Pros and Cons of using Air2Sea ?

[D Alt]

Seems like Air2Sea is a good program with price matching.  For those who have used this program, what are the pros and cons of going with Air2Sea rather than another airline where you may have already accumulated points or miles?  

 

[Ampurp85]

You can add your loyalty status. The major con is you will get booked later. That means no flights before noon no matter how close the airport and port are. Also they don't always see the nonstop options and may not assign your seats until you pay.

[mk-ultra]

Con: Air2Sea is essentially your travel agent for the flight.  If you need to do swift modifications to your flight(s) because of some unforeseen problem, you need to go through them vs. just fixing it with the airline directly.  It's like booking a fare via Expedia, Hotwire, etc.

For domestic (US) flights, if you feel confident about your airline booking skills, I've never seen any reason to use the program.  No real savings and often more expensive than booking directly yourself.  For international flights in biz or first, I've seen some pretty good deals; tempting, but have never used it.  For me, it's not worth having a middle player between me and the airline.

Use Google Flights to see if there is actually any cost savings using Air2Sea:

https://www.google.com/travel/flights

[twangster]

Pro:  Sometimes cruise lines negotiate special fares by committing to a certain number of seats so there can be deals IF you are flying from the right gateway city.  Sometimes airline fly extra flights that are effectively charters where nearly everyone on the plane is on the cruise with you.  These special flights may not appear on the airline website so unless you check A2S you wouldn't even know they exist.  

Pro: You can add an A2S flight that remains refundable until final payment due date and it doesn't cost anything to make the booking.  If you find a better deal cancel the A2S before final payment due date at no cost.  If fuel costs surge or flight cost jump unexpectedly the A2S booking can suddenly be a great deal.  

Con: A2S can sometimes utilize weird and unusual fare basis so you might not get points in your airline loyalty program.  If you need to cancel you have to work through A2S.  

Pro: In some cases the A2S "Assured Arrival" can help if an airline mess causes you to miss the cruise.  While Royal no longer allows downlining - joining a cruise at another port, they do for A2S bookings as long as it doesn't cause a PVSA violation.  

[mk-ultra]

14 minutes ago, twangster said:

While Royal no longer allows downlining - joining a cruise at another port, they do for A2S bookings as long as it doesn't cause a PVSA violation.  

Ouch.  Hadn't considered that one.  Excellent point.

[WannaCruise]

39 minutes ago, twangster said:

Pro: You can add an A2S flight that remains refundable until final payment due date and it doesn't cost anything to make the booking.  If you find a better deal cancel the A2S before final payment due date at no cost.  If fuel costs surge or flight cost jump unexpectedly the A2S booking can suddenly be a great deal.  

 

Never used A2S but highly considering it for the reason above for our Dec holiday cruise.  Our son will be in university (first year) and until we know what school he'll be at and his exam schedule, we can't 100% commit to flights. However, if we wait, prices will be crazy expensive (already will be based on time flying).  So seems like a good option to be able to book something at opening prices when released and not have to pay until final payment.

If the cost goes down, then we can call in for the better cost?

Does A2S cover flights not on their website but ones I can see elsewhere?   i.e. when I did  a mock check, the other site showed more flights that A2S offered.  

[69RoadRunner]

I used it for our Med cruise this summer. I was able to choose seats for our United flight out on United's site. The flight back is United operated but Lufthansa and I could not select seats for our family on either site.

I got a non-stop to Rome on a red eye at the same price as booking directly with United. We leave 3 days ahead of the cruise, but with the red eye, arrive 2 days ahead.

After being on a Med cruise with Princess and being stuck on the ship in Istanbul because of the 9/11 attacks, I was glad we booked our flights with the cruise line. They bent over backwards to get us on a charter after just 1.5 days, quicker than my brother in law who was stuck longer in Kansas.

I understand things are different now, but with a European cruise, I'm hoping this is our least risky option when it comes to logistics/delays/cancellations.

[twangster]

15 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

f the cost goes down, then we can call in for the better cost?

Does A2S cover flights not on their website but ones I can see elsewhere?   i.e. when I did  a mock check, the other site showed more flights that A2S offered.  

You can call in before final payment and request airline price drops.

I have noticed that if you change the time window to arrive by or leave by it opens up other choices.  It is weird that way.  

If you are looking at international cruises and flights it's very important your cruise booking includes any middle names your passport has.  That way when you book A2S it matches your passport.  For domestic flights this isn't as important.  

[teddy]

We booked our October flights from Boston to Venice and Rome to Boston through Air2Sea based on price. 

We had enough American Airlines points to fly one way, but not both.   It was cheaper to book both flights through Air2Sea than use points for one way and book on our own for the other. 

It was $1400 for the two of us to Italy and back. TAP Air from Boston to Venice via Lisbon.  Lufthansa from Rome to Boston via Munich. 
 

 

[WannaCruise]

29 minutes ago, twangster said:

You can call in before final payment and request airline price drops.

I have noticed that if you change the time window to arrive by or leave by it opens up other choices.  It is weird that way.  

If you are looking at international cruises and flights it's very important your cruise booking includes any middle names your passport has.  That way when you book A2S it matches your passport.  For domestic flights this isn't as important.  

Thanks. And thanks so much for mentioning that our cruise booking matches our passport.  I don't bother with our middle names but will have it updated then to match our passports.  (We're in Canada)

[12thman]

Just used A2S and saved $1,000 compared to the airline and we have several months before final payment, seems to me if for some reason the airfare drops I'll be able to reprice. If you book your flight yourself using A2S make sure your name is correct in Royal's system one person's name was wrong and had to call A2S to get it fixed. They canceled the booking and made a new one after correcting the error in Royal's system.

[twangster]

Royal doesn't handle hyphenated names very well.  In your CAS account a hyphen is allowed but in the Royal reservation system it is not.  

I have seen airline check in agents become very particular for international flights.  Walking into the airport to fly overseas is a terrible time to discover a name error that all started in the Royal reservation system.  

[steverk]

I swear by air2sea. They've bailed me out of three tight spots so far, and it's the only way I fly now.

As people have noted, there are some downsides. One the hasn't been noted. They use different fare schedules than travelocity, which are usually, but not always, slightly more expensive. Since the fares are refundable, price matching really doesn't happen. 

[Bowen]

Do you have to choose A2S when you book, or can you go in and book A2S at a later point after you have booked the cruise? We just booked an Alaska going out of Seattle (from Houston), and are sort of looking at flights. We usually go Southwest, but they are not cheaper in this case so we'd have to go out of Intergalactic instead of Hobby. I'm thinking A2S might be the best route here.

[teddy]

You can book flights through Air2Sea at a later date, although I believe if you book after your cruise final payment date, you have to pay Air2Sea in full as well.

[USCG Teacher]

43 minutes ago, Bowen said:

Do you have to choose A2S when you book, or can you go in and book A2S at a later point after you have booked the cruise? 

Often times you have to book Air2Sea after booking.  If you book your cruise far enough out that airline itineraries aren't published yet, they won't be able to book you.

 

[paulcop]

Several recent disappointments with A2S. October return from Europe didn't offer me Turkish Air that had decisively best price and timing. My January A2S booking for a Barbados RT was without baggage allowance and no ability to advance book seat! A2S offered limited options for my upcoming March return from eastbound European TA. I've booked Royal Air Maroc which was cheaper and faster than A2S options. Seems A2S doesn't include all airlines. For transatlantic, I particularly like Turkish Air and Air Maroc because of spacious economy seating on their 767s and superior cabin service. 

 

Edited January 30 by paulcop
misspelling

[Pattycruise]

I shop my pricing.  Air2Sea-yes is changeable, until you make final payment.
I found on one trip I could buy refundable air drectly through the airline and it was less than what Air2Sea was offering and refundable  until the cruise  as opposed to 90 day prior like Air2Sea-.

Also Air2Sea (Choice Air-on Celebrity-same office) admitted to me once that if I do not make a flight with a short connection time that it would be MY FAULT unless the first flight had a delay. In other words, if the connection time is 1.5 hours and it took 2 hours to get through passport control, too bad.  

[smokeybandit]

I would only use Air2Sea again for an international flight.

[Zacharius]

2 hours ago, paulcop said:

For transatlantic, I particularly like Turkish Air and Air Maroc because of spacious economy seating on their 767s and superior cabin service. 

 

Neither airline operates 767s anymore, perhaps you're thinking of 787s? 

Royal Air Maroc can be really hit or miss. I've flown them both longhaul and shorthaul (my wife's family is in Morocco, so we get there often) and have had really nice experiences and really...uh, bad...experiences. Both with soft and hard products. But my favorite experience on RAM was in 2015ish flying MAD-RAK and they just played Donald Duck cartoons with no sound for the entire flight. Funny enough, I was also on an Austrian Airlines flight back in 2004ish, VIE-BRU, that also played Donald Duck cartoons with no sound for the entire flight. This has no bearing on your trip but I always think of it now when I think of Royal Air Maroc. 

[PJK]

We are flying to BCN in June 2 days early and returning from FCO using Delta and American. A2S works for international flights and especially for different arrival and departure ports. We have not paid for the seats (March) but are booked R/T for $2,192 for 2 based on a promotion RCL ran on $ 200 off international flights late last year. We've been able to select seats on Delta going over and move around and upgrade. I called A2S and they booked us 2 seats together(I was not able to do so until we pay) on the American flight. With a change in American's schedule, we also changed returning flights moving up our departure from FCO which they handled for us with American. 

We used them once before flying into FCO. We were delayed apprx. 3 hrs on the sailing day. We called A2S and informed them of such and they tracked the flight (for us and others) insuring we made the sailing in Civitavecchia. 

I would definitely consider them for international flights. 

 

[twangster]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I would only use Air2Sea again for an international flight.

I used A2S for a Miami cruise to Cuba several years ago.  It was a red eye that arrived the day of the cruise.  Unfortunate work timing prevented me from leaving a day earlier.  

It was $50 cheaper than Delta on their website.  I was able to use my Delta status to get free checked luggage and ended up being upgraded due to my Delta status.  Win - win.  

Never say never.