Does HAL ever offer free Airfare with cruises

[justluv2cruisewithhubby]

Has anyone ever seen any cruise deals thru Hal were airfare is included or deeply discounted. I would love to plan a cruise to Australia and New Zealand but the airfare is double the price of the actual cruise even flying out of LAX. Any suggestions?

[GradUT]

The only cruise line I have seen which offers "free" airfare is Oceania Cruises and their cruises are really expensive.

Edited April 16, 2015 by GradUT

[colbe]

Go to the Air New Zealand site to check out prices. They have LA - Auckland on sale this week. Also check Qantas (Australia). Do come and visit our wonderful countries. it is worth the long flight.

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL does not have free air for any cruises.

But sometimes HAL can get a cheaper fare for you. Be warned -- they may not be the best flights around.

[Globaliser]

I would love to plan a cruise to Australia and New Zealand but the airfare is double the price of the actual cruise even flying out of LAX.

Comparing the cost of the cruise to the cost of the air travel is not a helpful way of looking at things. At an extreme, if you fly half-way around the world to go on a two-day cruise, you'd expect the air fare to cost much more than the cruise. So there isn't ever any point in making such a comparison.

 

You're better off looking at whether the cruise is expensive or good value for what it is, and whether the airfare is expensive or good value for what it is; and then asking whether you're prepared to pay the total cost of travel. And "total cost of travel" is the key figure for all issues like this.

 

Finally, you're not going to get a free lunch. If you find a cruise line that will fly you to New Zealand "for free", you'll be paying for the air travel in the price of the cruise. The cruise line doesn't get expensive air tickets for free, and neither can the customer.

[take us away]

Often HAL has great pricing on airfare - if you do not mind non-direct routes and weird times but have heard (but not used) that HAL has a tool where you can arrange your own airfare in their system with some options available for you. Have your TA check into pricing so you can compare.

[Tampa Girl]

One solution: Build up your FF miles on AA.

[sammiedawg]

Oceania has a fixed credit on every sailing to deduct if you make your own arrangements. They buy bulk consolidator tickets. If you want to choose flights you pay air deviation fee. If you don't live near one of their hub airports you pay extra to use your home airport. We book with included air but then try to get our own flights. We've used air miles, bought extra air miles, used credit card points and sometimes we find a great deal on our own.

Oceania is at a totally different level than HAL. There is absolutely no comparison in food, service level, ship condition. You will pay more for a better product,

 

For Australia you probably should book business class air at a minimum. Fourteen hours from LAX is painful in a tiny coach seat. Budget $5000 or so per ticket for first class air.

[iancal]

We just got back. Instead of flying all the way we bought 2 one way tickets.

Sydney-Honolulu and Honolulu -home. The cost for two was less than one through flight. The savings paid for our hotel in Honolulu and the break was very nice.

 

We found good fares on Air N.Z from Auckland-Honolulu and on Jetstar (operated by Qantas) from Sydney-Honolulu. We did the latter.

 

Air fare is never 'free'. I think you will find that it may be bundled in for one price but it is not free. That price, however, may be more attractive than buying both individually.

Edited April 16, 2015 by iancal

[igraf]

Sounds like a great idea!

 

igraf

 

 

 

We just got back. Instead of flying all the way we bought 2 one way tickets.

Sydney-Honolulu and Honolulu -home. The cost for two was less than one through flight. The savings paid for our hotel in Honolulu and the break was very nice. ....

Edited April 16, 2015 by igraf

[UPNYGuy]

Oceania has a fixed credit on every sailing to deduct if you make your own arrangements. They buy bulk consolidator tickets. If you want to choose flights you pay air deviation fee. If you don't live near one of their hub airports you pay extra to use your home airport. We book with included air but then try to get our own flights. We've used air miles, bought extra air miles, used credit card points and sometimes we find a great deal on our own.

 

Oceania is at a totally different level than HAL. There is absolutely no comparison in food, service level, ship condition. You will pay more for a better product,

 

 

 

For Australia you probably should book business class air at a minimum. Fourteen hours from LAX is painful in a tiny coach seat. Budget $5000 or so per ticket for first class air.

 

 

$5000 will be a biz class seat LAX-SYD

[sammiedawg]

$5000 will be a biz class seat LAX-SYD

 

Oh no, haven't priced it recently.

[ellieanne]

When I took my Baltic Cruise back in 2000, I know several passengers who booked within two weeks of sailing got ocean-view rooms for $999 with roundtrip airfare New York to Stockholm included.

 

But I have not heard of any similar deals recently. And I seriously doubt HAL would ever offer airfare to/from Australia/New Zealand "free."

 

I fly to/from Australia-US at least once a year and I can say while the flight is long, it's not horribly uncomfortable in either standard or premium economy on Air New Zealand. And the prices are fairly reasonable. So don't let the airfare or fear of the flight stop you from visiting.

[igraf]

That is more accurate. True 1st class RT airfare from LA to Sydney (Aus) is about $11,000 when I checked Orbitz. Economy starts at $1200.

 

So business class will be about US$3800 more than economy for a 14-hour flight each way. That equates to $135 per hour (tax-free) per person to sit in a less comfortable seat. I call that pretty good wages for easy work.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

$5000 will be a biz class seat LAX-SYD

[justluv2cruisewithhubby]

We just got back. Instead of flying all the way we bought 2 one way tickets.

Sydney-Honolulu and Honolulu -home. The cost for two was less than one through flight. The savings paid for our hotel in Honolulu and the break was very nice.

 

We found good fares on Air N.Z from Auckland-Honolulu and on Jetstar (operated by Qantas) from Sydney-Honolulu. We did the latter.

 

Air fare is never 'free'. I think you will find that it may be bundled in for one price but it is not free. That price, however, may be more attractive than buying both individually.

 

I like this suggestion I will definitely check this out