Airfare OMG

[pappy1022]

The commercial airfare looks like it is costing more than the cruise itself especially if you want to fly business class and even premium economy is getting up there. And on top of that, the scheduled layovers are lengthy from Texas especially on the return flights. Does anyone have any tricks or ideas on how to make the airfare more affordable? Does the cruise line offer any better deals for airfare? 

[Leejnd4]

58 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

The commercial airfare looks like it is costing more than the cruise itself especially if you want to fly business class and even premium economy is getting up there. And on top of that, the scheduled layovers are lengthy from Texas especially on the return flights. Does anyone have any tricks or ideas on how to make the airfare more affordable? Does the cruise line offer any better deals for airfare? 

In my nearly 40 years of cruising, I have never personally seen a situation in which airfare purchased through the cruise line is less expensive than that which I can purchase myself. Even when a cruise was marketed as “inclusive” of air, I was always able to request the cruise fare without air, and the cost reduction was more than what I paid for air. 
 

Further, when you buy air through the cruise line you are limited to the air schedule they want to book for you, unless you want to pay extra for a flight “deviation” which makes it cost even more. In my experience, cruise lines often want to fly you in very close to embarkation, which makes me nervous as hell. I would never want to risk missing my cruise due to a delayed flight.
 

(Note that I’m not saying that air fare is ALWAYS cheaper on your own…only that it’s always been for every cruise I’ve ever priced out. Maybe there are some exceptions, but I’ve never personally seen it.)
 

But to answer your question: yep, the cost for air travel has definitely skyrocketed. Travel and tourism has exploded since the pandemic officially ended…many travel experts are referring to it as “revenge travel”. And the airlines are taking full advantage of this. 

[cruisingsfun]

If you have AA miles., you can use them to fly ATN from LA. 

[patrickmoran]

Try looking at airfares from lax, sfo and sea. It's usually cheap to get there and fly out the next day. 

Edited October 7, 2023 by patrickmoran

[pappy1022]

Thanks. I will look into that.

[WaggesAZ]

We are cruising next August.  I had been watching flights for quite awhile.  Our cruise is still more expensive than what we paid for airfare. However, that isn't any solace for me, ha!  When I looked at flying to LAX and SFO separately, the cost to include PHX in the flight usually ended up a little less, for some reason.  

I was very grateful that we had Chase Sapphire points and I used everyone one of them so we didn't have to "pay" the fares.  I wanted to be sure we had lie flat seats traveling home since the flights were overnight.  I was on the fence about that for our flight there.  I booked the lie down seats first, which would have cost us $6,434.10 through Air Tahiti Nui and then looked at our remaining balance and I actually booked Premium Plus on United for $3,495.40.  

I thought the flights were expensive, but I didn't want for us to be uncomfortable on the 8 hour flights, especially overnight.  I am short (5'2") but my husband is taller (6'1").  I was happy to find a flight that we flew out early to SFO and then arrived in PPT at 7pm, so not having a lie down seat was not as imperative.  We're flying home through LAX and have Global Entry, so I am hoping for an easy return.  

I hope you work it out easily and as pain free as possible!!

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Historically Air France has been the lowest price for business  ... but it is always expensive. I never fly business so it isn't an issue for us. If we can afford economy plus it is a good day ... Next cruise coming up shortly we paid $679 R/T economy on united out of SFO  ... cheap cattle call.

[sparks247]

On 10/6/2023 at 4:25 PM, pappy1022 said:

The commercial airfare looks like it is costing more than the cruise itself especially if you want to fly business class and even premium economy is getting up there. 

Have used French Bee (French discount airline) from SFO to PPT, they fly 2 to 3 times a week from Paris to PPT with stop-over in SFO. No business class, do have premium economy at a "premium" (2K+). Fly any airline from AUS to SFO and you have better control over the length of the trip. FB departs from SFO to PPT around midnight.