Air Tix - is it too early...

[joelsmith101]

To buy plane tix for a med cruise next May $1100 pp vs $1700 for celebrity air?

[chessbriar]

My guess is flight times might change of number of times before you board the plane. Make sure you have room to spare on flight times.

[ArtM]

My guess is flight times might change of number of times before you board the plane. Make sure you have room to spare on flight times.

 

Especially if the flights involve Delta :)

 

Delta seems to redo its schedule every two months or so. As an added aggravation, if one of your flights changes by a minute, you have "revalidate" your booking. Until that is done, you are listed as having no seat assignments; although they may still exist.

 

The revalidation makes sense though since the Delta computer has responded to schedule changes by having me depart from a connecting airport an hour before I arrived.

 

However, this probably is a non-issue if you are planning on arriving a day or more before the start of the cruise and on not returning home on the final day of the cruise.

 

Art

[joelsmith101]

So based on price and schedule when is the best time to book air? Thanks

[chessbriar]

Do what you feel safe with. Flight times can switch up to about 3 months before your actual flight. I've had it happen to me and have ended either fighting for my original flight times or money back only to have to rebook.

 

Airtran and Delta are notorious for this. I've fought with both.

[bububr]

I just booked my RT on Lufthansa ( Business Class ) with my USAIR FF miles for my June 9th, 2008 cruise ( 11 night Galaxy ).

 

Actually I think I may be okay. Need your opinions.

 

We had to fly in a day earlier than planned, connecting through Munich ( so we have a weekend in Rome, including three nights hotel { Hotel La Residenza}). we are schedule to depart Rome at 1:30 with a 13 hour stopover in Munich ( no hotel yet and we don't want to stay at the airport; because of the time I do believe we also have to claim our bags and recheck them the next morning ), so we are getting home a day later than planned. So we have added 2 days to our trip.

 

Any ideas for what to do in Munich for our short stay or hotel recommendations?

 

Any advice on Lufthansa? Business class?

 

If they do change the flight schedules should I be okay? IYHO?

 

Dave:eek:

[kitty9]

Dave, Lufthansa is wonderful. I think they've become the best of the European airlines. Excellent service and great food, plus they have a very good on time schedule. Their business class is very comfortable.

[bububr]

:) :) :)

 

Dave:eek:

[joelsmith101]

Notwithstanding the above comments, how is Delta/Air France for European travel?

[RockyTop2]

Notwithstanding the above comments, how is Delta/Air France for European travel?

We have flown both transatlantic within the the last year. Air France is fabulous!!! As close to first class as I will probably ever get! We flew economy on FF miles, but still had free wine, beer, liqueur, choice of dinners, snacks and so on. Your own personal screen with movies several to choose from, games, etc. A great flight crew also. We fly Delta more than any other airline. I am sure you know Air France is one of their partners. This past April we flew back from Paris on Delta (I had hoped we could get Air France, but were unable this trip due to again using FF points and not finding availability. The flight was much better than domestic Delta...dinner, snacks and one free drink with meal, but nothing compared to Air France. If i had a choice, I would most definitely go with Air France. Delta is fine and if I had not had the Air France experience, I would be more in favor of Delta. All flights were on time and no problems with either airline.

[hugsthecat]

I think that to a certain extent it depends when you are flying...for example if you have a cruise over Xmas, you certainly want to book well ahead so that you know you have your flight...For most airlines you can book upto 11 monthes in advance. For my last two flights I have booked on Expedia. They were great. They kept me advised as to any changes and when a flight had to be changed they were prompt and nice.

 

Michael

[bac513]

Any experiences with British Airways. I believe they too offer free drinks and other goodies.

[nycglitter]

Is it generally better to book the air through Celebrity for peace of mind? We have never done a European cruise and we booked the air through X, but they said we can always drop their air if we find a better deal.

[fti]

So based on price and schedule when is the best time to book air? Thanks

 

Unfortunately there is no "best" time. When you think you have found a good deal, grab it and don't look back. It may and probably will get cheaper. Happened to me more than once.

 

Is it generally better to book the air through Celebrity for peace of mind? We have never done a European cruise and we booked the air through X, but they said we can always drop their air if we find a better deal.

 

Unfortunately from the reports you can read from people who have cruised (Celebrity or otherwise), the cruise line really doesn't have a whole lot more that they can do to get you to your destination than if you booked directly through the airline or through a third party. When you are stuck in an airport in the US or in some transit city in Europe, really the best people who are going to be able to accommodate you are the airline agents at the airport. Check on any fees to drop your X air - some lines now charge you to drop their air even before final payment.

 

Do what you feel safe with. Flight times can switch up to about 3 months before your actual flight. I've had it happen to me and have ended either fighting for my original flight times or money back only to have to rebook.

 

Airtran and Delta are notorious for this. I've fought with both.

 

Up to 3 months before departure? Try up to a couple of days before departure! I have had this happen with Northwest, Alaska and others. Unfortunately it is not unique to Delta and Air Tran. Fortunately most airlines are good about finding better connections when there is a schedule change that results in a misconnect. It worked in my favor with a major Delta schedule change for our November cruise starting in San Juan.

 

bububr, booking this far in advance using frequent flyer miles is VERY wise. I have a business class ticket with USAirways using miles booked for next February and flew them once before in business class - very nice. I am in the middle of booking a trip to Alaska for next summer using miles. The sooner you can try to look for seats using miles, the more options you will have. And if you don't find what you want the first time, keep checking. Availability for award tickets changes constantly.

 

John

[urbabie2]

although im more towards a carnival cruiser i stuck my nose in here---

 

this website is usefull and is most of the time right whether or not to book the flight early or not...

 

farecast.com...

 

enjoy your cruising =)))

[Spender Nui]

With the very common changes in flight schedules today ... and the sometimes changes in cruise schedules ... I think it's risky.

[nycglitter]

With the very common changes in flight schedules today ... and the sometimes changes in cruise schedules ... I think it's risky.

 

What is risky?

[Spender Nui]

What is risky?

 

That you'll get to the ship in a timely manner as planned.

[alfiemom]

Best rule of thumb....plan to arrive at least a day early. Yes..I know that you'll spend more money on food and hotel, but isn't peace of mind and less stree worth it?

[nycglitter]

Am I misunderstanding something? I was under the impresstion that if you booked the airfare through the cruise line that it was their obligation to get you to the ship. Isn't that the reason you would book directly through them rather than on your own?

[mahdnc]

Notwithstanding the above comments, how is Delta/Air France for European travel?

 

Joe, back in June we flew Delta from Chicago to Venice and then flew home on Delta from Barcelona. In both trips the flights were excellent (we flew coach class).

[fti]

Am I misunderstanding something? I was under the impresstion that if you booked the airfare through the cruise line that it was their obligation to get you to the ship. Isn't that the reason you would book directly through them rather than on your own?

 

Sure they will get you to the ship, but they don't guarantee WHEN. If you are scheduled to arrive to the departure port on the day of the ship's departure but there are no more flights arriving there that day, you would have to catch up to the ship at the next port. Or in the case of at least one Alaskan cruiser (search for the thread), since they missed Vancouver and the ship had no other non-US ports, they were not allowed to catch up to the ship in Ketchikan. Or in the case of one Caribbean cruiser (again, you can search for the thread), the next available date with airline seats would have meant missing two or three nights of the cruise (I forget if it was 2 or 3) so they decided to not even go.

 

The cruise lines don't operate their own charter flights so they are at the mercy of the commercial air transportation system.

 

John

[fti]

Notwithstanding the above comments, how is Delta/Air France for European travel?

 

I took Delta recently across the Atlantic and was very pleased. They are one of the few airlines that do not reserve exit row seats until the day of departure. So the earlier you arrive at the gate, the greater the chance of you getting a great seat (this will probably change in the near future though). One free alcoholic drink with your meal.

 

I haven't used Air France in a while but they almost made me check my rollerboard bag last time. They were relatively snotty about it.

 

Any experiences with British Airways. I believe they too offer free drinks and other goodies.

 

Free alcohol, not sure what the "other goodies" refers to. They rarely allow economy passengers to book specific seat assignments in advance, which is a major negative in my opinion. And if you fly British Air transatlantic, you can not earn miles in American's frequent flyer program. Plus, BA's frequent flyer program doesn't allow you to accrue miles in their program on the cheapest fare types. Not a big deal if you are an infrequent flyer but that is worth a lot to frequent flyers - i.e. to forego 8,000 miles could be valued up to $250-$500 depending on how they are used.

[warmwinds]

We have always booked our own air, and your quote of $1,100 vs. $1,700 is the reason why.

 

I would also check whatever airline you choose and see if they will give you a voucher for future travel if the price should come down (I know they do for domestic, not sure about international). That way you can lock in the $1,100 if the prices go up, but get a bonus if they go down.

 

Yes, you do have to worry about flight times, BUT, if it is the airline that is making the change, you can pretty much choose what alternate flight you want to be on, even if they have chosen something different for you (this just happened to us, we're flying to London next April for our cruise, and they completely pulled out of the market for the first leg of our flight - suddenly the flight just disappeared before my eyes - {I'm pretty obsessive and check everything frequently just to make sure it's all OK} - so I called, and they had rescheduled us on a flight leaving London at 10 am on our embarkation day! NO WAY! I chose another afternoon flight (had to be after 1pm to get the transfers from Harwich to Heathrow, I was not going to mess with trains through London on the last day) - anyway, I'm rambling here...the point is they would not have notified ME until MUCH closer to departure, since they tell people in order of their upcoming flights. And by that time the flights might have been completely sold out!

 

I would imagine if you booked Celebrity Air they would keep on top of these types of situations for you AND I believe you get free transfers included if you book their air (which in London, e.g., can be quite pricey, not sure about the Med)...anyway, I will always book my own air and get the best price, but it is then up to YOU to be vigilant and make sure everything remains OK right up until your departure.