jonsail

My experience with Seabourn (part of Carnival) is:
1) The best deal they can get you will usually be to book far in advance.
2) If you book far in advance you can still get a full refund up to about 3 months or so before departure or make no cost changes.
3) But if you cancel or miss your flight booked thru the cruise line after it is too late for a refund (and you don't have travel insurance that covers it) you suffer a total loss of the fare. You do not get to pay a charge fee and have a credit with the airline to use in the next 12 months.
4) From the US to the Caribbean and back I can book premium airfare far in advance cheaper than the cruise line.
5) From the US to Europe and back I can't come close to finding the terrific deals--sometimes $2,000 pp RT business class TATL, first class intra-continental--the cruise line can get
if I book far in advance and am flexible as to dates and arrival and departure cities. But you have to tell the cruise line you are flexible, for example, you are willing to fly into Hamburg rather than Copenhagen (and take the scenic train from Hamburg to Copenhagen) and maybe spend a day or two enjoying Hamburg, or you are willing to arrive a day or two early or depart a day or two later.)
6) If, after the cruise line has booked your fare and the airline makes a significant schedule change, usually an hour or more with respect to a flight:
A) If the change still works, you can call your cruise line and see about the possibility of using the airline's change to make a change in your schedule if you now desire to change your dates even if it is past the no-refund period. For example, my departure flight for Athens was changed to two hours earlier and I co-incidentally wanted to arrive a day or two earlier in Athens due to changed plans. I called. I could go a day earlier on a different airline for a $23,000 per person upcharge or a day earlier on the same airline for a $500 per person reduction in fare. So, the latter choice was a great deal, and one that I wouldn't've known about w/o asking.
B) if the changed air line schedule now makes an impossible connection even though you are supposed to re-schedule thru the cruise line, the airline will probably take your call for a re-schedule to clean up an impossible connection. But the cruise line may be more helpful in exploring all your new options.
7) As always, if you book your own air and you miss the boat because the plane is delayed, it is not the cruise line's problem like it is if they book the air.
8) The cruise line will book you with major airlines and you will get all the redeemable and elite qualifying miles you would get if you booked yourself for the same flights.
9) The cruise line may not work with some discount airlines that might serve you well or have a direct flight for you whereas the major airline will not offer you a direct flight on certain routes.

At least this has been my experience. I would be interested in hearing of others' experiences on the issue of booking one's own airfare or booking it through the cruise line, particularly premium airfare.

Randyk47

YVR Cockroach

One point you missed is that cruise line air fares may (or more definitely, are) not eligible for weather waivers. You may also end up at the bottom of the list for reaccommodation.

I am not sure about No. 8 but it may also depend on cabin class.

Fare rules may be difficult if not impossible to find.

747FC

Never did air booking with a cruise line as mostly we use miles for premium cabins. One good use of the service may be in cases where the origination and destination are in different regions that might necessitate one-way fares on separate airlines. I'd be interested if anyone has any insights into this aspect.

Randyk47

Points Scrounger

I have an upcoming Viking river cruise next year, with premium economy included as part of the booking; our travel agent did not mention it herself, but I asked whether it would be possible to apply that towards an upgrade, which she was able to do at what I consider a reasonable cost.

(arriving Budapest, departing Munich)

747FC

The only time we have used different carriers/alliances on paid one-way tickets was HNL-ANC on Alaska and return NRT-HNL on Delta. For whatever reason, these one-ways were priced at half of what would have been RT fares, so we lucked out. But, we had to do a bit of searching. Had we taken United back from NRT, the price would have tripled. Thank you, Google Flights.

Randyk47

mattrag

I'm taking a westbound transatlantic cruise on Cunard and trying to book a one-way flight in business class. They are quoting about $1900, which is several times less than I could get on my own. The problem is that only the flight over the Atlantic is in business class. The domestic flights are in economy, with no chance of upgrading. Does that sound normal? I'd really like to upgrade.

747FC

Well perhaps you can't upgrade, but I am sure that they would be willing to sell you a domestic J seat as part of the package.

If you are an American Express Platinum or Centurion card holder, you can do this with the International Airline Program.

Randyk47

747FC

There is no going back (to coach) once you have experienced the alternative.

A true first-world problem we are having is that for 20 years we used to redeem our miles for international F flights on UA. The amount of personal space given on these planes, especially the nose of the 747, was incredible. Now that there are no more Global First cabins and seats available for booking (and no more 747 in the UA fleet), we are adjusting to the cramped J cabin.

Sorry, but comparing a premium cabin to a lower-level cabin makes me feel like a rat adjusting performance to a new,lower-level reinforcer:

https://books.google.com/books?id=bn...20seed&f=false

Randyk47

jonsail

What I found talking to the air department at Seabourn (part of Carnival Cruise which also owns Holland American) is that the person you talk to makes assumptions about what you want. A cruise line employee booking premium travel may assume that you absolutely want certain exact dates and a flight plan that has the absolute minimum number of transfers--for example, one transfer is ok but you won't consider two transfers. Have you actually asked Cunard how much extra it would be to have all flights in the front cabin? If you are flexible on travel dates or the number of flight transfers in order to be all front cabin, have you actually told Cunard this.

mattrag

I have talked to my travel agent. She said she called both Cunard and American. Cunard said the domestic flights had to be in economy, and American said they probably could not be upgraded. I should probably try to call Cunard myself, just to make sure.