Need help with air to Barcelona

[leslierx]

Looking into a cruise on the NCL Epic out of Barcelona, Spain on July 3rd, 2010. We have never been to Europe before, so have no clue on airlines and routes. We usually fly out of St Louis, MO (about 2 hour drive from home) or Nashville, TN (about 3 hour drive from home) and could also concider Chicago (5 hour drive from home - yuck).

 

I have been checking cheapair.com and kayak.com as well as airline's own websites, and it looks like prices are around $1300 and up. I am hoping that I am just looking too early and prices may get cheaper??? Or should I just face it that air to Europe is THAT expensive! If so, that is as much as the week long cruise!

 

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions on when to book and what routes would be best (like, should I try to connect in US or in Europe?) I was thinking of flying out on July 1st (in which flight arrives on July 2nd) cruise leaves on July 3rd and returns on July 10th, so I was planning on flying home on July 10th or 11th. Any info about flying from my area to Barcelona would be appreciated, since I have no experience!

 

I also thought of flying from home to a US East coast area, spend the night and fly out the next morning non-stop to Barcelona - if that would make any sense, but I don't know what airports fly direct to Barcelona

[personnext]

Pakistan International Airlines flies non-stop from O'Hare to Barcelona.

 

Not only does it have a modern fleet and great on-board service, but fares are often as low as $600 in coach and $1400 in business class.

[wrp96]

Well, I don't know of any airline that currently has the capacity to travel back in time to July 2010.;)

 

But since you probably mean 2011, here's my advice.

 

Connect in Europe instead of the US. Once you get to Europe, there are more options to get to Barcelona versus from the US so if there are any delays on your first flight you have a better chance of getting to Barcelona from a European hub versus a US one.

 

Since you are between St. Louis and Nashville, also consider Memphis. Delta has a non-stop from Memphis to Amsterdam that departs at 7:30pm and gets into Amsterdam the next morning in time to connect to a flight to Barcelona that day.

[alcpa1]

The fare you mentioned seems a little high but not all that much.

Definitely fly into Barcelona at least a day prior to your cruise. It is a little reassuring to know you will make the sailing if all goes as planned and you can spend time in one of Europe's truly great cities.

Do not book a return flight for the morning. There are too many things that can go wrong and you could miss your flight home. Consider at least two hours at BCN to check in and get to your gate. You may have to do some creative planning to fly home on the 10th so check out kayak and itasoftware.

You will be exhausted when you return and I do not recommend a five hour drive from Chitown. Three is bad enough, we have done it more than once and it is not safe. Don't forget you will go through Customs and Immigration when you land in the US unless you land in Dublin along the way. Plan at least three hours between landing and your connection home.

I hope you have joined the Roll Call for your sailing. If not please do so and join the community planning a glorous cruise together.

[chipmaster]

US air flies direct out of Philly and I think one of the airports in NYC.

 

Delta flies out of Atlanta direct as well.

 

I would avoid transfers if possiblie, but direct are sometimes more exepensive if only for the fact the cheap seats go fast.

 

As another suggested do fly in at least a day earlier.

[Twickenham]

Well, here's the bad news: your best pricing for those dates are from ORD. While flying out of STL is around the $1300 you found, ORD would be about $1150.

Will prices get lower? Well, you're flying to Europe at the height of high season. And you have very specific dates. That's your real issue - yes, there are seat sales, but flexibility is key in being able to snag the best prices, and having specific dates (around the weekend) often prevents you from taking advantage of the cheaper (midweek) prices.

[leslierx]

Wow - thanks everyone for the information! I can't believe I put July 2010 instead of 2011! I will check out the airlines mentioned. I had not even thought about flying out of Memphis (about a 4 hour drive, but still closer than Chicago - and much less congested!). Keep the ideas coming! I think we will wait a few months before booking anything and watch the prices.

[leslierx]

Pakistan International Airlines flies non-stop from O'Hare to Barcelona.

 

Not only does it have a modern fleet and great on-board service, but fares are often as low as $600 in coach and $1400 in business class.

 

 

Wow - I checked prices for this airline (actually never heard of it) and it only flies from Chicago to Barcelona on Saturdays and Wednesdays - but the roundtrip price with tax was $799.50! Not sure if the dates will work for us, but will definately concider - Thanks!

[Globaliser]

Wow - I checked prices for this airline (actually never heard of it) and it only flies from Chicago to Barcelona on Saturdays and Wednesdays - but the roundtrip price with tax was $799.50! Not sure if the dates will work for us, but will definately concider - Thanks!

I don't often say things like this here (no matter how often I think them), but PK is an airline that I personally would not fly even if they paid me $800 to do it.

 

And it has nothing to do with the fact that it's dry.

[YXU AC*SE]

Well there was that small issue a coupla years ago when more than three-quarters of their fleet weren't permitted to operate to/from/within the EU for repeated safety violations, but I personally might be equally as anxious when reading news stories like this: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/01/12/airport-security-pearson.html or like this, from last week: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/09/25/toronto-flight-bomb-alert.html

 

Scott.

[leslierx]

I don't often say things like this here (no matter how often I think them), but PK is an airline that I personally would not fly even if they paid me $800 to do it.

 

And it has nothing to do with the fact that it's dry.

 

That is funny - I am actually checking all this for a trip for my inlaws, and I seriously doubt they would agree to fly Pakistan Int. Air....I am expecting a big laugh when I even propose it!

[leslierx]

Another question I have is about Customs/Immigration. Since I won't be flying non-stop from either St. Louis or Chicago to Barcelona, will going thru customs happen at the first stop in Europe going, and the first stop in US coming home?

 

For instance, if we fly from St Louis or Chicago to Barcelona with only 1 stop in say Atlanta or New York we won't have to go thru customs until we reach Barcelona? On the way home, if we make the same connection (in Atlanta or New York) then we would have to go thru customs in the stop over city and then try to make our connection home.

 

So, maybe coming home it would be wise to change planes in Europe then fly home non stop if possible going thru customs at home airport with no other flight to rush to catch. Do I make any sense at all? And when going thru customs on a layover, do we have to retrieve our bags and go thru customs, then re-check them?

 

So much to think about!

[Globaliser]

So, maybe coming home it would be wise to change planes in Europe then fly home non stop if possible going thru customs at home airport with no other flight to rush to catch. Do I make any sense at all?

Absolutely. The position is this, if you are making only one connection.

 

On the way to Barcelona, there is no outbound immigration from the US, so:-

• If you connect at a US airport, you will clear immigration and customs at the end of the second flight, at the European destination airport.
• If you connect at a European airport within the Schengen area, you will clear immigration at the connection airport. But your bags should be through-tagged to your final destination so you don't have to do anything about them at the connection point. When you get to the final destination, you collect the bags and clear customs (but not immigration, as you've already done that).
• If you connect at a European airport outside the Schengen area, you will clear immigration and customs at the final destination.

On the way back from Barcelona, there is outbound immigration, so:-

• If you connect at a US airport, you will clear outbound immigration at the departure point. You then clear US immigration and customs at the connection point: You clear immigration, collect your bags, clear customs, then drop or re-check your bag before going to your connecting flight.
• If you connect at a European airport within the Schengen area, you will clear outbound immigration at the connection point. But your bags should be through-tagged to your final destination so you don't have to do anything about them at the connection point. When you get to the final destination, you clear US immigration, collect the bags and clear customs.
• If you connect at a European airport outside the Schengen area, you will clear outbound immigration at the departure point. You then clear US immigration, collect your bags and clear customs at the final destination.

At any of the connection points, expect to have to re-clear security, although some permutations won't require it.

 

I think a connection at a European point on the way back has a lot of advantages. The time it takes to do the US immigration/customs shuffle can be very variable, so many people like to build in a big time margin for this step. But usually it ends up being wasted time. A connection in Europe means that you can accept a shorter connection time because the connecting process is much easier.

[personnext]

That is funny - I am actually checking all this for a trip for my inlaws, and I seriously doubt they would agree to fly Pakistan Int. Air....I am expecting a big laugh when I even propose it!

 

Just remember that PIA has a very modern and young trans-Atlantic fleet, and also offers on-board service, amenities and more generous meal portions than any U.S. or European carrier does.

 

I've flown PIA trans-Atlantic - it's like a trip back to the glory days of air travel in terms of on-board service.

[hubofhockey]

Aer Lingus, which may fly out of Chicago, may have competitive prices on the Barcelona route. We used them from Boston to Venice and then back from Barcelona to Boston. For next summer, we are flying up on Icelandair (dirt cheap but only goes from Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle, and a couple other US cities) to Barcelona and back on Aer Lingus. We have a long layover in Iceland and we plan to spend a good part of the day at the Blue Lagoon. Layover on return in Dublin is short.

[zoncom]

I always check on Bookingbuddy.com which shows most discount air sellers. Stay away form one horse airlines. You want a big foreign airline which has backup routes in case something happens. I like Luftansa which belongs to Star Alliance which includes United.Was on Luftansa coach recently Airbus 330/300 (i think) Roomiest coach seats ever. I was over there this Spring with the IceLand volcano. LH rerouted us while a bunch of folks on obscure lines were camped out for days. It can happen.

[wrp96]

Was on Luftansa coach recently Airbus 330/300 (i think) Roomiest coach seats ever.

 

Would've have to have been the A330 as their 747 is pretty cramped back in coach.

[FlyerTalker]

I always check on Bookingbuddy.com which shows most discount air sellers.

Remember....discount ticket sites sell a cheaper product for a reason: It usually isn't the same ticket as what you would get from the airline directly. Often they are bulk/consolidator tickets with heavy restrictions and penalties.

 

Know what you are buying, especially if you are being lured by a "great deal".

[UKBayern]

I don't often say things like this here (no matter how often I think them), but PK is an airline that I personally would not fly even if they paid me $800 to do it.

 

Neither would I! I worked for airlines that were not allowed by their insurance to reposition staff on PIA. In the business, PIA has earned a bad reputation. They were also always leaving late from AMS because some kind of mechanical problem.