NCL Supplemental Air Carriers

[Angela.Estep2019]

Hello Everyone,

 

Does anyone have any info on what airline carrier NCL typically uses when booking supplemental air? We are flying from Miami to Barcelona. Thank you.

[hallux]

Based on the threads in the NCL forum - United, America, Delta and I think JetBlue.  I can personally vouch for use of American and Delta...

[FlyerTalker]

Your use of "supplemental" is a question.  In the aviation industry, "supplemental" is referring to non-scheduled operations, such as charter flights.  While cruiselines do utilize charters on occasion, is that what your question refers to?

 

Or are you talking about travel provided on scheduled flights to get you to and from your cruise?

 

If the latter, it is impossible to predict in advance, since it is completely dependent upon both the contracts and inventory available to the cruiseline.  Also, JetBlue does not fly to Barcelona.

[Angela.Estep2019]

FlyerTalker. I was referring to the reduced airfare program offered by NCL and others, whereas the customer pays a small portion of the cost or fixed amount as part of the "deal" offered, and the cruise line books the travel. (ie,. group rate) The cruiser is not aware of the itinerary or carrier until x-days out from cruise. That's what I meant by supplemental. 

[Zach1213]

1 minute ago, Angela.Estep2019 said:

FlyerTalker. I was referring to the reduced airfare program offered by NCL and others, whereas the customer pays a small portion of the cost or fixed amount as part of the "deal" offered, and the cruise line books the travel. (ie,. group rate) The cruiser is not aware of the itinerary or carrier until x-days out from cruise. That's what I meant by supplemental. 

 

MIA-BCN could see you on god knows what carriers...it's whatever NCL gets for cheapest. Could be anything from a nonstop on AA to a double connect in Europe (for example MIA-LHR-AMS-BCN). Based on what I've seen and heard, there's really no "typical" and it's not something you can really plan for ahead of time, because it really is going to be based on what they are able to negotiate for cheapest. 

[AF-1]

when you use the airline group bookings at reduced rate; the airline books at a steep discount; you may have up to two stops enroute to Barcelona; or you could fly nonstop out of Mia.  Good luck;  if you happen to end up on foreign carrier; you won't be able to pick your seat until 24 hrs prior to departure.  US airlines allow you to pick your seat as soon as the reservation is booked. 

Doing a quick search on google flights is looks like you have three options. American Nonstop,

American and British Airways with one stop, or TAP which is Air Portugal and has one stop. 

Edited October 3, 2019 by AF-1

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

 

Doing a quick search on google flights is looks like you have three options. American Nonstop,

American and British Airways with one stop, or TAP which is Air Portugal and has one stop. 

 

MIA-BCN has plenty of other options...beyond what you mention, also add (not all of these are served year-round, but OP doesn't mention when they are going): Air Canada via Toronto or Montreal, Aer Lingus via Dublin, Air Europa via Madrid, Air France via Paris, Alitalia via Rome, Eurowings via Duesseldorf, Iberia via Madrid, KLM via Amsterdam, Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Royal Air Maroc via Casablanca, Scandinavian via one of a few airports in Scandinavia, Swiss via Zurich, and Turkish via Istanbul. I'm sure there are others too. 

 

And that's in addition to any number of multi-stop options connecting in US first (such as MIA-JFK-AMS-BCN). 

Edited October 3, 2019 by Zach1213

[hallux]

42 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

MIA-BCN has plenty of other options...beyond what you mention, also add (not all of these are served year-round, but OP doesn't mention when they are going): Air Canada via Toronto or Montreal, Aer Lingus via Dublin, Air Europa via Madrid, Air France via Paris, Alitalia via Rome, Eurowings via Duesseldorf, Iberia via Madrid, KLM via Amsterdam, Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Royal Air Maroc via Casablanca, Scandinavian via one of a few airports in Scandinavia, Swiss via Zurich, and Turkish via Istanbul. I'm sure there are others too. 

 

And that's in addition to any number of multi-stop options connecting in US first (such as MIA-JFK-AMS-BCN). 

I believe NCL only works with certain carriers.  Unless the ones you mention do code-sharing with the ones I mentioned they're unlikely to be used.

 

The ones I would almost certainly exclude would be Royal Air Maroc, Eurowings, Aer Lingus, Air Europa, Scandinavian, Swiss and Alitalia.  I believe Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, and Air Canada have relationships with United, Delta or AA.

[purduemom1]

OP,  while I can’t help out with airlines that NCL uses, I will suggest that you read, if you haven’t already,  the stickie Cruise Air and Air Deviation topic that is above your post.  Always a good idea to understand how purchasing air thru the cruise line works and just what kind of ticket you are purchasing. 

[waterbug123]

13 hours ago, AF-1 said:

 US airlines allow you to pick your seat as soon as the reservation is booked. 

 

 

Not necessarily.  It may depend on the exact fare class that you book; some do not allow advance seat selection.

 

11 hours ago, hallux said:

I believe NCL only works with certain carriers.  Unless the ones you mention do code-sharing with the ones I mentioned they're unlikely to be used.

 

The ones I would almost certainly exclude would be Royal Air Maroc, Eurowings, Aer Lingus, Air Europa, Scandinavian, Swiss and Alitalia.  I believe Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, and Air Canada have relationships with United, Delta or AA.

 

Don't rule out air Europe; they are part of Sky Team, as is Delta, so you could book with Delta and end up with a code share on Air Europa for part of the itinerary.  Not sure if the others you mentioned are part of one of the other two big alliances or not.

[alcpa1]

I don't know about NCL but most of the other cruise lines for a fee, allow you to book a specific airline/route/day etc. Have you checked to see if this service is available? I know that other lines in the NCL family of lines has this option.

If you are contemplating this then go to a site like ITAMatrix, Kayak, Google Flights and find your most attractive flights then you can deal more easily with the NCL air rep.

[hallux]

8 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

I don't know about NCL but most of the other cruise lines for a fee, allow you to book a specific airline/route/day etc.

The only deviation fee NCL has is to allow you to fly in/out a day or two early or late, depending on which end of the cruise it's on.  There's no selecting flights...