Is expensive air travel changing your cruise plans?

[Jane2357]

We are still working our way through the millions of FF miles and hotel points that dh accrued while still working. :D Once those are gone yes the pricing will have an effect on our travel - I'll never see business class again. :eek: Because we travel mostly on Delta - we have our Delta American Express card that we pay for everything on - pay it off each month and rack up miles that way - so it pays to check out those options.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Jane2357

[4774Papa]

Have you considered flying into Jacksonville and renting a car to drive to FLL?

[kelmac]

is WN still reasonable for both prices and award seat availability between ABQ and LAX? Reason I ask is because I priced a random date in Mar 2015 from LAX to FLL and found Jet Blue nonstop to FLL for $199 each way. From SFO we now have UA, Jet Blue and Virgin flying nonstop to FLL, and competition is keeping pricing reasonable. if you have to make a connection to get to FLL on WN, why not consider going via LAX or SFO, even though you'd be backtracking a bit? please don't tell me it's either WN or nothing at all! :eek:

 

Beav,

 

WN is great for us, but we are not married to them. Jet Blue only has a late night flight to NYC and connects in the morning for a flight to FLL. Good price, but we don't fly "north" in the winter.

Flying west to go east is not my favorite and the westbound flight eats up the savings. American, USAir, Delta have all priced themselves out of the mix as of late. We love Alaskan Air, which is what we use to Hawaii and Mexico -- they are starting service in ABQ in October.

 

Thanks,

Kel:)

[kelmac]

Hello Kelmac

 

If you have points for a hotel, I just did a dummy booking out of Phoenix (Nov 26-Dec 7) on US Airways and the cost is $389/pp.

 

You would save almost $800(then subtract the cost of gas and hotel and parking). If you are saving at least $300 it might be worth it.

 

We have used PHX before and sometimes it works. The merger (American+USAir) is not helping. We can do ABQ -- PHX -- FLL all in one day, but it's still more than WN ABQ -- HOU -- FLL.

 

Thanks,

Kel:)

[kelmac]

Have you considered flying into Jacksonville and renting a car to drive to FLL?

 

Southwest used to have a nonstop ABQ to MCO and we would rent a "one-way" car and make the drive. It was a great option, but with the Wright Amendment going away, things have changed here. Good for Texans, bad for Land of Enchantment. C'est la vie

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[wallie5446]

We have used PHX before and sometimes it works. The merger (American+USAir) is not helping. We can do ABQ -- PHX -- FLL all in one day, but it's still more than WN ABQ -- HOU -- FLL.

 

Thanks,

Kel:)

 

Here is a thought! Join us on the Equinox on Nov 10th, Southwest is $175 pp each leg! ;) their schedule is only open thru the first of Jan right now.

 

Princess has some super cheap fares out of Houston in the fall, and RCCL is bringing a Voyager class ship into Galveston.

[kelmac]

Here is a thought! Join us on the Equinox on Nov 10th, Southwest is $175 pp each leg! ;) their schedule is only open thru the first of Jan right now.

 

Princess has some super cheap fares out of Houston in the fall, and RCCL is bringing a Voyager class ship into Galveston.

 

Hey wallie,

 

Would love to sail in early November, but my wife is a teacher and we are a slave to her schedule. Using two of her personal leave days we can do a Thanksgiving cruise this year (Navigator out of Galveston).

It would be great if Celebrity would move one of their ships back to Texas. We did the Galaxy back in the day and it was great!

 

Kel:)

[phoenix_dream]

I think this is a smart way to think. ABQ doesn't have a lot of competition to keep the pricing reasonable compared to hubs like LAX, SFO, ORD, DFW, or IAH. LAS has a light of flights, too, as Vegas is a popular business and leisure destination. You might want to explore nearby hubs which have plenty of ABQ or SAF connections. "

 

Comparatively, perhaps a bit. But believe me, pricing out of ORD these days is anything but reasonable! We paid around $600 last year to FLL when we inadvertently picked a spring break week. Reasonable went the way of the dinosaurs, especially when all the airline mergers were completed. I am not a big government person, but why they continued to allow that to virtually demolish competition and rip off the customer I don't know:(

Edited July 18, 2014 by phoenix_dream

[SmokeOnTheWater71]

Just TODAY, I booked our Delta/Alitalia flight from middle-of-nowhere Fargo, ND to Rome to meet up with Reflection for her transatlantic this October. :)

 

I thought $550pp to fly a quarter of the way around the world, was VERY reasonable. :cool:

 

(Although not as good as last year when it was only $508pp! :eek: :D )

 

Getting a 15 night cruise on Reflection for $649pp with $350 OBC wasn't bad either. ;)

 

I would like to see this most one way flights to Europe are more expensive than round trips cheapest I found was 967 going through Turkey other than that 2600.00 dollars tell us how.

[Cruise Junky]

I would like to see this most one way flights to Europe are more expensive than round trips cheapest I found was 967 going through Turkey other than that 2600.00 dollars tell us how.

 

Celebrity's Cruise Air option has fantastic one way fares to Europe. You can also shop around though. If you're close to an Icelandic air hub, they have great one way flights

[BEAV]

I use the ITA feature all the time to price out airfares.

 

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

 

When planning for a trip to Florida, I especially love this website because you can select multiple airports in a single search. I've found when airfares are high to MIA/FLL, you can often find lower rates to airports like PBI (Palm Beach), RSW (Ft Myers, etc). Many are an easy drive from cruise ports in FLL/MIA. We've disembarked a ship in FLL a number of times and flown home from PBI. Also, some times when looking for award seat inventory, you'll find available space to/from these neighboring airports that you won't find to/from MIA/FLL.

 

Since Reflection sails on Saturdays, I did a random search on March 21 and you can fly PBI-ABQ (Delta via ATL) for $209 one way.

 

Since many airfares are now based on one-way pricing structures, we often fly one airline to Florida, but a different one returning if pricing, timing, availability, etc, works in our favor that way.

[K.T.B.]

Anyone else having problems with air fares effecting their cruise budget?

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

With one exception, not really. I'm fortunate enough to be between both Chicago airports (Midway is closer, but I can get to O'Hare just as quickly), so I have many options.

 

The only time airfare so high that I almost considered cancelling was a few years back for my first Alaskan cruise. Airfare to Vancouver was sky-high at the time. Fortunately, I kept looking every day, sometimes 3 or 4 times, to see if prices dropped. Once day they dropped dramatically and I booked right then! Out of curiosity, I checked later on and prices were back up! I hit that window just right! :)

[budisal]

I am also Canadian and have been flying out of Toronto International Airport and the taxes and fees are what kills you. I now try to fly out of Buffalo... much better. Here's even more fun... I've been saving Aeroplan miles for years in hopes of using them up to fly to Europe for a river cruise. We decided to try using them for our March 1, 2015 cruise out of MIA. I found only one flight on Air Canada (or partner airline)actually only one way, but not return. Could not find anything else, so I gave up trying to use my miles. I went back onto the Air Canada site where I could pay cash for a flight. Guess what? Hundreds of available flights! Aeroplan is a rip off. I cashed in my Aeroplan miles for gift certificates and used those to pay for the cruise. Credit card will be cancelled as soon as the gift certificates clear and before the credit card company can charge me another $125 "annual fee". Lesson learned... no more 'loyalty' cards!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[budisal]

Except for Shoppers Drug Mart and President's Choice which I can use at any point in time as 'cash' on purchases without having to save 100,000 of them.

 

 

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[teecee60]

I guess I am one of the luckiest cruiser in the world. I live in south Florida and am 20 some miles north of Port Everglades and 45 miles north of Miami. In addition, one of my daughters is a flight attendant for a major airline so I fly international fairly cheap.

 

I am house trained and have all my shots... :confused:

 

well behaved, and am available for adoption... :eek: :D

 

 

I would like to see this most one way flights to Europe are more expensive than round trips cheapest I found was 967 going through Turkey other than that 2600.00 dollars tell us how.

 

"Choice Air" is a service offered to cruisers on Royal, Celebrity and Azamara, for discounted air fares on travel to/from hundreds of cities all over the world on almost all major airlines, in association with a booked cruise. Google "Choice Air."

 

You can SEARCH without a cruise reservation, but you have to have a cruise reservation number from one of the three cruise lines to actually book a flight.

 

This allows you to shop for the best cruise deals, and not get hammered by high air fares after the fact. I NEVER book a cruise, until AFTER I have found reasonably priced associated flights.

 

Last November I got a 15 night transatlantic cruise on Reflection for only $449pp just 10 days before embarkation. I didn't book until I took the 5 minutes to search Choice Air for flights from Fargo ND to Rome, which I got for only $508pp just 8 days before flying out.

 

A Delta flight to Istanbul for the Constellation transatlantic last fall was $439pp through Choice Air and THREE THOUSAND dollars through Delta for the EXACT SAME FLIGHTS.

Edited July 18, 2014 by teecee60

[happygran]

I guess I am one of the luckiest cruiser in the world. I live in south Florida and am 20 some miles north of Port Everglades and 45 miles north of Miami. In addition, one of my daughters is a flight attendant for a major airline so I fly international fairly cheap.

 

Yes, you are.............we can cruise from Southampton with a couple of days iffy weather before we hit the Med, or we can fly to the Med (a couple of hours) for about £250/$375..........but that's only during the summer.

 

In the winter (February for us), we fly to Florida to join a cruise but it costs us £600/$900 R/T for flights........(it's worth it though!)

[Deenkid]

I recently booked air for a transatlantic from Rome to PHL in April using Choice Air and paid $512pp. Our airfare to Miami from PHL to start our trip was $148pp. I thought both prices were reasonable but for the most part, I have been unhappy with the cost of flights recently.

 

Living near Philly, I especially like the convenience of the east coast departures. Our cruise last month left out of Bayonne and we have also left out of Manhattan and Baltimore a few times. It sure beats having to pay for airfare and luggage fees and you can't beat not having to fly. I will actually consider even driving as far as Florida to avoid flying when I retire next year. Only problem with that is we have been to just about every island in the Caribbean and Bahamas - but any cruise is better than no cruise

[JLSPOOL]

We travel regardless.

The problem is the cruise product rather than the cost of air.

 

Land vacations are worth the air cost.

 

jls

[PORT ROYAL]

We usually travel 10 -- 12 weeks of the year, with two, three or four cruises thrown into the mix. Celebrity is our favorite cruise line, but getting to MIA or FLL is getting very expensive. (Elite Plus with Celebrity)

 

I just cancelled a cruise out of MIA for next March (Reflection) and replaced it with an NCL (Yuck!) cruise out of Houston. Not in the same league, but we can get a balcony cabin, at inside Celebrity prices, as well as an "Ultimate Dining" package and eat all of our meals in alternative restaurants. Round trip to MIA is running north of $870 out of ABQ; we can do HOU for under $400 R/T.

 

In addition, we booked a Thanksgiving cruise on Royal Caribbean, out of Galveston. Air costs are always expensive at that time of the year, but MIA or FLL is just out of the question. My wife is a teacher, so we are limited to her periods of unemployment during the school year.

 

Anyone else having problems with air fares effecting their cruise budget?

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

Correct, from the UK with all the new Taxes and high fares. Mobutu is not just the air fare. It is the Qs at USA port and airports, and the obnoxious people who man them.

Last cruise from arrival at MIA to walking into the Westin Hollywood took just over 5 hours on top of a 9 hour flight. Forget it!

Edited July 18, 2014 by PORT ROYAL

[teecee60]

I just priced Phoenix to Southampton yesterday and business class was $5,500. Is Choice Air business class, if it is, I'll book the cruise in a New York second.

 

Flying business class as opposed to coach, and to Southampton as opposed to LHR is OBVIOUSLY going to be ridiculously expensive.

 

Skipping the opportunity to go on a thoroughly enjoyable and incredibly scenic cruise because you choose not to put up with several hours of minor discomfort in coach, and a short ground transfer, for a savings of several thousand dollars, seems a bit odd to me.

 

But then, I don't have the option.

Edited July 18, 2014 by teecee60

[NLH Arizona]

Flying business class as opposed to coach, and to Southampton as opposed to LHR is OBVIOUSLY going to be ridiculously expensive.

 

Skipping the opportunity to go on a thoroughly enjoyable and incredibly scenic cruise because you choose not to put up with several hours of minor discomfort in coach, and a short ground transfer, for a savings of several thousand dollars, seems a bit odd to me.

 

But then, I don't have the option.

It is odd to you, but it is comfort to me.

[SPacificbound]

:DI hope to continue to book cruises in a way that we only have to fly one way.

Edited July 19, 2014 by SPacificbound

[Seabourn Pearls]

We punted a February cruise on Silhouette last year because airfare to Miami and FLL was $500+ pp and the schedules were terrible. This was Feb. vacation week. Fares on either side of our dates were about $300.

[smtcan]

I am also Canadian and have been flying out of Toronto International Airport and the taxes and fees are what kills you. I now try to fly out of Buffalo... much better. Here's even more fun... I've been saving Aeroplan miles for years in hopes of using them up to fly to Europe for a river cruise. We decided to try using them for our March 1, 2015 cruise out of MIA. I found only one flight on Air Canada (or partner airline)actually only one way, but not return. Could not find anything else, so I gave up trying to use my miles. I went back onto the Air Canada site where I could pay cash for a flight. Guess what? Hundreds of available flights! Aeroplan is a rip off. I cashed in my Aeroplan miles for gift certificates and used those to pay for the cruise. Credit card will be cancelled as soon as the gift certificates clear and before the credit card company can charge me another $125 "annual fee". Lesson learned... no more 'loyalty' cards!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

We never use Aeroplan points to go to Europe. The taxes make up such a large part of the fare that it isn't worth it. We have used them for Australia and also for South America and have found that if you phone in with a couple of choices of dates they can find you something suitable. AirTransat has good prices to many cities in Europe.

 

Sheila

[Cruise Junky]

We never use Aeroplan points to go to Europe. The taxes make up such a large part of the fare that it isn't worth it. We have used them for Australia and also for South America and have found that if you phone in with a couple of choices of dates they can find you something suitable. AirTransat has good prices to many cities in Europe.

 

Sheila

 

I used to use them regularly until Lufthansa started added the fuel surcharge :( now I've given up on Aeroplan. I am grateful I got to use my 100s of thousands of points before the surcharge madness.