own transportation

[pipster37]

I have read here that many people take Oceania's credit and book their own air. We also have miles with Delta. Oceania's credit to us is $875.00. To book up to business class is using 50,000 miles and approx. $2300.00 per person. We are on a waiting list to use our miles for coach which is just using miles. If we have to purchase our air the lowest I can find is$1200.00 which is more than Oceania's credit so I see no choice if we do not get to use our miles than we have to use Oceania's air. So I can not see how people do not take Oceania's air. Could someone explain? Thanks

[DaveFr]

Does the $875 credit you mentioned include the extra taxes and fees Oceania charges when you take their air option? For example, we are booked on a South American cruise in 2008. Our credit for not using Oceania's air option is $880 pp. However, when I priced the cruise there was an additional charge of $334 pp for air taxes, fuel sucharges, etc. This charge was above and beyond the normal port tax and fees charge. So in our case, the real credit for not taking Oceania's air option is $1214 pp.

 

Dave

[pipster37]

Yes, that credit was with the additional charges. And you can not find a flight from Tampa, Florida to Europe for less than $1200.00 without making 3 layovers. So if you have to use coach we can not see how you can not take Oceania's air. We can not see how others are doing it.:)

[nparmelee]

Depends on how important an ugrade to bus class is I guess. We're on the West Coast, makes the day that much longer when flying to Europe so spending more to be sure of an upgrade is worth it to us. We also live in a secondary gateway city, not a primary and there is additional flight cost involved to fly from home for us which made the break even higher. O booked flights usually, not always but most of the time, don't qualify for upgrades with FF miles.

[tgg]

Pipster,

 

Although travel agents charge fees these days to book airline tickets, they also have fantastic search capabilities. It might be worth checking with a travel agent to see if she could do better than the fare that you've been able to find on your own. (I'm not a travel agent.) Our travel agent was willing to waive the fee if we booked the cruise through her.

 

For our December cruise to South America, I did better on airfare by booking my own and taking the credit from Oceania. How? There was a better fare on the internet than the one Oceania offered. I also didn't have to pay a deviation fee because we are adding days on either end. If you take the "free air" you still have to pay the taxes and fees, which would have added another $334 each to the price of our cruise. THERE IS NO FREE AIR, it's just built into the price.

[pcj1925amccc]

Having taken Oceania's air recently as well as making our own air arrangements in the past I found out the hard way that when the flight was cancelled Oceania took no responsibility and felt it was not their responsibility in notifying us.

[Bruin Steve]

There are actually a lot of factors to consider when weighing the cruise line air (for any cruise line) with doing your own...

 

As has been discussed, you need to factor in all taxes and fees to get an "apples for apples" comparison...

 

Now, whether you can do it for cheaper or not has a lot of variables...

The cruise lines generally have a flat amount--it's the same for a season's worth of cruises and for a wide geographical area (usually the whole US, though some lines charge different amounts west or east or from certain "gateway" ciities versus smaller destinations)...'

 

But, of course we know that a ticket, say, from NYC to Athens may cost an entrely different amount than one from, say, Boise, Idaho to Athens...The traveller in NYC may beat the cruise line rate while the one in Idaho cannot...

 

Also, ticket costs may differ by time of year...the person travelling in April may find lower airfares than the one going in July when schools are out and the summer travel seasonis in full swing...

 

You may also find lower rates by going during off hours or on weekdays rather than, say, Friday or Saturday...

Or you may get lower fares but have to deal with far less desirable scheduling...like red-eyes and 8-hour layovers and multiple plane changes...

 

Or, you may get lucky and hit a sale, while the cruise lines, who have to set their rates way ahead of time, can't depend on these...

 

So, yes, a lot of people can't beat the price...but a lot of others can...

 

There are some advantages in booking through the cruise line if all else is close--

--You don't have to buy a non-refundable ticket many months in advance...the "final payment and refund" rules are the same as for the cruise itself...

--The cruise line usually takes some responsibility in getting you to the ship on time...and with most lines (but NOT with Oceania on their "Free Air" deal, the transfers are included)