Too early to book overseas flights for 10/20?

[cello56]

We are doing a back to back on Allure next October 11th and 18th. 2020.  I have been looking on Air2Sea for round trip flights from Orlando to Barcelona. While there are several choices for going over, they only seem to have one return flight choice, and it leaves at 9:55 AM. This seems to be cutting it really close to me, and we would then only have a 60 minute layover in Frankfort before our next flight. 

Am I looking to book too early?

Will there be more flight choices if I simply wait another month or two to book? 

It is still too early to book directly on Delta, so maybe the window is not open yet? 

Do most people find it possible to fly home from Europe to the USA the day of the cruise ending? 

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

[Teeara]

1 minute ago, cello56 said:

We are doing a back to back on Allure next October 11th and 18th. 2020.  I have been looking on Air2Sea for round trip flights from Orlando to Barcelona. While there are several choices for going over, they only seem to have one return flight choice, and it leaves at 9:55 AM. This seems to be cutting it really close to me, and we would then only have a 60 minute layover in Frankfort before our next flight. 

Am I looking to book too early?

Will there be more flight choices if I simply wait another month or two to book? 

It is still too early to book directly on Delta, so maybe the window is not open yet? 

Do most people find it possible to fly home from Europe to the USA the day of the cruise ending? 

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

Yes.  Most flights open 330 days prior to the flight date you want.  I just noticed that AA is only open for booking through 10/1/20 (I want to fly on 10/28/20), so I have about a month to go before I can book.  I think since you are leaving around the 10th, you should have more flights listed in about 2 weeks.  Try then and yes, there will be more flights available.  Try a dummy booking for late September just to see what flights they are offering so you can get an idea of cost and availability.  That way you will be ready when your flight range is open for booking.

[timf2001]

Note also that airlines only finalize their schedules 3-6 months ahead of time, so any flights you do book 330 days out are essentially placeholders and the times are subject to change.  They should still allow you to change for free in the event your flight time moves up to a time that no longer works for you.

[KsucAts]

1 minute ago, timf2001 said:

Note also that airlines only finalize their schedules 3-6 months ahead of time, so any flights you do book 330 days out are essentially placeholders and the times are subject to change.  They should still allow you to change for free in the event your flight time moves up to a time that no longer works for you.

 

Schedule changes are always great if they are significant enough to allow you to change for free.  Several times, my family has had several schedule changes on a flight we booked (because it was cheapest or worked with miles, but not ideal) that allowed us to change to preferred dates/times.  

[cello56]

THanks for the info. I guess I will just keep looking closing to the dates we need.

[island lady]

23 hours ago, cello56 said:

We are doing a back to back on Allure next October 11th and 18th. 2020.  I have been looking on Air2Sea for round trip flights from Orlando to Barcelona. While there are several choices for going over, they only seem to have one return flight choice, and it leaves at 9:55 AM. This seems to be cutting it really close to me, and we would then only have a 60 minute layover in Frankfort before our next flight. 

Am I looking to book too early?

Will there be more flight choices if I simply wait another month or two to book? 

It is still too early to book directly on Delta, so maybe the window is not open yet? 

Do most people find it possible to fly home from Europe to the USA the day of the cruise ending? 

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

 

"Sea" you on board on the 18th!  🙂   I am waiting to book as well, but only have to book the one way to Barcelona, so I should be able to book just a week before you do.  I was just able to book for our cruise in September just a few days ago.  It's that return flight that makes us wait.  😉 

[taglovestocruise]

We are on Allure Oct. 25 2020. Flights opened on Air2Sea about a week ago. There are 10 airlines open to book.  Prices are insane, Lax to Bcn is priced at 1200.00 . We have always found one way prices in the 350.00 range. Hopefully prices will drop over the next month or so  Last year we flew Norwegian Air non stop Lax to Bcn for $650 pp premium economy.  happy cruising

[Magicat]

How did you like Norwegian Air?

Keep checking daily or even a couple of time a day.  Flights come and go as we found that with flights to Amesterdam.  One day premium economy $660 then next day $1100 and then the day after that back to $710.  When you find a flight that is reasonably priced and good times grab it.  You might not see it again.  And keep in mind when booking with AirtoSea you don't have to pay for it until final payment.

[taglovestocruise]

1 minute ago, Magicat said:

How did you like Norwegian Air?

Keep checking daily or even a couple of time a day.  Flights come and go as we found that with flights to Amesterdam.  One day premium economy $660 then next day $1100 and then the day after that back to $710.  When you find a flight that is reasonably priced and good times grab it.  You might not see it again.  And keep in mind when booking with AirtoSea you don't have to pay for it until final payment.

Premium economy was very good. Economy seemed very very tight. I would compare it to Virgin Atlantic premium. Two small drawbacks, only 32kg per suitcase but you can bring two, and Norwegian uses the older/smaller terminal 2 at BCN which overwhelms immigration if several plans land in the same hour. 

[Tapi]

26 minutes ago, Magicat said:

How did you like Norwegian Air?

Keep in mind that Norwegian is going through financial troubles. They recently averted bankruptcy and secured some money to keep them afloat for a few more months, but their future is uncertain. I would advise against purchasing airfare on them, specially almost a year out. 

[Tapi]

On 11/5/2019 at 4:09 PM, timf2001 said:

Note also that airlines only finalize their schedules 3-6 months ahead of time, so any flights you do book 330 days out are essentially placeholders and the times are subject to change. 

True. We booked our Atlanta-Rome flights for our med cruise last a November on the day they became available in the airline’s system, but our flight time was changed to an hour earlier about 6 months before departure. It made things tighter, but we still had enough time to make the flight so we left things the way they were.

 

There were a few advantages by booking that far out thought. We were flying home on Thanksgiving weekend, and the fare we booked 11 months out was the cheapest we ever saw. In fact, the last time we checked, flights were $600pp more than they day we booked. Another advantage was award travel availability. We paid for one passenger using airline miles, and we wanted to make sure that we wouldn’t be blocked out because of capacity control. By booking as early as did we decreased the chances of that happening. 

[Magicat]

Ok, thanks for the input. 

[fredflint]

You might want to try and be a little creative as far as your flights go.  Try picking another major city like Lisbon or Heathrow.

[SRF]

13 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Two small drawbacks, only 32kg per suitcase but you can bring two,

 

What airline allows more than 32 kg???  That is 70 pounds, which has been the max weight limit for every airline I know of.

 

If you meant 23 kg, that is 50 pounds, and the standard max without charge on most international airlines.

Edited November 7, 2019 by SRF

[taglovestocruise]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

 

What airline allows more than 32 kg???  That is 70 pounds, which has been the max weight limit for every airline I know of.

 

If you meant 23 kg, that is 50 pounds, and the standard max without charge on most international airlines.

Good catch on the numbers, I misspoke. It is 20 kg per checked bag.  32 kg is the highest weight allowed and that would insure penalties. 

LowFare	No bags included
LowFare+	1 x 20 kg
Flex	2 x 20 kg

Note: Prices are per person, per one way flight.

---

Norwegian Airlines Excess Baggage

Excess baggage charges apply to any items over the 2 checked baggage limit, and to items that exceed the weight limit of 20kg. £9 per kilo, per leg.

[SRF]

I do this WAY too much?

 

But baggage is a great perk for maintaining elite status.

 

I get 2 bags at 23 kg each on most airlines.  And if I go over by a kg or 2, no problem.

 

Plus, once you get outside the US, most carriers are ONE carry on.  And it may be limited to as little as 7 kg.