, Zurich & Brussels)
• Most arrival and departure times at your destination range from 9:00am to 5:00pm local time
• Automatic seat request, aisle and seat next to aisle when available depending on airline restrictions.

Inquire about Cruise Line Standard Air Services when making a reservation. Some itineraries may have limited flight options available.

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Customized Air is  offered by many cruise lines for exclusive services through their air department, for guests who have specific travel needs or special requests. Depending upon your travel schedules, requests and flexibility, their team of experienced Customized Air agents can assist with the following services whether you are traveling on economy, Premium Economy or Business Class air:

• Deviate to an alternate destination city or stay extra time before or after your cruise or cruisetour.
• Stop over in another destination such as London, Paris, Munich, Hong Kong or a U.S. gateway.
• Nonstop flights or the most direct air service available
• Reservations with airlines that accept frequent flyer mileage
• Travel on specific airlines or air routing
• Confirmation of flight schedules at time of reservation; no waiting once deposit and Guest Information Forms are received
• Coordination of family, friends or groups traveling together from the same or different cities

Please note: Customized Air may not be offered 65 days or less before departure. A  non refundable fee may apply, as well as any additional fees based on the difference between the selected air and the air price paid. Date or city deviations and stopover fees are typically between $100 and $300 additional. Realize that  Airlines schedutes and arrangement may be  subject to change so be aware that nothing is set in stone.

Customized air programs may   allows you to talk to the air department and discuss you air needs and get these issued and ticketed as early as 10 months prior to the cruise date. This is vital to consider as it allows you to get the best air arrangements, link different flights together, get access to air inventory to get the best seats, upgrade to comfort class before it sells out and many other features pertinent to your travel.

Summary

When booking a vacation on  it is vital to know what options are available when setting up your airline reservations if working through the cruise line. The customized option may good value if you might want any say in your air arrangements. If you do not use it then you will be bereft of options when your air is issued prior to sailing.

Realize that even with your best efforts, these reservations can be subject to changes and you have to be ready for this. It is highly recommended that you work with someone who knows the ropes when it comes to travel, particularly  Cruises that offer included air may result in the traveler being bitten due to lack of foresight or trying to save money costing you thousands of dollars or resulting in your best plans being canceled.

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