Booking Hotel/Airline with HAL

Does HAL offer better deals for pre-cruise hotel stays than what I can book myself online? We're going to be sailing out of Vancouver and the hotels seem very expensive for the night prior to sailing.

Additionally, we've never booked air with HAL because we are Southwest people, but Southwest does not fly to Vancouver. Can you do one-way air with HAL? Do you usually find that you can get a better deal booking air through HAL than doing it yourself online?

Thank you for any input!!

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I fly Southwest almost exclusively, and fly to Seattle and then take Quick Shuttle to Vancouver. I've found HAL's hotels to be more expensive than you can book yourself. Don't know about one-way air, unless you're talking about flying into Vancouver and then flying back to PA from Anchorage. I know they will book those flights.

Roz

HAL's own air can be a deal. Sometimes a lot less than the airlines, especially for multi-city trips and Europe. Most often fares are Flexible Rate and no need to pay until cruise final payment.

On the other hand, their hotels are silly expensive compared to what you can buy direct with the hotel or other online sights that let you compare prices before booking.

You just have to do the research to see if their airfare is better or not. Check their prices against what you can book.

Hotels almost never will be a better deal through HAL. And Seattle and Vancouver can be pretty expensive in the cruise season.

I fly Southwest almost exclusively, and fly to Seattle and then take Quick Shuttle to Vancouver. I've found HAL's hotels to be more expensive than you can book yourself. Don't know about one-way air, unless you're talking about flying into Vancouver and then flying back to PA from Anchorage. I know they will book those flights.

 

 

 

Roz

Thanks for the info.

We're doing a Pacific Coastal...Vancouver to San Diego. The flight home from San Diego will be free with airline points.

We toyed with the idea of flying to Seattle and shuttling to Vancouver, but that just seems like more hassle than we want to deal with.

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Yes, HAL's flight ease does one way flights.

As to hotels, other than once many, many years ago,I have found HAL's hotel pricing to be more expensive than what I can arrange myself.

Remember the Vancouver hotels are in Canadian pricing so not as expensive as they appear for Americans ;)

Thanks for the info.

 

We're doing a Pacific Coastal...Vancouver to San Diego. The flight home from San Diego will be free with airline points.

 

We toyed with the idea of flying to Seattle and shuttling to Vancouver, but that just seems like more hassle than we want to deal with.

 

 

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I've done 5-6 spring Coastals on HAL, San Diego to Vancouver. If it's any help, Quick Shuttle will pick you up at SeaTac and drop you right off at Canada Place in Vancouver.

Roz

We booked our cruise, flights, hotels and transfers all through Hal. We made a deposit at booking and made the final payment this week which included all that was booked through Hal. One payment, now all we need to take of is what we spend for tours expenses and the expenses we incur on the ship. We look at that as having peace of mind concerning the costs.

We do all our own booking for hotels and flights.

We have always booked our own flights. I understand it may be better now but back in the day HAL, and pretty much most of the cruise lines for that matter, not only charged more than you could book yourself but they were often less than prime routes and times. The other issue was the fare category didn't permit earning frequent flyer program miles/segments. Hotels pretty much the same and I've never seen a cruise line provided hotel be the same or less than you could book yourself. Will say that we did use a cruise line arranged hotel in Venice that included private launch transfers from the airport to the hotel and then hotel to the cruise terminal as it was just easier to let them make those arrangements.

In Vancouver BC you can get better rates for hotels thanwhat HAL sells them for . Cruise lines usually sell pre cruise hotel per person.

As a general rule I have found it cheaper to get your hotel in most US and Canadian cities. The only time it might be easier is if arriving late in the day.

I compare HAL airfare and purchasing separately to see which is cheaper.

HAL's own air can be a deal. Sometimes a lot less than the airlines, especially for multi-city trips and Europe. Most often fares are Flexible Rate and no need to pay until cruise final payment.

On the other hand, their hotels are silly expensive compared to what you can buy direct with the hotel or other online sights that let you compare prices before booking.

Agree. We got Venice to JFK to BWI for under $300 with HAL but the hotel in Ft. Lauderdale was much cheaper if we booked it ourselves. We're also going to book BWI to FLL ourselves because HAL wanted to route us through Charlotte rather than giving us a direct.

Does HAL offer better deals for pre-cruise hotel stays than what I can book myself online? We're going to be sailing out of Vancouver and the hotels seem very expensive for the night prior to sailing.

 

Additionally, we've never booked air with HAL because we are Southwest people, but Southwest does not fly to Vancouver. Can you do one-way air with HAL? Do you usually find that you can get a better deal booking air through HAL than doing it yourself online?

 

Thank you for any input!!

 

 

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I've found HAL's hotel price to be higher than I get on my own. We stayed at the PanPacific because it is so dang convenient and got an amazingly low rate on Trivago or something like that. We did an add-on post cruise through HAL and the hotel part was much higher. Granted, we had waterview from HAL, but it was about twice what we found without HAL.

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We would suggest that the OP simple spend a few minutes on the Internet and do their own research....based on real info. So if you are thinking about using HAL air...or HAL hotel arrangements, check the prices for the same (or similar) airlines and hotels on a web site such as Kayak. And if Southwest Airlines or Jet Blue is convenient for your journey, check their own sites for pricing. You can then make an informed decision based on facts...not conjecture.

Based on our own personal experience (and its pretty extensive) we have never (ever) seen any cruise line offer a decent hotel package.....that could compare to what we can book on our own. But Air is a different story. When it comes to domestic flights (USA or Canada) we usually do not notice any savings from cruise air in economy...although there are times when the cruise line air folks might have a better deal for Business Class. But International flights are a different story....especially if you need one-way. So we always price out our International travel options on our own...and then compare them to the cruise line offerings. That being said, we would NEVER TRUST any cruise line to choose our flights. This can put you on the worst possible flights with multiple stops and lousy connections. So when we price out cruise air....we pick the flights.

Hank

With Princess Ezair there is a number choices in routing , time and airlines.

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We would suggest that the OP simple spend a few minutes on the Internet and do their own research....based on real info. So if you are thinking about using HAL air...or HAL hotel arrangements, check the prices for the same (or similar) airlines and hotels on a web site such as Kayak. And if Southwest Airlines or Jet Blue is convenient for your journey, check their own sites for pricing. You can then make an informed decision based on facts...not conjecture.

 

 

 

Based on our own personal experience (and its pretty extensive) we have never (ever) seen any cruise line offer a decent hotel package.....that could compare to what we can book on our own. But Air is a different story. When it comes to domestic flights (USA or Canada) we usually do not notice any savings from cruise air in economy...although there are times when the cruise line air folks might have a better deal for Business Class. But International flights are a different story....especially if you need one-way. So we always price out our International travel options on our own...and then compare them to the cruise line offerings. That being said, we would NEVER TRUST any cruise line to choose our flights. This can put you on the worst possible flights with multiple stops and lousy connections. So when we price out cruise air....we pick the flights.

 

 

 

Hank

I have done extensive research online, however we always book our own hotels and air, so I have absolutely no experience with a HAL hotel or air booking...so I was just looking for some input perhaps from those who have.

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I have done extensive research online, however we always book our own hotels and air, so I have absolutely no experience with a HAL hotel or air booking...so I was just looking for some input perhaps from those who have.

 

 

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Have you tried contacting HAL, either directly or through your TA, to find out what HAL air and hotel packages cost?

Have you tried contacting HAL, either directly or through your TA, to find out what HAL air and hotel packages cost?

Not yet. We will be contacting our PCC in the beginning of the week.

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For Vancouver specifically the HAL rate at the Pan Pacific is not terribly bad. For example - 2nts with tax and transfers will run you $838.28 for most dates in 2018 if booked through HAL. I checked a few dates for the Pan Pcific for summer 2018 on Trivago and kept coming in around $846USD with tax but no transfers. Now if one does not wish to stay at the Pan Pacific you could potentially save money. However on an EVEN comparison of the same property/dates the HAL hotel package was the better overall value.

Hal Flight Ease and Princess EzAir are the same program essentially. Both WILL allow you select date, airline, number of stops and from flexible or restricted fares. You just have to know how to start a new search and choose additional options to get what you want. HOWEVER. A number of low cost carriers, including Southwest, do not participate with the distribution systems that are used to book air, hence are not available anywhere but on that airlines website. Also while some airlines will post flight schedules and fares at 11 months out, others don't post schedules and fares until 4-6 months out, so may not display earlier.

Something to consider is whether cruise line hotels and air include transfers. I find transfers to be one of the most challenging parts of a trip to arrange, especially if it is in a country where I don't speak the language or if I'm not bringing a lot of international currency. I'm also not an especially trusting person, and I worry that my own transfers might not show up (and then what would I do?) or a cab driver might take me the "long" way around to my destination. In my own country, (U.S.) I always arrange my own air and hotels and usually save a lot over cruise line prices. But in other countries, I am sometimes willing to pay a bit more for the convenience and worry free travel. I have been on a few transatlantic cruises, though, and I have found cruise line air is usually significantly cheaper than anything I can find on my own for transatlantic trips.

We agree with DaisyRose, we have had a number occasions where the transportation scared us. Once in Prague the transportation didn't show up, the Hotel we stayed at helped us arrange to get to our port (River cruise). London, England same thing happened and once they were late. We also believe now the TA arranged transfers were more expensive than the ones through Hal. Hopefully everything will go as planned through Hal this time.

For Vancouver specifically the HAL rate at the Pan Pacific is not terribly bad. For example - 2nts with tax and transfers will run you $838.28 for most dates in 2018 if booked through HAL. I checked a few dates for the Pan Pcific for summer 2018 on Trivago and kept coming in around $846USD with tax but no transfers. Now if one does not wish to stay at the Pan Pacific you could potentially save money. However on an EVEN comparison of the same property/dates the HAL hotel package was the better overall value.

 

Hal Flight Ease and Princess EzAir are the same program essentially. Both WILL allow you select date, airline, number of stops and from flexible or restricted fares. You just have to know how to start a new search and choose additional options to get what you want. HOWEVER. A number of low cost carriers, including Southwest, do not participate with the distribution systems that are used to book air, hence are not available anywhere but on that airlines website. Also while some airlines will post flight schedules and fares at 11 months out, others don't post schedules and fares until 4-6 months out, so may not display earlier.

It is not always wise to look out so far ahead...and hotel prices are often much better as you get closer to the actual date. For example, I just looked at Trivaco of a Pan Pacific room on August 24, 2017 and the rate was $396per night (which includes the tax)! And that is the rate for 2 persons. HAL (and other cruise lines) generally price out hotel packages at a "per person price" which in actuality is only 1/2 what you are going to pay. So when you look at HAL's price it is about double what it would cost to book on one's own. As to transfers, one reason many folks like to stay at the Pan Pacific is because of inexpensive SkyTrain...which is very close. If we want to book many luxury hotels, using our AMEX Platinum will get us extras such as a free night, meal allowances, etc. The cruise line packages do not include this kind of stuff. But we still do like to ask about the cruise line packages to do a comparison.

Hank

We ended up booking the air through HAL. Our PCC got us something that was very comparable to what we could find.

However, we did discover something. When we asked about trip insurance from the airline (when we were trying to do it ourselves), we were told that the insurance that they offer is for if something happens with the flight or airline-related...not if we had to cancel. They could get us in touch with a third party for trip coverage.

In speaking with our PCC, she told us that the insurance that we purchase on the cruise also includes the air that we purchase through HAL. Interesting.

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It is not always wise to look out so far ahead...and hotel prices are often much better as you get closer to the actual date. For example, I just looked at Trivaco of a Pan Pacific room on August 24, 2017 and the rate was $396per night (which includes the tax)! And that is the rate for 2 persons. HAL (and other cruise lines) generally price out hotel packages at a "per person price" which in actuality is only 1/2 what you are going to pay. So when you look at HAL's price it is about double what it would cost to book on one's own. As to transfers, one reason many folks like to stay at the Pan Pacific is because of inexpensive SkyTrain...which is very close. If we want to book many luxury hotels, using our AMEX Platinum will get us extras such as a free night, meal allowances, etc. The cruise line packages do not include this kind of stuff. But we still do like to ask about the cruise line packages to do a comparison.

 

Hank

While I agree that rates can, and do fluctuate closer to the date of the stay when booking independently I was just pointing out an exact comparison for booking a hotel in a specific market. The rate I posted through HAL was TOTAL for 2 people for 2 nights inclusive of tax and transfers. Your comparison was 1 night at $396 ($792 for 2 nights) with tax and no transfers which is not much of a savings compared to HAL's rate of $838 with tax and transfers. In this case hardly double when comparing the same property.

There are many cases where prices can be, and are, quite different through the cruise line vs on your own, when comparing the same property. In general I find HAL and Princess hotel packages to be MUCH more competitive than RCCL, Celebrity or NCL.

While certainly any port city will offer many hotels in a wide variety of price points I find it only fair to judge a hotel package value from the cruise line with the same property booked independently. Any other comparison is a bit unfair.

There are many ways to save money through cc programs, discounters, etc when it comes to hotels and one should do their research to make sure they are getting good value for their personal needs.

We ended up booking the air through HAL. Our PCC got us something that was very comparable to what we could find.

 

However, we did discover something. When we asked about trip insurance from the airline (when we were trying to do it ourselves), we were told that the insurance that they offer is for if something happens with the flight or airline-related...not if we had to cancel. They could get us in touch with a third party for trip coverage.

 

In speaking with our PCC, she told us that the insurance that we purchase on the cruise also includes the air that we purchase through HAL. Interesting.

 

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Good on booking the air. What did you decide about the hotel?