Arranging own flights

[rubydoobydoo]

opinions please on arranging your own flights to meet the ship

 

We are cruising from Barcelona next year and by booking the flights through Celebrity it’s adding on almost £600 to the price and we will not know the flight times or airline until much later on

 

 

We’ve booked cruise only for now and was thinking we could get our own flights there and back as we want to stay on in Barcelona after the cruise

 

 

Has anyone found this is an easy cost effective way to do it ?

 

We will get flights from either a midland airport or Gatwick

 

Thanks

Edited September 29, 2017 by rubydoobydoo
Added location

[cruisestitch]

Flights from where?

 

Advice from US cruisers may not be relevant but even advice from others paying in sterling will be better if you specify your area. Which airport are you likely to use?

[bremenkat]

Generally for flights from the London area, Celebrity use BA. Not sure about the other airports.

 

We booked a cruise with them for next August from Rome. They gave me a quote for the flights and then I priced up myself as well. It worked out slightly cheaper for us to book them directly but not by much. We had the advantage the flights were available so could check.

 

Bear in mind if you book your flights through them, they have to get you to the cruise. So if there are any problems such as the BA system downtime this year - they will get you to the port or the next one as soon as they can. If you book your own flights you don't have that protection.

 

You can ask them to quote for a longer period than the cruise. They quoted us for flying in 2 days beforehand with no issues.

 

 

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[Alohaaloha]

opinions please on arranging your own flights to meet the ship

 

We are cruising from Barcelona next year and by booking the flights through Celebrity it’s adding on almost £600 to the price and we will not know the flight times or airline until much later on

 

 

We’ve booked cruise only for now and was thinking we could get our own flights there and back as we want to stay on in Barcelona after the cruise

 

 

Has anyone found this is an easy cost effective way to do it ?

 

We will get flights from either a midland airport or Gatwick

 

Thanks

 

 

We always do our own flights. But we always fly in the day before just in case of delays or a flight cancellation etc. Even with an overnight stay it's always worked out more cost effective or us.

 

 

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[RickT]

Maybe Choice Air is different for customer in the U.K. but every flight I've ever booked with Choice Air I've been able to choose specific flights/dates with no issues.

 

Regardless, use a website such as ITA Matrix http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ to figure out what options may be available to you. The website cannot be used to buy tickets but does show multiple options. You can also choose multiple departure airports (Gatwick/Heathrow/Stanstead). It unfortunately does not list flights by Ryanair.

[Wiltonian]

After our first, we've booked own flights. Just departing Rome having flown in from Luton yesterday afternoon. Flying back to Brum. Monarch. Recommend flying in a day earlier 'just in case'! Just check the various budget airline websites and compare

[villauk]

X often use the budget airlines from the Midlands like Monarch, so it's often more cost effective to book them yourselves. We always travel the night before if sailing from mainland Europe, but usually a few days from other places around the world. Travelling as a family, we can usually get 2 or 3 independent flights throughout the year for the same as booking once with the cruise line.

 

You will find there will be many pax that have booked with X that are on the same flight as you booked independently ;).

 

Skyscanner is a good resource as it lists all the budget airlines too ;).

[sandancer]

Maybe Choice Air is different for customer in the U.K. but every flight I've ever booked with Choice Air I've been able to choose specific flights/dates with no issues.

 

 

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Choice Air is not available to U.K. customers. The only way for flights to be included is a fly cruise where flights, transfers, and sometimes a hotel the night before the cruise is included.

[FrequentFlyKid]

We always book our own flights as well. That said, I think this is very much a 'to each their own' type of thing. I am a 1K on United and I only fly United and Star Alliance carries. When flight delays/cancellations happen, I know they will take care of me. If you're going a day (or more) prior to your cruise departing you will not have any issues. The other reality is that unless it's an exotic cruise or one with many sea days following departure you can always meet the ship at the next port.

[Trixie21]

We are from Northern Ireland and always book our own flights. However we always fly in at least 1 day before the cruise (sometimes more if we want to spend a bit of time in the departure city) . We enjoy the flexibility it gives us. Never had a problem.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Not flying in on day of cruise gives us more flight choices and fare rates.

 

 

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[24acorns]

Always book my own flights, but fly in day before just in case of delays. Even allowing overnight accommodation & transfers still usually cheaper than X and you choose who & when you want to fly.

Barcelona is easy and quite inexpensive for transfer.

My flights next week are less than half your quote from X (BA flights)

[HokiePoq]

Always book my own flights, but fly in day before just in case of delays. Even allowing overnight accommodation & transfers still usually cheaper than X and you choose who & when you want to fly.

Barcelona is easy and quite inexpensive for transfer.

My flights next week are less than half your quote from X (BA flights)

 

Good advice no matter where one is flying to and from. DELAYS are the issue and can happen anywhere. Our friends had X's flights that were the day of embarkation. The flight from our local airport to the hub was delayed resulting in them missing the flight to Quito from Miami and the first day of our Galapagos ttip in Quito. They got a healthy credit by using the cruise line air but I was happy we'd driven to Miami the day before the flight and been there to fly to Quito.

[rubydoobydoo]

Thanks for all your input

The flights should be released by the end of November so we’ll price them up then, if it’s not a huge difference then we’ll book with Celebrity

It was actually the agent at Celebrity who advised us that Getting to and from Barcelona on your own is easy and cheaper

 

I’ll take on board your advice about flying the day before if we book our our

[LPCKG]

We always book our own flights from UK, usually flying from Manchester, but have East Mid or Leeds as alternative options too. If you book your own flights early the price tends to be better, plus you get confirmed times/airport details etc. We fly at least one day in advance to ensure if any issues arise we have scope to make alternative arrangements. £600 seems very expensive. We fly at least 3/4 times a year to Barca - even in peak season our flights have been £300/350 max for 2 pax and luggage. I don't know your travel dates but I would wait until flights come on sale before booking through Celebrity.

[meadowlady]

opinions please on arranging your own flights to meet the ship

 

We are cruising from Barcelona next year and by booking the flights through Celebrity it’s adding on almost £600 to the price and we will not know the flight times or airline until much later on

 

 

We’ve booked cruise only for now and was thinking we could get our own flights there and back as we want to stay on in Barcelona after the cruise

 

 

Has anyone found this is an easy cost effective way to do it ?

 

We will get flights from either a midland airport or Gatwick

 

Thanks

 

 

 

We booked a NZ cruise while we were on our first Celebrity cruise to the Baltic. We had the option of booking Celebrity flights with transfers included with a guaranteed maximum price or booking our own. Celebrity flights were cheaper than we could have booked. Advantage included transfers plus peace of mind if problem with airline. We also booked hotel accommodation pre cruise & stopover on way home with Celebrity.

 

 

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[rubydoobydoo]

We always book our own flights from UK, usually flying from Manchester, but have East Mid or Leeds as alternative options too. If you book your own flights early the price tends to be better, plus you get confirmed times/airport details etc. We fly at least one day in advance to ensure if any issues arise we have scope to make alternative arrangements. £600 seems very expensive. We fly at least 3/4 times a year to Barca - even in peak season our flights have been £300/350 max for 2 pax and luggage. I don't know your travel dates but I would wait until flights come on sale before booking through Celebrity.

 

 

 

We thought it was expensive too that’s why we held off, that’s the trouble when they are not available yet, never booked this far in advance before 😀

[VitaminSea53]

If you booked your cruise with a TA or Big Box store, can you still book air directly with Celebrity or for you have you go through the TA/BB?

[bottomfeeder]

If you booked your cruise with a TA or Big Box store, can you still book air directly with Celebrity or for you have you go through the TA/BB?

 

In the US you can definitely still book directly with Choice Air. I do it all the time. You just need your reservation number, which you should get on the invoice from your TA.

[pandvsmith]

We are cruising from Barcelona in November and checked into flying Mark's son into Barcelona for a few days prior to our cruise to visit. Fares were very reasonable on British Airways. Gatwick to Barcelona was about 100 pounds round trip. Not sure what time of the year your cruise is as that could increase the fare.

[JBare]

Choice Air is not available to U.K. customers. The only way for flights to be included is a fly cruise where flights, transfers, and sometimes a hotel the night before the cruise is included.

 

Whilst technically Choice Air (by name) may not be available it is possible to book flights direct with Celebrity in the UK. Celebrity UK have their own dedicated flight team and you can use X to book flights for any cruise, you can book at any time after the initial cruise has been booked, they will quote a price even on your preferred airline if you have researched beforehand. I have nearly always asked X to book flights, their own travel specialists have always been very helpful advising on whether it may be cheaper to do your own thing or not. They have booked flights for me on BA, Emirates, Monarch etc and always after the initial cruise has been booked. You do not have to have a package with transfers and can travel before or after sail date.

 

If the price increase is only small I would always choose booking through X for the reason perfectly illustrated today with the collapse of Monarch Airline. Monarch have always had the best timed flights from the Midlands in the UK to places like Rome, Venice, Barcelona etc and X will now be busy trying to reaarange peoples flights.

[sandancer]

Well that’s good news. I have always been told by my TA that the only way to have flights included is by booking a cruise package. Next time we’ll give it a try.

 

 

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[JBare]

To the OP, I don't know when your cruise actually is but initially the Celebrity flight package quoted is often high as they have no schedule info or prices more than approx 9 months in advance. It is worth going back to them when airline schedules are known and mention your preferred choice. My choice this year was early morning flight from Birmingham to Rome with Monarch, cost £350 per person with Celebrity but this also included the transfer from airport to port. Sadly the Monarch option is no longer available, a great shame. I t may be that doing your own thing is still cheaper but its only worth asking when airline schedules are known.

[villauk]

Well that’s good news. I have always been told by my TA that the only way to have flights included is by booking a cruise package. Next time we’ll give it a try.

 

 

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I would definitely price them up independently first as when I asked X for a price to FL, it was well over £1000pp in coach :o - and this was quite a few years ago - times that by 4 and there was a huge difference booking independently. Even the X representative commented on the price!

 

Back to Choiceair, I have always found that it is much less expensive for those from the US to book to Europe than it is the other way around - supply and demand ;).

[rubydoobydoo]

We are cruising from Barcelona in November and checked into flying Mark's son into Barcelona for a few days prior to our cruise to visit. Fares were very reasonable on British Airways. Gatwick to Barcelona was about 100 pounds round trip. Not sure what time of the year your cruise is as that could increase the fare.

 

Our cruise is Oct 2018