mark46 Posted July 26 #1 Share Posted July 26 We are going to our first European cruise out of Rotterdam next fall. I understand that booking airfare with HAL as a package with transfer and hotel makes some sense, especially since my wife walks with a cane. What airlines with flights from the US does HAL work with. If I were to book on my own, I think that JetBlue's mint service makes a lot of sense. I also see that Delta and AA have first class or business service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mary229 Posted July 26 #2 Share Posted July 26 You don’t need to use HAL air to take advantage of their hotel and transfer package. The list of airlines and flights is ever changing. Go to manage your cruise page and click on the heading related to travel and flights. Their program is called Flight Ease. There you can study what is available, check back often as it changes frequently. You can select a flexible fare now and won’t have to pay until final payment and you can change your selection at anytime until final payment. Of course you can cancel totally penalty free up to final payment tip - always check business class, sometimes there are surprisingly cheap fares Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mary229 Posted July 26 #3 Share Posted July 26 A few more things. Book the hotel as soon as you decide as they often sell out. You don’t have to pay until final payment and can cancel up to then airfares won’t be available for your perusal until 335 days before your last cruise day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted July 26 #4 Share Posted July 26 We can't help you without knowing what city you are flying out of. HAL can, and does, work with any airline. They might work with one airline out of your airport today, and a different one tomorrow. It all depends on the best airfare they can get for their $$$ at the given moment. Someone will come along and say HAL booked them on XXX airline last summer, and its quite possible HAL doesn't work with them at all anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 0106 Posted July 26 #5 Share Posted July 26 1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said: HAL can, and does, work with any airline. Have they resumed working with American who was recently dropped from Flightease? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted July 26 #6 Share Posted July 26 7 minutes ago, 0106 said: Have they resumed working with American who was recently dropped from Flightease? Don't know. Haven't heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark46 Posted July 26 Author #7 Share Posted July 26 10 hours ago, Mary229 said: You don’t need to use HAL air to take advantage of their hotel and transfer package. The list of airlines and flights is ever changing. Go to manage your cruise page and click on the heading related to travel and flights. Their program is called Flight Ease. There you can study what is available, check back often as it changes frequently. You can select a flexible fare now and won’t have to pay until final payment and you can change your selection at anytime until final payment. Of course you can cancel totally penalty free up to final payment tip - always check business class, sometimes there are surprisingly cheap fares We do want business/first class. I've noticed that jetblue mint service is about 1/2 of the cost of other business/first class. It would be a plus if HAL worked with them. IN any case, the information here will certainly help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Chris Posted July 26 #8 Share Posted July 26 45 minutes ago, mark46 said: We do want business/first class. I've noticed that jetblue mint service is about 1/2 of the cost of other business/first class. It would be a plus if HAL worked with them. IN any case, the information here will certainly help. Twice (including last September) have made our own air arrangements and easily added the HAL hotel + transfers - from airport to hotel, and from hotel to ship. (Pre-cruise 2 nights, Post-cruise 2 nights.) When you are doing your online checkin, there will be a section where you are asked to enter your flight information. It worked very smoothly both times - there were HAL reps waiting outside baggage claim/customs & immigration on day of flight arrival. Once we were in a small van, another time were put in a taxi to hotel (private transfer HAL paid for). Hotel usually has a packet or letter from HAL waiting for you. There will also typically be a HAL rep at a desk in the hotel lobby the day before you head for the ship. Transportation to ship for embarkation (and leaving ship on disembarkation day for post-hotel) is more likely to be a bus/motorcoach. Post cruise was also smooth - we stayed two nights in Boston at the Fairmont (HAL’s postcruise hotel package) and received messages from our driver confirming his pickup time. He took just us to the airport in a black limo SUV. So it turned out to be a private transfer. Couldn’t have asked for better communication and arrangements. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 26 #9 Share Posted July 26 When we went to AMS for our cruise last year, we were able to choose from American, United and Delta from our home city, San Antonio. We ended up flying United going over and AA home for best BC fares. We also used FE to book our flights next month FC on American Airlines to Boston and home from Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare georgiacat Posted July 26 #10 Share Posted July 26 How do I check out the hotel and transfers that are mentioned in some of these posts. We are sailing a TA in April/May to Barcelona and plan to spend a few days post cruise in Barcelona, but I don't know about hotels, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExArkie Posted July 26 #11 Share Posted July 26 3 hours ago, mark46 said: We do want business/first class. I've noticed that jetblue mint service is about 1/2 of the cost of other business/first class. It would be a plus if HAL worked with them. IN any case, the information here will certainly help. We flew JetBlue Mint at a huge discount when they opened the JFK-Paris route last year. Really nice experience. The issue with booking it through HAL may be (I have no first-hand knowledge) the connecting flight to get to JFK where their flights with Mint depart for AMS. JetBlue does not provide service to all domestic airports, not even necessarily to all major ones, so there could be an issue with booking it as a connecting flight - likely to end up with two tickets: one to JFK and one JFK to AMS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 26 #12 Share Posted July 26 3 minutes ago, ExArkie said: We flew JetBlue Mint at a huge discount when they opened the JFK-Paris route last year. Really nice experience. The issue with booking it through HAL may be (I have no first-hand knowledge) the connecting flight to get to JFK where their flights with Mint depart for AMS. JetBlue does not provide service to all domestic airports, not even necessarily to all major ones, so there could be an issue with booking it as a connecting flight - likely to end up with two tickets: one to JFK and one JFK to AMS. JetBlue announced this week that they are pulling out of 12 domestic markets, including my home city of San Antonio. We will lose our direct flights to JFK and Boston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted July 26 #13 Share Posted July 26 You will find that Holland American has the best pricing for Business overseas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark46 Posted July 26 Author #14 Share Posted July 26 29 minutes ago, terrydtx said: JetBlue announced this week that they are pulling out of 12 domestic markets, including my home city of San Antonio. We will lose our direct flights to JFK and Boston. I guess that I'm still OK. I fly out of SAV and occasionally out of JAX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 26 #15 Share Posted July 26 11 minutes ago, mark46 said: I guess that I'm still OK. I fly out of SAV and occasionally out of JAX. JetBlue is completely ending service to the following airports: Charlotte Minneapolis-St. Paul San Antonio Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) in California Tallahassee International Airport (TLH) in Florida Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) in California Pointe-a-Pitre International Airport (PTP) in Guadeloupe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Chris Posted July 26 #16 Share Posted July 26 1 hour ago, georgiacat said: How do I check out the hotel and transfers that are mentioned in some of these posts. We are sailing a TA in April/May to Barcelona and plan to spend a few days post cruise in Barcelona, but I don't know about hotels, etc. If you are booked, log into the HAL website, select “My Account” and “my bookings.” In “Upcoming Cruises,” you can select “Manage my Cruise” or “Arrange flights and transportation.” Follow the prompts to check “Flights” or “pre(or post)-cruise travel” and you’ll see “Transfers” or “City Stays or Pre/Post Overlands.” If you buy the hotel package, transfers are already included. Sometimes, not always, you can buy just their airport/pier transfer even if you don’t buy their air or hotel until it sells out. (But a cab is often cheaper than two transfers.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 26 #17 Share Posted July 26 (edited) 43 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said: You will find that Holland American has the best pricing for Business overseas That has been true for most of our post covid intercontinental flights in BC. We also will book early at what we consider a good price point and since we do not have to pay until final payment, we can make changes or cancel up to then. A good example for our Volendam cruise next month we booked the FC air with FE last November. In April before the final payment, we found the same flights with AA direct on the AA website for $300pp less so we booked with AA and canceled with FE. Edited July 26 by terrydtx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mary229 Posted July 26 #18 Share Posted July 26 16 hours ago, 0106 said: Have they resumed working with American who was recently dropped from Flightease? American backtracked on that policy. So I assume Flight Ease may start offering American again if they haven’t already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExArkie Posted July 27 #19 Share Posted July 27 20 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said: You will find that Holland American has the best pricing for Business overseas Possibly for round trip flights, since I have no experience with that. For a one-way ticket (we’re on a transpacific Yokohama to Vancouver), I found their pricing matched what I could find on Internet searches. I was able to get a lower business fare by piecing together two tickets on a connection through Toronto…but I do that sort of thing a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infi Posted July 27 #20 Share Posted July 27 21 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said: You will find that Holland American has the best pricing for Business overseas I have to respectfully disagree with this. Before the pandemic, I agree wholeheartedly that we often found business class at a steep discount when booking through FlightEase, which is the main reason we used the program. Since the pandemic, I have found it cheaper to go through the airlines. My last flight to AMS, business class was ~$1000 cheaper booking through the airline instead of FlightEase - a no-brainer to book directly IMHO. When I asked my TA about the price difference between pre-pandemic and now, she said that the airlines used to allocate more flights to FlightEase at a discount knowing they would sell, but given the robust travel market post-pandemic, they need the program less than before. Probably a theory, but I think there's some truth there. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 27 #21 Share Posted July 27 1 minute ago, Infi said: I have to respectfully disagree with this. Before the pandemic, I agree wholeheartedly that we often found business class at a steep discount when booking through FlightEase, which is the main reason we used the program. Since the pandemic, I have found it cheaper to go through the airlines. My last flight to AMS, business class was ~$1000 cheaper booking through the airline instead of FlightEase - a no-brainer to book directly IMHO. When I asked my TA about the price difference between pre-pandemic and now, she said that the airlines used to allocate more flights to FlightEase at a discount knowing they would sell, but given the robust travel market post-pandemic, they need the program less than before. Probably a theory, but I think there's some truth there. I partially disagree, in 2022 we flew with FE from San Antonio to Rome and home from Venice. The flight to Rome was on United and the flight home from Venice was on Delta. We booked Rt in BC and the total cost was $2385pp the best we could do directly with airlines was over $1500pp more. I will agree since 2022 the prices for BC have been ridiculous on FE and booking direct with airlines. Today the same flights we used in 2022 would be well over $5000 pp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted July 27 #22 Share Posted July 27 1 hour ago, ExArkie said: Possibly for round trip flights, since I have no experience with that. For a one-way ticket (we’re on a transpacific Yokohama to Vancouver), I found their pricing matched what I could find on Internet searches. I was able to get a lower business fare by piecing together two tickets on a connection through Toronto…but I do that sort of thing a lot. We usually only do one way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infi Posted July 27 #23 Share Posted July 27 (edited) 9 minutes ago, terrydtx said: I partially disagree, in 2022 we flew with FE from San Antonio to Rome and home from Venice. The flight to Rome was on United and the flight home from Venice was on Delta. We booked Rt in BC and the total cost was $2385pp the best we could do directly with airlines was over $1500pp more. I will agree since 2022 the prices for BC have been ridiculous on FE and booking direct with airlines. Today the same flights we used in 2022 would be well over $5000 pp. I hear you, and think it can vary based off itinerary or flight inventory. FlightEase was always the cheapest option (and quite frankly, a godsend) for open jaw flights pre-pandemic, but I haven't taken an open jaw flight to a cruise since the pandemic so can't comment from personal experience. All this to say, FlightEase used to be the first place I went when booking cruise flights pre-pandemic and now I go in expecting to book directly with the airline and am pleasantly surprised if FlightEase is cheaper. Edited July 27 by Infi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseaholic78 Posted July 27 #24 Share Posted July 27 22 hours ago, terrydtx said: JetBlue announced this week that they are pulling out of 12 domestic markets, including my home city of San Antonio. We will lose our direct flights to JFK and Boston. We were so pleased to be able to book Jetblue non stop flights AMS-JFK and BOS-AMS for a reasonable price for Mint flights. On Thursday we were told that our return was now BOS-JFK (economy) nearly five hour wait then Mint JFK-AMS. Just hoping nothing else changes before October! Looking at replacement flights they have all become much much more expensive! Did manage to persuade them that economy more space was the least they could do! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare WriterOnDeck Posted July 27 #25 Share Posted July 27 20 hours ago, Mary229 said: American backtracked on that policy. So I assume Flight Ease may start offering American again if they haven’t already Au contraire. I just checked and American still isn't offered. Several months ago my travel agent, who knows many people in Seattle HQ, tried to get it for me, as American is the only airline serving the city I would be traveling from on the 2025 World, and we get FE credit as a benefit. No budging. Sigh. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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