Use caution when booking airfare through NCL—the airline can't help you with ticketing issues

[dcipjr]

Hi all,

 

Just an anecdotal story of why you should be careful when booking airfare through NCL.

 

We recently got back from a trip on the Jewel out of San Diego. It was a lovely cruise. We flew from our home city of Philadelphia to San Diego via NCL's included airfare, as they gave me a price (~$1000 roundtrip total for 3 people during spring / Easter break) that I couldn't beat booking on my own (and I tried).

 

After we were ticketed, I noticed that my wife's second surname (she's Mexican, so has two surnames) wasn't on the reservation. The TSA has given us some grief about that before, and I wanted to avoid hassles at the airport. I called the airline (American Airlines), and they told me that they had no control over that reservation, and I would have to speak to NCL about any changes.

 

I called NCL, and they assessed me a $150 change fee for the reservation. I wasn't happy about this, but figured I was still getting a deal, and I wanted to avoid any hassle. I paid the fee.

 

Fast-forward a couple months to the flights themselves. Everything went fine on the way out. We flew out a couple days early, got routed through Chicago, and narrowly avoided a tornado-related shutdown that hit O'Hare a few hours after we were there. Lucky!

 

On the way back, however—not so lucky. We got to the airport for our return flight, and I couldn't check us in. The AA mobile app didn't work, and the kiosks at the airport told me to see a representative at the check-in counter.

 

The representative told me that there were two tickets in my wife's name for the return flight, and none for me. 

 

And again, since "the reservation belongs to the cruise line", the airline couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. The only thing I could do is buy a one-way ticket for myself, to the tune of $550.

 

Anyone care to guess how much luck I've had getting NCL to reimburse me for my out-of-pocket airfare?

 

Even travel insurance does nothing here, since most travel insurances do not cover ticketing issues.

 

The bottom line: be careful when booking airfare via NCL or any third-party that doesn't give you full control over the tickets. We will book our own airfare in the future.

Caveat emptor.

[hallux]

9 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

The AA mobile app didn't work

AHHHH, American Airlines!  There's a big part of your troubles!!  I've been hearing of so many people that avoid them now because of issues they've had with them - my parents included.

 

They were also very obstinate when I was at the airport at 10 AM and wanted to be on standby for an earlier flight since my booked flight was at 11 PM, when I had booked through the previous free/reduced airfare.  It seems other airlines have been a little more lenient on trying to get an earlier flight. They were nice enough to check our bags but we still had to proceed with a rental car and sightseeing for the day.

[dcipjr]

10 minutes ago, hallux said:

I've been hearing of so many people that avoid them now because of issues they've had with them - my parents included.

 

I've always done all right with American, though I still miss the dearly-departed US Airways. I had Platinum status with them and they treated me like royalty. American ditched so much of that in the merger.

 

AA's prices have been sky-high (pun intended) recently so I've been avoiding them. I thought I scored a heck of a deal when I got tickets through NCL. It turned out to not be as great of a deal, but it probably still turned out to be about the same as what I would have paid on my own.

 

I'm not complaining or grousing here...I'm still trying to get reimbursed from NCL for at least something, but this is more of a "be aware" sort of thing.

[chillyw]

29 minutes ago, hallux said:

AHHHH, American Airlines!  There's a big part of your troubles!!  I've been hearing of so many people that avoid them now because of issues they've had with them - my parents included.

 

They were also very obstinate when I was at the airport at 10 AM and wanted to be on standby for an earlier flight since my booked flight was at 11 PM, when I had booked through the previous free/reduced airfare.  It seems other airlines have been a little more lenient on trying to get an earlier flight. They were nice enough to check our bags but we still had to proceed with a rental car and sightseeing for the day.

 

IMO, AA is generally about the same as other airlines, but they are a little more strict on standby. They're policy is to allow anyone to standby for an earlier flight.  The tricky part is it has to be through the same airport routing, so if you're on a routing that only has one direct a day, you're SOL, even if you can route through a hub.  It's one of the policies I dislike flying from Austin.  So many once a day direct flights in our Austin mini-hub, I don't get to take advantage as much of the standby policies as I'd like.

 

You can generally use the app to confirm if there's standby options before even heading to the airport, and can confirm standby for $75 (free for higher level elites).  If not, it's not even worth bothering to go.

[dmbcanada]

Looking to to use NCL airfare for Mediterranean cruise next year, as savings seem to be high compared to booking myself from Toronto.  

1. Are you responsible for baggage fees and seat selection for all flights and both passengers?    
2.  Unless specified at booking do flights arrive day for embarkation?
3.  If flight is cancelled or a connection is missed does NCL ensure arrival for cruise?
4. If I select a day earlier to arrive, do they refund/remove transfers?

[julig22]

1 hour ago, dmbcanada said:

Looking to to use NCL airfare for Mediterranean cruise next year, as savings seem to be high compared to booking myself from Toronto.  

1. Are you responsible for baggage fees and seat selection for all flights and both passengers?    
2.  Unless specified at booking do flights arrive day for embarkation?
3.  If flight is cancelled or a connection is missed does NCL ensure arrival for cruise?
4. If I select a day earlier to arrive, do they refund/remove transfers?

You pay your own luggage fees

Fights arrive day of embark action unless you request a deviation, must be done more than 75 days in advance

No guarantee you will arrive in time, they might hold the ship if they can, not always possible.

Transfers are removed and refunded if you request a deviation.  You also get a $25 credit.

[happy cruzer]

3 hours ago, dcipjr said:

Hi all,

 

Just an anecdotal story of why you should be careful when booking airfare through NCL.

 

We recently got back from a trip on the Jewel out of San Diego. It was a lovely cruise. We flew from our home city of Philadelphia to San Diego via NCL's included airfare, as they gave me a price (~$1000 roundtrip total for 3 people during spring / Easter break) that I couldn't beat booking on my own (and I tried).

 

After we were ticketed, I noticed that my wife's second surname (she's Mexican, so has two surnames) wasn't on the reservation. The TSA has given us some grief about that before, and I wanted to avoid hassles at the airport. I called the airline (American Airlines), and they told me that they had no control over that reservation, and I would have to speak to NCL about any changes.

 

I called NCL, and they assessed me a $150 change fee for the reservation. I wasn't happy about this, but figured I was still getting a deal, and I wanted to avoid any hassle. I paid the fee.

 

Fast-forward a couple months to the flights themselves. Everything went fine on the way out. We flew out a couple days early, got routed through Chicago, and narrowly avoided a tornado-related shutdown that hit O'Hare a few hours after we were there. Lucky!

 

On the way back, however—not so lucky. We got to the airport for our return flight, and I couldn't check us in. The AA mobile app didn't work, and the kiosks at the airport told me to see a representative at the check-in counter.

 

The representative told me that there were two tickets in my wife's name for the return flight, and none for me. 

 

And again, since "the reservation belongs to the cruise line", the airline couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. The only thing I could do is buy a one-way ticket for myself, to the tune of $550.

 

Anyone care to guess how much luck I've had getting NCL to reimburse me for my out-of-pocket airfare?

 

Even travel insurance does nothing here, since most travel insurances do not cover ticketing issues.

 

The bottom line: be careful when booking airfare via NCL or any third-party that doesn't give you full control over the tickets. We will book our own airfare in the future.

Caveat emptor.

Did you have a email copy of the tickets with the passengers names?  Seems they would have to honor that.  If you had an email from NCL or AA with all the names correct then I would keep persueing this, one of them owe you a refund.

[NCMtnBoys]

1 hour ago, happy cruzer said:

Did you have a email copy of the tickets with the passengers names?  Seems they would have to honor that.  If you had an email from NCL or AA with all the names correct then I would keep persueing this, one of them owe you a refund.

And, we even had an email several days ago from NCL letting us know what names they have for our airfare, making sure what they have is correct and matches our travel documents, asking us to contact them if we need to make a change. Our cruise isn't until September 10th so they won't even be doing our air for awhile but are proactively checking. I always have to make sure my name includes the suffix "Jr" since that's what my passport shows. Learned the hard way once when I had to pay an airline a change fee just to add the "Jr" after ticketing.

[HHI Cruiser1]

Did you check your flights on AA prior to your departure?  It would seem that all flights would have been visible for confirmation (flights, times, times, stops, layovers, names, etc.), ours have always been available.

[genealogyfan]

Was your travel insurance through NCL or a 3rd party? I'm surprised if it's a 3rd party insurance, they wouldn't cover the extra flight you had to book.

[kismetique]

13 hours ago, dcipjr said:

The bottom line: be careful when booking airfare via NCL or any third-party that doesn't give you full control over the tickets. We will book our own airfare in the future.

Caveat emptor.

We had problems on our way home off the Jewel this last Sunday the 24th. When I get confirmation of the tickets from NCL I always log into our airline accounts and add the tickets to our reward numbers. If the names aren't the same, it won't let you add them and sometimes the airlines will take care of it. 

 

American got us to San Diego just fine. But going home on Southwest was a different story. After 3 hours on the tarmac in Albuquerque, we couldn't make the connecting flight in Denver. Southwest at least issued vouchers and comped our rooms. 

 

Make sure you match those tickets to your rewards accounts to ensure there are no name snafus!

[kitkat343]

15 hours ago, dcipjr said:

Hi all,

 

Just an anecdotal story of why you should be careful when booking airfare through NCL.

 

We recently got back from a trip on the Jewel out of San Diego. It was a lovely cruise. We flew from our home city of Philadelphia to San Diego via NCL's included airfare, as they gave me a price (~$1000 roundtrip total for 3 people during spring / Easter break) that I couldn't beat booking on my own (and I tried).

 

After we were ticketed, I noticed that my wife's second surname (she's Mexican, so has two surnames) wasn't on the reservation. The TSA has given us some grief about that before, and I wanted to avoid hassles at the airport. I called the airline (American Airlines), and they told me that they had no control over that reservation, and I would have to speak to NCL about any changes.

 

I called NCL, and they assessed me a $150 change fee for the reservation. I wasn't happy about this, but figured I was still getting a deal, and I wanted to avoid any hassle. I paid the fee.

 

Fast-forward a couple months to the flights themselves. Everything went fine on the way out. We flew out a couple days early, got routed through Chicago, and narrowly avoided a tornado-related shutdown that hit O'Hare a few hours after we were there. Lucky!

 

On the way back, however—not so lucky. We got to the airport for our return flight, and I couldn't check us in. The AA mobile app didn't work, and the kiosks at the airport told me to see a representative at the check-in counter.

 

The representative told me that there were two tickets in my wife's name for the return flight, and none for me. 

 

And again, since "the reservation belongs to the cruise line", the airline couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. The only thing I could do is buy a one-way ticket for myself, to the tune of $550.

 

Anyone care to guess how much luck I've had getting NCL to reimburse me for my out-of-pocket airfare?

 

Even travel insurance does nothing here, since most travel insurances do not cover ticketing issues.

 

The bottom line: be careful when booking airfare via NCL or any third-party that doesn't give you full control over the tickets. We will book our own airfare in the future.

Caveat emptor.

I'm assuming this was booked so long ago you can't dispute the charge with your credit card?  It seems as if NCL collected money from you for the original ticket without booking you one so they should at least refund you the cost of the original ticket since they received money for a service they didn't provide (and yes I also agree NCL should pay for your last minute ticket instead, but I'm confused as to why they think they should be able to keep the money you paid for your original fare without having issued you a ticket).  

[dcipjr]

4 hours ago, kismetique said:

When I get confirmation of the tickets from NCL I always log into our airline accounts and add the tickets to our reward numbers. If the names aren't the same, it won't let you add them and sometimes the airlines will take care of it. 

 

This actually is why we paid the $150 change fee to NCL to add the second surname. I went to add my wife's frequent flyer number to the ticket, and it refused to let us do that because of the name mismatch. Once the reservation was updated, I was able to add her frequent flyer number, but evidently my ticket was messed up for the return leg.

 

3 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

I'm assuming this was booked so long ago you can't dispute the charge with your credit card?  It seems as if NCL collected money from you for the original ticket without booking you one so they should at least refund you the cost of the original ticket since they received money for a service they didn't provide (and yes I also agree NCL should pay for your last minute ticket instead, but I'm confused as to why they think they should be able to keep the money you paid for your original fare without having issued you a ticket).  

 

NCL is saying "we booked the ticket and it shows that you have one", but the airline disagrees. The airline won't talk to me because I didn't book the ticket—they want to talk to NCL. So it comes down to me trying to strong-arm NCL into talking to the airline. 

 

I did speak with a NCL customer relations representative on the phone yesterday and he said he'll get the air department to speak with American Airlines. But obviously they aren't really motivated to try to figure out this snafu, since I'm the one who's out of pocket (not them—unless they find out they screwed up).

 

NCL's initial response was to ask if I had travel insurance, and helpfully point out that they offer travel insurance for my convenience. I politely informed them that yes, I did have travel insurance, but per the T&Cs, it doesn't cover travel agent mistakes—and, incidentally, neither does the insurance they offer.

 

14 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Did you have a email copy of the tickets with the passengers names?  Seems they would have to honor that.  If you had an email from NCL or AA with all the names correct then I would keep persueing this, one of them owe you a refund.

 

I'm definitely still after it; someone owes me money.

 

My rationale is that NCL should pay me back the amount I paid for that leg of the journey. If it turns out to be the airline's fault, NCL can collect the fare from the airline. If it's NCL's fault, then they've rectified the situation by refunding me what I paid.

 

I should eventually get something, but I feel like it'll be like pulling teeth to get to that point.

[dcipjr]

13 hours ago, HHI Cruiser1 said:

Did you check your flights on AA prior to your departure?  It would seem that all flights would have been visible for confirmation (flights, times, times, stops, layovers, names, etc.), ours have always been available.

 

I did, and it looked fine. But it wouldn't let me check in on the way home. It looked OK on the websites, but was messed up behind the scenes.

[dcipjr]

13 hours ago, genealogyfan said:

Was your travel insurance through NCL or a 3rd party? I'm surprised if it's a 3rd party insurance, they wouldn't cover the extra flight you had to book.

 

"Travel agent screwups" isn't on the list of covered reasons for trip interruption. 

 

My insurance was through American Express, but NCL's would have been the same.

 

Either way—I don't see why I should have to claim it with insurance anyway, when the airline or NCL failed to provide a service I paid for due to a clerical error. Should be simple as a refund...in theory.

[HHI Cruiser1]

Good luck.  Since you can't change the ticket (only NCL or airline), then you should be at fault, but proving that is going to be hard.  Either way, NCL should have received refund from airline for unused ticket.  That should be easy to prove by requesting a ticket receipt from airline (it will show what went where - can be done online or call airline and say you need it for insurance claim).

[happy cruzer]

Agree that most trip interruption insurance would be no help. Kind of like losing your passport, it is something that typically is not covered.  If the policy does not specifically state an item is covered,  it is not.

 

So did you print out a copy of your ticket after the last name correction? An email with the ticket?  Do you have the ticket number?  AA should be able to tell you when/if your ticket was changed.  AA may be at fault after all your flight going to the cruise was ok just not the return.  If NCL booked a round trip ticket for you then it looks like AA is the issue.  Good luck, you may have to get some government regulator involved.  Regardless if AA does a refund it will be to the purchaser of the ticket.  And as HHI cruiser says that will show up on the AA website but it will not have the name for the refund just four digits identifying either a credit card or processing agency.  I went through that with Celebrity.  They got a refund and took alot of time to get them to forward it to me.

Edited April 26, 2023 by happy cruzer

[cruisefan20]

Another issue to consider when booking air through NCL is that you have no control over how long layovers are. I booked through NCL because of the “free at sea” package, and I thought it would be nice to have seamless air/transfers.  I am one who doesn’t like tight connections, but the flights they booked us are ridiculous. As an example, our one-hour direct Alaska Air flight from Seattle to Portland leaves at 8:45 pm. The ship docks that day at 6:00 am. I imagine we will have to disembark no later than about 10:00 so that they can ready the ship for the next passengers. If you figure another two hours after that (1.5 hours getting people together for the transport, plus a 30 minutes’ drive to Seatac on a Sunday) that still leaves us with over eight hours at the airport waiting for our one-hour flight. Looking at Alaska Air’s current schedule, there is availability on six flights to Portland in the afternoon before the 8:45 departure, including one at 3:10 which would only cost $20 more than the flight they booked for us. It’s understandable that their primary consideration was price, but if we had booked it ourselves, we would have thought the $20 was well worth avoiding the extra hours at the airport.

[Sue Do-Over]

We generally have good luck with NCL schedules for embarkation -- might have to leave the house at the crack of dawn, but we get there in time.

Coming home, tho...  Often get a flight HOURS after departing the ship and spend the day going from gate to gate asking for stand-by seats.  The check-in desk can't do anything for you, but sometimes the gate agents are more sympathetic if there are open seats (and you don't fuss about sitting separately in economy).

Having carry on bags only helps, as does a bright smile and treat.   "Sure, I can fly to an alternate airport, sit anywhere, have my bags right here, and don't need anything special!"

[em-sk]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:27 AM, dcipjr said:

Hi all,

 

Just an anecdotal story of why you should be careful when booking airfare through NCL.

 

We recently got back from a trip on the Jewel out of San Diego. It was a lovely cruise. We flew from our home city of Philadelphia to San Diego via NCL's included airfare, as they gave me a price (~$1000 roundtrip total for 3 people during spring / Easter break) that I couldn't beat booking on my own (and I tried).

 

After we were ticketed, I noticed that my wife's second surname (she's Mexican, so has two surnames) wasn't on the reservation. The TSA has given us some grief about that before, and I wanted to avoid hassles at the airport. I called the airline (American Airlines), and they told me that they had no control over that reservation, and I would have to speak to NCL about any changes.

 

I called NCL, and they assessed me a $150 change fee for the reservation. I wasn't happy about this, but figured I was still getting a deal, and I wanted to avoid any hassle. I paid the fee.

 

Fast-forward a couple months to the flights themselves. Everything went fine on the way out. We flew out a couple days early, got routed through Chicago, and narrowly avoided a tornado-related shutdown that hit O'Hare a few hours after we were there. Lucky!

On the way back, however—not so lucky. We got to the airport for our return flight, and I couldn't check us in. The AA mobile app didn't work, and the kiosks at the airport told me to see a representative at the check-in counter.

The representative told me that there were two tickets in my wife's name for the return flight, and none for me. 

 

And again, since "the reservation belongs to the cruise line", the airline couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. The only thing I could do is buy a one-way ticket for myself, to the tune of $550.

....

 

That is a weird response.  NCL is acting like a travel agent.  Normal practice with most airlines is around 24 hours before departure control over the reservation transfers from the agency to airport control where the reservation is under local control of the airline airport staff not the agent.    AA should have been able to make changes at that point.  

 

I don't fly regularly with AA so cant guess at an explanation there.  However, it is no secret the airlines are not investing in training and many times these types of things come down to the airline staff have not been trained in how to do it.

 

I would also go after NCL for the cost.  They charged you to change the reservation.  They messed up.  I would ask for the $150 back and the cost of buying the second ticket.

[dcipjr]

On 4/26/2023 at 9:23 AM, HHI Cruiser1 said:

Good luck.  Since you can't change the ticket (only NCL or airline), then you should be at fault, but proving that is going to be hard.  Either way, NCL should have received refund from airline for unused ticket.  That should be easy to prove by requesting a ticket receipt from airline (it will show what went where - can be done online or call airline and say you need it for insurance claim).

 

Proving fault is going to be difficult or impossible. Either NCL or AA screwed up, but it’s going to be hard to determine or prove who it was.

 

I’m thinking that it’s NCL, because their travel agents may work directly with the airline booking systems and not go through AA at all—I suspect that’s how the PNR got screwed up so badly.

 

I requested airfare receipts from NCL, since the ticket numbers don’t work on AA’s website. I may call AA as well and see if I have better luck.

 

NCL has proven extremely stubborn, but it was their job to book travel for me and confirm that those tickets were purchased correctly. Here’s what they’ve been saying to me—I’m not giving up yet. My next move is to include higher-ups on the email chain. Still a long shot…

 

“As per our previous communication, although Norwegian Cruise Line offers flight arrangements as part of our cruise package, we do not have direct control of over the operations of the airlines and are not responsible for their cancellations, delays, service, etc. We do ask that our air/sea guests to work with the airline in order to secure seating in the event there is a flight delay or cancellation.

We have followed up with Air and Sea again regarding this issue. They have advised we will not be receiving any refund from the airline. We also show the ticket is null at this time, and there was no irregular operation from the Airline. We recommend you contact the Airline for any compensation as we are unable to provide in this matter.”

[dcipjr]

As an update, I contacted American Airlines and found out what happened.

 

When I called to change the name on my wife's ticket, the NCL air representative did a ticket exchange: they swapped my ticket for my wife's replacement ticket. 

 

What they should have done, of course, would have been to swap my wife's old ticket for her replacement ticket.

 

My wife's original ticket is still sitting out there, unused.

 

So, this was totally Norwegian's mistake.

 

@em-sk, I'm doing as you suggest, and going after them for the replacement ticket cost as well as the $150 in fees they charged me.  The way I see it, I had to do all the homework to figure out what happened, so getting that fee back would be merited—plus they screwed up the name change I paid for.

Edited April 28, 2023 by dcipjr

[em-sk]

26 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

As an update, I contacted American Airlines and found out what happened.

 

When I called to change the name on my wife's ticket, the NCL air representative did a ticket exchange: they swapped my ticket for my wife's replacement ticket. 

 

What they should have done, of course, would have been to swap my wife's old ticket for her replacement ticket.

 

My wife's original ticket is still sitting out there, unused.

 

So, this was totally Norwegian's mistake.

 

@em-sk, I'm doing as you suggest, and going after them for the replacement ticket cost as well as the $150 in fees they charged me.  The way I see it, I had to do all the homework to figure out what happened, so getting that fee back would be merited—plus they screwed up the name change I paid for.

 

I would do the same. NCL messed up they should cover the associated costs.

 

As an aside I frequently fly on WestJet.  Both AA and WestJet run on the Sabre airline reservation system.  For some destinations WestJet is very particular about the names on the ticket matching the ID and if not an exact match they at the gate they will change the name on the ticket to match.  AA likely could have done the same.  If there people are empowered to or are trained to is a different question.  Either way it is NCLs fault they created the problem in the first place.   

 

 

[happy cruzer]

40 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

As an update, I contacted American Airlines and found out what happened.

 

When I called to change the name on my wife's ticket, the NCL air representative did a ticket exchange: they swapped my ticket for my wife's replacement ticket. 

 

What they should have done, of course, would have been to swap my wife's old ticket for her replacement ticket.

 

My wife's original ticket is still sitting out there, unused.

 

So, this was totally Norwegian's mistake.

 

@em-sk, I'm doing as you suggest, and going after them for the replacement ticket cost as well as the $150 in fees they charged me.  The way I see it, I had to do all the homework to figure out what happened, so getting that fee back would be merited—plus they screwed up the name change I paid for.

Did you get an updated email with ticket numbers and names?  You may have NCL say we did it correctly and AA implemented it wrong.  Both should be able to show the issued tickets with details.  Hope you are able to get something in writing (email are hard copy) to use to get this resolved what someone says gets instantly lost.

[dcipjr]

31 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Did you get an updated email with ticket numbers and names?  You may have NCL say we did it correctly and AA implemented it wrong.  Both should be able to show the issued tickets with details.  Hope you are able to get something in writing (email are hard copy) to use to get this resolved what someone says gets instantly lost.

 

When I called back in March to do the name change, I didn't get an updated email from NCL; I just had the original Air Confirmation with the ticket numbers on it.

 

I called into AA and looked up all the ticket numbers, and they were able to piece together what happened, but since the reservation was made by a third party (NCL) they can't send me the receipts unless I request it through Customer Relations, which I'm prepared to do.

 

They were able to provide me the replacement ticket number for my wife's new ticket, confirm for me that NCL was the one that exchanged my ticket instead of my wife's, confirm the residual value on my wife's original ticket, and tell me that NCL could obtain all the receipts since they were the ones that booked the ticket.

 

I definitely wish I had more in hard-copy format right now. NCL could claim that they see things differently. But they might have a hard time ignoring my wife's original return ticket (that went unused). 

 

We'll see what happens...