Booking flights through NCL?

[RocketMan275]

6 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I think that kinda depends.  Possibly true if the airline is being proactive and rebooking everyone.  But if I'm in line/on the phone with the airline they are dealing with me, not putting me on hold while they take care of all "their" passengers first.

Why take a chance on the airline priotizing passengers.

[julig22]

10 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Why take a chance on the airline priotizing passengers.

I don't assume from the get-go that things will go wrong.  The savings is worth the risk for me, so far all my cancelled flights have been on return trips and I'm retired so usually not a big deal if I'm delayed. 

 

My last cancelled flight resulted in an offer of a fully paid 6-day vacation in Capetown, the same offer given to others on the same flight, regardless of whether or not they booked directly through the airline.  Maybe others who checked in earlier got better service, I really don't know.  I wasn't in a position to contact the airline until several hours after the cancellation was announced. My biggest issue with the airline is that they just re-booked people on the same flight, 6 days later- a simple Google search helped me find a flight the next day, on the same airline, after they kept insisting nothing else was available. Per the invoice, NCL paid $1800 for my airfare.  I paid $599.

And I'm using the $200 voucher to fly to Alaska later this summer.

[RocketMan275]

8 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I don't assume from the get-go that things will go wrong.  The savings is worth the risk for me, so far all my cancelled flights have been on return trips and I'm retired so usually not a big deal if I'm delayed. 

 

My last cancelled flight resulted in an offer of a fully paid 6-day vacation in Capetown, the same offer given to others on the same flight, regardless of whether or not they booked directly through the airline.  Maybe others who checked in earlier got better service, I really don't know.  I wasn't in a position to contact the airline until several hours after the cancellation was announced. My biggest issue with the airline is that they just re-booked people on the same flight, 6 days later- a simple Google search helped me find a flight the next day, on the same airline, after they kept insisting nothing else was available. Per the invoice, NCL paid $1800 for my airfare.  I paid $599.

And I'm using the $200 voucher to fly to Alaska later this summer.

I'm glad things worked well for you.

I spent many years flying around the country and overseas.  I assume, based on experience, that things will go wrong.  

[complawyer]

i'm a major adherent to murphy's law!

[Liljo22]

4 hours ago, pete_coach said:

If you booked your flights with the airline, the airline has responsibilities to get you to the destination next available flight.

There are federal laws.

If you book thorough one agency (NCL) that passes you on to another (travel agency booking your flights) that books the flight you become the 3 or 4th party. Airlines will take care of their customers first.

But this is completely different than what you said before,  if you booked directly through the airline and your flight gets delayed or cancelled causing you to miss your cruise, you won’t get compensation either. 

[julig22]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

I'm glad things worked well for you.

I spent many years flying around the country and overseas.  I assume, based on experience, that things will go wrong.  

Let me rephrase -  I'm not surprised when things go wrong.  But as far as flights, who booked the flight hasn't ever been a factor for me anyway.  In fact, flights I've booked on my own have often been more problematic, as far as delays, than the ones booked by NCL. 

But I will also admit that I've done enough travelling at this point to know what to do when things don't go as planned - I'm extremely resourceful and flexible, so that helps.  And can be quite assertive if need be - hey, old age has its privileges!

[pete_coach]

9 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

But this is completely different than what you said before,  if you booked directly through the airline and your flight gets delayed or cancelled causing you to miss your cruise, you won’t get compensation either. 

Yes, by law you will get compensated, but not the cost of the cruise only by whatever the law states.

My point was, if booked through the airline you are priority over those booking 2nd and 3rd party.

[cruiseny4life]

58 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Yes, by law you will get compensated, but not the cost of the cruise only by whatever the law states.

My point was, if booked through the airline you are priority over those booking 2nd and 3rd party.

Interesting. Our NCL BOGO Air flight home from Fort Lauderdale was canceled about four hours before the flight was scheduled to leave. We immediately received a text message, with options:

 

1. Delta would rebook us automatically.

2. We could call Delta to rebook.

3. We could use the app to find a new flight and rebook.

 

Option #1 happened about 15 minutes after the text message alerting us to the cancellation occurred. We did not like that flight as we were originally scheduled to land at our home airport around 3:30 PM and the Delta selected flight had us getting home at nearly midnight. My husband opened the app, took a look at some flights and instantly rebooked us on a flight that would have us arriving in Syracuse (home airport) at 4:30. We took it...quickly! No extra fees. No scramble. It was booked half an hour after the original text telling us our flight was canceled. 

 

Did it take some work on our end? Yep! Just like it would if we had booked the flight ourselves. I've been there. A lot. I used to fly twice a month for work (not nearly as much as other air warriors, but enough to know). And, on many occasions, I've had to rent a car and drive home from DC or Newark, because the airline that I booked direct didn't offer any suitable alternatives. 

 

Unless you have credible evidence of the airline prioritizing those that book direct, I believe you really need to stop espousing such misinformation. If you do have actual evidence, please, please, please share as I want to be as accurate as possible in my postings.  

[pete_coach]

7 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Interesting. Our NCL BOGO Air flight home from Fort Lauderdale was canceled about four hours before the flight was scheduled to leave. We immediately received a text message, with options:

 

1. Delta would rebook us automatically.

2. We could call Delta to rebook.

3. We could use the app to find a new flight and rebook.

 

Option #1 happened about 15 minutes after the text message alerting us to the cancellation occurred. We did not like that flight as we were originally scheduled to land at our home airport around 3:30 PM and the Delta selected flight had us getting home at nearly midnight. My husband opened the app, took a look at some flights and instantly rebooked us on a flight that would have us arriving in Syracuse (home airport) at 4:30. We took it...quickly! No extra fees. No scramble. It was booked half an hour after the original text telling us our flight was canceled. 

 

Did it take some work on our end? Yep! Just like it would if we had booked the flight ourselves. I've been there. A lot. I used to fly twice a month for work (not nearly as much as other air warriors, but enough to know). And, on many occasions, I've had to rent a car and drive home from DC or Newark, because the airline that I booked direct didn't offer any suitable alternatives. 

 

Unless you have credible evidence of the airline prioritizing those that book direct, I believe you really need to stop espousing such misinformation. If you do have actual evidence, please, please, please share as I want to be as accurate as possible in my postings.  

That was Delta notifying you, as they should. Not NCL.

There are laws for passenger compensation. I said "Yes, by law you will get compensated, but not the cost of the cruise only by whatever the law states. " I believe the topic was flight issues prior to boarding. After the cruise is not problematic for us, the holiday is over and I can wait to get back.

Look, I am  not going to argue or play games with you.

As I said, there have been many bad experiences with cruise line fight bookings reported on Cruise Critic (not just the NCL forum).

Glad it worked out for you.

Edited May 2, 2023 by pete_coach

[hallux]

6 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

There are laws for passenger compensation. I said "Yes, by law you will get compensated, but not the cost of the cruise only by whatever the law states. "

I don't think this was the part @cruiseny4life was directing their comment at, it was probably this part - 

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

My point was, if booked through the airline you are priority over those booking 2nd and 3rd party.

 

And it seems that Delta treated them as they would have every other passenger booked on that flight, they weren't given lower priority because they didn't book direct with the airline.

[pete_coach]

Just now, hallux said:

I don't think this was the part @cruiseny4life was directing their comment at, it was probably this part - 

 

And it seems that Delta treated them as they would have every other passenger booked on that flight, they weren't given lower priority because they didn't book direct with the airline.

OK

As I said, good for them.

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

My point was, if booked through the airline you are priority over those booking 2nd and 3rd party.

Not true at all.  The airline doesn't care if you booked through them, NCL or Expedia.  

 

Maybe its different in Canada?  

[pete_coach]

5 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

Not true at all.  The airline doesn't care if you booked through them, NCL or Expedia.  

 

Maybe its different in Canada?  

Every country has slight differences.

To all those booking through NCL or other cruise lines, hope it works out for you.

[DCGuy64]

Also, and FWIW, my wife and I have been bumped or rerouted plenty of times on flights and the price we paid/method of booking had absolutely ZERO to do with it. None. Zilch.

[gracebest]

22 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

My husband and I had an excellent experience using NCL BOGO Airfare. We received our tickets about 60 days prior to our cruise (even the agent I spoke with in the Air Dept. was surprised we received them so far out). Generally speaking, expect to see your tickets, along with itinerary, approximately 30 days prior to your cruise.

 

The tickets provided were booked through Delta. As soon as I received the tickets I was able to add the tickets to my Delta account, book seats and upgrade to first class, if I chose. We didn't upgrade, but did select our seats at no additional charge. We did have to pay the $30 checked luggage fee.

 

Our flight was cancelled, leaving Fort Lauderdale after our cruise. I didn't have to pester NCL. At first, Delta assigned us a new flight, but we were able to select a different flight that got us to our home airport about an hour after the original flight. 

 

The only issue we had was an anomaly on our reservation which we quickly sorted out. When the air department makes changes, sometimes a random fee will be added to your MyNCL account. Be sure to look at your account every day after final payment. If the fee goes unpaid, your cruise will be canceled. In our case, it was a fee that should not have been added, so we were able to have the fee voided. Just be sure to watch carefully. 

 

You're going to hear a lot of bad experiences on NCL BOGO Air. There's a post that @DCGuy64 created with a lot of positive NCL BOGO Air experiences. Read that one as well as the negative ones. You'll learn from all the posts, but take each with a grain of salt (including mine). 

We received ours 58 days in advance and they were the same flights we would have chosen.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

That was Delta notifying you, as they should. Not NCL.

There are laws for passenger compensation. I said "Yes, by law you will get compensated, but not the cost of the cruise only by whatever the law states. " I believe the topic was flight issues prior to boarding. After the cruise is not problematic for us, the holiday is over and I can wait to get back.

Look, I am  not going to argue or play games with you.

As I said, there have been many bad experiences with cruise line fight bookings reported on Cruise Critic (not just the NCL forum).

Glad it worked out for you.

 

1 hour ago, hallux said:

I don't think this was the part @cruiseny4life was directing their comment at, it was probably this part - 

 

And it seems that Delta treated them as they would have every other passenger booked on that flight, they weren't given lower priority because they didn't book direct with the airline.

 

@hallux is correct as to which point I was referring. This is a thread about flights, after all. 

 

I suppose my question will remain unanswered as to any credible information you may have, ergo anything else you have to say seems irrelevant on a factual basis. So, yes, I'm not going to argue with someone that makes claims with no basis in fact. I'd love it if you would prove me wrong. 

[pete_coach]

41 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

And that's because people who are happy/satisfied DON'T BOTHER TO POST ABOUT IT. Seriously? It is a well known fact that people who are happy with a product are far less likely to take the time to post reviews. Ask anybody who knows statistics: naysayers ALWAYS outweigh happy or satisfied customers. Furthermore, it's also well known that the majority of people who cruise don't use or even know about Cruise Critic. So you take an unrepresentative sample of people and extrapolate that to mean things are bad and you don't want to take any chances. Fine, that's up to you, but please don't pretend you're relying on accurate data to do so.

Look, I am taking part in a discussion and making observations. Not claiming any of the posts as fact, just saying they are there. As the old saying goes, don't shoot the messenger.

As you will also know, people on forums of their cruise lines will go to any length to diss anyone that has something negative to say or does not agree with their take. 

The discussion/argument goes both ways. Some love it, some like it, some do not like it. That is what an open forum will show.

Attacking me is senseless. You do not need to prove your superiority. My take and my end to participation here.

Edited May 2, 2023 by pete_coach

[DCGuy64]

36 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

As you will also know, people on forums of their cruise lines will go to any length to diss anyone that has something negative to say or does not agree with their take. 

That is true, and there are some people who make sweeping generalizations based on inaccurate information and then take umbrage when challenged.

 

37 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Attacking me is senseless.

Disagreeing with you isn't attacking. I'm sorry you choose to see it that way. I only disagree with some of your assertions. It's a pity people can't disagree over facts nowadays without it being construed as an attack on the individual.

[SimplyAlbert]

I would continue to check booking airfare on your own.  We had the BOGO fare for our February 2023 cruise, but ended up canceling prior to final payment when I found I could book my own airfare for approximately the same cost.

 

In reading threads on this and other forums, it seems that most people are ok with their flights.  While some might not be the most optimal times, the savings were great enough that people just rolled with it.  However, when things go wrong, it seems like they go very wrong.  I tend to be in the camp of I book my own airfare, but if the savings were substantial, I would try NCL air and make sure I did a two day deviation to and from, just to be on the safe side.

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

Not claiming any of the posts as fact, just saying they are there

 

well, you've stated as fact more than once that the airline compensates for canceled flights. and that is a very narrow interpretation and not exactly factual. it often depends on which country the flight departs from. the department of transportation is the US does not mandate that passengers be compensated for delays or cancellations under most circumstances. compensation kicks in only when a passenger has been "bumped," that is to say, when the airline overbooks the flight and is unable to accommodate you on that flight.

 

the law in canada is very different indeed and does require compensation for flights canceled less than 14 days before the departure date, but also takes into the account the size of the airline and the length of the delay and whether it was a controllable or uncontrollable cancellation. there is also a provision for overnight accommodations and supplying food and beverages and access to communication services.

 

some US airlines will voluntarily compensate distressed travelers with meals or lounge access or other complimentary services, particularly if they are elite members of the airline's frequent flyer program. and that status often influences how quickly and beneficially they will provide special services or rebook you. but how you paid for your ticket or where you purchased it or where you live has no bearing on the airline's obligation to get you to your destination or their willingness to rebook you.

 

and, generally speaking, at least for flights departing from the US, no compensation will be provided.

[julig22]

4 hours ago, hallux said:

And it seems that Delta treated them as they would have every other passenger booked on that flight, they weren't given lower priority because they didn't book direct with the airline.

My exact same experience.  Once with United (in Buenos Aires), once with Iceland Air (in Stockholm). 

Both offered transportation and hotel accommodations, meals included. Both automatically rebooked my flight and allowed me to later change the flight.  And United gave me a $200 credit.

And per the instructions given with NCL flight information, the AIRLINE owns the reservation 72 hours prior to flight time.  NCL would have no reason to call, nor would NCL have information about the cancellation. 

[RocketMan275]

5 hours ago, hallux said:

And it seems that Delta treated them as they would have every other passenger booked on that flight, they weren't given lower priority because they didn't book direct with the airline.

You're confusing treatment with the priority.   Higher priority passengers may well have received better flights? 

[RocketMan275]

5 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Not true at all.  The airline doesn't care if you booked through them, NCL or Expedia.  

 

Maybe its different in Canada?  

 

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Also, and FWIW, my wife and I have been bumped or rerouted plenty of times on flights and the price we paid/method of booking had absolutely ZERO to do with it. None. Zilch.

 

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

 

@hallux is correct as to which point I was referring. This is a thread about flights, after all. 

 

I suppose my question will remain unanswered as to any credible information you may have, ergo anything else you have to say seems irrelevant on a factual basis. So, yes, I'm not going to argue with someone that makes claims with no basis in fact. I'd love it if you would prove me wrong. 

Yes, the airlines do prioritize passengers and higher paying fares get better treatment.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/avoid-getting-bumped-by-airline/

 

 

 

[Liljo22]

3 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

 

 

Yes, the airlines do prioritize passengers and higher paying fares get better treatment.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/avoid-getting-bumped-by-airline/

 

 

 

The person in the article was bumped because they waited until getting to the airport to check in not because they purchased their tickets through a 3rd party.  The points guy is a terrible website for advice.  The cruise advice they give is laughable at best and negligent at worst.   

[RocketMan275]

1 minute ago, Liljo22 said:

The person in the article was bumped because they waited until getting to the airport to check in not because they purchased their tickets through a 3rd party.  The points guy is a terrible website for advice.  The cruise advice they give is laughable at best and negligent at worst.   

The point was, the airlines do prioritize passengers.