The air programs that cruise lines provide for passengers do not guarantee that you will make the ship and contrary to popular belief, they do not pay you back or do anything if your flight is delayed and you missed the ship. Their air programs use certain airlines and certain routes that they get contracts on. One can never use their mileage to upgrade a cruise line’s air program and can never expect the cruise line to do much if there are delays. So, the bottom line is….ALWAYS look on-line to see if you can get your own air for the same price (or usually less)…then you can determine your own schedule and you will have control over when you depart and return.
We have clients who get very upset when they tell us they will take their chances with the cruise line’s air program. Then, when their air schedule comes out and they have double connections and inconvenient times, they blame us and forget that we told them that we have no control over their air schedules.
Travel insurance is the only thing that will pay a certain portion of your cruise and expenses if your flight is delayed more than 5 hours. If you don’t have travel insurance (I know I am repeating other blogs), you have no recourse and the airlines certainly will not be interested in assisting you!
Always use a travel professional, so you will be properly advised of this information when you book your trip. None of this type of information is on-line when you book trips through the internet. Stand alone air and train tickets are just about the only thing you can safely book through the net!
Travel thoughts from Fairfield Connecticut…
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