How do I book my cruise airfare?
You can purchase an ‘Air/Sea’ package directly from the cruise line that includes airfare, or you can arrange the flights yourself, through a travel agent, or online. We recommend either a TA or the ‘on your own’ option, as both almost always result in more options and lower rates. In this article you will discover how to:
* Find the best deals
* Contingency Plan
* Work with a travel agent
* Book with Frequent Traveler Miles
* Transfer to the port of departure
* Learn more about the background and history of Cruise Air
Find the best deals online –
*Kayak.com
* Tripfinder.com
* Orbitz.com
* Fly.com
* Hotwire.com
* Vayama.com
kayak.com
Pros -The rate screen is extremely flexible and easy to use. With Kayak.com it’s easy to limit results to a particular airline, specific departure and arrival time frames, scan multiple dates, or go back to the original input form to modify it.
Cons: Kayak.com is a data aggregator and doesn’t actually sell tickets; Once you’ve chosen the flights you want, you’re directed to another site, often the site that owns the airline, to complete the sale—you don’t know who you’ll be dealing with until you’re ready to buy.
Tripfinder.com
Pros: Like Travelocity and Expedia, Tripfinder is a true online agency, and well-suited for all your ancillary cruise bookings: airfare, pre- and post-cruise hotel, car rental, etc. Deeply discounted hotel packages are automatically offered as an option for air itineraries – a real convenience and time saver if you’re shopping around for a hotel deal anyway. The user interface is as friendly, if not more so, than any other online reservation service. Additionally, Tripfinder offers the hotel’s “Best Rate Guarantee.”
Cons: While great for domestic travel and transatlantic flights, Tripfinder is weak when a multi-destination itinerary is required.
Orbitz.com, Fly.com and Hotwire.com
We’re still accumulating data on these systems, however, we do know that Orbitz.com tends to get high marks from consumers for consistently low prices, while Hotwire.com seems to be the frontrunner in the “Easy to Use” category. The newest of the three is Fly.com which, like Kayak, is an aggregator of information from other sites but has the added convenience of showing premium fares (first and business class) alongside economy. This is a real time saver for people who want to see at a glance how much more it would cost to ride up front in comfort.
vayama.com
Pros: Specializes in international airfares and is especially good for visually oriented searches; one can simply click on a location on a map instead of typing city names or airport codes. Nice.
Cons: Doesn’t have any advantage over other sites, unless you’re delighted to see a map with overlapping flight paths. Also, you cannot buy a last minute ticket on Vayama.com. The trip must be five days or more.
Contingency Plan –
Unless yours is a very short flight, say from Tampa to Miami, it’s almost always best to schedule arrival at the port of departure a day or two before the ship’s departure. Because? If you are late at the port for ANY reason, the ship will not wait. All costs related to catching up with the ship at the first port stop will be at your own expense. And the shipping company will not compensate you for the days you were not on board.
The best strategy is to book a flight that arrives the day before the ship sets sail, take a hotel near the pier, or in an area that would be fun to explore for half a day. Then sleep easy with the peace of mind knowing you won’t miss your boat.
When returning to disembark, account for unexpected contingencies, such as a customs or immigration-instigated delay in clearing the ship for one reason or another, or a weather-related delay in the ship’s arrival at port, etc. A good rule of thumb: If you’re flying home the same day the ship arrives, don’t schedule your departure before mid-afternoon; even if the ship is scheduled to arrive at 7 am and the airport is a stone’s throw away, like in Ft. Lauderdale.
Work with a traditional travel agent –
Pros: Agents have the experience and resources to “take over” quickly and can often save you money, even after paying their service fee.
Disadvantages: You’ll still have to pay the agency’s standard service fee, usually $30 to $50 per ticket.
Use of frequent flyer miles –
Pros: Traveling to a distant port of departure can be a very effective way to get the most value from your miles, especially if you use them for first-class seats at the lowest redemption level. The best value you can get from your mileage reserve is to use it to arrive at an international port in first or business class. In this case, your value return per mile can be quite high, even if you have to redeem at a higher tier to get the seats.
Personal example: For a recent cruise departing from Amsterdam, we redeemed 175,000 miles each for business class seats. There was one-way availability on the lower level, but we had to jump to the upper level for the return to get two seats on the same flight.
The Math – Airline policy allowed to split the difference: half of the standard round trip business class level (lower level) of 100,000 (50K) and half of the “Sky Choice” round trip level of 250,000 (125k ), totaling 175,000 per person. We ended up parking our rear ends for two eight-hour flights in seats that were retailing for about $6,000 per person at the time of travel, giving new meaning to the term “bottom line.”
In the example above, our redemption value ratio was 3.2 cents per mile. (Not rocket surgery…just divide the approximate dollar value of the ticket by the number of miles redeemed.)
After playing with miles for over 25 years, experience tells us that 3.2 cents per mile is excellent performance. In fact, anything above 2 cents a mile is good.
Cons: See calculations above. Tragically uninformed people have been known to spend $1,000 in miles for a ticket they could have bought for $200 cash. Imagine, literally.
Find miles seats with Expertflyer.com
Pros: This is one small chance to bypass the hellish/eternal phone calls to frequent flyer customer service to check availability and mileage ticket options. Expertflyer.com has done a brilliant job of determining the inventory code for most free seats and upgrades for all classes of service and for most airlines (some better than others). For example, if you’re searching for First Class or Business Class seats, you’ll look for flights that show availability in category “D” or “I” of the seat inventory.
Expertfyer’s basic service costs $4.99 per month, with a Premium Service level option for a monthly subscription fee of $9.99. We use the site often, even just to check schedules or to determine which carriers serve a particular destination.
This unique service will become even more valuable in the future as people gain more flexibility and choice over which airline frequent flyer account they want to fatten up for the harvest, meaning if you have a reserve of American Express points you are entitled to transfer them to any account. one of about 14 different airline programs. You just need to first establish an account with that airline, which can be done online and is free, then link it to your AMX Rewards account.
Yes, you heard right! Now you can find out which airline has availability and THEN earn miles on that airline’s proprietary program, all in a matter of minutes.
And here’s another tip if you’re an AMX point accumulator: you can transfer points from your AMX Rewards account to ANYONE’s account; all you have to do is link that person’s account to yours, all online and free of charge. What a great way to help Aunt Martha fill out her tab and travel comfortably ahead of time on that long-distance trip to Athens for that Mediterranean cruise of a lifetime for her. Or, for her to complete yours for the same reason.
Cons: To get the most value from the Expertflyer.com program, you need to know which of the various codes to look for, and they vary from class of service to class of service and are not always the same from airline to airline. But this is a short and painless learning curve, well worth the time and effort if you’re a regular redeemer of frequent flyer miles. At times when you need to call the frequent flyer desk, get in the habit of asking the customer service agent for the “inventory code” as well as seat availability. We have never been denied when making that request. They are usually happy to provide it.
Driving to port of departure-
Pros: Cruise lines typically provide secure, fenced-in parking at domestic ports of departure, sometimes even covered parking. The fee is usually reasonable: $10 to $15 per day. Plus, by driving instead of flying, you don’t just save on airfare, you can pack EVERYTHING! Think you might want that polyester Nehru jacket for the formal evening? Just throw it in the suitcase. There is no need to worry about carrying too many bags, excess baggage charges, etc. Once at the dock you can always make several trips from the car to your cabin. Just tell those stevedores who give you the Stink Eye that your spouse overpacked.
Cons: none that we can think of. Do not leave anything of value in the car. Raids happen. Even in “safe” parking areas.
Background and history of cruise air connections –
It used to be that the best value was to buy the “Air/Sea” package from the cruise line. This option generally resulted in the lowest, if not the lowest, price on airfare, with the added convenience of not having to purchase the fare yourself.
Cruise lines loved to sell these inclusive packages because they kept some, if not all, of the commission that the airlines were offering at the time. However, beginning in the year 2000, airlines began to reduce commissions, eventually eliminating them altogether. Under orders to keep their airline departments profitable, cruise line revenue managers responded by raising the base price of each ticket sold.
Apparently the cruise lines have now decided they’d rather not be in the airline ticket business. Their margins have gone well beyond the $30 to $50 per typical travel agency ticket service fee, well that’s embarrassing. These days, you will almost invariably find a better deal on your own, or by paying a travel agent’s fee to take care of everything. However, there is something of value in the marked air/sea ticket that is not apparent at first glance. Transfers from the airport to the ship (or hotel) and back are usually included; Also, there is a minor insurance factor where the cruise line will help you out and cover the cost of getting you to the ship if you miss your departure due to a late flight arrival. This is not something they will do if you bought the plane ticket online or through your favorite travel agent.
Still, all things considered, we think there’s better value and a greater variety of options in booking the flight on your own.