Choice Air or book flight independently

[bobbye7]

My daughter and I are going on our first cruise Feb. 2015. We haven't made a final decision yet but we're leaning toward a Princess Caribbean cruise. The travel agent quoted their airfare price about $30 higher than I found online. I like the idea that the cruise line will take care of getting you to the ship on time, etc., but I've read other threads where they've changed people's schedules at the last minute or given you really bad times to fly.I also read that most cruisers do not take the package deals, but opt to make reservations themselves. Now I'm really confused.

[suspaul]

Congrats on your upcoming cruise, hope it's a great trip.

 

Now, your air question. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination but will pass along what I do know. Last summer we did the British Isles with Princess and also used their air but first I went online and found the flights we were interested in taking as we wanted to fly United. They were able to schedule these flights for us and as an extra bonus, if we paid for the air portion that day we got a great discount but it was non-refundable I think. All worked out perfect, we got our air as wanted.

 

Fast forward to now.... We travel a lot and don't do many big ship cruises, more independent travel and we love river cruises in Europe, that said, we leave next Wednesday for Barcelona for 3 nights and the following Sunday we board a ship for a med cruise. We booked our own air for the flexibility and we are flying Air France so we can stay in Paris on our return. Right now Air France is on a pilot strike. Supposedly 9/15-9/22 but there is a possibility it will extend to the 29th. AF can not or will not rebook us on one of their SkyTeam partners until the 23rd IF our flight is cancelled and that's only if the US portion is cancelled so here we sit. Had we booked with the cruise line I think we'd have had more leverage and they would go to bat for us. Of course I don't know.

 

Anyhow, just two completely different examples of air for a cruise. I'm confident our travel will be fine, maybe a few bumps along the way but we do have a few days wiggle room, however the cruise leaves 9/28 and if strike is still on ???

 

Have a great first cruise!

[iancal]

It depends on your requirements and pricing.

 

We never found cruise air pricing to be great-for either one ways or return fares.

 

That is, until last month. We booked a one way cruise air home from Europe in November at a much better fare than we could otherwise obtain. In fact the fare and the good flight schedule were key reasons for selecting the cruise that we did.

[flamomo]

My daughter and I are going on our first cruise Feb. 2015. We haven't made a final decision yet but we're leaning toward a Princess Caribbean cruise. The travel agent quoted their airfare price about $30 higher than I found online. I like the idea that the cruise line will take care of getting you to the ship on time, etc., but I've read other threads where they've changed people's schedules at the last minute or given you really bad times to fly.I also read that most cruisers do not take the package deals, but opt to make reservations themselves. Now I'm really confused.

 

I have done a lot of cruises with Princess, and when the departure port is in Europe or South America, I use Princess EZAir. Partly for convenience and "next port goarantee" and partly because they can usually get me there cheaper than what I can find on my own. (Example ... I had a one way flight thru Princess to London Heathrow ..... Princess got me there for $425 on American Airlines .... if I booked it myself I was looking at $900-$1200)

 

If the departure port is in the US, I book my own air.

 

There used to be a lot of complaints about Princess Air several years ago because of things like those you mentioned. In the interim, Princess has changed their air system and things are MUCH better. It's no longer consolidator tickets at off hours and bad connections . They now have plenty of choices for flights and YOU choose from what's available based on what works best for you. You are not shoehorned into flights that make no sense.

[jamessemaj]

It's like all air travel, search and choose. I have used the cruise line air, especially one way, and other times scheduled on my own. Once, I did both, took the cruise line offer, but rejected part of it because I didn't like the schedule, and made separate reservations for the part I didn't show up for. I called the cruise line to see if it would be ok and they didn't know. It worked out fine. Air travel is a mess, including just making reservations. Good luck.

Edited September 18, 2014 by jamessemaj

[Putterdude]

Over the years we have found cruise lines' air travel not to be competitive with booking air directly. However, once and a while they do pull one out of the hat, last year Princess Air came up with a price of $539 rtn per person for YVR to LHR to FCO then post cruise VCE to LHR then on to YVR. I can hardly fly from YVR to LHR return for $1000.

[pris993]

We have not booked a flight thru a cruise line in years, if you want to have some control over what happens to you if there are problems, book your own air even if it costs you more.

[Zach1213]

The cruise line makes absolutely no promises or guarantees to get you to the ship on time, so don't fall for that. Often times they stick you with super discounted consolidator fares which could mean you're the absolute last priority of the airline.

 

I try to put as few people in between me and the airline as possible. My ideal number is zero.

[Zach1213]

It's like all air travel, search and choose. I have used the cruise line air, especially one way, and other times scheduled on my own. Once, I did both, took the cruise line offer, but rejected part of it because I didn't like the schedule, and made separate reservations for the part I didn't show up for. I called the cruise line to see if it would be ok and they didn't know. It worked out fine. Air travel is a mess, including just making reservations. Good luck.

 

 

Air travel isn't too much of a mess. It's really quite easy and straight forward. But most people overthink it and stress themselves out because they assume it will be a mess.

[navybankerteacher]

If you are flying to Europe one way for a T/A Cruise Air will get you a far better deal than anything you could get on your own. What you need to do at the time you book your cruise is to find put the airlines participating and get a code from the cruise line - then you book your flight with your airline of choice yourself, picking time, seats, routing (meaning non-stop), etc.

 

For domestic round trips it is a toss up as to whether you can do better on your own.

[Zach1213]

What you need to do at the time you book your cruise is to find put the airlines participating and get a code from the cruise line - then you book your flight with your airline of choice yourself, picking time, seats, routing (meaning non-stop), etc.

 

 

I practically live on planes and I literally have no idea what you're recommending here...

[navybankerteacher]

I practically live on planes and I literally have no idea what you're recommending here...

 

I'm saying that you should not buy a package where the airline books your flight - rather you book it yourself, through the Cruise Air program, with the airline you choose. That way you do not get the "super discounted consolidator fares" to which you referred - you get the flight you want booked by you, in your name.

 

That way you do not have a lot of people between you and the airline.

[6rugrats]

I'm saying that you should not buy a package where the airline books your flight - rather you book it yourself, through the Cruise Air program, with the airline you choose. That way you do not get the "super discounted consolidator fares" to which you referred - you get the flight you want booked by you, in your name.

 

That way you do not have a lot of people between you and the airline.

 

I also don't understand how you don't know you are not getting "super discounted consolidator fares" by booking this way. The same flights have the same seats you can book in many different fare classes, and if you can't pull up or understand the fare class, you have no idea what you are purchasing.

 

The problem with these tickets sometimes has to do with this fare class, especially if the fare class does not allow the ticket to be endorsed to another airline when there's a problem. And, this some times happens.

 

Purchasing cruise air does not guarantee you will make your cruise on time, or that the cruise line is going to help you if a problem arises.

 

You can get true one way pricing on several airlines for US-Europe, just not with the legacy carriers. Everyone should book what they like, they should just understand what they are getting for their money, and what protections they have or don't have.

[Zach1213]

I'm saying that you should not buy a package where the airline books your flight - rather you book it yourself, through the Cruise Air program, with the airline you choose. That way you do not get the "super discounted consolidator fares" to which you referred - you get the flight you want booked by you, in your name.

 

That way you do not have a lot of people between you and the airline.

 

As 6rugrats mentions, you can still end up with a consolidator fare if you pick your flights on Cruise Air. If they're giving you the flights at any rate that is lower than the airline itself, odds are you're getting some kind of consolidator fare. And in that case, you would be comparing apples to oranges as far as tickets go - perhaps same flight, same seat, but different conditions.

 

And if your goal is to get a "normal" ticket from Choice Air, and they end up offering the same price as going directly to the airline, the only thing you're doing by going through Choice Air is putting another person between you and the airline.

[iancal]

You are correct. It is NOT who you book your flight with that is important...it is the fare code associated with your ticket that is key. The fare code determines if the ticket is transferable to another airline, if changes are permitted, the cost of changes IF they are allowed, etc. It also serves as an order of priority for airline staff if the flights are cancelled etc.

 

One benefit of booking with the airline is that you can actually determine the fare code prior to booking. With third party sites, including cruise air I believe, you do not see the fare code until after it is booked, ie point of no return.

 

We have been able to get better one way fares going to Europe on our own. Returning from Europe has been the opposite. Not certain why this is.

 

If for instance you google Delta far codes you will see the ticket codes and the conditions/restrictions.

Edited September 19, 2014 by iancal

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always book our own flights.

Many, many years ago we did let Princess book our flights -- 4 connections between Pittsburgh and Rome. And we sat for hours on steel benches in one airport waiting for the next flight. Basically we were traveling for nearly 2 days.

Never again.

[Cruising Golfer]

We never use cruise booked flights. Would rather make our own flight plans.:cool:

[gcgold]

We never use cruise booked flights. Would rather make our own flight plans.:cool:

Couldnt agree more.

 

Once booked with choice air for a panama canal cruise. Flights back from San Digo to UK looked good until they emailed us to say 'BA have changed the flights" This meant us having 5 hours in San Diego followed by 6 hours in LA follwed by 3 hours in Heathrow. When I called them they said the original flight had been cancelled. I asked them to explain how I could still book ticketes on the original flight, - they hung up :rolleyes:

 

We book our own flights and tend to get to the embarkation area a day or more before the cruise in case of delays etc , but that simply extends the holiday before we get on teh boat :D

[Zach1213]

One benefit of booking with the airline is that you can actually determine the fare code prior to booking. With third party sites, including cruise air I believe, you do not see the fare code until after it is booked, ie point of no return.

 

Well, yes and no. Most times, even with the airlines directly, the fare code you see is just part of it - i.e. "N" or "Q" or "J". However, there are several numbers and letters behind it that show the TRUE fare rules, and those can be very difficult to find out. With an airline it's possible, with a consolidator or even somewhere like Expedia, good luck.

 

Case in point - I recently booked an AA flight LAX-DFW-MCI. It departs at 12:05am but I want the flexibility to go later in the day (thus spending the night in LA) if I want, so I booked a "Choice Plus" fare with American so that I could decide what to do at a later time. On the surface, it's an "N" code just like the base ticket. However, the letters and numbers behind it (which you don't see when looking) tell the story that my fare has no change fee (and some other perks). So an "N" isn't always an "N", a "Q" isn't always a "Q", etc.

 

On AA - Choice fares (the base) have an 8 digit code starting with that "N" or "Q" or whatever, and ending with 1, 3 or 5. Choice Essential (next up) end with 2, 4, 6 and Choice Plus (highest, not counting full fare/fully flexible) end with 7, 8 or 9. But looking online quickly, they're all "N" or "Q".

 

OK, that went on longer than I planned. Sorry.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Zach1213

[Cruisin' Chick]

Fortunately, most of the time we can go from our home port, which is an hour's drive.

 

Even since my first cruise out of Miami, when the cruise air tickets were for a red-eyed flight, which we definitely changed, we've made our own arrangements for travel. And always to arrive at least a day ahead. No stress once we're in our embarkation city and we might even get to get a little sightseeing and a trip to the store for wine, etc.

 

To us, saving a little money but at the risk of possibly missing getting to the ship on time is not worth it. To us, trying to fly on to the second port to board is not the same, even if the cruise line pays for it.

[mrsdeb]

If you allow the cruise line to make your flights, please be sure to doublecheck them with the actual airlines.

 

My family was on a cruisetour to Alaska with Princess a few years ago; our flight from Seattle to Fairbanks was listed on the itinerary as departing at 1PM. I checked with Alaska Airlines while signing up for their frequent flyer program - there WAS no 1PM flight - it was a 1AM flight! Which would have gotten us to Fairbanks about 12 hours too late to catch the coach to Denali!

 

We ended up, with everyone else, on a 10AM flight to Fairbanks, and cooled our heels in the airport until 3PM...because Princess didn't change the coach time!

 

OK, we really didn't hang out in the airport all that time - we went out to lunch :rolleyes:. Still. Check and doublecheck!

[navybankerteacher]

Of course we book with the airline -Delta in this particular case - we have our Delta reservation ID, the seats we selected, and they noted our trusted flier ID's to expedite TSA clearance.

[rumpelstiltskin]

The cruise line makes absolutely no promises or guarantees to get you to the ship on time, so don't fall for that.

 

What Zach said.

 

Here is an example of what can happen when arriving on embarkation day:

 

Two years ago on embarkation day, bad weather caused delays out of LGW.

60 passengers were not able to make it in time for sailing out of Malaga.

 

They were flown to a smaller Andalusian airport, then bussed to the first port of call, Valencia, the next day.

 

 

We always book our own air and arrive the night before to avoid this type of major inconvenience.

[lost4sure]

I learned so much on this thread! I booked a HAL cruise with a well known online Travel Agency from Istanbul to Tampa Oct, 2014. The agent told me that the agency refused to book the air with HAL and I have to find my own one way flight from Vancouver to Istanbul. The best fare I got was $830 pp with 5 hour layover in LHR and arrive at midnite in Istanbul. Return fare is $1100. The agent said the agency have nothing but problems with HAL Air.

 

Next time I cruise to Europe, I will try using Princess instead!

 

Again, thanks for the tips!

[navybankerteacher]

I learned so much on this thread! I booked a HAL cruise with a well known online Travel Agency from Istanbul to Tampa Oct, 2014. The agent told me that the agency refused to book the air with HAL and I have to find my own one way flight from Vancouver to Istanbul. The best fare I got was $830 pp with 5 hour layover in LHR and arrive at midnite in Istanbul. Return fare is $1100. The agent said the agency have nothing but problems with HAL Air.

 

Next time I cruise to Europe, I will try using Princess instead!

 

Again, thanks for the tips!

 

Princess, as part of the Carnival family, would have the same air connections.