BQ Need Your Wealth Of Info PLEASE

[Hogladyrider]

Just starting to plan our first cruise to Alaska by researching on the boards and reading books.

 

What I am seeking is information on booking air flights. This will be a first for us since we currently live within driving distance of all Florida ports.

 

As of now my thoughts are to fly in one day ahead of cruising and one day after we return since this will be a cross country long flight for us from Florida.

 

How does one go about researching all this air fare and transfer information?

 

I'm looking at sailing roundtrip out of Vancouver for our 1st trip to Alaska with no land tour, will save that for our 2nd trip to Alaska. I don't know if we would be better off flying into Seattle and taking the train to Vancouver or flying directly into Vancouver?

 

I have never been to either Seattle or Vancouver so I'd like to have a day on either side of the cruise to explore there and utilize our cruise to scope out when and where we'd like to spend additional time for a future land tour in Alaska.

 

Should I utilize expedia, travelocity or cheaptickets or go directly thru the airlines themselves? I think I'd have more control over the time of our flights if we booked them ourselves rather than thru the cruise line.

 

I am not concerned about missing the ship, more concerned about the "homework" that BQ talks about is so important. I want to get my "homework" right but need some guidance in which direction to go!

 

Thanks to all.

Susan:D

[fti]

Not sure if you only want BQ's advice but here goes my 2 cents from someone who books a lot of flight for myself and others. I would set up some sort of "fare watcher" on one or more of the big websites. Travelocity has one. Also look at farecompare.com - they give historical fares for the past year and you might be able to spot a trend. Look at fares to both Seattle and Vancouver. Sometimes Vancouver can be inexpensive compared with Seattle (Cathay Pacific from JFK had some great fares earlier this year for example).

 

Once you find a fare you think is reasonable and you can live with, buy it and buy it quickly. Fares within N. America change constantly. But be sure you are convinced that the fare is "reasonable." That way, if the fare goes down (as is often the case), you won't feel bad. If the fare goes up, you feel even better. Sometimes if the fare goes down after purchase, you can get a credit for the difference toward a future flight. It depends on the fare, which airline and sometimes how you booked it.

 

Re: transfers if you fly into Seattle, do an advanced search by title for Transfer and you will find info - or just scroll the first 3-4 pages of the Alaska board. There are several threads about getting between Seattle and Vancouver.

 

Note that if you fly into and out of Seattle but cruise from Vancouver, you won't have a ton of time checking out either city when flying from the east coast.

[Hogladyrider]

I apologize if it seemed that my post was only addressed to BQ, any and all feedback is requested and greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks for the input, I will print and put in my Alaska file and checkout the places you mentioned!

Susan

[Budget Queen]

I most always fly into Seattle, and it is easy to get between Vancouver and Seattle, train, bus, rental car.

 

I do a lot of overnight flights home, including a week ago, so it can give you a whole day of touring. If you don't want overnight, most east flights leave by 2pm.

 

I don't book through any agencies, and go direct with the airline sites. I have three airlines I use due to FF mile accounts. :) Flights are cheap for me, Syr/Sea, so that is usually my routing rather than Vancouver. Will be the same for me in July with a round trip Vancouver cruise.

 

It pays to compare, add in all costs, transfers, hotels, TIME- since if you are interested in Vancouver activites, maybe you won't want to waste time, going into Seattle?? Determine what is your touring priority as well.

[Nancyquilts]

We like to look at "Sidestep" for airlines and rental cars - then we go to the appropriate listed site. Nancy

[The Screwball]

Susan,

 

From a Fellow HOG member -

 

First it was certainly worth the peice of mind to fly in a day early. We just came back. We flew from Norfolk, Va to Chicago O'Hare, then onto Seattle. We were delayed about 2 hour in Chicago because they needed a "new pilot's seat" and we had to change equiptment. That meant running our butts across the terminal to another gate. With overbookings, equiptment and weather delays I would recomend getting in a day early, having a nice quiet dinner if possible and getting a good night's sleep.

 

Airfare is certainly a lot cheaper flying into Seattle than Vancouver. Several lines do leave from Seattle if that's an option. We booked the airfare ourselves through Yahoo. It was no cheaper than booking directly with the airline.

 

When you fly home you may want to leave early the next day. Remember spending 8 hours on the air flying west to east add three hours for the time change. You will literally be flying all day long. Plus your not rushed having only two hours to get from the ship to your plane. Several other ships will be docking that same day. thats about 1600 - 1900 people x 3 ships all heading for the airport at the same time. We got on our jet in Seattle at 10:50 AM Pacific and landed in Norfolk 10:00 PM Eastern. Luckily my boss e-mailed me on the cruise and told me my request for a day off after the cruise was approved! Any Other questions, let me know.

 

Eric

Tidewater Virginia HOG Member