Booking Flights

[roothy123]

I think I pretty much know the pros and cons and ins and outs of taking Oceania's included air versus booking my own flights. However, I could use some advice on how to book my own, should I choose that option. I know it's hard to generalize about booking airfare, but I was wondering if overseas flights (Washington DC to Europe in late September) should be booked as soon as you're sure what flights you want, or if there's any merit in waiting. (In this case, the wait is 11 months until the cruise!) Do prices ever go down after an initial period such as the one ahead of me (11 months)? Do flights often get changed or eliminated during that time? Also, for those of you savvy in booking your own airfare, what considerations do you think about when booking (connection time in a particular city, for example) and do you use any tools to help you? (I like DOT's on-time records, but I don't think they are obtained for international carriers, or perhaps not for international flights.)

 

Any help you can give me would be appreciated. If it matters, I'll be going to Venice in late September (2015) from the Washington, DC/Baltimore area, and coming back from Istanbul in early October. I will settle for economy, I guess, unless people think economy plus is worthwhile. I don't think I can afford business class. I don't have frequent flyer miles, although I do have some perks from Capital One (not sure extent of them, however).

 

Thanks.

[sitraveler]

I'd also like next week's lottery numbers please.

 

There is an air travel forum here on CC, but in general if you want to arrive day of cruise and leave on ending day letting O make the arrangements requires you wait until after final payment. Once you decide otherwise for either side of the cruise let O, or your TA if you have one, make you an offer.

 

You can research your own plans and decide whether to accept O or not. I think this cost is $175. per person, due once you accept. You can decline or remove air from your cruise and make your own arrangements.

 

We have generally been most satisfied with O's sir, not having miles too.

 

Most airlines schedule 330 days out or less-subject to change, cancel, snow, strike or others. O allows deviation requests 270 days before your cruise.

Edited October 29, 2014 by sitraveler

[turnip eater]

Well, British Airways (BA) have a sale on at the moment..if you try a test booking on their website, it will give you an idea of cost. Their website is http://www.britishairways.com. They use US flights out and BA back.:)

[PaulMCO]

In my 3M + miles of travel I find it always better to book early rather than late. Especially these days airlines are running very high load factors.

 

Going out of Dulles - suggest you shop around. Someone mentioned BA but I tend to stay away because going thru Heathrow is a pain and your taxes can add $400 to a ticket on the return.

 

Look at United they have one stop service to both Venice (via Frankfurt or Munich) and Istanbul (via Newark). Also LH is good but crowded - less legroom than UA. Others are Swiss Air, and KLM.

 

However if you are NOT going to use FF miles or flying business - Oceania's included air is definitely a good deal. My suggestion is to Deviate and spend a couple of extra days in Venice and at least one extra day in Istanbul.

[kimanjo]

I usually do my own air, but my next "O" cruise will be the first time I am using O's.

 

THe why's....

 

The air credit used to be larger.

 

TATL fares used to be less.

 

I rarely see them go down.

 

I fly out of Memphis, one of the highest cost airports in the country.

 

Even with non-gateway fees, and Air Deviation, it is still cheaper to use O's air. I have been running the numbers over and over and watching air prices until I got to the 270 day window. A Memphis transatlantic fare is 1400-1600 (coach)pp. Ouch.

 

We don't fly business.

 

For me, it's all about the numbers...

 

BTW, my interaction with O's air department ( with the help of my TA) was fantastic!

 

(this is all about purchasing air, we never use miles)

Edited October 29, 2014 by kimanjo

[Cruise Junky]

Holy smokes kimanjo that's expensive. We were offered an $1,100 credit per person and took it. That's $1,100 US so over $1,230 Canadian plus we'd have to pay the deviation cost each. We should be able to do that flight for under $1,200 easy in May

 

 

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[kimanjo]

Holy smokes kimanjo that's expensive. We were offered an $1,100 credit per person and took it. That's $1,100 US so over $1,230 Canadian plus we'd have to pay the deviation cost each. We should be able to do that flight for under $1,200 easy in May

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Sure is, but that is MEM! It's one of the most expensive airports in the US to fly out of... That's why we ALWAYS run the numbers. What makes buying your own air work for some, it's not the right answer for others...

 

A MEM-FCO in June is upwards of anywhere from 1600-1800 today.

[roothy123]

Well, British Airways (BA) have a sale on at the moment..if you try a test booking on their website, it will give you an idea of cost. Their website is http://www.britishairways.com. They use US flights out and BA back.:)

 

Thanks; I didn't know they were having a sale right now. I guess I'll have to check out BA, assuming I can find flights with an hour and a half for connection time in Heathrow. Anything less is a gamble, and I'd really like to get back home the same day I start!

[turnip eater]

The outward journey is using US flights via Philadelphia,not via LHR. The home journey is via LHR in and out of Terminal 5, no crossing the airport:)

 

So,US/AA/BA codeshare.

[LHT28]

I agree about LHR

we avoid connections there & CDG

 

If I have to connect AMS works well for us but may not be on the route you are going

[turnip eater]

I agree about LHR

we avoid connections there & CDG

 

If I have to connect AMS works well for us but may not be on the route you are going

 

And I've heard not to travel via Munich, as they 'are the worst' for losing luggage.....

 

I'm sure we all have heard horror stories about various airports:eek:

[LHT28]

And I've heard not to travel via Munich, as they 'are the worst' for losing luggage.....

 

I'm sure we all have heard horror stories about various airports:eek:

 

True but once you experience the connections in some airports you make your own bad list of airports to avoid :D

 

Starting or ending at LHR is not a problem

[turnip eater]

We have friends in the North of England who travel via AMS rather than travel via LHR.:eek:

 

There again their luggage arrived on day 3 and day 5 of 7 day cruise.......it was never loaded to start with...:eek:

[roothy123]

Well, I think on our trip back through LHR, it WAS terminal 5, but perhaps terminal 5 has various buildings? I remember wondering "How bad could connecting within the same terminal possibly be?" I remember at least one bus involved, plus a security line, plus a lot of traveling through the airport. It was on BA, BCN to LHR to IAD.

 

I was wondering how Munich was, as that's one option for us. I've never connected there, but Frankfurt has treated us nicely in the past. I don't mind taking my chances on the lost luggage. Can I at least assume that connections at Munich are relatively quick?

[Travelcat2]

We have friends in the North of England who travel via AMS rather than travel via LHR.:eek:

 

There again their luggage arrived on day 3 and day 5 of 7 day cruise.......it was never loaded to start with...:eek:

 

In July, our luggage was "lost" at terminal 5. We received it on day 10 of our cruise.

[silkman]

Well, I think on our trip back through LHR, it WAS terminal 5, but perhaps terminal 5 has various buildings? I remember wondering "How bad could connecting within the same terminal possibly be?" I remember at least one bus involved, plus a security line, plus a lot of traveling through the airport. It was on BA, BCN to LHR to IAD.

 

I was wondering how Munich was, as that's one option for us. I've never connected there, but Frankfurt has treated us nicely in the past. I don't mind taking my chances on the lost luggage. Can I at least assume that connections at Munich are relatively quick?

 

We found Munich much more "passenger friendly" than Frankfurt. It is much smaller. We had only an 11/2 hour connection, and made it with time to spare...no luggage problem.

I would avoid Heathrow, if possible.

 

Richard

[Cruise Junky]

Well, I think on our trip back through LHR, it WAS terminal 5, but perhaps terminal 5 has various buildings? I remember wondering "How bad could connecting within the same terminal possibly be?" I remember at least one bus involved, plus a security line, plus a lot of traveling through the airport. It was on BA, BCN to LHR to IAD.

 

I was wondering how Munich was, as that's one option for us. I've never connected there, but Frankfurt has treated us nicely in the past. I don't mind taking my chances on the lost luggage. Can I at least assume that connections at Munich are relatively quick?

 

Frankfurt has lost my luggage before. We got it back on Day 22 of a European trip...although in fairness to Lufthansa, they delivered it to the wrong place once they found it, it wasn't actually lost for 22 days.

[roothy123]

OK, so I guess you guys are telling me that *** I*** will make it from Frankfurt or Munich to Venice but my luggage may not! That does it, I'm wearing 5 layers of clothes and peeling 4 of them all off on the plane. Now I'm glad the cruise line has self-service washers and dryers!

Edited October 30, 2014 by roothy123

[Cruise Junky]

OK, so I guess you guys are telling me that *** I*** will make it from Frankfurt or Munich to Venice but my luggage may not! That does it, I'm wearing 5 layers of clothes and peeling 4 of them all off on the plane. Now I'm glad the cruise line has self-service washers and dryers!

 

Haha... I learned my lesson in Frankfurt, I'm going through Amsterdam next month :). Heathrow has also lost my luggage but I got it next day and it was on my way home. I think the message is any given airport can lose luggage. Pack your carryon carefully ;)

[ShopperfiendTO]

I think I pretty much know the pros and cons and ins and outs of taking Oceania's included air versus booking my own flights. However, I could use some advice on how to book my own, should I choose that option. I know it's hard to generalize about booking airfare, but I was wondering if overseas flights (Washington DC to Europe in late September) should be booked as soon as you're sure what flights you want, or if there's any merit in waiting. (In this case, the wait is 11 months until the cruise!) Do prices ever go down after an initial period such as the one ahead of me (11 months)? Do flights often get changed or eliminated during that time? Also, for those of you savvy in booking your own airfare, what considerations do you think about when booking (connection time in a particular city, for example) and do you use any tools to help you? (I like DOT's on-time records, but I don't think they are obtained for international carriers, or perhaps not for international flights.)

 

Your base point should be what your air credit is plus the air deviation cost. This is the number you would be trying to beat in arranging your own air.

 

There is merit in waiting after the initial period because prices fluctuate until about 3 weeks before the flight's departure and there could be sales in the interim. If you have a set schedule however, it may not be worth the risk (you pay the advance price, provided it is reasonable, and any sales reduction are viewed as the price of peace of mind).

 

In my recent example, I bought round trip tickets for about $1000 about three months prior to departure and they went as low as $750(!:() until three weeks prior to departure. So price does go down. But I definitely wouldn't be able to stomach waiting until three weeks prior for the price.

 

Yes, flights can be changed and even cancelled, but usually the change is manageable (a few hours earlier/later).

[PaulMCO]

OK, so I guess you guys are telling me that *** I*** will make it from Frankfurt or Munich to Venice but my luggage may not! That does it, I'm wearing 5 layers of clothes and peeling 4 of them all off on the plane. Now I'm glad the cruise line has self-service washers and dryers!

 

 

Been through both airports 100's of time. Yes luggage was delayed but never lost. Both have great baggage handling systems - and when delayed it was always on the next flight. I would prefer FRA as LH has multiple connections to Venice. We and others missed our connection last year and they put some people on the 2pm and the rest were on the 5pm flight.. And yes the luggage was there when we landed in Venice.

[buggins0402]

Haha... I learned my lesson in Frankfurt, I'm going through Amsterdam next month :). Heathrow has also lost my luggage but I got it next day and it was on my way home. I think the message is any given airport can lose luggage. Pack your carryon carefully ;)

 

Had luggage lost in AMS a few years ago when they were working the bugs out of a new automated baggage system. You are certainly correct about packing the carry-on carefully....we had not. Luggage finally caught up with us, after purchasing a number of items, including running shoes. Lesson learned - those are always worn or put into carry on luggage.

[roothy123]

Been through both airports 100's of time. Yes luggage was delayed but never lost. Both have great baggage handling systems - and when delayed it was always on the next flight. I would prefer FRA as LH has multiple connections to Venice. We and others missed our connection last year and they put some people on the 2pm and the rest were on the 5pm flight.. And yes the luggage was there when we landed in Venice.

 

I've been looking at flights, and the best pairs of flights going through Frankfurt and Munich have an hour connection time at each airport. Is there anything I should know about those airports? We've connected in Frankfurt before and it was easy, however, I don't remember how much time we had. Should I rule out any flight that only allows 60 minutes to connect> How about Munich - same question? We also usually request a wheelchair to take one of us to our connection. That makes it more likely for us to be more fearful of short connection times, as in some airports, there is a wait for the wheelchair. Once rolling, however, they are great (as long as I can keep up!) - but a 10-15 minute wait for chair or something to ride on to our connecting gate can throw a wrench into best laid plans. Does anyone have an idea of whether wheelchairs are normally waiting for passengers in Munich and Frankfurt?

[cruisingxpert]

Good site to compare various airline prices and routing is

 

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

 

Click "multi-city" and start filling in dates and destination.

 

You can't buy a ticket on there but it saves you checking every airline individually.

 

Catherine

[PaulMCO]

60 minutes is doable if every things works perfectly. I would try for at least 2 hours to be safe. We had the 60 minute connection last year to Venice -- our plane was 20 minutes late and we just missed our flight - and I know the short cuts. You do have to go thru immigration (passport only) and that is pot luck 1 minute to 20 minutes.. I prefer FRA over MUC but that is only an opinion. Also you might consider going thru Zurich.

Edited October 30, 2014 by PaulMCO