Help Me Understand Princess Air

[Toto2Kansas]

harnesshorseman-Please come and join the roll call for this sailing.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=360036

We already have lots of excursions in the works for the first part of this cruise. WBG is on the extended cruise which includes our sailing on 11/21 and the transatlantic, and I think she has a second roll call for the other half of the cruise.

[DGSFlorida]

Just returned from a 13-day med cruise on the Royal Princess which was our 8th Princess cruise but only the 2nd time we have used their air service- definitely the last- my travel agent who works for one of the biggest cruise agents always advises me you can do better booking air on your own from both a price and convenience basis- they proved it to me with 4 connections required- Miami to Atlanta to Boston to Paris to Barcelona in order to get there, requiring more than 24 hours of travel time and succeeding in losing my luggage. They employ hourly, inexperienced rude people in their air department who choose ridiculous routings guaranteed to ruin your vacation. Imagine waiting in line in Barcelona with 18 other people (mainly fellow Royal Princess cruisers) who also didn't have their luggage for the trip and then being threatened that your transfer to the ship was being cancelled if you didn't get out of the airport quickly enough to a waiting cab! Of course if you wish to change to a reasonable route after they assign you this 4 airport 6 terminal excursion to Europe you can do it for an increase of only $998.00 in change fees! Another passenger on board was booked via Princess air but her flights failed to reach Barcelona on time and she was forced to fly to Nice and spend 300 Euros on a cab drive to meet the ship in the second port with zero assistance from Princess. Incidentally we waited 11 days for our luggage to reach us on the last port day in Istanbul as Princess made us empty promises throughout the cruise. So do yourselves a favor- book your own flights and arrive a day early on your own terms.

[Boethius]

Since yawl have been so informative, I thought you might like an update since I booked my very first cruise for next May. We will NOT be booking air with Princess. Why you ask? Turns out I get "Thank You" points on my Visa cards and I have more than enough for my flight. Ta da! Now all I have to do is spend a bunch of money within the next 345 and get hubby a ticket too (or have him check his own card). Now we WILL fly in a day ahead. Hehe - maybe even stay at the Marriott.

 

FYI - next year the Princess transfer (from airport to pier) goes down to $70pp

[cougar]

We just booked our cruise the other day and also booked the air through Princess cruise line....just found this thread and am keeping my fingers crossed all goes well, my question is has anyone booked through princess air and gone from Vancouver BC to Ft Lauderdale....how many transfers did you have to make and was it a night flight or day out of Vancouver?

[iancal]

Couger...watch the price. Last time we flew, fares from YVR were about $750 CAD each. We drove down to Seattle-the fare on AA was $301 CAD per ticket. Also, watch out for the stopover. If you are travelling in the winter, avoid those hubs such as Chicago, United, or Minneapolis. From YVR we try to get Contrinental to Houston or go down to a San Jose or LA hub. Sometimes the YVR departure prices fall, but usually only on the airline's web sites. What we save by booking our own air always pays for a two day pre cruise stay in either Miami or FLA. Incidentally, we find prices to Fort Lauderdale cheaper (the airport is not great) than Miami.

[ANNIEPG]

Just got back from Alaskan one way cruise with 3 day interior tour first. We used Princess Air. The flights were MUCH cheaper than what I could find on my own and were not bad. However, our flight was delayed and we missed a connection. When we could use cell phones (diverted to another airport), DH called Princess who basically told us we were on our own! No suggestions other than to work with the airline and let them know when we would arrive in Fairbanks. DH called the airline and was informed we could only get to Fairbanks an entire 24 hours later than planned, missing a whole day of our land tour! Called Princess who basically said "too bad" in a nice way. Another couple on our plane was trying to make alternate air arrangements to get them to the destination and Princess was telling them they would have to pay for it on their own! At that point, we saw no advantage to having booked through Princess.

 

HOWEVER, when we arrived at one of our layovers very late and having missed our connection, the gate agent took us and the other couple aside and had alternate arrangements to present us. I assume Princess must have worked with the airlines on our behalf. When we knew we were going to arrive in Fairbanks very late at night, we called the Princess arranged hotel as we were told for someone to pick us up and they told us we were on our own and should take a cab. However, when we got to baggage claim, the Princess reps were waiting for us. It all worked out but very stressful and no sleep. Coming home was another missed connection and big mess. I don't fault Princess however, except with the poor communications and mixed messages we kept getting. Much of our problems were inherent in the nightmare of flying these days.

[TucsonRick]

Princess booked us from Detroit Metro to Houston, approx. 2,000 miles south, layover there for 2 hrs., then Houston to Anchorage, 2200 miles north. We were in planes on waiting for about 14 hours....horrible arrangements and I would never trust them to make my flight plans again.

 

:mad: Just got our flight info from Princess for our North-bound Alaska cruise.

Our flights from Tucson to Vancouver are good but the return from Anchorage is horrible. Vancouver to Atlanta to Tucson. 2300 miles out of our way! Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this? What an awful way to end a cruise.

 

I have contacted my TA about air deviation but haven't heard back yet. I will be very upset with Princess if I have to pay an arm and a leg to change this insane flight.

[umma]

Tucson...We went Detroit to Houston about 2200 miles South, to then go from Houston to Anchorage, 2500 miles North!!! 14 hours of airports and planes on Continental. Coming home, Vancouver to Chicago, 3 1/2 hrs., Chicago to Detroit, 50 minutes on United. I don't understand Princess and they won't get my flight business again prior to cruising.

[Princess Chatterer]

Atlanta? Obviously it's the Princess/Delta connection as previously discussed. I had great Princess air connections to Anchorage using Princess air with Delta via Salt Lake City.

 

As soon as you learn that you have been misrouted by Princess get on the phone with your T.A. and pay the Princess deviation fee. Before you call decide what route, airline and time of arrival you need. It's that simple.

 

BTW: Once you get your route from Princess get on the phone with the airline and pick your seats. I like www.seatguru.com for finding the best seats. Finally if it's United, when you get to the counter see if they'll upgrade you to Coach Plus for $100. Lots more leg room in Plus.

[umma]

"As soon as you learn that you have been misrouted by Princess get on the phone with your T.A. and pay the Princess deviation fee. Before you call decide what route, airline and time of arrival you need. It's that simple."

 

Seems like Princess counts on the "deviation fee" from a lot of unhappy folks. A little extra revenue for them. After $7500 for a cruise, I don't think I should pay any more than that to get decent flight arrangements and scheduling that would be acceptable. I felt like I was being nickel and dimed to death by Princess.

[DGSFlorida]

On my last Princess cruise (which was our 8th cruise mentioned in the post above) their illustrious air department assigned our flights and posted them over the weekend. Our travel agent from one of the largest agencies immediately contacted Princess early Monday morning requesting a revision as we had 4 flights to get from Miami to Barcelona including several tightly-scheduled terminal changes and we indicated we would be willing to pay a deviation fee if necessary to get reasonable flights. Their reply was- pay $499 per ticket adder ($998.00 total) to change flights to get a connection Miami to Hamburg to Barcelona rather than the ridiculous Miami to Atlanta to Boston to Paris to Barcelona they booked for us. Obviously, they could just have easily have chosen the reasonable connection the previous day when they booked our flights. As a result of their negligence, my luggage was lost for the entire cruise which resulted in additional expense to me and them and resulting bad feelings on my part.

 

To add insult to injury, I sat down to dinner with another couple who also booked from Miami and was given the proper flights at no additional charge by complaining to a Princess supervisor regarding their poor health.

[shellbeachjim]

I haven't had problems with Princess Air. I've used it a few times, and all of them were open-jaw international flights where the cruises began and ended in different continents. I always factor the air deviation into the cost of my cruises and take care of my arrangements with the air department as far in advance as I can - usually more than 6 months in advance. I have a simple rule when it comes to flights - no trips which take more than one change of planes (it helps that I'm close to SFO). The fewer times my luggage has to change planes, the better chance I have of meeting it at the carousel.

 

I leave nothing to chance when it comes to our air arrangements. If you use a TA, they should be able to handle this. If you book directly you simply work with the air department yourself. I have done both. When I have booked directly with Princess I have already searched for flights on my own so I have a good idea about the routing of our flights before I talk to them. I pay the deviation willingly and have occasionally had to pay the difference in airfares, but the difference has always been quite small.

 

On our last cruise Lufthansa changed the time of our flight and made it impossible to catch (left before disembarkation). Princess Air contacted me and we made a new itinerary. Because of the limited number of flights available from Cape Town, I was put on hold while they made an agreement with South African Airways. If Princess doesn't have an agreement in place with a specific airline, Princess can't put you on that airline's flights. No, I was not charged another deviation.

 

For our next cruise I was able to beat Princess Air by about $800. It's also open-jaw, but within Europe. I have no Princess Air experience on cruises which begin and end in the US.

 

Jim

[TucsonRick]

:mad: Just got our flight info from Princess for our North-bound Alaska cruise.

Our flights from Tucson to Vancouver are good but the return from Anchorage is horrible. Vancouver to Atlanta to Tucson. 2300 miles out of our way! Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this? What an awful way to end a cruise.

 

I have contacted my TA about air deviation but haven't heard back yet. I will be very upset with Princess if I have to pay an arm and a leg to change this insane flight.

:eek: Princess offered two other flights and they are equally bad! I cancelled Princess air and booked on my own. Got flights that I wanted and saved enough for my hotel in Vancouver.

[High C's]

How far in advance does Princess advise you of your actual flight information? Do they leave you enough time to make your own arrangements, should you not be willing to accept their flight itineraries?

 

We are looking to book Princess air for an open jaw (embark in Honolulu and disembark in Papeete, Tahiti), as the prices I am able to find by myself are astronomical!

[CrusinAgain]

How far in advance does Princess advise you of your actual flight information? Do they leave you enough time to make your own arrangements' date=' should you not be willing to accept their flight itineraries?

 

We are looking to book Princess air for an open jaw (embark in Honolulu and disembark in Papeete, Tahiti), as the prices I am able to find by myself are astronomical![/quote']

 

They generally book it quite soon after final payment is made. They made ours exactly after receiving payment and it was up on the personalizer. I do not know what the penalties are once they have made the reservations since after final payment you are in a penalty stage.

[shellbeachjim]

How far in advance does Princess advise you of your actual flight information? Do they leave you enough time to make your own arrangements' date=' should you not be willing to accept their flight itineraries?

 

We are looking to book Princess air for an open jaw (embark in Honolulu and disembark in Papeete, Tahiti), as the prices I am able to find by myself are astronomical![/quote']

 

I guess I'm confused why you're not more pro-active now about making sure you'll be satisfied with the arrangements. You already are pretty sure you can't beat the price Princess Air is offering. I'd pay the deviation now, arrange the flights and then stop stressing about it. Yes, you may have to pay a little more if the flights you choose are more expensive, but in all likelihood it will still be cheaper than if you book them on your own. In my view, waiting until after the final payment to find out is akin to playing a game of chance.

[DougH]

I'm sailing on the Grand Princess TransAtlantic in Sept and used Princess air for the first time. Price offerred by Princess was a good deal on the open jaw flights and I ended up using the deviation to fly in several days early and select flights I wanted. I fly nonstop SF to Heathrow and home from JFK to SF.

 

My question is: how will I get tickets? Will Princess send me paper tickets or just some sort of electronic confirmation of booking #'s to show at airline check in? I have looked at the Princess Cruise personalizer and the correct flights I selected are listed.

[SPI_Rick]

DougH, on our recent 5 May (Dallas to Fort Lauderdale) and 1 June (Copenhagen to Dallas) Princess Air flights, we did not receive tickets from Princess. We pulled our cruise ship boarding passes and our travel itinerary off of the Princess website. The travel itinerary had the airline booking numbers and that was all we used. I suspect that your experience will be the same.

[High C's]

I guess I'm confused why you're not more pro-active now about making sure you'll be satisfied with the arrangements. You already are pretty sure you can't beat the price Princess Air is offering. I'd pay the deviation now, arrange the flights and then stop stressing about it. Yes, you may have to pay a little more if the flights you choose are more expensive, but in all likelihood it will still be cheaper than if you book them on your own. In my view, waiting until after the final payment to find out is akin to playing a game of chance.

 

Exactly why I posted the question. I want to know if what I will pay on my own is worth the price difference vis a vis Princess's reputation for inconvenient flight times (from Toronto, the cost of the flights is almost more than the cost of the entire cruise!!!). I'm not "sure", as you put it, that Princess will beat these prices, but from what I read on CC, its a good bet that they will.

 

I was merely posing the question to determine if I would know my final arrangements prior to being locked in, as I completely agree with you - I am not willing to play chance with the flights. But at this point (at least so far) I'm not "stressing" - I'm just trying to do my homework by asking of other's experiences with Princess air itineraries, as we've always made our own arrangements.

 

Not sure how I can be more proactive than asking questions of those with experience, and collect as much info from as many sources as possible, including these boards.

[shellbeachjim]

High C's,

 

My apologies if I misinterpreted your earlier post on the thread. I thought you were closer to needing to make a decision. I don't completely buy the "inconvenient" itineraries. Some people have had bad routings, many others haven't. I'm the type of person who doesn't leave the airline itinerary to chance - in fact my wife considers me obsessive compulsive about it. ;) As I noted in an earlier post, I deal with the airlines at least 6 months prior to leaving, well before the final payment is due and regardless of us using Princess Air. Depending on the airlines used, I would think you could get non-stop flights from Toronto to the west coast and another flight to Hawaii. I'd think you could fly from Papeete to LAX and then to Toronto on your return. If you can't get reasonably priced flights on your own, then by all means pay the $75/person deviation and work with the Princess Air folks to get what you want. Again, don't wait until final payment and run the risk of having to do this when everyone else is (and having fewer choices).

[janetz]

I never thought starting this thread would yield so much information for others. :)

 

 

This thread should be a sticky, you think?

[High C's]

High C's,

 

My apologies if I misinterpreted your earlier post on the thread. I thought you were closer to needing to make a decision. I don't completely buy the "inconvenient" itineraries. Some people have had bad routings, many others haven't. I'm the type of person who doesn't leave the airline itinerary to chance - in fact my wife considers me obsessive compulsive about it. ;) As I noted in an earlier post, I deal with the airlines at least 6 months prior to leaving, well before the final payment is due and regardless of us using Princess Air. Depending on the airlines used, I would think you could get non-stop flights from Toronto to the west coast and another flight to Hawaii. I'd think you could fly from Papeete to LAX and then to Toronto on your return. If you can't get reasonably priced flights on your own, then by all means pay the $75/person deviation and work with the Princess Air folks to get what you want. Again, don't wait until final payment and run the risk of having to do this when everyone else is (and having fewer choices).

 

No problem, Shellbeachjim, and no offence taken. I completely agree with you and your philosophy re flights, thus my dilema. This trip I am now sourcing out isn't until Sep 08, so I'm just starting my planning process. But if I have to pay the type of prices I have sourced out on my own, coupled with the cost of a balcony cabin, I simply can't afford (or justify) that type of money for a 10 day cruise!!!!:eek:

 

Your suggestion of flying on our own to the west coast, then arrange the air to/from there is an excellent suggestion. One question - when you suggest that I pay the $75 deviation fee, does that mean that I get to pick the flight that I want, but at Princess prices? I'm not sure how that part works.

 

Thanks very much for your info and guidance. It is exactly what I needed!!!:)

[cactusrose]

How far in advance does Princess advise you of your actual flight information? Do they leave you enough time to make your own arrangements' date=' should you not be willing to accept their flight itineraries?

 

We are looking to book Princess air for an open jaw (embark in Honolulu and disembark in Papeete, Tahiti), as the prices I am able to find by myself are astronomical![/quote']

 

I don't think you will have to worry about stops or layovers on this flight so Princess Air should be fine.:D

[Ula]

:eek: Princess offered two other flights and they are equally bad! I cancelled Princess air and booked on my own. Got flights that I wanted and saved enough for my hotel in Vancouver.

 

TusconRick,

I only used Princess Air once, it was the last time but even our flights were not that bad. If I were you I would write a letter to customer service and include a map with lines drawn in.

Vancouver to Atlanta to Tuscon? That is not only bad it is rude. I will not say never, but cruising to locations I am familiar with I always book my own air.

[wethreecruzers]

If any way possible, make your own arrangements AND get in a day early. They won't wait long. Trust me, it happened to us and we missed it due to delayed flights. I'll always get in a day early from now on.