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

[SSBrickNJ]

 

14 hours ago, Torquer said:

@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.

My wife said that for the two of us to fly non stop ROUND trip from EWR to CPH is around $2,800

$1,400pp

She said we could fly to Singapore for that price.

Copenhagen is much closer ....much less fuel...why is the price the same as flying to Singapore?

Edited February 6, 2023 by SSBrickNJ

[SSBrickNJ]

Steve the OP here.

We would like to arrive 2 days prior to the cruise's departure yet when the cruise ship returns and the cruise is complete, we'd like to fly out that same day. 

Can this be arranged using the HAL's website flight feature?

[FlorenceItaly]

For Business Class(Polaris) I do not think it can be beat.  We booked a one way June Polaris BC ticket from Amsterdam via Newark onto to GSP for under $1400 per person.  This was booked and ticketed in November.  The May TA cruise is a complimentary casino cruise so flight required payment at booking.  For this reason I also requested ticketing.  This is a regular United flight so felt comfortable with this.  

Edited February 6, 2023 by FlorenceItaly

[FlorenceItaly]

5 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

Steve the OP here.

We would like to arrive 2 days prior to the cruise's departure yet when the cruise ship returns and the cruise is complete, we'd like to fly out that same day. 

Can this be arranged using the HAL's website flight feature?

Yes.  

[TiogaCruiser]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

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

Ireland, or Iceland?

[Real NHDOC]

13 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

Steve the OP here.

We would like to arrive 2 days prior to the cruise's departure yet when the cruise ship returns and the cruise is complete, we'd like to fly out that same day. 

Can this be arranged using the HAL's website flight feature?

Yes.  If you've already booked your cruise you can browse flights that are available by just going to the "manage my bookings" section and clicking on the "travel planning" tab and checking the "flights" box and following the instructions for departure airport, dates and whether you want nonstop or not.  Then you can see what Flight Ease can offer for yourself.  As I said in a previous reply, even if you haven't booked a cruise yet you can initiate a courtesy hold for it and see what's available the same exact way.

 

If you have trouble with the internet you can always call in and an agent from HAL can help you but I find it's easier to see the options offered and choose that way.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[SSBrickNJ]

8 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

Yes.  If you've already booked your cruise you can browse flights that are available by just going to the "manage my bookings" section and clicking on the "travel planning" tab and checking the "flights" box and following the instructions for departure airport, dates and whether you want nonstop or not.  Then you can see what Flight Ease can offer for yourself.  As I said in a previous reply, even if you haven't booked a cruise yet you can initiate a courtesy hold for it and see what's available the same exact way.

 

If you have trouble with the internet you can always call in and an agent from HAL can help you but I find it's easier to see the options offered and choose that way.

We HAVE booked with a REfundable deposit. 

Thank you for your help 🙂

[TiogaCruiser]

Just booked domestic air yesterday. HAL was $60 > pp than the airline directly. And our seats are changeable for a year. United. Same flights.

[Hlitner]

22 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Ireland, or Iceland?

Both!  Iceland with Icelandic and Ireland with Aer Lingus.  Since the last time we did this with Aer Lingus they have had bankruptcy and ownership issues so one would certainly need to check with the airline to see if they still allow this.  When we did it with Aer Lingus, we could schedule a stop-over (up to 10 days) at either Dublin or Shannon.   We did it (twice) at Dublin and on one stopover we spent an entire week on a driving trip around Ireland.

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

35 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

 

My wife said that for the two of us to fly non stop ROUND trip from EWR to CPH is around $2,800

$1,400pp

She said we could fly to Singapore for that price.

Copenhagen is much closer ....much less fuel...why is the price the same as flying to Singapore?

 

That is a decent price. 

 

Fares aren't just determined by distance. There are also hefty taxes associated with various airports, and availability also affects pricing.

[TiogaCruiser]

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Both!  Iceland with Icelandic and Ireland with Aer Lingus.  Since the last time we did this with Aer Lingus they have had bankruptcy and ownership issues so one would certainly need to check with the airline to see if they still allow this.  When we did it with Aer Lingus, we could schedule a stop-over (up to 10 days) at either Dublin or Shannon.   We did it (twice) at Dublin and on one stopover we spent an entire week on a driving trip around Ireland.

 

Hank

Oh my. You’ve got my planning wheels turning.

[Hlitner]

2 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

That is a decent price. 

 

Fares aren't just determined by distance. There are also hefty taxes associated with various airports, and availability also affects pricing.

And there are other factors such as how much competition on the route, supply/demand, etc.  Airlines are simply businesses and look to maximize fares to the extent possible.  They use sophisticated "yield management" software which is designed to fill the most seats at the highest per seat price.  

 

What all this means is that fares can vary depending on how you buy your ticket.  The cruise lines will often have contracts with various airlines that give them X number of seats on X number of routes and big discounts.  Once the contracted seats are filled that flight may well disappear from their booking system or simply revert to higher fares (for new bookings).  There are also other ways to save money on international fares such as using legit "consolidators" who are permitted to sell some fares at a big discount.  I have never dealt with an airline consolidator, but have talked to others that were happy with the deals they had found.

 

Hank
 

[Torquer]

40 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

 

My wife said that for the two of us to fly non stop ROUND trip from EWR to CPH is around $2,800

$1,400pp

She said we could fly to Singapore for that price.

Copenhagen is much closer ....much less fuel...why is the price the same as flying to Singapore?

As I said in my earlier post, $1400 pp to Europe in economy is a very typical price compared to what we have paid for many years when flying to Europe, although we have occasionally been lucky to find sub-$1000 flights.  Note these numbers are for the summertime and prices are a few hundred dollars cheaper in the winter (or non-peak vacation times).  I think you should take it and enjoy yourself.

 

Now if you want to be really shocked at air prices, in a couple weeks we are flying to New Zealand from NYC and returning from Australia for a cruise.  We are paying $9000 pp roundtrip in business class through FlightEase (which is $1000+ cheaper than buying direct through the airlines).  We briefly considered canceling the cruise when we saw these prices.  Obviously economy is much cheaper but for a 20+ hours of actual flight-time, we really did not want to torture ourselves in economy.

[Hlitner]

2 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Oh my. You’ve got my planning wheels turning.

Before getting excited, telephone those airlines and make sure the stop-overs are still allowed and the various terms.  Please come back and post here since others (including me) might be interested.   In the past we had thought about asking some other airlines if they have similar rules.  For example if flying to Asia on Cathay Pacific (a terrific airline) most flights involve a change in Hong Kong.  Would they allow a stopover?  I have no clue but might someday check it out.

 

Hank

[TiogaCruiser]

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Before getting excited, telephone those airlines and make sure the stop-overs are still allowed and the various terms.  Please come back and post here since others (including me) might be interested.   In the past we had thought about asking some other airlines if they have similar rules.  For example if flying to Asia on Cathay Pacific (a terrific airline) most flights involve a change in Hong Kong.  Would they allow a stopover?  I have no clue but might someday check it out.

 

Hank

I’m not ready to book for that just yet. We just booked a cruise yesterday and I m working on that.

[Hlitner]

14 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

That is a decent price. 

 

Fares aren't just determined by distance. There are also hefty taxes associated with various airports, and availability also affects pricing.

Perhaps a real example will demonstrate how good things can get using Flexair.  I had previously posted that we purchased one-way Business Class (all lay flat seats) from IAD to Heathrow changing to Heathrow to Tokyo (Haneda).  HAL has this fare for about $2200 and we jumped at the fare (which no longer exists).  Just yesterday I looked online, and those same flights now sell for $13,927 if bought directly through British Air (the flight from LHR to Tokyo is on a JAL aircraft).  

 

The deals are still out there, but one must be proactive, check the HAL Flightease site (several times a week), and quickly jump at a flexair fare if you see a good deal.  Keep in mind that using Flexair means you do not need to pay anything until around Final Payment, the flights are actually not ticketed until about 45 days prior to the flight, and up until Final Payment you can simply cancel or change the flights with no penalties (although the price can certainly increase if you make a change).

 

Hank

[SSBrickNJ]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

That is a decent price. 

 

Fares aren't just determined by distance. There are also hefty taxes associated with various airports, and availability also affects pricing.

All that might be true...but my wife does not think NJ to Copenhagen round trip in economy should cost $1,400 pp

[cruisemom42]

56 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

All that might be true...but my wife does not think NJ to Copenhagen round trip in economy should cost $1,400 pp

 

Not much we can do about that....

 

If the going fare is too steep, continue making your alternate plans.

[SSBrickNJ]

4 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Not much we can do about that....

 

If the going fare is too steep, continue making your alternate plans.

Well Wed. night we will try flight ease.

MIGHT we do better there?

[Bostonjetset]

1 hour ago, SSBrickNJ said:

All that might be true...but my wife does not think NJ to Copenhagen round trip in economy should cost $1,400 pp

Honestly I don’t disagree. Though cities like Copenhagen will almost always cost more than more high-traffic cities like London or Paris. We have a cruise in April from Amsterdam and the flights from Boston were insane. I used flight ease and got my ticket for $870 in coach. Same flight directly from Delta was $1200 so HAL definitely saved me money. IcelandAir would have been about $150 cheaper than anything though flightease but I’d rather a nonstop flight if the difference is less than $200. And DH had Delta miles so only my ticket had to be paid for by flying Delta. 

[exm]

I need to fly from NY to AMS in August. Non-stop flights are very expensive, and I can get a good deal using HAL Air. However, since I have 2 separate bookings (2 different cabins with kids), I want to make sure to be on the same booking. Calling HAL Air is a nightmare with the people from the overseas (?) call center. Sure, they are friendly but they absolutely have no idea about my questions:

- Can you link the air bookings?

- Can I use Delta e-Credits?

I let the agent make the booking regardless, only to find out she booked the wrong date. When she wanted to rebook (1 day later!), she mentioned that those days are unavailable. Absolute bull since I was staring at those flights on my computer screen.

 

Is there any way how I can get a US based rep to help me booking my flights with HAL Air?

[DCThunder]

2 minutes ago, exm said:

I need to fly from NY to AMS in August. Non-stop flights are very expensive, and I can get a good deal using HAL Air. However, since I have 2 separate bookings (2 different cabins with kids), I want to make sure to be on the same booking. Calling HAL Air is a nightmare with the people from the overseas (?) call center. Sure, they are friendly but they absolutely have no idea about my questions:

- Can you link the air bookings?

- Can I use Delta e-Credits?

I let the agent make the booking regardless, only to find out she booked the wrong date. When she wanted to rebook (1 day later!), she mentioned that those days are unavailable. Absolute bull since I was staring at those flights on my computer screen.

 

Is there any way how I can get a US based rep to help me booking my flights with HAL Air?

Depending on how long ago you made the HAL bookings, you could transfer them to a travel agent and let them deal with HAL Air.

[FlorenceItaly]

I was fortunate the website was working and I was able to book the flights online.  I never talked to anyone.   Have you tried this?

Log into your HAL account

Manage My Account

Go to Travel Planning

Pre and Post Cruise Travel

Flights

Book and Manage Flights

[Hobby3333]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:06 PM, foodsvcmgr said:

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.

I booked with Delta from DFW.  Although, we have a change of planes at DTW we only paid $3300.00 RT in premium economy.   The $3300 was for two round trip tickets to Amsterdam.

[Native Floridian 26]

On 2/6/2023 at 9:31 AM, SSBrickNJ said:

Steve the OP here.

We would like to arrive 2 days prior to the cruise's departure yet when the cruise ship returns and the cruise is complete, we'd like to fly out that same day. 

Can this be arranged using the HAL's website flight feature?

Yes, you pick the days, the times, the cities, airports, everything.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Native Floridian 26