Overseas Airfare

[Chatteress]

Hopefully I can do the European cruises one day ... My challenge is that I'm basically limited to the summer months as I work in education and I have to fly out of LAX .... Not only are the flights super expensive, they are 12+ hours long ...

[Chatteress]

The Transatlantic cruises sound like a great option to save on airfare but as a school employee, the dates of travel won't work for me ... I guess I'll have to look into a European cruise next summer and just start saving.

[dancersusan]

I'm at a loss of how to make a European cruise affordable. While I can find cruise prices I consider well within my budget, the astronomical cost of flying overseas is making me think this is a luxury I cannot afford.

 

Boggles my mind that the cost of airfare would be two-three times the cost of the cruise.

 

Consider a Transatlantic crossing so you only have to pay for one way fare. I watch these constantly. BCN (Barcelona) is usually the cheapest port to fly into from my home airport, but do you own research, it could be elsewhere for you. Best time to look for air is Wed. AM. Try http://www.kayak.com which sorts several vendors at once. Tip: When you see a price that is great; GRAB it immediately! You can typically hold a cruise booking w/o paying for 24 hours while searching for air. We also save up and use our air miles and only take a cruise now in Europe if we can use miles to fly. We had to fly into one airport and out of another, but made it work for us. Trains for short distances are cheap there! Grab a map of Europe, study it with airports listed and try many cities for flying there and home, this is especially true when flying on miles. Good luck.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

If you are flying one way, most of the airlines will charge you for a round trip. One exception to this is Aer Lingus, the Irish airline. You can book a true one way flight to Europe. The only catch is that you will have to fly into Ireland and spend a delightful time in either Dublin or Shanon airport. Then catch a connecter to Heathrow or other English stop.

Thanks for the tip ...

[pseudoware]

Another resource - sign up for air fare price alerts. airfarewatchdog.com is one.

 

I checked prices online EVERYDAY once tix were available ~10 months out. It took me a few weeks of searching. Also, I gave up on multi-city searches (like SFO->BCN->LHR->SFO), since most discounts are on RT fares. I'm sure there are exceptions, but doing it daily, I had to narrow down the search parameters in the interest of time. Good luck.

 

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

[vivavegas]

Another resource - sign up for air fare price alerts. airfarewatchdog.com is one.

 

I checked prices online EVERYDAY once tix were available ~10 months out. It took me a few weeks of searching. Also, I gave up on multi-city searches (like SFO->BCN->LHR->SFO), since most discounts are on RT fares. I'm sure there are exceptions, but doing it daily, I had to narrow down the search parameters in the interest of time. Good luck.

 

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for the tip!:)

[always_cruisin]

Find a travel agent who uses consolidators. There are some decent prices available, but the TA has to know what to look for.

[Big Chief]

Aer Lingus is the way to go! We're sailing on the Celebrity Silhouette in October for an 11 day cruise Venice to Rome.

Air fare was $688 a person R/T (thru Dublin) from NY. All the others wanted between $1100 and $1259 per person R/T (most with a stop anyway)

[Mr&MrsSmith]

Great tips! Glad I'm not the only one who was looking at the prices for airfare twice iand shocked at how high. Is there a certain time in advance where deals come up? We are looking for a flight Miami to Barcelona Sept 20 - Oct 1 return and not sure if to book now (after much looking) or hold out and see what happens?

 

Is there a site where average rates for seasons can be found? I'm use to September being a more economical month but we are a little under 1300 with taxes on a direct flight 4 months out.

 

Thanks

[always_cruisin]

Mr&MrsSmith-I'm seeing rates around $887 with stops or $1100-1300 nonstop.

[Mr&MrsSmith]

Which site are you using, if you dont mind?

[always_cruisin]

Farebuzz.com

[Bamaman1]

You want to play, you gotta pay.

 

All you can do is be a careful flight shopper. Chances are you'll have to get your flight at a much cheaper time of the year than mid-Summer.

 

We flew to London and home from Rome for $720 in 3/31/12. Fares went up 4/1 somewhat, and up to $1500 around 6/1. Fares through the Fall are in the $800's from the East Coast--including the largest European port of Barcelona.

 

Don't try to depart from Rome (I forget how to spell the port name), or anywhere in Italy, as their fares remain pretty ridiculous for now.

 

The Mediterranean cruises are great values--especially if you stay a few days before and after your cruise.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Great info ...

[Babs02]

We've also struggled with prices for Feb 2013 from UK. Fab deals on cruises flights are crippling us.

 

One thing worth noting is prices are better during the week avoid weekend flights, if possible.

[zoncom]

Found a good Constellation TA Fall solo price so thought I would try Choice. Aspen-Southhampton-Miami-Aspen on Lufthansa for $810. Aspen one of most expensive gates in U.S. Was very pleased to know you could do regional addons affordably. Think it also works for RCL.

[bdpnatl]

We have used himpmonk as a way to compare international fares. They do not have all airlines schedules so it makes it less useful for domestic. Sometimes there are good mystery airline rates that you can get for quite a bit less that regular rates. You can normally look at the other flights and figure out who the mystery airline is.

[weltek]

A few strategies we used on a land-based trip two years ago:

 

1) Sign up for farecompare.com fare alerts. I found them helpful in figuring out what a "good" price was.

 

2) Look for other airports to fly from. How far are you willing to drive? Check prices for those airports. Could I use frequent flyer miles to get a free flight to a cheap U.S. airport (e.g., LaGuardia, LAX) and how much money would that save?

 

We found we could save only about $150 by using miles to get to LaGuardia for our Rome flight. That wasn't worth using all my FF miles, IMO.

 

We ended up at under $800 to fly from Madison, WI to Rome. Easily twice what it would be to fly to Miami, New York, New Orleans, etc., but we had an experience we couldn't have anywhere else. In my opinion, flying to Europe JUST to do a seven day cruise isn't worth it. I'd add on at least a week of land based travel if at all possible. It's what makes the airfare worthwhile for us.

[Jasonmom]

Just paid $1127 for flight from GSO to VCE then back from BCN to VCE. Got it $30 cheaper by booking the day before. Between the two of us a $60 savings to pay toward the $160 hotel night. Man :eek: is Europe expensive.

[sully108]

But we are counting on the trip of a lifetime. We are flying in July 2013. Newark to Rome, then flying back home from Barcelona. We expect to spend a couple of days in Rome, then travel up to Venice, then begin our cruise there in Venice. I agree spending 17 days in Europe makes the airfare more palatable. But the hotels are so expensive .. yikes !

 

279 days til we embark on The Royal Princess !!! :):p:D

[Queenk2]

Are you eligible for any discounted rate?...I am speaking gov...if you are a teacher or work in a school! You will have to show I'd but the rates are far better! Also what about a senior rate? Try the us based hotels as the offer these on their websites,or call and ask! Good luck!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Just be flex on your air fair ...