Heathrow to San Juan Direct Flights?

[FlyerTalker]

36 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

Emirates has the right idea.  Last year, we went to the Maldives and on our return we had a 10 hour layover in Dubai.  We got picked up, taken to a hotel, provided meals and returned to the airport for the long, butt numbing flight from Dubai to Seattle.  That was probably the easiest long haul flight I have ever had.

 

Similar situation with Turkish at IST, where they will provide hotels and/or tours.

[amelia3171]

Another option perhaps is to book your own flights independently of Viking. 

 

We have only done it on cruises departing from Europe, the UK booking discount for not taking Viking air is modest, but better than nothing, and for us being in control is what is important. 

[KBs mum]

19 minutes ago, amelia3171 said:

Another option perhaps is to book your own flights independently of Viking. 

 

We have only done it on cruises departing from Europe, the UK booking discount for not taking Viking air is modest, but better than nothing, and for us being in control is what is important. 

Booking through a good agent gets you the discount and cheaper flights than booking direct with the airline. 

We got BA first and a 5* hotel in Washington DC for less than business and a 4* hotel booked via BA. 

 

Viking don't have much buying power, the UK top agencies do (not the budget package holiday lot) 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by KBs mum

[madmedic]

10 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Booking through a good agent gets you the discount and cheaper flights than booking direct with the airline. 

We got BA first and a 5* hotel in Washington DC for less than business and a 4* hotel booked via BA. 

 

Viking don't have much buying power, the UK top agencies do (not the budget package holiday lot) 

 

 

I will look into booking with an agent and see if they can get direct flights. If only Viking would sail from somewhere else for the Carribbean. 

[seaview7]

We went to San Juan with Viking in 2019 from Scotland.They routed us from Edinburgh to Heathrow,BA.Then London to Madrid ,Iberia and then Madrid to San Juan- all on same day. We were a bit tired when we boarded about 11pm local time! On our return we went from San Juan to Philadelphia.American Airlines ,then overnight back to London and finally to Edinburgh with BA.

We found these arrangements ok.

[Meander Ingwa]

Agree. I flew Emerates Seattle to Johannesburg then onward to George SA.  35 hours door to door.  Emerates knows how to make a long haul endurable.

 

Right now sitting in Detroit on way to Columbus Ohio.  I always grumble that I can get to LHR faster , from Seattle , than anyplace in the US, east of the Mississippi river.

 

I think the LHR to Madrid then non stop is a wonderful choice

 

[Jim Avery]

As long as we are going with thread drift it is hard to beat PHX/LHR direct on British Airways.  Have made this both ways several times and it's been as good as it gets these days.  Now back to SJU.  We have no direct flights either.  Our past way to go is bite the bullet, fly Southwest direct PHX to TPA, spend the night at the airport hotel just steps from the gates then take the early flight direct to SJU.  Worked well till Southwest abandoned us in SJU this past december after a very nice Viking cruise.  A long miserable expensive story of us getting home and never again Southwest.  Easier by far for us to get to England than to San Juan.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Jim Avery

[PasadenaDave]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

As long as we are going with thread drift it is hard to beat PHX/LHR direct on British Airways.  Have made this both ways several times and it's been as good as it gets these days.  Now back to SJU.  We have no direct flights either.  Our past way to go is bite the bullet, fly Southwest direct PHX to TPA, spend the night at the airport hotel just steps from the gates then take the early flight direct to SJU.  Worked well till Southwest abandoned us in SJU this past december after a very nice Viking cruise.  A long miserable expensive story of us getting home and never again Southwest.  Easier by far for us to get to England than to San Juan.

Jim,

I remember your Southwest horror story.  I'm a big Southwest fan, but only when flying up and down the west coast and east to Denver.  Flying out of Burbank is very easy and a one day trip to Sacramento or Oakland is a dream.  But I would not do Southwest long distance to the east coast.

[AZ_Tim]

On 7/26/2023 at 10:51 AM, madmedic said:

That's what I feared. If that's the case I will have to think of a plan b. 

Plan B could be booking your own flights. This way you would have a better chance of getting flights that you find suitable. You would have a little more control over where you connect, flight and connection times, etc.

It does seem like San Juan is one of those locations that has less desirable flight options currently than in the past.

[madmedic]

2 minutes ago, AZ_Tim said:

Plan B could be booking your own flights. This way you would have a better chance of getting flights that you find suitable. You would have a little more control over where you connect, flight and connection times, etc.

It does seem like San Juan is one of those locations that has less desirable flight options currently than in the past.

I'm afraid as my health is comprised now I can not contemplate an indirect long haul. So unless Viking change the embarkation and debarkation from San Juan we will not be considering it. Even if I book my own flight there is no non stop from the UK. 😞

[downsmead]

59 minutes ago, AZ_Tim said:

Plan B could be booking your own flights. This way you would have a better chance of getting flights that you find suitable. You would have a little more control over where you connect, flight and connection times, etc.

It does seem like San Juan is one of those locations that has less desirable flight options currently than in the past.

Even booking your own flights does not guarantee plain sailing (or flying in this case). We have booked flights ourselves for San Juan using BA, but unfortunately the BA flight out was hit with a flood from the upper deck which could not be repaired. By the time they got another aircraft, we were so delayed we missed our connection in Miami. Give BA their due, when we got to Miami they bussed us to Fort Lauderdale to catch a flight to San Juan, as that one left a lot earlier than the one from Miami. We arrived in  San Juan at 4 am instead of 10pm the day before - luckily still with time to spare for our 1pm ship boarding. 

[millybess]

5 hours ago, madmedic said:

I'm afraid as my health is comprised now I can not contemplate an indirect long haul. So unless Viking change the embarkation and debarkation from San Juan we will not be considering it. Even if I book my own flight there is no non stop from the UK. 😞

Personally, I wouldn't want to fly nonstop from Heathrow to San Juan.  I would want to make it more interesting with a stop in Madrid for a day or two.  It would add something to an already very nice holiday.🙂

[photopro2]

On 7/29/2023 at 6:57 PM, madmedic said:

I'm afraid as my health is comprised now I can not contemplate an indirect long haul

Sorry to hear that. It is a reminder that we are all likely to come to a point when our horizons are limited by health issues. Fortunately there are many excellent European itineraries on Viking, requiring only short direct flights from the UK, still to be enjoyed. 

 

Thanks for starting the thread though, hopefully it will have helped others discover that there are alternatives to a San Juan embarkation that don't involve a rushed transit through a US Airport and a very late arrival at the ship.

[madmedic]

5 hours ago, photopro2 said:

Sorry to hear that. It is a reminder that we are all likely to come to a point when our horizons are limited by health issues. Fortunately there are many excellent European itineraries on Viking, requiring only short direct flights from the UK, still to be enjoyed. 

 

Thanks for starting the thread though, hopefully it will have helped others discover that there are alternatives to a San Juan embarkation that don't involve a rushed transit through a US Airport and a very late arrival at the ship.

Finally settled on Empires of the Mediterranean for DHs milestone birthday early October next year. Really looking forward to our first Viking cruise now there's no need to worry about long haul flights.

[millybess]

3 minutes ago, madmedic said:

Finally settled on Empires of the Mediterranean for DHs milestone birthday early October next year. Really looking forward to our first Viking cruise now there's no need to worry about long haul flights.

We did the Empires of the Mediterranean as part of our cruise in May/June.  You will no doubt love it.  Good choice!