Booking Flights to Barcelona

[htmlkid]

Just curious, we are taking the May 2001 11 Night Cruise and we are not sure how reliable the connections are when booking our flight. Our current plan is to go from Miami to JFK on friday morining and then connect at JFK 6 hrs later for the flight to Barcelona that arrives Saturday morning. This would give us ample time to board the boat later that day.

I'm curious if I should leave a day or so just in case there is a problem with one of the flights. Any input from pepole who have done this before.. if we are doing this right or maybe we should book a day eariler.

Also where have you found the cheapest flights. Currently its running like $1K per person for flights next May... should we wait, should we book now????

 

[Florida Princess]

We sailed on the Med Cruise in May. We booked our flights in March when a sale finally appeared and the flights were a little more reasonable. We flew 3 days prior to sailing date and spent those 2 nights in Barcelona at the Renaissance Hotel. Our flights were $622 per person and we flew with US Air.
We left from Tampa at 12 noon--had a 4 hour layover in Philadelphia and then flew onto Barcelona.
On our return we had the same route but we stayed a night in Barcelona after the cruise. Our flight left at 10:25 AM and we arrived back in Tampa (after our Philadelphia layover) at 6:30PM. Remember that we had to pick up our bags and go thru customs in Philadelphia so leave enought time to accomplish that and not go crazy trying to catch a tight connection !

You will love the cruise---I would do it again in a minute !!!!

 

[sayhello]

I did the 11-night Med cruise in May, and I would say DEFINITELY plan to arrive at least a day ahead (2 if possible). Everyone I asked was dead on arrival in Barcelona, and it was really nice to have some time to recouperate. Plus, Barcelona is really a cool city. I wish I'd had more time to explore it.

Also, after spending days freaked out about a volcanic ash cloud affecting my flights, I would never, ever plan to arrive the day of the cruise. Who would have ever thought I'd have to worry about a volcano in Iceland??? Best to give yourself some wiggle room.

I flew Iberia, bought my tickets in late February or early March, and found that the airfare just continued to go up after that.

Sayhello

 

[clten]

Connecting in the US is a lot better than connecting in Europe (have heard lots of horror stories about lost luggage and worker strikes).

But the Med cruises are very port intensive which usually means a lot of running. I would not do that without adjusting for the time change before getting on the ship. So I would plan at least one day ahead but if you also want to see Barcelona, add a couple more.

As far as when to book air, I would have an idea on what you consider reasonable for airfare. (We travel from the NY area and I usually consider roundtrip air to Europe in the $700 range good.) Keep an eye out for sales but don't book until fares are in your good range. This year, we had to wait until January to book airfare for April. I was getting a little nervous but ended up with a very good airfare on a non-stop flight from Newark. (If I had booked earlier I would have ended up on a connecting British Air flight and would have been freaking out over the volcano.)

 

[Anal Annie]

We doing one of the August Med cruises next summer and are planning a few nights in Paris first. Even though we'll already be in Europe I'm still planning to go from Paris to Barcelona the day before the cruise. I DO NOT want to stress out and I do NOT want to be dealing with lost luggage ON THE DAY OF the cruise. I wouldn't fly to FL on the day of a cruise so I figured it was no different for Europe!! (Too early to book just yet but it's looking like Air France is going to win from what I've been watching...)

 

[jmatias]

We are doing the Med cruise next June and arriving in Barcelona couple days early to help with the jet lag and explore before the cruise.

My biggest advice is to fly in at least a day early. Just this June we flew to Orlando for my son's baseball tournament. On our same flight was a family going on the Wonder the next day.

Well, our flight out of Honolulu was delayed 4 hours due to mechanical problem. Arrived at first stop Atlanta and needless to say, there were a lot of people scrambling to get their connections. The Cruise family was frantic as only 4 of the 5 could get on a flight out to Orlando. Dad was at counter willing to pay $$$$ to get any seat and finally got on the Orlando flight.

So, right there I told myself make sure to always arrive day early!

 

[Tanzanite]

I am going to book Med cruise for july 2011 hope airfares come down because i looked from January until April i could not find a flight under $1400 to much for 4 people plus tax. this summer prices crazy.Iwant to fly to London first then take flight from there so i can spend time with family both ways. Any ideas where to look for flights.

 

[JKB DIS]

I am going to book Med cruise for july 2011 hope airfares come down because i looked from January until April i could not find a flight under $1400 to much for 4 people plus tax. this summer prices crazy.Iwant to fly to London first then take flight from there so i can spend time with family both ways. Any ideas where to look for flights.

I am eagerly reading these posts. My family of 4 has just started to consider a MED cruise for June 2012, but I was shocked by the cost of the airfare. I will be watching to see when those of you going in 2011 book your flights.

 

[Tanzanite]

I am eagerly reading these posts. My family of 4 has just started to consider a MED cruise for June 2012, but I was shocked by the cost of the airfare. I will be watching to see when those of you going in 2011 book your flights.

Iam really scared about airfare but my 3 kids want to go & my oldest will be 17 so its getting where he maynot be able to go following year.I am hoping my mum who lives in London will join us so i would conbine trip to visit her i never went this summer as did not want to pay air prices.At least shes in Europe so not so expensive for her.Ireally really really want to go. My mother is visiting in Dec and air is still expensive.Last year i got air for $750 per person but this year less flights and at high prices were full.

 

[jmatias]

Talk about expensive. Prices to Barcelona from Hawaii is in the $1800 - $2400 range right now

Hoping to use miles for our flights. But I keep checking to see if things get cheaper.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We have just started to consider a Med cruise for next Aug and I'm not shocked at prices. It was $1k pp to go to Rome back in 1990. My gripe is that I was hoping to use miles. It used to be 40,000 for RT to Europe but now USAirways has different miles cost for different times: off peak, low, med, high and of course what I can see for next summer is all high time. So now it's 125,000.
If I pay the fee (almost $350) to combine dh and ds we'd have 2 seats using miles. There are still taxes and processing fees with that too so almost back up to price of just buying a ticket.

The price of our cruise is right around what we pay to cruise the Caribbean but it's the airfare and cost of excursions that jack the whole thing up. No more cheap taxis to a local beach to relax.

Luckily, we're close to Philly for non stops to BCN though I wish we could fly home same day of cruise but departing time is like 1030 am.

 

[Anal Annie]

We first booked our August 2011 Med cruise back in Oct. last year when the itineraries were first released for booking. I have been watching the airfare with fare alerts on kayak.com ever since. They've mostly just gone UP but have had moments when they were a little lower. We're too close to August NOW to catch anything reasonable. The fares for this August have increased dramatically over the past month - it's just too close now to get a reasonable idea of what you'd pay to book in advance. It is unrealistic to look at a fare for August 2010 and think it could be a good represntation of prices for August 2011.

We live in the DC area and live within about an hour of 3 major international airports yet there are NO direct flights between here & Barcelona from any of them!! I still can't believe that one. Anyway, we're planning to go to Paris first for a few nights and I CAN find direct flights to Paris from Dulles. Back a couple of months ago, before the prices went UP so much (to around $1,600) I was finding what I guess are reasonable flights on Air France (under $1,100 pp) to go to Paris, Paris to Barcelona and then home (via Paris). We are also hoping to use miles (credit card miles from Cap One) to cover at least 2 of us. In order to do this tho I NEED the fares to be under $1,100 each to have enough miles. From every which way I have priced it out it has remained cheaper to just book all the flights together in one shot than to try to book one-ways - esp. since there's nothing direct from Barcelona. That little hop from Paris to Barcelona CAN BE very high on a "normal" airline (not Easy Jet or Ryan Air which sock you with fees). I am also carefully watching the TIMES involved with some of these fares. I'd much rather pay an extra $100 pp to get there in 7 or 8 hours vs 15 hours because of some crazy layover somewhere!! I am NOT looking to get into some 5 or 6 hr. layover to save a few bucks (unless the price point puts us over what we can cover for 2 of us on miles). Because the return flight times are sooo early we'll tack on a couple of nights in Barcelona after the cruise.

I will get serious about booking something in Sept. when our 331 day window finally opens. I am leary tho of booking TOO far in advance like that as we could be asking for flight schedule changes and the possibility of other unforeseen changes that leave us stuck with nonrefundable air (like DCL changing the cruise again or an airline going under). I will definitely buy trip insurance once I book our flights.

 

[JKB DIS]

Being new to international airfares, is it better to take the chance and wait until 90 days before my cruise or do I book flights a year in advance. I looked up flights for July of 2011 and they are around $1400 per person. I looked up flights for the beginning of November and they were only $700 per person. Is the cost difference because of the November vs. July season? Any veteran advice would be appreciated.

 

[Tanzanite]

Hi Airfare dips in price from late Sept until Dec then it spikes again for the Christmas holidays .I t goes down again Jan until April low season lot of people dont travel as its so cold this time of year. Then summer rates are highest rates. Who knows what will happen next year .

 

[Friscorays]

I think it is a very good idea to arrive in your cruise departure city a day early when flying, especially with European cruises. There are so many source of flight interruptions these days. Even the slightest snag can cause you to miss the boat if you are arriving same day.

 

[NancyIL]

Connecting in the US is a lot better than connecting in Europe (have heard lots of horror stories about lost luggage and worker strikes).

We are arriving in Barcelona 2 days before a cruise in November. My preference is to connect in Europe (London Heathrow) rather than at JFK. If you miss your connection in the US, you may end up having to connect in Europe any way.

 

[JKB DIS]

Hi Airfare dips in price from late Sept until Dec then it spikes again for the Christmas holidays .I t goes down again Jan until April low season lot of people dont travel as its so cold this time of year. Then summer rates are highest rates. Who knows what will happen next year .

Thanks for the info! I was afraid the drop in price was due to low season.

 

[Tink2300]

We have just started to consider a Med cruise for next Aug and I'm not shocked at prices. It was $1k pp to go to Rome back in 1990. My gripe is that I was hoping to use miles. It used to be 40,000 for RT to Europe but now USAirways has different miles cost for different times: off peak, low, med, high and of course what I can see for next summer is all high time. So now it's 125,000.
If I pay the fee (almost $350) to combine dh and ds we'd have 2 seats using miles. There are still taxes and processing fees with that too so almost back up to price of just buying a ticket.

The price of our cruise is right around what we pay to cruise the Caribbean but it's the airfare and cost of excursions that jack the whole thing up. No more cheap taxis to a local beach to relax.

Luckily, we're close to Philly for non stops to BCN though I wish we could fly home same day of cruise but departing time is like 1030 am.

We are going on the Aug 28th Med cruise this year and we booked that same flight you are talking about the same day we get back to Barcelona. I have read that Disney gets everyone off the ship early that has a 10:30 am or earlier flight that day, and I even called Disney and told them my flight plans so I could book Disney transfers back to the airport that morning, and they said it was OK. So if you want that flight, I say book away. We did!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are arriving in Barcelona 2 days before a cruise in November. My preference is to connect in Europe (London Heathrow) rather than at JFK. If you miss your connection in the US, you may end up having to connect in Europe any way.

I agree. We fly down day before for sailings from PC and that doesn't involve jet lag. I'd want some extra time to adjust to Barcelona time.

We are going on the Aug 28th Med cruise this year and we booked that same flight you are talking about the same day we get back to Barcelona. I have read that Disney gets everyone off the ship early that has a 10:30 am or earlier flight that day, and I even called Disney and told them my flight plans so I could book Disney transfers back to the airport that morning, and they said it was OK. So if you want that flight, I say book away. We did!

Thanks! My mom was saying they probably would but I doubted it. I was thinking that to use Onboard Check in for MCO, they don't allow it for flights before 11:30 so why would Barcelona be any different? I'm so glad they're considerate of that. I tried USAirways from PHL and Continental from Newark (much further for us) and both had similar departure time.