FAQ on air travel

[dreamr]

I have a newbie question.

I am going to be cruising on the NCL Epic November 10-17th of this year (woo!) and I have been looking at rates for flights leaving from Charlotte, NC to Miami, FL. I have read that it's risky to fly the day of, so I have been looking for flights in the late afternoon/early evening of November 9th (as of right now, I am planning to work until 5 PM, but I may see if I can get that Friday off or at least leave early).

When I first booked my cruise, I found a flight that worked well (leaving Charlotte at 7:55 pm nonstop to Miami, arriving at 9:55 pm) for around $350. Was advised by various people who have flown before that prices go down closer to the date of the flight and that I should wait until later in the year to book my flight. I have been keeping an eye on the rates, though, and that same flight is now showing a higher price. Eep.

Do I have cause to be concerned? Or were friends correct in saying that prices will go down closer to departure day?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Algebralovr]

Originally Posted by dreamr

I have a newbie question.

I am going to be cruising on the NCL Epic November 10-17th of this year (woo!) and I have been looking at rates for flights leaving from Charlotte, NC to Miami, FL. I have read that it's risky to fly the day of, so I have been looking for flights in the late afternoon/early evening of November 9th (as of right now, I am planning to work until 5 PM, but I may see if I can get that Friday off or at least leave early).

When I first booked my cruise, I found a flight that worked well (leaving Charlotte at 7:55 pm nonstop to Miami, arriving at 9:55 pm) for around $350. Was advised by various people who have flown before that prices go down closer to the date of the flight and that I should wait until later in the year to book my flight. I have been keeping an eye on the rates, though, and that same flight is now showing a higher price. Eep.

Do I have cause to be concerned? Or were friends correct in saying that prices will go down closer to departure day?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

You don't state which airline you prefer to fly on, but I have found that recently the prices go UP not down the closer to the date you want to fly. I recommend that you check the prices daily for the next few days, then purchase as soon as you can. I generally fly SW, for example, and I usually purchase the week the schedule is released. Generally, prices are least expensive on Tuesday, but not always. Flexibility is the key, as Friday evening flights tend to be most expensive.

[dreamr]

Thanks for the reply, albeit a month late. lol

I didn't mention "which airline I prefer to fly on" because I've never flown before. So I don't have a preference, I was just asking a general question regarding flying. If I had flown before, I'd likely know the ropes and wouldn't have been asking such questions. :P

My cruise leaves on a Saturday, so unless I go a few days beforehand (which isn't possible, since I only get one week's vacation from work), my flight would have to be on Friday.

I have already purchased my tickets, though, so none of this is an issue for me any longer.

Again, thanks for the reply.

[im4golf]

Just wondered if there is any advantage to booking with the cruise rather than booking on your own. I know booking on your own is cheaper.

[FlyerTalker]

Originally Posted by CruiseAirSearchGuy

there are advantages of both. Cruise air includes transfers and if flight is later or delayed it is up to cruise lines to forward clients to next port.

BRRRRRUUPPPPP. I'm sorry, but that is an incorrect answer. Cruise lines are NOT responsible.

Generally cruise lines will want to avoid this by either booking early flights or the night before

.
BRRRRRUUPPPPP. I'm sorry, but that too is an incorrect answer. Cruise lines will give you what they have available "on the shelf" from the inventory they have from their bulk contracts.

So cost of air is higher with cruise lines. Own on is lower. Generally the cost of transfers is such that the air cost with cruise lines is still way higher. You just want to make sure you get your own flight that come in early.

BRRRRRUUPPPPP. I'm sorry, but that as well is an incorrect answer. It is completely dependent on the specifics of the cruise, cruiseline, dates, routings and many other factors.

[Jackwil80]

Which is better Rayanair or easyjet considering thair airfares and service quality?

[Zach1213]

Originally Posted by Jackwil80

Which is better Rayanair or easyjet considering thair airfares and service quality?

If I had to choose, I would go with Easyjet

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by Jackwil80

Which is better Rayanair or easyjet considering thair airfares and service quality?

That's not a good question to start with. You have to start with what journey you're doing, and where Ryanair or easyJet might fit into the plan. Only then start looking at fares, service quality, and all the extra and hidden costs of flying with them.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We are looking at a Carnival cruise that starts in LA and ends in Santiago, Chile. We usually use FF miles (American), but don't have enough miles for this trip.

We can get to LA using FF miles for the beginning of the cruise. Carnival one way back to LA is $699pp; the cheapest I can find on my own is closer to $800 and is on either Aeromexico or Copa; reviews of these two lines are so awful I don't want to book them. Those fares are mostly back to Dallas, which is fine.

We can also get roundtrip air from Dallas from Carnival for $1099pp. (We live nearest Omaha, but cruise air won't work from there.) But, we want to go in early. We prefer to stay in Chile a day or two also; can we ask for a deviation for that? And what would the cost probably be for a deviation?

We've never used cruise air for all the reasons given on these boards, but, without it this time, we probably won't do the cruise. Is there anyone who has had a similar itinerary and the flights weren't, like 5 stops, or on a horrible airline?

I know we have to take what we get, and don't know until 30-60 days out. Scared to try it! Any experiences that would help?

[Gardyloo]

Originally Posted by Nebr.cruiser

We are looking at a Carnival cruise that starts in LA and ends in Santiago, Chile. We usually use FF miles (American), but don't have enough miles for this trip.

We can get to LA using FF miles for the beginning of the cruise. Carnival one way back to LA is $699pp; the cheapest I can find on my own is closer to $800 and is on either Aeromexico or Copa; reviews of these two lines are so awful I don't want to book them. Those fares are mostly back to Dallas, which is fine.

We can also get roundtrip air from Dallas from Carnival for $1099pp. (We live nearest Omaha, but cruise air won't work from there.) But, we want to go in early. We prefer to stay in Chile a day or two also; can we ask for a deviation for that? And what would the cost probably be for a deviation?

We've never used cruise air for all the reasons given on these boards, but, without it this time, we probably won't do the cruise. Is there anyone who has had a similar itinerary and the flights weren't, like 5 stops, or on a horrible airline?

I know we have to take what we get, and don't know until 30-60 days out. Scared to try it! Any experiences that would help?

When is the cruise?

You might consider phoning AA and asking about award availability around your return date, using either their planes or Lan Chile, an excellent airline which is based in Santiago. You can't see Lan award availability online through AA's website, but the AA people can tell you if there's space open on or close to your preferred date.

If they see space available and you don't have enough miles, go to AA.com - http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pu...Miles/main.jsp - and buy the miles you need. At present AA is offering a 33% bonus, so e.g. to get 30,000 miles (enough for a one-way coach seat in peak season, Dec - Feb) you'd buy 24,000 miles for $660 plus tax, and receive another 8,000 as a bonus. This happens basically instantly, so then you phone AA back and book the seats. That will get you all the way home, not just to DFW. It's really very easy. You could even look for business class seats, requiring 50,000 miles each - $1100 for 40K mi + 12K mi bonus is pretty cheap for a business class flight from deep South America.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Thanks! I'll try all and any of the above. Especially calling AA. We'd love to be able to head on home to Omaha, that's for sure.

I appreciate the help. I never think about calling them to see if there are awards on other airlines. The ship leaves LA on Feb. 3 and docks on Feb. 20th in Santiago. We'd like to spend a couple of extra days there.

My AA site was showing 20% bonus miles on miles bought. Where did you find the 33% figure?

[Gardyloo]

Originally Posted by Nebr.cruiser

Thanks! I'll try all and any of the above. Especially calling AA. We'd love to be able to head on home to Omaha, that's for sure.

I appreciate the help. I never think about calling them to see if there are awards on other airlines. The ship leaves LA on Feb. 3 and docks on Feb. 20th in Santiago. We'd like to spend a couple of extra days there.

My AA site was showing 20% bonus miles on miles bought. Where did you find the 33% figure?

I think it's a sliding scale, but you're right - I think my math was off. 12K on 40K is 30%, not 33%.

Especially on flights to/from South America, because AA has Lan as a partner, the number of potential flights one can use for mileage redemptions is much, much larger than if it was just AA. Lan is a very big airline. Unfortunately, AA is making only slow progress in being able let users access award seat "inventory" online with partners (just a few partners at present) so it's easy to get the impression that these seats are hard to get. They might be, but you can't know for sure without calling.

But for example I can see 7 economy-class seats open on an AA flight departing Santiago to Miami on the 21st. You'd need to kill a day in Chile but Valparaiso, Viña del Mar and/or Concon are pretty cool places, as is Santiago itself, so not a huge loss. Getting from Miami to Omaha might involve changing planes again some place (I haven't gone to all the effort) but probably doable. And that's not even being able to see all the Lan flights that might work for you - to Miami, Los Angeles, New York, etc. - from which you'd connect home to Omaha.