booking a cruise

[bullfrogsmom]

I had a friend that recently booked a cruise for spring break 2 months ago thru one of the major online travel bookings. they planned on arriving in miami the day before the ship left. due to flight overbooking they did not get a flight out. they encountered other people who booked straight thru the airline & they couldn't get to there destination either. How does a person avoid this happening??

[Sonny V]

Hello bullfrogsmom, welcome to Cruise Chat!

Traveling during spring break is probably the busiest time of the year for the air lines. Most people fly in a day early to make sure they can get to the port in time, especially during the winter months. I'd suggest two days early during the spring break, or booking through the cruise line. I've been on a lot of cruises and never had a problem. However, I never cruise during spring break either.

Did your friend make it to the ship?

Sonny

[gdjoslin]

I would say you need to book 6 months to a year out for spring break. It is a very busy time, people book that vacation very early.

[f-mattox]

Booking through the airline is no better than booking through an agency; it's the airline that overbooks, not the agency.

As Sonny says, Spring break would be a good time to book through the cruise line; you may pay a little more, but you know the ship won't sail without you.

[Sandy]

due to flight overbooking they did not get a flight out. they encountered other people who booked straight thru the airline & they couldn't get to there destination either.

Are you saying they were booked on a flight, but bumped off it because it was overbooked? Or they never had a confirmed reservation on a flight?

[bullfrogsmom]

they did not make it to miami to get on the ship. they were to fly out 2 p.m. on thurs. they had an airline ticket, but there was no seat number on the ticket, the airlines said to come back @ 4 a.m. fri. & see if they could get a seat for them, which never happened. they got there money back & flew them free to
Tampa ( which they were willing to go anywhere for spring break) they didn't buy the insurance, would that have made a difference?

[Dwayne]

I would think travel insurance would have made a big difference. It would have most likely depending on the policy covered their expense for a hotel that Thursday night. Not to mention the possible deposits and charges lost at their accommodations in Miami.

Dwayne

[Sonny V]

How can you buy a ticket and not have an assigned seat? When I book an airline ticket on line, I go to the seat assignment page and pick my seat. I get an electronic tickets with the seat assignment on them. I can understand if a person is flying on stand-by...but a purchased ticket should guarantee a set. Am I missing something here?


Sonny

[Sandy]

How can you buy a ticket and not have an assigned seat?

It happens, particularly in cases like this. If you buy tickets online and try to select a seat, it says, "airport check-in only." Same if you buy directly from the airline.

This doesn't mean that every time it says "airport check-in only" you're going to get bumped. There are several other reasons you may not get a seat when you buy a ticket. For example, if you buy tickets close to travel time, sometimes they don't give advance seat assignments. Also, only about 40-50% of the seats are available for advance check-in. The others are saved for airport check-in. That's why you can sometimes change to an aisle or window seat at the airport when none of those seats was available in advance.

It's always safer to have a seat assignment, even if it's a middle seat, if possible. You can always try to change it at the airport. Going to the airport without a seat assignment for a flight that's oversold can result in bumping. I've even heard of two people being assigned to the same seat in cases of oversold flights. That's a tough one to resolve...

Sandy

[Dave]

I've even heard of two people being assigned to the same seat in cases of oversold flights. That's a tough one to resolve.

That happened to me once. I was already in the seat when the other person showed up. The flight attendant ushered the other person away and I don't know what happened, other than I kept my seat. I definitely wouldn't have gotten out of it unless ordered to do so by an airline employee.