Please Help Me Fulfill My Dad's wish . . .

[gert]

This might sound silly, but my 78 year old dad has always wanted to fly on a 747.

 

I don't know much about airplanes, but we are sailing from Barcelona next June and it is up to me to book our entire family on a flight from Miami to Barcelona on a 747.

 

Is this even possible?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[jcanino]

This might sound silly, but my 78 year old dad has always wanted to fly on a 747.

 

I don't know much about airplanes, but we are sailing from Barcelona next June and it is up to me to book our entire family on a flight from Miami to Barcelona on a 747.

 

I did see an Air France flight from Paris to Miami on a 747 but most flights seem to be on 767's or A330's. Even if you did find flights with 747's at this point, by the time June comes around, there could be several equipment changes and no guarantees that your plane will be a 747.

[gert]

that's what I was afraid of.

[greatam]

British Airways still flies 747's as well as quite a few international carriers. If you really want to give your Dad a great gift, British Airways is running a special right now. About $500.00 RT NY to London, including 1 nights hotel, if traveling solo. If an extra trip to Europe is not in the picture, please post the dates you need to fly for your cruise and I will run a search to find all the 747's flying on those days.

[gert]

British Airways still flies 747's as well as quite a few international carriers. If you really want to give your Dad a great gift, British Airways is running a special right now. About $500.00 RT NY to London, including 1 nights hotel, if traveling solo. If an extra trip to Europe is not in the picture, please post the dates you need to fly for your cruise and I will run a search to find all the 747's flying on those days.

 

Wow, that would be great!!!

I think it might be too early to check but:

 

We need to fly out on June 14, 2006 out of Miami to Barcelona any route is fine

Returning on or about June 27 or 28th.

[vivian02]

I'm with you your Dad not only needs that dream fullfilled but he would love walking the beaches of Barcelona. At the moment it is too early to start checking dates that you want to fly. I just checked on side step and the earliest date was May 24, 2006. I did noticd Iberia has a flight out of MIA on a 747-300 to Barcelona by way of Madrid. The price was $815. There were also some British Air flights flying into London from MIA. Just watch which airports you arrive and leave from in London. Most of all avoid the 767's. You can always find a cheap flight on these planes but they aren't very confortable on a long haul flight. That 747 your Dad will really love. I would start checking flights starting in late July and watch for the price drops this fall. I would say you can get MIA to BCN with one connection for $550 to $700 with the main flight on a 747. Your connections will most likely be London, Madrid, Paris and sometimes Frankfurt. I say go for it. Lucky Dad

Tim

[DanJ]

Funny, I've always found 767's to be more comfortable than 747's. 2-3-2 beats 3-4-3 seating anyday. According to the BA site, their 767's have more seat pitch than either their 747 or 777 fleets in economy (world traveller) class.

[gert]

I can't thank you enough for your replies. I honestly thought that this was going to be impossible.

 

You have all given me a glimmer of hope.

[greatam]

Funny, I've always found 767's to be more comfortable than 747's. 2-3-2 beats 3-4-3 seating anyday. According to the BA site, their 767's have more seat pitch than either their 747 or 777 fleets in economy (world traveller) class.

 

Her Dad is NOT looking at the comfort aspect. He wants to fly a 747. Probably wants to go upstairs, also. My DH will go out of his way to book ANY overseas flight on a 747. We have taken some very strange flights, just so he can fly 747's. Our trip 3 weeks ago was on Air Pacific to Fiji. They only fly 747's long haul and the upper deck is request at the gate only. He chose to wait for the gate seating, instead of flying business on an upgrade. I was amazed. For an 11 hour long haul flight, he gave up a bed for the top deck of a 747. I understand exactly why her Dad wants to fly 747.

[CruisinMatt]

Just a note, British Airways will not let you upstairs unless your have a seat there due to security reasons. The world club seats are great up there if you can swing it. I flew LHR-ORD on the upper deck in march and was almost sad to get off it was so quiet and comfortable. :)

[DanJ]

Her Dad is NOT looking at the comfort aspect. He wants to fly a 747. Probably wants to go upstairs, also. My DH will go out of his way to book ANY overseas flight on a 747. We have taken some very strange flights, just so he can fly 747's. Our trip 3 weeks ago was on Air Pacific to Fiji. They only fly 747's long haul and the upper deck is request at the gate only. He chose to wait for the gate seating, instead of flying business on an upgrade. I was amazed. For an 11 hour long haul flight, he gave up a bed for the top deck of a 747. I understand exactly why her Dad wants to fly 747.

 

Perhaps I should have quoted the part of the reply above mine where the poster said "most of all, avoid the 767's", in reference to comfort level compared to a 747. The only comfort advantage a 747 has over other aircraft is the generally shorter flight on the same route, givne it's greater speed than other commercial jets (especially Airbuses)

[Globaliser]

Just a note, British Airways will not let you upstairs unless your have a seat there due to security reasons. The world club seats are great up there if you can swing it. I flew LHR-ORD on the upper deck in march and was almost sad to get off it was so quiet and comfortable. :)

If the OP's dad particularly wants to fly on the upper deck but doesn't want to pay a business class fare, then one option from MIA is Virgin Atlantic to London. VS has premium economy on the upper deck which is much more affordable than business class.

 

VS flies to London daily on a 747. BA flies twice a day (a bit more in the coming winter), all on 747s.

 

Another 747 option would be Lufthansa via Frankfurt.

[gert]

We have reservations with Iberia on a Boeing 747 out of Miami to Madrid - I have until Tuesday, August 16th at 9 PM to finalize same.

 

This Boeing 747 is operated by AIR ATLANTA ICELANDIC (never heard of them).

 

Does anyone have any information regarding this airline?

[vivian02]

I did a quick check on their site (Airl Atlantic Iceland). They fly all around the world with a majority of their business in Cargo. However they operate two 747-400 on behalf of Iberia Airlines. I would go to Iberia Airlines and check the information on their Air Partners. The two 747 in question do fly into Madrid. Everything sounds legit. Maybe someone who has traveled on this flight will reply. Good luck, Tim

[gert]

Thank you Tim.

 

I hope so too.

[Globaliser]

This Boeing 747 is operated by AIR ATLANTA ICELANDIC (never heard of them).

 

Does anyone have any information regarding this airline?

Air Atlanta Icelandic is a major wet-lease operator. That is to say, they own their aircraft but charter them out to airlines, so as to operate services on behalf of those airlines to the airlines' specifications. One of AAI's most high-profile customers is Virgin Atlantic, which has in the past had AAI operating specific services for them for literally years, with the aircraft actually painted in Virgin Atlantic livery - so I really don't think there's much to worry about.

[gert]

That is great news.

 

One of my friends saw this aircraft a few weeks ago (parked at MIA) and commented on how old it looked (hence my concern). I guess my mom was right, we should never let someone or something's "age" cloud our judgment.

 

Thank you Globaliser.

Oh my mom, wants me to "thank you" on her behalf as well. :)

[Suzieb]

Gert Just a quick check of Orbitz found that Iberia, Air France, British Air and United using Lufthansa fly 747's out of Miami did not check other lines but I'm sure there are.

Right now using your dates that you gave Iberia is the cheapest but you will change planes, should not be a problem.

Just a note British air has the largest fleet of 747's and I think their age is the youngest average age.

To tell you the truth I would not hesitate to fly any of the above air lines.

Good Luck in finding your flights and hope you Dad enjoys the flight

 

Enjoy

[Host Mike]

I was in Miami 2 months ago.

Iberia was flying 747 out of there.

Going to Spain, that would be your best bet.

[gert]

I did just that last Thursday.

Today I regret it.

Everything my friends told me about Iberia is true. Mostly that their customer service is terrible. I found that out today.

 

I booked 9 passengers for our cruise next summer (June) on the phone through their 800 number. I used 4 different credit cards. All of us are traveling together- all family members. The agent on the phone was very thorough, went over everything with me. Then he said you will be getting an e-mail confirming all of your flights (basically e-tickets). I said okay thank you. Went to my hotmail and saw that they were all there (9 different e-mails). Did not have a chance to go through of all them until tonight. My computer crashed and well you knwo how that goes.

 

So today I am organizing all the trip stuf and had to call Iberia to book 4 more family members when I noticed that they had my cousin's return flight wrong. We are all flying out the same day and returning the same day. The 28th, the agent had obviously done a typo- he typed in the 22. So I asked them to please fix it.

 

They want $200 because they consider it a flight change. Clearly their mistake I have prove that my cousin will be on board the Jewel in the middle of the Mediterrenean on the 22nd but they want $200 to fix their mistake.

[vivian02]

Gert,

Sorry to hear about the issue you are running into with Iberia. I just don't think Iberia is the only Airline out there that is a pain. Wow, you really have your hands full taking responsiblity with all those bookings. There is one good thing going in your favor. At least you spotted the error early in the booking stage. Make sure you ask why 8 of the booking are good and the 1 isn't? I definely agree with you on this one, it was their mistake. Two years ago I did a booking going into Barcelona with a consolidator....and at the other end of the phone was a person with a very heavy India acent. It took over 40 minutes to complete the booking and I was concerned whether the booking legit but everything went fine. The only problem I had was after flying out of Barcelona we had a night stay over in Frankfurt. No problem...there is a Holiday Inn express with a courtsy van not too far from the Frankfurt Airport.

I see where you have done Splendor in July of 2003. My wife and I did Splendor in June 2004. I take it you are dong Jewel for June 2006. I am asking because I have my eye on this cruise but haven't jumped yet. Anyway keep us informed on how things are going. We understand your frustrations. Tim

[gert]

Tim, thank you for your kind words. I will keep you updated as to Iberia's customer service "efforts". I have now learned that Iberia allows you to adjust or make changes to your flights within 24 hours of booking, so to them I am way late. Of course it does not matter to them that such information was never revealed to me until after the fact.

 

Yes we are all very excited about next summer's sailing. The Jewel looks great and we booked early enough to get an excellent deal.

[gert]

They contacted me today and fixed my cousin's e-ticket without charging us an extra $200. After reviewing our bookings they realized that it indeed was just a typo on the agent's part. You should know that my last words to the supervisor last night was to please not let all the terrible things I had heard about Iberia's customer service be true.

 

Now we are all set to travel and my dad is so very happy that he will be flying on a Boeing 747. :D

 

Thank you all for help, advice and kind words.

[just4kixx]

GLad to hear Iberia came through for you gert. You are a very good daughter helping to make your father's dream come true ;)

 

My mother always says she wants to cruise to Hawaii before she dies. Needless to say, whenever someone suggests a cruise to Hawaii, she declines. Says she's not ready to go yet :D

 

I tell her that she's gonna go when He's ready for her. It will have nothing to do with if she has cruised to Hawaii or not! Still, no plans in the works for Hawaii! lol

 

Good luck with the rest of your planning... sounds like you have your work cut out for you!

A~:)