Free Air Plus Free at Sea?

[prbffd28]

For what it is worth and also want to point out that this will be my first time trying the "Free Air" promo as well but just to let folks know my experience, so far.

I had/have the Encore booked for the 2/9/2020 sailing through CAS program and at the time of my original booking free air was not a promo. When I did a mock booking to check on pricing (prior to final payment) I noticed that the free air promo was available along with the free at sea perks. I had been searching for flights, for quite some time, out of Portland, Maine and also Boston as a possible less expensive option (although a lot more traveling for us). Flights out of Portland all have 1 stop which is fine but due to the timing of the return flights having to be scheduled later in the day the costs jumped considerably, near $1000 RT.

I decided to call the CAS line and ask if my reservation would qualify for the free air promo to be added (I called the day before my final payment was due). I lady I spoke with was very helpful, looked up my reservation, and told me that I could ammend my reservation and add free air for a total of $64 ($32 each way) for the tranfers for 2 people. I then asked if I could fly in a day early because I had already reserved a hotel and she said yes but I would be charged $25 pp deviation fee, which was fine. So my final question was if I could only do a one way transfer at the end of the cruise from port to airport because the hotel will pick us up for free when we arrive and get us to the port. Again, she said yes no problem and removed the pre-cruise tranfers and the new total is $82 which includes the RT flights, deviation fees and one way transfer on disembarkation day. As another point, the cost of my original reservation did change a small amount due to the change in Travel Insurance cost to add the flights but in the end it was still less than $100 change.

So as I mentioned, this will be my first experience using NCL for flights but if it all works out ok I will save almost $1000 (even if it means a bit of inconvenience, i.e. long or short connections) I can deal with it. After all, we're on vacation!!

[RedwingHockeyFan]

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-deals/choice/air-offer

 

I think someone posted something similar but if you use this link, then select your departure city it will then show you the list of destinations.  When you click on a destination it will bring up a table that shows you all the cruise ports for that destination and how much airfare is for each.

[Toledosfinest]

On 10/15/2019 at 5:33 PM, Toledosfinest said:

So far NCL' s free/discounted airfare is looking like it will work just fine. There are 2 couples that are booked on Ncl Getaway , travelling to the Greek islands next May 2020. We decided to book the cruise lines discounted airfare at $599 p.p. and take a chance. We knew we had no control on flights that would be picked. We are flying out of Detroit metro to Rome. In pricing thought travel web sites, the prices were in the $1300-1600 range p.p. We further were advised we might not know what flights we would get until 35-60 days before our cruise , and whether or not the tickets issued would be basic economy.( no seats picked until day of flight). We are like 200+ days from the cruise, and yesterday we got an email from Air France that our flight from Paris to Rome has changed its Times. We knew nothing about any airline that we were booked on. I was able to take the booking number off the A.F email and I plugged that booking # into Delta airlines web site and all our flights were confirmed with Delta. I was able to pick our seats immediately, which really made our day. The main reason I checked Delta's web page is because A.F airlines code shares with Delta. The flights are fine both ways, and were great for $599 .  For all the critics that say the ncl airfare doesn't work, or makes terrible sense, I think this time it will work. For everyone that did book with ncl' s airfare, do some digging and you might find your flights are already booked, and get your seats picked before the airlines assign them. Don't wait until 60 days before your cruise to start looking for your flights.

Update, I called Delta to see about comfort plus type seats as an upgrade, and the rep stated that we did have a valid reservation in their system, but that we could not upgrade yet because the airfare wasn't paid for by N.C.L yet which they advised is a common practice for cruise lines. They apparently don't pay for the airfares they book until less than 60 days from the cruise date. So we are booked, we were able to get our seats, but we can't upgrade, which is fine.

[njkate]

On 10/5/2018 at 9:55 PM, Carolina Girl 99 said:

 

 

THANK YOU!!!! I have spent the past half hour looking for the fare table. I was actually really surprised at airfare rates for the 2 cities closest to me. Savannah, GA (which is always pricey) or Charleston, SC to MIA/FLL for $99 or to SJU for $199.

 

My son and I flew from SAV to FLL last October for a cruise and IIRC airfare was almost $700 for both of us

When it comes to free or reduced air maybe worth the drive to Jacksonville. I know Savannah is very pricey and usually I just suck it up unless the savings by driving to Jacksonville are worth it