Flights 9 months in advance? Really?

[Lonedaddy]

18 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Not necessarily true.

 

Award seats used to be "dumped" into inventory all at one time.  So booking as soon as the schedule was released was the prime strategy.  However, award seats for most carriers are now released, and priced, on a dynamic basis, so that's not necessarily the best strategy anymore.

 

In addition, the further out your booking, the more likely that you will have some significant changes to your itinerary.

 

 

On AA I usually watch for patterns 360 days out and will book 330 if it is a good award especially on partners.  I have found if I book on AA at a high level the price will come down over the next 4-5 months and I tend to check daily.  I was able to grab a DOH PHL DFW flight dec 30th 24 for 200K miles per person which is a bunch but it is holiday time so glad to grab anything.  Now the whole couple of weeks is 300K pp but I suspect it will drop later or perhaps Qatar will add some award inventory.  Goal is to fly from JNB to DFW but having to piece it together, but a stopover is welcome, so we are flexible.    It is worth an extra night stayover somewhere if the award or fare is substantial. 

 

If fares are low enough we may just pay for the air around $2500-2900 one way on united or Qatar.    tools like expert flyer, kayak flyertalk(which I'm sure you use) are very helpful in finding the best deals seats and routes.

[Mahogany]

On 2/18/2024 at 2:10 PM, Lois R said:

I am sailing on the Ray at the end of the year on her TA crossing (December). I just received an email from Silversea with my flight from here to Lisbon. It is Miami to Istanbul and then Istanbul to Lisbon.  Just curious, isn't that a bit of a weird connection? I will contact my SS rep tomorrow. I have booked my flights through SS many times for long hauls across the pond but this is the first time I can remember getting an email so early. We are in February and the flight is for December.

Just seems really strange to me........any thoughts?

Oh, the really wrong thing is...they have me arriving in Lisbon the day we sail..........I NEVER arrive on sail day when flying overseas. So I am definitely going to have to change the flights!!!

Lois, I'm on that same itinerary in December. I live near Daytona so usually fly out of Orlando. You mention Miami-Istanbul-Lisbon - but you have to get to Miami, right, and live in JAX? Did SS Air have you fly JAX-MIA or were you planning on driving (ugh!)?

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, Mahogany said:

Lois, I'm on that same itinerary in December. I live near Daytona so usually fly out of Orlando. You mention Miami-Istanbul-Lisbon - but you have to get to Miami, right, and live in JAX? Did SS Air have you fly JAX-MIA or were you planning on driving (ugh!)?

Hi, I have spoken with my rep at SS and she is contacting the Air Dept and we are hoping to change my flight. To be honest with you, I have to get to whatever airport flies overseas.....it could be Miami, Atlanta or New York.

  No I am not driving to Miami.  Will just wait and see what flights they can put me on.......

Maybe we will meet on this cruise😀

 

Somebody asked about the price for coming in a day early.....they are not increasing the price of my sailing. I am staying at their hotel and that is the only extra charge. 

[ak1004]

10 minutes ago, Lois R said:

 

Somebody asked about the price for coming in a day early.....they are not increasing the price of my sailing. I am staying at their hotel and that is the only extra charge. 

 

You mean the price of the flight? Not even deviation fee of $150? Was the hotel included or you booked it extra with them?

[Lois R]

7 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

You mean the price of the flight? Not even deviation fee of $150? Was the hotel included or you booked it extra with them?

Hi, the hotel is extra, yes. And I asked about the change and was told there would not be an extra charge. I will follow up again.

[ak1004]

21 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi, the hotel is extra, yes. And I asked about the change and was told there would not be an extra charge. I will follow up again.

 

This is probably because you booked the hotel with them. Not sure if you checked the hotel prices, but when I considered booking the hotel with SS, they requested per guest the same price as the room price if booked independently (so basically double).

 

They get their money one way or another..

[Winemaker_1]

55 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

This is probably because you booked the hotel with them. Not sure if you checked the hotel prices, but when I considered booking the hotel with SS, they requested per guest the same price as the room price if booked independently (so basically double).

 

They get their money one way or another..

When we booked the pre-hotel, I found the same thing.  Fast forward 7 months and yesterday I checked what that hotel would cost for my exact night and it's the same price SS charged us.  

[frankhi]

TAP Amex Credit Card is currently offering enough bonus miles for a one way, maybe 2. I got mine in less than 60 seconds. The Intercontinental Lisbon is currently only about $250/nt for the dates b4 the TA, so I may not even use pts. I have that cruise booked as a solo for only a little more the $400 nt (prem veranda). 

Edited February 22 by frankhi

[mchell810]

5 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

This is probably because you booked the hotel with them. Not sure if you checked the hotel prices, but when I considered booking the hotel with SS, they requested per guest the same price as the room price if booked independently (so basically double).

 

They get their money one way or another..

 

This is one instance when being solo is an advantage; the hotel charge for one is not doubled as it would be for two.  Since SS waives the deviation fee for flying in a day early, often booking the hotel with them works financially (as well as for convenience).

[Lois R]

Good morning, I agree.....when flying overseas (at least for me), it is so much easier to book my hotel through the cruise line and get that transfer too.

 

And I already received a new flight.......JFK to Lisbon........NON STOP😀leaves at 8:00pm and gets into Lisbon the next morning,  This is on Delta.

And yes, I have to get myself up to NY but I am ok with that.....there are multiple flight choices  and Delta even has a new non stop......Jax direct to JFK. Don't even have to stop in Atlanta LOL..........

[caradara]

SS did charge us double for the hotel in Rome for our son (single) so we cancelled it and did our own.  Then we did have to pay the deviation fee but we, financially, came out way ahead even with adding in private transfers from the airport and to the ship.  Of course, it is not as convenient as arriving and seeing the SS person waiting for us.

[Mahogany]

17 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi, the hotel is extra, yes. And I asked about the change and was told there would not be an extra charge. I will follow up again.

What hotel ae they using?

[Lois R]

2 hours ago, Mahogany said:

What hotel ae they using?

Hi,  they are using the same one as I stayed in last year........

• Tivoli Avenida Liberdade

[caviargal]

On 2/22/2024 at 1:16 PM, Lois R said:

Hi,  they are using the same one as I stayed in last year........

• Tivoli Avenida Liberdade

Nice hotel!  I spent a few nights there not very long ago.  Well located.

[Lois R]

28 minutes ago, caviargal said:

Nice hotel!  I spent a few nights there not very long ago.  Well located.

Hi there, nice to see you again. Hope you are doing well.😀 Yes, it is a nice property!

[Archipelago]

Anyone here used SS hotel for Buenos Aires ? I was wondering which hotel that they have used . I also like to use their hotel and get the transfers overseas when it works for me to do so . 

[sea bright]

We used their BA hotel at the end of our Nova cruise in February - had to use it as it was part of a land package. It was Hotel Casa Lucia  - a total disaster. It had only opened a week or so before. There was no hot water, horrible water pressure, no handles on the inside of the bathroom door (so the door could not be closed) and truly horrible service.

I know that many people complained to the tour company and to their TAs. Perhaps SS will change hotels. In the past, they have offered the Alvear Palace, which was 1000% better. My TA was told they had a lot of trouble getting contracts at hotels in BA this year.

[FlyerTalker]

18 hours ago, Archipelago said:

Anyone here used SS hotel for Buenos Aires ? I was wondering which hotel that they have used . I also like to use their hotel and get the transfers overseas when it works for me to do so . 

 

Transfers at BA are overrated, IMO. The port is right downtown, so getting to/from a hotel is easy.  And getting a "remis" to/from the airport is also an easy and inexpensive process.  Tienda Leon is reputable.

 

Also, if you use a cruiseline hotel in BA, you will be paying the bank rate for pesos.  Far better to just pay US dollars in cash for your hotel.  It's not as advantageous as it was under the Kirchner regime, but you still do better with greenbacks than with credit cards.  The spread is roughly 20-25% nowadays, rather than the almost 100% in past years.

 

 

 

[bohaiboy]

On 2/18/2024 at 5:10 PM, Texas Tillie said:

Silversea merged their airline booking into Royal Caribbean. Since then they go for the cheapest possible and charge for any and all deviation including coming in earlier than day of sailing except for the very few sailings that still provide a hotel on Door to Door. All the cruise lines are looking for any place to cut costs, but Silversea seems to be out front with it.

If you book a hotel (usually very expensive) thru SS they will waive the deviation fee,

[Hlitner]

A few thoughts.  We are fans of Turkish Air business class, but if doing that kind of flight (via Istanbul) we would certainly take advantage of the stop-over opportunity and spend a few days in Istanbul.  Otherwise, given that TAP does have non-stop flights between MIA and Lisbon, we would forgo the Turkish Air flights (very weird routing) and simply take the overnight flight directly to Lisbon.  No worries about luggage (non-stop flight) and on those overnight flights we generally just take advantage of the lay flat seats and sleep.  Easy to book TAP on your own and it might even be less expensive than doing it through SS (something that needs to be checked).

 

Hank

[Lois R]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

A few thoughts.  We are fans of Turkish Air business class, but if doing that kind of flight (via Istanbul) we would certainly take advantage of the stop-over opportunity and spend a few days in Istanbul.  Otherwise, given that TAP does have non-stop flights between MIA and Lisbon, we would forgo the Turkish Air flights (very weird routing) and simply take the overnight flight directly to Lisbon.  No worries about luggage (non-stop flight) and on those overnight flights we generally just take advantage of the lay flat seats and sleep.  Easy to book TAP on your own and it might even be less expensive than doing it through SS (something that needs to be checked).

 

Hank

Good morning Hank, that is what I am doing........JFK to LISBON through SS.

[Mahogany]

8 hours ago, Lois R said:

Good morning Hank, that is what I am doing........JFK to LISBON through SS.

Lois, are you flying TAP?

[Lois R]

6 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

Lois, are you flying TAP?

Nope, I am flying Delta. I should have posted that in the previous reply.

[jpalbny]

1 minute ago, Lois R said:

Nope, I am flying Delta. I should have posted that in the previous reply.

 

T4 in JFK is pretty nice. They supposedly have a fairly new second Delta SkyClub that we have to check out one of these days. Hope you get to visit there when you fly through!

 

The other SkyClub in T4 was pretty nice when it first opened about 10 years ago, though I don't think we've been there since before Covid. But we are spoiled because there is an AMEX Centurion Club which we almost always visit instead.

 

We're flying DL to LIS in less than two weeks, but we're flying out of Boston, not Kennedy.

[Lois R]

33 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

T4 in JFK is pretty nice. They supposedly have a fairly new second Delta SkyClub that we have to check out one of these days. Hope you get to visit there when you fly through!

 

The other SkyClub in T4 was pretty nice when it first opened about 10 years ago, though I don't think we've been there since before Covid. But we are spoiled because there is an AMEX Centurion Club which we almost always visit instead.

 

We're flying DL to LIS in less than two weeks, but we're flying out of Boston, not Kennedy.

Hi JP, I can't remember which exact cruise....I know it was after Covid but I have had access to the Sky Lounge and will for this trip too. I am always pretty pleased with that venue. 

I didn't know you were going to Lisbon this month. Hope you have a great trip!