Experience with Seabourn airfare?

[Catlover54]

I have never used them.

Has anyone had problems with it?

Can you get credit  for Airlinw miles  with the rdiscounted fares they book?

Are you assured the flight of your choice in advance?

 

Any other benefjts besides slightly lower price?

[dalliowner]

We have never had a problem, flights are notified at time of booking and have found the majority of the time the price quoted very competitive, but not always. I do not think you can use air miles. The advantages  are transportation to  and from ship and free hotel if flight times  do not match ship departure and  either day room provided if return flight leaves  later in the day or hotel stay if leaves too early in the morning .

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, dalliowner said:

We have never had a problem, flights are notified at time of booking and have found the majority of the time the price quoted very competitive, but not always. I do not think you can use air miles. The advantages  are transportation to  and from ship and free hotel if flight times  do not match ship departure and  either day room provided if return flight leaves  later in the day or hotel stay if leaves too early in the morning .

Am I right to understand that transportation to and from the ship is only if you fly in the day of embarkation--or if you stay in hotel arranged by SB?  

[dalliowner]

You are correct in that If the flight arranged by Seabourn will arrive to late in the day ,or the departure flight is to early they will arrange a complimentary hotel and provide transport. If you want to have extra days at either end they do not .

[tv24]

We did a variation on this theme.  The Quest arrived in Buenos Aires.  We stayed a few days and then flew to Santiago on our own. Stayed there a week. Then took business class on a Seabourn-arranged set of flights back to San Francisco.  We saved a whole lot of money on the Seabourn-booked flights.

[AnnieO2019]

We have used Seabourn to book our flights twice when we have booked our cruise directly with Seabourn and they have had offers on airfare deals. Our flights for our Baltic cruise (from U.K. ) ended up free and for our upcoming Singapore to Hong Kong cruise in January the flight prices Seabourn quoted were considerably less than any other quotes I got. They offered a few options (different airlines and Heathrow/Gatwick airports) and we booked at the same time as the cruise. So it’s definitely worth asking them for a price. I don’t think you can use your air miles though as you’re booking through an agent (Seabourn). 

[vaitape]

Bought 1 way flight EZE-SBA in Prem Econ from Seabourn. Received the airline we requested as well as our seats for a significant savings over booking independently. 

[Hanoverian]

We booked a cruise to Norway on Ovation this past June just six days before sailing from Dover.  Our TA booked flights through Seabourn Air as there was little time to research flights on our own.  The routes and fares were reasonable, so we accepted.  The flight over was on Virgin in economy, which we detest for long flights.  Our dread of economy was reinforced as the trip from Newark to Heathrow was excruciating.  After boarding Ovation on a Friday, I asked if there was any way that we could upgrade for the flight home.  We got our answer first thing Tuesday morning which was business class on the same flight that we had booked for an extra $145 each.  Obviously, we accepted.  I think that the stars were aligned just right for us to receive this offer and doubt that Seabourn can always work miracles, but we were impressed that they were able to work things out for us without a lot of nonsense about deviations and a major price increase.  I would most definitely try Seabourn Air again in the future.    

[SLSD]

7 hours ago, dalliowner said:

You are correct in that If the flight arranged by Seabourn will arrive to late in the day ,or the departure flight is to early they will arrange a complimentary hotel and provide transport. If you want to have extra days at either end they do not .

I am still a bit confused as to details. What do you mean by too early or too late?  Can you explain a bit more (for me and for others). 

 

[Catlover54]

Thanks to all, very helpful ( and belated apologies for all my typos in my first post, which  tell me one should not post anything at all after spending the evening in a jazz club ) 😳

 

I took the plunge on a San Francisco  to and from Australia  business class roundtrip through SB.  

My TA claims they said we will be able to earn FF miles ( hope they are right, not the end of world if wrong) .  Internet showed the fare SB  offered was $1600 per person less than an advance purchase discounted business fare on the airline we typically use for a non-stop, though the fare is nonrefundable once purchased. 

 

We will be getting into town a few days early pre-cruise, so will be on our own then. Likely SB will offer an early group bus we can use to get to the airport on time on disembarkation day for a 1 PM flight ( unclear right now), if not, we will just have to reserve a “wagon” at extra cost  to haul us plus our abundant luggage on time ( I like to be very early for international flights — a few days ago I arrived at Frankfurt airport three hours prior to flight departure and with all the lines due to broken computers on top of the usual delays, just barely made my flight home).

 

I will post back if something goes wrong with this SB airfare plan. Usually we use miles and/or just buy tickets, but the costs to Australia in either cash or miles are much bigger than just flying to Europe where there are more choices, and more options if something goes wrong, as it often does these days.

[vaitape]

Catlover54....wow! Fantastic fare!!! Good on you....

 

[dalliowner]

8 hours ago, SLSD said:

I am still a bit confused as to details. What do you mean by too early or too late?  Can you explain a bit more (for me and for others). 

 

If the ship departs at say 5.30 but your flight does not arrive til  4.00 they fly you in a day early . on departure if your  flight does not leave  until late in the day ie 8 pm they arrange a day room for you. Does that help ?

[SLSD]

10 hours ago, dalliowner said:

If the ship departs at say 5.30 but your flight does not arrive til  4.00 they fly you in a day early . on departure if your  flight does not leave  until late in the day ie 8 pm they arrange a day room for you. Does that help ?

Thank you for the clarification.  Even though we have used Seabourn for our air twice, we were never told about these services.  Now, it is true that we always fly into the embarkation port at least two days early.  And, am I right to assume that the transfer depend on you staying in the hotel of Seabourn's choice?

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by SLSD

[scottie920]

On 10/4/2019 at 6:33 AM, dalliowner said:

If the ship departs at say 5.30 but your flight does not arrive til  4.00 they fly you in a day early . on departure if your  flight does not leave  until late in the day ie 8 pm they arrange a day room for you. Does that help ?

Hi, the ship docks at 07:00 am our return flight does not depart until 18:35. Will Seabourn arrange a day room? Flights booked with Seabourn as a package? Is there anything on the Seabourn website about this? Thank you.

[galeforce9]

11 minutes ago, scottie920 said:

Hi, the ship docks at 07:00 am our return flight does not depart until 18:35. Will Seabourn arrange a day room? Flights booked with Seabourn as a package? Is there anything on the Seabourn website about this? Thank you.

Most likely a hotel with lunch no day room. You would be at the airport 3 hrs before your flight. 

[dalliowner]

I am not sure of the exact  cut off time, You will either get lunch provided  with your luggage looked after  or a day room provided. They do not show on the web site but usually tell you when on the ship but am sure if you call the club  they will tell you. Whatever, please be assured Seabourn will look after you.

I always use Seabourn Air if the price is reasonable, which it has been on the majority of times.

 

John

[scottie920]

1 minute ago, dalliowner said:

I am not sure of the exact  cut off time, You will either get lunch provided  with your luggage looked after  or a day room provided. They do not show on the web site but usually tell you when on the ship but am sure if you call the club  they will tell you. Whatever, please be assured Seabourn will look after you.

I always use Seabourn Air if the price is reasonable, which it has been on the majority of times.

 

John

Thank you John, we have been with Seabourn a few times before but haven’t experienced this problem with them as flight times were reasonable. Silverseas just transferred us to the airport and it was up to us to make our own arrangements although Crystal would let us stay on the ship as long as we liked. Thanks again

[dalliowner]

I have found that if Seabourn air  Is approx  the price  I can get direct ,I choose them for the security  if anything goes  wrong but on costs  if you get  5star hotel  overnight on certain flights together with transport to hotel and ship  ( the last few times by taxi )  the savings are considerable .

Saying that I had a Seabourn quote from Quabec to Heathrow via Monreal for £200 pp  ( plus $50 allowance for lunch) , ridiculously cheap ,  to  Cairns to Heathrow at £500 pp more expensive and taking 4 hours longer. So you must look at each cruise and decide.

[wesport]

We flew Norwegian air from Copenhagen to Fort Lauderdale. Price was the same direct as was Seabourn's price. Booked through Seabourn as the financial state of Norwegian was in question. When you book a flight like that, you have no control as far as changing seat, etc on your own.  

[SLSD]

Perhaps it is the fault of our TA that we never knew about these extra benefits from flying with Seabourn?  I'l be sure to ask a lot of questions in the future.  

[Hlitner]

My advice is pretty simple.  Once you have booked your cruise, call Seabourn (once you are with 330 days of your return flight) and discuss the available air options.  Then compare the Seabourn deal with what you can get on your own (you might want to use some sites like Orbitz, Kayak, etc) keeping in mind what it will cost for your transfers.  Then choose what works best for you.  In our case with a recent Sojourn Alaskan cruise we were able to save significant money by booking our own Business Class air.  But Seabourn is likely to have better deals for International flights...especially Business or First Class.

 

Hank

[Isklaar]

This has been an enlightening discussion to follow, thank you to all contributors.

 

But it begs the question from me which is why have my air fare quotes from Seabourn always been considerably higher than a fare I can find direct from the airline? 

I'm not sure, of course, that anyone here can answer that question but nevertheless I'm mystified!

 

 

[dalliowner]

Isklaar

 

I have not found this, but have found it is not always cheaper. I though, always take into account the cost of Taxis to and from the ship and especially  if a hotel is needed at either end. Have booked for 2020  Dubai to Athens and Seabourns air price was considerably cheaper than I could find.

[lydiamight]

Recently booked the Transatlantic crossing--Miami to Barcelona departing Monday 20th April. Got an amazing flight/transfer package from Seabourn through our TA.

British Airways Premium Economy London to Miami, limo transfer to hotel in Miami, bed and breakfast overnight. Limo transfer to ship the following day.

On arrival in Barcelona mimi bus for a tour of Barcelona before being dropped at the airport for a 14:50 departure. British Airways Business class back to London.

Total cost for the above package was an unbelievable £300.22. per person

Checked on the BA website and just the single Premium Economy flight to Miami is priced at £2040 per person!!!!

[Colgal]

4 hours ago, Isklaar said:

This has been an enlightening discussion to follow, thank you to all contributors.

 

But it begs the question from me which is why have my air fare quotes from Seabourn always been considerably higher than a fare I can find direct from the airline? 

I'm not sure, of course, that anyone here can answer that question but nevertheless I'm mystified!

 

 

We tried to book with both Seabourn and Silversea and found their business class fares to be higher with inconvenient itineraries.

 

When we inquired about the availability of routes we had identified as being more convenient or less expensive, the response was that the airlines had a certain allocation of seats at a specific fare and there was no flexibility.

 

i must add, however, that we were always booking within four months of our cruises which may have influenced the fares and as a result we usually found better prices on our own, even with perks of hotel transfers and accommodations. 

 

Always best to do your research before a booking and then make an inquiry.