Flights for alaska cruise

[dawn.glenn@ns.sympatico.c]

We are ten months away from our alaska cruisetour. What are your thoughts on booking flights ----- book now or wait???? We will have cancellation insurance but since we are using points to cover our flights the insurance will only cover the taxes that we actually pay for. Do not want to loose all our points if heaven forbid something happen and we cannot go.

[ERTHDOG]

we just booked our flights thru alaska airlines , and saved 35 % because they are running their annual sale :)

 

not all flights are eligible for the discounts , so my opinion is check it out,and if you find the prices to your liking , then book 'em;)

 

as far as....if something happens ....well ,that is up to you. i dont like to think about "what if" , but thats just me:o

 

happy planning

 

dave

[Budget Queen]

Using "points" for Alaska flights is very limited. You need to be looking at this now.

 

Wouldn't you have some kind of cancelation feature with a penality if you were cancel anyway? Couldn't the "points" be deposited back into accounts?

[tmitchell82]

We are ten months away from our alaska cruisetour. What are your thoughts on booking flights ----- book now or wait???? We will have cancellation insurance but since we are using points to cover our flights the insurance will only cover the taxes that we actually pay for. Do not want to loose all our points if heaven forbid something happen and we cannot go.

 

It depends on how you have to use the points. American for instance will allow you to book a FF ticket anytime for 25K miles one way or 50K miles. You can book those anytime up to a few weeks before you fly as long as their is room on the flight. Now you can also book a FF ticket for 12.5K miles or 25K miles round trip, but those seats are very limited and if you want them, you need to get them when available. We just booked flights to SFO for our Alaska cruise next summer and there were very few FF tickets available at the lower level and this is 8 months out. My decision to use miles is usually based on the cost of the flight. $300 for a flight and I am likely paying for it. More, than I start considering miles.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Agree -- using points -- book now -- so many flights have limited seats on them.

And if you live in an area like we do -- we even have limited flights to anywhere so we know that we have to book early just to get seats without using points.

[Keith1010]

I would start looking and as soon as you find a price you are pleased with I would book.

 

Keith

[Putterdude]

Your insurance will not likely cover the value of your flight so you will need to check with whoever issues your points re penalties for putting points back in your account in the event you need to cancel. As you are a Canadian, I seem to recall that Aeroplan used to put the points back from a pretty modest fee but I have never looked into RBC's Avion policy even though that is who I use now. However, I would still be booking flights sooner than later.

[vbmom87]

 

Wouldn't you have some kind of cancelation feature with a penality if you were cancel anyway? Couldn't the "points" be deposited back into accounts?

 

Really depends on the particular program. We participate in two different programs. With one, we would lose the points if we cancelled; with the other they would be redeposited with adequate notice. I believe it is something like 72 hours. Airlines' points programs are not as generous with redepositing points as they once were. :(

[dawn.glenn@ns.sympatico.c]

We are using rbc points and they are non refundable although you will get credit at the airline....but it expires after a certain timeframe. Booking flights today...so excited!!!!!

[B Russo]

It depends on the airline and the points program. We had to cancel one time and could reuse the points, But who knows how they will do it now. :( Bill

[vbmom87]

It depends on the airline and the points program. We had to cancel one time and could reuse the points, But who knows how they will do it now. :( Bill

 

Last I read Delta lets you redeposit if you cancel within 72 hours. However, my CC points that I can use on multiple airlines is not clear. They do not deposit them, I know that. They said the outcome is dependent on the airlines policies and some might let you pay a fee to reschedule. They said to plan on $150 for domestic and $200 for international. :eek:

[tigger_ag]

We were going to book our flights two weeks ago, but ended up booking last weekend since the price had already gone up in one week. Granted it was only about $7 that the flight went up, but we were nervous about them going up more. Just looked a few minutes ago and now the flight we are booked on has gone up even more, so I am now happy that we booked last week. We booked using credit card points through our credit card which ended up being the same price as all of the online sites and they waived the booking fees. I guess we are not that concerned with getting the points back if something was to happen because I am bound and determined we are going on this trip no matter what!