Flight options

[ZAMOST]

Diamond cruise in August '05 and flight in to Athens, flight out of Venice. Radisson offers the free flight, or $1000 off the cruise. Any general thoughts on which to choose.

Would normally take the $1000 off the cruise and try to arrange frequent flier miles for the flight, but this seems daunting with different arrival and departure locations, trying to connect flights thru London or comparable. Wonder what others' experiences have been.

[scb]

I would call the service desk for the airline with whom you have the FF miles first and at least see if they are able to get you the itinerary you need. If they can, then you can use the $1000 off option. ;)

[Leejnd4]

Ditto what scb said...and if you can't use your FF miles, I would still at least check out airfares elsewhere, as you can usually find a better fare on your own. Multi-destination tickets are not always that much more expensive than round trip. If you go to the various flight search engines, you can put in the destinations and they'll come up with varying options with acceptable connections. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a better fare.

 

Just be sure to give yourself plenty of time before and after, as it is fully your responsibility to make it to the ship on time when you book your own flights.

 

LeeAnne

[Fogmalkin]

Bear in mind you are traveling in Peak/High season. If using FF miles (I have booked open jaw with no problem) make sure you request the booking WAY in advance.

 

I have found I cannot find paid air to Europe during August for less than $1400-1500 or so, coach. Of course that is from the West Coast.

[ZAMOST]

Does Radisson or any of the cruise lines usually come up with better prices than standard air fare during these peak times? I suppose if you use Radisson, there is the advantage of transfers to and from the ship, or if you pick their hotels, to and from the hotel.

If the prices are well over $1000 for air, perhaps not taking the $1000 discount, but taking the free air makes more sense.

[luvtojump]

We flew American into Rome and out of Nice in August. $2200 pp Business Class!!! This was from Omaha. I just checked the fare into Venice and out of Rome for next August/September. It was $2400 pp business class. American has some great fares. Much better than AX's Platinum 2 for 1 program. If you can find a good fare like this and want to fly business, I would take the $1000 air credit.

 

Good luck.

[patw]

What airline are you getting the excellent business class to Europe?

 

Thanks.

[jdc]

My wife and I use frequent flyer miles (Bsn class) to London. Generally pretty good availability (we have US Air miles). Once in London, getting to and from other cities is pretty easy and cheap. In October we did the Diamond: Venice to Rome. London to Venice and Rome to London cost us $185 per person on British Airways. There's always Ryan Air and a host of other cheap options. And you get to spend a couple of days in London!

 

jeff

[cruisinsince75]

Diamond cruise in August '05 and flight in to Athens, flight out of Venice. Radisson offers the free flight, or $1000 off the cruise. Any general thoughts on which to choose.

Would normally take the $1000 off the cruise and try to arrange frequent flier miles for the flight, but this seems daunting with different arrival and departure locations, trying to connect flights thru London or comparable. Wonder what others' experiences have been.

 

Right now with the uncertainty surrounding the Diamond and the potential sale, I would opt with their air for now and you can always take the discount later. I would not be booking any non refundable air until much closer to cruise time. We are in the similar position on our cruise the first week of July.

 

Don

[markRichmond]

Open Jaw flights are good candidtates for burning up frequent flyer miles. You just need to reserve far in advance because availability is restricted. We used miles for our cruise from IST to ATH this summer and also chose to stop over in LON on the way back since we have never been there. The nice thing about using miles is they can be changed if the cruise is cancelled (or sold).