Is expensive air travel changing your cruise plans?

[kelmac]

We usually travel 10 -- 12 weeks of the year, with two, three or four cruises thrown into the mix. Celebrity is our favorite cruise line, but getting to MIA or FLL is getting very expensive. (Elite Plus with Celebrity)

 

I just cancelled a cruise out of MIA for next March (Reflection) and replaced it with an NCL (Yuck!) cruise out of Houston. Not in the same league, but we can get a balcony cabin, at inside Celebrity prices, as well as an "Ultimate Dining" package and eat all of our meals in alternative restaurants. Round trip to MIA is running north of $870 out of ABQ; we can do HOU for under $400 R/T.

 

In addition, we booked a Thanksgiving cruise on Royal Caribbean, out of Galveston. Air costs are always expensive at that time of the year, but MIA or FLL is just out of the question. My wife is a teacher, so we are limited to her periods of unemployment during the school year.

 

Anyone else having problems with air fares effecting their cruise budget?

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Illyria]

Florida airfares and spring break don't mix well. Flights to Miami are more expensive than FLL, too.

 

Although if you travel so much, you should be able to accumulate enough frequent flyer miles, various credit card points, etc. to make airfare more affordable.

[justcrusn]

I just looked at southwest, depending on date I see flights as low as $153 from abq to fll

[Cruise Junky]

Wow that's high I'm in Vancouver and looking at a keys land trip in April. The air is $450. But April isn't March. To your original question ...it's not stopping our big trips, but yeah, we may think twice when we add in additional trips and for North America we try to keep it to Alaska to use our companion tickets

[kelmac]

Florida airfares and spring break don't mix well. Flights to Miami are more expensive than FLL, too.

 

Although if you travel so much, you should be able to accumulate enough frequent flyer miles, various credit card points, etc. to make airfare more affordable.

 

I just looked at southwest, depending on date I see flights as low as $153 from abq to fll

 

Hi Illyria and justcrusn!

 

Southwest is our airline of choice! We both have their SWA credit cards and rack up the miles really fast. Our problem is the dates that we must cruise -- Thanksgiving, Xmas, Springbreak and summer months. We get great deals at times, but not during the school year:

 

Depart ABQ-HOU-FLL Wanna Get Away

Cost = $799.50

 

This is the cost to fly to FLL at Thanksgiving. We are doing ABQ to FLL for Xmas, and it's close to this as well.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[miched]

I have always experienced air fares to correlate with everything else. We were frequent travele to Las Vegas. If the air fares were low the hotel rates were high. If the fares were high the hotel rates were low.

 

Supply and demand.

 

With all the BS to fly today we only book cruises that we are Abel to drive to. Fl is a long drive but it is more enjoyable to drive than fly.

 

Cruise on 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅🐭

[smtcan]

We really have no option but to fly if we want to cruise. We have driven to Florida for a Caribbean cruise on a couple of occasions, but we prefer more interesting itineraries. Luckily, being retired, we can travel at off-peak times, but fares are still considerably higher than in previous years. We try to maximize the benefit of air travel when we can, by doing B2B cruises and adding a land component. We know that some of the more exotic locations will only be visited once, so we want to do as much as possible while we are there.

 

Sheila

[teecee60]

Just TODAY, I booked our Delta/Alitalia flight from middle-of-nowhere Fargo, ND to Rome to meet up with Reflection for her transatlantic this October. :)

 

I thought $550pp to fly a quarter of the way around the world, was VERY reasonable. :cool:

 

(Although not as good as last year when it was only $508pp! :eek: :D )

 

Getting a 15 night cruise on Reflection for $649pp with $350 OBC wasn't bad either. ;)

Edited July 18, 2014 by teecee60

[Ruthk]

I am Canadian and live in a border city so we are fortunate enough to be able to fly out of Buffalo. Now, if you want to see expensive air fares - you should check out the Toronto Airport!!!! Buffalo has daily non-stop flights with Jet Blue and SW and the prices are quite low. Our problem is the waiting at the airport and all the security checks and again waiting. So this year, we thought we will drive to Florida for our Southern Caribbean cruise. Being retired, we can take our time and will stop overnight where ever we feel, and we are looking forward to doing that. With all the scary things happening with terrorism, I certainly understand, and am glad, that they are thorough, but it does take the fun out of travelling. We are looking forward to the drive.

[phoenix_dream]

I think flight prices are insane - have risen way more than inflation would account for. And that is not even counting 'optional' stuff like, you know, luggage:rolleyes:. It has not affected our decision to cruise yet, but has made us think twice about various land trip options. And yet, depending on timing and luck, sometimes good prices can be found. For our day after Thanksgiving flight to SJU from Chicago for our Summit cruise, we booked awhile ago and found a flight for just a little over $300. These days that is not a bad price. But overall, I agree that prices are really causing us pause in deciding when and where to spend our vacation dollars. Add to that the increase in cruise prices overall (our comparable room is priced roughly $400pp more than two years ago for the identical cruise. Adjust for the 1-2-3 perk value and that is still a high percentage increase)

[BEAV]

is WN still reasonable for both prices and award seat availability between ABQ and LAX? Reason I ask is because I priced a random date in Mar 2015 from LAX to FLL and found Jet Blue nonstop to FLL for $199 each way. From SFO we now have UA, Jet Blue and Virgin flying nonstop to FLL, and competition is keeping pricing reasonable. if you have to make a connection to get to FLL on WN, why not consider going via LAX or SFO, even though you'd be backtracking a bit? please don't tell me it's either WN or nothing at all! :eek:

[CathyCruises]

While we're on the subject, for anyone who lives near the bay area and is a San Francisco Giants fan, one game each year in August is sponsored by Virgin America. They give out 2-for-1 coupons for the first 40,000 people in the gates on that particular day. And they're really great because it actually is 2-for-1 not some inflated price that is then discounted.

 

You do have to fly by the middle of November usually in order to get the deal, although last year they did include some dates in February and March if I recall correctly.

 

DH and I have flown nonstop from San Francisco to Washington DC--Dulles, and then nonstop back home from JFK, the total bill for the two of us was $284! We did that each fall to visit his kids and grandkids in Annapolis and NJ, until they both moved to Texas and Utah respectively.

 

Just a hint that I hope might be able to help someone

[Cruise Gopher]

Delta wants about $700 pp round trip Minneapolis to Fort Lauderdale or Miami in January. It's so ridiculous!

[Illyria]

OP is lucky to have JetBlue in Albuquerque (I'd pick them over Southwest in a heartbeat! Unfortunately they don't have a presence in Denver).

 

We usually tend to book off-peak times for cruising just to get better cruise deals, so we probably get better airfare "by accident". Case in point: Alaska in September (if we had gone in early August, airfare to Fairbanks would have been ~$200 more per person).

 

We really never look at airfare before booking the cruise; we'll book for the cruiseline/itinerary/price, and then when that's done, we can try to figure out how to get there :)

[travelpeon]

is WN still reasonable for both prices and award seat availability between ABQ and LAX? Reason I ask is because I priced a random date in Mar 2015 from LAX to FLL and found Jet Blue nonstop to FLL for $199 each way. From SFO we now have UA, Jet Blue and Virgin flying nonstop to FLL, and competition is keeping pricing reasonable. if you have to make a connection to get to FLL on WN, why not consider going via LAX or SFO, even though you'd be backtracking a bit? please don't tell me it's either WN or nothing at all! :eek:

 

I think this is a smart way to think. ABQ doesn't have a lot of competition to keep the pricing reasonable compared to hubs like LAX, SFO, ORD, DFW, or IAH. LAS has a light of flights, too, as Vegas is a popular business and leisure destination. You might want to explore nearby hubs which have plenty of ABQ or SAF connections.

 

Have you looked into US Airways + AA and British Airways Avios frequent flier miles which can be redeemed for AA? MIA is an AA hub. Another option is to work towards getting the Southwest Companion Pass so it is basically buy 1 get 1 free.

 

Wikipedia keeps a list of the scheduled flights for each commercial passenger airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale%E2%80%93Hollywood_International_Airport#Scheduled_flights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_International_Airport#Passenger

 

Here's more info on Avios

http://mommypoints.boardingarea.com/2013/04/24/how-to-book-american-airlines-flights-with-british-airways-avios/#sthash.7A08c3Rw.dpbs

 

More info on the Southwest Companion Pass

http://dealswelike.boardingarea.com/2014/01/13/ways-to-earn-the-southwest-airlines-companion-pass/

 

Lastly, I don't particularly see the advantage of the SWA credit card vs the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature which also earns 2x points for all travel and dining, not just Southwest flights, and can transfer to Southwest and at least one airline in each major airline alliance. Cruises and properly coded travel agents earn 2x. There's an annual fee of $95 after the first year but your travel costs might justify the annual fee. There's no foreign exchange fee. The basic delay and lost baggage insurance might also come in handy https://creditcards.chase.com/sapphire/credit-card-benefits

Edited July 18, 2014 by travelpeon

[wallie5446]

Air travel will be changed as Dallas Love is set free on 10-13-14!

We will for the first time in over 30 years be able to fly non stop on Southwest from Dallas. Booked our Nov round trip to Ft Lauderdale for less than $200 pp this year! Used Less than 12,000 Rapid Reward points, where last yr it was 25,000 and in 2012 it was 35,000 points ea.

 

To get to Galveston from Dallas, the air and shuttle cost more.

Edited July 18, 2014 by wallie5446

[NLH Arizona]

I really want to take a Norway cruise, but not going to pay $3,500 to $5,000 on airfare. I'll stick to cruises and vacations in the US, Canada and Caribbean and hope that airfares will go down at some point in time.

[teecee60]

I really want to take a Norway cruise, but not going to pay $3,500 to $5,000 on airfare. I'll stick to cruises and vacations in the US, Canada and Caribbean and hope that airfares will go down at some point in time.

 

End of August, 8 night Norway Cruise (5 ports) on Eclipse, R/T Southampton, has round trip Choice Air PHX/LHR for $1105.82pp ;)

 

Mid August, 10 night Norway Cruise (7 ports) on Infinity, R/T Harwich, has round trip Choice Air PHX/LHR for $1303.72pp

Edited July 18, 2014 by teecee60

[JonnyCT81]

We have a New Years cruise this year on the summit out of San Juan. We have been monitoring the air fare and have found that the fares this years seem to be more expensive than usual. The fares seem to be getting more expensive rather than lowering. Our final payment isn't due until September but unless the fares fall, we are going to have to cancel. We are not willing to pay 900+ pp for airfare to SJU so if anyone is untested in 1140 for New Years keep yourself posted as we might be ditching it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[NLH Arizona]

End of August, 8 night Norway Cruise (5 ports) on Eclipse, R/T Southampton, has round trip Choice Air PHX/LHR for $1105.82pp ;)

 

Mid August, 10 night Norway Cruise (7 ports) on Infinity, R/T Harwich, has round trip Choice Air PHX/LHR for $1303.72pp

I just priced Phoenix to Southampton yesterday and business class was $5,500. Is Choice Air business class, if it is, I'll book the cruise in a New York second. Edited July 18, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[chrismakris]

Hello Kelmac

 

If you have points for a hotel, I just did a dummy booking out of Phoenix (Nov 26-Dec 7) on US Airways and the cost is $389/pp.

 

You would save almost $800(then subtract the cost of gas and hotel and parking). If you are saving at least $300 it might be worth it.

[lara68]

We always try to look first at one of the larger travel agencies that offer free air from selected gateway cities. Obviously, this doesn't always work as some of the itineraries we have been on, didn't have this option. It's worth looking into this type of booking though.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I am Canadian and live in a border city so we are fortunate enough to be able to fly out of Buffalo. Now, if you want to see expensive air fares - you should check out the Toronto Airport!!!! Buffalo has daily non-stop flights with Jet Blue and SW and the prices are quite low. Our problem is the waiting at the airport and all the security checks and again waiting. So this year, we thought we will drive to Florida for our Southern Caribbean cruise. Being retired, we can take our time and will stop overnight where ever we feel, and we are looking forward to doing that. With all the scary things happening with terrorism, I certainly understand, and am glad, that they are thorough, but it does take the fun out of travelling. We are looking forward to the drive.

 

Choice Air has great price for one way flights out of Toronto, $420 cad, Rome to Toronto

I usually find the Buffalo cost to be higher when I am flying

[Padraic]

I guess I am one of the luckiest cruiser in the world. I live in south Florida and am 20 some miles north of Port Everglades and 45 miles north of Miami. In addition, one of my daughters is a flight attendant for a major airline so I fly international fairly cheap.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I guess I am one of the luckiest cruiser in the world. I live in south Florida and am 20 some miles north of Port Everglades and 45 miles north of Miami. In addition, one of my daughters is a flight attendant for a major airline so I fly international fairly cheap.

 

Really ! I do not need to hear that :rolleyes: :D