Zach1213 Posted March 11 #26 Share Posted March 11 3 minutes ago, ontheweb said: And to make it worse, our first flight was delayed and then waited and waited to park the plane in the Montreal airport. And then despite being told by the passenger next to us that all Air Canada flights are always delayed, the second one was on time. After walking very briskly to the terminal we immediately got on the line to boar I love the idea that someone thinks a major global airline like Air Canada, with hundreds of planes and probably thousands of flights per day has a 100% delay rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted March 11 #27 Share Posted March 11 4 minutes ago, Zach1213 said: I love the idea that someone thinks a major global airline like Air Canada, with hundreds of planes and probably thousands of flights per day has a 100% delay rate. Well, the person was from Canada and had flown with them several times. We had had only one previous flight on Air Canada, and it was delayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YYCJim Posted March 11 Author #28 Share Posted March 11 On 3/9/2024 at 1:27 PM, BOB999 said: 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. Thanks for the feedback, greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach1213 Posted March 11 #29 Share Posted March 11 1 hour ago, ontheweb said: Well, the person was from Canada and had flown with them several times. We had had only one previous flight on Air Canada, and it was delayed. Oh don't get me wrong, Air Canada is notorious for having delays. I think they're worst in North America amongst major airlines. But per the latest statistics they're only late 43% of the time, not 100% 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted March 11 #30 Share Posted March 11 10 minutes ago, Zach1213 said: Oh don't get me wrong, Air Canada is notorious for having delays. I think they're worst in North America amongst major airlines. But per the latest statistics they're only late 43% of the time, not 100% 😉 Ok, I will agree always late was hyperbole. 43% is still quite awful. I think we can also agree on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepingcat Posted March 14 #31 Share Posted March 14 On 3/7/2024 at 10:29 PM, 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 oh, it appears very different in the UK. we ve only done this once, we flew to NZ from Birmingham a month before boarding our half world cruise in Auckland. I agreed every single detail of the emirates flight, including all the timings and a one night stopover in Bangkok, with the TA before I booked. then we paid a package price to P and O for the whole thing. I ve no idea whether it would have been cheaper or more expensive than booking the flights myself, but at that stage I wasn't confident to do the flights myself. Your saving looks great - and enjoy the trip. btw an aside, I notice cruisers from other side of Atlantic usually fly into Heathrow. consider Birmingham as its just as well connected for the UK. I avoid Heathrow at all costs as it is so busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach1213 Posted March 14 #32 Share Posted March 14 3 hours ago, sleepingcat said: btw an aside, I notice cruisers from other side of Atlantic usually fly into Heathrow. consider Birmingham as its just as well connected for the UK. I avoid Heathrow at all costs as it is so busy. Maybe it's my jet lag, but am I misunderstanding your statement? Because I'm just wondering in what world BHX is even remotely an option for people coming from across the Atlantic. There are one or two seasonal flights by TUI to holiday destinations in North America, and nothing to any major cities in North America (not even New York). Heathrow has more flights across the Atlantic in an hour than BHX has in a month. Rail/bus connectivity around the UK makes no difference if you can't actually get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnatello Posted March 14 #33 Share Posted March 14 Depends on where you're going. Domestic, you'll probably do better on your own. Our experience has been that going on a European cruise, the cruise line's air has ALWAYS been a better deal. Being from the NYC area, we've always gotten a non-stop at a reasonable time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted March 14 #34 Share Posted March 14 4 hours ago, donnatello said: Depends on where you're going. Domestic, you'll probably do better on your own. Our experience has been that going on a European cruise, the cruise line's air has ALWAYS been a better deal. Being from the NYC area, we've always gotten a non-stop at a reasonable time.. Not always. Our flight to Heathrow in London this summer from Newark had a stop in Montreal. We did have a direct flight back from Reykjavik. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare John Bull Posted March 14 #35 Share Posted March 14 12 hours ago, sleepingcat said: btw an aside, I notice cruisers from other side of Atlantic usually fly into Heathrow. consider Birmingham as its just as well connected for the UK. I avoid Heathrow at all costs as it is so busy. As @Zach1213 posted, there are no regular scheduled direct flights to North America from BHX. I think the only options are London Heathrow / Gatwick / mebbe City, plus Manchester, plus Edinburgh. JB 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach1213 Posted March 15 #36 Share Posted March 15 22 hours ago, donnatello said: Our experience has been that going on a European cruise, the cruise line's air has ALWAYS been a better deal. Keep in mind "better deal" and "lower price" can be very different things. 13 hours ago, John Bull said: As @Zach1213 posted, there are no regular scheduled direct flights to North America from BHX. I think the only options are London Heathrow / Gatwick / mebbe City, plus Manchester, plus Edinburgh. London City doesn't have any flights outside of Europe. Lithuania and Greece are the furthest you can get. MAN has had a sudden explosion of longhaul routes over the last week or two, but almost exclusively going east and not west. The UK is still extremely focused on LHR/LGW, and even EDI has relatively few longhaul flights (and even fewer that are offered year-round). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepingcat Posted March 19 #37 Share Posted March 19 Re BHX, Looks like I was truly sleeping when I posted that completely incorrect information, apologies. thanks to others for the correction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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