BamaVol

We've only done one European cruise. Flew in the day before. Didn’t sleep on the plane. Stayed up as late as we could (8 PM) and didn’t wake up until noon the next day. The ship didn’t leave until 4:00, but plans of breakfast followed by early embarkation went out the window.

pbjag

As the original poster noted, the travel meltdowns this year are concerning. Since Flyertalkers are more well-versed in various airlines and connection ports than those on cruise forums and I tend to over-analyze everything (occupational hazard), would welcome your thoughts/input!

For an upcoming cruise in Europe, I'm currently scheduled to fly in two days ahead of time and was able to book a business class award ticket on SwissAir out of JFK a few months ago. Will need to fly up to JFK and the nonstop flights should give me plenty of buffer (4 hours) But the issues in the New York areas in recent months are concerning. And if we have bad weather in Florida, flights to NY could be delayed/cancelled. I hold high-level status on Skyteam and mid-level on One World, but have zero zip nada status on Star Alliance, which concerns me if things go sideways.

In looking at alternatives or backup plans, current options include:

• Air France out of MIA in business class, with a 5 hour layover at CDG. Pros: Departure airport is within driving/car service distance, flight is SkyTeam, so I should be taken care of if things go awry, AF lounge at CDG and recent reviews indicate food, wine and hard product comfort will be solid; flight is on 777-300. Will need to leave one day earlier to use points.
• Air Europa out of MIA, connecting in Madrid. Pros: Departure airport is within driving/car service distance, flight is SkyTeam, so I should be taken care of if things go awry, half the points (Flying Blue) of Air France and can always take the train or grab another low-cost flight to my final destination once I get to Madrid. Flight leaves late night, so food likely nor a concern. Third-party lounge in Madrid. Equipment is 787-9
• Virgin Air out of either MIA or MCO through LHR - Pros: Both airports are in driving or train distance, Virgin is SkyTeam, points requirement is low, Virgin Upper Class, ability to refresh in the Virgin Arrivals lounge, approx. 4 hour connection at LHR. Would have to buy a separate ticket LHR-LIS on BA or TAP, so not the same alliance.
• Or could buy a one-way business class ticket on Swiss (connect in Zurich) or Lufthansa (FRA connection) out of MIA. Not cheap, but can use AmEx points for some or all, with 35% redeposited via AmEx Business Platinum. Con is that if something else opens up closer to departure, would not be able to just cancel/redeposit as you can with miles.

Help me flip a coin on the preferred alternate/backup.

DJ_Iceman

I definitely wouldn't connect through NYC. As you pointed out, there are too many things that can go wrong. Take the long flight first, get yourself to Europe, and enjoy the comfort from flying with your preferred alliance. I personally love flying Virgin Atlantic, but LHR has had its own problems.

pbjag

Thanks, appreciate the perspective (I love Virgin Upper Class too). LHR and CDG have both had their share of problems lately as well, but hopefully those situations will start to simmer down after the summer crush is over.

YVR Cockroach

If it's LIS you're trying to get to, UX will at least get you close enough to get there by train or bus or even rental car as you have surmised. AF to CDG is of course a bit farther, LHR has distance too and involves the channel so limits your onward travel to air.

pbjag

Madrid is definitely a better connecting point, for all the reasons you mentioned. When I first made reservations, I was leery of booking UX because their pilots had announced strike actions for this year, but it looks like they recently settled, so I'll take a fresh look at availability with them. It looks like TAP now has award availability for the nonstop, but won't be feasible since their only transfer partner is Capital One points.

I was reluctant to give up that Swiss award flight, so thanks to everyone for helping me think this through!

mahasamatman

Did you check to see if the award is available to *A partners like AC or UA?

pbjag

Yes, not available via *A partners, only via Tap Miles & Go.

pbjag

Coming back to this thread to reiterate ysolde's original advice to fly in at least 2 days ahead of time.

My travels went smoothly. I ended up taking the Swiss flight from NYC-GVA-LIS after watching its 100% on-time performance even when many flights out of NYC were delayed the previous week - and UX had cancelled their flight and been delayed twice in the prior week from MIA. Everything on my journey went well - on-time departures, early arrivals, easy connection at GVA and excellent service on both DL and Swiss - plus arrival 2 days before the cruise allowed me to recover from jet lag and explore the city.

However, friends who had also booked this cruise had scheduled to arrive in the morning 1 day before the cruise - which still seemed reasonable since sailaway was not till 11 pm the day after their scheduled arrival. Unfortunately, weather at their home airport resulted in a 2 1/2 hour delayed departure and despite "airport cardio" they and half a dozen other people missed their transatlantic flight by 15 minutes. Unfortunately, other flights were packed - so although they were flying paid J and he is a 1K with United, the only option UA could find was to send them to Frankfurt for an overnight and then to Lisbon the following morning. They went straight from the LIS airport to board the ship.

wrp96

I can add my own story to this. Last month flying the day before the cruise, risked the last flight of the day out of my local airport that would be able to connect to south Florida that night (relatively short 1 hour connection). Figured if all else failed, there were several flights in the morning that would get us to MIA (or even FLL) in time and we'd just get a hotel at DFW. I only wish this is what had happened - although in the end yes we did fortunately make the cruise.

Departing LIT, we were a few minutes late departing as the previous flight had encountered some weather coming in from DFW. Told it might get a little bumpy at the end but that's it. Wasn't worried about our connection at that point, because it was only a slight delay. Get close to DFW and we have to circle because thunderstorms have closed the ramp. Still not worried because if the ramp's closed no flights are going in or out. But then, the pilot announced we were diverting to Wichita Falls, TX to fill up with gas. Still not worried because what can you do. We land and while waiting to refuel, the app is offering me rebooking options for the next day at that point, but I was still hopeful to make our, now delayed, connection. But before the plane is refueled we see the ground crew depart because the storms have now hit Wichita Falls. At that point what can you do as we were stuck on a regional jet without being able to get off. When we first started waiting, I saw in the app that we'd been rebooked for in the morning, so I went ahead and booked us a hotel for the night near DFW. But then we hit over 4 hours stuck on that regional jet while being constantly buffeted by wind and rain. When the storms finally passed we were hopeful to finally get to DFW. And then we discovered the storm had knocked out the taxi way lights at SPS. So at that point they finally let people off the plane and into the terminal if you wanted. We stayed on the plane because I was concerned about how my mom and I would make it back up the stairs into the aircraft to get back onboard. And while chatting with the crew find at they are close to timing out (contractually). At that point I started looking for hotels at Wichita Falls, but found nothing I wanted to risk. Thankfully somebody found someone at the air force base that could flip the breaker back on for the taxiway and runway lights. And our flight crew despite going over contract hours agreed to stay with us to get us to DFW. So our 45 minute flying time flight that departed LIT at 4:21pm finally landed at DFW just before 2am.

Our rebooked flight was at 5:30 so no point going to a hotel, so we slept on the floor of the gate. Unfortunately our first class seats to MIA became middle seats in the back of coach. But we made it to MIA by mid morning, with enough time to go by our originally booked hotel and get a shower and a 30 minute nap before continuing onto the pier. Our luggage however continued the adventure. On landing at DFW, the cargo crew forgot to unload the forward cargo hold where all the priority bags were. And it wasn't discovered until the first flight on that plane the next morning - after our flight had already left for MIA. They did get them on a later flight, and delivered them to the pier at 3:30, in time for our 4pm sailaway. Oh and the DFW hotel never charged us for the night thankfully.

pbjag

wrp96 Wow, what a mess (understatement!). Glad that all worked out in the end, but you definitely needed a vacation to recover from getting to your vacation!

mahasamatman

For cruises that depart from anywhere other than the U.S., we generally go 3-5 days in advance just to spend time in the departure city. For cruises departing the U.S. (where we don't care about visiting the departure city), I always target the day before.

gretchendz

Just wow.