Cruiseline air question

[missyal]

We are going to the Med. on Carnival 6/07. Will Carnival work with us to use our frequent flyer miles or do I have to book the air on my own? I will have enough points to get 4 R/T tix so I hate to have to pay to have Carnival do it, but I also know if they make the arrangements and there are problems with the flights, they can help. I have a feeling they won't be too quick to want to help. They don't make money that way!

Thanks.

 

Missyal

[DanJ]

No, Carnival will not deal with your FF points.

[missyal]

Thanks DanJ. That was easy!

[FlyerTalker]

You don't mention where to/from you are trying to travel, so this will be general advice at this time. A number of "tips" for your search for FF tickets to Europe:

 

1) Start your search as soon as seats open up. This is often 330 days out, but every airline is a bit different. Call and find out.

 

2) Be flexible in your days of travel and routings. Don't expect to get non-stop flights on your first choice of dates. If it happens, it's a bonus - not the norm. Ditto with a one-stop routing to Europe. Plan on 3 or 4 legs.

 

3) Be ready to use partner airlines on your itinerary. UA/US are in Star Alliance, AA is in OneWorld, and DL/CO/NW are in SkyTeam. (I had one itinerary that used four different airlines, but it worked!)

 

4) Utilize offbeat gateways and routings. When LAX, SFO and JFK were all booked solid for AF TATL, it turned out that IAH was wide open.

 

5) Be prepared to split up your group. Often, there aren't four FF seats available on a flight. If you insist on going together, you will lose a LOT of flexibility. For example, it has been widely rumored that SAA (South African Airways) makes only ONE business class seat available for FF awards on their flights from the USA to SA.

 

6) Know the rules for how long you can hold a reservation without booking the tickets. This can help in your "shopping" period.

 

7) Know the rules of your FF program for changing reservations/tickets. If there is no fee, then you can do a lot of "improvements" as seats open up for various routings. If there is a fee, you have to make value judgements along the way. Is the new routing worth the change fees??

 

8) Use the airline websites to check for award seat availability. Put in some time and try a lot of different possibilities. Go to partner sites and see if they have availability, then call your own airline. (For example, for one award I was searching, the DL website showed no availability, but CO had seats. Called DL and they were able to use my DL miles for the CO flights.)

 

9) If you don't get what you want, or nothing is available -- check back again. Availability varies as: a) reservations get made/cancelled, b) airline yield management releases/retracts seats for FF use, c) flights get added/cancelled due to schedule changes.

 

10) Be prepared to use FF miles for only a couple of tickets - you may have to buy some if there is limited availability. If so, have the people with active FF accounts buy the tickets (so they get the miles for that run) and use the "free" tix for those who aren't the "earners" in the group. Done the other way, you end up with orphan miles in an account that won't get used for a long while, if at all. ALERT: Airlines will reflexively book FF tickets for the person whose miles are being used and sell for the non-FF person. Be sure that you have them do it the way you want.

 

There are more "airline/destination" specific suggestions available, but for now try working with these.

[redhead05]

Will you marry me?????;) I love every one of your posts! and your occasional dry wit cannot be matched. If you won't marry me, will you adopt me???:D

I learn something useful each time you share information. Thank you!

[missyal]

Wow! What have I started here!? A marriage proposal:eek: . That might have to be a whole new thread.;)

FLyertalker--thanks so much for all the info. You certainly are knowledgable!

 

Missyal

[FlyerTalker]

Will you marry me?????;) I love every one of your posts! and your occasional dry wit cannot be matched. If you won't marry me, will you adopt me???:D

I learn something useful each time you share information. Thank you!

Thank you for the compliment, but I really can't speak to either option. Perhaps our paths will cross on some voyage - I've been known to actually be on a cruise or two when not flying.

 

IMO, there are two personality types -- those who believe in hoarding knowledge and those who believe in the dissemination of that knowledge. In my business career, I ran across many of the former who thought it would make them more valuable and "necessary" to the company. What it actually demonstrated was that they put a higher value on their own future than that of the group. I vowed to be in the second group. So, all serious requests for that knowledge get it. And the more specific the question, the more likely & better the answer. So, Missyal, if you tell me your specifics, I'll see what further advice I might give.

[missyal]

Flyer--You Rock! We have a variety of options as far as where we can depart from. I can do JFK, LGA, EWR, or BDL. We need to fly into FCO( Rome). I always prefer non-stop because I have a dread fear of losing our luggage( I know it can happen on a non stop too). I also just hate the added stress of either not enough time or too much time between flights. Our cruise sails on 6/30/07 but I would like to fly in on the 26th or 27th. Return would be on 7/12/07. I guess I will have to wait another month or so before checking for flights then I can start the fun of trying to coordinate things with the FF miles!

Thank you so much.

 

Missyal

[FlyerTalker]

Which airline's miles are you trying to use? Or are they AMEX/Starwood/other "points" that can be converted to miles? Also, are you looking for coach or business class? Thanks.

[missyal]

Flyer-we have a few credit cards that we use for business so they rack up points quickly. There are no specific airlines and no black out dates. What I've always done in the past was research flights I would be interested in and then call the redemption center. They check for availability and issue an e-ticket then deduct the points from our account. The process is really no big deal. I was origianally trying to see if that process could be done thru Carnival so that they would know our flight info in case we wanted to do transfers with them. I think I will do transfers on my own because we want to fly in a few days early. If I had a choice, I would love business class but that requires a bajillion points for a family of 4, so I think I'm stuck in economy.

Thanks for all your help. The people on CC are awesome!

 

Missyal

[FlyerTalker]

Given your parameters, I would suggest you look into CO out of EWR for your trip, with DL from JFK as your second choice. Rationale:

 

1) Your desire for n/s flights from your 4 priority airports means JFK (AA/DL/AZ) or EWR (CO/AZ). LGA or BDL would be just to get you to another gateway.

 

2) CO has the best combo of widest seat/most pitch on that route (17.9/32) with DL a close second (18/31-32). AA is narrower (17.2/31-32) as is AZ (17/32).

 

3) If you are flying in the same day as the cruise, I might slightly prefer JFK as there are more options if you have a mechanical. But you can offset that by getting seats on the first flight out of EWR.

 

4) Both CO & DL use the 767 on this route, so you could get two sets of 2 seats in sequential rows to keep your group together.

 

5) Have you thought about getting a biz seat for yourself and letting your DH fly with the 2 kids in coach? :D (OK...for marital harmony, you could switch who gets biz on the return. Don't try to book it biz out/coach back - just get 3 coach and 1 biz ticket -- let the flight attendant know that you are swapping for the flight -- you should be OK. They WILL object if you are switching DURING the flight, but before departure is generally OK if you stay switched.)

 

Now, as for your credit card....I am assuming that this is one with fixed redemption levels. There are others that credit you with "points" that get deducted depending on the price of the ticket (what they do is buy a ticket and the price of that ticket can vary - and you get stuck with that variance.) If it's the latter, you'll need to be a good "shopper" so that you don't end up spending too many of your "points".

[missyal]

Flyer--you really know your stuff! You lost me with some abbrev. AA-American Air? DL-Delta? AZ-? CO-Continental? Am I 3 for 4? I figured JFK and EWR wold be the only possibility of n/s.

But if I understand correctly, I really have to wait another month or so to start checking flights, right? Also, is it worth it to try and get a flight into the other airport in Rome( forgot the name) or should I stick w/FCO?

I really appreciate your help.

 

Missyal

[DanJ]

AZ is Alitalia I beleive, and the other airport in Rome, Ciampino (CIA) looks to be the low cost carrier airport, with Ryanair and Easyjet being the main airlines, and they only fly Europe destinations from/to there. Nothing from North America.

[missyal]

Thanks Dan:D

I didn't stop to think Alitalia. I hear Air Canada has direct flights to Rome from the US for decent rates too. I just can't wait till the flights are published!

 

Missyal

[FlyerTalker]

Thanks Dan:D

I didn't stop to think Alitalia. I hear Air Canada has direct flights to Rome from the US for decent rates too. I just can't wait till the flights are published!

The AC flights are from Toronto (YYZ) so you would have to fly there and then connect to the non-stop from YYZ to FCO. AC has a 17" wide seat in coach, FYI.

 

Sorry, I forgot to say that AZ was Alitalia. And yes, you most likely won't find availabilty until 330 days out (of course, you'll check to make sure that's the interval), but you can start to look at schedules and other details.

 

And yes, FCO is THE airport in Rome. Milan is the one the one that has a setup like LGA/JFK (which you won't need to concern yourself with).

[DanJ]

Air Canada would probably be too much of a hassle for Europe from USA. I'm not sure if the new pier opening in Jan/Feb 2007 at YYZ will make the transit any easier, since there's been conflicting rumours floating around. But presently, you would arrive at one terminal, take a bus to clear Canadian immigration, then take another bus to the temporary international terminal. Coming home, you add the step of clearing US immigration in Toronto in and amongst the various terminal changes.

 

But by summer 2007, most of the 767-300's that AC flies to Europe will have been completely remodelled and will have very nice interiors from what we've seen in previews, even in economy.