Airfare Questions on One Way Cruises

[BarnCat1]

How does free or discounted airfare work on cruises that are only one way?  I am looking at an Alaskan Cruise with embarking and disembarking ports in two different cities.

 

I asked this question on the NCL forum, but got no reply so I thought I would try here.  Any additional fees to come in a few days earlier and/or stay a few days later after the cruise?  

[CruiserBruce]

If you use cruise line airfares, they will book the flights you need. Shouldn't be any additional fees or complexities in the vast majority of situations. It is not at all unusual to fly into one city, and out of another. But you should check and see if you can do it cheaper on your own, including possibly using two different airlines.

 

In fact, perhaps the biggest advantage of cruise air fares is long distance one way airfares, such as trans Atlantic one way airfares.

[sumiandkage]

If you do your own airfares, what you want  for non-looping cruises is the 'multi-city' option, which is often buried in some sort of 'advanced options' on an airline or online travel agency web site.  It's a perfectly normal ticket for you or the cruise line to book and the advantage over two one way tickets is that it's often (though not always) cheaper because that kind of ticket will often meet requirements for certain types of ticket discounts to kick in like 'Saturday night stay required'. 

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, BarnCat1 said:

How does free or discounted airfare work on cruises that are only one way?  I am looking at an Alaskan Cruise with embarking and disembarking ports in two different cities.

 

This will be pretty conventional. You can easily buy a ticket covering both halves of the journey yourself: for example, New York to Seattle; Anchorage to New York. This is basically priced in the same way as round-trip tickets are, using half of a round-trip fare New York-Seattle-New York and half of a round-trip fare New York-Anchorage-New York. (Yes, those directions are correct.)

 

If the cruise line books it for you, it will basically replicate that process within the contractual arrangements that it has with the relevant airlines.

 

For short-haul trips in North America, frequently it now doesn't matter anyway if you buy two one-way tickets. But it's always worth looking at all the combinations to work out what's best overall.

[pcur]

I suggest you look at Alaska and Southwest Airlines, since they charge the same for a flight whether it's one way or roundtrip.  I have found if you book a multi-city itinerary, the cost is higher.

[Zach1213]

20 minutes ago, pcur said:

I suggest you look at Alaska and Southwest Airlines, since they charge the same for a flight whether it's one way or roundtrip.  I have found if you book a multi-city itinerary, the cost is higher.

 

As far as I know, all US airlines do this now - two one-ways are the same as a roundtrip, price wise. I just dummy priced American Airlines from LAX-ANC, one way out on August 9, one way return on August 16 and it was same combined as book a roundrip on the same dates/flights.

[pcur]

17 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

As far as I know, all US airlines do this now - two one-ways are the same as a roundtrip, price wise. I just dummy priced American Airlines from LAX-ANC, one way out on August 9, one way return on August 16 and it was same combined as book a roundrip on the same dates/flights.

 

Glad to hear this.  Last time I looked it was more expensive, but I'm almost exclusively Southwest, Spirit, or JetBlue for domestic flights.  It's the long hauls that I look for more amenities and comfort.

[TruckerDave]

1 hour ago, pcur said:

 

Glad to hear this.  Last time I looked it was more expensive, but I'm almost exclusively Southwest, Spirit, or JetBlue for domestic flights.  It's the long hauls that I look for more amenities and comfort.

Yup, domestic is pretty much all priced as one way segments.  It's the international stuff that kills you on the 1 ways. 😳 I just spent the last hour checking the various one ways from Charleston to Boston/Portland Me for a trip I am making up there next month. Not that it  matters to anyone but me, but, did end up with a decent deal on CHS-BOS on DL.  Flying into PWM is easier, but I just can't justify the cost when the shuttle bus only costs $50 r/t. 

[Garth2]

For a cruise from New York we booked one way on United to Newark, and one way home on American from LaGuardia.  It was cheaper than a round trip ticket on either airline and we were able to get direct flights in economy.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Garth2