One Way flights???

[emmak8]

Got a great deal on a TA crossing to London. But the one way flight home costs more than the 11 day cruise!!!

[ab0si]

Originally Posted by emmak8

Got a great deal on a TA crossing to London. But the one way flight home costs more than the 11 day cruise!!!

Is there a question hiding in there somewhere?

Flying from London to where on what date?

Indecently, the truffles I used preparing dinner cost more than the meat!!!

[Underwatr]

Include Aer Lingus and Icelandair in your airline searches, and try different booking sources such as Expedia and Travelocity in addition to the airline sites. I saved hundreds by booking Aer Lingus, and as a bonus we cleared US Customs/Immigration in Shannon, Ireland rather than at JFK.

[jmf123]

Have you checked airfare if booked through the cruiseline? Just a suggestion, as I've heard people remark that many times it is more affordable on Europe sailings when booking cruiseline airfare.

[jocap]

Also check out flights from nearby hubs, such as Amsterdam, Munich, Zurich. KLM is one which may have a reasonable flight, but of course it will be a longer journey.
Have you checked the times and prices on the QM2? - if you have another week...
Jo.

[crzndeb]

Originally Posted by jmf123

Have you checked airfare if booked through the cruiseline? Just a suggestion, as I've heard people remark that many times it is more affordable on Europe sailings when booking cruiseline airfare.

I got a great deal with Choice Air though RCI, on my TA last October...1 way, San Diego to Rome was $635

Debbie

[Starry Eyes]

If you have the time...Select a second cruise...maybe a cruise in the fall...then book one round trip ticket for both cruises. I have done it...good prices...two long cruises...wish I could do it again this year.

[silentbob007]

US carriers tend not to offer any breaks for one-way international flights. The biggest consideration for me on a TA is always the one-way airfare ... which tends to be one of the reasons why TAs have attractive prices.

[Nebr.cruiser]

You've got some good suggestions. We are lucky enough to be able to use FF miles for our one-ways back, so far for 20,000 miles each, but that got more difficult this year.

Besides the other suggestions, try a site like Booking Buddy which checks multiple other sites for you. Also, American Airlines usually has one-way flights for half of round trip.

Using FF miles out of Heathrow has gotten difficult as the taxes from that airport are ridiculous. Example: taxes for a one-way we were looking at from London to Omaha on a FF ticket were over $440. Taxes on our round-trip from Rome using FF miles was $102. It makes us reluctant to fly from Heathrow.

I second trying to come back on one of the Cunard lines and forget air at all--I've always wanted to do that. Sometimes their prices aren't too much different than the airfare--of course it takes longer!

[jewopaho]

Direction makes a huge difference ... eastbound one-way flights (i.e. from US to Europe) are significantly less expensive than westbound trips ... someone explained the reason to me once, but I've long since forgotten it. It's sort of a "gotcha" situation. Eastbound transatlantics are preferred because of the weather (spring season); the British Isles and parts of Europe aren't exactly ideal places to be in November and December, when ships head back to the US for the Caribbean season. Be that as it may, we scored our best deal in November of 2009 (Independence of the Seas from Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale) and a one-way flight from Houston to Heathrow (booked on Delta through Best Travel Store, an airline consolidator) for a total of under $1000 per person ... too good a deal to pass up, even though it wasn't exactly the best of weather (at least until we got to Spain).

If you're still hooked on that eastbound transatlantic, other have suggested that one purchase a round-trip ticket and simply not use the westbound portion ... or book two transatlantics within a given time frame, and coordinate the roundtrip flight to accommodate your schedule. Unfortunately, it's going to cost you some serious money if all you're looking to book is a one-way flight home ... take a look at westbound transatlantics (but pack your woolies) and airline consolidators as an alternative. Good luck ...

Al

[april47]

East bound are usually in the spring and west bound in the fall except for Cunard that goes back and forth all the time. Now if you could afford to stay in Europe for 6 months then that would work!
(when I win the lottery I am going to do that)

[Goldiedog]

Taxes for UK booked flights are really high, much higher that US flights, you are really lucky getting much cheaper flights than we do.

[MCC retired]

Cunard QM2 does a few Transatlantic crossings every year that can be booked back to back as a round trip . Contact a TA familiar with Cunard & their schedules.(check the Cunard website for TA's that are trained as Cunard Commodores)

Gotta like 14 days at sea with one port call .

[Donna's Dad]

Originally Posted by emmak8

Got a great deal on a TA crossing to London. But the one way flight home costs more than the 11 day cruise!!!

I don't know where home is, but if you google "Expedia.ca (or) com" you'll find multi flights, from London to New York for under $700.00 Canadian (sorry but I do not have the conversion).
One airline is "Icelandair".
Have a nice trip.

Cato


Completed Cruises !

1st cruise - Coral Princess, 19 November 2008, 10 day Panama Canal, FLL to ACA
2nd cruise - Coral Princess, 15 May 2009, 3 day Repositioning, Los Angeles to Vancouver.
3rd cruise - Sapphire Princess, 25 November 2009? 7 day Mexican Riviera.
4th cruise - Golden Princes, 12 June 2010, 7 day Alaska. (Golden Anniversary Cruise)
5th Cruise - Island Princess, 04 October 2010, Vancouver - Los Angeles, Repositioning
6th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 05 January 2011, 10 day Mexican Riviera. LA to LA.
7th cruise - Golden Princess, 11 May 2011, 3 day, LA to Vancouver, Repositioning
8th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 14 May 2011, 1 day, Vancouver to Seattle, Repositioning
9th cruise - Coral Princess 19 May 2011 2 day, San Francisco to Vancouver, Repositioning
10th & 11th cruises - Coral Princess 02 July to 16 July 2011, round trip Vancouver - Whittier Alaska, B2B
12th & 13th cruises - Sapphire Princess, x2, Cabins, 18 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning
14th & 15th cruises - Golden Princess, x2, Cabins, 24 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning.
16th cruise - Oasis of the Seas, 26 Nov. 2011, 7 day, Western Caribbean, Ft. Lauderdale, Ret.
17th & 18th cruises - Crown Princess B2B, 03 - 10 Dec & 10 - 17 Dec 2011, 14 Days, South & western Caribbean



Future & Hopeful Cruises !
( Already booked )

19th cruise - Grand Princess, 31 Mar. - 07Jun.0212 7 Days, Eastern Caribbean, FLL - FLL
20th cruise - Island Princess, 06-16 June 2012, 10 day cruisetour Vancouver - Wittier round trip.
21th cruise - Emerald Princess, 16 day, 10 - 26 Sep. 2012, TA, Copenhagen - New York.
22nd & 23rd cruises - Sapphire Princess B2B, 04 - 11 May & 11 - 18 May, 2013, California Coastal & Wine Country

[emmak8]

I booked through the cruise line. It was the best fare we found anywhere. Nonstop . Thank you everyone for your suggestions. We have never done a TA before. I am looking forward to some wonderful sea days!!!

[Hlitner]

We always look for a return cruise since it can often be about the same price to simply grab a cheap cabin on the Queen Mary 2 (we love crossings on this ship). But for 1 way air we often use Aer Lingus (no penalty for one way fares). Aer Lingus also allows you to stop over in Ireland for up to 2 weeks (this policy may have changed) at no additonal cost.

Hank

[travel girl23]

When we flew to Barcelona for our transatlantic cruise last Oct., we used our advantage miles. However, our friends bought round trip tickets, which were considerably cheaper than one way tickets, and just didn't use the return portion of the ticket. We heard that others did the same thing.

[jmf123]

Originally Posted by emmak8

Got a great deal on a TA crossing to London. But the one way flight home costs more than the 11 day cruise!!!

Glad to know that you obtained a good (nonstop!) airfare via the cruiseline.

Originally Posted by travel girl23

When we flew to Barcelona for our transatlantic cruise last Oct., we used our advantage miles. However, our friends bought round trip tickets, which were considerably cheaper than one way tickets, and just didn't use the return portion of the ticket. We heard that others did the same thing.

The OP's TA is a crossing to London, and he mentions "the one way flight home". Your friend's use of 1/2 of the round trip tickets wouldn't work for the OP. If an airline ticket isn't used on the first segment, then the return ticket can, and likely will be, canceled.

[Underwatr]

Originally Posted by jmf123

The OP's TA is a crossing to London, and he mentions "the one way flight home". Your friend's use of 1/2 of the round trip tickets wouldn't work for the OP. If an airline ticket isn't used on the first segment, then the return ticket can, and likely will be, canceled.

It's as easy for an American to book a roundtrip starting from London as from New York...

[Hlitner]

I should have mentioned another favorite method we like to use. We will book one round trip flight to Europe and use it for 2 TA cruises. For example, In Feb we might buy a round trip flight that goes from Barcelona to the US and the return flight might be ifrom the same airport in the US to Barcelona in November.. Then in the spring we take a repostioning cruise from the US to Barcelona and use that first flight and in the fall we use the other flight to get back to Europe where we will take a repostioning cruise back to the US. Kind of like slaying two cruises with one round trip fare

Hank