Air costs more than the cruise

[whiterose]

I've seen some great prices for European and Exotic cruises but was shocked to see that often the airline tickets will cost more than the cruise. Just went on the Princess site to check out a cruise from New Zealand back to the USA next year and the air cost is $2750 per person. It's hard to book open jaw flights on your own but in the past we found that Princess air was quite reasonable. Not any more I guess.

[Coral]

Living in the midwest - just air to FLL is often more then the cruise itself... :(

[kywildcatfanone]

Yeah, I feel for ya. I was looking at a European cruise this summer, Princess has some 2-1 deals that are a great price, however the airfare is outrageous, so we will not be taking advantage of the cruise fare.

 

Price variations to FLL from our home have varied wildly since we started cruising, from $200-500 per ticket for the same route. Plus all of the fees on top of that.

 

Mike

[cruisemom42]

This has been true for the last several years for many cruises, particularly the Exotics, but also Europe. I don't think it's Princess air -- it's just air in general.

[paul929207]

The airlines have cut capacity, so flights are going pretty full. No reason to cut prices.

[Pia1913]

You really have to be diligent with air. Especially one way air. I do dummy bookings way before I need them, just to get a feel of who is flying where. I just got air to Singapore from JFK for $744; what I consider a bargain, and only one stop; in Shanghai. However, these fares probably won't be available to those who book a last minute cruise. Either you save on the cruise or save on the air. Sometimes both, but hardly ever at the last minute.

[CruisinChris]

High airfares are hurting the cruise industry. they are the primary culprit behind the softeness of the european season this year. High air is why we have such great cruise deals. Makes me glad I travel a lot for work and have those miles for free flights (bank them for the big trips -like england this summer) and with status free baggage. Makes travel for cruising a lot less to worry about. I agree with Coral to a degree about air to FLL from the midwest. Though it's certainly not more than I pay for a cruise for the last few years from ORD it's been running in the $300's unless you catch a deal (rare for high season) and recently moved to DTW and pricing is similar.

[Happy ks]

I've seen some great prices for European and Exotic cruises but was shocked to see that often the airline tickets will cost more than the cruise. Just went on the Princess site to check out a cruise from New Zealand back to the USA next year and the air cost is $2750 per person. It's hard to book open jaw flights on your own but in the past we found that Princess air was quite reasonable. Not any more I guess.

 

 

Did you try a search engine like Kayak? I have no problem booking multi-city flights at all.

[Coral]

High airfares are hurting the cruise industry. they are the primary culprit behind the softeness of the european season this year. High air is why we have such great cruise deals. Makes me glad I travel a lot for work and have those miles for free flights (bank them for the big trips -like england this summer) and with status free baggage. Makes travel for cruising a lot less to worry about. I agree with Coral to a degree about air to FLL from the midwest. Though it's certainly not more than I pay for a cruise for the last few years from ORD it's been running in the $300's unless you catch a deal (rare for high season) and recently moved to DTW and pricing is similar.

 

I am looking at air to Vancouver and then back from LAX this fall for a coastal cruise (though we are doing a b2b) but the air is more then the cost of our first cruise in a minisuite. We are now looking at doing more b2bs due to the cost of the airfare to justify the trip. I am also pricing out air to FLL and it is pretty pricey, especially when you add luggage. I don't have the privilege of having a large airport nearby so we pay through the roof sometimes.

 

The prices to Europe are through the roof.....Oh well. I was even looking at driving somewhere to go on vacation but I am about 8 hours from an ok destination but nothing that thrills me.

[Ferndale Girl]

Yeah, I feel for ya. I was looking at a European cruise this summer, Princess has some 2-1 deals that are a great price, however the airfare is outrageous, so we will not be taking advantage of the cruise fare.

 

Price variations to FLL from our home have varied wildly since we started cruising, from $200-500 per ticket for the same route. Plus all of the fees on top of that.

 

Mike

 

For Europe try Aer Lingus - can't help with US. Last year I booked a 27 day Transatlantic cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Venice for this May. Thought it was a good price then looked at airfares to get back home and almost had a heart attack. Ended up with Aer Lingus to JFK with a change in Dublin for $950 US Dollars for the both of us which wasn't bad.

[Coral]

For Europe try Aer Lingus - can't help with US. Last year I booked a 27 day Transatlantic cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Venice for this May. Thought it was a good price then looked at airfares to get back home and almost had a heart attack. Ended up with Aer Lingus to JFK with a change in Dublin for $950 US Dollars for the both of us which wasn't bad.

 

You did well!

[CruisinChris]

I feel for you Coral. Vancouver is always a pricey place to fly to, especially in season. Sometimes, I've flown to Seattle and rented a car and ended-up ahead even with the one-way drop off.

 

I'm traveling a lot for work and air is ridiculous. For whatever reason, flying from DTW to any of the NYC airports has been running close $1000 for months now - even with an advance ticket. From ORD it's in the $300's. Doesn't make sense. I seem to see the best prices on air right about 3 months out. They seem to run a promo and then after that it goes up and up. Good Luck!

[jewopaho]

You really have to be diligent with air. Especially one way air. I do dummy bookings way before I need them, just to get a feel of who is flying where.

This sounds like the only way to get at least a decent fare. Can you elaborate just a bit? We have no problem planning a vacation a year out, and this could very well work for us. I generally book one-way air through Best Travel Store, and have gotten some great prices ... it's the roundtrip fares that are the killer. We fly from Houston, so every major carrier (and many smaller ones) serve the airport. I'm certain that the fire-sale prices on European cruises have much to do with the cost of getting to and from the homeport. We'd love to take advantage of them ... but the airfares are approaching the obscene.

 

Speaking of not making sense, I lived in the Tampa FL area for many years, and wanted to take advantage of the proximity of San Juan for a southern Caribbean cruise. As it turned out, it was less expensive (by over $100) to fly from Tampa to New York, then to San Juan ... going north to end up south! Yeah, I know about "seat miles" and all that ... but it's still crazy.

[azbirdmom]

We booked a Med cruise for October about 2 months ago and have been waiting for airfares to come down, but so far, they have only moved by about $200. I have a fare alert set on Kayak and get a daily email from them that shows the roundtrip PHX / VCE fares for the lowest 5 carriers. They don't allow multi city alerts to be set, but the roundtrip cost is fairly close to what the PHX / VCE / FCO / PHX price would be. We're waiting a few more days, but then may have to think about parting with frequent flyer miles for this trip.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We paid 1500$ for air and 1200$ for cruise Pr person

[Pia1913]

This sounds like the only way to get at least a decent fare. Can you elaborate just a bit? We have no problem planning a vacation a year out, and this could very well work for us. .

 

Give me a hint as to what you want me to tell you. We have been dealing with lots of one way air in recent years. My biggest coup (I consider it that anyway) is paying $1800 for both of us, which was our flight from LHR to PBI 2 weeks ago and then we will use the other part for PBI to FCO in October.

 

I've been using Travlocity.

[sabookkeeper]

A couple of years ago, we had planned to do the Mexican Riviera until we found out how much it would cost to fly to Los Angeles. The cost to fly out of Canada is ridiculous so we fly out of Detroit. Even doing this the flights were expensive. Last year I priced out the cost to fly and the cost to drive to Fort Lauderdale - it was cheaper to drive. We took 3 days to drive down and back. Fortunately for us my husband travels a lot so we did not have to pay for hotels. We have decided this is the most cost efficient way to go, at least as long as we don't have to pay for hotels.

[compozer]

Living in the midwest - just air to FLL is often more then the cruise itself... :(

 

We booked a Christmas cruise and haven't booked air yet.

1. prices are around $555 pp and up

2. but the times aren't working - our son is a teacher and has to work that Friday until the middle of the afternoon - so we have a very short time frame to pick from and nothing is working and we DON'T want to go fly in the same day. We are two hours from the airport and who knows if we will have snow!!

3. the airline we usually use have only posted flights thru Dec. 15.

4. last November we paid less than $175 pp and it was nonstop.

 

We have several other cruises that we'd like to do but airfair is just too high right now.

[likeashrek]

I feel bad for those who want to cruise but the air sometimes cost more than the cruise itself. Here are a few tips:

 

For those out there who have travel rewards tied in with thier credit cards(especially those with no black-out dates) make use of them. I have two cards with American Express,

an American Express Gold tied in with Membership miles and a JetBlue American Express tied in with the JetBlue TrueBlue Points program. There are others such as Capital One, but I will focus on what I use.

 

Some people do not like to carry balances on their credit cards, but who says you have to. In today's electonic age I can purchase gas, with let's say with my JetBlue AE card and get double points), go home and then make an electonic payment to them. With gas as high as it is, filling my tank once a week (15 gallons at $4 bucks a pop is $60 X double points) is 120. Times that 42 times a year. Now I have 5040 points, good for 1 one-way ticket on JetBlue. You need the gas, so make use of the program. Dining out is also double points. My wife and I go out at least once a week, spend $40 X double points = 80 points X'S 50 times a year, thats another 4000 points. Many of you need auto insurance, ours cost about $1200 a year for 2 cars, that's another 1200 points. Now I have at least 1 round trip ticket. If you know you can pay cash, then use the card instead. Make an electonic payment and soon your flying for free.

 

Check out the American Express Jet Blue web site, back in February when American Express offered me the Jet Blue card, it came with this promotion. Purchase anything within the first 3 months and get 10,000 True Blue points, purchase anything over $500.00 within 3 months and get another 10,000 points for 20,000 TrueBlue points, good for 2 round trip tickets anywhere Jet Blue flies. One car insurance payment, and whoopee!!! 2 free tickets!!! With no black out dates.

 

We are now building up Jet Blue points so we can use them for a last minute cruise special, sometime next year. Our first grandchild was born this past June 10th. John Henry came into lives at 7lbs 14oz. Son and wife live in Seattle, we're in New York. Grandma went there the next day, for free, using a free ticket. Nearly a $1000.00 savings!!! I could not make the trip because of work, but I will be there next month. For free of course!!! But I sure wish I could be there now.

 

Now let's look at the American Express Gold card. My wife and I have been together 10 years, married seven. Since 2002, we completely remodeled our home. New roof, windows, siding, you name it, we bought it. All on the AE Gold card with membership miles. We amassed 191,000 points on the program, with many things at double points (by the way, these points never expire). When we booked our air this past January to Rome and return from Venice, it was $2400.00 for 2 from JFK. Using our points, it cost us only $224.00 for the both of us. Amazing!!! Star Princess and Europe here we come!!!! The money we saved is paying for all our tours. This is our first time to Europe, and we don't know when we are returning. So we plan on seeing as much as we could.

 

When you sit back and think about what you spend throughout the year, the numbers do add up. Gas, dining, food shopping, insurance, etc. Before you know it, your flying for free!!

[Pia1913]

I feel bad for those who want to cruise but the air sometimes cost more than the cruise itself. Here are a few tips:

 

For those out there who have travel rewards tied in with thier credit cards(especially those with no black-out dates) make use of them. I have two cards with American Express,

an American Express Gold tied in with Membership miles and a JetBlue American Express tied in with the JetBlue TrueBlue Points program. There are others such as Capital One, but I will focus on what I use.

 

Some people do not like to carry balances on their credit cards, but who says you have to. In today's electonic age I can purchase gas, with let's say with my JetBlue AE card and get double points), go home and then make an electonic payment to them. With gas as high as it is, filling my tank once a week (15 gallons at $4 bucks a pop is $60 X double points) is 120. Times that 42 times a year. Now I have 5040 points, good for 1 one-way ticket on JetBlue. You need the gas, so make use of the program. Dining out is also double points. My wife and I go out at least once a week, spend $40 X double points = 80 points X'S 50 times a year, thats another 4000 points. Many of you need auto insurance, ours cost about $1200 a year for 2 cars, that's another 1200 points. Now I have at least 1 round trip ticket. If you know you can pay cash, then use the card instead. Make an electonic payment and soon your flying for free.

 

Check out the American Express Jet Blue web site, back in February when American Express offered me the Jet Blue card, it came with this promotion. Purchase anything within the first 3 months and get 10,000 True Blue points, purchase anything over $500.00 within 3 months and get another 10,000 points for 20,000 TrueBlue points, good for 2 round trip tickets anywhere Jet Blue flies. One car insurance payment, and whoopee!!! 2 free tickets!!! With no black out dates.

 

We are now building up Jet Blue points so we can use them for a last minute cruise special, sometime next year. Our first grandchild was born this past June 10th. John Henry came into lives at 7lbs 14oz. Son and wife live in Seattle, we're in New York. Grandma went there the next day, for free, using a free ticket. Nearly a $1000.00 savings!!! I could not make the trip because of work, but I will be there next month. For free of course!!! But I sure wish I could be there now.

 

Now let's look at the American Express Gold card. My wife and I have been together 10 years, married seven. Since 2002, we completely remodeled our home. New roof, windows, siding, you name it, we bought it. All on the AE Gold card with membership miles. We amassed 191,000 points on the program, with many things at double points (by the way, these points never expire). When we booked our air this past January to Rome and return from Venice, it was $2400.00 for 2 from JFK. Using our points, it cost us only $224.00 for the both of us. Amazing!!! Star Princess and Europe here we come!!!! The money we saved is paying for all our tours. This is our first time to Europe, and we don't know when we are returning. So we plan on seeing as much as we could.

 

When you sit back and think about what you spend throughout the year, the numbers do add up. Gas, dining, food shopping, insurance, etc. Before you know it, your flying for free!!

 

I have one question. Where do you get auto insurance for $1200 a year for one car, never mind two.

[Coral]

I have one question. Where do you get auto insurance for $1200 a year for one car, never mind two.

 

Ok - this is one place where I win! I get full coverage with zero deductible for $700 a year (for one car).

 

I lose on all the flights but we have cheap auto insurance in the midwest!

 

Though I can't use a credit card to pay for insurance to get the miles :(

[Megsdad]

I have one question. Where do you get auto insurance for $1200 a year for one car, never mind two.

 

QED:p

[Lynniepoo]

I have one question. Where do you get auto insurance for $1200 a year for one car, never mind two.

 

South Carolina!! :D

[Lynniepoo]

We just booked tix for Charlotte to Barcelona, then Venice to Charlotte 14 days later and paid about $1250 pp. (for a cruise in May of next year) The flights are on Lufthansa, which I think are generally a bit higher than other airlines, but we were willing to pay a bit more for a comfortable, non "I'll get there when I get there, you are not in first class" attitude.

 

I was thinking we did pretty well overall, but some of the masters above have proved me wrong!! We will search harder next time. :D

[BruceMuzz]

Cruise Line Executives love to read threads with titles like this one.

It gives them further justification to raise the price of your next cruise.