BadgerRedux

So glad to hear of people who make this work. We're working on learning to travel without checking a bag; we also don't mind sink laundry and some re-wearing; and we aren't really interested in the dressy dinner nights so expect to need fewer types of clothes/shoes than some people. We're aiming for just carryons and personal items for our (first) Alaska cruise in July; we'll see how it goes!

Thanks, that makes sense.

That's very interesting; my husband likes to watch a little YouTube every day and I was thinking we needed to get the more expensive streaming option to support that. I think you mentioned on another thread that you thought Premium filtered some of the streaming websites (Hulu, Netflix, etc.) but I was surprised that they wouldn't also filter out YouTube.

Thanks, I booked it; will see how it goes!

Thanks Wolfie11, I became interested in the salmon run when you responded to the post "Which port best to see bears" a few months back - you mentioned chilkatguides operating in Haines for around $150 (booked through skagwayexcursion.com) but I ended up looking at the one sold on alaskaexcursions.com for $225.50 which departs from Skagway. I'm assuming chilkatguides is the local operator behind the alaska excursions one too, right? The only difference is I'd be paying $75 extra to cover the Katamaran ferry round trip from Skagway to Haines?

I'm considering the Skagway Wildlife Safari Tour to Haines offered by (brokered by?) Alaska Shore Excursions; has anyone done this and would you recommend it? Our HAL cruise stops in Skagway July 24 and sounds like the salmon might be running then; hoping to see a bear but I know it's not guaranteed. I'm new to cruising and a little concerned about getting off the boat in time - we're supposed to be in Skagway by 7 AM, and excursion calls for meeting at the end of the pier by 7:30 AM; does this sound workable? Any thoughts appreciated! https://alaskashoreexcursions.com/skagway/wildlife-safari-and-bear-viewing-tour

I don't have reason to believe FE is any worse than other third parties, but in general, once things go wrong with a booking, the fact that it was booked through a 3rd party seems to slow down getting problems resolved. I guess we've all had an experience where the airline sends us back to the third party when there's an urgent problem. When I was using a credit card rewards portal to book our post-cruise flight, I almost went with the discount airline Westjet, but found it was impossible to get a question answered as Westjet's phone tree kept telling me they wouldn't deal with me if I was booking through a third party (and I was sure the credit card portal would not know the answer). I ended up going with a Delta flight for a few more points. Maybe some airlines cope with 3rd party booking better than others.

Weird, I'm still not seeing the 11 AM DTW to ORD flight #UA4749 (with connecting 4:14 PM ORD to ANC flight #UA450) on United's website, whether I'm logged in or not. I successfully booked the flight from the app so I'm all set, but it's odd that it was/is not visible to me as an option on the website.

Thanks everyone, for helping this first time cruiser! I ended up not using Flight Ease - booked the Detroit to Anchorage pre-cruise flights on the United app, and Vancouver to Detroit using my husband's credit card points which I'd forgotten about. As others predicted, Flight Ease wouldn't have saved much/any money since I was looking for economy, domestic flights. The weird issue I noticed must've been due to United rather than Flight Ease since the only place the flight didn't exist was united.com

That makes sense

You know, maybe it's not cheaper - looks like the cheap Vancouver to Detroit flight I saw on FE is only $287on Air Canada; now that Bob @rwmiller found our Detroit to Anchorage flight on the United App for $400, I'm going to try to book both flights direct.

I hear you, and that's always my feeling too. But by the time I opted for a balcony cabin, the land cruise cost more than I expected, and now looking at shore excursions; it's a lot. Would really like to save money on the flights. Be ready to say "I told you so" when Flight Ease loses my booking 😉

Yep, I think so - Flight Ease was offering me both Open Jaw flights (so, including the return from Vancouver to Detroit) for a total of $794 per person.

Thanks Bob! You're right, it shows up on the United app, but not on the United site. Maybe the information is propagating across the systems - the flight is either on it's way onto the schedule or on it's way off.

Thanks, I hadn't planned on using Flight Ease (kind of allergic to having another company "in the middle" of a transaction) but the Flight Ease price really did look great.