Cunard CompleteAir

[DWhit]

Has anyone had experience with the Cunard Air, specifically the Flexible Rates?

I recently booked what I thought were excellent prices for One-Way Flights from NYC to London through Cunard. The agent told me that the price quoted was not locked in until I made the final deposit, and might go up.

 

She kind of hinted that she didn't expect it would go much, if at all, but I am not sure how much, if any, faith I should place in that assessment. I could lock in the rate, but would need to pay all of the total cruise and airfare costs up front to do so.

 

So I am looking to see if any posters have had relevant experience or suggestions in this area.

[DWhit]

As a datapoint for those who may be thinking of using Cunard for air, I paid my final deposit on my upcoming trip today. The one way US to UK airfare price I was quoted as "flexible, and possibly subject to change" did in fact remain the same. Needless to say, I am very happy with this outcome.

[Artemis]

Because the flexible option is fully changeable and even refundable with no cancelation penalty up to 45 days, I can't think of a downside to locking in what looks good now and then grabbing any better fare (offered by Cunard or the airline) that may pop up, can you?

 

 

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[DWhit]

Because the flexible option is fully changeable and even refundable with no cancelation penalty up to 45 days, I can't think of a downside to locking in what looks good now and then grabbing any better fare (offered by Cunard or the airline) that may pop up, can you?

 

 

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I can say that it worked out great for me. No downside at all.

[maina]

We were quoted a good price by Cunard on airfare, departing from Boston, even though we're going over 3 weeks before the transatlantic we're on, and even though we are going to Amsterdam and not the UK to start with. Haven't booked yet, but will in the next day or so if the price is still good. Our other options are Icelandic, which is one of the few airlines that offers one-way fares between the U.S. and Europe. That's a longer trip as it involves a stopover in Iceland. And, we'd have to book on another airline to get us back from NY when we disembark.

 

Is anything else available through Cunard if you book airfare through them, e.g. transportation to the airport?

 

DWhit--see you on board. From your rollcall posting I see we're on the same trip.:)

 

Ann

[DWhit]

Hi Maina,

 

Looking forward to seeing you onboard as well. When I made final payment today (I went ahead and paid a little early), the Cunard rep asked if I was interested in any transfers from boat to airport, and the like. So I would say they can offer you something.

 

Glad to hear you had good results with Cunard air. I just priced the exact same flight I have with Cunard (non-stop with Virgin Atlantic) on Travelocity, and Cunard was less than 25% of the Travelocity price. The Cunard price was lower than the even the one stop transatlantic flights. And since we are going through Cunard, I figure that helps the Cunard company instead paying to the airline only.

 

See you soon!

[Jimsgirl]

I booked my own air for several reasons.

 

a/ I wanted non stop flight, Fort Myers to JFK, this meant Jet Blue, Cunard staff told me that Cunard did not use Jet Blue (FL to JFK) only Delta, which meant a change not only of plane but also change of terminal at Atlanta. Flight took 2 hours longer.

 

b/ Cost for booking direct with Jet Blue was less than Cunard booking with Delta.

 

Of course this is just my experience, it seems that it depends on your home airport and if you are willing to change planes and take longer. Since I have to use wheelchair at airports, changing planes and terminals is a big deal for me.

[maina]

The problem is not so much booking flights within the U.S., since I think it's entirely feasible to book one way flights at decent prices. And, if you are doing a back to back transatlantic or other cruise that leaves and arrives at the same U.S. port, it would be a round trip booking from your home city to that port. As Jimsgirl notes, it can often be more advantageous in terms of price and routing to do the booking yourself for domestic flights. I think the situation where booking through Cunard may help is when you need a one way flight to or from the U.S. from overseas. Only Icelandic and Aer Lingus have one way fare options, and both airlines require stopovers (in Iceland and Ireland, respectively) so they do not have direct transatlantic one-way flights to other places, either in the UK or Europe.

[gentlemancruiser]

Friends have done Cunard Air twice and they haven't encountered fare increases. The rates in both cases were considerable cheaper then booking direct with the airlines.

[maina]

We just booked through Cunard air (Boston-Amsterdam; return NY-Boston), and got an excellent fare--in fact about $45 less per person than Cunard had quoted us several weeks ago. :) The flexible option was less expensive by far than the "fixed" option. We paid in full, so the price is locked in, but the Cunard rep explained the flights could change. However, she said they guaranteed the dates and implied it was unlikely the flights would change.

 

On the downside, we were unable to book economy comfort seats through Cunard. The only other economy option she had was "premium economy" and I have no idea what that is. She also said that if we called Delta directly, they would not have us on record yet. As she explained it, Cunard has arrangements with various airlines to hold blocks of seats on certain flights. These seats are not assigned by passenger name until later (presumably at the 45 days out point?), so if we were to contact Delta, they would not have us on record. However, when I checked on the Delta website with the booking number given us by Cunard, there we were. The seat selection option was not available. A pop-up window said that this option was generally not available until 24 hours after the reservation is made, but it's now over 24 hours and I'm still getting the same message. Unfortunately, if we can't get seat assignments until 45 days out, it's likely those economy comfort seats may all be booked. I sure hope the excellent pricing through Cunard doesn't mean we'll have the worst seats on the plane! :( We've found that paying extra for the economy comfort seats on long flights is well worth it, especially for my tall husband.

[DWhit]

We just booked through Cunard air (Boston-Amsterdam; return NY-Boston), and got an excellent fare--in fact about $45 less per person than Cunard had quoted us several weeks ago. :) The flexible option was less expensive by far than the "fixed" option. We paid in full, so the price is locked in, but the Cunard rep explained the flights could change. However, she said they guaranteed the dates and implied it was unlikely the flights would change.

 

On the downside, we were unable to book economy comfort seats through Cunard. The only other economy option she had was "premium economy" and I have no idea what that is. She also said that if we called Delta directly, they would not have us on record yet. As she explained it, Cunard has arrangements with various airlines to hold blocks of seats on certain flights. These seats are not assigned by passenger name until later (presumably at the 45 days out point?), so if we were to contact Delta, they would not have us on record. However, when I checked on the Delta website with the booking number given us by Cunard, there we were. The seat selection option was not available. A pop-up window said that this option was generally not available until 24 hours after the reservation is made, but it's now over 24 hours and I'm still getting the same message. Unfortunately, if we can't get seat assignments until 45 days out, it's likely those economy comfort seats may all be booked. I sure hope the excellent pricing through Cunard doesn't mean we'll have the worst seats on the plane! :( We've found that paying extra for the economy comfort seats on long flights is well worth it, especially for my tall husband.

Maina, I just went through this same thing. Cunard has a form that you can fill out and fax to the Air Department for early ticketing. Its called an "Early Ticketing Request Form". Once they get that, they should go ahead and purchase the ticket for you (which means it converts to a fixed fare, and any changes will cost). I did this and tried to select seats with Virgin Atlantic. I could find my booking, but Virgin does not release any seats for reservations till 60 days out. So I marked it on my calendar and will select seats then. But that's still better than waiting till 45 days out.

 

Premium Economy with Delta involves seats with extra legroom, a bit more forward on the plane.

[maina]

DWhit--

 

MANY thanks for the information. Just called Cunard and they are emailing the early ticketing request form. It can apparently be scanned and emailed back to them as well as faxed, which will be easier for us. Cunard rep. said Delta should have the information by 72 hours after we send the form to Cunard. At that point, we should be able to go in and select seats (at least that's how it's supposed to work, said the Cunard rep.). Too bad we weren't told about this at the time of initial booking.

 

Ann

[sullaRaffaello]

.... Only Icelandic and Aer Lingus have one way fare options, and both airlines require stopovers (in Iceland and Ireland, respectively) so they do not have direct transatlantic one-way flights to other places, either in the UK or Europe.

 

 

Don't get this, as I have traveled several other lines one way between the US and the UK/Europe.

[Artemis]

Yes, you can fly traditional airlines on both sides, like BA, KLM, United, Delta, American, etc., but they don't offer favorable one-way transatlantic fares. Just compare the price of a one-way to a roundtrip--it's usually a shocker! Aer Lingus and Icelandair broke the mold a few years back and decided to experiment with discount pricing models on transat routes, including one-ways; Norwegian Air has recently jumped into the discount transat market (using Gatwick as its London base connecting with several US cities). So if you are willing to take some creative routing to get to a Cunard cruise, you can save quite a bit on air with these other airlines. Cunard, like other travel operators, leverages its market position to supply passengers and negotiates special, usually very attractive one-way fares with the traditional airlines. So, in my experience, while I might save a few dollars flying across the pond with Air Lingus or Icelandair, when I just want the convience of a nonstop, one-way US-UK or Euro connection, the cruise charter fare is perfect. (One day, I vow to slow down and go Icelandair because the stopover sounds glorious!)

 

Hope this makes sense!

 

 

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Edited June 29, 2014 by Artemis

[landre1020]

. Premium Economy with Delta involves seats with extra legroom, a bit more forward on the plane.

 

 

Did this with British Air in January. VERY comfortable. Worth the price (Gulp!).

 

 

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Edited June 29, 2014 by landre1020

[Bilge Rats]

We are traveling in May 2015 and have begun to look at airfares. Several of you have mentioned that Cunard can get offer discounted one-way airfares on a larger number of carriers. My question is, how big is the discount? Can anyone give me some examples? Thanks in advance!

[DWhit]

Hi Bilge Rat,

 

I am pretty new to this Cunard section of the board, but I get the impression that many do not like to talk about specific dollars here. But if you were to email me at deck4four at gmail dot com, I would be happy to let you know how much we paid for the NYC to London one way fare.

 

Doug

[maina]

We're doing westbound transatlantic Southampton-NY. To give you an idea of cost, through Cunard our airfare one way direct from Boston to Amsterdam going over (Delta), and then from NY to Boston on our return (American) was somewhat less than half the cost of a round trip ticket to Amsterdam on Delta. We were very pleased, since there is no way to book one way to Europe on Delta, and our only other options for one-way were Icelandic and Aer Lingus which both involve changing planes. We were pleasantly surprised at the very reasonable fare through Cunard.

 

Ann

Edited July 28, 2014 by maina

[Bilge Rats]

Thanks for volunteering information on relative costs, Doug and Ann! It sounds like there is a much broader range of choices in carriers when using Cunard - and at far more reasonable rates.

Sally

 

 

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