Flights To Barcelona

[azldw]

I need to book flights for my husband and me for our first cruise ever. We need to fly to Barcelona for the 5/1 Brilliance of the Seas cruise. Tried to use a TA, since my husband is flying in from Afghanistan and will fly military to either Doha or Kuwait. I will be flying in from Tucson. The TA doesn't seem to have much experience with international flights, putting us off for several days saying she wanted to check with her wholesalers.

 

For my flight, the TA is recommending a Delta flight through Atlanta that gets me in Barcelona around noon, with a 48 minute window to get to my Barcelona flight. I went through Atlanta just this summer - is 48 minutes long enough? When the TA got back to us, saying her wholesalers didn't have any flights, she recommending a 2-day BA flight from Doha via London that gets him in Barcelona around 12:30 PM via London. The return flight to Doha has him leaving at 7:15 am, the day after we return to Barcelona.

 

I'd like for both of us to arrive in Barcelona around the same time, I found a Turkish Airways flight that gets my husband in around 11:30 AM via Istanbul, it is a much shorter flight than the BA flight, with a return to Doha leaving around noon.

 

Any other ideas, suggestions? I'm particularly concerned about just having 48 minutes to make the 2nd leg of my flight in Atlanta - even if I make it, will the luggage? We don't have the option of cross-packing, I'll be bringing my clothes and most of my husband's, so we'd be in a world of hurt if the luggage was lost or delayed.

[greatam]

IF you can get to PHX, you can fly British Airways nonstop to London, then take your pick of carriers on to BCN. The British Airways flights are not particularly cheap, but they are very nice.

 

Out of Phx, you could also fly nonstop on US Air to JFK, then nonstop AA to Barcelona. I personally like this routing-you will have to claim your luggage at JFK, change terminals and recheck it on AA. May be more hassle, but you will KNOW your luggage made it to JFK. Delta also flies nonstop out of JFK. JetBlue and Delta both fly nonstop PHX/JFK, but when you try to book PHX/JFK/BCN on one ticket on Delta, the price jacks a lot. I still like to KNOW my luggage made it to an international gateway, so the Delta flight would be my LAST choice. It is MUCH easier to find luggage while you are still in the USA than when you are out of the country.

 

If you have to fly out of TUS, you have more limited options. There is a Greyhound bus that runs three times per day from TUS to PHX for less than $20.00. The main Greyhound station is only about a mile to the airport and taxis are readily available.

 

For your husband, the Turkish Airlines flight out of Kuwait City is probably the best option(although he has to leave either Kuwait or Doha at 0 dark thirty). Royal Jordanian flies to BCN and is cheaper, although there is a minimum 12 hour layover in Amman Jordan. Don't really know if I would want to be a US serviceman and sit around the Amman Jordan airport for 12 hours. Lufthansa also flies out of KWI, through Frankfurt. Again, a flight out of KWI at 0 dark thirty, but connections in Frankfurt can be varied to meet your scheduled arrival in BCN. Qatar Airlines also flies Doha to BCN, via Geneva Switzerland, but the price is almost $200 higher.

 

Your post is really ironic. I just spent the last week finding a similar routing for two employees going to Dubai and Kuwait City in January, so became really familiar with the airlines flying in the Gulf region.

 

Please post EXACT dates of both arrival and departure from BCN, whether your husband has to be in KWI on the return at a certain time (some of the bases close for security reasons at certain times, IIRC). And what is more important-price or co-ordinating everything. I know it is idea to get price AND co-ordination, but som etimes it is just not possible.

 

 

And last but not least, PLEASE thank your husband for his service!!!!!

 

 

 

Quatar Airlines also

[Globaliser]

I'd like for both of us to arrive in Barcelona around the same time, I found a Turkish Airways flight that gets my husband in around 11:30 AM via Istanbul, it is a much shorter flight than the BA flight, with a return to Doha leaving around noon.

Personally, I wouldn't do this. What about Lufthansa/Lufthansa, connecting in Frankfurt? Because of a codeshare relationship with Qatar Airways, there is quite a good choice of flight times in both directions (so there should be a safe flight back to Doha on disembarkation day).

 

Also, you might be able to find decent fares just flying on the Qatar Airways code as far as Germany, and then connecting on to Barcelona.

 

Are you intending to arrive in Barcelona on the day that your ship sails? Again, personally I wouldn't do this unless it's absolutely necessary. Because you're both flying long-haul and from different directions, the number of things that could go wrong increases. While the chances are still that you'd make it OK, do you really want the stress? If you aim to arrive the day before the cruise starts, then you don't really need to worry so much about precise arrival times. You can just meet up in the hotel in Barcelona, for example.

 

Don't worry too much about "two-day" itineraries. That is probably just an indication of how much out of her depth your TA is. The BA flight that she's talking about leaves Doha just before midnight, and is an overnight flight to London. You do need to keep an eye on the date, day and time of each departure and arrival.

 

As for your own flights, you can do your own research to see whether there are better connections that would give you more margin. Although I believe 48 minutes is "legal" in Atlanta, again you're taking on quite a lot of risk. It sounds like an inexperienced is just offering you the top line that she can see on her screen, or something like that.

 

One other thing I've just seen: the BA-BA flight times from Barcelona to Kuwait are pretty good. Is flying Doha-Barcelona-Kuwait a problem for your husband?

[Bruton Branch]

Just remember May 1, is the Spanish's Labor Day holiday. They really know how to do a holiday ! Transportation from airport to hotel and or to ship could take some extra time. If you could get there one day ahead of departure ...to check the transportation...

 

Just a thought to be helpful.

 

Thanks to all our service men and women for the duty they are serving.

 

Bruton Branch

[azldw]

Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions and good wishes. My hubby is retired military, now a military contractor. On a personal note, we were married in October and he left two weeks later.

 

As to dates, we are planning on spending the night in Barcelona on 4/30 and on the return 5/11. I can definitely fly out of PHX, I just dread the idea of facing a 2-hour drive home after that long flight. Hubby prefers to fly out of Doha, he says it has an easier visa process. He flies military to Doha or Kuwait, and can fly military standby to Germany but there's no guarantee when he would get a flight. The military flights to Doha and Kuwait from Afghanistan are frequent enough, he's confident he wouldn't have a problem meeting a commercial flight from there. He's working nights, so the o'dark thirty flight is not a prolem for him.

 

There is a 6:30 am Delta flight on 4/30 that I could take, giving me a 7 hour layover in Atlanta, but I do have friends in Atlanta that I could visit. Even considered flying in the night before, and having a friend take me in to meet the 8:00 pm Delta flight. However I've now noticed that flight is $150 more. Should I expect the cost of the flights to keep going up?

 

Thanks again to everyone for all their help.

[azldw]

Okay, I did it - booked the flights. It's official, I see hubby in 133 days - woohoo!

[want2cruiseagain]

We live in Houston and we flew direct to Amsterdam, then caught KLM to BCN. Very easy.

 

I wouldn't go through London. I hear it is a nightmare flying out of there these days.

[ktpc2005]

When I flew to Barcelona last year, I flew BA from Boston via Heathrow to Barcelona. I think we lucked out in Heathrow because my overnight flight from Boston was one of the first flights that arrived in the morning so we had no lines at any point on our way to our BA connection to Barcelona. I enjoyed BA and would fly them again in heartbeat.

 

I booked through a consolidator.

[nho9504]

We live in Houston and we flew direct to Amsterdam, then caught KLM to BCN. Very easy.

 

I wouldn't go through London. I hear it is a nightmare flying out of there these days.

 

LHR has improved a great deal now T5 is up and running for close to 9 months now. In fact if it is T5 to T5 connection, it is very smooth.

 

The only drawback of going thru LHR is the high tax involved.

[wtevrfltsurbt]

Hi all~! Found this thread because I am currently trolling for IAH-BCN then VCE-IAH airfare in July for the Ruby Med sailing. Any of you Flight Guru's:D hear of any great deals?

 

I appreciate any info!

Thanks and happy travels!