Advantages/Disadvantages to booking air through DCL?

[Jen in MA]

Need opinions on whether I should book air through DCL or do it on my own... Thanks in advance!!!

 

[mmouse37]

Are you going in winter, during a holiday period, during slow season???

DCL air can be more expensive and you are not guaranteed a direct flight. To get a direct flight or be on specific airline you must pay an added fee...this is called Custom Air.

The advantages are that if the DCL flight is late they will hold the ship within reason...if the ship leaves it is DCL's responsibility to get you to the next port of call to meet the ship.

If you booked air on your own and you are late...too bad!!! The advantages of booking air yourself is that is most of the times less expensive and you can book the day, time and airline of your choice. If you do book on your own (we always do) I would suggest flying in a day or two early to avoid any chance of being delayed on cruise day.

MJ

 

[Jen in MA]

We are going April 16, 2005, which is school vacation week here in MA... I was thinking of trying to book a flight the night before, leaving Boston around 6pm, and then staying at an airport hotel in MCO, then taking the DCL bus to the port in the morning. How bad are the flight times usually if I do decide to go with DCL? Will they make sure I'm there in plenty of time?

 

[wltdsnyfan]

The one big problem I see booking through DCL (my opinion) is they do not guarantee you a direct flight, the airline or the time. You do not find this out till a couple weeks before the cruise. If you want a direct flight or a guarantee airline it will cost about a 100.00 per person. I had booked through DCL I had then called back to find out what I was told (the above) is true and they said yes. At that time I cancelled my air and booked on my own. I do not like knowing what time I am going to arrive. I am also doing the land/sea. Good Luck in what ever you decide.

 

[invaderzim]

We only booked once through DCL -- never again.

1. We had to pay an additional $50/pp to guarantee a nonstop flight (it probably cost more now) because I don't like flying and don't want to take off or land more than I have to;

2. They charged us almost double what I could have gotten the airfare for on my own (found out too late about that one);

3. They would not guarantee us a departure time, airline or nonstop without paying the additional fee (see #1). Otherwise, they tell you about two weeks before your trip -- and you could be leaving at any time!

4. What I REALLY didn't like was the DCL rep told me "oh, we'll get you there before the last bus for the port leaves at 1:00". That's just cutting it too close for me.

The ONLY advantage is that the airfare is covered by the travel insurance if you book it as part of your package with DCL. However, I've always felt that since the cruise part is the most expensive, if it turns out we can't go, I'll just pay the penalty fees and rebook the airline tickets. It would still end up costing less than if DCL got them for me.

Since then, we have always flown in the day before and stayed at the Hyatt in the airport. Much less stressful than worrying about delays and bus connections.

 

[ivanova]

Originally posted by invaderzim
The ONLY advantage is that the airfare is covered by the travel insurance if you book it as part of your package with DCL.

And you can take care of that by booking your own travel insurance, making sure it covers missed connections.

 

[SandraLee]

In my opinion there is NO advantage to booking your air with DCL. I did have my air booked with them once, our flight was VERY late and they said if we didnt' make it in time, they would put us up in a hotel and catch us up with the ship at the first port -- well, that was 3 days later! I was on the Eastern 7 day and there are 2 at-sea days at the front end. So, if you miss the ship, you don't board the ship until Tuesday. Unacceptable.

As it did turn out, the ship was held. We got there around 4:30 or so. Flew through and onto the ship.

Our flight problem was when the Atlanta airport was basically shutdown by the guy who bypassed security after 9/11 because he was missing a football game! Every time I think about it, my blood boils.

What I now do . . . Go in a day early, book your own air, and book your own insurance. If there is a problem with your air, your insurance will cover it.

 

[mickey minder]

DCL Air: 1) is almost always more expensive. 2) may not be at a time convenient for you.

When we booked our Jan. cruise, we initially booked DCL (as a fallback) until we could get good rates and knew we had a way to get there. When I called to cancel the air portion, they asked for the flight numbers that we had arranged so they could monitor our flights if there were any problems. There were no problems, not sure what they would have done if there had been.

 

[Jillpie]

Jen in Ma....we in Ma. have been all over the transportation boards on the Dis this week trying to grab the lowest fares for next April vacation this past week on Song. (330 days in advance) I'm afraid you may be too late for that now. You would have had to get on the phone this past Thursday night to get the 16th or 15th for the lowest fares, which would be about 107.00. They are now all gone for next April vacation! We are leaving on the 13th, which is Wed. night before the vacation starts. I believe that day is still available for low rates, but thats about it for that weekend. I'll be booking our return flights this coming week. I wish you luck with this, they are going to be very expensive if you wait much longer. They're already up to 300.00 one way. There's always Jetblue, but you will have to wait for the Fall for the Spring fares.

 

[invaderzim]

If you are going during Easter week, it will cost more money than any regular discount fare because of the holiday.

I would suggest using www.farechase.com. It shows you all the airlines and their fares on a daily basis. Check it every day. The prices are changing rapidly and even though the gas prices are rising, they said the airfares are still reasonable. As soon as you find a fare within the price range you were hoping for, I would grab it and not hope that it might go lower.

Good luck.

 

[jweiss]

We also booked one time through DCL and will never do it again. The airline was one that I will also never fly again. The times, connections, stopovers, etc, were HORRIBLE. I have done MUCH better and for significantly less money, on my own!!! Also, they have us leaving from an airport farther from home than was necessary, so we had to stay (and pay for) in a hotel in SF the night before we left, than at the Hyatt the night before the cruise. A bit much!!!

 

[Jen in MA]

I never thought of booking 2 one-way tickets at the 330 day mark... I'm going to try some other airlines right now and see what I can find. If worse comes to worse, I guess I'm stuck with DCL's over-priced airfare Wish me luck!

 

[tvguy]

I was shocked to see DCL air fare nearly twice what I could get it for on my own. I'm shocked because when going to Disneyland we book our airfare thru Disney because it is always cheaper than we can get on our own.
As for travel insurance, our travel agent suggested an outside company that was cheaper, and while they wouldn't hold the ship if we were late, they offered more in every other area.
But we flew in the day before so I was less concerned about meeting the ship.

 

[invaderzim]

TVGUY:

Who did you get your travel insurance from?

 

[Alexander]

Jen, it sounds like you'll be on the same cruise as us!

We always book our own air. We will be flying in Friday night, staying at the Hyatt in MCO and then taking a town care to the port. We chose a town car over the busses because we can dictate the time we want to arrive. We can also stop and pick up some soda and juice boxes.

This is not Easter week for '05. Easter is the last Sunday in March next year. So as far as that interferring with flights, it won't.

I have been looking for our flights now too. We are 326 days from departure. I can book our flight down, but I can't book our flight back because it's not within the 330 window yet.

 

[jeanie]

Hi Jen,


We booked our air through Disney for the 4/17 Eastern cruise this year and I would not do it again...


Here's why...

We paid about 1300 in air fare for the 4 of us. We could have gotten it much cheaper.... We did not get a direct flight and the flight was overbooked. When I called to get seat assignments I was told that I would have to wait until I got to the gate and that I should get to the airport around 4:00AM so that we could be first in line... We got to Logan at 3:30 and believe it or not the airport was packed at that time...We managed to get two seats and two seats and then we had to do the same on the way back home....

We did not get to the ship until 1:30PM and we barely made it through dinner that night...


So even if you find direct flights for around 250 or so you will still be better off than if you book through Disney...

 

[Hygiene99]

Jen here is what I found ..

1) Jet blue is not Booking for that time period as of yet i would call them to find out when they will be opening up booking for that period.. this would be out of Boston

2) Song airlines is also not yet booking round trip for the period u are traveling online , I could get the out bound flight but not the return ???

I would also call them to see when they would open up booking for that period...

Also is Manchester Nh. an option We have been very successful with Southwest Airlines and they 2 are not booking for that period as of yet ....

So do not give up hope, as of yet as I Know u will be able to grab a good fare on some one for about $250.00 roundtrip non stop

It is still way far away to worry.... and it may be available
over the phone but not on line...

we just got round trip for both of us for $269.00 non stop
on Song So we are going in June... To the World..

Peter

 

[gottaluvdis]

Definitely book Southwest out of Manchester. They won't start accepting reservations for April '05 until about 4 months out (Jan 05 or so). That week is very popular however, with MA spring break, so book the day they appear online. You can also call SW a few months out to find out when they might be accepting reservations for April. Luckily our NH break is the week after MA, or it would be nearly impossible to get any Orlando flights for us! As it was, we went this year over April break and the return flight on the following Monday was oversold and they were begging for people to give up seats. It was a good deal - if you went on a later flight, you would have ended up with 2 free round trip tickets for each member of your party. I would have jumped on it in a heartbeat except that my leg was in an immobilizer brace and I was in a wheelchair and just wanted to get home (I had a post-cruise waterslide mishap the day before we flew home). Manchester might be farther away for you, but it beats the hassle of Logan 10 fold.

 

[bostonlass]

I had originally booked air through DCL and ended up cancelling and booking it on my own. I saved enough to be able to go two days earlier and spend a whole day at the Magic Kingdom

We are cruising again in April 05 and I plan on being online the minute the airfare is available through Jet Blue. I believe they start at $79 and increase from there. Can't beat that price and the seats are leather and it's nonstop! My second choice will be Southwest but I live 20 min from Boston so I'd rather fly out of Logan.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

 

[DBBN]

We always book our own air and always arrive a day or more before the sail date. A day or two at WDW before the cruise really sets the tone for the cruise and we wouldn't have it any other way. We would find it much too stressful if travelling on the day of departure. Lets face travel by air can be extremely unpredictable. It can be anything from weather to security to volume of air traffic that can easily cause you to miss a connection.

Book yourself a non stop flight and travel the day before the sail date.