Booking Air Fare

[kellywhitehills]

OK this has probably been covered but I am going to ask..

Has anyone booked their airfare though Carnival??How did it work??Can I make a request to seating??

[Glama]

My advice is always to book your own air. Unless Carnival is offering an amazing deal that you can't beat on your own, get it yourself. You will be able to control your flight times, flight days, choose your seats, etc.... I don't believe you can do ANY of that through Carnival.

 

Booking through Carnival would have to save me ALOT of money before I'd be comfortable enough for them to make my travel arrangements for me. Even then, I wouldn't be comfortable, I'd just be less poor. :p

[henepup]

OK this has probably been covered but I am going to ask..

Has anyone booked their airfare though Carnival??How did it work??Can I make a request to seating??

We have booked air fare with CCL before. It is typically cheaper than booking air on our own. We live near the Cincinnati Airport and it is very expensive to fly out of here. Any ways, your airfare includes transfers to and fromthe port. When you go to claim your luggage there will be CCL reps. there to help you to the shuttle bus. The buses suck, you have to wait until the bus is full to leave. We have never been able to request seating on the plane. Our last cruise we tried to upgrade, but couldn't because of type of ticket.

 

Hope that helps

[rnjhill]

We booked airfare thru Carnival for one of our cruises and that will be the last time. The airfare was cheaper but travelling thru the night is not good. If you are a night owl go for it otherwise book your own.

[freezininpa]

I usually book air on my own. However for some reason this year it was cheaper through CCl. I am a little nervous about making it there in time. As they have us connecting through the worst airport on the east coast the same day as the cruise.

As for getting the seats you want on the plane, just go to the airlines web site with you confirmation number and change your seats.

[TakeMeAway1001]

I have to agree with the posters who book their own air. I like being able to choose my flights and lately it seems a lot of people who booked through Carnival are having their flights switched on them. I suppose the potential savings would all depend on where you live. We are flying out of NH into Tampa and got two R/T tix for 294 total and I recently saw seats available on the early flight and was able to switch online for $20.00 this price was well below what Carnival had to offer.

[OhioJeff]

We have booked air fare with CCL before. It is typically cheaper than booking air on our own. We live near the Cincinnati Airport and it is very expensive to fly out of here. Any ways, your airfare includes transfers to and fromthe port. When you go to claim your luggage there will be CCL reps. there to help you to the shuttle bus. The buses suck, you have to wait until the bus is full to leave. We have never been able to request seating on the plane. Our last cruise we tried to upgrade, but couldn't because of type of ticket.

 

Hope that helps

Have you ever thought about flying out of Dayton? Airtran has some really cheap prices to Florida.

I have found carnival to be much more expensive that anything I can find. For my upcoming trip out of NYC...Carnival wants $399....Im flying for $108.

[klfrodo]

My very first cruise, I booked air thru Carnival. Ever since, I book my own.

 

Carnival only books the Air portion. They DO NOT get your seat assignments. A good TA will get your seats for you or you must do it on your own

 

Just like any other business which involves travel, Carnival has negotiated prices for travel with all the major carriers.Carnival does not "book" your travel until about 45 days out from departure and the travel dates will be the day the ship departs and the day the ship returns.

 

You can pay "Air Deviation" fee's to fly differnt days outside of their "Normal" practice. This also allows you to have a small deciding factor as to what day you fly, what times you fly, and which airline.

[Ct Cruise Guy]

Carnival wants 506.00 I booked Southwest for 379.00 for 2 people roundtrip!

[Donna - dsw]

Have you seen the airfare lately? I could kick myself. We were going to book air back in Dec. and decided to wait. Our friends were sure when they could go. Well, they booked at $197.00 and now it is up to $358.00.

 

I will keep an eye out - I hope it drops before my cruise in Sept.

[Donna - dsw]

How come Southwest is only booked through August? When do you think they will open for booking in September?

 

Thanks!

[Debra Lynn]

I received the following newsletter from Vacations to go talking about this....here is a copy of the newletter.... hope it helps...

 

When you must fly to a departure port to board a cruise, you can either ask your Vacations To Go cruise counselor to book your airline tickets through the cruise line or arrange the tickets on your own. There are three main things to consider when making this decision: price, air schedules and support in the event that things do not go according to plan.

Price: Cruise lines buy a huge number of airline seats each year, and with this volume, one might think they could negotiate discounts for their passengers. The airlines, however, have the upper hand in this relationship. With so few well-timed flights into departure ports, cruise lines need the airlines more than airlines need the cruise lines.

So at least as far as flights within the continental U.S. and Canada are concerned, the price at which cruise lines are allowed to block airline seats is generally higher than the advance purchase excursion fare available to individual travelers. If you are booking well in advance, you can generally expect to save money by arranging flights on your own, directly through the airlines.

On most flights, however, air prices available to the general public increase as the departure date approaches, while the prices offered through cruise lines tend to stay the same. If you are booking within 60 days of departure, you may find that the cruise line's air prices are just as good, or even better, than going directly to the airline.

The picture changes for long-haul flights. Cruise line air is usually competitive with--or cheaper than--what you can find on your own, no matter when you book, for cruises in Europe and exotic destinations such as Tahiti, Asia or Australia. Cruise line air is also frequently cheaper for one-way Gulf of Alaska sailings between Vancouver and Seward or Whittier. (Note that you can generally beat the cruise line's air price by going direct to the airlines if you are sailing to Alaska round trip from Vancouver, Seattle or San Francisco and need air into one of these cities.)

Air Schedules: One clear advantage to booking your flight directly through the airlines is the control you gain over your schedule and itinerary--you decide which airline you fly and when. If you book your air through the cruise line and pay their standard air add-on, you will generally have to wait until 30 days prior to departure to find out which carrier you will fly and which flights you will take, and the routing may not be the most direct available. For a small additional "air deviation" fee, most cruise lines will attempt to book you on the airline or flights of your choice, but there is no guarantee that you will get what you asked for and you must make your request at the time of booking your cruise, not after you have received airline tickets with an unsatisfactory itinerary.

Support: Sometimes things don't go according to plan. A flight may be cancelled or delayed causing a passenger to miss a ship's departure, or a ship's schedule could be changed or a sailing cancelled. Cruise lines are more likely to step in to aid passengers who purchased their air from the cruise line in these situations.

Only two months ago, for example, a commercial tow barge on the Mississippi River lost control and collided with the Carnival Fantasy as she returned to New Orleans. Thankfully there were no injuries, but the accident left a 30-foot gash in the ship's hull, and the Fantasy's next scheduled cruise was cancelled. Passengers on the cancelled sailing who had booked air through the cruise line were protected--Carnival helped arrange refunds or new flights with no change penalties. Those who had arranged airfare on their own were left to wrangle with the airlines over refunds or change fees.

Bottom Line: Anyone who is comfortable personally booking flights and arranging transfers from the airport to the pier should compare the cost of buying direct from an airline with the cost of going through the cruise line (including the air deviation fee if you want control over flight selection).

If you find that the cruise line's air prices are about the same as what you can get directly through the airlines on your own, go with the cruise line's air, for a bit of added protection in case something goes wrong.

If you can save money booking direct with the airlines, you'll have to decide whether the savings and complete control of flight selection outweigh the added protection of booking through the cruise line.

In either event, I highly recommend arriving a day or two before the sailing date, especially if you are flying a long distance to your port of departure. That eliminates any concern about a delayed or cancelled flight causing you to miss the boat, and you can do some local sightseeing and rest up to be ready to enjoy every moment of your cruise.

All cruise lines offer pre-cruise hotel packages in conjunction with their cruises and air/sea programs, and our cruise counselors can tell you about your options.

[CharBill]

We have booked air fare with CCL before. It is typically cheaper than booking air on our own. We live near the Cincinnati Airport and it is very expensive to fly out of here. Any ways, your airfare includes transfers to and fromthe port. When you go to claim your luggage there will be CCL reps. there to help you to the shuttle bus. The buses suck, you have to wait until the bus is full to leave. We have never been able to request seating on the plane. Our last cruise we tried to upgrade, but couldn't because of type of ticket.

 

Hope that helps

 

We used their air the first few cruises. It is usually cheaper to get it on your own. We can usually get the air and hotel cheaper than doing just air through Carnival. It seems to be a matter of when you book your air. We fly out of CVG direct everytime we cruise and last year it was a little higher than we had ever paid in the past. Got a pretty good deal this year for CVG since they are one the the highest airports to fly out of.

 

We so need a discount carrier.

[lindasuej]

When booking our cruise we always book with the cruise line because we want to make sure we are locked into a price BUT!!!!! as we get closer to the cruise (prior to final payment) I watch for flights on my own. If I find a cheaper flight (which I always have) I drop the air portion from my cruise booking and pay for my own flight.

Case in point. We are booked 8/08 for a Med. cruise. We would fly in and out of Rome. We booked with Carnival and the air portion is around 1300 - 1400 dollars. We are locked in. No one is scheduling that time period yet. Wtih rising gas prices etc. we know we are locked in for the air portion but we can always drop it if we need to. I know I ramble but I hope you get my point.

Good luck

 

Linda

[lagbunch8]

I booked thru Carnival for my Eruope cruises. We had fine seats(TA took care of that-Carnival does not do that) and we had no problems. I never saw air cheaper on either of my trips than I got with Carnival. For my cruises out of FL I drive to the port. Just another perk for living in the sunshine state!:cool: I have air booked with Carnival for my Hawaii cruise and will probably book air with Princess when I book Alaska 2008.