Which airports for Baltic cruise

[Pearl64]

I have been checking for quite awhile now trying to find flights from Western PA to London and then back from Oslo or Bergen for mid August-early September. The prices are all over the place. We have some miles accumulated through Conintental and United but not enough for a free flight even if we grouped them. Does any one out there know of any potential problems with the following itineraries? Continental out of Cleveland with a change in Newark to Heathrow and back from Oslo-Newark-Cleveland. These are all bigger planes which I like. I can deal with the Embrer jets but I am not sure about the others. Cleveland is about $70 cheaper than going through Pittsburgh. Either airport is a toss up. United has a flight from Pittsburgh to O'Hare or DCA and then Heathrow and back through Frankfort with Lufthansia. United is about $200 more than Contintental. Delta flies from Pittsburgh to Atlanta to Gatwick and return from Oslo to Paris Charles DeGalle to Pittsburgh with the price about the same as United. Then I got creative and checked out Icelandair out of Toronto. We would need to drive to Toronto--about 5 hours--pick up our flight to Iceland where we would need to stay two nights and take a flight to Heathrow the day before our cruise. Return fight is Oslo to Iceland and then to Toronto basically the same day. I didn't know if the airport in Reykivik(sp?) has weather issues in mid August or other issues I am unaware of. Icelandair is about $600 cheaper than Continental and $800 cheaper than United or Delta. I realize we would need to figure in the extra hotel and driving to Toronto but we would get to see a little of Iceland. I don't know how far the airport is from town either.

 

We do want to get to London the day before our cruise which leaves out of Tilbury. I don't know how long it will take us to get from London-Victoria Station- to Tilbury.

 

I have investigated driving to the DC area or even Newark but there is not much difference in price. Are there other airlines that I am missing? I am welcome for any suggestions-just not through Philadelphia please and not USAir.

 

Thanks to all you experts out there.

Pearl

[6rugrats]

I'm not sure what you mean by "grouping" your UA and CO miles. You can't combine them, but maybe I'm not understanding you.

 

There is no way I'd consider a five hour drive, and then a night's stay in Toronto, on top of a two night stay in Iceland, as it will add a lot of cost to the trip (don't forget meals, etc.) and time.

 

Most of the UA/CO flights are codeshares. Delta flights are code shares with Air France/KLM/NW (could be any combination). AA flies part of the route with a BMI/SAS codeshare.

 

If you have FF accounts with Star Alliance, I'd try to stay on those carriers, as this trip will earn you a lot of miles.

 

Have a good trip!

[Pearl64]

What I meant was combining my FF miles with my husbands. I thought one could do that, but perhaps I am wrong. That is why this board is so important. I am not planning on staying in Toronto overnight. The flights are late enough in the day to allow us to drive up with time to spare.

 

Thanks for your info.

Pearl

[KC Gorilla]

Just for giggles, I checked kayak for a flight from Akron to London in mid-August with a return from Oslo to Pittsburg in mid-September and the price was $1207 for coach. That is $300 less than what it cost me last year from Kansas City to London at about the same time of the year.

[6rugrats]

What I meant was combining my FF miles with my husbands. I thought one could do that, but perhaps I am wrong. That is why this board is so important. I am not planning on staying in Toronto overnight. The flights are late enough in the day to allow us to drive up with time to spare.

 

Thanks for your info.

Pearl

 

No, you can't combine miles from one airline with an account at another airline (i.e., transferring UA miles into your CO account). Also, for another example, you can't use your 25,000 UA miles and combine them with your husband's 30,000 UA miles and use them to book one award ticket. Doesn't work that way. All miles for one ticket must come from one person's account.

 

You can transfer miles from one account to another. UA allows you to receive up to 15,000 miles total per calendar year from someone else's account. Can be expensive doing this though.

[Globaliser]

The prices are all over the place.

Can you give us an idea of what actual prices you are seeing?

 

If the price is something like $1,200 per person, then a $70 difference between one itinerary and another is pretty trivial. It will be more important to look at which airline will provide a better travel experience, what the actual schedules are and how they work for you, and what the connecting airports and connection times are.

 

And why might you be trying to fly back from Bergen? Does your cruise end there, or in Oslo?

We do want to get to London the day before our cruise which leaves out of Tilbury. I don't know how long it will take us to get from London-Victoria Station- to Tilbury.

Why Victoria station specifically?

 

It would be easier to advise you if we knew more about your actual travel plans.

[6rugrats]

Can you give us an idea of what actual prices you are seeing?

 

If the price is something like $1,200 per person, then a $70 difference between one itinerary and another is pretty trivial. It will be more important to look at which airline will provide a better travel experience, what the actual schedules are and how they work for you, and what the connecting airports and connection times are.

 

And why might you be trying to fly back from Bergen? Does your cruise end there, or in Oslo?Why Victoria station specifically?

 

It would be easier to advise you if we knew more about your actual travel plans.

 

True, and I'm seeing mostly fares around $1200; nothing much lower no matter how you route it, but difficult without the exact cities and dates to provide much more information.

[Pearl64]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts so far. Our cruise leaves Tilbury and ends in Stockholm but my husband and I are going to spend a week in Norway and will probably end up in Bergen but could speed onto Bergen first and then end up in Oslo to catch the flight back to the US if those connections would work better. Our cruise leaves August 19 but I want to be in London on the 18th. I do not want to fly in the day of the cruise--don't want to stress over making it. The date to return is sort of flexible but am currently looking at September 9.

 

These prices include all the taxes. All outbound flights are overnight. The return flights are mid to late morning. I did not include times as there were several options in some cases but I left at least 2 hours connect time.

 

Continental: $2399

Cleveland to Newark to LHR

Oslo to Newark to Cleveland

 

United: $2595

Pittsburgh to either Ohare or DCA to LHR

Oslo to Frankfort to Chicago or DCA to Pittsburgh

 

Delta: $2572

Pittsburgh to Atlanta to LHR

Oslo to Paris to Pittsburgh

 

Icelandair: $1884

Toronto to Reykavik on 8/16 This would give us two days to explore Iceland.

Reykavik to LHR on 8/18

Oslo to Toronto(not sure if there is a connection in Reykavik)

 

To answer the question about Victoria Station is that is what we are familiar with and know of a decent hotel in that area. I know nothing about staying near Tilbury. I had looked some time back that the precruise hotels were near the Westminster attractions. If someone knows of a safe, comfortable hotel in some other area, we would consider that.

 

The reason for my original post was to see which airports were the better ones to connect through, more secure (if that is even possible to determine), and which airline might be better. I also do not know about going through customs with a US passport in Canada or if the quirks are just Vancouver.

 

I agree with Gobiliser that $70 is not much difference except in the aircraft used. I am not a good flier. I tend to like the bigger planes--Airbus 319 and 320 or any of the Boeing 700s. I like to sit over the wings. Once I am up I am better not great and coming back down can cause problems for me as well. And, I do know that airlines can change aircraft at a moment's notice. And KC Gorilla, I do know Akron can sometimes have great prices. I had even found a fairly reasonable flight out of Harrisburg of all places.

 

I hope this gives more information. If I have left any other important info out, let me know and I will fill you in. Thanks to all who have responded so far.

Pearl

[Globaliser]

I think that I would personally be minded to try to avoid a two-connection journey on the way back home, which would point to flying home from Oslo rather than Bergen (which almost certainly requires two connections). But you would retain the option of flying from Bergen to Oslo anyway if it turns out that that's convenient, as it's a very thick route (well over a dozen flights a day on SAS alone).

 

By reputation at least, CO is a better airline than DL, and the Newark-Cleveland sector has a reasonably frequent timetable so that there is some backup if you miss a connection. The main downside to this (but not unique to this routing) is that you have to clear US immigration and customs at Newark, which tends to add some wasted padding to your journey time.

 

The only real advantage to the "United" routings is that you might be able to fly across the Atlantic on Lufthansa rather than on a US airline. But I'm not sure that I'd subject myself to a two-connection journey just to do that. (BTW, those "United" routings will connect at IAD, not DCA.)

 

If you want to stay near Victoria station, then your best bet for a transfer to Tilbury is probably a private transfer. As you're going to have luggage, it's probably just not worth the hassle to do it by public transport. In a car, I'd allow about an hour door-to-door.

[Pearl64]

Thank you, Globaliser, for your expert advice. I am leaning towards Continental through Cleveland. Thank you for the heads up about Delta. They were really at the bottom of the list except for the fact that there is a straight flight from Paris. Delta just added this flight and if it is not used, it will go away. United uses United flights on the outbound flight but does use Lufthansa coming back home. I didn't know about connecting through Frankfort. Both flights the Oslo and Frankfort flights are on Lufthansa if that makes any difference. I have returned before through Newark and did not have a lot of problems getting through customs.

 

Thank you for the info about getting to Tilbury. We had used the Tube getting rom Heathrow to Victoria with luggage and had no major problems. Actually, it was rather smooth. Perhaps that was the exception. Do you have any names of private transfer companies? The cruise line's transfers were exhorbitant and I am not sure if you had to use their hotels. This will give us about 24 hours to find something to do in London which I am sure that won't be a problem. Maybe I can get my husband to go to the Globe again and stand for six hours! I thoroughly enjoyed it, but he keeps bringing this up every now and then.

 

I am also taking that you are not advising taking Icelandair. It was just a thought not really a bona fide option.

 

Again, thank you for your point of view. We are looking forward to spending more time in England and other points in Europe.

 

Pearl

[Twickenham]

Thank you for the heads up about Delta. They were really at the bottom of the list except for the fact that there is a straight flight from Paris.

 

Any flight that has you going thru CDG should always be at the bottom of your list.

 

We had used the Tube getting rom Heathrow to Victoria with luggage and had no major problems. Actually, it was rather smooth. Perhaps that was the exception.

 

I've never had any issues transferring on the Tube, even with luggage.

 

 

I am also taking that you are not advising taking Icelandair. It was just a thought not really a bona fide option.

 

The issues with that option isn't Icelandair, it's driving 5 hours to go thru YYZ. Pearson is right down there with CDG as my bottom choices for airports, and you have a 5-hour drive home on the return. If you want to explore the Iceland option, I suggest going thru JFK - I'm finding flights from there in the $900/pers. range that would work for you, and you then can add a separate connecting flight to JFK, either purchased or if you can work those points somehow.

[6rugrats]

Most of the UA flights are actually on CO for the TATL portion. If you choose Icelandair, you would have to fly UA from YYZ-BOS, so that seems silly. I was unable to find your preferred dates on Icelandair's webpage. You would have to change planes in Reykavik on the return.

 

I would avoid LH in coach if possible, but perhaps that's just my experience.

[Twickenham]

If you choose Icelandair, you would have to fly UA from YYZ-BOS, so that seems silly.

 

Icelandair flies KEF-YYZ direct. I've been researching it for a possible QM2 transatlantic for this fall.

 

Or rather, will be flying direct to YYZ. Service resumes in May.

[6rugrats]

Icelandair flies KEF-YYZ direct. I've been researching it for a possible QM2 transatlantic for this fall.

 

Or rather, will be flying direct to YYZ. Service resumes in May.

 

True, but that would be the return flight. I was looking at a flight on OP's departure date that was YYZ-BOS-KEF. I am sure there may be other possibilities.

[Twickenham]

True, but that would be the return flight. I was looking at a flight on OP's departure date that was YYZ-BOS-KEF. I am sure there may be other possibilities.

 

You're right. The direct flight I saw was actually on the 17th (which begs the question, why those dates?)

[Globaliser]

United uses United flights on the outbound flight but does use Lufthansa coming back home. I didn't know about connecting through Frankfort. Both flights the Oslo and Frankfort flights are on Lufthansa if that makes any difference.

Between Washington Dulles and Frankfurt, there are typically two Lufthansa flights and three United flights a day. If you do this, you want to try to ensure that you are on a Lufthansa-operated flight, whichever airline's flight number you actually book. Similarly, between Chicago and Frankfurt, there are typically two Lufthansas and two Uniteds a day. (I have ignored airlines unaffiliated with United for these purposes.)

Thank you for the info about getting to Tilbury. We had used the Tube getting rom Heathrow to Victoria with luggage and had no major problems. Actually, it was rather smooth.

Heathrow to Victoria by Tube is not that much of a problem if you know what you are doing. The main issue about getting to Tilbury is that London Fenchurch Street station is a good few hundred yards' walk from the nearest Tube (Tower Hill), and you have to change from train to bus at Tilbury Town to get to the dock. The normal scheduled time is 1:20 from Fenchurch Street to Tilbury Riverside. By the time you've faffed about with getting to Fenchurch Street to start with, plus luggage, you might be better off with a straight private car transfer. But it can certainly be done by public transport.

I am also taking that you are not advising taking Icelandair. It was just a thought not really a bona fide option.

It seemed to me like far more hassle than it was worth.