Air fare through Vantage

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

It seems like a lot of folks who book a river cruise seem to include the air fare. I'm wondering why and if I am missing something. I've been checking fares through Vantage and find that economy fares are $225 pp more than I can book on my own. Granted they do include transfers that I would have to pay $125 pp for if I book my own air. But, I would not necessarily get to pick the schedules and stops that suit me. Even more surprising is that Vantage charges $1300 pp more for business class than I could book on my own.

 

Since this will be our first river cruise maybe I am missing something. Is there a reason so many river cruisers include air with their booking?

[Talisker92]

We have cruised a number of times with Vantage, and used their air. The idea is that makes a seamless trip, air, transfers, cruise. The price Vantage charges is an average cost. If you are on the East Coast, airfare to Europe is cheaper than from the West Coast.

I just checked British Airways price for Business Class for the Russian River cruise leaving from Los Angeles.

The price is about $18,000 for 2. The same price through Vantage is about $9,000.

[atlasali]

This will be my first trip with Vantage. We made our own air arrangements because of the following reasons: 1--We cashed-in miles and are flying roundtrip to London. 2--We are arriving several days before and staying several days after the riverboat trip. 3--I like to make travel arrangements. I was going to be a travel agent for my retirement career...until the internet.

 

A friend who does not like to plan for a trip, used the airfare and was quite happy. Before she left, she could not tell me anything about her trip except that she needed to catch a plane on a certain day at a certain time.

[4774Papa]

Both of our Vantage trips were to countries (Russia and China) that we did not want to deal with any land navigation to hook up with the Vantage tour.

Also, the prices Vantage offered for both trip was not beatable. On both we flew United for most of the trip, and flights were as good as it gets on United.

[texassteve]

We've done it both ways - booked our own airfare and had the cruise company book the airfare. The deciding factor was always price and our individual needs. Many times the price was much better if we made our own reservations, but sometimes the cruise companies are running a special that discounts the airfare and individuals are not usually able to get those fares. We are sailing in mid-May on a Vantage river cruise (Rhine and Moselle) and we used the Vantage air program since the price offered was slightly less than I could arrange on my own. Vantage also allowed me to make arrangements for arrival in Amsterdam that is 3 days prior to our cruise at no extra cost.

 

Steve