airline reservations

[amd1234]

Hello, We received our confirmation today for our Legendary Danube Trip for June 2007. We have confirmed seats booked through Amedeus but the fare is very high. I spoke with our TA and we were informed we could check fares before our final Payment is due(90 days before our trip)(we could book our own fare) The fare is $3000 for two isn't this very extreme? We will be flying from Boston to Prague.. Any suggestions on airlines:) etc. We would appreciate any advice ...Thanks Again..

[BJS]

I doubt that it is extreme. It is on the high side and from what I'm finding you will probably be able to find lower fares.

 

"The price for this trip: $3,004.14" is just one quote I found on expedia. That was on Lufthansa and Swiss Aire going round trip. $2,492.38 was another quote using KLM.

 

Does the $3,000 price from Amedeus include transfers? If it does that is another cost you'd have to figure in.

[cmthomas]

That sounds pretty typical for "high season" fares usually found in June. Keep in mind that if you use the air provided by the cruise line and then, for some reason, decide to cancel the trip you will not have the same problems with the air that you would if you bought the tickets on your own.

 

Their advice sounds quite practical. You have until March to search for a lower fare. It is not likely that you will find it now as the airlines are not pushing their discounts but if you wait until the dead of winter you will likely find sales available but you will have to jump on them without much hesitation as sometimes they are only available for a few days.

 

You should regularly check Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and any other online site that sells air tickets with your exact dates of departure and return. It may pay you handsomely to also check a day or two early on departing and a day or two late on returning, if your time is flexible, as fares are "day of the week" sensative and sometimes one day difference can mean hundreds of dollars.

 

You have the best of both worlds! You have the comfort of knowing that your air will not cost over $1,500 each and still the opportunity to shop for lower prices!

 

Clarence:)

[Coral]

I think the price is reasonable. Amadeus gave me a quote and it was identical to the price Luftansia was quoting me.

 

You can always try to do better on your own.

[Benita]

Amadeus wanted $300 more per person for the Air France flights from Miami to Russia then the airline was asking. Even taking into account paying for transfers, we still saved over $200 per person to book it on our own. The only downside was we had to pay Air France right away and Amadeus would bill us with the final cruise payment.

[Benita]

Amadeus wanted $300 more per person for the Air France flights from Miami to Russia then the airline was asking. Even taking into account paying for transfers, we still saved over $200 per person to book it on our own. The only downside was we had to pay Air France right away and Amadeus would bill us with the final cruise payment had we had them do the booking.

[amd1234]

Many thanks for all your comments. The $3000 did include the transfers. If we book the fare on our own the price for the transfers will be $40.00 apiece. We were originally told the airline would be Air France connecting to Paris and the price was lower than Lufthansa. Evidently Amadeus blocked seats on Lufthansa which I think is a bit higher. I will monitor the price of flights in the next few months..Again thanks...:)

[steamboats]

amd1234,

 

You for sure will find cheaper flights but...

 

We usually book our flights independently because we do not only go for the cruise but also add a land portion to our vacation. Therefore we fly in a day early (to the US in our case) and pay for a hotel night (won´t be really necessary when flying to Europe as flights arrive in the morning). We do have to care for our own transfers of course. We do take the risk of cancelled flights and lost luggage (and have to care for it on our own). If you´ve booked through the cruise line they care about your luggage. To get the cheapest price you have to pay the tickets immediately (we paid our flight tickets for tomorrow somewhen in March) and those are tickets which you can´t cancel (and if you don´t fly you won´t get a refund).

 

Let´s say it like this: We are young (not yet 40), we don´t have any health problems, we are used to travel independently, we are used to cope with airline agents and because of the land part we have to book independently.

 

If you want a more or less risk free vacation I´d pay the higher price and book with the cruise company.

 

steamboats

[amd1234]

Steamboat, Your input is greatly appreciated. Last year we had FF tickets and booked our airfare on our own but we had a major glitch. We arrived at the Venice airport returning from a Med cruise only to find that Alitalia had cancelled our flight to Milan.(no notification) It was a nightmare lugging our large pieces of luggage through two major airports. I will make it short it took us over 24 hrs. to return home. So as you stated it would be easier to book with the TA...Thanks...:)

[Benita]

How would booking with an agent have stopped that from happening?

[amd1234]

Benita, Usually when I have booked with an agent they ask me where we are staying and I usually give them a contact number. Who's to say Alitalia tried to reach us!! Probably not.. Also today I noticed we were flying into Heathrow British Airway not Lufthanasa with a four hr. layover in London well I guess this will be another phone call to the TA. :eek: He is probably saying not her AGAIN!!!!

[winegirl]

I found this website very useful in sorting out flight possibilities:

 

http://www.itasoftware.com/

 

You can log in as a guest and the software allows you to sort by price, flight duration, etc. It also provides useful warnings such as "long layover."

I don't think this allows you to book directly but you can book with your airline of choice. The site does not contain every airline but it contains many more than most flight websites. Then you can make a better informed decision.

 

It has been my experience that the cruise lines will not book the best schedule for you. If I can find a flight that requires 12 hours of travel from door to door rather than 24, I am willing to pay more (sometimes much more) for that ticket. I'd rather spend vacation time at my destination rather than in multiple airports. If you are travelling to Europe from the US to meet a cruise, I would always arrive a day early and enjoy some time in the embarkation city, which is usually not part of the cruise itinerary.

[amd1234]

Winegirl, Thanks what a very informative web site. This way I have an idea across the board the prices, layovers, etc. I can't believe the wealth of information I receive from all the cruise critics. We have options so we are going to wait a few months and my TA informed me that Amadeus might be booking with Air France the end of October. Air France has a better schedule from Boston and less expensive.:rolleyes:

[Studebaker59]

Winegirl,

 

Thanks for suggesting such an excellent website!

[cmthomas]

Stude, be careful about the fares that you see on ITA. They are great for seeing who goes where but then you still must do all of the hard work checking each of the online sellers of air travel as well as the specific airlines own home page to fnd the cheapest fare. As an example, I checked ITA on a fare from Newark to England and home from Frankfurt. For the exact same dates and the same airline ITA showed $1,345 and Continental showed $572. I think I will buy from the airline but I will wait until January to see what the winter sales produce. I used to buy air tickets 11 months in advance but with the world situation being what it is I am reluctant to do that any longer.

 

Clarence:)

[waverly]

we booked our airfare also through UET and the fare for the same flight Amadeus offered on Lufthansa was about 148 per person cheaper. To lock in this price we had to purchase the tickets within 48 hours. Since we had an extended return to the US we took care of our own transfers.

However if you consider the convenient rountrip transfers (for $ 80) included in the Amadeus flight offer, the price difference shrinks to $ 68. We also took trip insurance offered by Amadeus and the flight portion was not included since Amadeus' insurance covers only services provided by the cruise line. We did not take seperate insurance for our flights, however if we would have done this our savings would have been most likely close to zero. In other words the price difference between Amadeus' flights and what you (or your TA) can get must be at least $ 200 to make it worthwile.

[amd1234]

Hello, Thanks for the information regarding the airfare. We are booked with seats through UET but we can change before we pay the final deposit in March. We would prefer to fly Air France connecting in Paris we are booked through Heathrow British Airline with a four layover in London. I think we still have a window of opportunity to get a better and cheaper flight. Thanks...:rolleyes: