Miles Trans

Miles Trans

The Cruise is Booked - Now what do we get there?

How I can book my cruise ticket? -

You can buy an 'Air / Sea' package directly from the cruise line that includes airfare or can arrange flights on your own - through a travel agent or online. We recommend that you or technical assistance "on their own 'option - as much as almost always result in greater choice and lower prices. In this article you will discover how to:

Find the best deals
Contingency Plan
Working with a Travel Agent
Book with frequent flyer miles
Port Output Driver

More background and history of air cruise

Find the Best Deals Online -

Kayak.com
Tripfinder.com
Orbitz.com
Fly.com
Hotwire.com
Vayama.com

Kayak.com

Pros - The price indicator is extremely flexible and easy to use. With Kayak.com is easy to limit your results to an airline, a specific output arrival time frames, to change multiple dates or return to the original entry form for modification.

Cons - Kayak.com is an aggregator of data and do not really sell entries - once you have selected the flights you want - to go to another place - often the airline owns the site itself - to complete the sale - do not know who you'll be dealing with until you are ready to buy.

Tripfinder.com

Pros - Just like Travelocity and Expedia, is Tripfinder an agency for real - and very appropriate for all auxiliary cruisers reservations - airline tickets, pre / post cruise hotel, car rental, hotel packages Deeply etc. Discount is automatically offered as a choice of air routes - for real convenience and time savings if you will be looking for a hotel deal anyway. The user interface is so friendly - or more - than any other online reservation service for others. It also offers a hotel Tripfinder "Best Rate Guarantee."

Cons - While excellent for domestic travel and transatlantic flights Tripfinder is weak when a route of multiple destinations is needed.

Orbitz.com, Hotwire.com Fly.com and

We are still accumulating data on these systems, however, we know that tends to high Orbitz.com consumers rating consistently low prices - but it seems Hotwire.com the first line of "Easy to Use" category. Newest Fly.com of the three is that, as Kayak is an aggregator of information from other sites, but has the added advantage of showing the premium rates (First and Business Class) with the economy. This is a huge time saver for people who want to see at a glance just how much more it would cost to go ahead with comfort.

Vayama.com

Pros - specializes in international air fares and is especially good for searching visually oriented - you just click on a location on a map instead of writing the names of cities or airport codes. Nice.

Cons - No advantage over other sites is less delighted to see a map with flight paths superimposed. In addition, you can not buy a ticket last minute Vayama.com. Travel must be five days out or more.

Contingency Plan -

Unless yours is a short flight, such as Tampa to Miami, it is usually best to schedule arrival at the port of departure of one or two days before departure. Why? If you are late for ANY reason the port, the ship will not wait. You will for its account all costs associated with catching up with the ship's first port stop. And the cruise line is not going to compensate for the days you was not board.

The best strategy is to book an arrival the day before the boat takes a hote near the dock or in an area that would be fun to explore by day. Then sleep peacefully with the comfort of knowing that you are not likely to miss the boat.

Returning to the landing permit unexpected contingencies, as a customs or immigration instigated delay in clearing the ship for one reason or another, or a time delay associated with the arrival of the vessel to port, etc. A good rule of thumb - if you are taking a flight home the same day the boat comes in, do not schedule to check out what any mid-afternoon, even if the ship is scheduled to arrive 7 am and the airport is just a stone's throw away - as in Ft Lauderdale.

Working with a traditional travel agent -

Pros - Agents have the experience and resources to 'get-ur-dun "quickly and often you can save money - even after paying their share service.

Cons - You still have to pay the standard service fee - usually between $ 30 and $ 50 per ticket.

With frequent flyer miles -

Pros - Travel to a remote port of departure can be a very effective way to get maximum value from your miles - especially they are used to hook the seats in first class with the lowest level of redemption. The best value for their mileage to be expelled from the cache is used to reach an international port of first class or business class. In this case, the statement of value per kilometer can be quite high, even if you had to rescue a higher level for the seats.

Personal Example - for a recent cruise departing from Amsterdam, redeemed 175,000 miles each business class seats. Problems availability of a mode in the lower level, but we had to jump to the top level to return to get two seats on the same flight.

The Mathematics - Policy plane allowed to split the difference - one half of the standard (lower level) round-trip business class level of 100.000 (50K) and half the sky "Choice" level of return of 250,000 (125k) for a total of 175,000 per person. We finished up our rear parking for two hours in flights eight seats selling price of approximately $ 6,000 per person at time of travel - giving new meaning to the term "background."

In the example above our surrender value ratio was a cool 3.2 cents per mile. (It is not rocket surgery ... just divide the approximate dollar value of the ticket by the number of miles redeemed.)

After playing with your miles for over 25 years, experience tells us 3.2 cents per mile is an excellent return. As a matter of fact, anything more than 2 cents per mile is good.

Cons - See above calculations. The tragically wrong reported have been known to spend $ 1,000 miles for a passage that could have bought for $ 200 in cash. Go figure - literally.

Find Seated mileage target = "_blank" title = "Most get frequent flyer miles"> Expertflyer.com -

Pros - This is the chance of overlooking something hot as hell / eternal flame telephone customer service frequent flyer to check availability and options mileage ticket. Expertflyer.com has done a brilliant job of determining the source inventory for most free seats and upgrades for all classes of service and for most airlines (some more than others).

For example, if you are looking for the First or squares business class, your search will be for flights that show the availability in the "D" or "I" category of seat inventory. The service Basic is $ 4.99 per month - with a Premium Service level option for a monthly subscription fee of $ 9.99. We use the site often, but only to the control of schedules or to determine what services a particular destination carriers.

This unique service will be even more valuable in the future as people gain more flexibility and choice on which airline account frequent flyer who want to gain weight for harvest - that is, if you have a cache of American Express points you are entitled to move a person from about 14 different airline programs. You just have to first establish an account with that company, which can be done online and is free, then link to your Rewards account AMX.

Yes, you heard right! Now you can know which lines carriers are available, then create the mileage on the airline proprietary program - all in minutes.

And here's another Tip If you are a hoarder point AMX - can transfer points from your account AMX Rewards account to anyone - all you have to do is link that tells the person with it - do everything online and free. What a great way of helping Aunt Martha finish off your account and go forward with comfort in the long distance journey to Athens for Mediterranean cruise-of-life. Or, for that she was his bit for the same reason.

Cons - To get maximum value from the program Expertflyer.com you need to know which of the various codes to find - and vary from one service class to another and not always the same from one aircraft to another. But this is a learning curve short and painless, well worth the time and effort if you are a regular redeeming frequent flyer miles. On those occasions when you have to call customer service loyalty, develop the habit of asking the customer service agent to provide the "SKU" and availability. We have never been denied when filed. They are usually happy to do it.

Driving to the port of departure,

Pros - For generally safe, fenced parking is provided by the cruise lines in the national ports of departure - sometimes covered parking. The cost is usually reasonable - $ 10 to $ 15 per day. Furthermore, by driving instead of flying not only save on airfare, you can pack EVERYTHING! Think you might want that jacket Nehru polyester for formal night? Just toss in the suitcase. No need to worry about schlepping bags too, charges for excess baggage, etc. A Once at the pier, you can always make several trips from the car to your cabin. Just say the shippers that gives the eyes that your spouse Stink over-packaged.

Cons - None that I can imagine. Just do not leave valuables in the car. Break-ins happen. Even in "safe areas for parking."

Background and History of air links Cruise -

It used to be that the best value was to purchase the "Air / Sea" package from the cruise line. This option usually results in low - if not - the lowest price air ticket - with the added convenience of not having to purchase the fee for your account.

Cruise lines want to sell these packages inclusive because pocketed a portion, if not all, of the commission offered by airlines at the moment. However, since 2000, airlines began to lower commissions, eventually eliminating them all together. Under the marching orders to maintain the profitability of its air services, beady eyes of the cruise line revenue managers responded by checking the price base of each ticket sold.

Apparently, the cruise lines have decided that they prefer not to be in the business airline tickets at all. Their margins have gone so far from the typical travel agent $ 30 to $ 50 per ticket service charge - well, it's embarrassing. Today, it is almost always find a better offer for your account - or pay fees for a travel agency that handled for you. However, there is some value in the distinct air / sea ticket is not apparent at first glance. Transfers from the airport to send (or hotel) and the return are usually included - plus there is a minor factor in insurance for the cruise line and will help cover the cost of ensure that the ship if the output is lost due to delayed flight arrival. This is not something they will do if you bought the ticket online or through your agency Favorite travel.

However, all things considered, we feel there is better value and more choice in air booking on your own.

Coming attractions - Articles on choosing the best cabin, dining tables best more on entertainment on board, best options on land excursions, travel insurance, etc.

- Lyn Edwin Cathey

About the Author

Lyn Edwin Cathey - Network Travel Services, LLC A veteran of 25 years in the travel industry - holding positions within the industry such as trainer, educator, agent, consultant, agency owner/manager and product specialist. For 15 years prior to joining the travel industry Lyn worked as a full time entertainer/comedian, performing on banjo & guitar - often as a featured act on cruise ships -http://pimpmycruise.com/mod/customindex/ourstory.php He created and currently maintains several websites, including -http://TripFinder.com http://PimpMyCruise.com

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