Free airfare questions

[pizzuti15]

Hoping someone can help me out with some questions regarding the free air. 

 

Looking at booking for december 2018. 

 

Do you know your flight days/times upon booking? What if you want to fly in the day before your cruise? 

 

Is it always a direct flight or can they put you on connecting flights?

 

thanks in advance 

[njkate]

You won't know carrier, times, non stop or connecting until about 30 days prior.

Yes, I believe you can fly in day before, ask when you call them

[terry&mike]

With the free air (and from some cities reduced air) promotion, you will know your air routing 30-60 days before departure. You can fly in the day before if you purchase your hotel stay from NCL.

[tokidoki]

I asked NCL how much input I would have time-wise and they said I could get premium air, and then I get the times I need.  Looks like its $50. 

[Beachedgirl]

I booked last week on the free air promo.  We too wanted to fly in a day earlier.  It cost me 50 dollars per person to fly in the day before.  They book about 75 days out.   

[rtkenmore]

On 11/1/2018 at 11:05 PM, pizzuti15 said:

Hoping someone can help me out with some questions regarding the free air. 

 

Looking at booking for december 2018. 

 

Do you know your flight days/times upon booking? What if you want to fly in the day before your cruise? 

 

Is it always a direct flight or can they put you on connecting flights?

 

thanks in advance 

 

Multiple reports on CC threads that the free airfare requires flying the day of departure and debarkation.  Can not be extended before or after...  Unless you book your hotel directly through NCL as well.

Edited November 5, 2018 by rtkenmore

[pizzuti15]

Does anyone know if rates seem to be cheaper when this isn’t offered? Is it actually a deal?

 

I typically like picking my own airfare so I have control. Should I wait to book?

[rtkenmore]

1 hour ago, pizzuti15 said:

Does anyone know if rates seem to be cheaper when this isn’t offered? Is it actually a deal?

 

I typically like picking my own airfare so I have control. Should I wait to book?

 

Seen multiple reports of bookings where if you call and say  you won't be using the airfare, they will deduct $100/person off the cruise fare.

[1threadshort]

im looking at my bill and it says $299 1st & 2nd passanger and 3rd is $467 so cant be only $100 deductible

[rtkenmore]

1 hour ago, 1threadshort said:

im looking at my bill and it says $299 1st & 2nd passanger and 3rd is $467 so cant be only $100 deductible

 

Huh?

 

I'm saying that there are reports of NCL reducing cruise fares by $100/person as a benefit when choosing not to use the airfare option.

 

So the free airfare option may be $899/person for a particular room and if you don't use the airfare, they make it $799/person.  That's all I'm saying.

[1threadshort]

huh?    you wrote.  Seen multiple reports of bookings where if you call and say  you won't be using the airfare, they will deduct $100/person off the cruise fare.

 

to me: that meant they will give you back $100. so that cant be because ive paid a thousand

[rtkenmore]

20 minutes ago, 1threadshort said:

huh?    you wrote.  Seen multiple reports of bookings where if you call and say  you won't be using the airfare, they will deduct $100/person off the cruise fare.

 

to me: that meant they will give you back $100. so that cant be because ive paid a thousand

 

I don't even know what you're saying..  You've paid a thousand for what?

I'm just reporting that I have seen multiple people make comments that they called NCL, asked about rates WITHOUT the free or reduced airfare options, and were told they could get a $100 reduction in their cruise fare.

 

In other words, NCL is willing to give a small break on cruise fare if you decline the airfare offers.

[JamieLogical]

23 hours ago, pizzuti15 said:

Does anyone know if rates seem to be cheaper when this isn’t offered? Is it actually a deal?

 

I typically like picking my own airfare so I have control. Should I wait to book?

 

If you call NCL, you can save $100 per person (on the sailings I asked about at least), by declining the free airfare. Also, I was told very explicitly that flying out a couple of days later was not an option at all. I was looking at a 5-day out of New Orleans and wanted to spend a couple of extra days there after the cruise. There was no option for me to do that whether I paid extra money or not. Ended up choosing a 7-day out of NYC and declining the free airfare, saving a total of $200 for my sister and me.

[FLJIM]

We signed up for the free airfare, ($149 each from my location) I asked to fly a day early - March is snow storm season - but they said it wasn't really possible. My biggest concern was having a delay due to a storm. 2ndary motivation was having an extra day in Miami.  They did say if you use their airfare, they will catch you up to the ship at the next port of call for free if you miss the sailing, so I guess that's OK. We'd have a couple nights in Miami or St. Thomas waiting for the ship.

 

Have any of you missed the ship due to delays?

[1threadshort]

not so long ago my family and i were going to miami for a cruise to san juan, and some islands. believe the month was january. we were flying out of la guardia. tremendous storm his and all flights were cancelled. from lag. we took a taxi to jfk. was able to get a flight to san juan (not miami). we booked a hotel room in a very expensive hotel. met the ship the next day. in san juan. quite an experience. and then my sister leaving from nj lost her luggage for 3 days.

[rtkenmore]

49 minutes ago, FLJIM said:

We signed up for the free airfare, ($149 each from my location) I asked to fly a day early - March is snow storm season - but they said it wasn't really possible. My biggest concern was having a delay due to a storm. 2ndary motivation was having an extra day in Miami.  They did say if you use their airfare, they will catch you up to the ship at the next port of call for free if you miss the sailing, so I guess that's OK. We'd have a couple nights in Miami or St. Thomas waiting for the ship.

 

Have any of you missed the ship due to delays?

 

I saw someone else mention booking the hotel through NCL and they would allow flying in a day early but that was the only way they would allow it.  Might be worth checking at least.

[TRex7]

We booked Escape to Bermuda in June 2019 using free airfare promo.  First two passengers were free, 3 and 4 were around $400. We are able to fly in the day before by booking our hotel room through NCL. It was an additional $50 per person to fly in the day before if you didn’t add the hotel package. 

[terry&mike]

16 hours ago, 1threadshort said:

huh?    you wrote.  Seen multiple reports of bookings where if you call and say  you won't be using the airfare, they will deduct $100/person off the cruise fare.

 

to me: that meant they will give you back $100. so that cant be because ive paid a thousand

I believe I understand what you are asking/saying, and the responses you are getting.

 

You have booked a cruise fare for passengers 1, 2 & 3, of XXX amount. You have then booked the "free air" promo, which from your city is actually discounted air of $299 pp for passengers 1 & 2 (with 3rd passenger being charged full airfare of $467. 

 

If you choose not to use the free airfare promo, you will automatically have the $299 discounted air for passengers 1 & 2, and the $467 full airfare for passenger 3, removed from your invoice.

On many sailings, by declining the free airfare promotion you will also receive a $100 discount off the cruise fare for passengers 1 & 2, but you will need to inquire directly with NCL or your travel agent on this. 

[1threadshort]

you got it

 

[jjlen11]

I booked that promo.....paid it within two weeks.....my airfare was for American..basic economy.  I asked if I could arrange it to arrive a day early and was told NO! We guarantee you will be on the ship.....OK!!  Well, thank heavens I got insurance because American baggage handling is the worst.  I priced the same flight on American from Philly to Fort Lauderdale (for a Miami departure)...my net was $99 per person.....if I bought it myself $800 round trip basic economy!!  I made out---even the rep at Norwegian said WOW you are GOOD!!

[oregonian123]

1 hour ago, jjlen11 said:

I booked that promo.....paid it within two weeks.....my airfare was for American..basic economy.  I asked if I could arrange it to arrive a day early and was told NO! We guarantee you will be on the ship.....OK!!  Well, thank heavens I got insurance because American baggage handling is the worst.  I priced the same flight on American from Philly to Fort Lauderdale (for a Miami departure)...my net was $99 per person.....if I bought it myself $800 round trip basic economy!!  I made out---even the rep at Norwegian said WOW you are GOOD!!

 

Hi, so if they gave you Basic Economy, do you get to choose your seats ahead of time. If you have a American Airlines Mileage account, can you add your number to the booking, even though you won't get miles?

[terry&mike]

10 hours ago, oregonian123 said:

 

Hi, so if they gave you Basic Economy, do you get to choose your seats ahead of time. If you have a American Airlines Mileage account, can you add your number to the booking, even though you won't get miles?

In Basic Economy you do not get to choose your seats ahead of time, you can do so at check in for free, or 48 hours before flight for a fee. You do get to add your mileage account number to your booking. 

[oregonian123]

11 hours ago, terry&mike said:

In Basic Economy you do not get to choose your seats ahead of time, you can do so at check in for free, or 48 hours before flight for a fee. You do get to add your mileage account number to your booking. 

 

Thank you. Do you know if NCL always chooses Basic Economy? My spouse and I need to sit together for medical reasons, so I may need to think about this more.  If it's a very full flight, there may not be 2 seats together at check in. 

 

 

[terry&mike]

13 hours ago, oregonian123 said:

 

Thank you. Do you know if NCL always chooses Basic Economy? My spouse and I need to sit together for medical reasons, so I may need to think about this more.  If it's a very full flight, there may not be 2 seats together at check in. 

 

 

Then I would suggest that the NCL air promo is not for you, for a couple of reasons.

The first being that your air routing is not ticketed and sent to you until 30-60 days before departure; on popular routes, seat selection may already be quite limited by this time, so even if in Main Cabin Economy, you may not be able to locate seats next to each other.

The second reason being is that they could certainly choose Basic Economy fares, as reported above. It has not been my experience that cruise lines use Basic Economy as their fare class, but there is nothing prohibiting them from using this fare class, and they are profit driven, so it stands to reason that they may. The "free air" promo is rather new to NCL as a booking promo, so until more people actually receive their flight routes, we may not have enough data to know their norm. 

In your case, I'd book my own airfare, so that you know what you are getting. If sitting together is a must, then I'd rather be in control of my air booking.

Happy Travels!

[jjlen11]

My air was scheduled thru American......basic economy.  Im concerned because I had a horrible experience recently on American...I asked to fly in a day early and was told no....they assured me Id be on the ship.  I will call American to see if I can arrange to sit next to my wife....once Norwegian pays the fare LOL.  Recently, I arranged it but paid $75 to do so...well worth it to sit by my spouse.  The airlines are really making it difficult to fly anymore! whats the big deal?? My annual Vegas trips are now cruises ! Ill take a shorter flight and have a better time!