Question on using X air

[pbrady]

We've done 7 Celebrity cruises but never booked air through them. However, we are considering it this time. I actually have two questions: 1) can we fly out a day in advance? and 2) do we have any say on the times of the flights or whether or not they are non-stop?

I don't want to book the air through them and find out from Detroit to Ft Lauderdale I have 3 stops and it'll take 7 hours. Any info is appreciated.

Regards,

still 4 months to go

Peggy

[SS Cruise Lady]

We've done 7 Celebrity cruises but never booked air through them. However, we are considering it this time. I actually have two questions: 1) can we fly out a day in advance? and 2) do we have any say on the times of the flights or whether or not they are non-stop?

I don't want to book the air through them and find out from Detroit to Ft Lauderdale I have 3 stops and it'll take 7 hours. Any info is appreciated.

Regards,

still 4 months to go

Peggy

 

If you have cruised Celebrity before, I am assuming you are a memeber of their Captains' Club. One of the advantages of that membership is that you can select your own flights without paying a deviation fee.

[Longboysfan]

You can custom air it - your in the captains club at a level they will allow this.

You should be able to get the flights you need or want.

 

It all depends on the flights they have available for contract use.

[hancock]

Check out prices on your own before booking with Celebrity. You may find a much better price.

[pbrady]

I will try to look into it.

hancock, believe it or not, the reason I am looking into it is the commercial flights are so high (& I check all non-stops every day) that Celebrity is beating the best I can do by $40 per person and there are 6 of us. I cannot believe that you are talking almost five hundred dollars round trip, in Feb, from Detroit to Ft lauderdale. We are trying to go out Fri afternoon/evening (any time afer 1:00pm) and return between noon and 5:00 on the day we return. Last year, same time frame I paid $220.

Sure is frustrating, Peg

[ahoymatey3]

its the start of spring break, high season.

[Arubalisa]

There are 6 of us flying into IAH (Houston) December 17 and by the time we paid for transfers on our own (or purchased them through Celebrity) it would have been more expensive to do the air on our own. There were a couple of cheaper flights, but couldn't get to the ship in time for departure. All things to consider...

[bob278]

As mentioned, you would not pay a deviation fee, but you might pay a surcharge to their standard cost (but it may still beat the commercial price).

 

You already know how much you would pay on your own so you have a benchmark and you seem to know what they would charge with no deviation (about $40 less p/p).

 

You can call (or have your TA call, if you have one) and ask about Custom Air, giving them your requirements (Friday departure, which airline if you care, times, etc) and then they should be able to give you a price and at least approximate schedule. If you like it, take it. If you don't, you've lost nothing.

 

Even if you weren't Captain's Club members, you would have little risk because you wouldn't pay the deviation fee unless you accepted the schedule they came up with.

 

I have tried this on 2 or 3 trips and I have not found the cruiseline able to beat the best I could do on my own for domestic flights except for a Panama Canal trip where I flew to Ft Lauderdale and back from LA. But don't forget that you also get transfers from the airport to the pier. A cab is about $12-13, and you may need 2 unless you can get a van. So there is a little more savings if Celebrity does come in under what you can get on your own.

 

Don't forget to try some of the internet sites. For instance, on Expedia I saw a non-stop NW flight at 1:35 on Feb 11 with an American return leaving FLL at 4:20 the following Saturday for $392. I just picked that Friday at random since you didn't give a date.

 

Good luck. But heck, either way, you're going on a cruise - how great is that?

[pbrady]

Thanks to all, we are on the Century 2/18 to 2/27 We usually try to go out the day ahead just in case of things known to happen in the Detroit area like ice storms, snow delays... and of course 2 years in a row they lost our luggage but luckily it showed up at 2:00 in the morning so it was there in plenty of time to make it on the ship. Coming back is not usually a problem, who's going to need there shorts and sun screen in Detroit in February?

Thanks again for all the help....peg

[Karynanne]

We usually book our own air, but on an upcoming Transatlantic B2B Batltics, we did use Celebrity air, with our requested deviation. We not only got "exactly" the flights (Airline) we wanted, but already choose our seats. Plus, the flights were non-stop, and coming from Calif. that was fantastic..

 

Had we booked these flights on our own the cost would have been $1500.00 pp. Through X the costs were $799.00 pp. Quite a significant savings...so on our particular itinerary X had an edge on International flights.

 

Karyn

[CaroleSP]

There are 6 of us flying into IAH (Houston) December 17 and by the time we paid for transfers on our own (or purchased them through Celebrity) it would have been more expensive to do the air on our own. There were a couple of cheaper flights, but couldn't get to the ship in time for departure. All things to consider...

 

Celebrity wanted over $900 for our air to Houston, including transfers. I got the air for less than $400; a bit over $500 total, when I include the transfers. Quite a difference; I may not like my flight times, but they are nonstop. I don't think Celebrity could have gotten better nonstop times, as I checked all the airlines to IAH and Hobby almost daily, for months.