HAL flight arrangements or your own?

[JimAOk1945]

Hi everyone,

 

We have never cruised on HAL before but plan to do so in 2016. I'm just waiting for the Summer schedule to be published so I can book the cruise. I am doing some preliminary research in the meantime.

 

I'm posting this question here since it deals directly with HAL flight services.

 

What has been your experience using HAL for your flight arrangements? Were you happy with their choices for you?

 

Thanks in advance for your answer

[kazu]

Once upon a time, long, long ago, I used HAL's flight services. After horrific flights and missed connections I chose to do it on my own.

 

Add to it FF miles and if I can luck in, I can make it very do-able with a schedule to my liking.

 

Now, that being said, that was without paying the deviation fee, but once you do that, it tends to get complicated.

 

I think it depends upon where you are. If you are in a central hub, then you can check HAL's price and the airline's cost. But if you need connections as we do, then I prefer to arrange my own. I don't like running to airport connections or, if we miss it, ending up doing two connections instead of one.

 

Flying is enough trouble. I don't want to add to it.

[JimAOk1945]

kazu,

 

I don't see a place on HAL's website to check airline prices and flights like their is on the Princess and RCI website.

 

Am I missing it somehow?

[jaguarstyper]

I attempted to use HAL's flight arrangements when we first started to cruise on HAL 14 years ago. I found it to be poorly scheduled and more expensive, so I have been making my own arrangements ever since. The last 8 years or so, I have racked up so many FF miles through business travel, I never pay for an airfare anymore, so I wouldn't even consider it now. I've never had an issue making my own arrangements.

[kazu]

kazu,

 

I don't see a place on HAL's website to check airline prices and flights like their is on the Princess and RCI website.

 

Am I missing it somehow?

 

not to my knowledge. You have to tell them you want the flights and then the price pops up.

 

Do a dummy booking and give it a shot or talk to whomever you are dealing with (TA/PCC/HAL).

 

I did better on my own, most times.

[ellieanne]

I've used HAL's flights for one-way flights to Europe or for cruises that start and end in different cities outside of the US. Within the US or Canada, I generally make my own arrangements.

[PathfinderEss]

I would not go thru Hal for airlines when traveling domestically but might do it going overseas. I've read on the boards that people can get better rates doing Hal air, like going to Europe, etc.

[sapper1]

Once was enough. We learned our lesson well. We now make our own arrangements. The connections through HAL are too tight and they only schedule through gateway cities. You are on your own to make your way to the gateway city so your flights are separate bookings. You have to collect your luggage and check in again.

To avoid the possibility of missing the scheduled HAL flight we flew to the gateway city the day before and spent the night in a hotel. There was just too much hassle involved. If anyone has experienced Frankfurt airport try to imagine it with a less than one hour connection time. :eek:

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have read too many horrible stories here about people using HAL's air and even paying the fees for air deviations, they still ended up with terrible flights.

Pittsburgh is no longer a major hub anymore so I can't imagine what HAL would arrange for us if we used them.

Much prefer to book our own flights.

[1of4]

I join the chorus in saying we make our own flight arrangements.

[Birubi]

Our experience of HAL organised flights was a nightmare.

The original flight plan we agreed to was a direct flight into Vancouver from Sydney scheduled to land at 7am on the day of departure. The ship was due to depart early evening. A few days before departure HAL revised our booking so that we were departing Sydney via Auckland, a longer flight leaving later and putting us in Vancouver less than 2 hours before the ship was due to depart. We remonstrated with HAL and their only answer was that they had "Next port protection" in place. All well and good but we could not get any information about this protection - like did it cover three days of accommodation and food before we were able to board the ship in the next port?

We tried to change the flights to arrive the day before departure but we were told that we would loose the fares already paid and would have to pay for new flights.

We assumed that there must have been a large group on the plane going to the ship and that they would hold the ship for us - wrong, we were the only passengers on the plane who were going to the ship.

We flew Air New Zealand, they were amazing. They had us off that plane before any one else and there was a HAL welcomer at the door of the plane who got us through the airport in record time. Standing on the curb waiting for a taxi we had just 40 mins to get to the ship in the peak hour traffic.

We ran onto the ship over the last gangway, with our luggage and were escorted to our cabin. We were deposited in the cabin with our luggage and left to it but the cabin was not ready for us. There were clothes in the cupboards, the beds were not made up and the bathroom was not in order. Then the phone rang and the Guest Relations Manager was telling me that they were going to put us off the ship as we had not attended the Safety Drill. I saw RED and said "Send a steward down to help us with our luggage and we will happily get off as it was obvious that they were not expecting us to make the ship seeing as how the room was not ready for us."

I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Yes, within minutes all the top brass were at our door, the Guest Relations Manager, the Hotel Manager - I can't remember who else but the hall was full of them.

They were all apologies and suggested we go and have our dinner and when we returned the room would be in order, which it was. Said that they would never do such a thing as put us off the ship. Said that they did expect us to board that day and had no idea about our unbelievable travel arrangements.

The story about the room was that the previous steward had departed the ship that morning and the new steward assumed that the room was in order. The new Steward was made to apologise in writing.

 

My suggestion about taking HAL air is DON'T. Save yourself the stress.

[KirkNC]

Sounds unanimous!

[jtl513]

Sounds unanimous!

I'll be the first dissenter! :)

 

The first couple of times that we used HAL air around 10 to 12 years ago, we got some poor routing, so we stopped for a while.

 

However, since HAL started their FlightEase program (about 2 years ago I think) we have used it twice and were very happy with it. Both times were one-way (FLL to BCN) or open-jaw (MCO-CPH and LGA-MCO) for westbound T-A cruises and we got to choose the flights (no more "deviations" needed) at prices far better than I could find on my own. For the open-jaw we paid around $900 pp, and the best I could do on my own was about double that. We had a single plane change going over to Copenhagen, in Frankfurt, and we did not have to claim and re-check baggage.

 

For the FLL-BCN one-way I don't remember what the price saving was, but I do remember that it was substantial. That was a direct flight, so there was no way we could have gotten a better routing! :)

 

In both these cases we had an overnight in port before the ship sailed, but we liked the fact that HAL would have paid and made the arrangements to catch up to the ship had we missed the sailing.

 

That being said, I've found that for round-trip flights I can do as well or better for price on my own.

 

OP, I suggest you contact a TA to work with and let her/him take care of checking prices and flight options. I don't know how or even if it can be done on the HAL site.

.

Edited December 5, 2014 by jtl513

[momatibm]

I'll be the first dissenter! :)

 

The first couple of times that we used HAL air around 10 to 12 years ago, we got some poor routing, so we stopped for a while.

 

However, since HAL started their FlightEase program (about 2 years ago I think) we have used it twice and were very happy with it. Both times were one-way (FLL to BCN) or open-jaw (MCO-CPH and LGA-MCO) for westbound T-A cruises and we got to choose the flights (no more "deviations" needed) at prices far better than I could find on my own. For the open-jaw we paid around $900 pp, and the best I could do on my own was about double that. We had a single plane change going over to Copenhagen, in Frankfurt, and we did not have to claim and re-check baggage.

 

For the FLL-BCN one-way I don't remember what the price saving was, but I do remember that it was substantial. That was a direct flight. so there was no way we could have gotten a better routing! :)

 

In both these cases we had an overnight in port before the ship sailed, but we liked the fact that HAL would have paid and made the arrangements to catch up to the ship had we missed the sailing.

 

That being said, I've found that for round-trip flights I can do as well or better for price on my own.

 

OP, I suggest you contact a TA to work with and let her/him take care of checking prices and flight options. I don't know how or even if it can be done on the HAL site.

.

 

With the new 'flight ease' -- the flights are flexible and there are no 'gateway' restrictions anymore. I am flying from a 'podunk' airport at the time we want and returning the same way. Only restricted by the airline availability.

[jtl513]

With the new 'flight ease' -- the flights are flexible and there are no 'gateway' restrictions anymore. I am flying from a 'podunk' airport at the time we want and returning the same way. Only restricted by the airline availability.

I think some if not all of the negative experiences cited above were pre-FlightEase program. :)

.

Edited December 5, 2014 by jtl513

[Dave in NJ]

I've used HAL's air program perhaps half the time, but always check theirs versus booking my own air. Sometimes they are very competitive and often actually use the same flights I'd book myself. Sometimes they are very competitive on prices, and on one-way flights to or from Europe often cheaper than anything I can do on my own. I've never been the least bit disappointed in their bookings. One thing I've not checked on, but if you book air thru HAL and need to cancel your cruise, is the airfare also covered by the HAL cancellation insurance? Not that the occasion has ever arisen but it would be nice to know.

[catl331]

One thing I've not checked on, but if you book air thru HAL and need to cancel your cruise, is the airfare also covered by the HAL cancellation insurance?

Yes. :)

[greatver]

I'll second Dave's comment about one way flights to/from Europe. If you're doing a transAtlantic, there is no way you can match, let alone beat, HAL's fares.

Edited December 5, 2014 by greatver

[YubaSutter]

We checked into HAL's flight arrangements only once. It was SFO to VYR with a connection in SEA. The flight was scheduled to land at 2 pm for a 5 pm departure. Under perfect conditions, we would have about 1.5 hrs to deplane, pick up bags, get to the port, and check in. Way too close for us.

[OVgirl]

We have booked our flights with HAL for our upcoming cruise. There is a big difference with the new program compared to years ago.

 

After we booked our cruise, I did a lot of checking around for the flights we wanted to take. Found a couple of good nonstop flights for decent prices.

 

I decided to call our PCC and ask about their prices. I gave him the flight numbers we were interested in and he was able to give me their price. It was a few dollars higher than directly with the airline, but since we were getting the Plat. Ins., which also covered the flights, it wasn't a bad deal.

I was able to call the airline directly for seat assignments. And hope that if there are weather concerns/storms we can deal with the airline for flight changes.

[JimAOk1945]

Hello everyone. OP here. I just finished reading all of your responses. Wow! I came to the right place. People here on the HAL board are so nice and helpful, too. I knew I could count on you for advice.

 

If anyone has something to add, please feel free to contribute your tips, thoughts, and suggestions.

 

By the way, the cruise we are looking at is a 14 day Alaska cruise round trip from Seattle. Sorry I didn't mention it in my original question.

[Danni3ll3]

If flying to Europe, will HAL let you choose the cities to fly into and out of? For example, if our cruise leaves out of Venice and we want to fly into Florence a few days prior and fly out of Paris or London (cruise ends in Barcelona), will HAL allow that and secondly, will HAL's cancellation insurance cover these flights too?

[jtl513]

If flying to Europe, will HAL let you choose the cities to fly into and out of? For example, if our cruise leaves out of Venice and we want to fly into Florence a few days prior and fly out of Paris or London (cruise ends in Barcelona), will HAL allow that and secondly, will HAL's cancellation insurance cover these flights too?

I don't have an answer to that, but it is definitely worth calling HAL and asking. I know for certain that when we flew into Copenhagen, sailed to NYC, and flew home from there that our HAL CPPP covered it. That was one of the reasons I chose HAL air. :)

.

Edited December 5, 2014 by jtl513

[jt58203]

I'll be purchasing my own airfare for my June/July Alaska Cruise Tour. HAL wanted $300 more per person for a non-refundable ticket and times were terrible. Why would I want to arrive in Vancouver after midnight the night before embarkation? Going home times were almost as bad.