Wanting to upgrade our seats on flight, booked through cruise line themself

[tpnladybug]

I am trying to understand the process when you book your cruise, airfare & transfers through Carnival Cruise Line instead of a travel agent.  Our final payment was not due in April I made the final payment on January 30th.  Received my receipt paid in full.  We have decided we want to upgrade our seats on Delta and return flight American Airlines.  I contacted both and they are saying they see our confirmation but the tickets have not been paid for so I can not upgrade until the tickets are paid for.  My question - when does Carnival Cruise Line pay for the airline tickets they book?  I spoke with "customer service" at Carnival 3 different times and they are giving me the run around.  Any suggestions on how to get our seats upgraded on Delta & American?

[UGACamper]

Following this topic

[BlerkOne]

On other cruise lines it would be to request early ticketing. Once ticketed, you lose the flexibility part. Not sure how you get Carnival to do that. There isn't a Fly2Fun department number you can call.

[tpnladybug]

Thanks, BlerkOne for your comment.  Yes, the Fly2Fun department is who I called for help (3 times) but have been unsuccessful in getting an answer as to when Carnival will pay for the flight tickets that already have a confirmation number.  From what I understand, I have to contact the Airlines to upgrade my seats, not Carnival.  Am I being told incorrectly?

[Riemercruisin]

Carnival pays for the flights 60 days out.

[tpnladybug]

Thank you Riemercruisin.  That is all I wanted Carnival to do, is let me know the time frame.

[csm5986142]

3 hours ago, tpnladybug said:

Any suggestions on how to get our seats upgraded on Delta & American?

 

Sorry, no suggestions, but would you please come back and let us know how it goes?  I considered using Fly to Fun for Europe but ultimately decided I'm too much of a control freak when it comes to flights (but I'd love to know for future).

[tpnladybug]

Absolutely csm5986142.  I will keep you posted.

[Saint Greg]

I think if you read the "flight" section of this it may help you.

 

 

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/venezia-transatlantic-planning/

 

 

[tpnladybug]

Thank you Saint Greg. That post was very interesting and informative.

[nwcruiselover]

I know Carnival advertises that they ticket the Fly2Fun reservations 60 days prior to the cruise.  I have used Fly2Fun only once, and I had a problem with the ticketing.  Although they said 60 days, my tickets were eventually paid for 3 weeks before the cruise.  Meanwhile, I called them multiple times because and everyone told me to check back in 48-72 hours.  This was for my return from Europe after a transatlantic cruise, and I literally didn’t know for certain that I had a flight and a seat until 3 weeks before I left.  Not a good feeling.

[TravelE]

You have to nag Fly2Fun to actually "ticket" your trip. I was able to have Carnival Customer Car connect me toa Fly2Fun agent who did it over the phone once I told her that I wanted to upgrade and not having the actual "ticket" was holding up that process.

 

 

[tpnladybug]

Thank you TravelE, I will try that approach (call #4).  I will let everyone know how it turns out. 🤞🤞🤞

[Mike45LC]

When I booked my cruise, I knew that I wanted to upgrade the flight.  My Vacation Cruise Planner (or whatever she is called) did NOT book the flights for me, telling me to book directly with the airline.

 

I hope it works out for the OP!

[ninjacat123]

Our tickets to Rome last October were in our American Airlines app right after booking Fly2Fun and we were later offered to upgrade on a couple legs of our flights from AA which we took advantage of .  Everything went well with our flights.  I'm interested with what transpires with your Fly2Fun flights since I'm planning on booking our flights again through Carnival for our next Europe cruise in 2025.  Wishing you the best!