AMA Air or Independent?

[westchestermom]

We will be booking the 4/14 Tulip cruise on AMA for next year. Right now, AMA's airfare is comparable to what I can find on Kayak. Does anyone have any experience with that route or have any advice as to whether it's better to book air through the cruise line? We'll be flying in a couple of days early, so I'm not too concerned about missing the ship. Thanks.

[caviargal]

If you purchased travel insurance with AMA, it likely makes sense to add your flights with them so they are covered as well.

 

Your airport transfers (on cruise arrive and depart days only) will be included as well.

 

For us, AMA does not offer our preferred airline so we book independently.

[westchestermom]

How do you know what airline AMA uses? We'll be flying from JFK or Newark and I've done this route before. I know I want a non-stop flight and there are many, but I wouldn't want to use their air if I'm risking that possibility.

[caviargal]

How do you know what airline AMA uses? We'll be flying from JFK or Newark and I've done this route before. I know I want a non-stop flight and there are many, but I wouldn't want to use their air if I'm risking that possibility.

 

Your TA will get you an air quote from AMA, so you know what you are getting before you pay. You do have choices, as long as AMA has a contract with that airline.

[purduemom1]

Your TA will get you an air quote from AMA, so you know what you are getting before you pay. You do have choices, as long as AMA has a contract with that airline.

 

Do you know if air thru' AMA is a consolidator type fare with restrictions should one need to be re routed, possibly on another airline? I realize that most airline fares, even those purchased directly from the airline, will have restrictions but it seems that those purchased thru' a third party often have additional limitations.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We booked our air through AMA in 2013 and were able to get the exact United flights we wanted, non-stop from Newark to Amsterdam and then Zurich to Newark. We got frequent flyer credits, and were able to buy Economy Plus upgrades -- no hassles from United implying that we had consolidator fares. The benefit was that AMA threw in free transfers, and the airfare was covered by our AMA trip insurance at no extra cost.

[biker1972]

The cruise lines that arrange for air have all negotiated contractual rates that mean that the tickets are highly restrictive. How restrictive is the real question and next to impossible to know or find out. Everything is governed by the fare rules and no one is forthcoming with those rules. There are many threads about this on the Cruise Air forum here at CC. As long as things don't go sideways, these tickets will work just fine. It is on that occasion when things do go sideways that one finds out about the fare rules. The 2 biggies are not being able to reroute or not being able endorse the ticket to another airline.

[purduemom1]

The cruise lines that arrange for air have all negotiated contractual rates that mean that the tickets are highly restrictive. How restrictive is the real question and next to impossible to know or find out. Everything is governed by the fare rules and no one is forthcoming with those rules. There are many threads about this on the Cruise Air forum here at CC. As long as things don't go sideways, these tickets will work just fine. It is on that occasion when things do go sideways that one finds out about the fare rules. The 2 biggies are not being able to reroute or not being able endorse the ticket to another airline.

 

Exactly the concern I have( have also read numerous posts on Cruise Air forum). I believe this same concern applies if tickets are purchased thru' one of the third party sites?

[caviargal]

IME, discounted airfares booked directly with an airline are very restrictive by nature. This is not unique to booking with a cruise line.

 

Delta was a nightmare to deal with on the last three international trips we used them for and I am a 1.5 Million Miler. :cool:

 

That is why we now fly Virgin across the pond. They have 3 flights a day from our airport to Gatwick and we can hop a train or EasyJet to get where we are going. They did cancel our flight for our trip next month but put us on another an hour later and gave us good seats.

 

That is more than I can say for Delta who left us without flights and would not protect us on another carrier when we last flew them. I ended up getting a refund 6 weeks before travel and booking with another carrier completely. We have not booked with them since. The time before that they had an equipment change and our Economy Comfort seats were lost in the process, we were separated and put in really lousy seats in coach. The flight attendants and check in desk desk could not have been less helpful or more rude.

 

I would never book flights through an OTA (Expedia, etc.).

 

IMO, flying in general is the worst part of traveling and the one part I always dread. We have really enjoyed our last 2 trips with flights in PE with Virgin and hope the positive experiences with them continue.

Edited June 2, 2015 by caviargal

[imisseurope]

Great info, caviargal!

I totally agree with you. The flight is the worst part! I always find myself just praying and crossing my fingers we don't have any problems every time we fly.

It seems more the exception than the rule, nowadays, if you have a smooth flight and arrive when you are supposed to! :)

 

I will definitely keep Virgin in mind and give them a try on my next trip if it works out.

 

Thank you!

[CPT Trips]

You may not be totally on your own using cruise line air if things go FUBAR.

 

GCT took excellent care of a substantial number of passengers (somewhere around 40) that needed to get back home when Lufthansa went on strike. The few pax that arranged their own air on Lufthansa experienced a lot more difficulty and agita getting their return squared away.

 

We also know several couples that ran into problems heading to the ship and a call to GCT's emergency line got them squared away and to the ship in time. Don't know whether they had GCT insurance or not. They weren't out of pocket to fix things.

 

That said, you can't count on the best routing.

[biker1972]

Buying directly from the airline, even a restrictive economy fare, does have one advantage over tickets purchased through Expedia, Cheapo Air, etc. You are the airline's customer while tickets purchased through the discounters means that you are the discounter's customer. If an airline is going to care about anyone, it will be their customer and if you are not their customer there is less incentive to take care of you. :(

[3Kittens]

We never use cruise air, but decided to do so for this last cruise.

Absolutely no problems. Fights were comparable to booking on our own, flight times with slightly less flexibility. But generally that really was due to airlines pre determined flight times, nothing to do with AMA.

I would definitely use AMA air again.:)