Free air promo flight problems

[MDgal76]

Has anyone successfully used the free air promo without any hiccups? I have the free air for my Encore trip Jan 2020 but I’ve been reading horror stories from those that had horrible flights booked (schedule wise) or simply did not have a smooth process. I did the take all so if I end up booking my own air I won’t lose anything but am interested to hear if anyone had success. 

[dbrown84]

I used the free air on my last cruise (DCA to MIA) with no problems whatsoever.  I did have a 6:00 AM flight which might be too early for some, but I liked having such an early flight in case something went wrong.  This was my first time coming in the morning of the cruise.  I usually come in the day before.  My flight back left Miami at Noon, plenty of time to get off the ship and to the airport.  I've read people who don't like waiting for the NCL shuttle to fill up, but the wait wasn't long at all (maybe 5 minutes tops).  The only thing I would do differently if I choose the free flight again is come in the day before.  The only reason I didn't last time was because they required you to book your hotel stay thru them if you wanted to come in early, and they charge way too much for their hotels.  The don't have this requirement anymore.  They just charge you $25.

[ute_fan]

Didn't have any real issues with mine the middle of June.  Flying from SLC to SEA, so it was a short flight.  Flight to SEA was later arriving than I would have preferred (11:45 arrival time) and later leaving (6:30 departure time), but no real issues other than some stress on my part.

 

Both flights were on time and arrived slightly early.  I really don't like flying in the day of sailing and would never do it for a longer flight, especially one with connections, but these ones worked fine.

[dbrown84]

I should point out that I also had non stop flights.  I probably would have stressed a little if I had connections, at least for the flight going down

[andymattmom]

Used in May with no issues. Nonstops both ways from Indianapolis to Miami. 

[zqvol]

The real key to problems is whether or not you have to connect and how far you are going. OP appears to be in MD, so if cruising out of FL or the Gulf Coast there is probably one connection in either ATL or CLT. If she leaves from one of the DC area airports she may get a non stop to FL or the Gulf Coast. If she were going cross country she might have a second connection and those are teh times that problems arise.

[geomancer]

I didn't even get that far :) I looked at a few, and they wanted almost $700 pp. We could book our own flights with a known schedule for that.

[dbrown84]

$700 was the price with the airfare perk?!?!  Wow 

[geomancer]

2 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

$700 was the price with the airfare perk?!?!  Wow 

Yep, technically it's free or reduced airfare. But that reduced claim is very iffy considering airlines haven't even priced out that far in advance. I was using a short notice air booking for this year as a point of comparison.

To be fair, it was an international flight and not domestic, but still. At that price, I'd take a gamble on booking my own or just use my airline points for truly free.

[Carolina Girl 99]

If you do book with the included air promo and fly in on day of departure- does NCL offer any guarantee of getting you to the ship on time? Also, does it include transfers from the airport to the ship?

We live in SC (just north of Savannah, GA) and generally always drive to FL departure ports, but if I can fly for free or even $99/pp it saves me booking a pre-cruise hotel and paying for parking for a week, so it should almost be a wash

[SailorMan20]

7 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

I used the free air on my last cruise (DCA to MIA) with no problems whatsoever.  I did have a 6:00 AM flight which might be too early for some, but I liked having such an early flight in case something went wrong.  This was my first time coming in the morning of the cruise.  I usually come in the day before.  My flight back left Miami at Noon, plenty of time to get off the ship and to the airport.  I've read people who don't like waiting for the NCL shuttle to fill up, but the wait wasn't long at all (maybe 5 minutes tops).  The only thing I would do differently if I choose the free flight again is come in the day before.  The only reason I didn't last time was because they required you to book your hotel stay thru them if you wanted to come in early, and they charge way too much for their hotels.  The don't have this requirement anymore.  They just charge you $25.

I have reduced air for My December 2020 encore cruise. I am flying in to MIA 2 days before cruise departs and 2 days after cruise gets back. Its cost Me total of $100 to do that. Air Deviations. I want some time to visit Miami and South Beach.

[Nola26]

9 hours ago, MDgal76 said:

Has anyone successfully used the free air promo without any hiccups? I have the free air for my Encore trip Jan 2020 but I’ve been reading horror stories from those that had horrible flights booked (schedule wise) or simply did not have a smooth process. I did the take all so if I end up booking my own air I won’t lose anything but am interested to hear if anyone had success. 

I think some of what you have read are people fretting, not a lot of complaints about what is actually booked. Taking the offer means you give up control and that's a lot harder for some, so CC offers an outlet. 

 

Candidly I also challenged the veracity of at least one report as facts didn't line up for me. 

 

NCL has recently implemented a new air booking software system that created some havoc and generated lots of phone calls, so people get even more anxious while on hold.

 

My personal experience is not finished as we don't have our flight reservations.

 

Trip: Newark to Barcelona for September cruise, $399pp round trip 

 

Flights: on our vacation Summary page we saw flights out through Montreal and Toronto on the return. Now we see London and Charlotte. 

 

Error: we were told the flights through Canada were generated by the system in error as part of the system change. Flights would change and they did the next day. Those flights have shown for two weeks.

 

Edocs: before any routing was shown in our Summary I could see our edocs. Now they are unavailable until flights are booked. We are 55 days out and I was told that flights likely get booked around 50 days.

 

At this point I am fine with the offer, it made the trip affordable for us. Current routing won't put me on either of my preferred carriers, but that's the deal I accepted and we'll be fine, just no perks due to frequent flyer status.

 

Personally I would book this offer again without hesitation. 

[newmexicoNita]

We are using it for our Oct cruise out of MIA. Yes we have an early flight and yes a connection, but we would have the same if booking separately and we are saving a fortune. We are lucky to have a good travel agent as we had a problem she was able to get corrected. i have posted about this on a few other posts. According to her, yes, they guarantee to get you to the port on time. For what we saved we are happy. Of course the timing isn't going to be ideal but nothing is perfect. For $99 plus the cost of the transfers instead of $599 plus transfers I will live with a little lack of sleep. 

[MDgal76]

12 hours ago, zqvol said:

The real key to problems is whether or not you have to connect and how far you are going. OP appears to be in MD, so if cruising out of FL or the Gulf Coast there is probably one connection in either ATL or CLT. If she leaves from one of the DC area airports she may get a non stop to FL or the Gulf Coast. If she were going cross country she might have a second connection and those are teh times that problems arise.

I will be flying from DCA or BWI and plan on paying the $25 pp to fly in a day early. My cruise is in Jan and I wouldn’t risk traveling the same day in the winter.  In a FB group I am in there is someone traveling to Seattle for her Alaska cruise and they have her flying home 12 hours after her cruise returns. And although there are earlier flights NCL won’t put her on one. So I was curious if others have run into similar situations. I am traveling with my mom and stepdad as well and they are flying from NYC to Miami. I know if they end up with a connection they’ll just end up booking their own. There are too many non stop flights from NYC to MIA to have to connect. 

[newmexicoNita]

4 minutes ago, MDgal76 said:

I will be flying from DCA or BWI and plan on paying the $25 pp to fly in a day early. My cruise is in Jan and I wouldn’t risk traveling the same day in the winter.  In a FB group I am in there is someone traveling to Seattle for her Alaska cruise and they have her flying home 12 hours after her cruise returns. And although there are earlier flights NCL won’t put her on one. So I was curious if others have run into similar situations. I am traveling with my mom and stepdad as well and they are flying from NYC to Miami. I know if they end up with a connection they’ll just end up booking their own. There are too many non stop flights from NYC to MIA to have to connect. 

If you really feel so strongly about this it might be better if you just book on your own. No one is going to guarantee you your flight times will be to your exact liking. And obviously NCL is going to pick out the least expensive fares available. Thus the timing may not be perfect. 

[MDgal76]

2 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

If you really feel so strongly about this it might be better if you just book on your own. No one is going to guarantee you your flight times will be to your exact liking. And obviously NCL is going to pick out the least expensive fares available. Thus the timing may not be perfect. 

What are you talking about? I never said I had an issue. I was simply asking the question to see what others experience has been. Obviously if I have an issue with it I will book my own flight. That’s just common sense. I already said I’m flying in a day early to avoid cutting it close during the winter and if I have a super late return flight then I’ll just book my own return. Too easy. 

[dbrown84]

And if they put you on a real late flight, you can possibly get on an earlier flight using the airlines standby process.  Obviously no guarantees, but worth a shot.  But like you said, it won't be a problem finding your own flights between DC and Miami (I'm also from MD)

[dbrown84]

10 hours ago, Carolina Girl 99 said:

If you do book with the included air promo and fly in on day of departure- does NCL offer any guarantee of getting you to the ship on time? Also, does it include transfers from the airport to the ship?

We live in SC (just north of Savannah, GA) and generally always drive to FL departure ports, but if I can fly for free or even $99/pp it saves me booking a pre-cruise hotel and paying for parking for a week, so it should almost be a wash

They don't guarantee you get to the ship in the departure port (since they can't control the airlines), but if you miss they will fly you to the next port.  The transfers between the airport and dock will be automatically added to your booking.  I've read mixed comments on whether you can remove it or not, but I choose to use the NCL shuttle for mine.  For $32 round trip (Miami) it was worth it.  I would've saved maybe 5 bucks doing my own transportation

[MDgal76]

14 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

I am an older teen, and I'm the closest you will get to the tween age here. NCL Encore hasn't debuted yet, so no one here can offer any information on that. However, if I had to choose between the two, it would be the NCL Encore, hands down. I have been on the Horizon, and have been on the Breakaway (cousin-class ship). Breakaway was amazing, and so was Horizon! Both are tied for my favorite ship, I have sailed on so far! Even though Horizon will have more free amenities, including Skyride, Sky Course, and water slides, NCL has, arguably better water slides, which are also free. Even though your child will be 12, for future consideration, I heard that Entourage, for 13-17-year-olds, will host free laser tag on some nights. Considering that Encore has the better itinerary, I would choose that. 

 

9 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

And if they put you on a real late flight, you can possibly get on an earlier flight using the airlines standby process.  Obviously no guarantees, but worth a shot.  But like you said, it won't be a problem finding your own flights between DC and Miami (I'm also from MD)

Exactly! 

[Nola26]

If you are on the same reservation as your parents the offer only applies to guests 1-2, 3rd person gets discounted airfare. All members on the reservation are booked on the same flights. So in your case parents would be booked from NYC and you can book your own from MD or DC.

 

Anything can happen but I would be surprised if NYC to Florida requires a connection. It could get booked to FLL rather than Miami, but we do that all the time as flights are less expensive. Jiffy Jeff is a great transport company if you need a ride from a FLL hotel to Port of Miami. 

[MDgal76]

No, we have separate reservations. I flew to FLL for my last cruise on the Getaway out of MIa. You are right it was def cheaper.  We ended up renting a car in FLL since we got in a day ahead. It was super easy to just drive to MIA from FLL. 

[mauraoel]

Didn't I read before if you don't take the flight to the cruise the return flight would be canceled?

[GA Dave]

12 hours ago, Carolina Girl 99 said:

If you do book with the included air promo and fly in on day of departure- does NCL offer any guarantee of getting you to the ship on time? Also, does it include transfers from the airport to the ship?

We live in SC (just north of Savannah, GA) and generally always drive to FL departure ports, but if I can fly for free or even $99/pp it saves me booking a pre-cruise hotel and paying for parking for a week, so it should almost be a wash

I live in Savannah and AA now has nonstop flights to and from MIA.  I checked for September of this year and they show a 6:13 AM and a 5:03 PM flight down to MIA and a 2:53 PM and a 9:50 PM flight back.  When my DW and I went on the Getaway last September out of Miami, we did our own flights on Delta thru ATL, as AA was only offering the early AM down/late PM back flights at that time.  We also have status with DL, so we were able to book very reasonable Economy Comfort + seats at more reasonable times than the AA flights.

[Carolina Girl 99]

 

10 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

They don't guarantee you get to the ship in the departure port (since they can't control the airlines), but if you miss they will fly you to the next port.  The transfers between the airport and dock will be automatically added to your booking.  I've read mixed comments on whether you can remove it or not, but I choose to use the NCL shuttle for mine.  For $32 round trip (Miami) it was worth it.  I would've saved maybe 5 bucks doing my own transportation

 

7 hours ago, GA Dave said:

I live in Savannah and AA now has nonstop flights to and from MIA.  I checked for September of this year and they show a 6:13 AM and a 5:03 PM flight down to MIA and a 2:53 PM and a 9:50 PM flight back.  When my DW and I went on the Getaway last September out of Miami, we did our own flights on Delta thru ATL, as AA was only offering the early AM down/late PM back flights at that time.  We also have status with DL, so we were able to book very reasonable Economy Comfort + seats at more reasonable times than the AA flights.

Thank you both for the information! GA Dave, I know they finally started a SAV-MIA route recently, but I'm still seeing typically high prices for flying out of SAV

[imacruiser99]

I think using the free/reduce airfare promo is a personal question, but remember NCL is not going to book the most expensive flight.  You also need to see of the airport you are selecting as a direct flight to the location you are cruising out of.  It actually may be cheaper if you select a departure airport which has direct flights.  Southern CA is a prime example.  There are a number of airports which could be used, but if LAX has a direct flight, then you may want to select that city and pay for the cost of staying over night there instead of fretting over a missed connection or delays.  Direct non-stop flights are always best.