Time Limit

[babs135]

Is there a time limit in flying into New York and then sailing home? In other words how long could someone stay in the States before leaving  1,2,3 nights or maybe a week?

[Underwatr]

The ESTA permits a UK citizen to visit for up to 90 days.

[wenlyn]

We arrive on QM2 and stay stateside for a week -10 days flying back from DC. It would be quite possible to do this the other way round. Just make sure you get the ESTA for when you arrive in the States not when you board the ship. As Underwatr states ESTA's are good for 90 days continuous stay (but valid for 2 years overall so you can make more trips of up to 90 days within that period)

 

[babs135]

So basically if I was to book the usual fly out, sail back to the UK package with Cunard I could stay (for example) two weeks in the States before boarding the ship for home?  I'm actually asking for a friend  (honestly 🤣) so I need to be sure.

[LadyL1]

Yes, that is correct. You could also fly into any other city in the USA, (there might be deviation charge) then join the QM2 in NY, after your own itinerary. We have done this many times.

[lissie]

Also check the price of just booking the flight separately from the cruise.  In my part of the world its rarely a good deal booking air with a cruise line - but in may be different in the UK 

[LadyL1]

8 hours ago, lissie said:

Also check the price of just booking the flight separately from the cruise.  In my part of the world its rarely a good deal booking air with a cruise line - but in may be different in the UK 

In the UK, booking a one way flight is often exorbitantly expensive. For later this year, we have booked “upper class” seats to NY one way with Virgin via Cunard, at a price we could not possibly have attained! I think this will be the same for whatever category seat you book with a mainstream airline. One has to be careful with fares: often the cheapest prices come with cabin baggage only, pay for your meals and unable to book seats as they are allocated last when checking in.

[sfred]

Unfortunately, in Australia Cunard flights are rarely a good deal.  Sounds like lissie has experienced the same in NZ.  In the past year when booking cruises direct with Cunard on their web site, they have offered a A$19,000 per person economy flight from Brisbane to NY, and a A$2,000 per person economy flight from Brisbane to Adelaide.  Far cheaper and more reliable for me to book directly with the airlines.  Given how big a market Aus/NZ is for Cunard, I wonder why they have not put greater effort into obtaining air deals comparable to those in the US and UK markets. 

Edited January 13, 2020 by sfred

[lissie]

11 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

In the UK, booking a one way flight is often exorbitantly expensive. For later this year, we have booked “upper class” seats to NY one way with Virgin via Cunard, at a price we could not possibly have attained! I think this will be the same for whatever category seat you book with a mainstream airline. One has to be careful with fares: often the cheapest prices come with cabin baggage only, pay for your meals and unable to book seats as they are allocated last when checking in.

That must be for that particular part of the world. Almost all airlines out of NZ and Australia price one way fares. And ironically - I'm currently looking at flights in Hawaii - and Air NZ - a mainstream carrier with a good rep - charges separately for luggage  and food on an over 8 hour flight. Hawaiian includes both in their prices on the route!  

[lissie]

10 hours ago, sfred said:

Unfortunately, in Australia Cunard flights are rarely a good deal.  Sounds like lissie has experienced the same in NZ.  In the past year when booking cruises direct with Cunard on their web site, they have offered a A$19,000 per person economy flight from Brisbane to NY, and a A$2,000 per person economy flight from Brisbane to Adelaide.  Far cheaper and more reliable for me to book directly with the airlines.  Given how big a market Aus/NZ is for Cunard, I wonder why they have not put greater effort into obtaining air deals comparable to those in the US and UK markets. 

I saw something similar and just laughed. To be fair they are not alone Princess also has crazy high prices - I  saw a one way economy fare from them which was more expensive than a one way business class booked direct to LAX from Auckland. 

 

It might be a demand thing here - even my travel agent doesn't try to sell be airfares - everyone is used to booking  their own. I'd be very nervous now to use a third party for flights - I much rather have that direct relationship with the airline if something goes wrong. 

[Underwatr]

13 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

In the UK, booking a one way flight is often exorbitantly expensive.

I don't know how it prices out when booking from the UK, but booking from the US, Aer Lingus has very good pricing on one-way transatlantic flights. Yes, you'd need to connect in Dublin or Shannon, but you'd also clear US immigration in Ireland before boarding your connecting flight, making your post-flight experience in the US much easier.