Options
flight upgrade costs
We'll be taking the Grand Australia/NZ tour in January 2019 and I've just begun looking into flights. Normally I want to upgrade for long flights, but the upcharge for this trip is enormous — ten times coach fare! Anybody have any recommendations?
0
Comments
For long haul flights, the major airlines are starting to add different levels (and call them different names) that give you some choices between basic economy and first class. Delta has basic economy, Delta Comfort, Premium Select, Delta One and First Class. Premium Select is the newest and is pretty close to what first class used to be - wider seat that reclines and has a foot rest and more leg room etc. The different names on different airlines can be confusing e.g. Air France's economy comfort is much nicer than Delta's.
Along with the airlines web sites, you might want to spend some time on others like thepointsguy or seatguru that have information on all the different seat classes and the differences between the airlines.
Keep in mind too that the day you fly can make a real difference in costs as well.
Yes, book soon. Seating sections for the mid-tier seats like Economy Comfort, etc are small and can easily sell out first.
We have used Delta for all our international flights the last few years. Before I call Tauck, I use Delta's website to figure out the best routing for us AND which model plane it is. We prefer the newer jumbo jets with the 2 seats next to the window. Delta will let you plug in your dates and see which seats are available on the flight.
Seatguru.com lets you put in the airline and flight number then shows you the seat plan with comments. It will highlight problem seats. My husband wanted the bulk head seats on a flight to Amsterdam and seatguru recommended not. They were right. The bulk head seats are narrower in economy comfort because the tray table goes in the arm rest and the seats were next to a kitchen and a bathroom. Was not worth the extra leg room. Not a wink of sleep. Never again.
When I talk to Tauck I usually have Delta's website up showing the flights and prices. Once we've narrowed it down, I pull up the actual flight and look at the seating plan so I can specify which seats.
The only problem with Tauck is they can't book with all airlines.
So when you book the flight with Tauck, is the price the same as on the airline's web site?
And since you don't pay for the flights right away if booked with Tauck, are you able to make seat reservations at the time the flight is reserved?
That is almost exactly how I do it. Except we like planes with 1-2-1 or 2-2-2 seating. We sit in the center section so we each have aisle access. When I search for flights, I sort on duration (shortest), look at airplane type/seating, and somewhere in the process look at price. The main problem with SeatGuru is their info is sometimes out of date and you have to dig around the web to find the actual version of the aircraft. I can't wait to try one of Delta's cabin seats.
Tauck can't book all airlines and based on our last trip, the available flight itineraries don't include all airports- they couldn't book flights from our local feeder EWN (New Bern)- it wasn't even in their library(?) though it is served by Delta, 1 - 2 flights per day). They asked for another airport nearby, so ended up departing from Raleigh. Since I typically book at max booking window (330 days before your inbound flight not outbound flight), I can usually beat Tauck's price, but not so if I wait too long, then Tauck beats all others. I'm gonna see if Tauck can book my next flights with an overnight layover and switching airlines/alliance - New Bern, NC (EWN) to Johannesburg (JNB) , and JNB to Livingstone, Zambia (LVI) on South African Airways.
You can tell Tauck what seats you want but cannot change the seats on your booking until the seats are ticketed. We do that to get seats nearer the front sometimes. Don't leave booking your flights any later. We tried to book business class seats for an Africa trip within days of flights opening up once and there was nothing left.
Re Alan's experiences. It seems that when you book a South American destination and want to use your own choice of flights these days, you have to pay up front for the flight but they can still book it for you.
I don't think we have ever come across a situation where they cannot book a flight from an airport we want to leave from or an airline we want to use. However we usually start from Philadelphia or one of the New York airports.
Just as an example why it is worth doing research before going thru Tauck. On our first trip to Africa, we used Taucks suggested flights. They had us first going to Detroit. It was only after that we realized we could go straight to Amsterdam from Philly thus avoiding three flights and hours of time and inconvenience. When we went again they tried to do the same thing, we said, no, we want to go on this and this flight and that is then what they booked for us.
But plane fares vary all the time, what is the best deal will change many times.
One small caution, if you let Tauck select your flights, you may go on a round about go on a round about itinerary. As an example, when we left Auckland, we selected a flight directly to SF0. The suggested Tauck arrangement was Auckland-Brisbane-SFO.
The price is seldom exactly the same as the airline. I've had it go both ways - cheaper and more. Their change policy is usually more generous than the airline's and you have the advantage of not having to pay until the same date that the rest of the tour costs are due. If Tauck is more you need to weigh whether the cost difference is too much vs the benefits. If you book your own, be sure to let Tauck know your plans so they arrange you airport transfer.
Seat reservations - yes-ish. The documents will say they can't guarantee seat assignments. However,...
On our first flight/tour with them we had standard economy seats and couldn't specify. In fact at the airport both leaving and coming home, the airline changed them. They actually were better seats than originally assigned so not a problem. Since then we've always gotten economy comfort. For the next 2 tours Tauck could not book that type of seat on Delta so we had to book economy with them, pay right away and get a confirmation number. With that, we could go to Delta's website and request a seat upgrade and seat assignment. As of last winter, Delta will now let Tauck directly book economy comfort so all the extra hassle is gone. That's how we're flying to Dublin today. OMG - off to Ireland in 5 hours.
Have a great trip!- the new itinerary eliminated the need for open-jaw flights, so air fares should be a little less. When we did Best of Ireland it started in Ennis (Shannon) and ended in Dublin.
Just a guess, but Delta just changed their seating categories/naming convention, and Tauck may not be able to book certain types of seats because they didn't exist or were not included in the current contract.
The last time we had Tauck book flights for us it was on Delta. They were able to book our seats at that time (much to the surprise of the Tauck agent).
I usually book at the max possible booking window* using the Delta website. I find it annoying, however, that I can select seats on Delta legs but not on partner legs. The Delta website won't show aircraft layout nor seats for partners (KLM, AF). However l am usually able to select partner seats by going to their website (in this case KLM) and logging in using my Delta reservation number. Do other people have the same issue? Have you found a better way to select seats on partner legs?
* Side note: the 330 day window is not a hard date, at least as far as fares go. This time around I've been having issues with fares if I try to book right at the 330 day mark- the Delta website lets me book but shows a (business class) fare almost $2K more than the same flights a week or two earlier (I use earlier, constructive dates, that are in the booking window at the time I check). I don't know if this is a glitch or Delta being sneaky trying to catch early bookers like me : ). Anyway, I start tracking flights and usually have it narrowed down to a few options a year or slightly more out. Then I check back regularly as my travel dates (date of return flight) approach the 330 window. If the past few weeks are any indication, I will need to hold off for a week or more after my dates are in the window before I book. Hopefully, the fare will drop back down. That is what appears to work using constructive date planning- the fares for my latest constructive window just dropped today! : ). Who knows?
I'm researching the Grand Australia and New Zealand trip for 2019.
We usually fly United rather than Delta, but I would guess that it is a similar experience booking seats. We also have not been able to book seats with United for the partner legs.
We used the same United reservation number and were successful when going directly to the websites for Swiss Air and Air Dolomiti.
I always enjoy your posts which are to the point and informative
Thanks!
Here is another minor gotcha flying KLM- We had a KLM leg from Budapest to Amsterdam then Delta to Boston and on to Raleigh. The KLM ticket agent (ticketing system?) at Budapest airport put all 3 flights on one boarding pass! It confused the immigration and security folks at Amsterdam and Boston - the checkers were fairly new and expected to see just one flight listed instead of 3. We had never experienced that before either. It normally wouldn't have been a problem except we had a very short connection and our flight was late getting into Amsterdam.
We wanted the business class seats. The Tauck price was $4,000 more than I had found on United's website. But the AAA travel agent found it for $4000 less than I found it for. Needless to say for an $8000 savings it was worth paying for it right away. You just need to do your research and check all alternatives.
It is possible that Delta (and possibly other airlines) are really playing with fares. I usually book directly with Delta. I sometimes start researching and tracking flights and prices well over a year out using flights on the same day of the week but with constructive dates that are in the so called 330 day booking window. I keep adjusting the dates as the window moves. That way I can see what flights are typically available and for what prices, so when our actual flight dates are in the window I am ready to buy. This time it was hard; prices fluctuated widely and wildly for the same flights. I expected they would increase slightly as time went on, but the same flights would go up and down $2K - $3K per ticket (business class) from day to day for the exact same itinerary. That was also true in some cases for a shorter itinerary that required driving to a major airport instead of flying from the local one. Luckily within 2 days of the booking window opening, the prices dropped back to the lowest they had been in the run up. Within days of buying the tickets, however, the flight from the local feeder was sold out and the cost of the itinerary from the major airport had gone up again- I lucked out!
Thoughts on buying tickets at the earliest opportunity- at today's bank interest rates almost no money is lost by buying tickets now instead of waiting and earning interest, business class fares rarely (never?) go on sale, the lowest price will be when the window first opens, the longer you wait the higher the price- sometimes double a few weeks from the departure date, the best seat selection is when the flight is first listed. On the other hand, the itinerary/flights are subject to change- from my history mostly by only a few minutes, however. The one time a change made a connection impossible, I found and Delta switched us to a (more expensive) flight with much better connections (on their dime.) Tauck's liberal payment and cancellation policies make that a viable option, especially if you waited until a few months before departure to book your trip.
Even though we have tickets, for the last month (we are just under 10 months out) just out of curiosity, I have continued to check fares- the prices still vary day to day*. I'm sure the airlines have been using something like Amazon's computer-driven demand vs pricing model, I just don't remember it being this bad. Another analogy- buying airline tickets is like buying a car- if the dealer is willing to sell you a car at a certain, agreed-upon price and you accept, they have won! : )
* as of 15 min. ago the price for our exact same tickets is $2000 more PER TICKET.