Exorbitant summer airfare to Rome!

[labeachcomber]

Several weeks ago, there was a thread here about the ridiculously expensive airfare to the Mediterranean.

 

We're booked on a July Equinox cruise out of Rome. From Los Angeles, the cheapest flight I can find is $1500! That's per person. I tried going through CruiseAir, and maybe the cheapest flight is $80 cheaper. If I use Celebrity Air, I think I can pay a little extra to customize the trip? We want to arrive in Rome three days before departure to do some sightseeing. Would Celebrity Air be that much cheaper? And with custom air, am I allowed to pick certain airlines so I could add to my frequent flier miles?

 

A couple weeks ago, everybody was saying to wait. But my fare watcher websites are actually saying that the price will continue to RISE! The cruise itself is $2600 per person, I feel stupid paying so much for the airfare. Are summer flights to Rome always this expensive?

[Fuzzyegg]

Last week I was looking at fares to Barcelona from New York and they literally increased on my while I was surfing...from about $1250 to $1400, so I booked immediately for my June 27 - July 9 cruise. I think with the recovering economy that fares to Europe will just keep increasing, not decreasing.

[Kitcito]

Several weeks ago, there was a thread here about the ridiculously expensive airfare to the Mediterranean.

 

We're booked on a July Equinox cruise out of Rome. From Los Angeles, the cheapest flight I can find is $1500! That's per person. I tried going through CruiseAir, and maybe the cheapest flight is $80 cheaper. If I use Celebrity Air, I think I can pay a little extra to customize the trip? We want to arrive in Rome three days before departure to do some sightseeing. Would Celebrity Air be that much cheaper? And with custom air, am I allowed to pick certain airlines so I could add to my frequent flier miles?

 

A couple weeks ago, everybody was saying to wait. But my fare watcher websites are actually saying that the price will continue to RISE! The cruise itself is $2600 per person, I feel stupid paying so much for the airfare. Are summer flights to Rome always this expensive?

 

Labeachcomber,

 

I can understand your excitement, I now live in Germany for my Job and getting back to the states this year is costing an arm and a leg. Here is an idea or two.

 

1. What about finding a cheap ticket to Europe anywhere you can.

 

2. Buy a Eurailpass, or a specific country pass (for the train system) which then can get you there and back for a savings. If you use the German bahn site http://www.bahn.de (change to English Language) you usally can find cheap fares about 3 months in advance.

 

3. Use a cheap airline, www.Ryanair.com, www.Airberlin.com www.germanwings.com www.BMI.com

 

4. You also could use www.priceline.com and bid on a ticket route that would fit your budget.

 

Using different combinations might make it cheaper also you could then taylor your travel to fit in any personal side trips that you may want. I hope this helps, it was just a thought. If you need any help or more questions you can give me an email (ksfalconberry@yahoo.com) or we have SKYPE under the name Keith Falconberry.

 

Kitcito:D

[Lsimon]

Make your Celebrity Air and Custom Air reservations ASAP!!

 

here is a link to the Celebrity Air general info page which describes Custom Air towards the bottom: http://www.celebritycruises.com/plancruise/transportation/heroSingleTxtSub.do;jsessionid=0000byZGPl-1Dy-GqSIjO0hfrTo:12hdbcuh7?pagename=air

 

Custom air is an extra $50/pp, waived if you are a Captains Club (prior cruise) member. Here is how it worked for me:

 

I found a couple flights I wanted which arrived a day or three before our cruise as we wanted to do a short pre-cruise stay at the port city. I emailed the request to our Travel Agent who I had talked to about this and who told me to do that. In one case the travel agent sent me back about 4 choices - some of them had a fare up-charge, including one of the flights we had picked, and at least one was no additional charge other than the $50 custom air fee and we picked that one as the flights were very good. The second time they had one of the exact flights I asked about available at no up-charge and we took that.

 

One of the great things about the custom air is that, at least in the USA, you can cancel it with no penalty up until the final payment date of the cruise. So you can continue to shop fares now and then and if you find a better fare before final payment date just buy those tickets and cancel the cruise air portion of your ticket. I have read some issues posted on these boards from cruisers who got a package price, or air included, price from their TA and/or their TA had their own cancellation/change fees separate from Celebrity's fees - but in our case the prices were all listed separately. In fact for one of the two cruises we found the same flights available from a consolidator type agency for a few hundred less a week before final payment and cancelled the cruise air with no issues.

 

Cruise air also includes your transfers which are expensive in Rome (arranged car is 130+ Euros to/from the cruise port) , however you might have to travel to the airport or another hotel to use them if you are arrainging your own pre-cruise stay so it might not be worth the hassle.

 

I did notice on the Celebrity site that there is a number to talk to the custom air people directly. I don't know if you can do that if you're booked through a TA or not, but it would be nice to be able to just get on the phone with them directly.

[sailor2010]

Flying my sister back from African this summer has doubled from Sept. 09.:mad:

[greeneg]

Choice Air, which is different than Custom Air, through Celebrity may well be worth a look. A number of people ( Including us) have gotten much more reasonable air fare that way as opposed to booking directly with the airlines or even with Custom Air.

 

Just one more alternative, but it was certainly worth it for us.

[MJonTravel]

"Bargains" to Europe over the summer will be challenging to find at best. Luckily, I had enough miles to arrange our travel. I would've expected to pay at least 1,000 per person, if not more. Always possible fares could come off a bit closer to departure, but honestly, I wouldn't plan on that happening for summer travel to Europe. Also, not unusual for taxes on international travel to amount to a few hundred dollars.

[Cruise Junky]

Prices from the Westcoast this year are crazy high. We can ususally save a bundle flying out of Seattle instead of Vancouver, the deals are few and far between this year.

[greatam]

Several weeks ago, there was a thread here about the ridiculously expensive airfare to the Mediterranean.

 

We're booked on a July Equinox cruise out of Rome. From Los Angeles, the cheapest flight I can find is $1500! That's per person. I tried going through CruiseAir, and maybe the cheapest flight is $80 cheaper. If I use Celebrity Air, I think I can pay a little extra to customize the trip? We want to arrive in Rome three days before departure to do some sightseeing. Would Celebrity Air be that much cheaper? And with custom air, am I allowed to pick certain airlines so I could add to my frequent flier miles?

 

A couple weeks ago, everybody was saying to wait. But my fare watcher websites are actually saying that the price will continue to RISE! The cruise itself is $2600 per person, I feel stupid paying so much for the airfare. Are summer flights to Rome always this expensive?

 

Rome is a very expensive European destination. That said, break your trip into two segments/two airlines or even three segments/three airlines.

 

Example: Continental flies a one stopper for most of July from LAX to LHR for about $1100 (a little more some dates, a little less others) US Air, Air Canada and KLM are also within the same price range for a one stopper. Then book Alitalia direct into Rome from LHR for less than $200. The earliest arriving, cheapest flight into LHR on CO arrives about 9:35. There are 3 flights on Alitalia that would get you to Rome the same day-12:20PM, 4:30PM and 8PM. The only problem with using this method is the luggage allowance on Alitalia. You are allowed two free checked bags, 50 pounds each on CO. On Alitalia, you are allowed one free checked bag, 44 pounds.

 

You would have to collect your luggage in London, go through Customs, then recheck in at Alitalia. But it would save you at least $200 per ticket for minimal hassle.

 

You can also do this with three airlines-JetBlue or whatever is cheapest for your dates direct into NYC, many, many cheaper flights out of JFK to London/Dublin (Kuwait airlines flies from JFK to London for less than $800 most of the summer-I fly Kuwait Airlines in first class to Kuwait City from JFK for less than $2200, a SUPER bargain), then on to Rome.

There ARE cheaper ways to book your own air. Just have to think out of the box.

[D4]

One big caution about Alitalia. They limit carryons to one piece per person weighing no more than 11 pounds!

 

That may work for you, but I bring a much heavier carryon full of cameras, netbook, and other electronics.

[Podie]

Actually, airfare from the West Coast for $1500 can be considered a bargain! Fares from Orlando to Rome, where I board the Equinox in August, have increased from $1070 to $1400 in the past six weeks. That's in comparison to the $600 I paid last year.

 

Sadly, I did not buy at $1070 because all the "experts" including my TA assured me the prices would decrease.

 

I have checked Choice Air and it was more expensive than what I found on kayak.com and sky.com, among the many sites I check several times a day.

 

Since most of the planes I've checked flying back from Italy are already more than half full, I don't expect a decrease. Yet I keep hanging on and hoping!

[greatam]

One big caution about Alitalia. They limit carryons to one piece per person weighing no more than 11 pounds!

 

That may work for you, but I bring a much heavier carryon full of cameras, netbook, and other electronics.

 

AS I posted, there are drawbacks to using two or three airlines. I fly over 100,000 miles per year for business. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and either pay the price or find a "way around" the rules and regulations (like buying a business class ticket-in Europe, often not so much more than an economy ticket and they RARELY look closely at business class passengers or weigh their carryons). If you want to save money on airfare, you TRULY have to get creative, especially to Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

 

I am currently in Kuwait working-I will fly home hopefully this week via Asia, as I have business there. I am flying home business class/first class with a combination of NON USA carriers through Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Tokyo and then to the USA. Other than using FF miles to upgrade my NRT to DFW flight, I paid VERY little extra to have all the amenities of business class travel. You CANNOT fly on USA airlines and expect to get good prices and good service (and I am a very loyal AA flyer). You truly have to think out of the box.

[greatam]

Actually, airfare from the West Coast for $1500 can be considered a bargain! Fares from Orlando to Rome, where I board the Equinox in August, have increased from $1070 to $1400 in the past six weeks. That's in comparison to the $600 I paid last year.

 

Sadly, I did not buy at $1070 because all the "experts" including my TA assured me the prices would decrease.

 

I have checked Choice Air and it was more expensive than what I found on kayak.com and sky.com, among the many sites I check several times a day.

 

Since most of the planes I've checked flying back from Italy are already more than half full, I don't expect a decrease. Yet I keep hanging on and hoping!

 

BE extremely careful buying on Kayak anymore. Some of the sites that you are asked to check mark are TRUE consolidator tickets with all the ramifications of consolidator tickets. Please read the sticky in the Cruise Air forum if you want to learn about the problems with consolidator tickets, cruise air tickets and Choice Air tickets.

[Bruin Steve]

Patience...

I am cruising on the Eclipse, out of Southampton on July 10...planning on flying LAX to Heathrow RT July 1, returning July 26...Current airfares are running about $1300-1400 pp...

 

I spoke with someone at British Airways a couple of weeks back...they told me, off the record, to wait until about March 15-20...Fares will come down considerably...They said there is plenty of availability fo summer...not to panic...

[labeachcomber]

greatam, thanks for the detailed suggestions! Never really thought to fly to another European city. Makes sense that it might be cheaper. Will have to spend some time today looking around.

 

Bruin Steve, I'm hoping that's true...but if it's like anything the last few weeks, prices are just going to keep going up!

[Smartcookie]

Several weeks ago, there was a thread here about the ridiculously expensive airfare to the Mediterranean.

 

We're booked on a July Equinox cruise out of Rome. From Los Angeles, the cheapest flight I can find is $1500! That's per person. I tried going through CruiseAir, and maybe the cheapest flight is $80 cheaper. If I use Celebrity Air, I think I can pay a little extra to customize the trip? We want to arrive in Rome three days before departure to do some sightseeing. Would Celebrity Air be that much cheaper? And with custom air, am I allowed to pick certain airlines so I could add to my frequent flier miles?

 

A couple weeks ago, everybody was saying to wait. But my fare watcher websites are actually saying that the price will continue to RISE! The cruise itself is $2600 per person, I feel stupid paying so much for the airfare. Are summer flights to Rome always this expensive?

 

Fuzzy, give me your dates and the airport you want to fly into...it's kind of a hobby of mine to find cheap air fare and I'm successful a lot of the time.

 

Some analysts are predicting that the euro will reach parity with the dollar, that's the good news and that may be why the airfares are increasing, but flights to Italy in summer are notoriously expensive, typically around $900 - $1200 from NYC, so believe it or not, $1500 doesn't sound atypical.

You can also see if it's cheaper to fly in or out a day or two earlier or later, it might be worth the savings.

 

Also, it just might be cheaper to fly into Naples, Pisa or Florence and you can take the train (relatively cheap) to Rome.

 

But what the heck, give me your dates and I'll give it a shot.

 

Keep your eye on travelzoo dot com for airfare sales to europe, they have some great quickie deals that don't last long.

[Fuzzyegg]

Smartcookie - thanks for the offer, but I actually already booked my fare...to Barcelona! I'm on the June 27 12-night Med cruise on Century...my first vacation in Europe. I cannot wait!! I ended up paying about $2800 for 2 flights from Raleigh, NC to Barcelona...not great..but not bad either! At least I'll get my AA points :-).

[CruisinNana]

One big caution about Alitalia. They limit carryons to one piece per person weighing no more than 11 pounds!

 

That may work for you, but I bring a much heavier carryon full of cameras, netbook, and other electronics.

 

Yikes! I'm flying Alitalia (business class) to Rome and my carry on weighs about 30 pounds! Can I take a carry on, a purse, and a computer case?

[Podie]

greatam, you do not have to buy from consolidators thru kayak.com. I check the prices and then go to the applicable airline's website and buy them there.

[footer6]

Last week I was looking at fares to Barcelona from New York and they literally increased on my while I was surfing...from about $1250 to $1400, so I booked immediately for my June 27 - July 9 cruise. I think with the recovering economy that fares to Europe will just keep increasing, not decreasing.

 

I know what you mean. I delayed buying the airfare to Rome for an Equinox cruise in early June for months in hopes that the fares would might go down. Instead, they kept going up. I wound up paying $1300 a person from Newark.

[buffy14322]

Hi everyone,

 

Not sure if anyone here is familiar with 1800flyeurope. Got my flights from boston to barcelona for 750 pp r/t june1-june15, its about 400 less than a lot of the other sites and reliable, I am flying delta/airfrance. The idea is similar to hotwire in that you dont know what airline until you book it.

[lawgeek]

Several weeks ago, there was a thread here about the ridiculously expensive airfare to the Mediterranean.

 

We're booked on a July Equinox cruise out of Rome. From Los Angeles, the cheapest flight I can find is $1500! That's per person. I tried going through CruiseAir, and maybe the cheapest flight is $80 cheaper. If I use Celebrity Air, I think I can pay a little extra to customize the trip? We want to arrive in Rome three days before departure to do some sightseeing. Would Celebrity Air be that much cheaper? And with custom air, am I allowed to pick certain airlines so I could add to my frequent flier miles?

 

A couple weeks ago, everybody was saying to wait. But my fare watcher websites are actually saying that the price will continue to RISE! The cruise itself is $2600 per person, I feel stupid paying so much for the airfare. Are summer flights to Rome always this expensive?

 

I don't know if you have checked Choice Air recently, but I am aware that they had June flights on Air Canada from LAX to FCO for about $1,060 per person in the past few weeks. Flight went through Montreal with reasonable layover. I found this out after I had already purchsed my AA flights from SNA to FCO for $1500 per person (which i still don't think is bad considering closer airport which will save on parking!).

 

GOOD LUCK!

[tally10]

We bought our airfare months back for our May Eclipse cruise from Phoenix to Heathrow directly from the airline and now it has gone down about $200pp! I know someone mentioned the consolidators and we used them for our trip to Heathrow this past November and got a great deal. The only problem is that you can't upgrade with them. Try Best Travel Store or Travel Papa. The airline had our reservation and we chose our seats within 1 hour and had no problems at all. It was much cheaper than the airlines for that one and it was a non-stop.

[Smartcookie]

Smartcookie - thanks for the offer, but I actually already booked my fare...to Barcelona! I'm on the June 27 12-night Med cruise on Century...my first vacation in Europe. I cannot wait!! I ended up paying about $2800 for 2 flights from Raleigh, NC to Barcelona...not great..but not bad either! At least I'll get my AA points :-).

 

 

Ooops! I meant to address the OP, LAbeachcomber!

 

Oh well, I'm glad you found flights. ;)

[greatam]

The only problem is that you can't upgrade with them. Try Best Travel Store or Travel Papa. The airline had our reservation and we chose our seats within 1 hour and had no problems at all. It was much cheaper than the airlines for that one and it was a non-stop.

 

There can be many more problems with consolidator ticket other than just having a reservation and seat selection. The BIGGEST problem is the NON ENDORSABLE, non reroutable feature. IF you have a glitch (doesn't matter what it is-airline, airport or other cause) and the flight is canceled or delayed, you are STUCK with the originating airline. You CANNOT use a consolidator ticket to board another airline. AND you are at the bottom of the barrel for rebooking. Consolidators have also been known to tell customers-"your flight changed by XXX hours. Either get on the flight or loose your ticket. Flight YYY is still flying and that is what you booked"

 

IF you are willing to take the risk, you can save some money. But if things go bottoms up, hope you have good travel insurance and a large credit limit. Those last minute walk up tickets are NOT cheap!!!

 

You may want to read through the first few pages of this thread. CLEARLY explains how consolidator tickets are bought and sold and all the pitfalls. Cruise Air, Choice Air and tickets bought from consolidators are all NON ENDORSABLE tickets-the true mark of a consolidator ticket. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322