Transatlantic advice on flights/hotels

[cruiser man 60]

We are looking to book first transatlantic next year, westbound with a few days in New York post cruise. The hotel prices quoted on cunard site are extortionate at £600 per night for crowne plaza, I can book equivalent in booking.com for half this. Can you ask Cunard to book flights back say 3 days after cruise and book hotel direct ? 

Also who do cunard use for flights back to U.K. To London and which airport do they use?

thanks for any help.

[MCC retired]

If you are booking in the US and booking air with Cunard , yes you can specify dates . Pretty nice flexiable rates 👍Other countries I’m not sure ?

Edited November 28, 2018 by MCC retired

[DreamingOfSunnyDays]

38 minutes ago, cruiser man 60 said:

We are looking to book first transatlantic next year, westbound with a few days in New York post cruise. The hotel prices quoted on cunard site are extortionate at £600 per night for crowne plaza, I can book equivalent in booking.com for half this. Can you ask Cunard to book flights back say 3 days after cruise and book hotel direct ? 

Also who do cunard use for flights back to U.K. To London and which airport do they use?

thanks for any help.

 

Hi Cruiser!

 

Yes, we’ve done the same. They can defer your flights for three nights or four nights. We’ve also booked on booking.com

 

There might be a bit of an extra charge like  £50pp though.

 

They’ve got our flights listed from Newark which must mean United. However we really would prefer Virgin atlantic (we fly back into Manchester). We have asked to check prices but they say won’t be known till 180 days before. Hopefully before this!

[ratflinger]

Look now for airline prices.  I know you can book Delta 330 days out.

[Neuhoftraveler]

I suspect this will set off a firestorm, but in my experience, most US hotels and hotel chains offer direct  booking at the same rates as booking.com and other third-party sites, without the risk of the booking not being honored (which seems to happen at least occasionally with the third-party sites).  In addition, there are many reports of the third-party bookers getting the worst rooms in the house, with requests for a different room routinely rejected. Plus, direct booking often comes with a small perk or two, like free wi-fi, not given to third-party bookers.

 

This should not be surprising if you think about how the third-party booking sites make their money.  It comes from commissions paid by the hotels.  As there is no such commission paid with direct bookings, the hotel has some room to maneuver.

[MarkBearSF]

3 hours ago, Neuhoftraveler said:

...in my experience, most US hotels and hotel chains offer direct  booking at the same rates as booking.com and other third-party sites, without the risk of the booking not being honored (which seems to happen at least occasionally with the third-party sites).  In addition, there are many reports of the third-party bookers getting the worst rooms in the house, with requests for a different room routinely rejected. Plus, direct booking often comes with a small perk or two, like free wi-fi, not given to third-party bookers.

Exactly. There are many strategies - but one thing I always do is, after finding the deal on booking.com or other comparison site of my choice, is to check with the hotel directly. This may not work with bidding/blind sites like priceline.com or hotwire. But for ones like booking.com, trivago, orbitz and the like - you'll usually get at least the same price, and often with a perk like WiFi by booking with the hotel directly.

 

...and you're right. The Cunard hotel packages are borderline extortionate. Enjoy NY!

 

Edited November 29, 2018 by MarkBearSF

[VintageCCG]

FWIW, personally I'm a fan of the Starwood/Marriott family of hotels. I used them before and after my return voyage in Aug/Sept.
I stayed at the upscale W Hotel in Lower Manhattan (about 2 blocks from WTC) for US$161/night before departure, then the Aloft Brooklyn for US$200 after returning (it was the Sept 11 anniversary so availability was low).
This was about half the normal rates at each location (and 1/3 the rates available through Cunard), and I booked directly through the SPG/Marriott website.
I always book directly after experiencing some booking problems through the consolidator websites.

 

If you have a car, Manhattan on-site parking can be US$75/night or more. There are parking websites such as Parkwhiz or Bestparking that can find you parking within walking distance, typically in the range of US$30.

[ExArkie]

17 hours ago, DreamingOfSunnyDays said:

 

Hi Cruiser!

 

Yes, we’ve done the same. They can defer your flights for three nights or four nights. We’ve also booked on booking.com

 

There might be a bit of an extra charge like  £50pp though.

 

They’ve got our flights listed from Newark which must mean United. However we really would prefer Virgin atlantic (we fly back into Manchester). We have asked to check prices but they say won’t be known till 180 days before. Hopefully before this!

I have used Cunard Air to book one-way from US on a couple of occasions, both for westbound TAs.  Once, I was teaching a class in Dublin and they booked me into that city a few weeks prior to departure (I arranged my own short flight to Southampton).  Doing the same thing in Manchester this year and they booked me into that city, arriving tomorrow (Nov. 30), when the TA is December 15. In both cases, I got to specify which airline (I am Gold Medallion on Delta, so prefer it for the benefits).

 

There did not seem to be any additional charge for different cities or travel in advance, but it is impossible to tell for sure from the US as the airlines here do not sell actual one-way tickets.  What you can buy as one-way are sold as the full fare price for a round trip (unless you use airline miles, which I have also done).

 

As someone else noted, I can only vouch for this being the case for travel from the US for a person with a US address.  I am not even remotely implying that this might apply to any other country...or even for some other people in this one, I guess.

[cruiser man 60]

Thanks for all tips, we are U.K. Based so will be flying back to U.K. Prefer Gatwick or Manchester. We could book our own flights but for some dates there is no reduction in price and others only about £200 pp so cunard can obviously get some good rates from the airlines.

[hihilo]

Iceland Air had some incredibly good deals, a few years back, between New York  both major London area airports.  (either direction, westbound or eastbound.)  A N D they had the option to stay in Iceland for up to 14 nights without additional air-fare-related fees. Although staying in, eating in, driving in Iceland is  N O T cheap.

[Yoshikitty]

19 hours ago, Neuhoftraveler said:

  In addition, there are many reports of the third-party bookers getting the worst rooms in the house, with requests for a different room routinely rejected. 

 

I don‘t think that this is really the case.

 

The big booking platforms are butter and bread for almost every hotel and all platforms have very influencial feedback platforms

 

if you are receiving negative feedback there, your business is heavily affected.

So any smart hotel owner/manager will make sure that these influencial customers are happy.

 

Truth in every business is, that unhappy customers tend to leave more likely feedback than happy customers, that would be my explanation why unhappy guests accuse the hotels of all kinds of things - including punishing them with bad rooms because they have been using booking.com

 

 

Edited November 29, 2018 by Yoshikitty

[laktex]

On 11/28/2018 at 9:09 PM, cruiser man 60 said:

We are looking to book first transatlantic next year, westbound with a few days in New York post cruise. The hotel prices quoted on cunard site are extortionate at £600 per night for crowne plaza, I can book equivalent in booking.com for half this. Can you ask Cunard to book flights back say 3 days after cruise and book hotel direct ? 

Also who do cunard use for flights back to U.K. To London and which airport do they use?

thanks for any help.

 

Unless I am using miles/points Cunard have always given me good deals on oneway flights and their upgrade cost can also be quite reasonable. I have always stayed more days and sometimes flown from different locations.  They have considerable purchasing power.  As for hotels - Never!

[Sunbubble]

I always book through the hotel's website.  BTW, if you're looking for a small boutique hotel, I highly recommend, Hotel Elysee on the upper East Side.  Sometimes they have very good deals.

[Neuhoftraveler]

For a NYC hotel, I favor the Michelangelo on W. 51st St. at 7th Av.  It's Italian-owned (surprise!), the only US property of a small Euro chain.  Rooms are quite spacious by any standard, which for NYC is really saying something, and we've always found the rates quite reasonable especially if booked well in advance.  Easy walking distance to Broadway theatres, and not much more than that to Lincoln Center.  Cabs to "Museum MIle" on 5th Av. are in the $10-15 range depending on traffic.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Since I spend most of my time at the Metropolitan Museum, the Natural History Museum, Central Park, the Guggenheim..........(upper west side and upper east side of NYC) I have found the Lucerne hotel (upper west side) to be a great room at a great price. I always book direct. 

There is also a lot of wonderful places to eat in all price ranges  within walking distance. 

Edited December 1, 2018 by HaveDogWillTravel

[Gretchendz]

On 11/28/2018 at 6:13 PM, Neuhoftraveler said:

  As there is no such commission paid with direct bookings, the hotel has some room to maneuver.

 

 

That's not entirely true, as most all of the chains will pay a travel agent commission--and off the same rate offered to the public on their websites.  It's not a bad idea to find a travel agent willing to work with you on even small bookings. You can still find the rate you want on third party and/or hotel sites and then ask your agent to research the same hotel and dates. Usually, not always, a travel agent can meet or beat that price, or even add amenities.  You then have the advantage of someone who will go to bat for you if something does go amiss :)

[Underwatr]

On 11/28/2018 at 6:13 PM, Neuhoftraveler said:

In addition, there are many reports of the third-party bookers getting the worst rooms in the house, with requests for a different room routinely rejected. 

Possibly on an opaque booking like Priceline or, I think, Hotwire (if Hotwire still does opaque booking). In that case, however, you often will have received a rate below what the property would offer for a room.

[hihilo]

RE: Hotwire and Priceline for hotel bookings, ~~~~ I use them almost 100% of the time, and always get prices lower than the hotel itself can offer.  And I've never had a terrible room (next to the incinerator.... or adjacent to the industrial washers/dryers) -- as someone has suggested may happen.  Only down side, is.....  if you cancel for any reason, you are totally out the $$$$.   I  LOVE checking into Marriott or Sheraton, and hearing the guest in front of my paying 100$ more than I did.   🙂  

[Underwatr]

I'm aware that at the New York Hilton (for example) there are rooms on each floor sort of tucked behind the elevators that are noticeably smaller than the other rooms. I wouldn't be surprised that Priceline bidders are placed in those rooms with some frequency. But aside from being a little more cramped than other rooms there i think they're acceptable rooms.

[Jack E Dawson]

On our last few trips to the UK, including two QM2 WB TA's, we flew on Norwegian Airlines from Chicago direct to Gatwick. I think Norwegian is now flying direct out of 8-10 major U.S. cities including LAX, ATL, JFK and MCO. From the U.S. They are only flying the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is a real comfort to fly, and one way coach flights go for under U$250. Business Class, which includes Club access, goes for around U$700. This is not an airline I was previous familiar with but so far have been very satisfied. I don't think they have any connection with Norwegian Cruise Line. 

[MarkBearSF]

As a matter of fact, in 2002, I wound up in one of those elevator rooms at the Hilton (smaller, but fine) and a few years later an elevator room at a Holiday Inn Express on 28th (kept awake by the elevator dinging each floor next to by head) - both compliments of Priceline. I've had great deals and not-so-great ones. I feel certain that they get the worst rooms in the category available at the time.

I often recommend Priceline and Hotwire to those familiar with the area and flexible. (especially with some of the blind booking help sites which post recent successful bids and hotels.)

But if I'm not doing blind bidding, after looking at comparison sites like booking.com, I check with the hotel directly before committing.

[Aspidestra99]

On 12/1/2018 at 7:08 AM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Since I spend most of my time at the Metropolitan Museum, the Natural History Museum, Central Park, the Guggenheim..........(upper west side and upper east side of NYC) I have found the Lucerne hotel (upper west side) to be a great room at a great price. I always book direct. 

There is also a lot of wonderful places to eat in all price ranges  within walking distance. 

I've also stayed with my daughter at the Lucerne. It is in a great location close to the metro but in a quieter spot. We're thinking of staying there again. Would definitely recommend too.