NCL booked a flight that won't work for us

[Tree in the driveway]

From Portland to Seattle, we bought the 2 for one flight package.  It's a short flight, and there are several each day.  Going up is fine, around noon.  Flight back is not until around 9pm.  This will not work for us. I asked an NCL customer service representative if we could get an earlier flight home, and was told no.  So booked an earlier flight directly with a carrier. My question is: Do I need to inform somebody on the ship about this so we can disembark timely and get the right luggage tags?     

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Tree in the driveway said:

From Portland to Seattle, we bought the 2 for one flight package.  It's a short flight, and there are several each day.  Going up is fine, around noon.  Flight back is not until around 9pm.  This will not work for us. I asked an NCL customer service representative if we could get an earlier flight home, and was told no.  So booked an earlier flight directly with a carrier. My question is: Do I need to inform somebody on the ship about this so we can disembark timely and get the right luggage tags?     

Can you ask  NCL to cancel the return flight ?

 

I do not think those on the ship have your flight details  you  usually tell them  when you need to be off

[megr1125]

You get what you get with NCL air unless you pay for their premium service so you're stuck.

That said, NCL has freestyle debarkation.  Just pick the luggage tags that correspond to the time you need and be done with it.  No one will care on the ship.

[6rugrats]

I don’t know your travel dates, but round-trip fare for PDX-SEA averages about $113 per person from the end of August onward and most of the time stays under $200 even on dates it goes up.   Is it such a better deal to book through NCL?

Edited August 4, 2023 by 6rugrats

[FlyerTalker]

Get a two for one, but end up not using half of it.  Then buy that other half on my own.

 

I didn't understand that either.

 

 

[hallux]

Yup, that's the risk you take with the BOGO airfare, and it's WELL documented on the NCL forum section...

 

For such a short trip to the embarkation port I would personally just drive.  When you consider total travel time it's almost the same.

 

[6rugrats]

On 8/4/2023 at 6:17 PM, hallux said:

 

 

For such a short trip to the embarkation port I would personally just drive.  When you consider total travel time it's almost the same.

 

Having made that drive many times, I totally agree.  Would be faster to drive.

[ilovesalchows]

If it is on Alaska Air, usually when you check in for the flight there is an option to grab an earlier flight for a fee.  Not sure what it is now, but it was $25 per person last time I did it.

[em-sk]

Seattle to Portland I would just take the train.  

 

The train is going to take 3 hours but you avoid traveling from downtown Seattle to the airport, the lineups and security.   I don't think you save much of any time flying.

 

[Zach1213]

17 hours ago, ilovesalchows said:

If it is on Alaska Air, usually when you check in for the flight there is an option to grab an earlier flight for a fee.  Not sure what it is now, but it was $25 per person last time I did it.

 

When I tried last week it was $50, if there was a seat available. So for example I had an evening flight out of SEA and wanted to bump up to the afternoon flight, but the only option was the morning flight that didn't work for me. 

[FlyerTalker]

From the AS website:

 

How much does it cost to make a same day confirmed flight change?

 

If traveling on our shuttle flights (flights between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Seattle and Portland, Seattle and Spokane) and on flights entirely within California, same day confirmed changes cost $25. For all other flights, same day confirmed changes cost $50.

 

Am I eligible to make a same day confirmed flight change?

 

To qualify for a same day confirmed change:

• You must be holding confirmed reservations and tickets for flights operated by Alaska Airlines.
• You must request the change prior to the departure of your original flight.
• You must keep the same origin, destination, thru, and connection cities. Co-terminal changes are not allowed via self–service. Contact reservations for additional flight change options.
• Your new desired flight must depart on the same calendar day as your originally scheduled flight.

If the flight changes you'd like to make don't meet the qualifications above, normal change fees and restrictions will apply. You may change your reservation online, or call our Alaska Airlines reservations team for help in making changes to your ticket.

 

Are there exceptions?

 

There are a few exceptions to this policy.

• Guests traveling on a Saver fare are not eligible for same day confirmed changes.
• The same day confirmed change fee is waived for customers booked in J (First), and Y (Coach) classes of service.
• The same day confirmed change fee is waived for MVP® Gold, MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K Mileage Plan™ members and American AAdvantage® ConciergeKey, Executive Platinum, and Platinum Pro members. The fee is also waived for those traveling in the same reservation.

 

 

 

So Zach....why didn't they offer to waive the fee for you as an AA elite?

 

 

[Zach1213]

52 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

So Zach....why didn't they offer to waive the fee for you as an AA elite?

 

That's a good question, and I didn't think about it because I saw the only option was a flight that didn't work for my schedule and closed out of the website. But it was telling me $50. Maybe if I clicked on it and advanced to the next page it would have kicked it down to $0 but I didn't get that far. I've never actually done a same-day change at AS (and still haven't) so it was all new to me haha. 

[Tree in the driveway]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.  Usually I do drive up to Seattle the day before and stay at the Marriot across the street from Pier 66.  This time,  thought it might be fun to fly instead. Seattle has a Valet service for luggage from the ship so we would not need to drag a suitcase with us, and supposedly it would arrive at PDX when we do. The flight NCL booked for us is not the one we will be on. Maybe I need to communicate with the Valet service. Maybe I just need to find something else to worry about.     

[FlyerTalker]

12 minutes ago, Tree in the driveway said:

Seattle has a Valet service for luggage from the ship so we would not need to drag a suitcase with us, and supposedly it would arrive at PDX when we do. The flight NCL booked for us is not the one we will be on. Maybe I need to communicate with the Valet service.

 

Why would the "valet service" have anything to do with an airline ticket on Alaska, bought through NCL?

 

They are merely a contractor for luggage.

 

 

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, Tree in the driveway said:

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.  Usually I do drive up to Seattle the day before and stay at the Marriot across the street from Pier 66.  This time,  thought it might be fun to fly instead. Seattle has a Valet service for luggage from the ship so we would not need to drag a suitcase with us, and supposedly it would arrive at PDX when we do. The flight NCL booked for us is not the one we will be on. Maybe I need to communicate with the Valet service. Maybe I just need to find something else to worry about.     

You probably put your flight details on the tag for the valet service  

 

I am sure the airline will check if you are a pax on the flight before loading your bags  so do not put the flight details of the one you are not taking

[6rugrats]

If you use the luggage valet service in Seattle, I would urge you to have a name tag with you name in very large letters so no one will miss who this bag belongs to.  This summer, I have had over ten mistagged bags arrive where I work for people on Alaska cruises who used a valet service.  I don’t know how this valet service works, but it appears they sometimes don’t pay a lot of attention.  Having your bag sitting in another airport across the county with someone else’s name on it is a pain, and it can take a few days to figure out the correct owner.

I encourage everyone who checks their bags to have identification easily found inside the bag, and throw an AirTag in there.  Also, if you lock your bag, we will not open it, so consider not locking it, or putting this ID in an outside pocket.

Edited August 27, 2023 by 6rugrats

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, 6rugrats said:

If you use the luggage valet service in Seattle, I would urge you to have a name tag with you name in very large letters so no one will miss who this bag belongs to.  This summer, I have had over ten mistagged bags arrive where I work for people on Alaska cruises who used a valet service.

 

I see  a lot of people  disembarking a cruise  & still have their tags  from incoming  flight or cruise line on the bags 

No wonder bags go missing

 

[FlyerTalker]

6 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I see  a lot of people  disembarking a cruise  & still have their tags  from incoming  flight or cruise line on the bags 

No wonder bags go missing

 

ABSOLUTELY!!

 

The old tags come off ASAP, along with the little stickers that also get attached to the bag.  Ditto with the cruise tags, both after boarding and after getting off the ship.

 

Plus, I put one of my own luggage tags onto EACH of the handles on the suitcase.  If one handle comes off (which has happened), I'm not completely out of luck.  And I don't use pompoms or ribbons or other stuff that just gets entangled in the luggage handling equipment.

 

 

[LHT28]

17 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

ABSOLUTELY!!

 

The old tags come off ASAP, along with the little stickers that also get attached to the bag.  Ditto with the cruise tags, both after boarding and after getting off the ship.

 

Plus, I put one of my own luggage tags onto EACH of the handles on the suitcase.  If one handle comes off (which has happened), I'm not completely out of luck.  And I don't use pompoms or ribbons or other stuff that just gets entangled in the luggage handling equipment.

 

 

I also put  our itin & contact info  in a front pocket (if there is one) also on the inside of the case

There is no excuse the  them not contacting us if the bags go astray

 

 Yes those little bar codes  you need to  get them off as well 😃

 

We have had people take our bag by mistake   luckily   one person noticed before they left the cruise terminal & put it back 

[FlyerTalker]

17 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

We have had people take our bag by mistake   luckily   one person noticed before they left the cruise terminal & put it back 

 

https://tagsforbags.com/

 

Hard not to notice if it's yours or not.

 

 

[ericosmith]

I am always amazed by people pulling a bag off the belt and then looking at a name tag to see if it's theirs.  I've found that slapping some colored duct tape a few places on the bag makes it much easier to spot not just in the airport but also in those disembarkation terminals filled with black bags. 

[hallux]

9 hours ago, ericosmith said:

I am always amazed by people pulling a bag off the belt and then looking at a name tag to see if it's theirs.

I have a fairly unique luggage tag, makes it easy to spot the combination of the bag and tag.  I haven't been wrong yet.

[Globaliser]

On 8/27/2023 at 3:36 PM, FlyerTalker said:

https://tagsforbags.com/

 

Hard not to notice if it's yours or not.

 

If you can't positively identify your bag from 50 yards across an airport baggage reclaim hall, or across that of a cruise terminal, you haven't marked it distinctively enough.

 

Ideally, this means that I can plan my walk to the baggage carousel so as to reach it at the exact time that my bag passes that point.

[LHT28]

14 hours ago, ericosmith said:

I am always amazed by people pulling a bag off the belt and then looking at a name tag to see if it's theirs.  I've found that slapping some colored duct tape a few places on the bag makes it much easier to spot not just in the airport but also in those disembarkation terminals filled with black bags. 

Well  we have the red duct tape on pur bag   yet someone took it   at the cruise terminal 😲

 

People just  do not pay attention   "oh there is  a black bag must be mine"

[Tree in the driveway]

As it turns out, the Valet service in Seattle is very well organized.  A form was delivered to our cabin inviting us to use the free service.  I filled in our flight information and returned the form to guest services.  Next day received tag for luggage along with our boarding passes.  Tagged the luggage and set it out as usual.  Picked it up in Portland.  No problem.  Do be sure to keep an eye on the reader board at the airport.  Our gate was changed about an hour before the flight.