Air Travel

[M First]

Hello Everyone,

Does any one have some good advise on international travel , flights prices seem to have gone up from travel from Los Angeles to Rome in June 2021 and returning from Venice July 3rd 2021

any thoughts on when prices might go down and which air line has the best pricing for international travel for a family of 5

Thank you for your advise. [ Should I wait and see if pricing gets better and when might it get better?

 

[KristiZ]

You should definitely wait. The current market is very screwed up with all the changes to service. I would start looking again mid-December, personally. 

[Tira04]

I would wait. You have a long time still and airlines are constantly changing itineraries at the moment.  I would set up a fare alert for the route you're looking for. Sky scanner offers this on their website,  I think. It will send you an email when fares change for dates and route you are looking for. 

[Spang1974]

3 hours ago, Tira04 said:

I would wait. You have a long time still and airlines are constantly changing itineraries at the moment.  I would set up a fare alert for the route you're looking for. Sky scanner offers this on their website,  I think. It will send you an email when fares change for dates and route you are looking for. 

Agree with this.

[GrandmaAirplane]

Pre-Covid, I often found the best prices for air tickets to Europe around New Year’s for travel spring-to-summer. With Covid-reduced capacity, who knows if/how ‘competitive pricing‘ will play out on airfares for the next year or two...

Personally, I’d wait - and see who restores routes and increases capacity come December into January.

[cruisellama]

Have read in some travel articles,  4 months prior is the sweet zone; however, I book earlier.  I also find the cruise line sponsored flights can be pretty attractive especially with disruptions.  They really work to re-route and keep schedule if possible.

 

[DocLC]

I have to agree with the others. I fly to Europe twice a year for cruises and have found that it is best to wait a bit. Prices seem high at the beginning of the booking window. I've had very good luck the week of Thanksgiving for international airfare. I wouldn't wait more than about 90 days out. It also might be worthwhile to see what RCL is quoting for airfare.

[FManke]

On 8/24/2020 at 2:26 AM, Tira04 said:

I would wait. You have a long time still and airlines are constantly changing itineraries at the moment.  I would set up a fare alert for the route you're looking for. Sky scanner offers this on their website,  I think. It will send you an email when fares change for dates and route you are looking for. 

I used Skyscanner as well, but I found a cheaper deal on my own, before it was posted at Skyscanner. For our original cruise 10/3/20,  I started watching prices around 11/2019, right after they were posted. I was pretty religious about it, just watching the trends. I finally jumped on a "deal" around the second week in Feb this year, which would have been about 7 1/2 months before the cruise. But the was BC. Before Covid, so it's anybody's guess at this point. 

[Jacki_MEI]

Just a reminder that if you book flights through Royal's Air2Sea department they don't require payment until your cruise final payment date, and you are able to cancel your flights up til that date as well. I have added flights through Air2Sea to lock in price and availability, and then kept checking to see if I could get a better price elsewhere. When I did find a better price,  just called Royal and had them take the Air2Sea flight off my reservation.

[SpeedNoodles]

30 minutes ago, Jacki_MEI said:

Just a reminder that if you book flights through Royal's Air2Sea department they don't require payment until your cruise final payment date, and you are able to cancel your flights up til that date as well. I have added flights through Air2Sea to lock in price and availability, and then kept checking to see if I could get a better price elsewhere. When I did find a better price,  just called Royal and had them take the Air2Sea flight off my reservation.

That's great advice, Jacki!

[cruisellama]

On 8/26/2020 at 8:54 AM, Jacki_MEI said:

Just a reminder that if you book flights through Royal's Air2Sea department they don't require payment until your cruise final payment date, and you are able to cancel your flights up til that date as well. I have added flights through Air2Sea to lock in price and availability, and then kept checking to see if I could get a better price elsewhere. When I did find a better price,  just called Royal and had them take the Air2Sea flight off my reservation.

I've used and had very good luck.  Now its even better with the deferred payment as you describe above.  Also like the "re-routing" if issues come up on a connection.

[Morganno]

Doesn't matter it's not for European customers.

 

What is the air2sea department?

 

There website doesn't offer included flights does it or is it only shown when you have booked the cruise?

 

I'm in the same position I want to book a good priced cruise for next year but I don't want to take expensive non-refundable flights in case the cruise doesn't sail. 

 

It's the first time I've heard of RC booking flights.

 

thanks,

John

 

[Jill]

1 hour ago, Morganno said:

Doesn't matter it's not for European customers.

 

What is the air2sea department?

 

There website doesn't offer included flights does it or is it only shown when you have booked the cruise?

 

I'm in the same position I want to book a good priced cruise for next year but I don't want to take expensive non-refundable flights in case the cruise doesn't sail. 

 

It's the first time I've heard of RC booking flights.

 

thanks,

John

 

Look under transportation in Royal’s website for Air2Sea. 

[Jill]

I’m in a Mediterranean Cruise tips group on Facebook and there was a recent post on this. 
 

Several chimes in about Air2Sea and how flexible it is. Some were saying they picked the flights they wanted then called Royal and had them price the flights. 
 

I always thought you were at the mercy of Royal to pick your flights but apparently that isn’t the case. 
 

This is one reason I went with MEI (Sharla) for our October 2021 Odyssey Italy/Greece. We have a group of 4 couples so it’ll be like herding cats. She said we can start looking about 300 days out. 

[Jason12]

I gambled and booked our flights to Sydney and return from Singapore for March cruise, I booked a fantastic price in business class Qatar qsuites fully enclosed suite, if things are not back to normal their confidence policy is good 

[cruisellama]

On 8/28/2020 at 8:08 PM, cruisellama said:

I've used and had very good luck.  Now its even better with the deferred payment as you describe above.  Also like the "re-routing" if issues come up on a connection.

Ended up booking early on Celebrity Air for a B2B from Venice June '21.  Selected deferred payment so no financial commitment until final cruise payment due and is cancelable anytime before then.  Had been watching prices and noted an upward trend so booked it (which is much earlier than I usually book).   I can continue to shop until cruise is due and can cancel it out if I find a better airfare.  

[WAAAYTOOO]

56 minutes ago, Jason12 said:

I gambled and booked our flights to Sydney and return from Singapore for March cruise, I booked a fantastic price in business class Qatar qsuites fully enclosed suite, if things are not back to normal their confidence policy is good 

You are a VERY brave man !  Good luck.

[Jason12]

18 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

You are a VERY brave man !  Good luck.

Or daft we are still going if allowed entry even if no cruise, we have a Airbnb booked and will go NZ while over that way  

[WAAAYTOOO]

So, I read something very exciting this morning and I wanted to share it.

United has announced that they have permanently suspended change fees on all but the cheapest fares for US flights.  They will also allow same-day changes and standby at no cost.  These are huge changes, IMO.  I sure hope American is forced to follow suit.

https://www.today.com/money/ceo-announces-united-airlines-dropping-ticket-change-fees-t190517

[SpeedNoodles]

42 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

 These are huge changes, IMO.  I sure hope American is forced to follow suit.

 

And Delta, since nothing else flies out of Mpls other than Sun Country with any usefulness.

[teddy]

I just canceled our American Basic Economy tickets yesterday.  We had the absolute lowest class ticket there was. 
 

Here’s a screenshot of the email I received after canceling. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

It looks like American and a Delta have joined United in cancelling change fees.  The bad news is, it is only for new purchases...which shouldn’t surprise anyone, I guess. It’s unclear (to me) what will happen after Dec 31.  Originally, I understood that United’s policy was permanent.

“ The new policy will impact First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Main Cabin tickets for all domestic and short-haul international flights to the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and will be extended to tickets for any new travel purchased by Dec. 31, 2020.”

[twangster]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It looks like American and a Delta have joined United in cancelling change fees.  The bad news is, it is only for new purchases...which shouldn’t surprise anyone, I guess. It’s unclear (to me) what will happen after Dec 31.  Originally, I understood that United’s policy was permanent.

“ The new policy will impact First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Main Cabin tickets for all domestic and short-haul international flights to the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and will be extended to tickets for any new travel purchased by Dec. 31, 2020.”

Delta is calling it "Book with Confidence".  Sounds familiar.  Valid only until 9/30/2020 though.

Good news for Southwest... this is a major component of their marketing.  

With my ever changing cruise calendar and turning a cruise into a B2B on an ad-hoc basis Southwest has stolen a lot of my business from Delta. 

Have to give Delta credit, they waived the redeposit fees for my Italy award flights I booked months ago.  Glad I waited to cancel these hoping some might change.  Like a cruise, don't cancel flights until you must just in case something changes.  If I had canceled this yesterday I'd never get those fees back.  Today, no fees.

[Morganno]

Just look and RC's air travel is only for US and CA residents.

For my flight next year Brussels to Barcelona none of the airlines flying the route offer any cancellation refunds or vouchers unless you take business class or fully flexible.

Could book though and take a credit on my deposit if i couldn't find the flights?

[Jason12]

20 minutes ago, Morganno said:

Just look and RC's air travel is only for US and CA residents.

For my flight next year Brussels to Barcelona none of the airlines flying the route offer any cancellation refunds or vouchers unless you take business class or fully flexible.

Could book though and take a credit on my deposit if i couldn't find the flights?

We’ve used RC air to the Spain, Italy and the US many times mainly with jet2, Virgin and BA and live in the UK and others from other euro countries have done the same, no upfront payment etc All done over the phone since the online option was removed  

[Morganno]

5 minutes ago, Jason12 said:

We’ve used RC air to the Spain, Italy and the US many times mainly with jet2, Virgin and BA and live in the UK and others from other euro countries have done the same, no upfront payment etc All done over the phone since the online option was removed  

Thanks Jason that's great news did you phone the UK number or a US agent? 

[Jason12]

14 minutes ago, Morganno said:

Thanks Jason that's great news did you phone the UK number or a US agent? 

RC Uk number  

[Morganno]

@Jason12  Do you have to include the flights with the initial booking or can you phone them up to add flights later? 

 

Sorry for the questions and thanks for taking the time to answer. 

 

PS I love the photo with homer.  

[Jason12]

3 minutes ago, Morganno said:

@Jason12  Do you have to include the flights with the initial booking or can you phone them up to add flights later? 

 

Sorry for the questions and thanks for taking the time to answer. 

 

PS I love the photo with homer.  

I’ve done both and removed booked flights when we see a better deal 
 

and what you mean that’s a photo of me

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Just want to say "Kudos" to the Air2Sea team...from my original booking of 30 airfares to the full refunds to all 30 of us once we cancelled with Cruise with Confidence...to booking new airfares for our "new" cruise now totaling 32 passengers !! All with no hassles and courteous staff.  Last night I saw much cheaper air prices so called and although it took 2 1/2 hrs speaking to Mildred at Air2Sea every one of us saved over $150!! 

My family (13 of us) alone saved $2,000.!!!!  As I have said before...my rebook has been so much cheaper all the way around and I am just praying that April 19, 2021 my family and friends of 32 awesome people will be sailing away to our cruise vacation!!  And hopefully planning for our next cruise adventure too!!

[Jason12]

On 8/31/2020 at 3:48 PM, Jason12 said:

I gambled and booked our flights to Sydney and return from Singapore for March cruise, I booked a fantastic price in business class Qatar qsuites fully enclosed suite, if things are not back to normal their confidence policy is good 

Well Qatar cancelled our flight to Sydney, they offered an alternative or refund, we took refund as I don’t see Australia opening up for cruises this season maybe September 2021, we will try again once the world reopens

[Lothric]

I hope this year we will be able to get a cruise in the Med at least finally. We have a ready arrange the classic tour with https://vacaytrends.com/g-adventures-review/ as we don't really trust the cruise lines shore excursion office anymore. They tend to provide only expensive tours that don't reflect the money that you spend on them. On top of that you can easily get a classic tour tailored to your needs for a much better price and with much better support. The only time I use the shower excursion onboard is to book buses to the town!

[Axavit]

It would be awesome to be in one of the ships docking in Santorini this summer. That cruise to Alaska would have been great. Are you guys going on vacations in other countries? Have you tried wine in Europe on any of your trips? I'm planning a trip to Greece this summer, and I would love to combine them. I heard great things about wineries in Greece, and I'm pretty sure that our tour agency will be able to provide some great ideas and advice. We are already discovering Santorini winery, and our tours are fixed. I just feel that we could spend a few more days in a hunting area of the country trying our luck.