HAL air or --------

[Travelbug 2]

We have just decided to go for a Med' cruise in Sept' 2008 instead of the Hawaii one we had booked. The big question, should we consider HAL air to Venice and return or book on our own? Would a deviation be worthwhile? If we do that can we tell HAL what flights and what airline we want to travel?

 

To add to the confusion my wife has enough travel points for one return ticket, :) I would have to pay :eek: The logistics of doing this sort of booking are rather nightmarish but it would save us about $2000 if we can pull it off. The simplest way is to let HAL do the air but I have heard horror stories of strange routing etc, red eye flights etc.

 

Can anyone help me with this decision? :confused:

[hammybee]

Of course you should " consider" HAL air and then compare it to what you can find on your own, unless it is the "hunt for air" that you prfer to leave to someone else.

 

You can always by a ship transfer independent of air, should you so desire.

[jtl513]

The simplest way is to let HAL do the air but I have heard horror stories of strange routing etc, red eye flights etc.

HAL sent us from Orlando to Toronto to Rome, and return from Rome to Munich to Dulles to Orlando, rather than the "logical" single connection in either Atlanta or Miami each way. If you use HAL air I would suggest you pay the $100 pp deviation and pick yourself some sensible connections.

[WillieF]

We have just decided to go for a Med' cruise in Sept' 2008 instead of the Hawaii one we had booked. The big question, should we consider HAL air to Venice and return or book on our own? Would a deviation be worthwhile? If we do that can we tell HAL what flights and what airline we want to travel?

 

To add to the confusion my wife has enough travel points for one return ticket, :) I would have to pay :eek: The logistics of doing this sort of booking are rather nightmarish but it would save us about $2000 if we can pull it off. The simplest way is to let HAL do the air but I have heard horror stories of strange routing etc, red eye flights etc.

 

Can anyone help me with this decision? :confused:

 

Compare HAL's charge - an air deviation will cost you $85.00???? per person (more or less) and allows you to select flights, probably at extra cost.

After checking and pricing it all out, you're probably further ahead using the points and buying a ticket.....the airline agent will work it all out for you.. You can always buy transfers or arrange locally.

[jhannah]

Thing is, HAL won't/can't tell you what your routing will be until about a month before hand. Then it's too late to get a decent price ticket on your own if it's some screwy routing or such. I'd just arrange my own air and have it done with.

[jtl513]

... an air deviation will cost you $85.00???? per person (more or less)

It's $50 pp in the U.S., $100 pp to Europe, as I said in post #3.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Also keep in mind that there are some airlines that HAL does not work with should you decide to do the air deviation.

[ldog]

We've been to Europe three times on HAL cruises. It's not a big problem to book your own air. You can book it well ahead and know what flights you'll have. You can arrive a day early to adjust for your jet lag. You'd have to pay a deviation fee if you did that through HAL.

 

You could consider paying your TA to book the air using your points and $$ to make sure you are on the same flights and seated together.

[gooselace]

Signed on with a questions and saw this thread. Am also planning on a Med cruise for Sept. 08, but the HAL ones we prefer are not round trip. Would require flying to Barcelona (no problem from Dulles) and back from Venice, which DOES seem to be a problem, with any of the nearby arirports (BWI, NY, Newark) requiring an inconvenient change.

[moveup]

There are travel agencies, including some on line, that act as "consolidators" and have prices below what the airlines quote. We are going on a cruise out of Genoa next March and we got Washington Dulles-Paris CDG-Genoa rountrip for $725 per person that way. We got to pick the best flights/connections [including giving ourselves 4 hours to connect at Charles De Gaulle on the outbound flight, knowing how awful that airport can be . . . ]. We also got to pick our seats. We are even getting frequent flyer miles (which you don't always get with a consolidator). You could book your one roundtrip ticket that way and then see if you can get the other ticket using your accumulated frequent flyer miles, on the same flights; if not available, then you could book a second ticket through the consolidator. Cruiscritic.com doesn't allow us to mention names of travel agencies, etc. but if you use your favorite search engine and put in search terms like consolidator + venice + flight you should get several good leads.

[Roz]

On an "open jaw" flight, where you're flying to and from different port cities, cruise air can sometimes be the way to go.

 

On one of my Alaskan cruises, the cruise lines had all the one-ways blocked up, so booking with HAL was my only option. I paid a deviation fee to fly in a day early, but the actual itinerary is the same one I would have booked for myself.

 

Roz

[WillieF]

It's $50 pp in the U.S., $100 pp to Europe, as I said in post #3.

 

Yes, that's for the USA!

For Canadians the deviation fee is the same regardless of destination - know for certain that it's more than CA$50.00 - different strokes for different folks!

 

We invariably do our own air. TA's fee is minimal, frequently no charge if we do the cruise booking through him - makes life easier.

[osiebosie]

We always do our own air, because we like to fly in early and possibly stay late. We have so many AA airmiles its ridiculous, and we use them when possible. We book our own hotel, taxi, and/or rental car, and have never had a problem.

 

When close enough, we drive. Forget flying with all of those dadburned restrictions...

 

Shay

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do the same thing - book our own, hotels, cars, etc.