Free airfare promo

[Denise72]

We are looking at a panama canal full transit, and the 2nd airfare free promo is adding $2800. This seems outrageous, but it's for late 2025 so I can't compare. But a quick search as far out as I can shows much lower costs. 

 

Am I missing something, or is the "free" airfare just a complete ripoff?.

(ETA: not free, but the second guest free is what I meant)

Edited May 26 by Denise72

[Mehroswitha]

That does seem pretty high--but in general I don't think the offer is a ripoff. For example, friends recently used the offer to book one-way air between Florida and Rome at $699 for the first person and the second free. $350 per person sounds pretty good to me! Have you spoken with a live agent or just used the Web site? I've often gotten weird results on the site regarding cabins, cruise dates, and reservation details.  

Edited May 27 by Mehroswitha
Additional info

[Denise72]

Just the web site so far. I didn't know how helpful they would be since they are trying to sell their product. I may try to talk to someone tomorrow. I also had a travel agent in mind to check with. It's a bit of a time crunch since the airfare and 70% off 2nd guest is only for 2 more days. 

[Liljo22]

14 minutes ago, Denise72 said:

Just the web site so far. I didn't know how helpful they would be since they are trying to sell their product. I may try to talk to someone tomorrow. I also had a travel agent in mind to check with. It's a bit of a time crunch since the airfare and 70% off 2nd guest is only for 2 more days. 

No time crunch. The offers get extended.  The 70% off 2nd guest will switch to 35% off both guests which is the same.

[Mehroswitha]

It does seem like offers are often extended, and when one does actually expire a different one usually starts very promptly.

 

But--depending on one's exact circumstances--minor differences in terms of the offer can sometimes make a pretty big difference in final price or make certain choices more or less advantageous. For that reason, when I find an offer that suits us I try to jump on it right away. (And, of course, sometimes it happens that a better offer would have come along if I'd waited!) 

Edited May 27 by Mehroswitha

[klfrodo]

Just be educated on exactly what cruise line air arrangements are and more importantly, what they are not. Many many people find that cruise line air arrangements make travel simpler and more affordable. However, there can be pitfalls if one is not aware.

Myself? I might consider cruise air when all my miles run out for international travel. It's not even a consideration for domestic travel.

 

The following link provides great information about cruise line air and deviation. The thread is old but still relevant today.

 

[debenson0723]

If you do a search under BOGO, NCL air, etc you will find many, many threads on this topic; for, against and in between. Since the cruise isn't for quite a few months, there is no way to really guess how much it would be but $2800 is extremely high. I am guessing you are looking at Miami to Los Angeles...you could book two people yourself on Delta or Southwest for much less than that. I am looking at a cruise in November and airfare for me (solo traveler) is less than $800 round trip, flying to Venice and home from Rome. Also be aware that you do not get to pick your airline or flight times and you might not get something that is advantageous to your schedule. But you can add a deviation of 2 days on either end of the cruise (or both).

So I would try again on the website or give a call on Tuesday

[DwayneG]

I'v used the BOGO deal once and flights were okay, not what I would have picked.  but next time I thought I might use it the fare for first passenger was more than I would have paid total for both passengers so not a good deal that time.  So be sure to do your due diligence (including Southwest if that works, because baggfage free).and YMMV.

[schmoopie17]

$2800?? That's outrageous. For comparison (on a similar cruise, but different flights):

 

We booked the Panama Canal for next February from LA to Miami. Flying from Milwaukee to LA...and then back to Milwaukee from Miami, our total fare on the BOGO was $658. That's total for both of us on two separate flights.

 

Having said that, we ended canceling the BOGO because we were able to book Southwest for just a little bit more and be able to pick our flights, get free bags and be able to pick our seats. (Actually, saying "pick our seats" sounds kind of nasty, but you get the idea.)

[9tee2Sea]

We can fly from Los Angeles - Miami for approx $250. p/p  Did you check the First Class box the looking at flights?  2800 does seem very unreasonable.  Also, have you been checking on the what the flights are, right now, for your date in 2025 ( i know most airlines have prices posted for summer of 2025) .  Are you traveling during Xmas holiday/New Years?

[JandC_Cruising]

15 hours ago, Denise72 said:

We are looking at a panama canal full transit, and the 2nd airfare free promo is adding $2800. This seems outrageous, but it's for late 2025 so I can't compare. But a quick search as far out as I can shows much lower costs. 

 

Am I missing something, or is the "free" airfare just a complete ripoff?.

(ETA: not free, but the second guest free is what I meant)

$2800 doesn't sound right...UNLESS you are travelling with a family of four.  

The "free airfare" only applies to passenger #2, so if you have a family, everyone else is paying NCL's full fare.  

I just did a "mock" booking for Miami to LA in Nov. 2025 and the BOGO airfare is $985 (Chicago to Miami, LA to Chicago). 

If I change it to 4 people on the cruise, it changes to price to $938 for passengers #1, #3, and #4....$2814 total.. In this case, it is not a deal, since you can likely do better for a family of four making your own flights.

 

 

[Denise72]

Dang this is an active forum. I could barely find this post to reply again! Lol

So I guess the prices were for holiday season. That didn't occur to me since it wasn't actually the holiday. 

I ended up choosing a jan 2026 cruise. The bogo airfare was $800. A quick search of Jan 2025 looks like I can meet that price so I will get my own airfare where I control the flights. Thanks for the help. 

[LuckyStar]

On 5/26/2024 at 5:05 PM, Denise72 said:

We are looking at a panama canal full transit, and the 2nd airfare free promo is adding $2800. This seems outrageous, but it's for late 2025 so I can't compare. But a quick search as far out as I can shows much lower costs. 

 

Am I missing something, or is the "free" airfare just a complete ripoff?.

(ETA: not free, but the second guest free is what I meant)

I have never considered this but I actually did for our cruise in Nov.  We live in CO, airfares roundtrip to Miami, we were looking at about $1100 for two of us.  The cost with the promotion was adding $648 to our cruise price tag.  It was going to save me about $350.  I love a bargain!  BUT you have to be very flexible in your travel times. We ultimately decided against it because are adding other travel plans to the trip. If you are flexible and cheap, I expect it can be a great deal. 

[matthew.corrigan]

I don't think their website BOGO air deal handles one-way flights very well. I live in the Los Angeles area so as research I searched a couple of Panama Canal cruises, both eastbound and westbound, and got outrageous results for the airfare quote. Like $4000 level of outrageous. As comparison I searched a Miami round trip cruise in June 2025 and it offered about $750 for the 2-person airfare, much more reasonable. If you're located in Florida and looking for the one-way flight home, then you're probably much better booking on your own.

[Matahari47]

Yes. It’s a complete rip off. We priced our cruise with NCL with a one way flight home from Barcelona and it was almost a grand more expensive than without the flight! I ended up sorting our own flights out and paid £239 for two people including 2 checked bags!! 

Edited June 2 by Matahari47

[cruiseny4life]

On 5/29/2024 at 1:56 PM, matthew.corrigan said:

I don't think their website BOGO air deal handles one-way flights very well. I live in the Los Angeles area so as research I searched a couple of Panama Canal cruises, both eastbound and westbound, and got outrageous results for the airfare quote. Like $4000 level of outrageous. As comparison I searched a Miami round trip cruise in June 2025 and it offered about $750 for the 2-person airfare, much more reasonable. If you're located in Florida and looking for the one-way flight home, then you're probably much better booking on your own.

If you work with a travel agent or personal cruise consultant (NCL PCC employee), they can easily tell you what it would cost for one-way fare on an airline. 

 

As an example, we paid $604 one-way, using the NCL Air BOGO program, for a flight from Syracuse, via JFK, then CDG, to Barcelona. We priced the same tickets on Delta's website (at the same time we received our air confirmation) and would have paid $3,600 for both of us if we had purchased tickets on our own. We were able to upgrade our JFK to CDG flight to seats that provided extra legroom (for an extra fee). We each were allowed to check two bags for free (we only checked one bag, for both of us), but it was an option. 

[Postcards]

The flight deals depend on destination and when you book. We got a great deal to fly to Athens return, 1 tickets actually was free(return). Big Savings.

You can add it or cancel it, up until you have fully pd. (Advantages to wait to fully pay)

Also, dont forget to add an extra day or two, front or back or BOTH! 25.$ per day additional. 

Not the best option to fly on sailing day. Can be stressful.

Happy travels.

[prov2727]

I was give $1349 as 1/2 off airfare (solo). A quick look told me that the flight cost $1800. It saves me $500 but certainly not half. I think I have found a way to book it for $1700 so I am probably going to do that. I've heard too many BOGO horror stories.