Airfare ideas for Carnival Liberty passengers

[CruiseVirginfromBrooklyn]

Hi everyone,

 

I thought I would start a new thread where we could share airline ideas, suggestions and consolidator sites. For those of us going on the Carnival Liberty, we all seem to have the same gripe about airline prices and the hope of finding better prices than what Carnival is offering air-wise. Especially for those of us who are doing independent air so we can have a few extra days in Italy either pre or post cruise.

 

One site I found is called:

 

Airfarestore.com

 

Would anyone else care to share and post the site or sites you've found?

 

Thanks. I hope this helps some of us out there!

 

Vinnie

[robsvacation]

Here's what I generally do:

 

Don't rule out alternative airports, Fort Lauderdale and Miami are pretty much interchangable for cruises, West Palm can be used in a pinch (but you'll need to rent a car.)

 

Start with www.Qixo.com , a good fare comparison site. You give it the dates and times and it checks fares on a couple of dozen of other web sites for you and reports back on the results. Sidestep.com is another option but it requires you to install software on your computer (can you say spyware?)

 

Next do the big 3: www.Expedia.com , www.Orbitz.com and www.Travelocity.com .

Orbitz surprisingly is good for tracking down odd combinations of fares and alternative airports that lead to lower total ticket prices.

 

Next, take the airline and flight deals you learned from the above effort and go to the airline sites directly. Often the Airline sites are a little lower and have no booking fees

 

Finally, check out Southwest or other budget carriers that serve your market but don't necessarily appear on the major booking sites. Here is a partial list, by no means complete, of budget airlines:

 

Allegiant www.allegiantair.com

Pan AM www.flypanam.com

Boston-Maine www.bmairways.com

USA 3000 www.usa3000.com

Southeast www.flyseal.com

Southwest www.Iflyswa.com

JetBlue www.jetblue.com

Spirit www.spiritair.com

Frontier www.flyfrontier.com

 

The consolidator sites really don't seem to worth the effort these days on domestic fares, for international fares they can help.

 

I NEVER book air through the cruiseline, it's a complete waste of money and way overpriced. They often get you lousy connections, you generally give up control on which airlines you're assigned to, and if you read the fine print you realize you still need travel insurance since they don't guarantee you'll make the boat and don't pay for you to catch up with the ship if miss the departure. It's a no-brainer to me.

[CruiseVirginfromBrooklyn]

Hi, thanks for your post - I'm sure people will find it helpful but, what I am referring to is consolidators for international air travel since the Carnival Liberty will be in Italy/Europe for it's first cruises ;)

 

Vinnie

[mercedes355]

I have used http://www.economytravel.com for airfare to Europe in the past. On this site, it's definitely cheaper the further in advance you book. Have fun on the Liberty and I wish I could be there.

[Littlegoo75]

I've been browsing the sites for ideas, it looks like you can get round-trip airfare to Rome from the East coast for $500 this time of year. I'm sure it will be a lot more from July - September - that's one of the reason's I chose the Oct. 12th sailing.

I scored free round-trip tickets from British Airways from anywhere in the U.S. to London - I guess I can always use those to fly to London, then fly R/T from London to Rome.

I always seem to find the best deals through Travelocity - just keep checking and checking and checking because deals pop up and dissappear all of the time - you never know when you are going to find an unbelievable deal. I found r/t airfare to San Francisco from D.C. for $160 after taxes for example. It's probably too early to book airfare now for Summer/Fall 2005, but just keep your eyes peeled.

[babs275]

Try Bestfares dot com. It's a different kind os site - but I actually buy all airfare through them if I don't get a better deal direct with the airline. The best time to start looking for summer airfare there is Jan-Mar. What I had my mom do for her RCL cruise is book the airfare with the cruiseline with the intention of continuing to look. That way - when she finds and locks in the better price - she will still be way before final payment and be able to cancel it. If she doesn't find a better price (highly unlikely) she is still set and won't have to stess!

[doris1930]

I booked my air thru Carnival because I was doing the 10/12 AND the 10/24 sailing. One way air from SFO to Rome and one way air from Fll to SFO was a heckuva lot more than the $899 I am paying thru Carnival.

[fishinguspo]

http://www.Mobbisimo.com

[Sybird]

Hi Vinnie,

We are having the same problem with the Liberty. Airfares via Carnival are sky high. Just remember: we will need transfers from the airport to the city (assuming early arrival) and transfers from hotel to ship. This will be AT Least $145pp each way.

Keep in touch

 

Sy( sybird0617)

[Reva_Dearchi]

Sybird,

 

There are various shuttle/limo services in Rome that will be much cheaper than the CCL price if you are traveling with more than 2 people. I went to yahoo and did a search and came up with a few choices. I don't have them with me now but it's worth checking out. Also, find a hotel that offers free shuttle service to and from the airport as well.

 

Good Luck!

 

Thanks to you all for the airfare info. Also try flyeurope dot com.