Caution: Air cost vs dependability

Many of us need to fly to our port of departure. We all know it is advisable to fly in a day before to give leeway in case of problems. Here is an article about Norwegian airlines flying from Los Angeles to Europe on Norwegian Air. Great prices, but with only a few flights a week, you could end up missing your cruise. One of these passengers was actually flying to get on a cruise, hope it worked out.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Cancelled-Norwegian-Air-Shuttle-Flight-Strands-Hundreds-at-LAX-for-Days-268604312.html

What is more important to you? Price or risk?

This is an interesting question. I think many, especially novice travelers, will choose cheaper every time, while experienced cruisers will know what Plan B is in case of a problem or book an airline with lots of flights per day.

You don't need to be too experienced to know that delays and cancellations happen every day. Economy airlines are more likely to have older planes and fewer departures.

Bottom line, I would rather spend a night sleeping on the floor of the baggage area than take off in a plane with known mechanical problems. Recent news of air tragedies will support the role of caution.

We only fly with main stream airlines. One advantage is they have more flights to destinations.

We would never fly in the day of the cruise.

Too many thing can go wrong.

Keith

We rarely fly anymore. Flying has become a form of torture with security and crowding. And FF programs are not as good as they were.

It is a big problem ..

We rarely fly anymore. Flying has become a form of torture with security and crowding. And FF programs are not as good as they were.

Totally agreed. I prefer Southwest and avoid any of the really low-cost carriers because of reliability issues, but now that I'm retired DH and I drive wherever we can. For the exceptions (Europe and our trip to Alaska), I end up booking insanely long layovers in connection airports and overnights in some connection cities to be safe. It makes for a really long trip. This past trip we made the mistake of flying on miles on United rather than taking Southwest's nonstop to Seattle and after a schedule change our 3-hour layover in Denver was changed to 7 hours. :confused: On the way home, we flew from Juneau to Seattle on Day 1 and our flight out of Seattle, originally scheduled for 7:30 AM, was moved to 6:20 AM. There was a 2-hour layover in Houston, of course, which was actually out of the way for us. We were pretty much in transit for 2 days.

Our next 3 trips are all car trips. I am SO happy.

But, to get back to the OP's question, I do a lot of research beforehand and would bypass the low-cost carriers regardless of the money I'd save.

If they can't get me to where I am going at the time I need to be there I am not interested in flying with them regardless of how inexpensive the fare happens to be.

As a frequent flier, I would really recommend against using airlines like Norwegian and Spirit to get to a cruise. The big problem is that many times, the flights are less than daily as you mention, so if something happens...you're in trouble. Also, they tend to utilize all of their aircraft to the max, so if your aircraft has a mechanical issue, they likely won't have another one to substitute in (like major airlines would). Finally, many of the low cost and ultra low cost carriers will not send you to another airline should issues arise. For example, Delta may send you over to United should they not be able to get you to your destination, but Spirit won't send you over to anyone.

Things to consider.

We rarely fly anymore. Flying has become a form of torture with security and crowding. And FF programs are not as good as they were.

That must really cut back on your ability to see the world... To me, while flying isn't always fun, I'll take 20 hours of mediocrity on a plane to spend a week or two in an amazing new place.

Since we routinely travel internationally (to 6 continents) we have no choice but to fly. When going to a cruise we fly-in at least 1 day early, and sometimes several days early if it is to a distant port. We never trust any cruise line to arrange our air and do our own bookings...trying to choose non-stop flights whenever it is possible. In fact, we will drive as far as 3 hours to an airport where we can get non-stops or Southwest (we have found them the most consistent domestic airline). Not only do we use various strategies to ensure getting to a port in plenty of time, but we also choose flights that will minimize the chances of our luggage getting lost of delayed. The thought of taking a 2 month trip/cruise with no luggage does not give us a warm fuzzy feeling.

Hank

Stay away from AirBerlin, it took them nine months to respond when I had a complaint. I will NEVER fly with them again.

but now that I'm retired DH and I drive wherever we can. For the exceptions (Europe and our trip to Alaska),.

Not sure where you live but you ought to try driving to AK some time. It is a great drive. Just allow plenty of time but as you say, you are retired so who cares.

DON

As a frequent flier, I would really recommend against using airlines like Norwegian and Spirit to get to a cruise. The big problem is that many times, the flights are less than daily as you mention, so if something happens...you're in trouble. Also, they tend to utilize all of their aircraft to the max, so if your aircraft has a mechanical issue, they likely won't have another one to substitute in (like major airlines would). Finally, many of the low cost and ultra low cost carriers will not send you to another airline should issues arise. For example, Delta may send you over to United should they not be able to get you to your destination, but Spirit won't send you over to anyone.

 

Zach1213 your choice of words were interesting when you said Delta "may" send you over to United. Under want circumstance would they not? Do you have to pay full fare for an endorsable ticket? As you stated Norwegian and Sprit tickets aren't endorsable but are there others? I believe Southwest and AirTran do not endorse as well.

 

Shak

Where we live there are no longer direct flights to anywhere and very few flights.

We would never fly in on the same day.

With so few flights out of our airport, a couple of times the first flight was cancelled. That also impacted our connecting flight even though we had 2 1/2 hours between flights -- mainly because the other flights out of our airport were already full.

And these are all major airlines.

My family and I flew to Rome a few years back, DEN-JFK-FCO. We were flying in 2 days before the cruise since we wanted to see Rome too. I don't even remember what airline we took to JFK but from JFK to FCO my father booked us on a little Italian airline called Eurofly. They only had one flight per day out of JFK - they didn't even staff their counter during hours other than ~3pm-8pm (and the flight was at around 8pm).

Because of very bad thunderstorms stretched for hundreds of miles over the Midwest, our DEN-JFK flight had to go very far out of its way to go around them (couldn't even go above them). As a result, the pilot had to land in Rochester NY to refuel, otherwise he wasn't going to make it to New York. So we were basically 4 hours late, and were landing in JFK just as our flight to Rome was leaving. We had to spend the next ~23 hours at JFK hoping to get on the next day's flight - and also hoping that the next day's flight wasn't full (so they'd have seats for us - there was a whole bunch of people in addition to my family that were on our flight going on the same cruise out of Rome). We'd all have missed the ship if we'd been flying in the same day.

Since Eurofly had no staff at JFK, and all their offices were in Italy (I tried calling, no one spoke English), we couldn't exactly ask them to put us on a different airline. We even considered getting on an Alitalia flight and just pay for it but their flights were all overbooked that day. We did make it on the next day's flight, and we did have to pay extra for the tickets themselves, since that day's flight was higher-priced than previous day's flight. Also, Eurofly made us pay the "ticket change" fee (like we had changed our tickets deliberately). Pretty sure my father disputed that charge with the credit card and won.

So with that experience in mind, I'd definitely fly a day early at least for European cruises (and if that's not possible, get a flight where the connection is in Europe, not the U.S. - at least once you're across the ocean, you have other options to catch your ship, like taking the train). And I agree that I'll never fly a small low-fare carrier again.

We rarely fly anymore. Flying has become a form of torture with security and crowding. And FF programs are not as good as they were.

Flying is a huge hassle these days (except for regional Porter Airlines), and it has been for years.........so when I fly, it better be a worthwhile trip. I am now much more choosy about whether I will fly or drive for shorter distances.

As a frequent flier, I would really recommend against using airlines like Norwegian and Spirit to get to a cruise. The big problem is that many times, the flights are less than daily as you mention, so if something happens...you're in trouble. Also, they tend to utilize all of their aircraft to the max, so if your aircraft has a mechanical issue, they likely won't have another one to substitute in (like major airlines would). Finally, many of the low cost and ultra low cost carriers will not send you to another airline should issues arise. For example, Delta may send you over to United should they not be able to get you to your destination, but Spirit won't send you over to anyone.

 

Zach1213 your choice of words were interesting when you said Delta "may" send you over to United. Under want circumstance would they not? Do you have to pay full fare for an endorsable ticket? As you stated Norwegian and Sprit tickets aren't endorsable but are there others? I believe Southwest and AirTran do not endorse as well.

 

Shak

 

 

I say "may" because they don't necessarily have to, but they may and often do even when they're not required to. Spirit and Southwest, amongst others, won't. Also, many cruise air fares cannot be endorsed, even if it's on an airline like Delta that otherwise might do so.

I have learned always to have an extra day at a flight's destination for your luggage to catch up (and to catch a cruise).

And do remember to cross pack and take a change of clothes on board. If you will need such things as your swimsuit the first day, put it in your carry-on.

We always fly in early. Sometime weeks early and do pre and post cruise land trips.

But we often use in country or in continent discount carriers. And often their equipment is actually newer simply because they have not been in business as long as the traditionals and don't have any of the 20 year aircraft leases on their books. Their ability to purchase new, fuel efficient aircraft is one of the reasons they can reduce fares.

We find that if you research you can get as good or better service. We certainly have found this to be the case with domestic flights in Turkey, Vueling flights in Europe (often code shared with Iberia) and very much so in SE Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, etc with NOK, Airasia, etc).

We are extremely careful when booking cruise air or other similar types of consolidator tickets simply because they are often very restrictive and not transferable. It pays to understand the ticket fare code. We had to return early from a Thai vacation last winter. Fortunately our tickets were in a fare code that allowed for change-at the $300. cost. We almost purchased from another major US airline but noticed that the fare code would not permit changes-even for a fee. It is very possible to end up in a less than perfect situation even with a major airline. If your fare code is at the bottom, and all planes have been delayed, you will be at the very bottom of the list for a seat assignment on a replacement flight-cruise or no cruise. For overseas, we prefer to fly on a carrier that allows changes and has multiple daily flight to our destination or at least to a major hub from which we can more onwards very easily.

• If I don't know the airline, I don't use them.
  
• Price is a big deal to us. Flying from CA to anywhere outside of it costs a lot. Deals with good airlines is a biggie.
  
• We will fly in the day before. I take risks on select things; travel isn't one of them (with the exception of sleeping at the airport, if necessary.)
  

That must really cut back on your ability to see the world... To me, while flying isn't always fun, I'll take 20 hours of mediocrity on a plane to spend a week or two in an amazing new place.

Your post wasn't an answer to mine, but I'll reply anyway since I expressed a similar sentiment. First of all, it's not mediocrity. It's misery- long lines, late arrivals, consequences of missed connections, not knowing till you get to the airport whether the TSA line will put you at risk of missing your flight, getting there insanely early and then finding yourself airside with beeping carts, uncomfortable seats and overpriced food and drink... OK, I'll stop now.

DH and I have gotten to the point that we fly to Europe only in Business Class. He's almost 76, he's got back problems and some other chronic health issues and he's over 6 feet tall. The airlines have made Coach so miserable that it's out of the question for us on transatlantics. So, we go to Europe a lot less than we used to even though we'd love to go more often.