When does airfare become available?

[Schmoe38]

On 9/5/2024 at 12:00 PM, serene56 said:

I tried looking at those prices but it was 125.pp more then booking direct.   Whats the purpose of this?  

The premium is to compensate FBC for the convenience of you not having to pay for the flight until final payment date for your cruise. The administration fee for any changes after final payment really makes you think now.

We have never needed FBC to help re-schedule a flight that has been cancelled, so I’m not sure if the “peace of mind” of having them available is built into the premium as well.

Randy

[hxhbk]

On 9/5/2024 at 11:20 AM, leaveitallbehind said:

I agree that booking directly does allow complete flexibility of airline and schedule choices, but FBC offers several airline choices, multiple flight times, fare classes, routing combinations, and allows this with date choices as you indicate.  There is a fair amount of flexibility and options through them as well that also provide the other stated benefits.  They don't take points, however. 

 

Whatever works best for anyone is the way to do it. It definitely is a personal choice.

 

It is a personal choice indeed.

There are search engines out there that allows the user to search, for a given itinerary and dates: 1) all airlines serving that itinerary, 2) all airlines belonging to the same frequent flyer alliance (oneworld, Sky Team, Star Alliance) serving that itinerary.

The user can also specifies in the search criteria the class of service (economy, premium economy, business, or first).

Google Flight is my go to for the initial search.  Once I find the airline/flight that I like, I will then go to the airline website to confirm the information, and book my flight there.

 

[Jim_Iain]

21 hours ago, fliprcruiser said:

How do you find which "class" of economy FBC is selling?

 

FBC shows either Economy or Business class, but on United website they have 3 economy. I'm assuming it's the middle based on pricing, and seat assignment in advance. Went to United and they didn't list it either on reservation, maybe because it's a consolidator fare?

 

Thanks, first time FBC user.

 

You can probably get that information by calling FBC and ask what the fare code is.

 

When you search on FBC there are up to 4 columns for fares.  

Basic Economy

Economy Plus

Business Class

First Class

 

It is important to first understand what is available.   Most fares on FBC are Refundable Fares and thus can be more expensive than you can book on your own.

 

As an example I just checked SFO-BCN for our November Cruise.    The cheapest Business Class on FBC is $6,000 per person.   - you will notice on this one way quoe it Shows Basic Economy with 1 bag, Economy Plus with 2 bags or Business Class.  

 

 

I use flights.google.com to search and price flights.   They are not a booking site or agency they just show rates.  You can also set alerts to track a specific flight.

 

For the Same date  different airlines but the cheapest Business class flight $1,280 (mixed rate)  First Class on Alaska to Boston and Business Class Azores Airways

 

No right or wrong but I would book a Business Class direct as oppose to Economy Plus on FBC.

 

[mkcurran]

On 9/5/2024 at 7:43 AM, EllieinNJ said:

Just booked my first Celebrity cruise for April, 2025.  Tried to see what the airfare prices were but said nothing available.  Is it too early?  I can get prices directly with the airlines.

Did you book the Reflection for the same time frame as you did the Panorama last year?

[EllieinNJ]

On 9/8/2024 at 10:47 PM, mkcurran said:

Did you book the Reflection for the same time frame as you did the Panorama last year?

No.  I booked the Silhouette from Ft. Lauderdale to NYC for the same time.

[mkcurran]

1 hour ago, EllieinNJ said:

No.  I booked the Silhouette from Ft. Lauderdale to NYC for the same time.

I saw that one. It looked cool.

Have fun!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

No.  I booked the Silhouette from Ft. Lauderdale to NYC for the same time.

We are on that cruise , we booked airfare last week on FBC