Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
If one books air through the cruise line, can one pick the airline, route, times, etc. freely (subject of course to arriving reasonably in advance of the scheduled cruise departure)? Do these plane tickets earn full FF benefits and credit?
Yes, no, and maybe. Some cruise line flight programs are a lot like booking directly with the airline. Some, at least in my opinion, are more the “you’ll get what we give you” approach and you have little or no control. While more and more programs allow you to earn airline miles and get FF benefits some do not. The other thing I’ve run into is the various programs run the gamut of being a bargain and lower than you can book yourself to being higher than you can arrange on your own. Many flight programs are also tied to embarkation and disembarkation dates. For instance the fare is quoted for travel the day of the cruise start and if you ask to fly in a day or more earlier all of a sudden there is a fee. I know in one case I researched they wanted $150 per person more just to fly in a day earlier. I assume that’s an administrative fee as I can’t imagine the airfare is higher. I kind of see that as the cruise line just trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of you.
Bottom line for for me is that we have not been successful trying to use cruise line arranged air. I keep asking and researching when I do book a cruise but my experience is they either want more than I can book myself or the arrangements are too cumbersome or troublesome. I’m not going to fly from SAT to ORD in the middle of the winter to catch a connecting flight to FLL.