The frustrations of super low cruise fares and sky-high airfare

[bmblob]

13 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Thank you! I did check, but unfortunately that's not my airport. Alaska Airlines is still the cheapest, but the flights in the $400s leave at 6:00 or 7:00 AM on disembarkation day. 😕

If it is any help, Costco sells an Alaska Airlines voucher for 10% off when booking their fares ($500 gift card for $449.99).  Seems to work well if you use Alaska and understand their cancellation/change policies.

[firefly333]

Carnival also was offering super low fares to alaska. I'm thinking people werent booking alaska because fares to seattle were so high this summer. .. which is why now you see rcl also offering super low fares to alaska. People just dont want to pay these high fares to fly. Idk if seattle is higher priced than some other flights or just this summer air fares are crazy last minute.

Edited July 24, 2022 by firefly333

[soremekun]

I'll be booking more cruises out of Bayonne (for the time being) due to flights from Boston to NJ aren't that bad with the price increases on United.  Also, if there is a flight change, there are many alternatives that will still get me there in time.  And if it really came down to it, I could drive the four hours to make the cruise if there was a strike or other issue that prevents me from flying.

 

Just booked a December 2022 cruise out of Cape Liberty.

[KayRaeRae]

1 hour ago, soremekun said:

I'll be booking more cruises out of Bayonne (for the time being) due to flights from Boston to NJ aren't that bad with the price increases on United.  Also, if there is a flight change, there are many alternatives that will still get me there in time.  And if it really came down to it, I could drive the four hours to make the cruise if there was a strike or other issue that prevents me from flying.

 

Just booked a December 2022 cruise out of Cape Liberty.

The only negative about that is the the first and last two days of your trip are cold.  

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

7 hours ago, bmblob said:

If it is any help, Costco sells an Alaska Airlines voucher for 10% off when booking their fares ($500 gift card for $449.99).  Seems to work well if you use Alaska and understand their cancellation/change policies.

Thank you, I was not aware of that. Every little bit helps these days. 🙂 

[Tlbecker1]

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

This is why I only do bundles now.  This fall is nine cruises on four ships with only one airfare bill.  

 

We do the exact same thing.  Airfare has always been part of our cruising experience, but we just go for B2B’s now.

[Lane Hog]

It's getting to the point we might drive CHI-SEA for our Alaska cruise next June.

 

Even at today's gas prices, it would be less than $200 per person to drive including hotels and meals... two 15 hour driving days with four drivers?  Doable.... 

[aubreyc1988]

I feel everyones airlines pains and I live near a major hub.  Chose to sail out of Galveston which we can drive to (4 hrs) and save a bit on airfare.  It wasn't only the cost of the airfare that was holding us back, but just the general airline chaos we have experienced in the last few months. Hopefully things get better soon...I don't live by any family members and always have to fly for the holidays and the pricing right now is WOW 😮 

[Mum2Mercury]

We looked into flying for our upcoming cruise, and we found some amazing airfare prices (NC to Miami), BUT those prices were on small, discount lines that charge huge prices for checking a bag.  That's where they lost us -- seriously, Alligent has airfares under $100, but they want $100 for a carry-on bag and $169 for a checked bag.

 

So we're still driving.  I was genuinely thrilled yesterday to pay less than $4.00 for gas and hope to see that downward trend continue. 

Edited July 25, 2022 by Mum2Mercury

[time4u2go]

11 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We looked into flying for our upcoming cruise, and we found some amazing airfare prices (NC to Miami), BUT those prices were on small, discount lines that charge huge prices for checking a bag.  That's where they lost us -- seriously, Alligent has airfares under $100, but they want $100 for a carry-on bag and $169 for a checked bag.

 

So we're still driving.  I was genuinely thrilled yesterday to pay less than $4.00 for gas and hope to see that downward trend continue. 

$100 for a carry-on bag and $169 for a checked bag???

 

According to Allegiant's website:

Save money by reserving your checked and carry-on bags in advance

At the time of booking: Save money by reserving your checked and carry-on baggage when you purchase your tickets online. Fees for the first and second checked bag are up to $35 per bag, each way with the specific amount depending on your departure and arrival airports.

[loman]

Canadians always pay lots for airfare . I think paying  $700 - $800 CAD  is reasonable to fly non stop to Florida . Plus $ 30 per checked bag . This for 2 people round trip.

I paid  $1050 this time , but it went as high as $1400 as i was checking the last few months making $1050 look like a bargain. 

[Blizzard54]

The air situation is crazy this year for a lot of reasons.  Alaska cruises are cheaper than they have ever been, but the air is crazy.  I can remember back in the 80's and early 90's we could fly to Florida and cruise for less than the cost of cruising Alaska with needing air.  I have seen some Alaska cruises where the port fees/taxes were more than the cruise.

[George C]

Just booked harmony out of Galveston because of first class air , also they currently have a great price for grand suites , going November 2023, haven’t sailed out of Texas in 5 years.

[Merion_Mom]

5 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We looked into flying for our upcoming cruise, and we found some amazing airfare prices (NC to Miami), BUT those prices were on small, discount lines that charge huge prices for checking a bag.  That's where they lost us -- seriously, Alligent has airfares under $100, but they want $100 for a carry-on bag and $169 for a checked bag.

 

So we're still driving.  I was genuinely thrilled yesterday to pay less than $4.00 for gas and hope to see that downward trend continue. 

 

The downward trend has been going for more than a month now.  🙂 

[firefly333]

58 minutes ago, George C said:

Just booked harmony out of Galveston because of first class air , also they currently have a great price for grand suites , going November 2023, haven’t sailed out of Texas in 5 years.

I'm booked on harmony too, starting the end of nov. I'm booked 3 legs, and just might do all 3. Booked 2 with one friend and another friend wanted the following week so booked it too.

 

My airfare for dfw to miami is now over $900 to buy the same dfw to mia for next spring break. Its goes up and down. If I didnt have friends I like going I would have cancelled. And oasis is more expensive next spring break than harmony. Harmony has great prices. I'm sure that air fare price will just keep bouncing around in price but it will never get down to what I call reasonable. Its extra bad its spring break in miami. 

[1stcruise09]

I feel your pain! We live in Springfield, Missouri and are sailing on a 7 day Alaska Cruise in August.  We got a fantastic deal on a balcony stateroom but flights out of Springfield are a nightmare!

We basically got two for the price of one in comparison by making the 3.5 hour drive to Kansas City.

The good thing is that the KC flights are nonstop where the SGF flights have one or two stops. The bad thing was finding flights back to KC that got us back at a somewhat decent time in the evening and weren't leaving Seattle before we would hardly be off the ship!

 

 

 

[rudeney]

49 minutes ago, 1stcruise09 said:

I feel your pain! We live in Springfield, Missouri and are sailing on a 7 day Alaska Cruise in August.  We got a fantastic deal on a balcony stateroom but flights out of Springfield are a nightmare!

We basically got two for the price of one in comparison by making the 3.5 hour drive to Kansas City.

The good thing is that the KC flights are nonstop where the SGF flights have one or two stops. The bad thing was finding flights back to KC that got us back at a somewhat decent time in the evening and weren't leaving Seattle before we would hardly be off the ship!

 

 

 

 

Flight for us out of BHM are always a pain - very few directs and high prices.  We booked flights for our October cruise before the crazy summer prices, but we are still driving 3 hours to fly out of Nashville.  That gets us cheaper (in points) airfare plus direct flights.  It's an hour's drive for us to BHM airport anyhow, so an extra 2 hours for better/cheaper flights is a no-brainer.  I do the same thing when I fly to my office in Richmond, driving and extra 1.5 hour to ATL for a direct flight and better schedules.   

[Paul II]

FWIW, we found a bargain on a Cruise but the airfare was ridiculous.  We took the amount we expected to pay for airfare and budgeted it to a road trip and drove to the terminal.  We turned it into a 12 night total vacation for us and our 2 youngest kids.  Got to see 7 states out of the deal. 

[CruisingHogFan]

On 7/25/2022 at 1:44 PM, 1stcruise09 said:

I feel your pain! We live in Springfield, Missouri and are sailing on a 7 day Alaska Cruise in August.  We got a fantastic deal on a balcony stateroom but flights out of Springfield are a nightmare!

We basically got two for the price of one in comparison by making the 3.5 hour drive to Kansas City.

The good thing is that the KC flights are nonstop where the SGF flights have one or two stops. The bad thing was finding flights back to KC that got us back at a somewhat decent time in the evening and weren't leaving Seattle before we would hardly be off the ship!

 

 

 

Might check XNA out of Bentonville. We go back and forth between XNA and Springfield depending on prices/flight times. 

[ChickonRules]

I got a Google alert this week about a significant price drop for the flight I wanted this week. Saved a couple hundred dollars 😀. Going to book the cruise in a few months when the price drops more.

[hal2008]

Intra-Europe fare is very cheap when booked about 3 weeks or so in advance including 1 checkin bag.

But in current chaos, train works out better both for 4-6 hours mid-hauls or overnight long-hauls.

 

Combining two or three cruise/land vacations dents the cost of TA airfare (and that also doesn't matter if you book awards tickets which are so easy to get on partner airlines or newly initiated routes using extended layovers strategy - you even get an extra local sightseeing out of it - just need to think out of sandbox and be creative)

[GCS2000]

Glad I booked airfare when I booked our cruise.  Cruise in Sept and was booked in December 2021 before things got out of hand.  We did end up changing cruises in May when the NFL schedule came out but since my flight from VA to AK was with Delta miles it was an easy change and no money involved.  Flights to get back home from SEA to VA were with my Chase points so the changes wasn't bad either (had to go American vs Delta when we changed in May).  We have one other flight on this journey which is Vancouver to SEA but if that goes haywire for some reason we can take a bus (no train service and can't rent a car).  I checked prices recently and the same tickets we have now are 5X more miles than they were when I got them.  $$$ wise they are at least triple the price.  It really is crazy.

 

The big thing we are worried about in all seriousness is lost luggage (we should only have 1 checked bag - or at least that is what were are trying for).  Not as worried about flight changes and cancellations as we are heading out 2 days prior to our cruise just to avoid this issue.  Getting back home if we get delayed getting back so be it.  I own my own business fortunately so an extra day is not an issue just means a crap ton of extra hours once I get back, lol.