Cruise lines’ airfare deals may contain hidden costs
Q. Eight of us are going on a cruise from Fort Lauderdale. We made all arrangements through Princess Cruise Lines. The bill had to be paid in full by the end of July. We paid, and then they sent us our flight arrangements. We were told “every effort is made to obtain the best air schedule.’’ The flight home was fine, but going - depart at 5:30 a.m., fly to Detroit, wait almost three hours, change planes, and then fly to Fort Lauderdale - was a total of almost eight hours. I told them this was unacceptable. Their reply was “for $50 per person we can customize your flight.’’
After I agreed to pay the $50 ($400 for the eight of us) I was given a choice of three flights. The third was direct to Miami. I choose the Miami flight (they added $5 per person because we were not flying to Fort Lauderdale). It seems the flight by way of Detroit was given to us just so they could make an easy $400.
I hope you will investigate this, maybe get my $440 back or prevent this from happening to other travelers.
Maureen Maguire
Newton
A. This is standard operating procedure with cruise lines. They keep you waiting to find out your flight information, and then when you don’t like what you see, you are forced to pay a change fee.
“Princess has certain air tickets available to us and that is what we offer our passengers,’’ Princess spokeswoman Karen Candy said. “They can choose to select schedules/airlines for a fee since that is an extra service and requires additional support. They’re then responsible for any extra costs associated with the ticket.’’
Because most people don’t take a cruise very often, they might not be familiar with the way these airfare deals work and the possibility of an add-on fee later for changing the flight. Sometimes the airfares are actually a deal.
But the only way to know whether you’re getting a deal is to price airfares yourself and take control of your travel. If you find that the cruise line’s airfare offer is markedly superior to what you can get, at least you tried. And, if you choose the cruise line’s deal, now you know what you can expect and factor that in, too.
Cruise lines also will typically get you from your plane to the ship if you book with them. If you don’t, there are alternate ways to get there - like a cab.
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