Reasons not t use Cruise Air

[travelplus]

After using Cruise Air for our first cruise I have decided to not use this feature again for the following reasons.

 

1. I am able to find flights less expensive or pay a little bit more to get a better schedule. On the first cruise we arrived the same day to San Juan and I left the same day from Barcelona. Quite hectic to say nonetheless.

 

2. I can choose the airline and connecting cities. I would much rather fly on Lufthansa than American Airlines via JFK. I would much rather clear customs at SFO than JFK or be stuck on a midnight arrival flight.

 

3. I want to be able to arrive a few days before and a few days after and have the option of staying up to a year if needed with paying the change fee/fare upgrade if needed.

 

4. If I have miles I can use them one way and the other way pay for the ticket. I want to be able to upgrade the ticket with miles if I have enough.

 

5. I can chose the hotel we want to stay in and save money than paying top dollar for each person rather than per room. We can find better Hotels using other resources.

 

Anyways we have been advised to not arrive the same day of the cruise. CruiseAir does not really guarantee that you will make the ship. I would much rather arrive later the day before than arrive on the same day rushing to the ship.

 

These are my reasons for avoiding CruiseAir. I would like to hear your reasons for avoiding CruiseAir.

[toberman]

Can't think of any reason NOT to avoid Cruise Air, Princess Air, or any of the alternatives. Make your own reservations for everything!! Don't get involved with a third party. Most times it will come in less expensive, and more to your schedule.

[frugaltravel]

Can't think of any reason NOT to avoid Cruise Air, Princess Air, or any of the alternatives. Make your own reservations for everything!! Don't get involved with a third party. Most times it will come in less expensive, and more to your schedule.

 

Interesting since many cruise agents offer lower prices and/or value-added benefits that make the cruise cheaper than the cruise lines offer directly. Doesn't always happen, but I would say at least 75% of the time. I prefer the savings and often it is way easier to reach the agent than the cruise line (or airline in many cases of a meltdown in the system). Not saying I would use Cruise Air, but your blanket statement just doesn't hold weight for many.

[TruckerDave]

I think for people (counting myself) who travel on a regular or semi regular basis booking air,hotel and even cruise themselves makes the most sense. Having a third party book me on an airline where i have no status and earn no miles makes no sense to me whatsoever. (Hotels as well). But, I suppose for the folks who only travel once in a blue moon letting somebody else handle eveything might make sense.

[Bowie MeMe]

I agree with Trucker Dave that with 3 or 4 major trips a year I almost always can get my travel expenditures at a lower cost or one of more value to me based on my defined needs. I do use a trusted travel agent for booking the cruise but that is because of a 20 year 40 cruise history with that agent and company -- service is wonderful and she knows us well and gives us great value. These are enough for breaking the rule of I want to be a customer of the service provider (hotel/airline/car rental firm etc).

 

Another thing to consider is that loyalty "clubs" and credit card points are real factors now. By combining loyalty points and credit card points in an organized way, you can save real money. I just got economy plus tickets roundtrip to Asia worth in the range of $3,000 per person for less than $300 per person and that included buying some points. $6,000 that I don't have to pay is real money for me. I will use the points from the paying the cruise to book hotels that trade 1:1 points or erase it features. There is discussion of if this is the "best use" of points but for me the leisure traveler -- if I don't have to take it out of my pocket and I did not have to pay extra (or I decided it was worth what I paid extra) for those points IT IS GOOD!

 

If you use a 3rd party like expedia or priceline or cruise air, it does not work in the same way for you. Most of the time the 3rd party booking is just fine but it is when something goes wrong that you realize that every ticket is not the same and every hotel room reservation is not the same etc. In oversell situations or delay situations or such, you want to be the customer of the provider and you want the provider to know that you are a good customer (loyalty club does this). The supplier takes care of their company's customer first starting with the highest ranking (business frequent flyers/first class etc) and down according to the type of ticket bought. It might look like the same ticket as all others but it is not. The rate code spells out and the contract of carriage (tiny print on the bottom of ticket or back of ticket) defines what you can demand from that ticket. Your ticket can have a ton of restrictions up to and including being good only on exactly one flight with no changes no matter what the circumstances. Read the sticky on CC cruise air forum.

 

With a little bit of study and effort, you can define your needs and shop for that which best fulfill those needs. Use a secure website for the provider and use your credit card. Read the regulations -- some pay in advance can not get refunds. Know that if something is cheaper than going rate maybe you would be wise to know why it is cheaper. Sometimes it is my good looks but most of the time NOT:D -- If you know why it is cheaper, then you can make an informed decision to take the risk or take less risk and a higher price or somewhere in between. I also think you have to be very careful to make sure that you are really on the provider's own site. --- so many pay a fee to get them at the top and they are a 3rd party not the provider.

[iancal]

Depending on the time of year.

 

In the winter we do not want to be stuck with a cruise air consolidator class ticket. One that is at bottom of the fare code heap or one that cannot be interchanged with another line.

 

Pure hell if there are serious weather delays or equipment problems. All of a sudden you are a nobody at the very bottom of a re-route list. And who knows where your luggage will end up?

[Bowie MeMe]

Don't think that it is only the weather at your airport or where you are going. If your plane or crew are out of position for any reason -- you don't fly as there is not replacements. Planes are flying so full there are few seats for those who were on other than that flight and there are less often flights to your destination.

 

For 2 of the 3 times, that I got stuck somewhere it was summer. Delays are almost expected in Washington DC in summer with thunder boomers but those usually pass and you get out. When you have a whole system problem such as being experienced with the Chicago facilities problem (Sept 2014) it does not matter where you land in the pile but higher is better and faster:p -- might get out sometime this year!