Will using HAL to book our flight(s) save us money?

[SSBrickNJ]

We have a cruise booked for Aug. 2 with HAL. Thus far we've just paid a $750 refundable deposit. Our balance is due in early May.

Yet, I am actively looking for an August "back up plan" vacation here in North America. Working causally on a road trip from our home in NJ to New Hampshire...then up to Montreal Canada...then on the way back to NJ spending time in Vermont. 

Why? ....because...The round trip AIRFARE from NJ to the cruise's starting point (Copenhagen Sweden) is sooo high!

I remember when I booked cruise HAL offered to arrange for the airfare as well.

I declined at that time but now I'm open to it IF it will save us money.

Does anyone reading this know if airlines give HAL LOWER PRICES for their customers that if those same customers purchased the airfare on their own? 🤔

*

Thanks to any and all upcoming responders!

Steve

 

[Roz]

HAL has a service called Flight Ease for booking flights for cruises.  You could go to the HAL website and check it out to see if they offer something better.  Some people get really good fares, that has never been the case for me. 

[yerdua]

Have you checked HALs FlightEase? Since you're already booked, just access the site, tap on the 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the screen, tap Already Booked, tap Manage my booking, log in, tap travel planning,tap pre and post cruise travel, tap flights. Enter your preferred departing airport. The rest is pretty self explanatory. I will say that summer airline travel has gotten pricey, but usually Flight Ease has better prices than you get going direct to the airlines, at least for international travel.

Edited February 5, 2023 by yerdua

[shack]

Check Icelandair - they have affordable flights out of JFK and Newark to Copenhagen for around $700.  They also serve a number of other Scandinavian destinations depending upon where you disembark.  You can even stop in Reykjavik for up to a week to or from without additional fare.

[DCThunder]

Maybe your issue with airfare costs is that Copenhagen is in Denmark, not Sweden.😉

[SSBrickNJ]

Thank you everyone for your helpful posts.

Post #5 my posting the wrong country for this thread did not affect my wife's internet shopping for airfares. 

My wife entered in the airport code for Newark NJ (EWR) and the airport code for Copenhagen (CPH)

 

[cruisemom42]

I have never managed to find the flights I want on Flight Ease at a better price than I can book them myself. But I'm very selective about timing, number of stops, category of service, etc.

 

Sometimes you have to get creative. Don't limit yourself just to the closest airport(s), look for others that are within driving range. 

 

Put a watch on the fares for the itinerary/dates you want. Here's one you can use that will send you alerts when there are price drops:  https://www.google.com/flights/

 

And yes, consider out-of-the-box carriers like Iceland Air.

 

 

[SSBrickNJ]

Just now, cruisemom42 said:

I have never managed to find the flights I want on Flight Ease at a better price than I can book them myself. But I'm very selective about timing, number of stops, category of service, etc.

 

Sometimes you have to get creative. Don't limit yourself just to the closest airport(s), look for others that are within driving range. 

 

Put a watch on the fares for the itinerary/dates you want. Here's one you can use that will send you alerts when there are price drops:  https://www.google.com/flights/

 

And yes, consider out-of-the-box carriers like Iceland Air.

 

 

We'd be happy to use Iceland Air IF it has a non stop flying out of either Newark NJ or Philadelphia PA. Just those two please.

(Not really wanting to go to JFK or LaGuardia )

[Hlitner]

There are pros/cons to using Flightease.  As others have advised, you can simply go into your own HAL account (online) and access the Flightease booking engine to explore what offers exist for your desired air routes.  In our own experience, there can be tremendous savings for international Business/First Class and lesser savings for economy and premium economy.  But the only way to know the answer to your question is to price-out your air options on the HAL flightease sight and compare to what exists elsewhere.

 

I would add a personal caveat.  Do not allow any cruise line to choose your air flights!  With nearly any line that offers air, you have an option to pick and choose your own flights.  If you let a cruise or river cruise do that on your behalf you are liable to end up with less desirable flights, bad connections, etc.  HAL's Flightease program does not charge you extra fees if you decide to use that service,  And, in many cases you can book flights using their Flexair option which means you do not need to pay for your flights to around final payment time.

Hank

[USN59-79]

I booked a flight using FlightEase and Flexible a few months ago from Seattle to Tokyo for our March Westerdam cruise.  We paid for the cruise and flight before final payment as I noticed that prices were increasing for that flight and wanted to lock it in.  I assumed that with the flexible option that I could cancel this flight if I wanted to.  Last month we thought we might fly a different airline that stopped in Taipei and spend a week there before flying on to Tokyo.  I found that if I cancelled after final payment that I would lose all or most of what I had paid; thus, the fare is only flexible before final payment for the cruise.

Ray

[Hlitner]

20 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

I booked a flight using FlightEase and Flexible a few months ago from Seattle to Tokyo for our March Westerdam cruise.  We paid for the cruise and flight before final payment as I noticed that prices were increasing for that flight and wanted to lock it in.  I assumed that with the flexible option that I could cancel this flight if I wanted to.  Last month we thought we might fly a different airline that stopped in Taipei and spend a week there before flying on to Tokyo.  I found that if I cancelled after final payment that I would lose all or most of what I had paid; thus, the fare is only flexible before final payment for the cruise.

Ray

The terms of Flexair are very transparent and displayed on the web site.  If you decide (and that is your choice) to ticket early, you get a couple of warning screens about the provisions.  Once a flight is ticketed, the ability of Flexair to make changes (or cancel) is limited just like when you buy any restricted air fare.   Bottom line is that if you book on your own, you can reserve up to 330 days in advance but must generally pay for the ticket at that time!  With Flexair, until you get inside that final payment period you usually have the option of canceling with zero penalties.   If you chose to ignore the warning screens (that pop up when you ticket early) that is on you...not flexair.

 

For what it's worth, we also had Flexair Business Class to Tokyo (for our March cruise) and we locked-in an amazing fare nearly 7 months ago.  Unlike you, we did not have the flight ticketed until it was required, and the price did not change.  In fact, with most Flexair the price does not increase unless it is due to taxes.   In your case you ticketed early which severely limited your options.  I should mention that because we locked in that flexair fare, far in advance, we saved over $1000 per person vs the most recent airfares.  We had debated ticketing early, but thought it made more sense to delay ticketing as long as possible since everything involving Japan travel/cruises had been somewhat "iffy."  The truth about our booking was we did not want to use those Flexair flights because it means changing flights/terminals at Heathrow!   But I used the Flexair booking as a "placeholder" because it was such a good deal.  In the end, we never found anything else even close (price wise) so kept the flights.

 

Hank

 

 

[GeezerCouple]

51 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

We'd be happy to use Iceland Air IF it has a non stop flying out of either Newark NJ or Philadelphia PA. Just those two please.

(Not really wanting to go to JFK or LaGuardia )

 

Aha... here is where you will finally find the "catch" if you find less expensive pricing through the cruise line.

They usually find the very cheapest flights.  They are unlikely to be non-stop, and they may be at inconvenient hours.  And if you are in the NYC area, who knows which airport would be used.

 

Now... most (?) cruise lines do have something called a "deviation" (or similar) such that you pay a premium and have more choice in your flights.

 

There is still the problem that you do not control your reservations.  If things go awry, you can't just call the airline to arrange "something else".  If you read reports about this, there are incredible complaints.  But many times, passengers are satisfied with their flight arrangements, so it's luck of the draw to some extent.

 

Some cruise lines fly you in the day of the cruise sailing, and there's not a chance in the world that we would fly a long distance while allowing mere hours to make the cruise.  But many people do this.

 

GC

[vicd1969]

58 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

We'd be happy to use Iceland Air IF it has a non stop flying out of either Newark NJ or Philadelphia PA. Just those two please.

(Not really wanting to go to JFK or LaGuardia )

Unfortunately your options will likely be pricier for PHL but unrestricted Flight Ease usually is cheaper than normal restricted airfare if you check often and rebook before final payment. Last year my nonstop went down by $150 to Europe before final payment was due.

[Real NHDOC]

18 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Aha... here is where you will finally find the "catch" if you find less expensive pricing through the cruise line.

They usually find the very cheapest flights.  They are unlikely to be non-stop, and they may be at inconvenient hours.  And if you are in the NYC area, who knows which airport would be used.

 

Now... most (?) cruise lines do have something called a "deviation" (or similar) such that you pay a premium and have more choice in your flights.

 

There is still the problem that you do not control your reservations.  If things go awry, you can't just call the airline to arrange "something else".  If you read reports about this, there are incredible complaints.  But many times, passengers are satisfied with their flight arrangements, so it's luck of the draw to some extent.

 

Some cruise lines fly you in the day of the cruise sailing, and there's not a chance in the world that we would fly a long distance while allowing mere hours to make the cruise.  But many people do this.

 

GC

People who make statements like this generally haven't used the service but I have used the service (Flight Ease) and can say from my actual experience we see all the same flights, including nonstops, with just a few exceptions (if an airline isn't a participant then their flights don't show up).  On several occasions Flight Ease showed significant savings including on our return flight from Rome to Boston in May which offered a couple of nonstop choices that were, on average around 30-40% the cost of the online tickets for the same flights.  Also, when booking international flights through Flight Ease we always get at least one free checked bag.  As of now, the return flight we booked is $1600 PP online while the ticket we bought was $357. 

 

Also, when we departed from Rome once we were able to book an overnight nonstop flight from Boston and make the cruise the next morning with the guarantee that if we didn't the cruiseline would catch us up on the cruise.  So we didn't have to fly in the day before and waste a day and night in a hotel near the cruise port in Rome. 

 

One tip I have learned from HAL was to place a courtesy hold on any cruise we were interested in seeing the available air service for.  Once the hold was in their system, you can use Flight Ease to look at the flight selection and prices (but you cannot make a reservation until you actually book the cruise).  This has allowed us to book several international cruises we wouldn't have booked otherwise because the airfares quoted online were prohibitively expensive. 

 

We have also recently encountered a situation where Delta changed the scheduled departure time for a return flight that was then earlier than the cruise line's cutoff for their guarantee to make the flight (11am) so they automatically booked us into the next available nonstop flight without us having to do anything.  I'm not sure even if Delta would have allowed that change to be made without significant penalties but we didn't have to do anything and it was all done seamlessly. 

 

In answer to the OP's question - MAYBE you will save money maybe not (I have seen examples where the Flight Ease flights were much more expensive than the online prices) but in those cases we have made other plans and not used it.  It all depends.  Internationally, just getting free checked bags can save you a lot though and we've always gotten those with our Flight Ease bookings. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[DCThunder]

You also can't use airline points to book flights through Flight Ease, although you can use they to do upgrades, sometimes.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, SSBrickNJ said:

We'd be happy to use Iceland Air IF it has a non stop flying out of either Newark NJ or Philadelphia PA. Just those two please.

(Not really wanting to go to JFK or LaGuardia )

Iceland air doesn't fly non-stop between those cities. They always have a stop in Iceland.

 

Locking to non-stops only can severely limit your choices, although less when flying East Coast to Europe.

[SilvertoGold]

Have used FlightEase several times, for Europe, San Diego, Ft Lauderdale, Australia, Hong Kong  Each time saved a fair amount over booking identical flights through airlines, was able to choose exactly the flight I wanted (mostly non-stop with good times).  Thing change, but I think it is always worth it to investigate.  I always get a Hold on my cruise so I can take a look at the airfares on FlightEase for comparison and see the bottom line for the cruise + air. 

[foodsvcmgr]

New York to Amsterdam one way premium economy is roughly $1600 one way for my October sailing.

Booking the same non stop through HAL cut the fare to $1000.

[Torquer]

@SSBrickNJCan you tell us what prices you are seeing that you consider "so high"?

 

Many others have already given good suggestions, but let me add a couple thoughts since we are also flying to Copenhagen from New York for a cruise this summer.

 

We are flying business class this summer and are paying about $3000 pp round-trip through FlightEase, which is similar in price to what we have always paid when we go to Europe.  Just for fun, I looked on Flight Ease what it would be if we flew economy and found good flights for $1400 pp.  This is similar to what we used to pay years ago when we traveled in economy, although we occasionally found really amazing low prices of round-trip for well under $1000.

 

Now you also say you only want to fly out of Newark.  We also felt that way years ago when Newark used to have much nicer terminals than LaGuardia or JFK.  However, Newark terminals have not been remodeled in many years (I have not yet been in the new terminal 1) and are a horrible experience; we have been in nicer airports in third-world countries.  Now I do agree it is much easier to drive to Newark than LGA or JFK and we really hate the traffic.  However, think of it this way...if you save $100 pp by getting a flight out of LGA or JFK, you can hire a private limo to take you to one of those airports with the savings and let the limo driver fight the traffic.

[KBC73]

I had a very good experience in October for the Anniversary cruise on the Rotterdam from Rotterdam. I booked the flight through Flight Ease shortly after booking the cruise at least six months before final payment. The flight was a non-stop from Boston to Amsterdam for less than $400 on Delta/KLM. As time went on I checked the prices for the flight and they only went up.  I paid the original price with final payment. The online price was over $1000. There was no charge for baggage.

The night before we left for the airport I printed the boarding passes and thought I was all set. Two hours before our driver came I decided to check email one last time before vacation. To my surprise I had an email from Swiss Air about boarding passes. Delta had cancelled my original flight. To this day I don't know if it was Delta or Holland who made the change to Swiss Air but it saved me alot of aggravation at the airport. Also the original price I paid with final payment was honored. The only worry I had was luggage. I wanted the non-stop to decrease the possibility of lost luggage. I had heard Amsterdam airport was notorious for lost luggage. Swiss air had a stop in Switzerland that I had not anticipated. It all worked out fine.

It seems to work better for international flights versus domestic flights. I like that you can choose the flight you want. In our case we went in two days early and it worked great. 

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Iceland air doesn't fly non-stop between those cities. They always have a stop in Iceland.

 

Locking to non-stops only can severely limit your choices, although less when flying East Coast to Europe.

One nice benefit of using Icelandic Air is that they will usually allow you a stop-over (it used to be up to 10 days) in Iceland at no extra charge.   Its a great option for those that want to spend some time in Iceland, before or after their cruise.

 

Hank

[NavArch64]

We have used Icelandair many times for one way services to/from Europe in conjunction with trans-Atlantic cruises. We have flown from/to Boston Logan, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Baltimore BWI and Washington Dulles; and to/from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schiphol, Copenhagen, and Zurich. Although you do have to connect at Reykjavik Keflavic, we have never missed a flight, baggage has never been lost, the fares have been reasonable, and the onboard services very professional. We have flown B767, B757, and recently B737MAX aircraft with Icelandair. 

[shack]

6 hours ago, SSBrickNJ said:

We'd be happy to use Iceland Air IF it has a non stop flying out of either Newark NJ or Philadelphia PA. Just those two please.

(Not really wanting to go to JFK or LaGuardia )

www.icelandair.com.  We don't know your travel criteria.  Can only walk the dog so far...

 

52 minutes ago, NavArch64 said:

We have used Icelandair many times for one way services to/from Europe in conjunction with trans-Atlantic cruises. We have flown from/to Boston Logan, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Baltimore BWI and Washington Dulles; and to/from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schiphol, Copenhagen, and Zurich. Although you do have to connect at Reykjavik Keflavic, we have never missed a flight, baggage has never been lost, the fares have been reasonable, and the onboard services very professional. We have flown B767, B757, and recently B737MAX aircraft with Icelandair. 

ww

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

One nice benefit of using Icelandic Air is that they will usually allow you a stop-over (it used to be up to 10 days) in Iceland at no extra charge.   Its a great option for those that want to spend some time in Iceland, before or after their cruise.

 

Hank

 

Thank you for reminding us of this stopover.  It's on the list!

 

GC

[Hlitner]

Just now, GeezerCouple said:

 

Thank you for reminding us of this stopover.  It's on the list!

 

GC

In the past we also were able to do multi-day stopovers in Ireland, when flying Aer Lingus.  We actually spent two delightful vacations in Ireland by just using this freebee when flying between the USA and Europe.  Not sure if that perk still exists.

 

Hank