Airfare for British Isles cruise?

[familycruzer]

I’ve never been to the UK and have always booked my own airfare. For 2022 I am going to try something different so I booked a British Isles cruise. Does NCL offer an air package to Europe from the US? Is it generally more expensive than booking on your own? Would I still be able to arrive two days early? 

[julig22]

It all depends.  I fly from the west coast and when they are offering reduced airfare it's been $999.  Not on sale runs $1499 if I recall correctly.  You can arrive 2 days early but you might have to pay a change fee - that seems to vary.  You don't get to choose your flight, so you might end up on a late flight, essentially losing a day.

 

I haven't seen the "free or reduced airfare" promo in quite awhile but they have been doing "second passenger flies free" promo on some of the European cruises recently.  It's not usually free but discounted.

[ziggyuk]

I have personally not see a reasonable price via NCL, living in the UK it's something I book quite a lot, I normally book direct return flights in economy with checked cases so can't comment on others. I will add I always search my flights via Skyscanner and it often takes months to find the fare I'm looking for.

 

I am currently looking for flights London to Seattle and can get them all day long for under $700 return direct with British Airways or their partners, my target is under $550 which is the level I had for my last flights in October 2020 which of course were cancelled.

 

Normally I can get flights to New York for under $400, the lowest I ever booked was London to New York return with Norwegian airlines for New Years Eve 2019 (admittedly hand luggage only in this case and to Stewart Airport not JFK) for $240.

I have had discounted flights from NCL in the past as a promo and they were still more expensive and without the choice to select my own dates and times so I passed, wasted the promo and booked my own.

Edited January 31, 2021 by ziggyuk

[familycruzer]

So it sounds like my best bet is to watch fares once I get closer and have a price in mind and the money at the ready so I can jump on it. 
Don’t rely on NCL for a good deal