Princess Airfare Promotion and Pricing

[boxztrs]

I am posting this in hopes that someone at Princess reads these boards.

 

We have done Transatlantic crossings on Princess the last 3 years, because as a repositioning cruise the prices have been very reasonable. This year Princess has decided to offer an airfare promotional credit instead of lower fares. Since we don't need their airfare, this has caused the Princess prices to be non-competetive with the other lines.

 

Other people must agree with my sentiment, since the cruise we are looking to book is very empty with less than 5 weeks until sailing.

 

Princess Cruises, please listen and give us some pricing without the airfare promotion!

[RickEk]

I am posting this in hopes that someone at Princess reads these boards.

 

We have done Transatlantic crossings on Princess the last 3 years, because as a repositioning cruise the prices have been very reasonable. This year Princess has decided to offer an airfare promotional credit instead of lower fares. Since we don't need their airfare, this has caused the Princess prices to be non-competetive with the other lines.

 

Other people must agree with my sentiment, since the cruise we are looking to book is very empty with less than 5 weeks until sailing.

 

Princess Cruises, please listen and give us some pricing without the airfare promotion!

 

 

The airfare promotion ends in 10 days or so... maybe pricing will change after that...

[Times Prince]

I am posting this in hopes that someone at Princess reads these boards.

 

We have done Transatlantic crossings on Princess the last 3 years, because as a repositioning cruise the prices have been very reasonable. This year Princess has decided to offer an airfare promotional credit instead of lower fares. Since we don't need their airfare, this has caused the Princess prices to be non-competetive with the other lines.

 

Other people must agree with my sentiment, since the cruise we are looking to book is very empty with less than 5 weeks until sailing.

 

Princess Cruises, please listen and give us some pricing without the airfare promotion!

We booked this Crown Princess transatlantic cruise from Galveston recently precisely because Princess was offering what you are unhappy about. The balcony price was slightly discounted from the price we were quoted onboard the same ship in January and the return airfare to IAH from London (several seeks later) was less than half of what the airlines charge for the same flight. That was a win-win for us, especially with pricing our TA was able to offer.

 

In short, we don't agree with your sentiment. I am sure that because you have some other means of obtaining airfare this appears unsatisfactory, but for us it was a great deal.

 

We have not seen this sort of per day balcony pricing in the past 10 years !:D, and that's not even considering the low air fare as part of the overall deal . That's our experience.

[eandj]

Air overseas this year is waaaay high. :rolleyes: Result... not filling ships on Princess as well as other lines. Princess decided to attract customers via the air credit. As most people don't use miles or other methods to book cheap/free flights, they ARE filling ships with the tempting lower flight costs. And we found convenient times and dates. We actually were offered a lower rate AND the lower air for our June cruise to Norway. Now rates are moving up. As TA's tend to run less $$, I can see the air credit being the first draw for cruisers on those itineraries.

 

Supply and demand.

[sherryf]

So, how does the airfare sale work? I'm hoping to book a cruise for my husband and myself, plus my mother and aunt. We live near the port and don't need airfare. My mother and aunt are coming from different places and would be booking their own air. If I book the cruise, do they get to go online themselves and pick their flights after the cruise is booked, or does it all have to be done at once? Is there any way I can tell how much they might save on airfare before booking everything? I've been watching for cheaper cruise fares, but wonder if it's better to book now so they save on airfare, and if it makes up the price difference. Like the OP, the airfare sale doesn't do me any good personally, since I'm not flying, and I'd rather see cheaper cruise fares.

[nyc12345]

So, how does the airfare sale work? I'm hoping to book a cruise for my husband and myself, plus my mother and aunt. We live near the port and don't need airfare. My mother and aunt are coming from different places and would be booking their own air. If I book the cruise, do they get to go online themselves and pick their flights after the cruise is booked, or does it all have to be done at once? Is there any way I can tell how much they might save on airfare before booking everything? I've been watching for cheaper cruise fares, but wonder if it's better to book now so they save on airfare, and if it makes up the price difference. Like the OP, the airfare sale doesn't do me any good personally, since I'm not flying, and I'd rather see cheaper cruise fares.

 

Sherry, looks like you are thinking of another Alaska cruise, so you don't need flight but your mother and aunt do. After the reservation is booked, they can book air themselves. If you have a TA that gives you discount, you can save even more money than booking directly with Princess.

[srpilo]

I am posting this in hopes that someone at Princess reads these boards.

 

We have done Transatlantic crossings on Princess the last 3 years, because as a repositioning cruise the prices have been very reasonable. This year Princess has decided to offer an airfare promotional credit instead of lower fares. Since we don't need their airfare, this has caused the Princess prices to be non-competetive with the other lines.

 

Other people must agree with my sentiment, since the cruise we are looking to book is very empty with less than 5 weeks until sailing.

 

Princess Cruises, please listen and give us some pricing without the airfare promotion!

 

I have to say, I agree..

 

The last few months Princess has been all over the board with their so called "sales". While HAL and Celebrity have been offering meaningful sales and promotions based on a projected flat 2013 ecomony , Princess has continued with unrealistic per diems, and IMO like their onboard coupon books, sales that in the end offer no real value.

 

 

 

I've average over 40 days a year on Princess for the last 6 or 7 years straight , and right now I have absolutely nothing booked on Princess for this year or next.

 

We'll see what happens as the season progresses

Srpilo

[boxztrs]

We booked this Crown Princess transatlantic cruise from Galveston recently precisely because Princess was offering what you are unhappy about. The balcony price was slightly discounted from the price we were quoted onboard the same ship in January and the return airfare to IAH from London (several seeks later) was less than half of what the airlines charge for the same flight. That was a win-win for us, especially with pricing our TA was able to offer.

 

In short, we don't agree with your sentiment. I am sure that because you have some other means of obtaining airfare this appears unsatisfactory, but for us it was a great deal.

 

We have not seen this sort of per day balcony pricing in the past 10 years !:D, and that's not even considering the low air fare as part of the overall deal . That's our experience.

 

Don't get fooled into thinking Princess gave you the $200 air credit for free. The transatlantic fares last year were much more than $200 lower than they are now with the air credit. Therefore you paid a higher price, but walked away feeling like you got a good deal. Sorry, these promotions don't work for those that follow the prices.

[Times Prince]

Don't get fooled into thinking Princess gave you the $200 air credit for free. The transatlantic fares last year were much more than $200 lower than they are now with the air credit. Therefore you paid a higher price, but walked away feeling like you got a good deal. Sorry, these promotions don't work for those that follow the prices.

We do follow the prices as we have family in Europe. Seeing as I wasn't comparing cruise price to that of the year before, I saw both lower cruise and lower air fare. I'm happy with what I got.

[dr__dawggy]

Don't get fooled into thinking Princess gave you the $200 air credit for free. The transatlantic fares last year were much more than $200 lower than they are now with the air credit. Therefore you paid a higher price, but walked away feeling like you got a good deal. Sorry, these promotions don't work for those that follow the prices.

 

A couple of points:

 

1. Look around. We are booked for a TA crossing on the Crown. Prices for the cabin adjacent to ours and in the same category vary by as much as $800 on different web sites, with princess being the highest.

 

2. Check. Then Check Again in a week or two. We booked our stateroom from Princess during a "sale" over Valentines. We also saved a lot of money by taking advantage of the EZ Air bonus....EZ air fares were 700 pp less that the airline web site.

 

The amount we paid for our cabin is $600 pp less than the current price shown on the Princess web site and a hundred dollars more than the lowest rate I found on a travel company site.

 

Overall, The price we paid for our TA this year is less per day than the price we paid last year. Plus, we are paying substantially less for airfare this year vs last. For comparative purposes, we look for rates of around 100 per day for a balcony room....about what we paid last year and more than we are paying this year.

[kjg46]

Timing is Everything- HappyCamper

 

We too are on the April Transatlantic from Galveston. We originally booked our TA cruise last September while on our Alaska cruise. In late October I noticed a price drop on Princess web site for our specific cruise. I called Pricess and had them reprice and reduced our cruise cost by $400+. I then transferred our booking to a new TA. Our TA could not beat the new Princess fare. However, we will be getting 30,000 FF Miles and a $25 OBC. Princess EZair beat the regular air lines by a substantial amount. We booked EZair flight from London, May 6th to IAH. I did notice later that Princess was offering Air savings so I again called Princess two days before the 45 day change window. Again, We struck gold. They cancelled our original air booking and rebooked getting the new lower price. Savings of $500+. We were able to keep the same seats as we had on the original booking. In our case "timing was everything".

 

Also, some folks may have gotten confusd on the Princess new cabin pricing structure. Effective with our April 13th departure the new pricing takes effect. Example: Aft cabins that were once considered a Catagory BB are now Catagory 4B. More popular cabins and locations with be priced at a premium. This was announced in a Feburary 29, 2012 memorandum called: Fleet Recategorization Announcement. One our the CruiseCritic members posted the memo online. Great reading. It also mentiond the optional upgrade choices.

 

All the best,

 

Kevin

[gobarb26@aol.com]

Timing is Everything- HappyCamper

 

We too are on the April Transatlantic from Galveston. We originally booked our TA cruise last September while on our Alaska cruise. In late October I noticed a price drop on Princess web site for our specific cruise. I called Pricess and had them reprice and reduced our cruise cost by $400+. I then transferred our booking to a new TA. Our TA could not beat the new Princess fare. However, we will be getting 30,000 FF Miles and a $25 OBC. Princess EZair beat the regular air lines by a substantial amount. We booked EZair flight from London, May 6th to IAH. I did notice later that Princess was offering Air savings so I again called Princess two days before the 45 day change window. Again, We struck gold. They cancelled our original air booking and rebooked getting the new lower price. Savings of $500+. We were able to keep the same seats as we had on the original booking. In our case "timing was everything".

 

Also, some folks may have gotten confusd on the Princess new cabin pricing structure. Effective with our April 13th departure the new pricing takes effect. Example: Aft cabins that were once considered a Catagory BB are now Catagory 4B. More popular cabins and locations with be priced at a premium. This was announced in a Feburary 29, 2012 memorandum called: Fleet Recategorization Announcement. One our the CruiseCritic members posted the memo online. Great reading. It also mentiond the optional upgrade choices.

 

All the best,

 

Kevin

 

You got that right…timing IS everything. I think we got a good price for the cruise, as well as a very good price for the air fare through the Princess EZ Air promotion. We are happy with what we got! My only problem is getting to the port in Ft. Lauderdale!

[dweeb]

I am new to how EZ Air works, and I have a question or two that maybe someone could answer.

 

1. If I book with a TA, and get their discounted price, and their OBC's, then after the booking is made, go to Princess website and get the EZ air offer that is currently offered? Or do I have to book with princess to be able to get the sale offer that also has the EZ Air offerings?

 

2. When using EZ Air, will the people flying get the frequent flyer mileage added to their account, or is it a wholesaler rate that does not count. I know that this may be dependent of the airlines themselves. I am interested in Alaska Airlines if anyone has had experience with this, I would appreciate knowing how it was handled.

 

Thanks

[yiew]

Im from singapore. My TA told me that ezair is only for US citizens. Is this true?

[sunsetbeachgal]

I am new to how EZ Air works, and I have a question or two that maybe someone could answer.

 

1. If I book with a TA, and get their discounted price, and their OBC's, then after the booking is made, go to Princess website and get the EZ air offer that is currently offered? Or do I have to book with princess to be able to get the sale offer that also has the EZ Air offerings?

 

2. When using EZ Air, will the people flying get the frequent flyer mileage added to their account, or is it a wholesaler rate that does not count. I know that this may be dependent of the airlines themselves. I am interested in Alaska Airlines if anyone has had experience with this, I would appreciate knowing how it was handled.

 

Thanks

 

I booked my cruise with TA (luckily the agency had a group rate) then after I did deposit using FCC, I went in and booked air. You must have a deposit placed in order to do EZAir.

 

After air booked, I called airline, in this case Delta, and added frequent flyer info. No problem,

[caribill]

I am new to how EZ Air works, and I have a question or two that maybe someone could answer.

 

1. If I book with a TA, and get their discounted price, and their OBC's, then after the booking is made, go to Princess website and get the EZ air offer that is currently offered? Or do I have to book with princess to be able to get the sale offer that also has the EZ Air offerings? You do not have to book directly with Princess in order to use EZAir. However the rules for paying for the cruise in full to protect the air pricing still apply.

 

2. When using EZ Air, will the people flying get the frequent flyer mileage added to their account, or is it a wholesaler rate that does not count. I know that this may be dependent of the airlines themselves. I am interested in Alaska Airlines if anyone has had experience with this, I would appreciate knowing how it was handled. Airline policies may differ, but so far I have always been able to get my FF miles when using EZAir.

 

Thanks

 

see above in red

[Times Prince]

I booked my cruise with TA (luckily the agency had a group rate) then after I did deposit using FCC, I went in and booked air. You must have a deposit placed in order to do EZAir.

 

After air booked, I called airline, in this case Delta, and added frequent flyer info. No problem,

 

EZ Air bookings include the airline's booking code. Once you have that you can log on to the airline's web site and then enter your frequent flyer number and also choose seats if your airline allows it (some, like British Air Don't).

[mytime53]

I am interested in Alaska Airlines if anyone has had experience with this, I would appreciate knowing how it was handled.

 

Thanks

 

I don't know your departure city or your dates, but Alaska Air had some fantastic prices yesterday...check right now!