Airfare offered through cruiseline

[YYCJim]

Hi everyone, 

 

I purchased our airfare (first time) through our cruise line. I wonder if folks could provide feedback on things like..how ere your connections...did you have long layovers if the flights weren't non-stop. We'll be flying from Calgary to Reykjavik  and the London England back to Calgary.

 

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[mom says]

This is likely a question  you should have asked before you bought your flights. Are your flights direct? Or do you have long layovers on the flights you booked? 

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  You might ask this on the board here for your cruise line.  Folks there might have experience to share about how that line handles it.  There is also a board here called Cruise Air, located under Cruise Discussion Topics.  EM

[YYCJim]

33 minutes ago, mom says said:

This is likely a question  you should have asked before you bought your flights. Are your flights direct? Or do you have long layovers on the flights you booked? 

Unfortunately they will not give you the details when you book, your flight arrangements are only released 45 days before departure. The fact that we saved 2000 plus booking it through the cruise line is worth it. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, YYCJim said:

Hi everyone, 

 

I purchased our airfare (first time) through our cruise line. I wonder if folks could provide feedback on things like..how ere your connections...did you have long layovers if the flights weren't non-stop. We'll be flying from Calgary to Reykjavik  and the London England back to Calgary.

 

Each person's experience is going to be different because the cruiseline is going to put you on the cheapest option they can. So even if someone were flying from YYC to KEF on subsequent days, they may end up on entirely different itineraries via entirely different airlines, cities, and layover times. There's not really any consistency, unfortunately, so each person's experience will differ. One of the drawbacks of putting others in control of your flights is that you have no control of your flights. 

[ontheweb]

We flew Newark to Heathrow and they had us have a layover in Montreal. Our first flight was delayed and the second flight was on time. And the first flight sat at the Montreal airport waiting for a place to park. The second flight was on time, and we had to run to the terminal as the boarding line had already started!

 

The flight back from Reykjavik was non-stop but delayed (not the cruise line's fault.)

[CruiserBruce]

26 minutes ago, YYCJim said:

Unfortunately they will not give you the details when you book, your flight arrangements are only released 45 days before departure. The fact that we saved 2000 plus booking it through the cruise line is worth it. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Unfortunately, that is a misconception many have. If the cruise line puts you on flights with poor connections,  huge layovers or crazy routings, maybe it won't be worth it. That's what you might have learned by researching before you committed. 

 

Believe me, there are many who swear by cruise line airfares, and there are also many who end up with crazy itineraries. As a result,  we chose to book our own fares, thus controlling our destiny. The only time we consider cruise line airfares is for one way international fares. Even in those cases we usually find we can use miles for a reasonable flight.

[navybankerteacher]

There are two ways to do it - the obvious (and stupid) one is to let the cruise line pick your flights, which means that they will look for the cheapest - giving you tight connections and very little advance notice of the details.  The other, which I have used a number of times when booking trans-Atlantic repositionings on HAL, Celebrity and Cunard, permits you to select airline, flight, and even seats.  To get this option you have to pay the cruise fare in full - then you are given a code which lets you book  a very inexpensive one way flight, avoiding the absurdity of sometimes paying more for a one way than a round trip.

 

I do not like paying cruise fare in full so much in advance, but the savings in air fare - and getting the exact flight you want (including seat selection) - makes it definitely worth while.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, YYCJim said:

Unfortunately they will not give you the details when you book, your flight arrangements are only released 45 days before departure. The fact that we saved 2000 plus booking it through the cruise line is worth it. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

We would not buy air and possibly not deal with a cruise line that has such a silly rule.  Agreeing to accept whatever flights the cruise line decides to give is not our way of international travel.  Many lines (i.e. Seabourn, HAL, Cunard, RCI, Celebrity, etc) allow folks to choose their flights.  If you cannot find satisfactory flights you simply book your air elsewhere or book with a different cruise line.

 

The fact that you are saving $2000 + is certainly good incentive to accept, but keep in mind that cruise lines will likely not get you the best flights (or connections).  Unfortunately, NCLH seems to have among the least consumer-friendly air program.  We are soon cruising on Oceania (to Europe) and did not even waste our time with O (also part of the NCLH family) when it came to booking our return flights.  There are times when saving money means you take your chances :).

 

Hank

[capriccio]

As others have noted, each cruise line runs their own program. 

 

With Princess EZ-Air you pick the flights and seats.  Payment is due at final payment. Changes - especially important if the fare has decreased - can be made up to ticket issue at 45 days without charge.  We have never had any issues getting seat upgrades through the airline the same day we make reservations in EZ-Air (economy to economy plus on United due to DH's loyalty status) and we have always been awarded our loyalty miles.  More importantly, considerable savings are realized, especially on overseas flights.

[mjkacmom]

14 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We would not buy air and possibly not deal with a cruise line that has such a silly rule.  Agreeing to accept whatever flights the cruise line decides to give is not our way of international travel.  Many lines (i.e. Seabourn, HAL, Cunard, RCI, Celebrity, etc) allow folks to choose their flights.  If you cannot find satisfactory flights you simply book your air elsewhere or book with a different cruise line.

 

The fact that you are saving $2000 + is certainly good incentive to accept, but keep in mind that cruise lines will likely not get you the best flights (or connections).  Unfortunately, NCLH seems to have among the least consumer-friendly air program.  We are soon cruising on Oceania (to Europe) and did not even waste our time with O (also part of the NCLH family) when it came to booking our return flights.  There are times when saving money means you take your chances :).

 

Hank

NCL had 2 different airfare programs. The buy 1 get 1 has decent fares, but can have crappy flights. If they are delayed or cancelled you are on your own. Premium air is different, but more expensive.

[YYCJim]

16 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Unfortunately, that is a misconception many have. If the cruise line puts you on flights with poor connections,  huge layovers or crazy routings, maybe it won't be worth it. That's what you might have learned by researching before you committed. 

 

Believe me, there are many who swear by cruise line airfares, and there are also many who end up with crazy itineraries. As a result,  we chose to book our own fares, thus controlling our destiny. The only time we consider cruise line airfares is for one way international fares. Even in those cases we usually find we can use miles for a reasonable flight.

Thanks for the feedback, but as I said previously, they won't tell you what the connections are or how long the layovers are until 45 days out (airfare is handled by a 3rd party as per Norwegian)...believe me I asked. At the end of the day i'm not too concerned because we're saving a substantial amount of money.

[lenquixote66]

We booked a flight through a cruise line in 2008.We had a 6 hour layover.The first plane was a jet whereas the second was a 30 seat plane.

[clo]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:29 PM, YYCJim said:

your flight arrangements are only released 45 days before departure.

That's insane. When we travel we're making all manner of plans way before 45 days. And do they say why?

 

On 3/7/2024 at 2:36 PM, Zach1213 said:

 

Each person's experience is going to be different because the cruiseline is going to put you on the cheapest option they can. So even if someone were flying from YYC to KEF on subsequent days, they may end up on entirely different itineraries via entirely different airlines, cities, and layover times. There's not really any consistency, unfortunately, so each person's experience will differ. One of the drawbacks of putting others in control of your flights is that you have no control of your flights. 

And if there's a problem, you can bet the cruise line won't be involved. I'm on a site of a particular escorted land tour company. While one can book air through them it seems fraught with issues/problems. The only time we considered it - and the company gave us the flight info before booking - we were going in totally unacceptable ways. So we said nope and booked our own.

 

[John Bull]

There are direct flights between NOLA & London and between Istanbul & London -  we've flown both.

But friends who booked NOLA thro NCL had a long & frustrating journey via a layover in Atlanta, plus a couple of flight changes between booking & sailing which added to the confusion. And folk who booked London to Istanbul thro RCI for our cruise went via a long layover at Amsterdam - we had most of that day in Istanbul, they arrived early evening.

This is because cruise lines have their pet airlines (sorry, their "preferred air partners") and if  those airlines don't have direct flights then you can end up with a scenic tour of the world's airports.

In both cases they paid more for those routes than the self-booked direct options, but I can't say that's the norm., and @YYCJim found the opposite to be true.

 

Disadvantages too with some hotels booked thro cruiselines - always good hotels, but scant regard for location - often inconvenient for the sights, the airport and/or the cruise port.

But at least cruiselines quote which hotels they use before booking, so you can research both price and location before booking.

 

Added to that the cruiseline is an extra cog in the system, much like booking a shore excursion thro an intermediary. 

 

JB 🙂

Edited March 9 by John Bull

[CDNPolar]

19 hours ago, YYCJim said:

Thanks for the feedback, but as I said previously, they won't tell you what the connections are or how long the layovers are until 45 days out (airfare is handled by a 3rd party as per Norwegian)...believe me I asked. At the end of the day i'm not too concerned because we're saving a substantial amount of money.

 

I think that this is the first time that you have mentioned that you are cruising with Norwegian.

 

Although this is the Ask a Cruise Question forum, you might be better to go to the Norwegian forum and ask this question of others that sail Norwegian and know about this?  

 

We are pretty loyal Viking cruisers and we flip between booking air through Viking and air booked on our own - totally depends on the price and if there are savings either direction.  However, Viking's air program now posts your booked flights in their MyVikingJourney site well before they are ticketed, and you have the option to change airlines, flights, connections, book seats, etc.  It is not just take what they give you.  

 

The cruise line or agent company will book you on contracted rates that may not be the best schedule in your eyes.  The connections or airlines may not be what you want.  You may not be able to upgrade your seats...  There can be many restrictions when a cruise line is booking your air.

Edited March 9 by CDNPolar

[YYCJim]

14 hours ago, clo said:

That's insane. When we travel we're making all manner of plans way before 45 days. And do they say why?

 

And if there's a problem, you can bet the cruise line won't be involved. I'm on a site of a particular escorted land tour company. While one can book air through them it seems fraught with issues/problems. The only time we considered it - and the company gave us the flight info before booking - we were going in totally unacceptable ways. So we said nope and booked our own.

 

They said that is their process...you get your flight info 45 days out. That being said, i've cancelled my airfare and will book myself. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[YYCJim]

7 hours ago, John Bull said:

There are direct flights between NOLA & London and between Istanbul & London -  we've flown both.

But friends who booked NOLA thro NCL had a long & frustrating journey via a layover in Atlanta, plus a couple of flight changes between booking & sailing which added to the confusion. And folk who booked London to Istanbul thro RCI for our cruise went via a long layover at Amsterdam - we had most of that day in Istanbul, they arrived early evening.

This is because cruise lines have their pet airlines (sorry, their "preferred air partners") and if  those airlines don't have direct flights then you can end up with a scenic tour of the world's airports.

In both cases they paid more for those routes than the self-booked direct options, but I can't say that's the norm., and @YYCJim found the opposite to be true.

 

Disadvantages too with some hotels booked thro cruiselines - always good hotels, but scant regard for location - often inconvenient for the sights, the airport and/or the cruise port.

But at least cruiselines quote which hotels they use before booking, so you can research both price and location before booking.

 

Added to that the cruiseline is an extra cog in the system, much like booking a shore excursion thro an intermediary. 

 

JB 🙂

Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated. I have cancelled by airfare and will book myself...at least this way I will be certain.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, CHPURSER said:

I beleive your pilot was Orville Wright.

Close,it was David Wright

[clo]

27 minutes ago, YYCJim said:

They said that is their process...you get your flight info 45 days out. That being said, i've cancelled my airfare and will book myself. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

And thanks for listening. I hope your trip is FANTASTIC and that you'll give us reports.

Bon voyage.

[GeezerCouple]

45 minutes ago, YYCJim said:

They said that is their process...you get your flight info 45 days out. That being said, i've cancelled my airfare and will book myself. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

Good!  I think you'll be much happier.  At the least, you'll be avoiding this advance "whatever flights will we be on" stage!

 

However, even though you are making your own air reservations, DO check occasionally on the airline website that your flights/times haven't changed.  Sometimes there are changes, and... well... the passengers aren't necessarily notified promptly.

So IF you see a change, and it's waaay off time-wise, call the airline.  Especially if they've moved the time more than some specific amount of time (it may vary, something like 2? 4? hours), then you can get changed to another flight with no "change fee".  (Or that used to be the case: we've only flown once since Covid.)

 

We once had a change that would have had our first connecting flight arriving AFTER the next flight had already departed. 😠  We were able to change to almost any other flight we wanted, to get the connecting timing right, with no fee.

We still wonder IF they ever would have notified us; we checked and saw that problem well in advance.  Even if they had (we sure hope they would have!), there would have been less availability on much shorter notice.

GC

[YYCJim]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Good!  I think you'll be much happier.  At the least, you'll be avoiding this advance "whatever flights will we be on" stage!

 

However, even though you are making your own air reservations, DO check occasionally on the airline website that your flights/times haven't changed.  Sometimes there are changes, and... well... the passengers aren't necessarily notified promptly.

So IF you see a change, and it's waaay off time-wise, call the airline.  Especially if they've moved the time more than some specific amount of time (it may vary, something like 2? 4? hours), then you can get changed to another flight with no "change fee".  (Or that used to be the case: we've only flown once since Covid.)

 

We once had a change that would have had our first connecting flight arriving AFTER the next flight had already departed. 😠  We were able to change to almost any other flight we wanted, to get the connecting timing right, with no fee.

We still wonder IF they ever would have notified us; we checked and saw that problem well in advance.  Even if they had (we sure hope they would have!), there would have been less availability on much shorter notice.

GC

Thanks for the feedback, greatly appreciated.

[BOB999]

Not all cruise airfare is bad.  Many cruise lines allow you to pick your flights at time of booking, pay when final payment is due, get cheaper air and offer some protection on delays causing you to miss the ship.

 

That being said, some offer what I refer to as "opaque air" where the cruise line chooses your flights with limited recourse if you don't like them.  Of these, I've heard the most grumbling about NCL which appears to assign your flights 30-45 days prior and if you don't like them, then tough since their custom air closes 75-110 days prior to sailing.  Perhaps you would have been lucky and gotten the non-stop flights both ways, but just as likely if not more likely to have to double-connect via the US or some other country.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Good!  I think you'll be much happier.  At the least, you'll be avoiding this advance "whatever flights will we be on" stage!

 

However, even though you are making your own air reservations, DO check occasionally on the airline website that your flights/times haven't changed.  Sometimes there are changes, and... well... the passengers aren't necessarily notified promptly.

So IF you see a change, and it's waaay off time-wise, call the airline.  Especially if they've moved the time more than some specific amount of time (it may vary, something like 2? 4? hours), then you can get changed to another flight with no "change fee".  (Or that used to be the case: we've only flown once since Covid.)

 

We once had a change that would have had our first connecting flight arriving AFTER the next flight had already departed. 😠  We were able to change to almost any other flight we wanted, to get the connecting timing right, with no fee.

We still wonder IF they ever would have notified us; we checked and saw that problem well in advance.  Even if they had (we sure hope they would have!), there would have been less availability on much shorter notice.

GC

Booked my own air once and the airline changed a non-stop flight to our cruise destination in Florida to a layover in Dallas. And we would have never got to the cruise on time. (BTW, this was way before Covid, and I think the airlines are even worse about these kind of changes now.)

 

But at least they did inform us, and let us cancel. We ended up booking a different airline.

[clo]

On 3/9/2024 at 12:28 PM, ontheweb said:

Booked my own air once and the airline changed a non-stop flight to our cruise destination in Florida to a layover in Dallas. And we would have never got to the cruise on time. (BTW, this was way before Covid, and I think the airlines are even worse about these kind of changes now.)

 

But at least they did inform us, and let us cancel. We ended up booking a different airline.

Wow. We booked with United for our cruise in July. I've chuckled because three times now they've notified me of a schedule change. One time it was one minute, one was five minutes, etc.