OnTheJourney

We're using Choice Air for the 1st time for our Oct. Med cruise. I checked individual airlines and also the airfare search websites for pricing, number of stops, and how many hours to destination. When I called Choice Air I had a good idea of cost and the flights that I hoped to book. Choice Air saved us $400 on the exact flights that I wanted...did a Happy Dance!! ~~Judy

You did well. I did not find choice air to be cheaper on ANY flights that I compared with the airlines' costs. Actually, CA charged me an extra hundred bucks compared to if I had booked directly with Argentine Airlines. So if something does screw up with the winter weather and impacts on flight schedules, they had better come through with making alternate arrangements as they claim they do. Otherwise I will be loath to use them again.

Boy am I glad I booked our flights to BA when I did! Business class 12-13k! So about 6k one way. My $3,500 for 2 one way was a bargain! LOL.

As far as Argentine Air you must have read the same reviews I did. Didn't give me a warm and fuzzy even after I talked to friends who flew them. That was one of the things that made me check on flying from Harrisburg. Saves us from having to hire a car service to the airport.

Good luck getting them booked.

 

Carol

Actually, after several phone calls with Delta, Choice Air, and Aerolinas Argentina (not to mention literally an entire day wrangling over all this with my wife and I deciding which option we wanted to go with), I wound up going back to the nonstop with Aerolineas Argentina. The nonstop schedule was my preference from the beginning, but then I got hung up thinking about getting premium economy seats. Choice air seems to only deal with regular economy, first, or business class. That is what they told me at least.

Since the reviews of AA (Argentine Airlines) are indeed not very positive - at least for economy, we went with roundtrip business class since the price was only $5300 for 2 (for both nonstop flights between JFK and BA). So it actually comes out to $1325 pp per flight. So...like you...I think I did really well. We figure...how bad can business class be with them? We saw a youtube video that a guy took in business class with AA, and it looks good to me. So far my dealings with AA have been fine. The website is user friendly, and the agent I talked to seemed very helpful. So I guess we'll see what happens. Even if there is a delay - as is often reported with them - at least we don't have to worry about making any connections. If we get down to BA a few hours later, frankly I don't care since the flight is scheduled to arrive at 4:20 a.m.! I do need to check on the carry-on allowance since their website only says 1 piece, but I would think that a small personal item is also allowed as is typically the case with any flights.

We really debated on the Delta connection through Atlanta, but figured..why spend an extra 9 hours? There is still the 10+ hour flight from JFK to BA, plus we'd be adding another 2 hour flight from JFK to ATL and back, plus a 2.5 hour layover going both ways. Doesn't make sense somehow to add all that extra time and wind up paying 3k for comfort+ seats. For the extra $2300 we got business class and might actually get some sleep at least on the way back.

I'm just glad it is booked and done. Did it through choiceair. I had to really be a bit persuasive to get them to do what I wanted, since initially they gave me some grief about not being able to book comfort + seats (had we gone with Delta), but then magically after she put me on hold for awhile she came back and said they could do it, but then of course we opted out of using that flight schedule anyway. The whole thing with the Delta flight being codeshared with Argentina airlines seems to create some issues since the flight is on an Argentina plane, so as a result it's impossible for either I or choice air to even call up a seat map. I will not book any long haul flights without knowing right away what seats I have. I had to go into the AA website and basically register for the flight up to the point where payment was requested and THEN I was able to check out the seats. When I saw that the business class section was nearly filled, we decided enough was enough and so called choiceair again and booked it. She still couldn't give me seats - so I was actually about to change my mind one more time but then suddenly she indicated that the seat assignments came through. I was rather relieved at that point, since I really did spend an entire day on the whole thing.

Still not done though. I found out that X does not provide for any transfers between the airport and hotel if arriving prior to embarkation day. I have to contact the hotel directly. I don't understand why they can't build this transfer into their pre-cruise packages, especially since we're using one of the hotels they work with. Oh well...that should be much easier than deciding on flights. This whole trip had better work as planned after all this! A nice relaxing (non-flying) cruise to Bermuda is looking better and better! As I get older, I'm starting to like travel arrangements to be simpler and less complicated. This trip is neither, at least thus far.

Changed my mind about the flights. I talked to choice air, and also Delta. I didn't book yet but need to very soon - probably tomorrow - since the comfort+ seats are limited on at least one of the flights. Instead of the nonstop with Argentine Airlines (I read too many bad reviews about them), I'm opting for 1 stop through Atlanta out of Newark. JFK has the same flight itinerary but Newark is closer to us and thus a bit cheaper transportation cost to airport. I did price Business on the Delta flights but the total cost came to like 12-13k. I just can't make myself do it for that price. So now hopefully choice air can book everything without any problems.

Australia is one I'm kicking around. If I'm flying that far it will be 4 weeks. We are very lucky. No plants but we do have 6 cats. I have a friend who stays at the house with them. Don't know what I'd do without her!

I don't have issues with motion sickness but I did find out this year I have to be careful of altitude. We did a road trip and our time in Lake Tahoe was rough. Machu Pichu is not on our list for that reason.

David acts like he isn't thrilled by these trips but he comes home and tells everyone else how great it was. LOL. I promised him last year when we did the British Isles cruise that we would fly business class and he would have the premium booze package. 😉🍸🍷. It worked. We met great people, had an excellent time and he's going again.

Part of the reason for this B2B is only one brutal flight. We actually considered driving home from Miami. Found flights he's happy with so we are flying home.

 

Hope you decide to commit and enjoy Antarctica.

 

Carol

Hi Carol,

Funny about the premium booze package...LOL Hey...whatever gets David on board with the trip, right? Re: Australia...I'm definitely planning on that one. The trip I like is with Collette called (I think) "The Complete South Pacific". 27-28 days in all. That is really far to go so I can't see doing Australia one trip and then NZ another. I'm near certain we're going to do the Antarctica trip. I think I'll call choiceair tomorrow and see if they can help answer some questions I have. I'd like if they can tell me seat availability since I was planning on simply tracking the flight cost and seating for awhile, although I suppose unless they are really having trouble filling the plane that the price won't drop much if at all. I at least want Delta's version of 'premium economy'. We did that last summer on a flight over to Stockholm for a Baltic cruise with RCCL and it was amazing due to having access to the first class lounge in the airports. It is so unfair what the people sitting out at the gates do NOT get. In the lounge we had any kind of drink you could want, hot and cold food, nice comfortable chairs, and then best of all was the private and extremely quick security line. Not sure why I'm telling you all this since I suspect you've had all this already anyway with flying business. Still, with only premium economy I never expected that level of amenities. It sure does spoil you REAL quick.

We are doing a B2B. Buenos Aires, around the horn. Up the other coast and through the Panama Canal to Miami. 3/5 to 4/2. I am really looking forward to this. The Canal was always on my list. I figured with the cost of airfare we were doing it all. LOL. David is concerned about his liver 😉. We were also booked for the 2/19 Rio Carnival leg but after much discussion we cancelled that leg. Rio and the crowds were a major concern for us. Kept hearing that Carnival is like Mardi Gras on steroids. Don't think so!

 

Antarctica sounds amazing.

 

Carol.

Your B2B sounds great....4 weeks. That is a bit long for me though. Australia and New Zealand are very high on my list but the tour I like is close to 4 weeks and I just hate to be away that long due to needing someone to water my large collection of houseplants and also the animals are in the kennel whenever we're away. I actually looked at a Mardi Gras cruise but decided against it due to the craziness that you refer to. I'd like to do the Canal also sometime, though that is certainly not at the top of my list. Antarctica has always been way up there, but I do have many reservations about it and still debate on canceling it at times. For one thing, we'll be crossing what is often the roughest body of water on the planet - the potential is there for gale force winds and very high seas. People have actually gotten thrown out of bed if things get really bad, dining room shuts down, etc. Factor that in with my propensity for motion sickness yet and it could make for a miserable and yet very expensive trip - at least part of it anyway. So we'll see. I think I will commit to it and see how things go. This trip is NOT high on DW's list at all...she's willing to do it but would much prefer to go just about anywhere else. So I kind of feel guilty about that also. Like I said...lots of ambivalent feelings. Once I book airfare though, then it's a much bigger commitment. Have to decide soon.

Yes we are the 5:55 to ATL. It is all Delta flights. We booked back in May when the flights were first released. We paid $1750 PP for business class through Choice Air. MDT/ATL/EZE. My travel agent was really impressed with the price I found. I feel like I am being paid to fly from Harrisburg. LOL. We only booked our flights to the cruise. We end in Miami so I booked that later directly with Delta.

 

I wasn't sure I wanted to use Aerolineas. I had read some not so good things about them. Have since talked to people who used them and they were Ok with them. So who knows.

 

I am a big price watcher. Flights. Cruises. Hotels. Our May Bermuda cruise,I was able to get a suite for what I had originally paid for Aqua. (After final payment).

 

In general I have found booking international flights seem to be the cheapest when they are first released. We paid a small fortune for our flights to Amsterdam last year, 6 weeks out.

 

Carol

 

BTW. Just checked Choice Air for the price and it's now 3500 PP for the same connections. I think I got a real deal. 🎉🎉

Yeah..you did really well with locking in the price at $1750 pp. That is pretty amazing for business class. I always heard 4-6 months out is a good time to purchase international airfare, but a travel agent I had for many years said that it's basically a crapshoot as to when is the best time to buy. I don't want to wait too much longer since I'm not able to see what seats are available, so that just makes me a bit nervous, especially now that I have the flights pretty well picked.

What is the cruise you're doing that involves going to BA? I don't believe you are doing the same one I'm on. I'm sure you mentioned it along the way but I don't recall.

We booked using Choice Air one way Delta business class. I booked as soon as it came in the window. I was able to change my seats on the delta website as soon as I had the reservation number. Got the best price using Choice Air. Also got the best price flying from Harrisburg to Atlanta to Buenos Aires. Cheaper than I could get the Atlanta/BA or JFK/BA direct Same flight is now double what I paid. Glad I didn't wait.

 

Carol.

Carol,

The 5:55 p.m. departure by any chance? How long ago did you book this? And did you book it as a Delta flight or as Aerolineas Argentinas? I don't doubt you got it much cheaper than what I'm seeing...which is over $1500 pp in economy.

You said you were looking at a Delta flight out of JFK. You can look at the seats on Delta's website and know what seats are available.

OK...I think I might know what's happening here with the seat map unavailability. The 2 nonstop Delta flights I'm interested in are codeshared with (and operated by) Argentine Airlines. Same departure and arrival times...same type of plane (Airbus A330). If I go into the Argentine Airlines website and check on the flights it wants all the passenger info, including passports, etc., Then once that is complete (I didn't enter all the necessary info since I was just experimenting with it) the next step is choosing seats. That's all ok, but I'm still not sure that will get me to where I want to go. AA mentions nothing about having Delta comfort plus seats...so don't I or choice air still have to book the flights through Delta? Too many questions and not enough answers. I'll have to call choice air to sort some of this out.

I have booked air through Choice Air for a trip in Ovtober from the US to Rome and back. I found out a couple of months ago that prices for two one-way tickets can be significantly less than a round trip ticket for the same departure and destination cities. So, check both round trip and two one-way tickets for your next Celebrity cruise.

This is really interesting, being that I've looked at all different combinations of either roundtrip and 2 one-way fares. In all cases the one-way schedules were much more expensive (almost like the cost of business class).

You said you were looking at a Delta flight out of JFK. You can look at the seats on Delta's website and know what seats are available.

Every time I've tried that it says on the Delta website that the seat maps are not available - that seats will be assigned at check-in.

Thanks for all the replies! Since this is a roundtrip international itinerary, I think it probably best to go with choiceair especially since the trip is during the winter months. Since my flights are no longer showing up on their website I really can't determine how much difference there could be in pricing. I'd absolutely love if they'd have a terrific price on business class.

I'm not sure either when it might be best to book these flights. I'm still nearly 6 months out so perhaps should still wait. It's disconcerting not being able to keep track of what seats are available since I have no way of knowing how full the plane is. Perhaps they can tell me when I talk to them.

Hi,

The big issue would appear to be their guarantee to get you to the ship in the event of flight delays, etc. I have no way to vouch for the efficacy of this. I did use them for my last long haul flight, but had no problems with any of the flight schedules.

What really has me bothered is that the flights I want simply don't show up on their website. I realize they filter out schedules that they deem not suitable for a cruise schedule, but in my case I have a departure date that is 2 days prior to sailing and so the flights I've chosen should not be filtered out. Must you go with only the flights that show up on their website? Or can they book what you want? The prices seem basically the same as what I'm finding on the airline website. My specifics are: flying from PA to Buenos Aires in February (so winter weather could be an issue), planning on flying out Friday evening 2/3, arriving 2/4, sailing with Celebrity to Antarctica 2/5. I am leaning towards roundtrip, non-stop with Delta out of JFK to EZE. I know these flights came up one of the first times I searched through choice air, but that was about it. Now they don't come up at all. I guess I will contact them and discuss all this, but thought I could get some advice here as well. Do they really come through in a pinch, where things need to be rescheduled quickly?

Thanks,

Keith

I never would have thought Harrisburg would have even been in the ball park. I feel like we are being "paid" to fly from Harrisburg.

 

I have to book business class if I want to get DH to go at all. Business class and premium alcohol or no cruise for David. �� That's my boy!

 

 

Carol

I don't blame him....it's a different world up there (in first class)! Checked out Harrisburg...don't like it. One or two stops, and much more expensive than going out of JFK. I think I'm still leaning towards nonstop JFK to EZE with Delta....3:25 p.m. departure and arrive BA 4:20 a.m. The thing that scares me about this trip is the potential for bad weather and the possibility of losing Port Stanley in the Falklands. I've been checking out peoples' youtube videos on the cruise I have booked. It's really unpredictable. The 2010 sailing lost Port Stanley completely due to weather, and the 2011 sailing managed to get to Antarctica for ONE HOUR, then had to head north. Since then - at least the last two years - it looks like they got to do the entire itinerary. Maybe global warming is in my favor...at least for this trip. They'll likely be fewer icebergs if I wait too much longer....

We usually drive for direct flights. Just on a whim I checked flying from Harrisburg, 20 minutes from home. We have Harrisburg to Atlanta to Buenos Aires booked through celebrity's choice air for our South America/Panama canal cruise in March. Price was great Business class. It was actually cheaper for Harrisburg/Atlanta/BA than Atlanta/BA direct. Go figure. First time using the cruise line service. Only needed one way. This is with Delta. And when I booked, the airfare was much less through the cruise line than booking with Delta.

Our return from Miami to Harrisburg was the same price with Delta directly or the cruise line so I booked that part with Delta.

 

Carol

Hi Carol,

That is interesting. So far I'm not seeing much difference in price between expedia searches and what I'm finding on choiceair. What is really driving me crazy about them is that the website does not show the same flights each time. I understand their need to apply a filtering system that automatically weeds out any flights that would not be suitable for the requirements of the cruise departure and arrival dates and times, but I fail to see why a nonstop flight would not show up that arrives the day before embarkation. The flights I'm most leaning towards for the February cruise do not show up at all. I wrote to them and asked why this is and simply got a reply indicating that I need to call them to reserve the flights I want.

I'm not sure I really want to spring for business class. We had it once as a free upgrade, and it was pretty amazing (having never had it before), but otherwise it just goes against me to spend like $2500 pp for a long haul flight.

I don't think I looked into flying out of Harrisburg...thanks for mentioning this. I'll check it out. I have no problem with a connection but we do like nonstop the best for longer flights.

Keith

I read this thread title as PA=Porto Alegre, a city in southern Brazil fairly close to BsAs.

LOL

That's funny...I was wondering if you perhaps meant someplace else!!

Why do you feel more comfortable booking through them rather than directly with the airline?

Due to the stated purpose of them being that if something does screw up, they have a dedicated team that works to reroute your flights to the best of their ability to get you to the ship - rather than having to do that legwork yourself. I have no experience with how efficacious this actually is, but that's the whole point of air2sea. I only ever used them once, and everything went smoothly, so as I said I have no idea how the emergency situations are actually handled.

What part of PA? Philly, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Harrisburg, Erie? Depending what airport determines what is available.

Reading area. I checked on going out of Allentown, Philly, and Newark. It seems that JFK has the best schedules to BA. The other airports have alot of 2-stop itineraries.

Your original post expressed concern that the non-stop from JFK did not have premium eceonomy, while a couple of 2 stop routes did.

Hence my suggestion of a possible one-stop, in Houston, with premium economy from there to BA.

OK...now I see your point. Right now I'm leaning towards non-stop both ways. I've not seen any schedules that even go through Houston, so that's interesting. I'm trying to concentrate mostly on what the Air2Sea program offers, since I'd feel more comfortable going through them. Thanks.

While schedules may have changed we flew to BA this past February non-stop from Houston, Boeing 787, premium economy on United. If you can fly non-stop PA to Houston would that work for you?

As an aside we stayed 4 nights in BA before the cruise - there is plenty to see both inside and outside the city.

I'm assuming you meant to ask me if I'd consider flying non-stop from PA to BA rather than from PA to Houston (?) I'm not sure why I'd want to go to Houston first...but premium economy is certainly nice. Only did that twice but really enjoyed it. Thanks for suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was considering leaving a few days early, but then found out that the flight schedule is such that we'd have to wait nearly 17 hours in the airport on debarkation day (ship arrives back in BA at 5:00 a.m. and most flights are 9-11 p.m.). So instead of getting there early before the cruise to do a bit of sightseeing, we are now thinking of taking the ship tour of BA with airport drop-off. If we do that, I'd rather not plan on arriving too early but probably getting there at least one day before embarkation would be good.

Hi,

I have an Antarctica cruise booked on Feb. 5, and am just wondering about the possibility of bad weather. Since I am PA, what happens if there is a significant snowstorm that would prevent me from getting to the airport? Another scenario is if the flight is canceled. I would suspect trip insurance does not provide for these sorts of situations unless the cruise itself were to be canceled which is obviously unlikely starting in BA. I guess I'll have to call Celebrity and discuss some of this.

Thanks for any thoughts...

Keith

I see there is a 9-hour BA tour that X offers on debarkation day, so I guess I'll consider that. It sure makes for a L O N G day though with being up so early when the ship comes back in, then the tour, then the airport, then the long flight. Somehow some of this does not sound like a 'relaxing' vacation (?)

I got the impression that almost all flights to and from the states are overnight, at least that was the best we could do. Don't know if your schedule permits, but since we had never been to Buenos Aires, we opted to spend a couple of nights there. We were also lucky enough to be able to get a late checkout from our hotel. So our last day there we were on our own, free to look around a bit more, have a nice lunch, then back to hotel to shower, change and get to airport by 6PM for our 10PM flight.

Thanks for the suggestion but we're really not interested in spending time in BA after the cruise. I'd like to get there a day or two early and do the sightseeing then.

Right now I'm seriously considering canceling the cruise due to the crappy flight schedules I'm finding. It's either settle for a Boeing 737-800 with a 3-3 seating configuration (WAY too small a plane and cramped seating for any long haul...I know...I've done it), a late night flight out of BA on the 19th (who wants to spend 17 hours in the airport after the ship comes back in?), OR (and this is even more ridiculous) pay the equivalent of business class fare for essentially 2 one-way economy fares using Argentine Airlines (or Delta) going over (nice since it's nonstop) and COPA coming back - since they do have an 11:40 a.m. departure with one stop in Panama City. I've never had this sort of problem with any long-haul trip finding flight schedules that I like. Not really sure it's worth the hassle. I have spent many hours looking at flights probably over a dozen times already and still can't come up with something I like short of, of course, springing for business class.

I guess given the choice between waiting until late night to fly back out of BA or using a Boeing with 3-3 seating and the chance to get home the evening of the 19th yet, I'd probably opt for the latter but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the trip is really worth putting up with flights I'm not happy with - especially rather long flights at that. Sorry for being so grumpy and complaining but I'm really unhappy about this and truly ready to throw in the towel.

Almost all flights are late night. BTW, you are looking for BA to

PA, not the reverse.

No...I am looking for PA to BA....but then also from BA back to PA after the trip.

Hi,

I've been looking and so far just can't find something that I really like. This is for February. The nonstop schedules out of JFK look decent (and certainly nonstop for long haul is always convenient), but I was really hoping for premium economy. Most of those itineraries seem to have 2 stops, generally with Air Canada through Toronto and Santiago. What really has me bummed are the departure times back to the US - most seem to leave at 9 - 10 p.m. That's fine except that at the end of my cruise we come back into Buenos Aires at 5 a.m. That is aLOT of time to kill until leaving for home. Any suggestions appreciated. British Air has a great premium economy schedule - I think one stop only - but is around 7k pp....a bit more than I'd care to spend.