When to book airfare ?

[NHCRUISIN]

Have a 1st week in December cruise this year, with airfares at a very reasonable price at the moment, not sure at what point I should be confident that Celebrity will be up and sailing by then and to pull the trigger on booking flights.

[WestLakeGirl]

Your uncertainty is matched by everyone else’s.

[jelayne]

We have a Europe cruise in October and we booked air using miles which can be returned to our account with no charge when the cruise is cancelled.

I would only book refundable air fare at this point.  Once ships are sailing for some period of time (60-90 days ) then  I might considered a non refundable ticket.

 

[ECCruise]

I agree with Jelayne.  Would not book anything non-refundable at this point.  We have sailings in July and November with air to Europe booked, but same were booked with FF miles that can be redeposited. 

[39august]

Or you can book now with Celebrity Air and no payment is due until final pay date. If you or Celebrity cancel the cruise, the air fare will just disappear. 

[Glendakayself]

6 minutes ago, 39august said:

Or you can book now with Celebrity Air and no payment is due until final pay date. If you or Celebrity cancel the cruise, the air fare will just disappear. 

And if the airfare price drops before final payment, you can call and get a price adjustment.

[39august]

You can also change your flights without penalty if need be.  Love Celebrity Air!  But it is not always cheaper than using the regular airlines when flying domestically.  I have been advised by folks at Celebrity air to just call them every so often to see if their rates may have been reduced. You can't count on their rate being the same as what you see on the airline's site on line. And always call to book. Do not try to find what you want on line. And besides, those on line rates are not always what is currently available, as we know airline rates go up and down all the time. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We are booked for October with Flights by Celebrity. When I realized our connecting flight coming home was only 50 minutes and tried to change it we lost our flight to FLL because we are booked in business class and tickets to Celebrity are extremely limited in business class. We were going to go 2 days early but changed to one day because the price increased by $2,000.  We are not even flying on our preferred airline because of prices.

[sydbarrett]

I wouldn't book anything unless it is refundable, unless you are using existing flight credits. Even here in Canada they are still slashing flights regularly so even if the cruise proceeds, who knows about the flight. December (sadly) seems iffy.

[George C]

We are booked almost same dates very end of November have vouchers from previous canceled flights we always either book refundable or buy insurance, most likely book about 4 months prior.

[lobsternight]

Booked our flights with Celebrity a few days ago for our mid December FLL cruise.  First time using their service, and was very pleased with our booking agent.  I had researched on travel web sites and had a good idea what was available and costs.  So went with the no pay until final payment due, just in case things don't happen.

 

In my case I wanted particular arrival and departure times.  However, being so far in the future, we will see if the airline will maintain those.  I can see it being like post 9/11.  We were booked on flights to MIA and they changed those 5 times in 2 months.  Hoping that does not happen this time around.

[LGW59]

Even in "normal" times I always use Celebrity for my flights, like the peace of mind.

[dabear]

9 hours ago, Glendakayself said:

And if the airfare price drops before final payment, you can call and get a price adjustment.

 

4 hours ago, LGW59 said:

 

Not necessarily true. When our flight to Hong Kong dropped $800 on CP site in October   2019, Celebrity air only gave us a $380 price reduction. They said that's all they can do. Thus, beware of price drop adjustments.

Edited February 3, 2021 by dabear