Priceline for Air Travel to the Freedom?

We will be sailing out of FLL on the Freedom in a couple of weeks and since we're looking at a 15 hour trip, we've considered flying. So far looking at the airlines themselves, the rates are a bout double of what we would like to pay. Has anyone used Priceline to book their air travel before? I've checked into it but I'm not sure about the fact that they will assign the time for your flights. Also how do I know if there will be baggage fees in addition to our flight fares?

If you fly n the day before and day after your cruise, you should be ok. If you plan on flying in the day of, I wouldn't do it. The fare is non refundable and the book you at bad times

You will be paying for airfare. I'd expect to add luggage fees onto that afterwards. I don't like surprise itineraries for flights so I would not use Priceline for an airline ticket, but just for hotels.

I agree that if you do this I'd for sure go the day before.

I believe you can put in some parameters like flying overnight is OK or not, but not sure about that.

It is hard to suggest other ideas because I am not sure where you are starting out since you don't have your specific location listed in your profile.

Looking for flights a couple of weeks before travel? That's a big :eek:

All the low fares are gone. Now you're looking at what business people pay when we have to travel last minute.

You can try Priceline, however, if flight operations get hosed,,, you'll have to deal with Priceline for any help. Just as with cruiselines, you are now the TA's customer, not the cruiseline. (in this case,,, Priceline)

I would Never fly to meet a cruise , if I didn't arrive at least 1 day ahead of embarkation.

Flying without knowing times or connections when you have a ship to meet is out of the question, IMHO. Priceline is known for bad service when there are issues. Plus you are adding time crunch to this.

Remember, You may save some $$, but the ship will sail with or without you!

Do you know a good travel agent?

I would assume that there will be baggage fees for any flights, except on Southwest or in First class. Minimum of $25.00 per checked bag. Max weight of 50 pounds per bag.

Try using Kayak for fares. That site might help. But remember that Southwest, Jet Blue, Spirit and other budget airlines do not participate with Kayak. You have to check each of these airline websites.

Good luck.

I'd check reviews for Priceline. According to their reviews, don't think they have stellar service...

I would Never fly to meet a cruise , if I didn't arrive at least 1 day ahead of embarkation.

Flying without knowing times or connections when you have a ship to meet is out of the question, IMHO. Priceline is known for bad service when there are issues. Plus you are adding time crunch to this.

Remember, You may save some $$, but the ship will sail with or without you!

Do you know a good travel agent?

I would assume that there will be baggage fees for any flights, except on Southwest or in First class. Minimum of $25.00 per checked bag. Max weight of 50 pounds per bag.

Try using Kayak for fares. That site might help. But remember that Southwest, Jet Blue, Spirit and other budget airlines do not participate with Kayak. You have to check each of these airline websites.

Good luck.

I'm also from the west coast and know how many cruises I would have missed if I didn't (wouldn't) use a redeye...and so have many of the other cruisers on the same plane with me.

Sorry you have missed so many..but each of us makes that determination after weighing the options.

I prefer to keep (as much as I can) control of my flights including connecting cities/times/seats etc. No third party for me.

Book with the carrier OP.

You can start a faux booking: put in your departure airport and FLL, add your dates and # of people. Priceline will sometimes tell you the times you MAY have your flights and the % of times those happen. It will also show all the different airlines it can use for your flights. then, just don't go any further...

Unless you are coming in the day before your cruise and will stay one day after your cruise, and you don't care when you fly or who you fly (they use Spirit…), I wouldn't do it to save a couple of dollars… Why the day AFTER?? - well, they could book you on a 7am flight out of FLL, which will do you no good ;)

We will be sailing out of FLL on the Freedom in a couple of weeks...considered flying....airlines themselves, the rates are a bout double of what we would like to pay.

 

how do I know if there will be baggage fees in addition to our flight fares?

Once you get inside a month, then yes- you will generally see really high fares. Airlines know that people booking on short notice often have an urgent need to get where they're going so flights can be priced accordingly. Also by that time, the low fare buckets have sold out and so inventory is generally low. Basic laws of supply and demand. The time to book was a month or two (or longer) ago.

As for bag fees, all of the legacy carriers are going to charge bag fees unless you have some kind of elite level frequent flyer status with them or perhaps their branded credit card. Southwest and Jet Blue will allow 1 or 2 free bags per person, but I don't know if you'll see those flights show up on Priceline or not. I think (not positive) that the only way to buy Southwest is directly through Southwest.

Thanks to everyone for your input. You've pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. Looks like we will be driving to FLL but that's alright. This is what we had in mind originally and will give us an excuse to stop and see friends that we haven't seen in 20 years on the way down!