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Buying a Ticket for a Transatlantic Cruise


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I am considering a transatlantic cruise for next March or April. I would need to fly SAN-MIA and then return FCO-SAN.

 

The prices for these itineraries are way out of line from what I was expecting for traditional carriers - e.g., AA, BA, ... I am thinking my only option for these carriers is to buy 2 round trip tickets and throw the returns in the trash.

 

My only other thought is to buy a return ticket on Norwegian Airlines to LAX. I can then buy a one-way ticket without paying a premium. My only nervousness with them is that they don't offer many flights per week. I can also probably get a cheap flight to FLL on JetBlue or, maybe if I watch sales carefully, Southwest.

 

What do you all think of my options? Experiences with Norwegian Airlines long haul service? Anybody have other ideas? Maybe I should consider using the cruise air which is something I have never done in the past?

 

Thanks in advance!

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Two options I can add:

 

-Looking at AAdvantage, there's lots of availability next April FCO-SAN for 20,000 miles; you can buy the miles for just under $600, or find a bonus for applying for a credit card

 

-If you want to go the more straightforward paid ticket route, I'm finding tickets on Turkish Airlines FCO-IST-ORD-SAN for some dates in the $700-800 range

Edited by Twickenham
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We are doing a Transatlantic on Royal Caribbean, April 28th, from Fort Lauderdale, ending up in Rome Italy.

 

I cannot speak for other cruise lines, but we booked directly on-line with Delta one way from Syracuse to Fort Lauderdale that was very reasonable.

 

Then, from Rome, Italy back to Syracuse, one way, we booked through Royal Caribbean's Choice Air. I think they just renamed it last week.

 

Anyway, the cheapest air we could find one way from Rome to Syracuse was almost $2200 per person.

 

Through Choice Air, we paid a crazy $596 each!!!!

 

Many people have said that most cruise lines in house air on one way fares anyway, are always much cheaper than through the airlines. Might be worth your time to at least explore it.

 

Hope this helps a little.

 

Dave

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Keep checking RCI/Celebrity's ChoiceAir on line.

 

We found that the prices do change and that they offer several different flight options/airlines at different costs. We needed a one way home from Barcelona last Nov. after a short RCI cruise. Best routing, and the best price, was on BA for $475 USD. When we shopped for cruise air a few days earlier the price had been $525.

 

The Turkish option is a great one also. Istanbul is a facsinating city.

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Two options I can add:

 

-Looking at AAdvantage, there's lots of availability next April FCO-SAN for 20,000 miles; you can buy the miles for just under $600, or find a bonus for applying for a credit card

 

-If you want to go the more straightforward paid ticket route, I'm finding tickets on Turkish Airlines FCO-IST-ORD-SAN for some dates in the $700-800 range

 

Yes, the points is a reasonable option. The only problem with the 20k is most of them are on BA versus AA. Most don't care, but I can't deal with 31" seat pitch on BA. If I fly on AA, I'll likely get "more room" seats.

 

I'll have to look at the Turkish Airlines flight. I am assuming the total trip time for a routing like that must be pushing 24 hours or more.

 

We are doing a Transatlantic on Royal Caribbean, April 28th, from Fort Lauderdale, ending up in Rome Italy.

...

Then, from Rome, Italy back to Syracuse, one way, we booked through Royal Caribbean's Choice Air.

...

Through Choice Air, we paid a crazy $596 each!!!!

...

Hope this helps a little.

Dave

 

We've got good prices for one way fares booked through Choice Air for transatlantic sailings. You must book one way airfares separately instead of multi destination to get the best price.

 

Seems like Choice Air is a decent idea. I will look into this.

 

Take the Turkish option, use their free stopover, spend a few days in IST and get an additional holiday beyond your cruise. If you haven't been there, it's a great place for food, culture, shopping and spectacular visuals.

 

i have been in Istanbul but my wife was not and she wants to visit. This would make the long journey much more manageable.

 

Keep checking RCI/Celebrity's ChoiceAir on line.

 

We found that the prices do change and that they offer several different flight options/airlines at different costs.

 

Thanks for pointing this out. Can I check airfares before I have booked? I am thinking of booking during my November cruise to get some bonus on board credit.

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Please read the sticky about cruise air. You are not buying the same product as you would be directly from an airline. The same counts for consolidators.

 

There are many airlines that do one-ways. Most of them are in the budget range, like Norwegian, so make sure you know what is included and what your rights are if things do not go as planned (flights delayed or cancelled, you want to change or cancel). Other airlines that spring to mind next to Turkish and Norwegian are for example Aer Lingus, Southwest or Condor. We got a decent one way-deal on Iberia this November. The example from Turkish and Iberia shows more and more legacy airlines are also willing to sell "normal" one way rates. When I do a quick search on ITA Matrix, Turkish does come out best for your trip FCO-SAN.

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Please read the sticky about cruise air. You are not buying the same product as you would be directly from an airline. The same counts for consolidators.

 

There are many airlines that do one-ways. Most of them are in the budget range, like Norwegian, so make sure you know what is included and what your rights are if things do not go as planned (flights delayed or cancelled, you want to change or cancel). Other airlines that spring to mind next to Turkish and Norwegian are for example Aer Lingus, Southwest or Condor. We got a decent one way-deal on Iberia this November. The example from Turkish and Iberia shows more and more legacy airlines are also willing to sell "normal" one way rates. When I do a quick search on ITA Matrix, Turkish does come out best for your trip FCO-SAN.

 

Yes, I need to consider the downsides of the cruise air tickets. I guess for my situation it would be a long delay in getting home due to a mechanical failure in one of my flights. Any other major issues?

 

The idea for Condor is a good one. They, and Norwegian, are the only ones that I have found with a good price and acceptable travel times.

 

The Turkish option only makes sense if I want to extend my trip in Istanbul as the travel times are 30+ hours.

 

Thanks for your input!

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Cheapair.com says best time to buy Euro air is 276 days out. Transatlantic air is one of few times cruise line gives good deals. Stick with the big International lines with alliances in case something happens over there. No one plane wonders.

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Cheapair.com says best time to buy Euro air is 276 days out. Transatlantic air is one of few times cruise line gives good deals. Stick with the big International lines with alliances in case something happens over there. No one plane wonders.

My conspiracy theory brain in overdrive. Most people don't look that far out (9 months) so they see that mention and it's already past that time. It induces a bit of panic that they have missed the boat and need to grab something quick. Cheapair sells conso tickets, and the price looks attractive so folks jump on it quickly, worried that things will only get worse.

 

All of those "best day" proclamations are, at best, averages for hundreds of thousands of city pairs and similarly large numbers of dates and stay lengths. And at worse, they are plucked out of the air -- who's gonna crunch the numbers. But above all, it's a statistical falacy - like the joke about the statistician who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches.

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If we fly business class on a United flight, but operated by Air Canada, are we allowed to use the United lounge in the Newark Airport?

 

This is confusing. If it's operated by AC, it's an AC flight. It's a codeshare with UA.

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If we fly business class on a United flight, but operated by Air Canada, are we allowed to use the United lounge in the Newark Airport?

 

It appears so.

 

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/airport/lounge/access.aspx

 

You will, however, need to confirm that the lounge is in the same terminal as your departing flight.

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If we fly business class on a United flight, but operated by Air Canada, are we allowed to use the United lounge in the Newark Airport?

 

 

I think this will only work if you purchase the ticket 276 days out.

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I am on an upcoming Celebrity TA from Rome. I used Celebrity Choice air and their prices were excellent. I flew JFK to Milan for $319. That was over $200 per person less than Rome. The train to Rome was $49. I am doing an extended pre cruise so I had the time but Milan is the cheapest city in Europe to fly to from the USA. Even booking on my own would have only been about $50 more. I don't remember what business class prices were.

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Still haven't heard if anyone has any direct experience with Norwegian on transatlantic flights? or Condor for that matter?

 

I remember some threads on Norwegian. Perhaps you can use the search function?

We will be flying Condor longhaul in December from Brazil, so can report to you after that. We are not very picky travellers though.

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I am on an upcoming Celebrity TA from Rome. I used Celebrity Choice air and their prices were excellent. I flew JFK to Milan for $319. That was over $200 per person less than Rome. The train to Rome was $49. I am doing an extended pre cruise so I had the time but Milan is the cheapest city in Europe to fly to from the USA. Even booking on my own would have only been about $50 more. I don't remember what business class prices were.

 

Yes, I have also thought about a possible return from Milan as well to visit the lake district and Venice after the cruise. I didn't know that the cruise air option allowed you to pick an alternate city than your arrival port. thanks for the tip!

 

I remember some threads on Norwegian. Perhaps you can use the search function?

We will be flying Condor longhaul in December from Brazil, so can report to you after that. We are not very picky travellers though.

 

Yes, I will do some searching on the web. I will look forward to your review.

 

 

Thanks for the link to the review. The service looks fine and certainly their aircraft are new. I did hear early on that the had problems with the 787 keeping to schedule. Perhaps this is now in the past as they have more aircraft and experience with the 787.

 

My only fear of Norwegian is the seat pitch. The reviewer was 5'7" and I am 6'4". However, their premium economy product looks interesting as well.

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My only fear of Norwegian is the seat pitch. The reviewer was 5'7" and I am 6'4". However, their premium economy product looks interesting as well.

I'm not seeing any premium economy product, only "premium," which looks a little like business class on carriers like Icelandair.

 

Out of curiosity I did a brief comparo for FCO-SAN (or LAX in the case of Norwegian) between Norwegian, the cheapest one-way fare I could find on ITA, and buying miles from AA for redemption. I used the same weekend in April for my search.

 

Cheapest per ITA - Turkish via Istanbul to JFK, then JetBlue from JFK to SAN, $731 all in.

 

Norwegian, FCO-xOSL-LAX, "Lowfare +" - includes one bag, one "tasty" meal, plus seat selection - $536 or $617 with 2 bags. "Premium" on the same route is $1134. Note FCO-OSL will be roughly 3 hours on shorthaul equipment with 31" legroom.

 

AA miles, FCO-xLHR-xDFW-SAN, on BA to London then AA - 20,000 miles for coach, plus $160 in taxes/fees. You can reduce the fees by flying Airberlin from Rome to Dusseldorf then to Miami, then AA to San Diego - $78 in fees.

 

Business class, FCO-xLHR-xJFK-SAN, 50,000 miles and $160 in fees.

 

20K AA miles today would cost $590, 50,000 would cost $1475; however AA has several annual sales with anywhere from 20% to 30% savings, so at 20% off, coach would be $472 and business $1180.

 

In business class, compared to Norwegian's "premium" you'd have business class on the shorthaul to London, flat beds over the pond, and first class on any domestic connections. Even in coach, on AA-operated flights you could pay up $30 or $50 to "main cabin extra," with additional legroom in coach (up to 36 or 38".)

 

So the cost spreads are not especially huge between Norwegian and the others, but the level of amenity might be significant.

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I've traveled on Norwegian and was very satisfied but they do have some extra charges and also be aware that their luggage weight may be lighter. I was surprised at the Copenhagen airport with that issue! A flight to the USA might include a different travel weight. We are going to use them next spring for a BAR to WAW flight.

 

If you are in the Rccl or Celebrity family of cruising, check out choiceair. I've flown with them but can't say it was great only because it was a huge mess during Superstorm Sandy. We were about the last flight out before they closed the airport and if it wasn't for my work and diligence in getting the first connecting flight switched, we would have missed out on most of our time in Rome.

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I'm not seeing any premium economy product, only "premium," which looks a little like business class on carriers like Icelandair.

 

Out of curiosity I did a brief comparo for FCO-SAN (or LAX in the case of Norwegian) between Norwegian, the cheapest one-way fare I could find on ITA, and buying miles from AA for redemption. I used the same weekend in April for my search.

 

Cheapest per ITA - Turkish via Istanbul to JFK, then JetBlue from JFK to SAN, $731 all in.

 

Norwegian, FCO-xOSL-LAX, "Lowfare +" - includes one bag, one "tasty" meal, plus seat selection - $536 or $617 with 2 bags. "Premium" on the same route is $1134. Note FCO-OSL will be roughly 3 hours on shorthaul equipment with 31" legroom.

 

AA miles, FCO-xLHR-xDFW-SAN, on BA to London then AA - 20,000 miles for coach, plus $160 in taxes/fees. You can reduce the fees by flying Airberlin from Rome to Dusseldorf then to Miami, then AA to San Diego - $78 in fees.

 

Business class, FCO-xLHR-xJFK-SAN, 50,000 miles and $160 in fees.

 

20K AA miles today would cost $590, 50,000 would cost $1475; however AA has several annual sales with anywhere from 20% to 30% savings, so at 20% off, coach would be $472 and business $1180.

 

In business class, compared to Norwegian's "premium" you'd have business class on the shorthaul to London, flat beds over the pond, and first class on any domestic connections. Even in coach, on AA-operated flights you could pay up $30 or $50 to "main cabin extra," with additional legroom in coach (up to 36 or 38".)

 

So the cost spreads are not especially huge between Norwegian and the others, but the level of amenity might be significant.

 

Wow - thanks for your effort! In terms of Norwegian, my assumption was that their premium product was similar in nature to a premium economy product on either BA or Turkish Airlines and better than AA main cabin extra.

 

The business class deal on Advantage miles is a pretty good one. Lots of connections and so forth, but certainly a far nicer seat than the alternatives. My experience with connections are that they present another point of failure in terms of broken airplanes, bad weather and lost luggage; but business class is a huge step up from coach on long haul.

 

I've traveled on Norwegian and was very satisfied but they do have some extra charges and also be aware that their luggage weight may be lighter. I was surprised at the Copenhagen airport with that issue! A flight to the USA might include a different travel weight. We are going to use them next spring for a BAR to WAW flight.

 

If you are in the Rccl or Celebrity family of cruising, check out choiceair. I've flown with them but can't say it was great only because it was a huge mess during Superstorm Sandy. We were about the last flight out before they closed the airport and if it wasn't for my work and diligence in getting the first connecting flight switched, we would have missed out on most of our time in Rome.

 

I have reviewed the weight limits on Norwegian and it can work for me. Of course, something can always happen and then you get hit up for an excess fee at the airport. I am sure that Norwegian is strict in terms of ensuring that weight limits aren't exceeded as baggage fees are definitely an especially strong part of their business model.

 

Your experience with Sandy was a bit of an extreme case. However, being aggressive on getting re-booked is always a good idea. Waiting on the airline to do something is never a good idea. When I see things starting to go bad on a flight, I will either call reservations directly about re-booking or get in the queue at the check-in desk at the gate. Sometimes both at the same time!

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