NCL Airfare Experiences

[bbqbears]

On 2/7/2023 at 1:45 PM, Sailing12Away said:

Early, I think we were at the hotel before our room was ready. Left our bags at the desk and went to the space needle and gardens nearby.

That would be great! 

[spenecer]

2 hours ago, ilovesalchows said:

The airlines, in my opinion, set themselves up for this sort of conflict.  There is no reason they can't set up the bot that handles seat selection to make an exception for an assigned seat for a grade school aged child for instance.

 

 

I don't think there is anything even approaching the potential logic of a bot for seat selection.  Once I was asked to move and give up my seat for a woman with an infant because she didn't want to pay for a seat for her infant and only the seat that I had selected had a child breath mask and when I pointed out that I also had an infant next to me in a seat that I had paid for (so I paid for 2 seats), the airline attendant still told me I had to move because plane safety was at stake.  The only reason I ended up not moving is because the woman with the infant refused to take care of her infant and my child as well since I was being ejected from my seat and moved away from my infant.

 

[cmph]

17 hours ago, ilovesalchows said:

And while I agree you shouldn't be put in the position to be guilted up to give away your seat, I think we should all be a little more kind.  My family has been split up due to a missed connection and it wasn't because we were "cheap" or didn't plan in advance. 

This thread definitely made me go "ouch". My daughter is a teenager now, but I still vividly remember flying with her when she was 2yo, for my grandfather's funeral. I had booked the flight the night before, obviously unable to plan in advance. The rep told me seats  together were unavailable, but that someone would surely be willing to move; back then, there were no paid 'upgrades' in the main cabin, so it's not like anyone had paid for their seat assignment. Wishful thinking on her part - I got either point-blank refusal or they pretended they hadn't heard me. It was awful, standing in that aisle and pleading with anyone to trade seats, and compounded an already awful time. The flight attendants couldn't have cared less. So yeah, not everyone sitting with you on that plane could plan ahead or is cheap.

[Ronansmima]

Hello’

This would be our first time using the NCL Bogo airfare. We are flying out of Minneapolis to Venice Italy, two days prior and leaving Athens to back to Minneapolis. My concern was not being able to upgrade myself when I get my tickets? , I’ve read several people have said they were able to upgrade through the airline. That is my biggest question. Can someone please respond thank you.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, Ronansmima said:

Hello’

This would be our first time using the NCL Bogo airfare. We are flying out of Minneapolis to Venice Italy, two days prior and leaving Athens to back to Minneapolis. My concern was not being able to upgrade myself when I get my tickets? , I’ve read several people have said they were able to upgrade through the airline. That is my biggest question. Can someone please respond thank you.

Don't count on it and you won't be disappointed. The ability to upgrade lies within the airline itself and is rarely possible.  The number of "not able to upgrade" posts far outweigh the number of successful upgrades. And the definition of upgrade is somewhat subjective.  Can you pay to "upgrade" to a better seat with more legroom, within the main cabin - probably. Can you upgrade to business or first class - probably not. Does having elite status with the airline help - very possibly.

[Linda the Book Lover]

On 2/6/2023 at 10:54 AM, julig22 said:

I go online and pick my seats as soon as I can.  Sometimes I pay for the privilege, sometimes I don't. NCL doesn't assign seats, they book tickets and it's up yo you to go to the airline and pick your seats, add your travel info, etc. Just like anyone else who books their own.

I totally agree - unless I'm offered a better seat I'm keeping what I chose!

This was good to read about the seats as we are in a decision mode about NCL Air transatlantic flights from SMF (Sacramento) to Barcelona and then New York back to Sacramento.

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:34 AM, Ronansmima said:

Hello’

This would be our first time using the NCL Bogo airfare. We are flying out of Minneapolis to Venice Italy, two days prior and leaving Athens to back to Minneapolis. My concern was not being able to upgrade myself when I get my tickets? , I’ve read several people have said they were able to upgrade through the airline. That is my biggest question. Can someone please respond thank you.

we were definitely able to select our own seats. We always choose the fire exit row for the extra leg room. There was an extra charge, but for an international flight, it was a necessity for me.

[Sailing12Away]

For folks using NCL flights for international trips - just be careful. The ability to pick your seats and choose to pay extra to upgrade to either comfort plus or an exit row is 100% dependent upon the airline NCL books you with. Our trip to Iceland we had Iceland Air going and was able to upgrade to comfort plus. But coming home from London, we were booked on Delta and not allowed to upgrade at all. Even calling NCL, calling Delta, offering to pay the price difference ourselves - nope. So an 8hr flight home in regular coach. It was thankfully a 2-4-2 configuration and we were ok after snagging the 2 seater, but lesson learned for ourselves that we will not use NCL air for long haul international trips.

 

Had used them about a half dozen times before for domestic trips and always had the ability to upgrade to comfort plus - so didn't think it wouldn't ever be a problem. But nope - not allowed to do it with Delta. Both Delta & NCL just kept pointing the finger at the other one saying "they" controlled the booking and were denying us the ability to upgrade.

[cruiser2015]

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

For folks using NCL flights for international trips - just be careful. The ability to pick your seats and choose to pay extra to upgrade to either comfort plus or an exit row is 100% dependent upon the airline NCL books you with. Our trip to Iceland we had Iceland Air going and was able to upgrade to comfort plus. But coming home from London, we were booked on Delta and not allowed to upgrade at all. Even calling NCL, calling Delta, offering to pay the price difference ourselves - nope. So an 8hr flight home in regular coach. It was thankfully a 2-4-2 configuration and we were ok after snagging the 2 seater, but lesson learned for ourselves that we will not use NCL air for long haul international trips.

 

Had used them about a half dozen times before for domestic trips and always had the ability to upgrade to comfort plus - so didn't think it wouldn't ever be a problem. But nope - not allowed to do it with Delta. Both Delta & NCL just kept pointing the finger at the other one saying "they" controlled the booking and were denying us the ability to upgrade.

That both parties denied control is ridiculous, so it's hard to tell where the truth is.

Another theory: aside form the particular airline involved, perhaps it has to do with the rate class the ticket is written for. Since NCL is buying lowest available fares, you could be dealing with something other than the standard coach or basic coach options; perhaps some sort of group rate.

[dexddd]

Lots of different experiences here.  We had Delta to LHR.  We got info about 45 days out.  Due to status, was bumped to C+ right away.  Waitlisted for premium select and we got it.   No luggage fees.

[laudergayle]

53 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Lots of different experiences here.  We had Delta to LHR.  We got info about 45 days out.  Due to status, was bumped to C+ right away.  Waitlisted for premium select and we got it.   No luggage fees.

That’s an awesome flight/experience.  What airport did you fly from?

[Linda the Book Lover]

Has anyone flown from Sacramento to Barcelona using NCL Air and requesting 2-days before your cruise?

[dexddd]

23 hours ago, laudergayle said:

That’s an awesome flight/experience.  What airport did you fly from?

That leg was from DTW to LHR.  We got very lucky it was Delta.

[scoochy12]

Horrible! We were a group of 20. We requested PHL. We had to go to JFK. Connecting flight to BCN. Not enough comfortable time for layover in MAD. No one in our party got seats with their traveling party. We had to maneuver once on board as they would not assist prior to boarding, it was pure chaos. Same thing with returning flights. Never again! 

[Sailing12Away]

11 hours ago, scoochy12 said:

Horrible! We were a group of 20. We requested PHL. We had to go to JFK. Connecting flight to BCN. Not enough comfortable time for layover in MAD. No one in our party got seats with their traveling party. We had to maneuver once on board as they would not assist prior to boarding, it was pure chaos. Same thing with returning flights. Never again! 

Not to be insensitive, but with such a large group - what exactly were your expectations going in? Once you get the record locator number from NCL for your flight info, at that point you work directly with the airline carrier to pick your seats. Even with not being able to upgrade on some flights we have always been able to pick seats next to each other when going to the airline's website.

[reeinaz]

12 hours ago, scoochy12 said:

Horrible! We were a group of 20. We requested PHL. We had to go to JFK. Connecting flight to BCN. Not enough comfortable time for layover in MAD. No one in our party got seats with their traveling party. We had to maneuver once on board as they would not assist prior to boarding, it was pure chaos. Same thing with returning flights. Never again! 

I thought they only substituted airports within 50 miles of each other. Philly and NYC are a bit more than 50 miles apart.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, reeinaz said:

I thought they only substituted airports within 50 miles of each other. Philly and NYC are a bit more than 50 miles apart.

I suspect their wording is they 'try not to substiture more than 50 miles apart'.

[pauon]

New to NCL and in 2026 flying from Salt Lake to  Mauritius.  Return to Salt lake from Cape Town.  Price for two was $1,900 with the BOGO Promotion.  I keep reading about "air deviation" all over the NCL Boards.  Does that just mean fly in a day or two early?  If so, we requested to fly in 2 days early with the NCL Consultant.  I would guess that would suffice?

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, pauon said:

New to NCL and in 2026 flying from Salt Lake to  Mauritius.  Return to Salt lake from Cape Town.  Price for two was $1,900 with the BOGO Promotion.  I keep reading about "air deviation" all over the NCL Boards.  Does that just mean fly in a day or two early?  If so, we requested to fly in 2 days early with the NCL Consultant.  I would guess that would suffice?

Yes, that is what air deviation means.

[rodndonna]

We used NCL's BOGO flights for our cruise last week and had positive experience.

• Flights we had were Toronto to San Juan with no deviation
• We booked about 1.5 years in advance and price we received would not have been beat over that period that I saw.
• We received direct flights which was pretty much a sure bet since arriving day of and only 2 direct option flights (Westjet and Air Canada) that would have worked. (gasps of horror - we flew day of!)
• We were pleasantly surprised that we had free baggage outward with no idea why (with the airline baggage rules we should have had to pay and did coming home)
• We received our flight details about a month in advance and they were ticketed in advance of the 3 day window before our flight allowing us to go in through airline website (Westjet in this case) and change our flights if they were being flagged for potential delays (typically weather)

[mingo]

We've done the BOGO 4+ times already.  No bad experiences.  We're going Chicago to New York to Buenos Aries next month and Santiage/NewYork/Chicgo for the return.  We were able to book seats.  We could book economy, economy Plus, and exit rows for fees.  The flights include carry on, handbag/backpack  and 1 bag per person.  We leave 3/2 and received our flight information 11/21.

[ihate2cruise]

Have used Domestic and International w/o issues and the best part, it saved us $$$ each time.

Edited February 12 by ihate2cruise
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[bconley351]

Sorry this will be later mg and rambling. We live in Orange County, California. We’re on the Epic on June 17, out of Rome. Traveling with our teenage grandkids, I’m in a wheelchair from a stroke in 2018, so I will have to be pre boarded. We’re using NCL’s ticketing for the trip home only since we want to get to Rome 1 day before our boarding date, and our travel consultant suggested we book our inbound flight and hotel ourselves. Then use their hotel before the trip home and fligh home since we’re staying 3 days past disembarkation, to sightsee. This is our grandkids first trip out of the country. How soon will we get our flights? There was no way to link our bookings to make sure we were on the same flight. I can’t travel without my husband. Myself and my granddaughter are on one booking number and my husband and grandson are on another. I foresee problems with this. 

[julig22]

17 minutes ago, bconley351 said:

Sorry this will be later mg and rambling. We live in Orange County, California. We’re on the Epic on June 17, out of Rome. Traveling with our teenage grandkids, I’m in a wheelchair from a stroke in 2018, so I will have to be pre boarded. We’re using NCL’s ticketing for the trip home only since we want to get to Rome 1 day before our boarding date, and our travel consultant suggested we book our inbound flight and hotel ourselves. Then use their hotel before the trip home and fligh home since we’re staying 3 days past disembarkation, to sightsee. This is our grandkids first trip out of the country. How soon will we get our flights? There was no way to link our bookings to make sure we were on the same flight. I can’t travel without my husband. Myself and my granddaughter are on one booking number and my husband and grandson are on another. I foresee problems with this. 

Yes, you may have problems. They will not guarantee that you will be on the same flight.

On the other hand, I'm not sure why someone would recommend you book your inbound flight yourself if you are still interested in the BOGO airfare for the trip home - you can request a 1-2 day deviation and still use the BOGO airfare. But also no guarantee you will be on the same flights.

Between the issues with flights and the way over-inflated hotel charges, you might be better off booking everything yourself.

[bconley351]

I was mistaken on my earlier post. We do have NCL airfare both ways, but it was recommended that we book our own hotel for our pre cruise 1 night, which we have at a hotel that we used the last time we cruised out of Rome. I called our cruise consultant and advised the air deviation desk of my mobility problems, and asked that the 2 booking numbers be linkred so we could fly together, we will know in a week or two if that was possible.