Book with air or not?

[phinn]

I have always cruised out of Florida and driven to the port. In June, we will be cruising Alaska and will be flying into Vancouver, BC. Since I am not the best flyer, I am unfamiliar with how the prices flucuate as the time approaches so I am asking those of you who know. Would I be wiser to book my flight with Celebrity now to secure our seats or can I afford to wait until it gets closer to cruise (like march) before I purchase plane tickets? We plan on splurging on first class tickets due to long flight so this is a major expense for us. Also curious if I purchase travel insurance that would cover any reason of cancellation, would that include plane tickets? Thanks

[captain_oats]

I wouldn't book through Celebrity...the cost will be MUCH higher than if you book on your own. Flying in and out of Canada booking on your own can be very expensive as it is. My suggestion would be to fly into Seattle or even Bellingham International...from there you can take the Quick Shuttle service to Vancouver (costs about $50 each way) doing this you will most likely save more money in the long run and get a direct flight..there are no direct flights from Florida to Vancouver either...I would book sooner than later too. As far as travel insurance, the one that I personally have includes EVERYTHING, plane tickets included.

I hope this helps!:)

[colocop004]

I have never booked though the cruise line. The concevience is not worth the cost. Esp if you are looking at First Class. I am assuming that you did not use a TA for the cruise. You may want to consider transferring your Cruise reservation to a well respected TA and let them make that reservation for you. Ask you friends for recommendations to make sure that you get a respectable TA. You can even have the TA do your flight and not transfer your Cruise reservation if you chose.

[Lsimon]

We've taken two approaches:

 

Usually when we've booked far in advance to a distant location where I'm not sure about the airfare (like for a cruise to Europe or a repositioning cruise) we've had them book the traditional cruise air which can be cancelled for no charge up to the final payment date. Periodically we check the rates and if we find a better deal we cancel the cruise air.

 

If you take this approach be sure to use the custom air so you can select your own flights - there is a small fee for this which is waived if you are a Captains Club member (prior Celebrity cruiser). If you leave it up to the cruise line you might have a good flight and might end up in set of bad connecting flights at unusual times. Don't leave it to chance - select your flights as soon as you can (about 10 1/2 months in advance or closer).

 

Celebrity also has a program called Choice Air and might even be phasing out the traditional cruise air program discussed above, and which most people are familiar with, in favor of the Choice Air program.

 

Choice air works similarly to using an online flight or travel web site. You sign in using your reservation number and then pick your flight dates (cruise date will come up as default but you can choose dates which arrive earlier or fly home later if you want to stay in the port city before/after your cruise) and type of flight with options for class of service and preferred number of stops. You then are presented with a choice of flights on different airlines and at different prices. There also a couple of options unique to Choice Air the least expensive of which is to purchase and pay for the flights immediately. You can also select a "flex" option which allows you to pay only a non-refundable $15/pp booking fee now and pay for the remainder of the tickets at final payment date. I'm not sure what happens if you want to cancel the flights only before final payment but you can call and ask them that question. The flex option added a total of $75 to the price of two tickets the last time I checked on flights for an upcoming cruise.

 

Most of the time when I've checked Choice Air the prices have been the same or more than flights through other services, so I've booked direct with the airline or through one of the popular online TA sites. But on an upcoming cruise the Choice Air option was several hundred dollars less (about 20% or more) than the best prices I could find for the same flights - and this was for a standard flight from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale and were for direct nonstop flights on our preferred airline. The booking/fare codes where the same as what we've gotten recently on advance purchase tickets bought direct from the airlines. A pretty good savings. Under the Choice Air program you have the option to buy transfers but they are not included as they are under the traditional cruise air program. The link to choice air is at this page:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/plancruise/transportation/heroSingleTxtSub.do;jsessionid=0000pFmfge4YchWTmBrO98Zco90:12hdebdrn?pagename=air

[topsailgirl]

I will add info about my latest experience with Choice Air Plus -- I called to make reservations. (At no charge because I am elite.) I booked the flight and when I got my confirmation e-mail I saw that Choice Air person had me flying out of Greenville South Carolina instead of Greensboro, North Carolina. I panicked - usually it can be a hassle (and maybe costly) to change itinerary after flight has been booked. However, I called and Choice Air immediately corrected with no charge for having to change --which is what they should have done -- I was just impressed with how quickly and efficiently they handled the mistake. No questions asked!

 

Also, the flight was cheaper than if I had booked direct with airline. I checked airline first and was not going to book if, when I called, the flight cost more. But it did not -- it was less. And I got the times I wanted on both outgoing and returning flight.

 

I will use again definitely!

[Giorgi-one]

Since this is your first trip "away from home" make sure you go at least one day early, preferably two days. Now you have to worry about cancelled flights and lost baggage.

Definitely book the flights on your own. Note that airline flight prices change almost every day. Go to Kayak.com and you can set up a "Price Alert" which will automatically email you pricing every day. Don't get too greedy. If you see a good price, book it because it could skyrocket at the last minute.

[phinn]

Thanks. I am planning on arriving one day early into Vancouver. Currently I have priced flights on Kayak and with Choice Air (we are Select) and they are the same. Unless prices take a nosedive, I would consider bookingnow, but really hate to put that out right before the holidays. I appreciate all your feedback. I will be taking all your suggestions to heart and try to figure out what's best for us. Didn't realize how good I had it sailing out of Florida!

[BroncosFan2010]

We have always gotten better deals by booking our airfare (and hotels) on our own. If you do this, you need to remember that the cruise line's insurance will not cover your airfare.