BOGO airfair. Buyer Beware

[jebhoward3]

We currently have 3 trips planned before the end of the year and just returned from one a couple weeks ago.  Every singe flight has been changed by the airlines (AA).  Our original flights were no longer available, just gone and now we are stuck with one that we will overnight in DFW at a hotel (luckily my daughter lives in the area and we will have dinner together) before going the rest of the way to our destination.  2 flights now get us home at 12:13am after starting out at 10:05am and 3:10pm.   I have search and searched and there are just no better flights available to change to.  We do not like early morning nor late night flights, but now no choice.  Other airlines are probably having the same problem so NCL may not have much choice of what flights to put us on. 

[Middleager]

2 hours ago, jtdlmc said:

My travel agent was told by NCL just last week that there was a $31 CND charge for air deviation.  We are flying out of Detroit so I’m thinking it isn’t just a US promotion, especially since the NCL info above mentions Quebec.  Anyone book within the last week get the credit?

Booked recently (within 2 weeks), and got credit for air deviation.

[Named-Tawny]

8 hours ago, jkrislc said:

It's been awhile since I've had to rely on a cruise line to book my flights as many of the other lines have an option for your to book at their discounted rate but to pick your own itinerary.

 

We booked using the BOGO air for January 2022. While we won't receive are flight information until October or November, we already know, based on the online itinerary, that NCL has us booked on a red eye flight to Newark connecting through Phoenix. Using Google flights, I was able to deduce that this is an AA flight. Combin back, it looks like they have us on a Delta flight connecting in Atlanta. Unfortunately, even with the 3 hour time difference working in our favor, we won't land until 11:50 p.m.

FYI, but the online itineraries they post in your trip summary are always subject to change.  They put possible options in there quite early, but those are not actually your flights - they're just placeholders.  You may end up on different flights entirely.

[julig22]

34 minutes ago, Named-Tawny said:

FYI, but the online itineraries they post in your trip summary are always subject to change.  They put possible options in there quite early, but those are not actually your flights - they're just placeholders.  You may end up on different flights entirely

Add to that the constant changes the airlines are making and you'll be lucky to know your actual flights until it's actually time to leave!!!

[victory2020]

12 hours ago, Named-Tawny said:

FYI, but the online itineraries they post in your trip summary are always subject to change.  They put possible options in there quite early, but those are not actually your flights - they're just placeholders.  You may end up on different flights entirely.

That happened to mine, I had direct to Rome, then it changed to stop in Toronto. That's because the direct flight on Alitalia was no longer offered. Haven't gotten final flights yet

[jkrislc]

On 8/7/2021 at 12:58 PM, saltsandknit said:

You are the only one that can decide if it is worth the 700$ difference. We fly out of Utah it is never cheap so it’s worth the redeye out and the annoying late return flight. The 600$ savings on our flight pays for shore excursions or whatever other fun things we want. We can live with the inconvenience some people can’t and that’s okay too. We all choose what works

I complete agree. To me, it's worth the savings for the inconvenience. However, my wife and son are more reluctant. We could use miles, but it seems like such a waste when we're talking $199 roundtrip per person to NYC from San Diego.

[jtdlmc]

For those wondering about air deviation, I called NCL today and there is now a $25 US per person charge for it.  

[Sailing12Away]

I've done the air promo 3x and have not had a problem picking seats. We were never fortunate enough to end up on a Delta flight, but if we were my bags would have been free with my Delta Amex card. For a short 2 hr flight, I wouldn't bother paying extra to pick my seats - I'll roll the dice. I can read a book in silence or watch a show on tv for 2 hrs by myself just fine.

[DCGuy64]

We did the BOGO air with NCL for our upcoming cruise and are happy to report that we were able to select our seats over the weekend, at no cost to us. Furthermore, due to our status with the airline, we get a free checked bag, so all is going well so far.

[victory2020]

My itinerary changed again today through Dallas. I looked up flights & am apparently on American so I get free checked bags & other goodies. Since I'm traveling to Rome day of cruise I won't check a bag because I don't want the possibility of it getting lost

[Nola26]

We are using the NCL flight perk to Athens from Newark. I'm not thrilled with our arrangements, however NCL did what I agreed to let them do and I paid the lower price; a deal is a deal.

• Flying SAS - will get some United points, but I have no status with United so no perks
• Flying Air Canada - same deal, long flight back to Toronto then to Newark
• One carry-on item and one checked bag, paid to reserve coach seats, not even upgrades, not fun

I have the perk booked again for trip out of LA to Mexico, we'll see but likely to keep that air reservation.

Have it for Caribbean cruise from Miami next May, might cancel that one as we are not coming from nearby cities so only I can use the perk, fare to Miami/FLL can be cheap enough for me and I can select my flights, but it's nice to have everything with NCL in case of cruise cancellation.

[Joebucks]

I'll never understand why people book flights like this. Probably the feeling of getting savings through "bundles and packages" when more convenient and affordable options usually exist.

[hallux]

4 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

I'll never understand why people book flights like this. Probably the feeling of getting savings through "bundles and packages" when more convenient and affordable options usually exist.

When I used the air perk in Oct. 2019 (it was different, not BOGO but free or reduced air for guests 1 and 2) I was able to book a balcony room as a solo traveler and pay only $60 more for my trip than if I had booked a studio and then booked my own air.  I'd say that was certainly a savings!  I had to pay full solo supplement in the balcony, plus $200 for the air and a $25 fee to deviate by a day to arrive the day before the cruise and it STILL was only $60 more.

 

As far as the quality of the flights - flying cross-country can be tough to schedule when you're not flying from a hub city.  I had an early morning flight heading West, even with a deviation to fly in the day before, and was at my hotel by noon Pacific.  Returning is even more difficult if you don't want to overnight after the cruise, you're pretty much stuck with a red-eye.  Overall, I knew what to expect as I had done similar in April of that year (except I flew home from Vancouver).

[julig22]

44 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

I'll never understand why people book flights like this. Probably the feeling of getting savings through "bundles and packages" when more convenient and affordable options usually exist.

Under current circumstances, letting NCL make the arrangements is quite valuable to me.  If the cruise is cancelled or flights change I'm not the one who has to figure it out.

I think getting "good" flights also depends on your location, especially if you are flying overseas.  I have a couple of overseas cruises coming up and scheduling reasonable flights is a nightmare and WAY more expensive- so almost anything NCL can come up with can't be much worse than what I'm finding.

So far, I've always gotten reasonable flights - especially when looking at what is available.  

[Sailing12Away]

4 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I'll never understand why people book flights like this. Probably the feeling of getting savings through "bundles and packages" when more convenient and affordable options usually exist.

When we flew JFK-MIA, it was a different promo and airfare for both of us was completely free (outside of the transfer fees). Can't beat that price for a direct flight. Flights home were late in the day, but we took a taxi to a nature preserve and played with sloths for a few hours while killing time.

 

JFK-San Juan was $200/pp for a direct flight. Also couldn't beat that on my own. Flights home did suck a bit, we did a post cruise tour of the Bacardi distillery but still sat at the airport for 3 hours.

 

JFK-Hawaii was $600/pp with a short layover in San Fran. Again, prices on our own were double that. I don't remember the flights home... so they must have been fine or I was still swimming in Hawaiian happiness and just didn't care.

[victory2020]

When your airfare is ticketed, do they inform you or do you just keep checking?

[julig22]

24 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

When your airfare is ticketed, do they inform you or do you just keep checking?

yes 😉

you might get notified and you might not, so you should keep checking.  I think I've got about a 75% record on notifications.

[jkrislc]

19 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I'll never understand why people book flights like this. Probably the feeling of getting savings through "bundles and packages" when more convenient and affordable options usually exist.

I can't normally fly from San Diego to New York for $199 per person roundtrip.

[saltsandknit]

20 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I'll never understand why people book flights like this. Probably the feeling of getting savings through "bundles and packages" when more convenient and affordable options usually exist.

We fly from from Utah to Florida it was 249$ We can not find airfare that cheap any other way. Nothing cheaper exists 

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, victory2020 said:

When your airfare is ticketed, do they inform you or do you just keep checking?

We got a separate email last week with our itinerary. It was on AA so I also went to the American Airlines app on my phone and saw the reservation there. BTW if your itinerary changes, that'll also be reflected online. For example, we were originally flying back to DC via LGA on Delta, but NCL changed it to MIA > PHI > DCA, all on American. 🙂

 

[DCGuy64]

16 minutes ago, saltsandknit said:

We fly from from Utah to Florida it was 249$ We can not find airfare that cheap any other way. Nothing cheaper exists 

Same. $199 for two roundtrip to MIA is ridiculously cheap. Oh it might be possible to do on my own, but I'd either have to fly in a day earlier (which costs extra due to hotel and food) or miss the cruise. So yeah....I like the BOGO airfare.

 

[victory2020]

4 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

We got a separate email last week with our itinerary. It was on AA so I also went to the American Airlines app on my phone and saw the reservation there. BTW if your itinerary changes, that'll also be reflected online. For example, we were originally flying back to DC via LGA on Delta, but NCL changed it to MIA > PHI > DCA, all on American. 🙂

 

Yes, my itinerary has changed twice since I booked. This last change happened a couple of days ago (45 days before sailing) so I'm pretty sure this will be it. Went to AA site (changing in Dallas tells me that will probably be the airline) & found the flight I will most likely be on.  I want to know ASAP so I can choose seats, How many days before cruise did you get email?

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, victory2020 said:

Yes, my itinerary has changed twice since I booked. This last change happened a couple of days ago (45 days before sailing) so I'm pretty sure this will be it. Went to AA site (changing in Dallas tells me that will probably be the airline) & found the flight I will most likely be on.  I want to know ASAP so I can choose seats, How many days before cruise did you get email?

Our air confirmation email was sent on August 7 and our cruise is September 19.

[victory2020]

9 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Our air confirmation email was sent on August 7 and our cruise is September 19.

Thanks, just got my assignment - exact flights hat i assumed . How do you choose seats on Iberia & BA flights? I was able to do AA, can't figure out the others.

[victory2020]

Just now, victory2020 said:

Thanks, just got my assignment - exact flights that i assumed . How do you choose seats on Iberia & BA flights? I was able to do AA, can't figure out the others.