I got GOT by the "Air to Sea" promotion

[Battleship88]

I know the motto is "you get what you get so don't throw a fit" but my flight reservation is carrraaazzzyyyyy and it of course is too late to cancel the airline package.  Looks like I'm out the $250 and will have to just book other flight accommodations. 

 

Has this happened to any one else? What did you do?

[Married90]

11 minutes ago, Battleship88 said:

I know the motto is "you get what you get so don't throw a fit" but my flight reservation is carrraaazzzyyyyy and it of course is too late to cancel the airline package.  Looks like I'm out the $250 and will have to just book other flight accommodations. 

 

Has this happened to any one else? What did you do?

Ok, I will bite.   Is the flight taking off from your scheduled departure location?  Does it land at the intended airport?   Does it land in enough time to allow you to take the paid transportation to the ship?  If so, you got what you paid for.   No offense but an extremely generic statement of the flight reservation is carrraaazzzyyyyy could mean it takes three days of travel and 14 connections or the flights you are booked on don’t serve a free bag of peanuts….    

[ChiefMateJRK]

I got GOT by this once (and only once).  Thirty minutes to make a connection going.  Seven hours of flying East starting at about 7:00 at night upon return.  Never again.  I would rather book inside and have decent flights than book balcony and put up with that 💩again.

[Brian V]

19 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I would rather book inside and have decent flights than book balcony and put up with that 💩again.

Amen brother!

 

Heard way too many tales of 4:30 departures with 13 hour layovers in a cow shed of an airport or 3 tight connections flying across the Midwest in winter🥶

 

I will gladly pay a bit (a significant bit) more and get the flights that work for me and keep my travel stress to the minimum 🙂

[bigrednole]

Well, my flights were as good as we could hope. 2PM the day before arriving at 5:30PM with one connection and an hour time change to the west. Flight out is at 11AM arriving 5PM with one connection. 

 

No matter how you book flights, there is always a risk. You book your much earlier flight and non-stop. Then some Karen or Karl screw around and get the flight to not take off. Johnny Pothead filling the tank on the plane forgets to take the hose out and drives the vehicle off needing the plane to be taken out of service for inspection (yes, this actually happened locally). Your airline has flight attendants go on strike and all flights canceled. No other carrier can accommodate you. The list goes on and on. 

 

For us it was $2,100 to purchase flights ourselves (we wouldn't be able to cruise) or take the BOGO and pay $398 for 3 RT flights and cruise. 

 

[hallux]

Just now, Brian V said:

or 3 tight connections

I think someone is sensationalizing to make a point.  NCL's policy is to keep connections to a minimum.  I have to make a connection to get almost anywhere (unless I'm going to a hub city or it's a rare direct Southwest flight to Vegas or Orlando) and NCL managed to get me from the East coast to LA and back with only one connection each way.  My home airport isn't small, but it's no LGA or EWR...

 

I've used the perk for flights before.  While the flights may not have been ideal, they were what I expected.

 

 

[katiecat]

I hope it's not that bad my first time booking air included today.

[Brian V]

1 minute ago, hallux said:

I think someone is sensationalizing to make a point. 

Mea cuipa...I have been know to lean a bit that way 🙂

 

As long as you are willing to take what they give you, the 2 for 1 air deal is actually pretty sweet - would save us close to (over?) cdn$1000 on our next cruise but they won't let us move the return date 2 (or 3) weeks later so we can extend our stay in Italy.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Well, on my first (and only) NCL air promo we got stuck with a 55 minute connection in Paris (CDG).  Nobody would talk to me because everyone said it was a "valid" connection...therefore NCL accepted it as good.  We ended up spending the night in Paris (on NCL's dime) WITHOUT our luggage.  Yes, those rates look EXTREMELY good, but I'll book my own flights from now on, thank you.

 

That was the trip that we decided we would never leave home again without a "go" bag!

Edited March 1, 2022 by Rick&Jeannie

[kevink]

It's not just NCL. Six months ahead I booked American Airlines in and out of New Orleans for our April cruise because the flight times were better than Southwest. A few weeks ago I got an itinerary change that moved our return flight almost five hours later. Not much I could do about it at this point.

Edited March 1, 2022 by kevink
typo

[hallux]

9 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

because everyone said it was a "valid" connection

The airport and airline set those standards.  The airline wouldn't allow the flights to be booked if they don't meet that standard.  Did you get 'bit' by a delay on the first flight?  Sure.  I nearly was as well when I had an NCL-booked connection of an hour at ATL but the first flight was delayed on takeoff AND slowed in the air.  That's not on NCL, that's on the airline and airport for approving connections of that duration.

[LGW59]

15 hours ago, Battleship88 said:

I know the motto is "you get what you get so don't throw a fit" but my flight reservation is carrraaazzzyyyyy and it of course is too late to cancel the airline package.  Looks like I'm out the $250 and will have to just book other flight accommodations. 

 

Has this happened to any one else? What did you do?

Your post makes ZERO sense and lacks any details whatsoever.

[CozGurl]

I used NCL air for our Mediterranean cruise and all went well. We're using it again this fall. There are no guarantees with flying anymore so we opt for cheaper. We'll ask to fly in the day before just so we can catch our breath if it is a bad day of flying.  

[luckyinpa]

i can  eliminate the OP's issue. do like me and drive to all your cruises, never will have an NCL air issue again, i guarantee it

[Lionkingrichard]

20 hours ago, bigrednole said:

Well, my flights were as good as we could hope. 2PM the day before arriving at 5:30PM with one connection and an hour time change to the west. Flight out is at 11AM arriving 5PM with one connection. 

 

No matter how you book flights, there is always a risk. You book your much earlier flight and non-stop. Then some Karen or Karl screw around and get the flight to not take off. Johnny Pothead filling the tank on the plane forgets to take the hose out and drives the vehicle off needing the plane to be taken out of service for inspection (yes, this actually happened locally). Your airline has flight attendants go on strike and all flights canceled. No other carrier can accommodate you. The list goes on and on. 

 

For us it was $2,100 to purchase flights ourselves (we wouldn't be able to cruise) or take the BOGO and pay $398 for 3 RT flights and cruise. 

 

If the ship is 1 hour late then good luck. Flights are over booked and if you don't arrive 2 hours early then your seat maybe gone.

18 hours ago, kevink said:

It's not just NCL. Six months ahead I booked American Airlines in and out of New Orleans for our April cruise because the flight times were better than Southwest. A few weeks ago I got an itinerary change that moved our return flight almost five hours later. Not much I could do about it at this point.

If any Airline changes your flights, then look at what is available and then call them and tell them what works for you. They must change the flights free.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Flights are over booked and if you don't arrive 2 hours early then your seat maybe gone.

This is simply not true.

[hallux]

2 hours ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Flights are over booked and if you don't arrive 2 hours early then your seat maybe gone.

 

44 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

This is simply not true.

I agree with @ChiefMateJRK  They can't give your seat away if you're not there 2 hours before the flight.  As long as you're at the gate in time for boarding (around 30 minutes before departure generally) you aren't at risk of losing your seat.  You definitely want to be checked in before then so they know you're at least THERE.  You definitely don't want to be waiting at the security line 30 minutes before departure.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 2/28/2022 at 10:06 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Well, on my first (and only) NCL air promo we got stuck with a 55 minute connection in Paris (CDG).  Nobody would talk to me because everyone said it was a "valid" connection...therefore NCL accepted it as good.  We ended up spending the night in Paris (on NCL's dime) WITHOUT our luggage.  Yes, those rates look EXTREMELY good, but I'll book my own flights from now on, thank you.

 

That was the trip that we decided we would never leave home again without a "go" bag!

What is wrong with a 55 minute connection?  That is a great connection time.  Flights start boarding 30 minutes prior to take off which gives you 25 minutes to get from gate to gate if you want to be there when boarding starts.  At most airports that is the perfect amount of time to budget.  I'd take a 55 minute connection ANY time.

[MoCruiseFan]

I never will use the NCL flight offer.  I have so many miles with American that I fly 1st class round trip for only $11.20 per person any time I fly.  It is not hard at all to get a ton of miles if you know how to play the game.

[bigrednole]

12 hours ago, Lionkingrichard said:

If the ship is 1 hour late then good luck. Flights are over booked and if you don't arrive 2 hours early then your seat maybe gone.

 

We can play what-if games all day. What if the cruise ship sank and everyone onboard perishes, then there is no care what the return flights are. 

[bigrednole]

1 hour ago, MoCruiseFan said:

I never will use the NCL flight offer.  I have so many miles with American that I fly 1st class round trip for only $11.20 per person any time I fly.  It is not hard at all to get a ton of miles if you know how to play the game.

Do share what that new game is. I know the old one that I missed out on. When the US Mint offered free shipping on the quarters, people were buying them at insane rates every month and building 100Ms of miles. Buying on cc, depositing, and paying off cc. Rinse and repeat several times a month with $25k limit that jumped up to $100k and then $1M very quickly.

[Crazy planning mom]

Question- I got the promo for this Fall for my Jade cruise out of Athens.  If I do a kayak search and find the cheapest flight. Should I figure that's the one I will likely be booked on?  The cheapest one on Kayak right now has us changing planes 3x- one in Lisbon, once in Madrid, and once in Rome before arriving in Athens.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Crazy planning mom

[bigrednole]

Nope. I looked at a ton of different flights. Even after I got my assignment on Delta, there were far cheaper rates from Delta. The flights I am on was $750RT pp to book. The "better" flights times were $550RT. Its not a space issue either because the lower fare flights had even more open seats.

Edited March 2, 2022 by bigrednole

[dexddd]

NM.

Edited March 2, 2022 by dexddd

[hallux]

4 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

I never will use the NCL flight offer.  I have so many miles with American that I fly 1st class round trip for only $11.20 per person any time I fly.  It is not hard at all to get a ton of miles if you know how to play the game.

and for the other 99% of us, we don't have the expenses to build that bank of miles or the job that sends us all over creation by air and lets us collect the miles in a personal account.  You do you, the rest of us don't have that privilege so we take the offers we're given to get lower airfares.

 

I've seen you post about this is several of these threads, but I don't think you ever shared the secret.