Airfare - through DCL or on my own

[Mommy_FamilyCEO]

We are taking a cruise to the Mediterranean this summer and trying to figure out the airfare. Does anyone know how DCL airfare (in general) compares to booking on our own? The DCL people tried telling me they get great prices because of group rates - but not sure how accurate that is. Are there any other pros/cons of going through DCL that I am missing?

PS - I tried searching the forum for this answer - but couldn't find what I needed.

 

[gruffudd242]

For what it's worth, I have always been able to get better prices that DCL for my airfare. In fact for the prices that DCL was offering I was able to get 1st class from IAD (Dulles, VA) to MCO on my own. Standard economy seats would have been a little over half the cost of DCL.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I’ve never found Disney to be cheaper. Plus you don’t get routing until last minute and you could end up on a flight that is connecting rather than direct because it’s cheaper for Disney. Even it were to cost more I always go fir a direct flight.

 

[Shanti]

We are taking a cruise to the Mediterranean this summer and trying to figure out the airfare. Does anyone know how DCL airfare (in general) compares to booking on our own? The DCL people tried telling me they get great prices because of group rates - but not sure how accurate that is. Are there any other pros/cons of going through DCL that I am missing?

PS - I tried searching the forum for this answer - but couldn't find what I needed.

Call and ask what they have to offer. The booking agent will go over different flight options at various times and prices.

It's really a matter of what route you're flying & when you book, in terms of if you could get a better rate & route on your own.

 

[Shanti]

I’ve never found Disney to be cheaper. Plus you don’t get routing until last minute and you could end up on a flight that is connecting rather than direct because it’s cheaper for Disney. Even it were to cost more I always go fir a direct flight.

DCL has changed its air program in recent years. You now get to choose your flight itinerary when booking. You don't have to wait for any info.

 

[dcassetta]

Call and ask what they have to offer. The booking agent will go over different flight options at various times and prices.

It's really a matter of what route you're flying & when you book, in terms of if you could get a better rate & route on your own.

I agree. Do some research of your own so you have a sense of what's currently available and then call Disney to see what they can offer.

 

[anjuan]

We're also doing the Mediterranean cruise in June. I've always booked myself for the flights to Florida for past cruises but for this flight I did research on my own. I'm flying out of Chicago and found a direct flight to Barcelona on AA that I really wanted to book. When I called Disney they were able to tell me different options for flying with the different prices. They agreed that the AA flight I was looking at was the best option if we wanted to fly direct. They were able to give me basically the same price and I was even able to select seats, etc for the flights. They also told me that when I booked if I saw on other sites that the price had gone down I could call them and see if I could get a price reduction and/or cancel up until the time of the final payment. Also, since I booked with them if there was an issue with the cruise being late on the way back they would help me arrange a new flight home, etc while we were on the ship.

So for our international flight I decided it was worth booking through Disney.

 

[Rabb it]

I looked a couple times through Disney but it was never close to what I was able to find elsewhere So, I kind of stopped looking through them

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

I agree, call and ask. We asked about flights to Vancouver for our Alaskan cruise because we didn't know if what we were finding were "good" prices. The Disney agent was like ya what your seeing is WAY cheaper then our prices so we booked it ourselves. If your worried about missing the cruise etc you can always get trip insurance to cover any mishaps with transfers. Also check with your credit card company. Many of them cover airfare issues. But don't discount the peace of mind of booking through Disney. If the price is about the same, or you just want peace of mind of going through Disney, the extra cost to take that burden of worry off of you can be worth it!

 

[lanejudy]

I always book our domestic flights myself for less. However, i’ve Read many reports of people flying U.S. to European feel the DCL fares are competitive or even better than they find on their own.

Enjoy your cruise!