Any Positive Free Air Experiences

[davy jones]

15 hours ago, hallux said:

I don't know that it was specifically requested but my TA told me that she made sure that my reservation was linked with my sister's, even for the air travel.  Our placeholders were initially different but the day before the flights were booked my placeholders changed to match hers and we ended up on the same flights.

We traveled with another party.  Our TA linked our reservations and we were on the same flights.

[14cruise]

Positive for me  The flights I received were great.    There is a thread somewhere on here that shows you all the flights people have received.   I would do it again 

[ChicagoBarb]

I just received my flight info - 37 days prior.  I took 1 day deviation.  Both are direct flights on United, ORD to MSY and decent times.  

[seemoreroyals]

We just received our flights 67 days out DFW to LAX.  They were free but we were disappointed.  On the way there we did get a direct flight 6AM arriving at LAX just after 7AM.  We are okay with that as we are early risers.  On the way back even though there are all sorts of direct flights between LA and DFW they put us on a connecting flight not leaving the airport until 4:41PM with an hour layover in Phoenix then arriving in DFW just before midnight.  By the time we get our luggage and travel the nearly 3 hour drive home it will be close to 3AM when we get home.

 

The flights were booked with American, all center seats, not sitting together.  My wife is on American's website as we speak trying to get us better seats so we can at least sit together on our flights.  Up until 2 days ago both our flights showed direct. Then the connecting flights on the way home were added.  That was why I called NCL's premium air dept. That was how I found out our flights had been booked with flight #'s, seat assignments, times, etc.  I was looking for them on the summary of our trip but was told that the only place they show up is on the edocs once they were downloaded.. Live and learn. 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by seemoreroyals

[14cruise]

On 10/2/2019 at 11:55 AM, seemoreroyals said:

We just received our flights 67 days out DFW to LAX.  They were free but we were disappointed.  On the way there we did get a direct flight 6AM arriving at LAX just after 7AM.  We are okay with that as we are early risers.  On the way back even though there are all sorts of direct flights between LA and DFW they put us on a connecting flight not leaving the airport until 4:41PM with an hour layover in Phoenix then arriving in DFW just before midnight.  By the time we get our luggage and travel the nearly 3 hour drive home it will be close to 3AM when we get home.

 

The flights were booked with American, all center seats, not sitting together.  My wife is on American's website as we speak trying to get us better seats so we can at least sit together on our flights.  Up until 2 days ago both our flights showed direct. Then the connecting flights on the way home were added.  That was why I called NCL's premium air dept. That was how I found out our flights had been booked with flight #'s, seat assignments, times, etc.  I was looking for them on the summary of our trip but was told that the only place they show up is on the edocs once they were downloaded.. Live and learn. 

 

 

Are you sure these are confirmed    When I first got my Flight they were not confirmed   33 days out I got confirmation and was able to pick my seats on American and Delta.     The flight they original gave me was different then ticketed. 

[seemoreroyals]

2 hours ago, 14cruise said:

Are you sure these are confirmed    When I first got my Flight they were not confirmed   33 days out I got confirmation and was able to pick my seats on American and Delta.     The flight they original gave me was different then ticketed. 

Yes.  In addition to being on edocs we received an email today from NCL confirming what we found out the other day.  Thankfully the flights are on AA so my wife was able to switch to decent seats (exit row) so we could sit together.  There was no additional cost.  When we checked pricing on the flights they gave us versus the flights we received there was less than a $40 per person difference.We would have gladly paid the difference to be able to have a nonstop on the way home instead of the connecting flights we received that will have us arriving back at DFW around midnight and pulling into our driveway around 3 am.

[bluenose1]

Hello everybody,

Interesting topic. Booked Panama canal on Encore for Apr 2021 for 2, mostly because of free air. We live in Seattle area. I know its a way out for time. Free air would be from Seattle to Miami then LA to Seattle. We have chosen to arrive at Miami a day early no transfers. Then transfers from LA to Seattle same day. My question is can you upgrade to Business or first class with paying the difference (Seattle to Miami), anybody done this?

Looking forward to this cruise.

 

[seemoreroyals]

29 minutes ago, bluenose1 said:

Hello everybody,

Interesting topic. Booked Panama canal on Encore for Apr 2021 for 2, mostly because of free air. We live in Seattle area. I know its a way out for time. Free air would be from Seattle to Miami then LA to Seattle. We have chosen to arrive at Miami a day early no transfers. Then transfers from LA to Seattle same day. My question is can you upgrade to Business or first class with paying the difference (Seattle to Miami), anybody done this?

Looking forward to this cruise.

 

Other than switching for better seats I do not think paying extra for changes is allowed.  Once it is booked unless they change the rules you are stuck with what they select for you.  Unless you decide to pay in full for your own airfare.  If anyone knows any different please let us know.  We are just over 2 months out from our cruise and we got stuck with awful flight times on the way home from our cruise.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Good to know many are having positive experiences. 

[kdmbluerzr]

Following as I have two cruises booked with the free airfare promo. 

[San10s]

We are cruising on the 11/11/19 NCL Pearl for an 11 day Panama Canal cruise sailing from Miami.  A couple of weeks after booking our cruise with 'free' airfare and a deviation of going to Miami a day before our cruise, I noticed the AIR section on the NCL Summary tab with our Reservation At-a-Glance.  There it showed our flights going from Boston - New York and then New York to Miami for both going and returning.  About 6  weeks ago in addition to what was there, it also had flights both ways showing Boston to Miami and Miami to Boston.  I got my hopes up for direct flights... maybe!!!

 

I just received our flight information emailed from NCL at 2:22 AM this morning... 34 days out from sailing. I couldn't be any happier with ours.   We are booked on direct flights on American from BOS to MIA and back. Perfect times too!... with a 12:50 PM - 4:28 PM to MIA and 12:00 PM - 3:13 PM back to Boston!  I'm so relieved that the wait for this info is over.

 

I was so excited after reading the email at 4:50 AM that I went downstairs to take our reservations number and get our seats for both flights.  I was a little nervous that we would both be sitting in middle seats but again, I as happily surprised to find the rear third of the airplane pretty empty.  I got my aisle seat and hubby got his window seat for both flights and we are in the same row!  Yeah!  I wasn't going to pay more to upgrade seats as there was no need to. 

 

Two other couples decided to pay for their airfare as they wanted to be sure they got non-stops and good flight times.  They paid $300 pp round trip (good price really).  I wasn't worried about a non-stop so we saved that $600! 

 

As a side note, our other couple on the cruise also traveling to in a day early did not get their flights yet. They booked a few months after us however.

 

 

[mdsgu]

We almost went with the "free" air for our European cruise next May.  They were charging my wife and me $999 each, and then my kids were each $1599.  Granted, we also took the 3rd/4th passengers free promo, but the air total came to $5196.  We looked around and booked our own flights (BA over and AA back) for $4270 through AmEx Platinum Travel.  Naturally, we plan to arrive a day early in Rome, and we will leave a day after disembarkation from Amsterdam, but we had had the same arrangement with NCL.

 

As far as routing, they had us going from New Orleans to Toronto to Rome and then Amsterdam to DC to New Orleans.  My wife's parents had the same outbound itinerary, but they were routed through Chicago on the way back.  With our own air, we picked the flights we wanted, so it'll be MSY to LHR to FCO, then AMS to DFW to MSY.

[hallux]

3 hours ago, mdsgu said:

We almost went with the "free"

No need to use quotes, the promo is officially "free or reduced"...

[budamom]

I won't go into all the details, but we did pay the deviation fare of $50 per person.  Suffice it to say that my flights were awful enough to make me decide to just go ahead and book and pay for flights on my own.  I will just be a no-show on the flights booked by NCL.  I will never use their air again.

[ohiocruisemom]

We sailed on the Escape in September out of NYC.  Did deviation on the flight there to arrive a day early.  Flew CLE to LGA no problems.  Return was same day as ship, had transfers from Manhattan Pier all was smooth and seamless.  Did same day confirmed with status on Delta for return and got on an earlier flight home.  Many have referenced being nervous about not getting their status upgrades etc when booked through cruise line we had no issues with this.  We changed our seats got upgrades, free baggage. We did not get to request airline but it all worked out fine.

 

We are using NCLs air for December 1st sailing of Encore and are waiting to see what those flights will be as we are departing weekend after Thanksgiving.

Edited October 9, 2019 by ohiocruisemom
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