Are interline rates cheaper

[SMSACE6]

If the interliner is an airline employee than they are flying for next to nothing. Our experience with interline rates is they that they beat the Carnival going rate 95% of the time and on other cruise lines they are even a better deal. We book early and do like everyone else watch the rates and if the rates drop we get the discount but we have also done last minute cruises and have gotten excellent rates.

 

Happy cruising,

Vinnie

 

Just speaking for myself, Im getting too old:D to travel by air under the conditions of standby! Also in my new line of work, I dont have the flexibility to maybe not get on the flight going or returning. I have to be back when my employer expects me. this is just my experience, but to those who have the time and "nerves" to travel by air on standby, then I say go for it! Better still if you can drive to your port. 25 years in the airline business has left me with a distinct discomfort in airports!:D Again this is just my experience.:)

[wrf2e]

All of my cruises have been Interline rate. I have found it to be cheaper than any other rate plus, like others have said, they have less restrictions than ES rates. You should always check the other rates when booking. If you find that the rate has gone down you can get the difference back as lon as you are before final payment...if you are past that you can upgrade to a better cabin. Carnival will use the Interline rate to fill the ship last minute because they know airline employees have pretty flexible work schedules and can do spur of the moment trips.

[ChefSusan]

We always book our cabins under ES, and once interline comes out, our TA will compare them to see which is the best deal for us. Many times we have stayed with ES, a few times we have switched over to interline. For our cruise on Magic next May, our balcony was about $150 cheaper on interline, so we're going to stay there.

 

One of our favorite things about booking interline is that you can have up to three cabins total at that rate. Our friends like this because they can travel with us and get this rate!

 

The only negative to booking with interline is that once you hit final payment, the OBC game ends :( We never do any upgrades, as we don't want to risk not getting a cabin on the port side of the ship.

 

Regardless, if you are eligible for interline, and it works out for you, then book it!

[CruisinManiac]

Why the port side? :confused:

[Skywench]

Most of the cruises I've done I have used an interline rate. However, my last cruise and the next one I am doing next month it either wasn't available for the cabin I want (only want certain cabins!) or the ES rate was better.

[pkrchkr]

with our large group we are using ES rate and Interline rate. DF is a retired airline employee. All 16 of us are Past guests.. DM,DF,DB and DSIL are using interlineand will get DS 24 in that rate as well but the rest of us are going ES. The difference is about 20 pp right now..The biggest beef I have with Carnival is that they do not honor the Canadian Armed Forces personnel with a military discount but there sister companies do:confused:.. Time to get with it and anty up...

[Fall Cruiser]

My husband works for a commercial airline. We are using interline rates for our Destiny cruise on 10/23. It was about $100 - 150 less expensive than our friends who booked with the Early Saver rates. The prices dropped before our final payment was due and we were able to save even more. They didn't give us an OBC, but changed our rate right then and there.

[luckycruzer]

To use interline rates is the same rules as military rates in the employee has to be booked in the room unless they are having a friends and family rate. Some cruise lines allow the airline employee to book multiple cabins but in any case the employee has to be on the cruise.

 

Carnival military rate uses the exact rate code as interline rates the only difference is there is less availability for the military rate than the interline rate on most all cruises.

 

On rare occasion we have found ES or past to be a little cheaper but we usually wait on those cruises and they eventually drop to where the interline rate is cheaper. Plus unlike ES we do not have a non refundable deposit.

 

Vinnie

 

my DH has never cruised CCL w/me, and I have had 28, with 9 more booked and deposits. When we have cruzed together w/ other line we used MIL, as he has to be there.

[oncruisecontrol]

We always book thru our PVP at Carnival, and we have always gotten the interline rate. We specifically tell them that we want the interline rate. In the past we have noticed that the interline discount was better than what it is now (at least for the categories/itineraries we book). In fact, for our upcoming cruise, we initially booked interline, but then saw that the past guest rate was even cheaper. Since we were before final payment and not on early saver, our PVP switched us to the past guest rate. If you book interline, you and your friend who is the airline employee must be booked in the same cabin, and she has 48 from the time of the booking to fax a copy of her airline ID to the PVP.

[gone_cruisin]

I've always booked Interline rates until Carnival started the ES program.

 

I've found ES to be cheaper. Just my experience.

 

Plus, with ES, you can get the discounts up to 2 business days before sailing. Not so with Interline.

 

There are some restrictions, but so far, it's worked well for me.

 

Three cruises under my belt with ES and the interline rate has ALWAYS been cheaper. I gambled with ES in hopes it would go down further than the interline rate at initial booking - no such luck.

 

Upcoming Thanksgiving cruise - two rooms, one room is interline and the other is ES (had to book ES to use my future cruise certificate). Thus far the interline rate is over $80 cheaper.

 

You can also get interline price drops up to final payment.