Have you booked your air for summer,2006 Med cruise?

[shellysh]

To all who will be cruising to the med next summer I was wondering if you have already booked your air. I am just about to book the air on my own since Carnival is charging over $1100 round trip for air from Newark to Rome. I am sure it is not nonstop and this is not even with air deviation. I am checking out kayak and booking buddy. Is it ok to book air from one of these sites if the price is a little less than the airline itself? Even if we can save $!00 why not?

[celmed]

I recommend you use the Sidestep types of sites for information but do not book through them. Always book directly with the airline so you can rely on the airline's customer service should something go wrong.

[deb1835]

We haven't booked yet either. We're waiting to see if the are any sales in the next month or two. The cruiseline doesn't necessarily have non-stops especially to the med. You are also then stuck with what they give you.

[Boo's Mom]

We booked directly with Northwest....for our flight to Dover, England (July 06).

Used Travelocity and others to research.

 

****************

 

Here is a conversation we had with an airline while traveling to Alaska...and experienced major delays, etc. "We didn't book you on these flights. Travelocity did that".

 

It was a lesson learned.

[PoohUnderstands]

We are on the BOS on 9/20/06. I started looking at airfares on the 329th day out, just to get an idea. But when I looked I could go from FLL to BCN with only 1 stop in Newark and 3 to 4 hours between flights which I need emotionally!(grin) with the same airline, Continental, for $750 pp. I felt after reading prices for 2005 on this site, that that wasn't a bad price so I went ahead and booked then. Well, now those flights are $1100+pp. Even if they go down to $650 pp., which I doubt, I am still glad I have the flights I want and the seats I want!! Good luck in getting your flights. I have read on these sites that last year the best prices were coming up now through March. But who knows what this year will bring!

 

Oh, and after finding this good price on bookingbuddy.com, I went directly to Continental and booked with them.

 

Pooh

[jcanino]

To all who will be cruising to the med next summer I was wondering if you have already booked your air. I am just about to book the air on my own since Carnival is charging over $1100 round trip for air from Newark to Rome. I am sure it is not nonstop and this is not even with air deviation. I am checking out kayak and booking buddy. Is it ok to book air from one of these sites if the price is a little less than the airline itself? Even if we can save $!00 why not?

 

Don't forget that even if you find flights for $100 less, you then have to add transfers from FCO to Civatavechia. It is not a short distance and will cost almost as much as your flight savings.

[PattyMichael]

We are taking the Century to Europe 9/2/06 first time to Europe. Will we fly out of LAX. We looked into airfares LAX to Dover then Amsterdam where we get on the ship. We did book with the cruise line airfare but was told by TA she would look for what we wanted if the line doesnt offer it. I am kind of uneasy about this airfare thing. I here ist amost 10 hours from LAX to Dover and 3 more to Amsterdam. We would be leaving 8/30 Wed and arriving Fri 9/1 am spending the day in Amsterdam and borad the ship 9/2 Sat. We also requested late seating for dinner because of all the long shore trips 10 ports in 14 days. We will need a vacation after our vacation. LOL

[cusyl]

For medical reasons I will have to fly business class rather than coach.

I booked with Delta TPA to VCE and BCN to TPA for $2495. I am also insuring the flight as it covers bankruptcy of the airlines.

[SheilaNC]

If you have booked and then find a cheaper fare, be sure to call the airline to ask for a refund..they often do it - sometimes with a charge that still saves $$ and sometimes at no charge if your flight dates and times stay the same.

FYI, I have used Kayak.com with good results. Whenever I get a good price on a booking site, I first check with the airline's site to see if their rate is better. My son recently got a better price at the AA.com site for our cruise to Alaska out of Seattle than the multiple booking site.

 

I always book as soon as I find a price that I'm willing to pay and only keep checking the price at that airline to keep myself from regretting my decision :). The likelihood is that prices will go up closer to your dates.

[NHRedSoxFan]

We are on the BOS on 9/20/06. I started looking at airfares on the 329th day out, just to get an idea.

Pooh

 

I already booked air in December 2005 for a Sept. 2006 sailing. This is BOS to VCE and the cheapest coach was $1098, which was Air France. It's the same we paid last year (Alitalia) to go to Rome. Then we decided since AF has business class we'd splurge for that. Now I'm hearing all of the negatives of transfering at CDG in Paris.

I know people who've found R/T fares for $700 or so last year. Maybe there just aren't any deals out there anymore?

[nparmelee]

Booked our air for our June cruise last summer and glad I did, prices have almost trippled for our route since then. I like having the control of our own flights even if it costs a $100 or so more per peson. Remember to check your flights at least once a week after you book, lot's of little changes can happen and it's a good idea to keep an eye on them. Also, if you want to upgrade with FF miles or use FF miles to pay for the flight, you are much better off booking as early as possible.

[tp1rrj]

I had been checking Expedia every day for London and saw r/t w/New Zealand Air direct from LAX - $770 a few weeks ago. Suggest either flying to Dublin and taking RyanAir or EasyJet onto Rome. There is an extra charge for heavy luggage. We have taken RyanAir several times and found them to be very reliable. It just depends if you want convenience or price. This year doesn't seem to be like previous years going to Europe. Good Luck!!

[jaxon41]

If you have booked and then find a cheaper fare, be sure to call the airline to ask for a refund..they often do it - sometimes with a charge that still saves $$ and sometimes at no charge if your flight dates and times stay the same.

FYI, I have used Kayak.com with good results. Whenever I get a good price on a booking site, I first check with the airline's site to see if their rate is better. My son recently got a better price at the AA.com site for our cruise to Alaska out of Seattle than the multiple booking site.

 

I always book as soon as I find a price that I'm willing to pay and only keep checking the price at that airline to keep myself from regretting my decision :). The likelihood is that prices will go up closer to your dates.

 

When I looked at AA's site for BCN, I didn't see any partner lines, but did see a big price. I then when to Orbitz and found an AA flight to Germany with a partner, Iberia, to Barcelona at a good price. I thought AA was supposed to show the best AA fare? This is the first time I have used one of the big travel sites to book air, and now this thread has me thinking I shouldn't have done it that way.

[vivian02]

Jaxson41,

You got a good deal, I saw what you paid on another thread and you aren't going to get a price cheaper than that. Sure you will have to fly into Germany but I would much rather make a transfer out of Frankfurt or Munich than CDG. In the past I have used Orbitz with great results. I was lucky enough last year to get a Business Class ticket on Air France for $602 per person. The only draw back was we did run into some flight delays out of Phoenix and CDG. Considering those issues everything worked out. Before I booked this years Airfare to Barcelona I had see what looked like some good deals on AA but that wasn't the case. They wanted $842 not including tax and the flights where crazy....Albuquerque to Chicago, Chicago to MIA, MIA to MAD and then MAD to BCN. Three stops? Total price...$1028 I passed.

Here is another one I passed on $694 including taxes. Albquerque to Chicago (21 minute layover) Chicago to MAD (24 hour layover) MAD to BCN. Finding that good deals takes alittle bit of work.

The past two years I have booked my Airfare nine months in advance. Both times I have not see any great bargins show up in advance of the vacations. This year I might get a chance to use those acculated air miles. We'll just have to see. Tim

[auburn77]

To all who will be cruising to the med next summer I was wondering if you have already booked your air. I am just about to book the air on my own since Carnival is charging over $1100 round trip for air from Newark to Rome. I am sure it is not nonstop and this is not even with air deviation. I am checking out kayak and booking buddy. Is it ok to book air from one of these sites if the price is a little less than the airline itself? Even if we can save $!00 why not?

 

We booked air through Carnival for $750. We couldn't find anything cheaper,especially considering that it includes the transfers to the ship and back. 1.5 hrs. each way could be expensive. We did book last August for the May cruise.

[PoohUnderstands]

Heads up!

 

Just checking flights today and ones similar to what I wanted have come up $38-83 less pp than when I booked in November. This is the first time. The only difference is that the one change of planes is in Europe instead of the states. I looked on bookingbuddy and the best deals I found were on www.cheapair.com; found the flights I would have liked and then went to the airlines site and saved even a few more dollars. Example is Miami to BCN with one stop either in London(no change of airports!!!) or Madrid for $788 and $739 pp. Also there was plenty of time between connections, not the usual one hour that you normally see!!

 

Good luck, and have a great summer in Europe cruise!

 

Pooh

[Capsu78]

Shellysh,

Push Carnival to see if they have a better fare in the $800 range. They had one lined up for me from ORD to FCO when I booked last weekend for late August. It is prime time, full load vacatioon time during the summer months so if you are trying for July you may be still looking at the best available fare.

FYI, I didn't use Carnival, as my Frequent Flyer miles opened up an 3 stop itinerary. Good news is they have us laying over in Paris for 28 hours on the way back, so I am getting another Port of Call in the dealio.