I am booked on a RSSC cruise but can't use my frequent flier miles to get to port city. Has anyone used RSSC's airdesk? Will I be stopping at three cities to get to the ship or is Radisson pretty good at getting you there directly. Many thanks.

Only used RSSC air twice. Once to Tahiti (pretty straight forward) and once to Copenhagen. My wife and daughter did TUS to Chicago to Copenhagen. Further, Ngaire's folks (I think Susan Walsh worked it) got my wife's and daghter's itinerary to match mine via Delta FF) on the way home (CPH-CDG-ATL-TUS). So, all in all, I guess they're pretty flexible.
Greg

I think we used Rad air 4 times - 3 to Europe 1 to San Juan- no problems and ok connections - if you pay the $100 pp deviation you can have some control over flights and airlines - assuming you want to go in and out at different times - we did the deviation once - Joanna

Worst air desk I have ever used. On my Amazon cruise, it include as part of the air price a charter down to Manaus from Miami. That was the quickest way there. OK that was good. But Radisson paid over $500 in round trip tickets from Tampa to Miami (down) and Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa back. Both on 19 passenger turbo-props with no over head storage and on the flight down no underseat storage. Add to that, I go off the ship in Ft. Lauderdale at 10AM but my flight wasn't until 7PM. Now there was something like 4 Southwest flights from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa between those hours and one way fares of $75. I tried to get Radisson to change it and they would not.

My ticket was fully refundiable by Radisson so they could have made money on the change, but they only wanted me to pay the extra money...

I will never use Radisson's air desk again unless it includes a charter flight.

mpbear - I noticed you are from Georgia. If you live close to & are flying out of Atlanta, you will probably get a flight that is as direct as possible. My plane changes are fewer now that I live in Houston. When I lived in Ky, it was a little more difficult to get me to Europe without changing at least twice.
Air is not RSSC's strongest suit. Once they didn't give me enough time to clear customs, then change airlines at JFK. I was not happy, but have only had a bad experience this one time.

I can fly directly to copenhagen but wouldn't want RSSC to send me to three cities before getting there. There are no direct flights back from Stockholm.

mpbear, I booked my own air to Europe a few months ago and had to cope with 3 connections on the way home!! There was no way around it for us.

If you are flying like a hub like Atlanta, I would not worry about it. We've used Radisson air 4 times, and will use them again next summer to Europe. Since we live in a hub city (Toronto) which flies direct to the major European hubs, we only have one connection usually, and so far that's what Radisson has done. Ditto Tahiti, through LAX.

As a rule, do not use any cruise line air. I like to have control over routing, connecting times and carriers. It may cost a bit more but it is comforting not to depend on someone else. Only exception is going to Tahiti - made my own arrangements from here to LAX and RSSC air to Tahiti. Worked well.

All of the times that I have taken a cruise it has been more cost effective to do the air on my own ( by a lot of $$$$) and, like hrprof says, that way you maintain control of the schedules.

Guess we're in the minority on this one again. We use RSSC air on all of our cruises. Have never had a problem with the air, luggage, transport to/from airports/ships, etc. We wouldn't travel any other way.

Not only do you have more control when you book your own air, you are also able to redeem FF miles for free tix or upgrades, and receive miles for purchased tix if you're not using FF miles. If you want a pre or post stay, no deviation costs incurred when you do your own air, too.

I like to choose my own schedule and don't like to pay the outrageous cost of Radisson's pre and post hotel options so most times, I do my own air. If I do use Radisson's air, I pay the deviation fee so I can control my flights and choose my own hotels.

We had an interesting experience with RSSC air from Lima to San Francisco. They booked us from Lima to Miami to SFO. I called my agent at AMEX and asked to be routed through Houston, better connection and would arrive in SFO 6 hours before the Miami connection. He made a case with RSSC and we got the flight of our choice and no deviation fee. Go figure!

Mary Ellen

Yes, we usually end up paying the deviation fee to have some control over comings and goings, especially since we usually go a day or two early (or more), and sometimes do a post-cruise stay as well.

Since I live in the middle of no where, I have always used RSSC air. I must pay the $100 deviation because I am not near one of their 80+ cities that they fly from so I can control my flights to some degree. But we have relatively few fights from Lubbock, TX and RSSC generally picks the flights I would pick and their price is competitive because all flights from here are terribly expensive (except Southwest which doesn't go anywhere I want to go). I have gotten frequent flyer miles when RSSC puts me on American (only really have American and Continental available).

I can't use free tickets because I don't get enough miles. I need to keep 1 or 2 free tickets in reserve for the rather frequent funerals it seems that I must attend on short notice (once a year).