Booking our own flight after NCL assigned us terrible ones

[allyfrizzle]

Would NCL "penalize" us if we book our own flights because the ones booked for us are terrible? My cruise leaves next month and our flights there and back are awful (no comments on booking flights thru NCL, I knew what I was getting myself into.)

 

My question is this... can I be penalized if I DON'T take the flights they booked for me? Would they charge me something, cancel my transfers, etc? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks!

[Homosassa]

The answers to these questions are available on the NCL website under Terms and Conditions and Ticket Contract.

 

The land package section applies to flights and transfers.

 

 

[allyfrizzle]

9 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The answers to these questions are available on the NCL website under Terms and Conditions and Ticket Contract.

 

The land package section applies to flights and transfers.

 

 

Is the cancellation fee simply a forfeiture of what I paid? Or is there an additional fee?

[BirdTravels]

36 minutes ago, allyfrizzle said:

Would NCL "penalize" us if we book our own flights because the ones booked for us are terrible? My cruise leaves next month and our flights there and back are awful (no comments on booking flights thru NCL, I knew what I was getting myself into.)

 

My question is this... can I be penalized if I DON'T take the flights they booked for me? Would they charge me something, cancel my transfers, etc? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks!

They don't care if you just don't take their flights. They have your money and you will not get it back if you are in the cancellation period. 

 

But be aware if you book parallel flights on the same airline, the airline system may detect it and auto-cancel your duplicate reservations. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by BirdTravels

[allyfrizzle]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

They don't care if you just don't take their flights. They have your money and you will not get it back. 

 

But be aware if you book parallel flights on the same airline, the airline system may detect it and auto-cancel your duplicate reservations. 

This is the info I am interested in knowing. I'm not worried about the money I already spent, I just don't want to be screwed over somehow and owe additional OR screw up a new fight. Thanks. 

[Sthrngary]

Just now, allyfrizzle said:

This is the info I am interested in knowing. I'm not worried about the money I already spent, I just don't want to be screwed over somehow and owe additional OR screw up a new fight. Thanks. 

As a general rule, if you pay for a flight and don't use it NCL has no cost to them.  The only cost is to you for the value of the flight not used.  You paid for the flight which includes the transfers however only for the NCL flight schedules so you new flight may or may not be honored or even have availability.  

 

You might not have wanted the thread to take a turn to whether to use or not use NCL Air.  However, you have made the point that those decisions need to be made with full knowledge of the good, bad and ugly.  Being prepared and realistic is the key and I thank you as well a commend you on your attitude.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[allyfrizzle]

10 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

As a general rule, if you pay for a flight and don't use it NCL has no cost to them.  The only cost is to you for the value of the flight not used.  You paid for the flight which includes the transfers however only for the NCL flight schedules so you new flight may or may not be honored or even have availability.  

 

You might not have wanted the thread to take a turn to whether to use or not use NCL Air.  However, you have made the point that those decisions need to be made with full knowledge of the good, bad and ugly.  Being prepared and realistic is the key and I thank you as well a commend you on your attitude.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to seven days in paradise 8-)

[laudergayle]

Recently we did the same thing. I was able to cancel our NCL transfers through our PCC because they didn’t work with our new flights. We didn’t cancel our SWA flights we just did a no show and flew Delta instead. I was worried that if I canceled the flight with NCL they would charge us a cancellation fee. Enjoy your cruise.

[Homosassa]

I would be very careful about being a "no show" on ay part of your cruise package (includes the NCL air).

 

It would be best if  there is an official cancellation on the books.

[Minimama]

I am on another thread with a similar topic. We had to switch out a person who was not able to go 45 days out. NCL charged us $800 to drop the one person and the cost of the new ticket for the other person is on us, as well. I don't mind paying the new ticket....I definitely mind paying the additional $800 just for the original person not to go. They said we would lose the cabin since it was a package deal. Good luck!! If you get the right person on the phone anything is possible.

[Kruisn'Kay]

A few months ago I purchased new flights and did not take the ones that NCL booked. I did nothing with the NCL flights, took my new flights, and nothing happened. 

[julig22]

8 hours ago, Minimama said:

I am on another thread with a similar topic. We had to switch out a person who was not able to go 45 days out. NCL charged us $800 to drop the one person and the cost of the new ticket for the other person is on us, as well. I don't mind paying the new ticket....I definitely mind paying the additional $800 just for the original person not to go. They said we would lose the cabin since it was a package deal. Good luck!! If you get the right person on the phone anything is possible.

Just curious, what would be the cost of a sailaway inside cabin have been for the new person, other person becomes a no show at check-in in?

[Minimama]

2 hours ago, julig22 said:

Just curious, what would be the cost of a sailaway inside cabin have been for the new person, other person becomes a no show at check-in in?

Great question!! I did look into that but as of now, it is still about $1500 for the cheapest cabin on the ship. We will live and learn, but knowing the industry the person you speak with has a lot more power to be an advocate. I am not opposed to either the $800 fee or the need to buy a new ticket. I just don't agree with having to do both. The fee should have covered the name change or I could have been offered to just buy a new plane ticket, but doing both really stings and isn't a great way to start a vacation. I am a believer in the saying, "It is easier to keep your customers, then to get new ones."

[lakelivin2]

Back in February, we used the NCL flight to get to L.A. but didn't like the return flight.  We simply used the first and booked our own for the second...no problem and we even flew with the same carrier NCL had booked 😉 (but our flight got us home 6 hours sooner and no stop-over).  No issue at all.  I've read this only works if you don't cancel the first flight as the second flight will automatically cancel.

[Sthrngary]

I look at the NCL Cruise Critic blog daily for interesting topics.  The more you do this, the more you read the same questions and answers.  I also read other brands like Celebrity, Oceania, Regent, and HAL.  The topic of airfare is done quite often.

 

Two decades ago, it you did your due diligence, you could on occasion find a cruise deal.  It was much harder than today.  Today everything is part of the brands marketing approach.  50% off second passenger, 2nd person flies free, $299. per person upgrade to Premium Plus to Europe. I traveled for 4 decades mostly by air.  For me, it is a no brainer however for most it is a stressful decision. 

 

The author was very clear on what information they were looking for.  They knew that many would do the classic response of questioning why they even considered the Cruise Brand Airfare. The fact is, regardless of the experience any of us have had, in this or a situation like this in the past, the cruise brand will follow their written rules.  If any of us want to know strategy, as this author has asked, social media can help however only the source can confirm.  

 

Cruise Critic blogs have saved me lots of money.  I learned so much here from the members.  Things like what the cruise line believes is a valid passport date, different countries covid requirements and the list goes on.  Still, go to the source to confirm.  Just my two cents. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[gracebest]

On 3/24/2023 at 7:33 AM, allyfrizzle said:

Would NCL "penalize" us if we book our own flights because the ones booked for us are terrible? My cruise leaves next month and our flights there and back are awful (no comments on booking flights thru NCL, I knew what I was getting myself into.)

 

My question is this... can I be penalized if I DON'T take the flights they booked for me? Would they charge me something, cancel my transfers, etc? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks!

What airline are you booked with?  We were able to make changes to ours by calling the airline directly.  We did have to pay the difference, but it was worth it to us and ended up still costing a bit less than if we had booked it ourselves.

[allyfrizzle]

 

25 minutes ago, gracebest said:

What airline are you booked with?  We were able to make changes to ours by calling the airline directly.  We did have to pay the difference, but it was worth it to us and ended up still costing a bit less than if we had booked it ourselves.

We're booked with Delta. I'll check their flights and try giving them a call. Changing the flight online wasn't an option (that was the first thing I tried!) 

[chillyw]

1 hour ago, allyfrizzle said:

 

We're booked with Delta. I'll check their flights and try giving them a call. Changing the flight online wasn't an option (that was the first thing I tried!) 

 

Both Delta and American will take over a travel agency booked ticket for a $50 fee and then let you deal with them directly instead of the travel agency. You have to ask for it, but it's really helpful.

 

Especially helpful when you've booked with credit card points and don't want to deal with AMEX or a Chase's BS.

 

Once they take it over, you should be able to make changes to it like any other Delta ticket.

[gracebest]

29 minutes ago, chillyw said:

 

Both Delta and American will take over a travel agency booked ticket for a $50 fee and then let you deal with them directly instead of the travel agency. You have to ask for it, but it's really helpful.

 

Especially helpful when you've booked with credit card points and don't want to deal with AMEX or a Chase's BS.

 

Once they take it over, you should be able to make changes to it like any other Delta ticket.

We did the same with SW.  They ‘cautioned” us that NCL  would no longer control the booking.  We had no problem with that!

[ontheweb]

11 minutes ago, gracebest said:

We did the same with SW.  They ‘cautioned” us that NCL  would no longer control the booking.  We had no problem with that!

How hard did you laugh when you were cautioned about NCL no longer controlling the booking? 🤣

[gracebest]

27 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

How hard did you laugh when you were cautioned about NCL no longer controlling the booking? 🤣

Exactly!  Best news ever!  

[victory2020]

What were the terrible flights compared to the ones you want to book? What itinerary?

[allyfrizzle]

On 3/25/2023 at 8:39 PM, victory2020 said:

What were the terrible flights compared to the ones you want to book? What itinerary?

  

The flight there is okay, though I'd like to get there the day before. And because life happened, I called NCL too late for them to move it for me for a charge.

 

The flight back, though, is the real kicker. It leaves Miami at 8pm, has a layover in Atlanta and doesn't get to my destination until 1am. Knowing we get kicked off the ship by 9am and are gonna have four pieces of luggage with us for a long time at the airport just really sucks.

 

Again, this is something I knew could happen when I booked FAS, but not something that's ever happened in the many flights I'd gotten through NCL before. These flights cost me $518 versus the $1000+ I'd be spending had I booked myself. So, it's a trade off.

[Sthrngary]

2 minutes ago, allyfrizzle said:

  

The flight there is okay, though I'd like to get there the day before. And because life happened, I called NCL too late for them to move it for me for a charge.

 

The flight back, though, is the real kicker. It leaves Miami at 8pm, has a layover in Atlanta and doesn't get to my destination until 1am. Knowing we get kicked off the ship by 9am and are gonna have four pieces of luggage with us for a long time at the airport just really sucks.

 

Again, this is something I knew could happen when I booked FAS, but not something that's ever happened in the many flights I'd gotten through NCL before. These flights cost me $518 versus the $1000+ I'd be spending had I booked myself. So, it's a trade off.

Many airlines will change your flight the day of travel. Fine out the airlines policy.

[gracebest]

On 3/24/2023 at 7:33 AM, allyfrizzle said:

Would NCL "penalize" us if we book our own flights because the ones booked for us are terrible? My cruise leaves next month and our flights there and back are awful (no comments on booking flights thru NCL, I knew what I was getting myself into.)

 

My question is this... can I be penalized if I DON'T take the flights they booked for me? Would they charge me something, cancel my transfers, etc? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks!

You may be able to change flights for a fee, depending on the airline.  We changed our southwest flights, no change fee, just had to pay difference of new flight costs.  I think you can also change with Delta and American.