Air fare nightmares

[quote=PaulzyJC]

There is a shuttle of sorts to get from Seattle to Vancouver, but we have not personally done it, so can't comment on the process. We have considered it, especially lately w/crazy Canadian air fares, so we could enjoy the lower AK cruises in/out of Vancouver. But in the end, we have booked Seattle closed loop cruises. The cruise fares are higher, but after factoring in air, the net is a savings.

This impacted us on a booking we have in a couple weeks - April 29 to AK on the Eurodam.

I try as much as possible to be loyal to an airline that I have priority status with as the seat and luggage fee savings can be substantial, but it's not always possible. The April 29 trip is costing us an additional $526 just in luggage and seats, but that is still a savings vs staying with my usual airline. That money comes straight out of the excursion/drink/dining/pamper...budget. Ugh

I never thought of that, flying to Seattle from Tampa would have so much cheaper. But then I would have find a way to drive across the border. Does Lyft or Uber even do that?

I was booking flights for my upcoming cruise to Alaska, that embarks in Vancouver.

I was horrified to find BASIC ECONOMY seats for over 1000$ USD!!.

But it all comes down to airline.

So I just went to Expedia and found round trip B.E. tickets for 534$, with 3 layovers combined.

The flight to Canada from Tampa is 8h (5 hour flight, 3 hr layover in LA).

The trip home will take 19hrs (9.5 hours flying, and an the same in layovers in Toronto and Atlanta).

I tried calling Cunard and was getting quoted 700$-800$, also for economy.

The airline industry is just taking real advantage of the fact that people need to fly, and they assume they can "make you" pay whatever they offer. I wanted to fly Business Class, because I was flying to another country, but that was the same cost as the cruise, so Basic Economy it is. I'm just glad that Delta only charges 30$ & 60$ for checked bags.

Air flight prices in Canada have never been great and with the recent demise of the latest discount carrier I can only imagine what prices are like. Good thing we are able to drive to several ports. It may take an extra day but is worth it.

If flying is a must it is always cheaper to drive across the border to hop a plane if that is at all an option.

That is s expensive isn't it.

Lynn is wonderful

xx

I booked my airfare in November for my cruise this May. At that time it was $2800 for 2 from Newark, NJ to Barcelona Spain. If I booked today it would be $3500. I wound up using most of our miles plus around $300.

We have passed on several Alaskan cruises, unfortunately, because of going either into or out of Vancouver which makes them cost prohibitive. Seattle air is at minimum half of Vancouver, so even after paying the higher cruise cost, it's still less than Vancouver. Same for east cost with Quebec.

So sad.

Absolutely, allowed. the all-inclusive resorts are being smart. Cruise lines apparently don't feel the need to lure more guests. Time may tell what industry does better.

On the plus side, some all-inclusive resorts are stepping up and including return air fare in the package.

some of the pricing is better that cruising.......Am I allowed to say that?

Because we live in Colorado and the closest cruise port is about a 15 hours drive, we also need to fly. While our situation isn't quite as expensive as yours, I understand completely. When we first started cruisng we went on 4&5 day cruises (it's what we felt we could afford at the time). It dawned on us we were paying as much if not more for air fare. So we started taking 7 day cruises, to feel like we were getting our monies worth. Now we prefer to book B2B cruises (equalling 14 days) in order to have the cruise fare and air fare (plus hotel, cost also rising) worth the trip. So our plan seems to be to get the most out of our vacation funds as possible. We may not go as often, but the trip is worth the cost.

Sorry you are experiencing the possible cancellation of you well deserved vacation.