New air program?

[julig22]

Anyone gotten notice about a new airfare program?

 

According to what I saw on another site, it's an "opportunity to change from your current promotional air program to a new air program, giving you the ability to select and customize flights for you and everyone on your reservation for your upcoming cruise"

I had heard rumors that they might be doing something similar - and different from Premium Air -  although it's also possible that it's by invitation only for selected itineraries, based on the wording of the offer. The specified cruise is about 2 weeks away from final payment.

 

And yes, I know that many would never use NCL airfare, no need to comment how terrible you think it is.  It works for me.

[schmoopie17]

Maybe they drop the BOGO and replace it with the ability to make flight choices?

[rodndonna]

15 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Maybe they drop the BOGO and replace it with the ability to make flight choices?

 

That's what I would think. Maybe dropping the BOGO program and go with something similar to HAL, Princess, Celebrity etc. 

 

 

 

[RocketMan275]

39 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Anyone gotten notice about a new airfare program?

 

According to what I saw on another site, it's an "opportunity to change from your current promotional air program to a new air program, giving you the ability to select and customize flights for you and everyone on your reservation for your upcoming cruise"

I had heard rumors that they might be doing something similar - and different from Premium Air -  although it's also possible that it's by invitation only for selected itineraries, based on the wording of the offer. The specified cruise is about 2 weeks away from final payment.

 

And yes, I know that many would never use NCL airfare, no need to comment how terrible you think it is.  It works for me.

Many of us would not  use NCL air as it's presently structure.  If it was structured similar to HAL, etc., I would reconsider.  In fact, I used HAL's air program.  It allowed me to choose my class of service and specific flights.  I was able to change my choices multiple times to take advangtage of price drops.  I could choose my seats as soon as I picked flights.  Now if NCL implements a similar program, I would consider using NCL.  Obviouly, the cheapest possible flights are not my objective.

Edited November 13, 2023 by RocketMan275

[julig22]

34 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

That's what I would think. Maybe dropping the BOGO program and go with something similar to HAL, Princess, Celebrity etc. 

 

 

 

Do they discount the airfare?  You can always book airfare through NCL and choose your flights, etc. But you pay prevailing rates. It's called Premium Air.

[n4w]

2 hours ago, julig22 said:

Anyone gotten notice about a new airfare program?

 

According to what I saw on another site, it's an "opportunity to change from your current promotional air program to a new air program, giving you the ability to select and customize flights for you and everyone on your reservation for your upcoming cruise"

I had heard rumors that they might be doing something similar - and different from Premium Air -  although it's also possible that it's by invitation only for selected itineraries, based on the wording of the offer. The specified cruise is about 2 weeks away from final payment.

 

And yes, I know that many would never use NCL airfare, no need to comment how terrible you think it is.  It works for me.

I received the email today, 10 days from final payment.  It uses the same language you quoted, not much else except if interested and want to learn more, must schedule a call with them.  It does add "Hurry, this opportunity is available for a limited time!" I'm sure like all of them.

[rodndonna]

12 hours ago, julig22 said:

Do they discount the airfare?  You can always book airfare through NCL and choose your flights, etc. But you pay prevailing rates. It's called Premium Air.

 

They say "competitive rates", so sometimes you can do better. I have read you can't beat the business class fares to Europe but we're lowly Econo folks.

 

One benefit to the program are you can book as a "fixed" fare or a "flex" fare (typically a little more than fixed) which you then can continually change or cancel up to final payment. 

 

For us, the flex option is nice. We book, and often rebook as prices and sales come up. Come final payment. if we find a better deal outside, we have canceled and booked independent.

 

The other benefit to the programs is they will handle and pay for alternative flights to get you to the next port in case of a missed cruise. We like this option when we fly in "day of"  but have never had to test it.

 

Like BOGO, folks have a love/hate relationship with the air programs and differing experiences.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

Some of the people we are cruising with in March got this email and they did speak with a representative.  Basically, they would allow you to have more choice of when you would fly but the catch was they would have lost the BOGO and would have had to pay for that second passenger's flight.

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

Some of the people we are cruising with in March got this email and they did speak with a representative.  Basically, they would allow you to have more choice of when you would fly but the catch was they would have lost the BOGO and would have had to pay for that second passenger's flight.

Just as I surmised in post #2, above. Contrary to popular belief, maybe I'm smarter than I appear. 

[rodndonna]

16 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Many of us would not  use NCL air as it's presently structure.  If it was structured similar to HAL, etc., I would reconsider.  In fact, I used HAL's air program.  It allowed me to choose my class of service and specific flights.  I was able to change my choices multiple times to take advangtage of price drops.  I could choose my seats as soon as I picked flights.  Now if NCL implements a similar program, I would consider using NCL.  Obviouly, the cheapest possible flights are not my objective.

 

I have used HAL (and Princess and Celebrity) as well, but NCL BOGO only once for an upcoming cruise.

 

In my limited experience with NCL BOGO - the price we paid was in reality what ended up being the lowest sale fare we could have gotten on our own, so arguable if there was a cost savings or not. It was a nice advantage that we could lock in that bottom price airfare more than a year in advance as predicting airfare that far in advance is difficult. The disadvantage with NCL BOGO was of the two obvious airlines we could have had with a good direct flight with - we got the wrong one (for us) and will have to now pay baggage fees. The only other option was the airline we have free baggage on. 😐

 

Overall, I think I agree with you though, and would prefer to see NCL switch to an air program that is similar to HAL/Princess/Celebrity programs. 

[vacation44]

With the air programs on the other cruise lines, how far in advance can you add the air and pick your flights?

[rodndonna]

19 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

With the air programs on the other cruise lines, how far in advance can you add the air and pick your flights?

 

something like 300 or 330 days. Basically when the airlines open the window to book.

 

 

[vacation44]

Just now, rodndonna said:

 

something like 300 or 330 days. Basically when the airlines open the window to book.

 

 

Thank you.  That is usually when we buy our air.   

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, vacation44 said:

Thank you.  That is usually when we buy our air.   

Many travel blogs sugget the optimal time to buy is six to seven months out to get the cheapest prices.

[julig22]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Just as I surmised in post #2, above. Contrary to popular belief, maybe I'm smarter than I appear. 

You do realize that you always have the option to drop the BOGO and choose your flights? It's called Premium Air.

So the question remains what is "New" about this offer? Pay for the 2nd person isn't overly descriptive without knowing at what cost.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

4 minutes ago, julig22 said:

You do realize that you always have the option to drop the BOGO and choose your flights? It's called Premium Air.

So the question remains what is "New" about this offer? Pay for the 2nd person isn't overly descriptive without knowing at what cost.

I think what is new is that they are reaching out to people who have booked the BOGO offer and setting up times to meet with an agent.  I cannot say for sure whether they are trying to get people to switch from BOGO to Premium air though.  What I do know is that not everyone had been reached out to, just some of the people from the party.

[julig22]

1 minute ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

I think what is new is that they are reaching out to people who have booked the BOGO offer and setting up times to meet with an agent.  I cannot say for sure whether they are trying to get people to switch from BOGO to Premium air though.  What I do know is that not everyone had been reached out to, just some of the people from the party.

 

 I have BOGO airfare on 2 cabins for a cruise that is 2 weeks later than a cruise where I know people have gotten the "new offer" so guess we'll see what, if anything, happens in a couple of weeks. 1 cabin is solo, the other is double occupancy. The solo cabin was booked 2 years in advance so the airfare is considerably cheaper than the airfare for the 2nd cabin that was booked much later.

On the other hand, I'll probably not use the BOGO anyway because I'm tentatively planning to go more than 2 days earlier, just waiting for others to make a commitment to when we're going!