flights to Barcelona

[Michael50]

Hi everyone.  We are booked on the Viking Iconic Western Med. cruise for October 2019 .  We are leaving from Barcelona - was wondering about the flights - we paid for the extra air per person - but should we start looking on our own or wait for Viking - not sure how this works as this is our first Viking Cruise - also, what should we be looking for - night flights to Barcelona or daytime - we are staying for 3 nights before the cruise leaves. 

Thanks for your help.

Helene

[CruiserBruce]

Ah...we need much more info. Like where are you flying from? Is the cruise a round trip out of Barcelona, a transAtlantic cruise, or where else might you be flying home from.

 

You should always be doing your research, no matter what the flight situation would be. How else would you know what your choices are?

[terry&mike]

I'm not sure what you mean by paying for "extra air per person", but if you mean you purchased Viking's custom air then you can call Viking and work with their air department to get a flight routing that is better suited to you. If you did not pay extra for customized air, and have air with your Viking package then Viking will book your air 45-60 days before departure and notify you.

This is if you booked with Viking directly, if you booked with a travel agent they will work with you and Viking to coordinate your air if you paid the custom air fee. 

Also, not sure where you live, but if you live in the US most flights to Europe, including Barcelona, are overnight.

[Michael50]

Hi there.. sorry I wasn't more specific.... so we are flying from NYC to Barcelona - would prefer a non stop if that's possible - and we are flying home from Rome - but we added two extra nights on our own.  We paid for air plus through Viking which i'm assuming allows us some input as to our flights, however,  since this is our first Viking cruise we really have no idea how this works.  Any info would be appreciated... 

Thanks again

[3rdCoastFan]

It shouldn't be a problem to find non-stop between NYC and Barcelona or Rome. Do you have a preferred airline? Or preferred alliance? Do you plan on upgrading on your own or via Viking (if at all)? And do you have a preference for departing from JFK or Newark? While it's possible to do a day time flight from many US cities to London, I would prepare for a red-eye to Barcelona. 

 

Air Plus does let you have input on your flights. That doesn't mean Viking will select the best flights for you. Do some research with Google flights - pick 'multi-city' for your search preferences (this is also known as an open jaw ticket) and see what flights work best. Ask Viking to pick those. The earlier the better - I'm sure non-stops are in high demand. Viking may require an extra fee, too, for your preferred itinerary. 

 

Staying for an extra couple of days in Rome will count as an 'air deviation' and may cost another $100/person. 

[erby2283]

I'm flying from Charlotte to Barcelona in August and then post cruise flying to Portugal for 3 days before flying home. My TA helped me book flights since he had access to discounted rates since we were booked the cruise. Want to hear something funny?  If we booked a one-way flight from Charlotte to Barcelona through Toronto, it was over $1000 p/p.  However, if we booked a one way to Toronto and then one-way to Barcelona, it was half that for the same flights! All in all for 3 one-way trips (with layovers crossing the pond in both directions) we paid just over $1k each.  I thought that was a pretty good deal. 

I'm not sure about Viking but just wanted to give you a comparison on price.

Edited December 18, 2018 by erby2283

[Globaliser]

18 hours ago, erby2283 said:

Want to hear something funny?  If we booked a one-way flight from Charlotte to Barcelona through Toronto, it was over $1000 p/p.  However, if we booked a one way to Toronto and then one-way to Barcelona, it was half that for the same flights!

 

Does that mean that the Charlotte - Toronto  flight is on a different booking from the Toronto - Barcelona flight?

 

If so, I hope that your TA has taken all the necessary precautions and given you all the necessary health warnings about this approach. It's not "funny" - it's a situation that is commonly seen - but there are reasons why it's cheaper to do it one way rather than the other, and if you're unlucky those reasons can come back to bite you.

[erby2283]

5 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

Does that mean that the Charlotte - Toronto  flight is on a different booking from the Toronto - Barcelona flight?

 

If so, I hope that your TA has taken all the necessary precautions and given you all the necessary health warnings about this approach. It's not "funny" - it's a situation that is commonly seen - but there are reasons why it's cheaper to do it one way rather than the other, and if you're unlucky those reasons can come back to bite you.

 

No, I let my TA book it and it's all under one booking. I'm just saying when I go to the airlines directly and search the flights I'm on, they are WAY more than what I paid. Kind of like booking a flight from CLT to anywhere - price is insane. But if I drive to Raleigh, find a flight that has a layover in CLT (so I would have been on the same flight had I booked form CLT), it's cheaper. Makes no sense. Why would 2 flights be cheaper than one? Just things that make me go hmmmmmm. 

Health warnings?

[Globaliser]

21 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

No, I let my TA book it and it's all under one booking. I'm just saying when I go to the airlines directly and search the flights I'm on, they are WAY more than what I paid.

 

Then I don't understand why you say you have "booked a one way to Toronto and then one-way to Barcelona", as opposed to "a one-way flight from Charlotte to Barcelona through Toronto". If it's all in one booking, then it doesn't sound like there's any difference.

 

If what you're really saying is that your TA could get you a much cheaper fare than you could get from the airline directly, then that's a different matter entirely. That can easily happen, particularly if you are looking for one-way long-haul fares which are typically more expensive than round-trip fares. TAs (including cruise lines) can get access to contracted rates for one-way travel that bring these down to the same sort of level as half of a round-trip fare, but those rates wouldn't be available to the general public.

 

There's nothing "funny" in that, either. That's just the way the industry works.

 

21 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Kind of like booking a flight from CLT to anywhere - price is insane. But if I drive to Raleigh, find a flight that has a layover in CLT (so I would have been on the same flight had I booked form CLT), it's cheaper. Makes no sense. Why would 2 flights be cheaper than one?

 

It makes perfect sense: non-stop itineraries are more valuable than connecting itineraries because they're faster. Things that are more valuable sell for a higher price. If you want to test that, try buying a cheaper RDU-CLT-XXX flight and flying only the CLT-XXX. You might find some difficulties at the gate, probably caused by the airline trying to protect the more valuable CLT-XXX product from being used at the price of the less valuable RDU-XXX product.

 

21 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Health warnings?

 

Figuratively speaking. If you had actually booked a a one-way ticket to Toronto and then another one-way ticket to Barcelona, you increase the risks of a big travel disaster. A good TA would give you some tips and warnings about how to reduce the risks.

[Flymia]

You can certainly fly to Barcelona non-stop, but it will only be overnight flights to Barcelona. Other than London I am not aware of any other European airports with daylight flights. Maybe there is one or two to Paris. 

 

Your flight back will be during the day. 

 

I would call the cruise line and see how it works. I really don't know how much say you have in the flight choices. 

 

Barcelona is a fantastic city though! 

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, Flymia said:

You can certainly fly to Barcelona non-stop, but it will only be overnight flights to Barcelona. Other than London I am not aware of any other European airports with daylight flights. Maybe there is one or two to Paris. 

 

Your flight back will be during the day. 

 

I would call the cruise line and see how it works. I really don't know how much say you have in the flight choices. 

 

Barcelona is a fantastic city though! 

 

Dublin gets a couple of daytime flights from the US, maybe Canada too. I don’t think Paris does anymore. 

[waterbug123]

16 hours ago, erby2283 said:

 Why would 2 flights be cheaper than one?

 

 

16 hours ago, Globaliser said:

It makes perfect sense: non-stop itineraries are more valuable than connecting itineraries because they're faster. Things that are more valuable sell for a higher price. If you want to test that, try buying a cheaper RDU-CLT-XXX flight and flying only the CLT-XXX. You might find some difficulties at the gate, probably caused by the airline trying to protect the more valuable CLT-XXX product from being used at the price of the less valuable RDU-XXX product.

 

 

 

erby2283, just to clarify if you DO try the above...when Globaliser says you may find some "difficulties" at the gate if you book RDU-CLT-XXX but try to only fly CLT-XXX, what it means is that if you don't show up for the RDU-CLT leg, you'll be considered a no-show and your entire ticket will be canceled.  So when you show up at CLT for your flight, you won't have a ticket.  Likely you'll have to pay more money, because the agent will require you to change your original ticket to just a CLT-XXX ticket, which cost more to begin with AND because you are changing and booking that at the last minute. 

[erby2283]

4 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

erby2283, just to clarify if you DO try the above...when Globaliser says you may find some "difficulties" at the gate if you book RDU-CLT-XXX but try to only fly CLT-XXX, what it means is that if you don't show up for the RDU-CLT leg, you'll be considered a no-show and your entire ticket will be canceled.  So when you show up at CLT for your flight, you won't have a ticket.  Likely you'll have to pay more money, because the agent will require you to change your original ticket to just a CLT-XXX ticket, which cost more to begin with AND because you are changing and booking that at the last minute. 

Thanks but I would never try to just fly that one leg. I book these types of flights all the time for my boss and he ends up having to drive to Greensboro or Raleigh just to fly through Charlotte anyway.  

[2theship]

On 12/16/2018 at 8:48 PM, Michael50 said:

Hi there.. sorry I wasn't more specific.... so we are flying from NYC to Barcelona - would prefer a non stop if that's possible - and we are flying home from Rome - but we added two extra nights on our own.  We paid for air plus through Viking which i'm assuming allows us some input as to our flights, however,  since this is our first Viking cruise we really have no idea how this works.  Any info would be appreciated... 

Thanks again

I'm currently researching flights to Barcelona - there are non-stops from JFK on Delta and from Newark on United. We sailed Viking last year and paid the additional fee to have control of our air booking and it was absolutely worth it. Some of our fellow cruisers had terrible connections in both directions and could not do anything about it. They had no idea that for a small fee, they could have picked their flights. Do your own research, know what you want and ask for it.