NCL Air BOGO - My Experience

[Atlanta07]

After reading all of the reviews and comments with NCL Air, especially in regard to their BOGO - I thought some might be interested in my recent experience. I will try to just be as factual as possible and attempt to remove emotion etc. so you can make the best decision for you regarding NCL Air and their BOGO offer. 

 

I booked a cruise the beginning of September 2022 leaving January 1, 2023 out of San Antonio (Santiago) Chile and returning from Buenos Aires, Argentina - 14 day cruise.

 

I did elect the BOGO and my gateway (departure and return) city was Orlando. I did a two day deviation - meaning I would arrive and depart two days before / after the cruise and did receive a $50 credit for the deviation. The total cost of the BOGO was $1350 for airfare. 

 

In looking up pricing for the air - The price was indeed cut in half compared to what I would get through common carriers for economy class. 

 

I did receive the air confirmation the beginning of November and I will say it looked like someone was angry when they booked the flights - especially the return. 

 

Our schedule was:

12/29 - 

MCO - MIA - Delta

MIA - SCL - Latam

 

1/17 -

EZE - LIM - Latam

LIM - MIA - Latam

MIA - MCO - Delta

 

Flights are what they are and that is what we signed up for and we got the savings so not much to complain about in reality. All is fine - we went online and booked seats for the two Delta flights without a fee, and then went to Latam and paid for seats (rather than being assigned random seats) in the amount of $300.

 

All is fine until the end of November - when our flights disappeared from the Delta website. I called Delta and they confirmed that I am not on any flight those days and although they can see some record, it looks like it was canceled by the agent. I called NCL and then NCL asked me to call Latam. I called Latam and they said all is fine - just trust the process and you'll be okay in a few days. A few days later I called NCL again - since they are they agent that booked the flight. They said that their computer shows all is good so it must be but give it a day or so. I call back two days later to NCL where they direct me to call Latam. Latam tells me to call Delta. Delta says I should call Latam or NCL but they are out of it.

 

I call NCL back and have to go through all the same things I did above. I was asked if I had insurance for the trip - as if that would be acceptable in the event the flight was indeed a problem. I convince the NCL rep to pick up the phone and CALL DELTA to see that I'm not crazy. She does with lots of hesitation and then says that okay...so there is a problem. It looks like there is a schedule change and that is the issue but it should be resolved in 5 days or less. Now you know as well as I do if you are a frequent traveler - if a schedule change happens your flight just doesn't disappear. You get the new flight info and then hopefully it works with your schedule, but it just doesn't drop from existence. 

 

So now we at December 9 and my flight leaves in 20 days - plenty of time, however at this point I've already been on the phone at least 10 hours and still no resolution. The wait time to speak with someone at Latam...1 hour minimum hold time. 

 

On Dec 15 - I call again - nothing has changed and no updates. 

 

At this point, I give up and book refundable tickets through Delta. I figure if I'm going to trust the process - I'm going to do so with some security that I won't miss my 14 day cruise. 

 

We call again a few days later to NCL and they ask me to call Latam. I let them know that I didn't book with Latam - I booked with them, they are my agent and they need to get to the bottom of this. We speak with a supervisor who then explains that she wouldn't take the chance to book with the BOGO program - obviously doesn't make us feel great. So we hang up and call the concierge hotline since we are in a suite - explain everything to them and mostly just see if anything can be done to get a refund of the flight - that we've booked our own at this point. We don't trust them or the process. Not sure what was said or we just finally spoke with someone competent but about 10 minutes later we get a call from the Director of Escalations. Went through the process with him, and he got it - understood the issue with the first leg, and also realized that if we miss that first leg, all other legs of the flight would be canceled. 

 

He and his team were amazing and within about 2 hours our flights showed back up on Delta. 

 

Confident at this point that we had a contact and flights showing, we canceled our refundable flights - even though they offered a much better schedule, we would have lost the BOGO price of $1350 on top of the flights we paid for of another $2550. 

 

So flights there were fine - no issues and Latam other than a bit chaotic with boarding was fine (from Miami). Meal on the plane was fine. The flight started with Delta so we had no issues getting all of our tickets and checking our bags etc. 

 

Return flight - we check in WAY early which is great. We were then slapped with a $240 price per bag to check our bags - which of course we didn't have on the inbound flight as it was with Delta and they don't charge a baggage fee for international flights. We checked one bag each - so two bags - $480 plus international CC charges. There was no other option other than not getting our bag checked. We then had to go to a separate line to pay the fee or the bags wouldn't be released to the aircraft. 

 

Ultimately as you can see from the above we wish we would have just booked our own flights at the $2550. We would have been able to book our own flights with better schedules, not had 15+ hours of phone calls and frustration and in the end we didn't save all that much money. We had $850 of increased costs from the original $1350 we paid. Had NCL booked us with the first leg with Latam that price would be an additional $550. So we actually saved total $500 in our scenario...not worth it to me, but you make your own decision.

 

NCL Air is not an advocate - they are a booking service ONLY. They will step in if you demand assistance but will always defer you to someone else rather than taking care of the issue. 

 

Thanks and happy travels!

[DCGuy64]

You are exactly right about NCL being a booking agent only, albeit one that can get you tons of $ in savings. The only problem I have with your story is that it appears you took it upon yourself to call multiple times weeks ahead of the travel date, and now you blame NCL for all the time that took. Frankly, you could have just waited until things resolved themselves and not spent all that time calling multiple airlines. The other thing is that NCL makes it very clear that baggage fees are the responsibility of the passenger, they only get your seats for you. Baggage fees, if they apply, are up to you. Latam would have charged them either way (although I will say their fees are outrageous, assuming you weren't checking multiple steamer trunks weighing 500 lbs each!) Your post reminds me of so many others where people book cruises a long time ahead, then fret and worry over every detail for months on end, get frustrated at not getting answers, spend hours on the phone and then announce themselves dissatisfied with the whole process, not realizing their impatience was the root of the problem from the beginning. That wasn't your situation exactly, of course, but you could have saved yourself some aggravation if you'd waited a bit longer- I know this from personal experience, BTW. That's all I'm saying. You didn't mention it, but how was the actual cruise? Did you have a good time? 

[Atlanta07]

DCGuy - 

 

Thank you for your insight - the big difference here is that YES - there was an issue with the Delta flight. Had I attempted to go to the airport the day of that flight would not have existed (this happened to a fellow cruiser - and they had to be booked with a different airline that same day, as Delta had no record of them). 

 

So yes, I did look - and worry and fret and spend time. NO I didn't save a ton of money - and to me it wasn't worth it.

 

Now had the flight never appeared on the Delta site, I likely wouldn't have been concerned. My concern was the fact that it was there and then disappeared. 

 

Cruise was fantastic. 

 

Thanks.

[RocketMan275]

4 hours ago, Atlanta07 said:

We speak with a supervisor who then explains that she wouldn't take the chance to book with the BOGO program - obviously doesn't make us feel great.

 

Thanks and happy travels!

I was told my an NCL agent that I should avoid booking air with NCL since I'm picky about my flights.  It seems NCL must get a lot of complaints.  I travelled extensively for work, and, yes, I am picky about flights.  I'm willing to pay more, a lot more, to get what I want.

[Uff da]

Everybody is different. Our experiences with NCL air are positive ones. However, we live in a midwestern landlocked city with only a regional airport. They can't hurt us too much coming and going from here due to limited flights per day. They could get us on transfers, but so far it's been fine. (Knock on wood.) We also recently retired and we're flexible so it's easier to go with the flow. The savings have been worth it for us.

[itsnotjustme]

11 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

not realizing their impatience was the root of the problem

I do not see the OP's impatience being the root of this problem.

 

I would have also been concerned if my reservation appears to be wrong/missing.  Other posts criticize for not doing homework - the OP was doing their homework and working to ensure a smooth trip.

 

 I do think of the BOGO air as you get what you pay for.  You want reserved seats, pay up.  You want to check a bag, pay up.  Fortunately, I have loads of FF miles from credit cards and booking cruises with a TA that pays 7 miles per dollar of cruise fare (not taxes/fees/port charges).

[NW Pacific]

All I can say, buyer beware,  NCL may have deep discounts, but not "friendly flights", it is your own comfort zone what you can tolerate.

[DCGuy64]

8 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

I do not see the OP's impatience being the root of this problem.

 

I would have also been concerned if my reservation appears to be wrong/missing.  Other posts criticize for not doing homework - the OP was doing their homework and working to ensure a smooth trip.

 

 I do think of the BOGO air as you get what you pay for.  You want reserved seats, pay up.  You want to check a bag, pay up.  Fortunately, I have loads of FF miles from credit cards and booking cruises with a TA that pays 7 miles per dollar of cruise fare (not taxes/fees/port charges).

You only quoted me in part, I think I was careful to say that while the OP's post reminded me of others like it, I wasn't accusing him of being impatient. I agree that the OP did his homework. I also agree with you that BOGO air is a case of "you get what you pay for." You say that you are fortunate enough to have lots of frequent flier miles, but not everyone does. My wife and I have to budget for things and cruises are no different. We don't have enough miles to go long distances, in part because the airlines keep upping the ante in terms of how many miles you need to get "free" tickets. (Free is in quotations because they often charge high fees IN ADDITION TO the miles you need). One thing I've learned by being on these boards is that we all tend to assume others are like us. Many longtime (and frequent) contributors seem to be fairly well-off retirees with lots of free time, often living within just an hour or two of big cruise ports in Florida. But we're not all like that. Some of us work full time, don't live in FL and don't have oodles of money. What works for some doesn't work for all. That's worth keeping in mind, in my opinion.

Edited January 26, 2023 by DCGuy64
Edited, some info referred to a similar post

[retired pm]

We did the NCL BOGO on Black Friday sale.  We are sailing out of Miami but got airlines booked into/and out of FT Lauderdale.  I'm thinking not a real big deal, we can uber to Miami.  Anyone ever done this?  How easy is it to get an uber for Ft. Lauderdale to Miami??  We are coming in a day early.

[DCGuy64]

7 minutes ago, retired pm said:

We did the NCL BOGO on Black Friday sale.  We are sailing out of Miami but got airlines booked into/and out of FT Lauderdale.  I'm thinking not a real big deal, we can uber to Miami.  Anyone ever done this?  How easy is it to get an uber for Ft. Lauderdale to Miami??  We are coming in a day early.

Yes, many have done it, super easy. I believe most people have reported about a 1/2 hour ride from FLL to MIA, maybe 45 mins with traffic.

[DCGuy64]

17 hours ago, Atlanta07 said:

DCGuy - 

 

Thank you for your insight - the big difference here is that YES - there was an issue with the Delta flight. Had I attempted to go to the airport the day of that flight would not have existed (this happened to a fellow cruiser - and they had to be booked with a different airline that same day, as Delta had no record of them). 

 

So yes, I did look - and worry and fret and spend time. NO I didn't save a ton of money - and to me it wasn't worth it.

 

Now had the flight never appeared on the Delta site, I likely wouldn't have been concerned. My concern was the fact that it was there and then disappeared. 

 

Cruise was fantastic. 

 

Thanks.

I am glad the cruise went well, that's what really counts. The one time my wife and I did an RCI cruise together, back in 2017, we nearly missed our embarkation. Why? Because we decided to use FF miles to get free tickets from DC to San Juan. The cruise was, IIRC, on a Saturday. We wanted to fly in a day early but couldn't because a) my wife and I didn't have the vacation time for that and b) the cost in miles was literally DOUBLE the cost for flying in the same day as the cruise, and we didn't have the miles for that. So for us, it was "day of" or not at all. There ended up being a mechanical problem with our outbound flight so we had to deplane and almost run to the gate of a different flight in order to get down there. We made it to our ship with less than 1/2 an hour before boarding closed. But we did have a fantastic time and I forgot about the travel woes in short order. Now, one might be tempted to say I'd never let that happen again, but life has taught me never to say never. I just know that if I have the opportunity to get there a day early, I will. But if I could save $1000s by flying in same-day, I would (and buy insurance!).

[weltek]

Thank you, OP. South American cruises are the one time I have said I'd consider booking BOGO with NCL. This gives me great pause, as with that return baggage fee, that starts chipping away at the savings enough to where I'd say it's not worth the potential headaches (and in your case, real headaches). Thank goodness you were planful enough to be on top of this and all worked out well enough in the end.

[Tony_R]

Booked an 18 day cruise with myself and my wife from Lisbon to Rio De Janeiro. We opted for the BOGO air option. Sometime before the cruise we received the air itinerary with Delta providing the air from LA to Lisbon with a plane switch in Boston. Returning, NCL booked us with LATAM. LATAM charged us $152 per checked luggage and some more for seating choices. We have cruised using the NCL BOGO air feature before and this has never happened. Called LATAM and they explained that we were booked by NCL on a very basic economy fare that did not include the one checked luggage privilege. Why were we then given that privilege with our fare ticket with Delta. This will be the last time we book with LATAM and will stay away from NCL BOGO, maybe NCL too. We do not need to be surprised with an unbudgeted expense specially at the end of a cruise.

[PhillyTravelBug]

I used the BOGO air for the first time and was concerned with it being an international flight, but had quite a positive experience.  There were some hiccups with a weather delay for a connection, but had plenty of time and actually worked in our favor. I would use again, but only if using the 2 day deviation to allow for delays. 

[hallux]

14 minutes ago, Tony_R said:

Why were we then given that privilege with our fare ticket with Delta.

The first question you have to ask yourself - does Delta even HAVE a lower fare tier than you were booked in, one that wouldn't include a free checked bag?  If not, that's not really an argument.

 

17 minutes ago, Tony_R said:

Called LATAM and they explained that we were booked by NCL on a very basic economy fare that did not include the one checked luggage privilege.

It's pretty well-known that NCL generally books the lowest fare tier.  It might have been a good idea to do a little research on your ticket once it was issued so you could find out what other expenses you might be responsible for.  NCL DOES say in the T&C's that the passenger is responsible for luggage and other additional fees on the day of travel, but I'm not sure that's exactly your complaint.

 

You still saved a boatload of money on the fares, didn't you? Your savings by getting the BOGO was higher than that $300, giving you a net savings compared to booking it yourself, wasn't it?

[Tony_R]

5 minutes ago, hallux said:

The first question you have to ask yourself - does Delta even HAVE a lower fare tier than you were booked in, one that wouldn't include a free checked bag?  If not, that's not really an argument.

NCL has always booked before on a cabin fare that included free one checked luggage. True with all US airlines, Lufthansa, Turkish Air and British Air. All those airlines we used before with BOGO. We did not have an issue with Delta on the front end of our cruise. We had a problem with LATAM at the end of the cruise and they claim that whoever booked the cruise did not specify the proper fare selection. As for the savings, i checked the airfares for routes we took and we could have saved some and not being appaled with an unbudgeted expense at the end of the cruise in a foreign country.

[julig22]

46 minutes ago, Tony_R said:

Booked an 18 day cruise with myself and my wife from Lisbon to Rio De Janeiro. We opted for the BOGO air option. Sometime before the cruise we received the air itinerary with Delta providing the air from LA to Lisbon with a plane switch in Boston. Returning, NCL booked us with LATAM. LATAM charged us $152 per checked luggage and some more for seating choices. We have cruised using the NCL BOGO air feature before and this has never happened. Called LATAM and they explained that we were booked by NCL on a very basic economy fare that did not include the one checked luggage privilege. Why were we then given that privilege with our fare ticket with Delta. This will be the last time we book with LATAM and will stay away from NCL BOGO, maybe NCL too. We do not need to be surprised with an unbudgeted expense specially at the end of a cruise.

LATAM just happens to be an airline that charges for checked baggage on overseas flights. Delta does not. But sadly, NCL does use LATAM in some instances.

NCL books the cheapest airfare - they do not consider any extras that may or may not be included. Baggage costs/seat selection costs and availability are determined by the airline, and most airlines do include 1 or 2 checked bags for international flights, none for domestic flights - except when they happen to book you on Southwest. I recently used NCL for a NewEngland/Canada cruise. I flew out on SW, so no luggage fees but no seat selection either. Paid for luggage but free seat selection on the AirCanada flight home.

I've always been able to go to the airline website and check the flight information, including seat selection, baggage information, etc. so there are no surprises when I get to the airport.

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

I've only done 2 cruises so far with NCL (one currently booked.)

Each time I have "done my homework" (AND done extensive reading/research) in regards to the NCL air offering. Each time I have come to the conclusion that I would not touch it with a 20 foot pole! 

I refuse to fly "steerage" and have never needed to (with the exception of missed/rebooked flights, etc.) I have some status with Delta so I can often get savings there. I steadfastly maintain that if mistakes happen I prefer them to be *my* mistakes...such that I am in complete control of the "fix". Yes...many times I end up paying more...but I get the flights, schedule and seats that I want!

[cruiseny4life]

On 12/16/2023 at 2:46 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

I've only done 2 cruises so far with NCL (one currently booked.)

Each time I have "done my homework" (AND done extensive reading/research) in regards to the NCL air offering. Each time I have come to the conclusion that I would not touch it with a 20 foot pole! 

I refuse to fly "steerage" and have never needed to (with the exception of missed/rebooked flights, etc.) I have some status with Delta so I can often get savings there. I steadfastly maintain that if mistakes happen I prefer them to be *my* mistakes...such that I am in complete control of the "fix". Yes...many times I end up paying more...but I get the flights, schedule and seats that I want!

I'm glad your method works for you! 

[zookeeper1970]

First time I will use the BOGO airfare with NCL is coming up in April.  I appreciate posts like this, so I have an idea of what to watch out for.  I did get excellent travel insurance and am going to give this BOGO thing a try. $1350 for two folks, one way from anchorage to San Juan and one way from Lisbon to Anchorage with a 2 day variation for both legs.   Can't beat that price point on one leg alone.  So I'm going to "wing it" and cross my fingers, twice. 

[agrimm01]

We have used NCL bogo 3 times from Florida.  Twice to Europe in which it worked out great and once to Seattle where the filghts were bad.  It's terrible that LATAM charged $240 per bag for checked luggage.  That is highway robbery, only in the air.

[RaiderFaninNM]

Wow, what a mess regardless of the situation!!

 

We purchased the BOGO for our cruise in August but it's only a domestic flight and hope we are not given screwy times.

 

I have checked and it's about a $500 savings right now, I will be checking periodically to see if I can get better cost...

 

Thank you for the post!