Free Airfare 2nd Person

[Heartfelttraveler]

I am looking for recent reviews of NCL's Free Airfare for the 2nd Person.

Were you happy with the flights?

Was luggage and seat choice included?

Once you were given the itinerary did NCL arbitrarily change your flights?  (I know the airlines may make changes.)

 

I know this topic has been discussed, but I am looking for recent experiences.

 

Thanks

[deelightfull]

We are using free airway for the second person, but we don't fly out for a week.  That said, our experience so far:

1. We fly out of LAX, major hub. We're going to CPH (Copenhagen) and coming home from Stockholm. 

 

2. On the way out they booked us on the only direct flight, not the cheapest flight yay!  Unfortunately, that direct flight was with SAS Airlines, which is currently on strike, boo!  The strike is not their fault of course, but they won't rebook us on a different flight until our first flight is officially cancelled, (not likely to be cancelled) which will be about 36hrs before we're supposed to fly. 😕

 

3. They gave us economy fares and we had to pay the airline to upgrade our "class" so that we could select our seats with the airline and make 100% sure at least one of us was sitting next to the kid. (He's 14, it's a 12 hr flight) That upgrade also gave us the right to check a piece of luggage, but if we didn't do that, we wouldn't have been able to check anything.  One carry-on, one personal item each. 🤷‍♀️

 

4. We asked for the two extra days on both ends.  They honored that, initially.  BUT, shortly after they booked the flights the AIRLINE moved the flight up by 18hrs, so we leave in the afternoon the day after leaving the ship.  We called and tried, they refused to rebook us us different flight that left the next day.  Once they book you, that's the flight, until that flight gets cancelled (or, I suppose if it leaves before you get off the ship 😳)

 

5. No news is good news? 🙃 No one's been on here complaining that they paid NCL for airfare and weren't able to get to the boat on time based on how NCL booked the flights even with the strike.  At least one person's upset that they had a major baggage snafu (airline's fault) and NCL didn't work hard enough (at all?) to get the lost luggage to the passenger. 

 

That's been our experience so far.  I'll update in a week, or when we have other news. 

 

[hallux]

4 hours ago, deelightfull said:

but if we didn't do that, we wouldn't have been able to check anything.  One carry-on, one personal item each. 🤷‍♀️

I find this REALLY hard to believe on an international flight!  What airline was this?  I imagine you COULD have checked bags but it would have cost you some money.  Some airlines even allow one free checked bag per passenger on international flights.

[deelightfull]

10 minutes ago, hallux said:

I find this REALLY hard to believe on an international flight!  What airline was this?  I imagine you COULD have checked bags but it would have cost you some money.  Some airlines even allow one free checked bag per passenger on international flights.

SAS, "economy" fare....our documents said economy fare, if you go to the SAS website they don't even have an economy fare, it's called a "go" fare.  The "go lite" fare doesn't include checked baggage, in the fare. And what I know is we couldn't pick our seats, so we upgraded our fare.  Any fare that allows you to pick a seat, allows you to check bags.  Could I have checked bags anyway, for a fee....of course!  And the fee is called, upgrading your seat.  🤷‍♀️

 

You can do *almost* anything you want on an airline if you pay the fee.  I just wouldn't promise that the fare NCL provides you with is going to include checked baggage for no extra charge.

[wil e coyote]

We used NCL to book our flights for a cruise out of Miami in June. We flew out of a mid-sized (non-hub) airport. Flights to Miami were on Delta, with one connection. Flights back were on American, and direct. On both airlines we were economy class, which meant that we could take two carry-ons (one roll-aboard and one personal item). We could reserve seats, but we had to pay to check luggage on both airlines. We could have upgraded to "Economy-plus" for a fee (paid to the airlines), but we didn't do that.

This is pretty typical for most airline economy classes these days. Most have a "sub-economy" class where you can only carry on a personal item and you cannot select a seat - we were NOT in this class.

Our flights did not change once they had been assigned, and aside from a slight delay on the second leg of our flight to Miami which didn't affect getting to the ship, everything went as planned.

Hope that helps.

Edited July 10, 2022 by wil e coyote
fixed typos

[jamadeliz]

We are booked out of Boston and flying to Athens via Rome.  We are on ITA.  We have about a 2 hour layover in Rome.  Our flight home is nonstop on Delta.  We paid for seats on ITA and were able to book seats for free on Delta.  We deviated 2 days before the cruise.  We don't leave until the end of the month.  So far, we have been happy with the flights.  

[julig22]

Recent experience (on a layover in Munich right now), opposite itinerary as deelightful.

Originally booked from my small airport in Oregon to Denver, then Heathrow to Stockholm.  Heathrow to Stockholm was a SAS subsidiary, supposedly not affected by the strike. Thursday, 2 days before I was scheduled to leave I got a new flight schedule (almost missed it because it came same time as upgrade notices, new invoices etc).  New flight only got me to London -oops.  So an hour or so on the phone to get new flights.  New schedule is SFO to Munich (5+ hr layover in SFO), Munich to Stockholm (12+ hr overnight layover). So instead of my planned overnight in Stockholm, I arrive 8:15am, day of cruise. But I can't fault NCL (other than the ending in London part) - I'm assuming the airlines caused the changes.  Had I booked it myself I'm guessing it would have taken me a lot longer to get new flights, etc.  My flights back from Copenhagen are perfect at this point - to Reykjavik to Seattle to home, the most "direct" route possible.

International flights normally include luggage.  Seat assignment policies vary. I chose my seats on United and Iceland air, Lufthansa assigned seats at check-in. I'm solo, so more flexibility.

[PC Skier]

Just to let people know with the 2 for one flight you don't have to fly from the same airport or even the same state. 

[coopster]

6 hours ago, jamadeliz said:

We are booked out of Boston and flying to Athens via Rome.  We are on ITA.  We have about a 2 hour layover in Rome.  Our flight home is nonstop on Delta.  We paid for seats on ITA and were able to book seats for free on Delta.  We deviated 2 days before the cruise.  We don't leave until the end of the month.  So far, we have been happy with the flights.  

so let me ask you this you are deviating 2 days before your cruise when do they have you arriving at your final location 2 days early. just wondering we have one coming up and are waiting on flights still.

 

[jamadeliz]

4 minutes ago, coopster said:

so let me ask you this you are deviating 2 days before your cruise when do they have you arriving at your final location 2 days early. just wondering we have one coming up and are waiting on flights still.

 

We leave on Thursday late afternoon and arrive in our final destination Friday morning 2 days before our cruise.  

 

[coopster]

Just now, jamadeliz said:

We leave on Thursday late afternoon and arrive in our final destination Friday morning 2 days before our cruise.  

 

ok great you get there in the morning i hope they do the same for us and get us there in the morning 

 

[barbuda]

We just returned from Italy/Greek Isle cruise on Sunday.  We used the 2 for 1 airfare and it all worked out great.  We flew direct to Rome from Chicago on UA - 1 checked bag free and allowed us to choose a seat in economy plus.  We were a bit skeptical as we actually flew in the day of the cruise (left the night before of course) and everything went without a hitch.  The way back from Rome, we flew to Lisbon, then Chicago on TAP.  1 checked bag free, and also allowed for us to choose seats.  We had no issues with any of the flights.  We were lucky - and there were 6 of us!

[AllenO]

Very unhappy with the Second Person Flies Free promotion.  We had three couples traveling to Alaska leaving on 8/1.  Although we knew we might all be on different flights and times, two couples were to arrive two whole days ahead of us, the third couple.  After spending about 8 hours on hold over two days with Customer-No-Service I was eventually transfered to the Resolution Dispute office.  When I asked if arriving two days apart was reasonable, the lady I spoke with said, no, it did not seem reasonable but that there was nothing she could do about it.  Ended up having to book our own flights to arrive with the other couples.  No refunds, no changes, not even an "I'm sorry for your trouble."  Once they get your money, you are on your own. 

[SeaShark]

16 minutes ago, AllenO said:

Very unhappy with the Second Person Flies Free promotion.  We had three couples traveling to Alaska leaving on 8/1.  Although we knew we might all be on different flights and times, two couples were to arrive two whole days ahead of us, the third couple.  After spending about 8 hours on hold over two days with Customer-No-Service I was eventually transfered to the Resolution Dispute office.  When I asked if arriving two days apart was reasonable, the lady I spoke with said, no, it did not seem reasonable but that there was nothing she could do about it.  Ended up having to book our own flights to arrive with the other couples.  No refunds, no changes, not even an "I'm sorry for your trouble."  Once they get your money, you are on your own. 

 

Why are you "very unhappy with the Second Person Flies Free promotion"? In other threads, you claimed to have booked using NCL's Premium Air...2nd Person Flies Free is part of the Free at Sea air promo and does NOT operate under the same T&C that Premium Air does. Which did you book?

[ontheweb]

51 minutes ago, barbuda said:

We just returned from Italy/Greek Isle cruise on Sunday.  We used the 2 for 1 airfare and it all worked out great.  We flew direct to Rome from Chicago on UA - 1 checked bag free and allowed us to choose a seat in economy plus.  We were a bit skeptical as we actually flew in the day of the cruise (left the night before of course) and everything went without a hitch.  The way back from Rome, we flew to Lisbon, then Chicago on TAP.  1 checked bag free, and also allowed for us to choose seats.  We had no issues with any of the flights.  We were lucky - and there were 6 of us!

It is great to hear a story like yours where everything works out perfectly. Thank you for sharing.

 

It makes me feel better about our Newark to London and then Reykjavik back to Newark next summer.

[julig22]

57 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It is great to hear a story like yours where everything works out perfectly. Thank you for sharing.

 

It makes me feel better about our Newark to London and then Reykjavik back to Newark next summer.

I have the opposite itinerary next month but leaving from the west coast. My home airport to Seattle to Reykjavik. Return is London to LAX to home. Very happy with the flights.  As direct as possible from my location.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, julig22 said:

I have the opposite itinerary next month but leaving from the west coast. My home airport to Seattle to Reykjavik. Return is London to LAX to home. Very happy with the flights.  As direct as possible from my location.

Again good to hear that not everyone's experience is horrible. We have flown both to and back Heathrow in London and to and back from Reykjavik and know there are flights without layovers.

 

What ship will you be on? We are scheduled for to be on the Prima next year.

Edited July 12, 2022 by ontheweb
added last paragraph

[cruiseny4life]

Uh oh! We have a conflicting storyline. Drama on the high seas internet! 

[CrazyTrain2]

29 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Uh oh! We have a conflicting storyline. Drama on the high seas internet! 

Gummy up everyone we are expecting turbulence.