Ta+

[shipgeeks]

Does it leave the date and time to fly to embarkment city for Celebrity to decide? Can you use Choice Air and still go to that city the day before? Is it cheaper than Southwest?

 

You just need the reservation (confirmation) number of your cruise when you call ChoiceAir. You can request any dates you like, in conjunction with that. They will give you some options (multiple airlines, times, etc.); there is no pressure to decide right away. We have done this twice. In both cases, the one way fare would have been in the thousands (each); ChoiceAir was under $700.

[WisRiver]

We have done several trans-Atlantic crossings on HAL. In April, 2105 we will use Celebrity. We have used the "discount" international carrier Icelandland Air. They fly out of our home city Minneapolis and offer reasonable one way fares (about $600 US in June 2014) from a variety of European cities. You have to stop and change planes in Iceland, but it breaks up the long flight. Friends from the Chicago area have used Aer Lingus. The big legacy carriers (United, Delta American) have not been discounting one way fares.

 

We will explore Choice Air for our 2015 trip.

[hulamoon]

Hi Patty, I believe we are on the same cruise next year, and this will be our first TA as well. We are also bringing my DH mother who will be 81, and she wants to see as much as she can while in Rome. My dilemma is trying to think of things that we can all do and see, but not over tire her out. I have no idea of where to even start.

 

I am not one for large tour groups for reasons previous posted above, but I do like smaller more private tours. I think I will wait until Jan after our next cruise and the holidays to make any real locked in plans. DH and I have been to Italy before and did a 9 day trip with friends back when we were in the military, but his mom has never been and has not seen anything so Italy will be more for her than for us.

 

We have never done Choice Air but we may give it a try on this trip, or we may use FF points and go 1st class for her to rest more comfortably. I do know that it is cheaper to book as Hulamoon suggest, booking multiple city's and not one way. So for us it would be from Orlando to Rome, then Ft Laud to Orlando.

 

Sounds Like you have one up on me since you planned your complete TP trip all by yourself. Good luck, and I'll be looking in to see what advice/suggestions other experienced TA travelers post.

 

Hi Gina..would be happy to discuss Rome planning with you in December! There are very nice limo tours in Rome that will take you exactly where you want to go cutting lines, sometimes going after sites have closed for others and that are comfortable for elderly or handicapped.

We only had one bad choice air experience out of many. But it was a doozy. What should have been a simple flight from Venice to JFK to catch another to SFO was weather delayed and choice air assured us we would be put on next flight out. We were scheduled long after everyone else was scheduled with higher category tickets. Just that portion of the transit took 26 hours instead of seven. Probably would do better buying first class from choice air.

We attempted to upgrade ticket, it was processed but cancelled later. Also probably due to category of ticket sold to us.

We will use choice air again, but not if the fare is the same.

There are long threads on CC for this topic, sometimes they over promise.

Edited October 4, 2014 by hulamoon

[hulamoon]

I do all the travel planning. So much so that when we got to the airport to go on our cruise to Bermuda, my husband thought we were flying to Ft Lauderdale. And yes we "discussed" the whole trip, several times.

 

This sounds like our household! I waste my breath! I may as well just give him the dates and tell Him what weather to pack for.

[CathyCruises]

I have found choice air to be completely unbeatable for a one-way fares. From San Francisco to or from any place in England France or Italy I have never paid more than $500 and change for a one-way ticket. We often leave three weeks after disembarkation and from a different country and we have always used choice air for that! No problems whatsoever.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Does it leave the date and time to fly to embarkment city for Celebrity to decide? Can you use Choice Air and still go to that city the day before? Is it cheaper than Southwest?

 

To - KMS8066

 

Agree with SPACIFICBOUND (Reply # 23) and this one by SHIPGEEKS (Reply # 26)

 

You just need the reservation (confirmation) number of your cruise when you call ChoiceAir. You can request any dates you like, in conjunction with that. They will give you some options (multiple airlines, times, etc.); there is no pressure to decide right away. We have done this twice. In both cases, the one way fare would have been in the thousands (each); ChoiceAir was under $700.

 

We do our own research first... To find flights, airlines, dates & times that work for us (you don't have to fly on E or D-Day)

 

Make notes of our findings / preferences & call Choice Air, to get their quote.

 

Their usual Questions are Date, Preferred Time and from what City to the E-Port City (on occasion we have not flown out from home... Example, when we sailed the Summit from San Juan PR, we flew out of Miami having driven there on an extended land trip before our cruise. No problem)

 

In all cases, Choice Air have come back with suggestions that included our preferred airline & times. Pricing Quotes have been equal, lower or a tad higher. We don't mind a tad higher cause we know it includes the Choice Air Guarantee of getting us to the ship.

 

As SHIPGEEKS said we have NEVER felt pressured... It was just a Quote.

 

We figure there is nothing to lose getting a Quote... And lots to gain if the prices are lower. :D

 

I have also heard that Choice Air flights can count for air miles if the flight is with an airline one has a Loyalty Card with... Just show your card at check in. Personally, we have not done / tried this so YMMV

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

Edited October 4, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[ECCruise]

We have used ChoiceAir a number of times but always do our bookings online. You can get quotes even without a booking ID (we often do that when planning a cruise). Once you have a booking ID you can explore flights by departure city, arrival city, dates, etc. so you can make comparisons. It is easy as can be.

 

Have always had our FF info added. Once you have a booking confirmation, call the airline and have them link your FF#. We do this with virtually any airline since we either have a FF# there or they are a partner (One World, Star Alliance, etc.). It's nice to get a one way (or open jaw) flight to Europe for often sub-$500 each way and get 4-6k in mileage.

[need2bespoiled]

We have used ChoiceAir a number of times but always do our bookings online. You can get quotes even without a booking ID (we often do that when planning a cruise). Once you have a booking ID you can explore flights by departure city, arrival city, dates, etc. so you can make comparisons. It is easy as can be.

 

Have always had our FF info added. Once you have a booking confirmation, call the airline and have them link your FF#. We do this with virtually any airline since we either have a FF# there or they are a partner (One World, Star Alliance, etc.). It's nice to get a one way (or open jaw) flight to Europe for often sub-$500 each way and get 4-6k in mileage.

 

Unfortunately you can't book flights for B2B sailings online.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[ECCruise]

Unfortunately you can't book flights for B2B sailings online.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Maybe it varies by itinerary. We used Choice Air on our B2B in April/May this year. We booked using the 2nd cruise, one way from LHR to EWR to FLL.

[need2bespoiled]

Maybe it varies by itinerary. We used Choice Air on our B2B in April/May this year. We booked using the 2nd cruise, one way from LHR to EWR to FLL.

 

Online?

 

Maybe it's the way the two cruises are connected. We always get an error that says we have to call to make our reservations.

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

[kms8066]

Thanks so much for all this great info! (It's all new to me!)

[ECCruise]

Online?

 

Maybe it's the way the two cruises are connected. We always get an error that says we have to call to make our reservations.

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

 

Yes it we always book online. It is a RCCL website, though so maybe it forgot we were B2B :):)

Edited October 4, 2014 by ECCruise

[Killington]

This sounds like our household! I waste my breath! I may as well just give him the dates and tell Him what weather to pack for.

 

Snap, I also have a husband like this - it must be a "man thing":D We are going to Namiba and South Africa on 13 Oct, all the plans have been relayed to him as I get confirmations. He asked me this morning what date we get back Duh.....

[need2bespoiled]

Yes it we always book online. It is a RCCL website, though so maybe it forgot we were B2B :):)

 

So true.

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna