Antarctica cruise with Infinity 1/18/18 - 2/4/18-- advice on booking return flight

Checking on details for Antarctica cruise from Buenos Aires 1/18/18 - 2/4/18: does anybody know the earliest flight to take back to the US after the ship returns to BA on 2/4? Celebrity doesn't recommend (nor will they book) any return flight earlier than 11:15 am, but the only morning flight back to Miami is 10:20 am. If we're flying business class and have priority embarkation, will we be okay to make this flight?

Someone asked the same question a week or 2 ago. As I recall those who have been to BA didn't recommend trying to catch a 10:20 flight.

In March we ended a B2B in Buenos Aires we didn't have a flight out until the next day. Debarkation didn't begin until about 7. In BA you must take a shuttle bus from the ship to the terminal so that adds a additional 15 mins+/-. Luggage screening as we exited the terminal was chaotic and slow. Travel time to the airport is 45-60 minutes.

Our experience was that checking luggage and getting through airport security were both also very slow. If I remember correctly we had to be checked in at the airport 2 hours before our flight. We were in line (about #7 or 8) for luggage /check-in when it opened and we walked into the airline lounge a hour later.

Hope you have a great cruise- we had amaing weather for our Antartica trip-calm water even Drakes passage, no snow & lots of sunshine. Made every port.

Theres a long thread about this exact flight question. The title of the thread is "choice air". Every person who chimed in said, don't book that flight. The OP has gone ahead and booked it despite all advice. If you book it, make sure you have a plan B and know what the implications will be when you miss the flight. Will they charge you to change your ticket? What are the chances there would be a Business Class seat available later that day? Etc. etc.

Definitely check out Choice Air, especially if you are considering Business Class or higher. We got an exceptional deal last year on Business Class flights to and from Europe. Choice Air will only book in acceptable time frames.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I will second one of the OP's point about having to take a bus when leaving the ship and need to be at a rather disorganized BA airport several hours in advance of flight. Do not even think about catching a 10:20 flight. There is no way! Have a great cruise!

What day of the week are you arriving back at BA? If it's a week day forget it. Sunday maybe, if the ship docks on time. And there are no irregularities with customs, and you catch a taxi without waiting in a que. And there is no traffic backup at the airport and the departure lines move quickly.

You get the picture. We did this itinerary several years ago. Returned on a Sunday We were late. Long customs lines. Taxi ques were an hour. Traffic was terrible. Stayed overnight at the Marriott in town. Didnt get there till 10:00 AM. Imagine the extra distance to the airport.

We disembarked the Infinity in B.A. a few years ago and the only nonstop to our home city was a 10 p,.m. overnight flight. We checked into a hotel on a day rate, which included brunch,walked around, shopped, relaxed by the pool, napped...and headed for the airport around 6:30 p.m. Took us over two hours to check in with our baggage (and we had status with the airline, so our lines were shorter) go through security and reach the airline lounge near the gate. Not sure they still do this, but police set up a second security station at the gate and confiscated all drinking water we had bought after going through regular security. B.A. was certainly not a pleasant airport experience.

Definitely check out Choice Air, especially if you are considering Business Class or higher. We got an exceptional deal last year on Business Class flights to and from Europe. Choice Air will only book in acceptable time frames.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

In my experience, Choice Air lets you book any flight you want online. There will be a red notice along the top if you are going to or from a city other than the embarkation/disembarkation one, but they are not the brightest bulbs and they don't impose a time of day limit on your choices, at least not that I've seen. But I do agree that their prices can sometimes be thousands under booking directly.

I was going to try a mock booking to prove my point, but the website seems to have taken the day off for Easter Sunday.