Benefit to Air2Sea???

[DanielB]

So I am looking at booking our airfare for January.  Domestic flight.  Is there any benefit for using Air2Sea other than the book now pay later?

The cost is $20 more (airfare is $10 less but there is a $30 fee)....am I missing anything???  I know with Disney if you use them for air you get the transfers for free but the transfers are an additional cost on the check out page at Air2Sea so for a domestic flight flying in 2 days prior to cruise it looks like not a value.

Thoughts?

[firebuck]

I think the only other benefit of booking with Air2Sea is that they're pretty much guaranteeing that you will get to the ship with any flight that you select through them.  That said, due to the nature of air travel, things could still go wrong, but instead of YOU being on the hook for missing the ship, Royal will do everything possible to get you there - at least at the next port stop.  

From the Air2Sea site:

ASSURED ARRIVAL

When your vacation comes around, you don't want to miss the ship because of flight delays or cancellations. Book airfare through us and we guarantee, should an issue arise, our Emergency Travel Team will work with our airline partners to get you to the first available port of call.

[WAAAYTOOO]

19 minutes ago, DanielB said:

So I am looking at booking our airfare for January.  Domestic flight.  Is there any benefit for using Air2Sea other than the book now pay later?

The cost is $20 more (airfare is $10 less but there is a $30 fee)....am I missing anything???  I know with Disney if you use them for air you get the transfers for free but the transfers are an additional cost on the check out page at Air2Sea so for a domestic flight flying in 2 days prior to cruise it looks like not a value.

Thoughts?

I rarely use A2S for domestic flights but in cases when I MUST fly in the day of the cruise (as opposed to flying in a day early) I normally do use them - especially in the winter.  It is just an added "assurance" to getting to the ship on time.

[ransrider]

I just booked a flight for the first time with Flights by Celebrity and do like the benefit of repricing if the flight drops in price. I think the programs are similar. I was also notified by Celebrity when there was a change in the flight. I have not flown using the program yet but since we needed to fly in the day we embark, this program provide comfort in knowing the cruise line has my back. 

[DanielB]

Thanks everyone.....Since we are arriving 2 days prior to the cruise I didn't see any benefit and just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Happy Sailing!

[WAAAYTOOO]

Just now, DanielB said:

Thanks everyone.....Since we are arriving 2 days prior to the cruise I didn't see any benefit and just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Happy Sailing!

In that case I would probably opt to book on my own.  No real benefit if you don't need the arrival assurance.

[ChessE4]

1 hour ago, DanielB said:

So I am looking at booking our airfare for January.  Domestic flight.  Is there any benefit for using Air2Sea other than the book now pay later?

The cost is $20 more (airfare is $10 less but there is a $30 fee)....am I missing anything???  I know with Disney if you use them for air you get the transfers for free but the transfers are an additional cost on the check out page at Air2Sea so for a domestic flight flying in 2 days prior to cruise it looks like not a value.

Thoughts?

There is also the issue of travel insurance - if you were trying to wrap the cruise and airfare together with a policy from Royal, it's all in one place.  But if you were using a 3rd party or other arrangements just decide if you need your independent air travel covered...

[Rob&Ana]

We have found that it's really piece of mind for short flights because cost is same but for international one way flights they have been much cheaper on many occasions for us. 

We will be flying in to Houston the same day as the cruise leaves so I feel safer booking with A2Sea and the Royal transfer and they let me pay for the flight on final payment of the cruise. We fly in from Canada so I like to book my flights at lease 6 months before if I can and its nice to not have to pay right away.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, Rob&Ana said:

We fly in from Canada 

@Rob&Ana you’re Canadian?! Awesome! We need more Canadians around here

[Rob&Ana]

11 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@Rob&Ana you’re Canadian?! Awesome! We need more Canadians around here

You bet we are! 

[Zacharius]

22 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

There is also the issue of travel insurance - if you were trying to wrap the cruise and airfare together with a policy from Royal, it's all in one place.  But if you were using a 3rd party or other arrangements just decide if you need your independent air travel covered...

This is definitely a personal preference thing, I think. I personally would never, ever put my travel insurance in the hands of the group actually operating the travel, because to me that's a big conflict of interest. The insurance that Royal Caribbean is going to put you through operates on behalf of Royal Caribbean, not you (and themselves as the insurance underwriter, of course). Just my choice, to each their own.

[AshleyDillo]

13 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

The insurance that Royal Caribbean is going to put you through operates on behalf of Royal Caribbean, not you (and themselves as the insurance underwriter, of course).

Actually it's an insurance company that underwrites the travel policy.  Royal effectively acts as the agent and sells you the policy but it is underwritten by Arch Insurance Company.

[Zacharius]

56 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Actually it's an insurance company that underwrites the travel policy.  Royal effectively acts as the agent and sells you the policy but it is underwritten by Arch Insurance Company.

Oh, I know there's an underwriter. But I definitely believe that the underwriter's primary obligation is to Royal Caribbean, not the traveler. If push comes to shove, they will act in the best benefit of Royal Caribbean, lest Royal Caribbean choose to funnel their insurance business to someone else. A third party insurer doesn't have that conflict of interest. Again, just my preference, but I will never buy insurance through a travel provider, no matter who underwrites it.

[JLMoran]

54 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Actually it's an insurance company that underwrites the travel policy.  Royal effectively acts as the agent and sells you the policy but it is underwritten by Arch Insurance Company.

Either way, the coverage offered by that policy isn't as good / extensive as many policies you can get elsewhere, for the same cost or only a little more. It's probably fine for someone who's young, healthy, and just looking to cover their ass(ets) for a relatively low price in case the cruise gets canceled or a true disaster strikes. But not so much for anyone with a more complicated family or medical situation where they might have concerns about needing a medevac, or finding themselves in a hospital in a foreign country, or needing to make an emergency flight home.