Airfare...

[a4ofspades]

I was looking at the Magic cruises and thinking the price is so good for all you get to see and do BUT then the issue of airfare rears it's ugly head. :( Living in FL, I'm very spoiled and have never needed it for any of our cruises. I went onto a travel website and tried to look into roundtrip for Barcelona but came up with $1500 pp. I find it hard to believe anyone is paying that for a Carnival cruise. Can anyone point me in the right direction for doing research and seeing if something like this would be financially doable???? Any help or tips would be very much appreciated! :)

[firefly333]

If you dont get any answers here, there is a airfare board. Maybe they can help?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=128

 

I think thats why prices are lower on cruises ... because of fuel and whatever .. airfare to Europe is way up.

[klfrodo]

Or

 

You can thing back to 1980 and that exact same flight still only cost you $1500 therefore calculating in inflation the ticket price should be $2700.

 

Now,,$1500 is a deal. :D

 

Just another way of looking at it.

[Angeleyes1382]

I thought the same thing. For the CHEAPEST flight from Dallas with like 2 connecting flights we were able to find for 2 adults and a child about $3000. The duration of time from Dallas to Barcelona was about 26 hours.

[cde48]

Try taking Jetblue from FL, to JFK or BOS, and see how much the airfare is from JFK/BOS to BCN. It might be a few hundred cheaper!

[JimA49085]

I can't believe what you are seeing for airfare to Spain. That is outrageous. The fare I am seeing from Chicago to Barcelona is just a bit less that $800. That is almost half of what you are seeing from Texas and Florida.

[cde48]

When are the dates?

[bills blasters]

We live in a rural area, and we always have to figure at least 600$ per person for us just to cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. It really ads to the cost of the vacation when you figure 3 or 4 people. Would hate to see what it would cost to go overseas for us.

[a4ofspades]

Thanks so much for all the help and input! I should have stated that I have never flown overseas...furthest I have flown is Jersey to CA. I am familiar with flights here...lots of friends and family come to visit when you live in Florida, :) but overseas flights always give me sticker shock. I've really only investigated when my brother was stationed in Germany so this is all quite new to me.

 

Anyway, I feel more confident now with some advice and direction so thanks again!

 

Oh, and as for going to the airfare board...will look there but I learned pretty quickly that the best, fastest, and most informed info comes from the Carnival board. Truly!

[FLAHAM]

I thought the same thing. For the CHEAPEST flight from Dallas with like 2 connecting flights we were able to find for 2 adults and a child about $3000. The duration of time from Dallas to Barcelona was about 26 hours.

 

Gee, the new nonstop flight from Miami to Barcelona is only eight hours.

[vacruizer]

Thanks so much for all the help and input! I should have stated that I have never flown overseas...furthest I have flown is Jersey to CA. I am familiar with flights here...lots of friends and family come to visit when you live in Florida, :) but overseas flights always give me sticker shock. I've really only investigated when my brother was stationed in Germany so this is all quite new to me.

 

Anyway, I feel more confident now with some advice and direction so thanks again!

 

Oh, and as for going to the airfare board...will look there but I learned pretty quickly that the best, fastest, and most informed info comes from the Carnival board. Truly!

 

Play around with days of the week to see what makes a difference there as well. I found out when planning my Hawaii trip that airfare to Hawaii was almost double the price on Saturdays - so we opted to fly out on Friday and back on a Sunday a week later.

 

I don't know the particular ins and outs of Europe airfare but if I'd been searching fixed dates the whole time departing on a Saturday I never would have found a reasonable fare.

[lillian marie]

I'd also look at several different airline websites for prices and hopefully you'll find a much cheaper fare if you book it yourself with an airline.

[GranthamMommy]

Try using Kayak.com to do comparisons of the different airlines. You can also pick several airports to compare.

 

I've only flown to Europe once, but one of the tips I learned at that time (2007) was that flights were cheaper on Thursdays. Not sure if that still holds true now.

 

I used Southwest Airlines to get a cheap flight to Philadelphia for my flight to Rome.

 

The board at Fodors.com can be very helpful with airfare questions.