Flights by Celebrity. Thoughts?

[blueknight222]

Good Morning fellow cruisers!

Has anyone tried Flights by Celebrity? And if so, any thoughts? Or tips? Thanks!

[lynbee]

Only from UK to Europe - it was a package deal on an Eastern Med cruise in 2013.  

 

But we did another cruise out of Venice in 2017 which was cruise only.  I enquired about Celebrity flights and they were asking £600 return for the two of us - it's only a 2 hour flight.  I booked my own flights with a low cost airline from London - into Milan, private transfer for 2 nights hotel in Milan, train to Venice, post cruise private transfer to Venice airport and flight back to London.  That all worked out at less than £600!  

 

But I wouldn't risk booking "on the day" flights just in case of delays.  We're on another Celebrity cruise out of Barcelona in 2023 and I've done the same thing - 2 nights in Barcelona pre-cruise.  We've been there a few times but love the city.  

[retird]

If im booking return flights in North America, I find I get a better price by booking directly through the airline myself.    However, for one way International flights i find much better prices through the cruise line air.   Just my experience. 

[George C]

1 hour ago, retird said:

If im booking return flights in North America, I find I get a better price by booking directly through the airline myself.    However, for one way International flights i find much better prices through the cruise line air.   Just my experience. 

Celebrity gave us same exact airfare for first class as airlines for next month Dallas to Florida, have been checking for changes .also didn’t need to pay until final payment.

Edited October 23, 2022 by George C

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I have seen some great pricing on FBC and seen crappy pricing 

usually they have the best pricing for one way flights to EU 

you just need to keep checking 

[Arizona Wildcat]

4 hours ago, blueknight222 said:

Good Morning fellow cruisers!

Has anyone tried Flights by Celebrity? And if so, any thoughts? Or tips? Thanks!

Have you searched the threads just a bit?  There are multiple threads with hundreds of responses just this month.

[drakes2]

On 10/23/2022 at 1:15 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I have seen some great pricing on FBC and seen crappy pricing 

usually they have the best pricing for one way flights to EU 

you just need to keep checking 

I used FBC to book flights for our upcoming April 2023 TA cruise on the Apex. Much better pricing than what I could find elsewhere  

[Jim_Iain]

I have found some good prices on FBC (mostly prior to covid) and was reasonably happy.

 

Currently most prices in my market are at airline rates and the only advantage might be that you don't have to pay until final payment due and can also cancel at no cost up until final payment.   Downside is once final payment is made they charge a $100 pp convenience fee to make any changes to your reservation.    Even if it is a 100% airline refundable fare they charge the convenience fee.

 

 

[CNSfromHI]

On 10/23/2022 at 8:18 AM, blueknight222 said:

Good Morning fellow cruisers!

Has anyone tried Flights by Celebrity? And if so, any thoughts? Or tips? Thanks!

We used Flights by Celebrity (FBC) to book our round-trip flight from the U.S. to U.K. in August. We did so after checking the many travel sites for a long time after booking our cruise.

 

Ultimately, FBC offered the lowest cost. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any issues -- such as delays, cancellation -- that might have required FBS's promised customer service.

 

cjr

[drakes2]

17 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:

We used Flights by Celebrity (FBC) to book our round-trip flight from the U.S. to U.K. in August. We did so after checking the many travel sites for a long time after booking our cruise.

 

Ultimately, FBC offered the lowest cost. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any issues -- such as delays, cancellation -- that might have required FBS's promised customer service.

 

cjr

We used FBC for our January 2022 Edge cruise after the flights we booked independently were changed two weeks prior to sailing.  They just changed the return flight by one day which would have been a sea day for us so we cancelled the entire itinerary and got flights with Celebrity without connections at half the cost.   For our upcoming 15 night TA also used FBC at a fraction of what we would have paid if booked outside.  You really need to do your homework and research to see what is more cost effective. 

[jwlane]

On 10/25/2022 at 6:29 PM, Jim_Iain said:

good prices on FBC (mostly prior to covid)

So true.  It seems they had actual negotiated rates back then---now (in general, with the exception of international rates) they  reflect market rates directly from the airlines.

[drakes2]

1 minute ago, jwlane said:

So true.  It seems they had actual negotiated rates back then---now (in general, with the exception of international rates) they  reflect market rates directly from the airlines.

We got an excellent price on our flights from Toronto to FLL then AMS back to Toronto for next April.  Granted the return is a short stop in Philly but saved several hundreds of dollars doing it that way.  

[Arizona Wildcat]

31 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

We used FBC for our January 2022 Edge cruise after the flights we booked independently were changed two weeks prior to sailing.  They just changed the return flight by one day which would have been a sea day for us so we cancelled the entire itinerary and got flights with Celebrity without connections at half the cost.   For our upcoming 15 night TA also used FBC at a fraction of what we would have paid if booked outside.  You really need to do your homework and research to see what is more cost effective. 

We looked at FBC for an international flight.  Called another consolidator.  The other provider was cheaper for business class.  As said do your homework.  A consolidator with a group block will be cheapest whether FBC or someone else.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

At the moment direct flights for our April TA is Toronto to FLL, Barcelona to Toronto , with FBC is $2000 CAD pp, and with Air Transat ( FBC does not show them ) is $450 CAD 

check with google flights and see the going rate 

[drakes2]

5 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

At the moment direct flights for our April TA is Toronto to FLL, Barcelona to Toronto , with FBC is $2000 CAD pp, and with Air Transat ( FBC does not show them ) is $450 CAD 

check with google flights and see the going rate 

We booked West jet direct from YYZ to FLL and return with AA chose to fly via Philly rather than Heathrow as Heathrow is a nightmare plus its during the Kings coronation.  Paid $708 CAD each.