iglu cruises with flights

Iglu cruise and flights

By Pooston , December 23, 2019 in Cruise Air

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My husband and I are due to sail on the Glory on the 20th September 2020.  We booked a package deal which included flights, transfers and 3 nights in New Orleans before the cruise.  We have been contacted today to discuss  flights.  We would prefer to fly from Manchester rather than London Heathrow but our agent tell us there is a £300 difference each so they’re pushing us to take London Heathrow flights.  My investigations via Skyskanner show there is only around at £60 difference in the flights.  They’re also giving us return flights the day after we disembark they ship which just isn’t convenient due to time off work etc.

Are the agents playing us here?  Is it somehow more beneficial for them to get us to fly from London Heathrow?

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Assuming Iglu being a travel agent, we are not allowed to discuss them on this board.

Thanks, I’ve edited my post to delete the agents name.  Does that help?

FlyerTalker

The agency is likely dealing with negotiated bulk fares, which are not what you would necessarily find with public search tools.  Thus, any differential in pricing between routings is likely the difference of those negotiated fares - which may or not correlate to publicly available pricing.

Also, when you buy a "package", you get the whole deal as put together by the agency (or which the agency is reselling).  You don't get to buy a package and then say "well, even though we bought this, we'd rather fly through MAN than LHR.  At the price we like.  And we want to come home a different day than what you gave us".

Of course, you did research this all before committing to the purchase.

Caveat emptor.

waterbug123

21 hours ago, Pooston said:   We would prefer to fly from Manchester rather than London Heathrow but our agent tell us there is a £300 difference each so they’re pushing us to take London Heathrow flights.  My investigations via Skyskanner show there is only around at £60 difference in the flights. 

You're likely comparing apples to oranges....skyscanner may be showing you whatever the airline is selling directly, and your agent is getting info that is restricted to some kind of consolidator or bulk fares that were arranged out of London; by changing to a London departure, or adding a MAN-LHR leg, is thus adding to the cost.

On 12/24/2019 at 2:10 AM, FlyerTalker said: The agency is likely dealing with negotiated bulk fares, which are not what you would necessarily find with public search tools.  Thus, any differential in pricing between routings is likely the difference of those negotiated fares - which may or not correlate to publicly available pricing.   Also, when you buy a "package", you get the whole deal as put together by the agency (or which the agency is reselling).  You don't get to buy a package and then say "well, even though we bought this, we'd rather fly through MAN than LHR.  At the price we like.  And we want to come home a different day than what you gave us".   Of course, you did research this all before committing to the purchase.   Caveat emptor.    

Thank you for your, rather unhelpful, unempathatic reply.  Has anyone ever told you that casting aspersions is a rather poor personality trait? 

The issue of local flights was discussed when making the initial booking, and)it was agreed with the agent we would discuss further once flights were available.

Also....the flights they are offering are a day later than the disembarkation date on the original booking. 

On 12/24/2019 at 4:40 PM, waterbug123 said:   You're likely comparing apples to oranges....skyscanner may be showing you whatever the airline is selling directly, and your agent is getting info that is restricted to some kind of consolidator or bulk fares that were arranged out of London; by changing to a London departure, or adding a MAN-LHR leg, is thus adding to the cost.

Thank you :-) 

4 hours ago, Pooston said: Thank you for your, rather unhelpful, unempathatic reply.  Has anyone ever told you that casting aspersions is a rather poor personality trait?

I thought a factual answer would help more than an inaccurate empathetic one.  Sorry about that.

13 hours ago, Pooston said: Thank you for your, rather unhelpful, unempathatic reply.  Has anyone ever told you that casting aspersions is a rather poor personality trait?    The issue of local flights was discussed when making the initial booking, and)it was agreed with the agent we would discuss further once flights were available.   Also....the flights they are offering are a day later than the disembarkation date on the original booking.     

honestly, I didn't read Flyertalker's reply as unhelpful or unempathetic; I thought it was a pretty good summary of the risk of buying a package.  Now it sounds like you were given a price and flights weren't even available yet?   That's a clear indicator of getting a negotiated/consolidator fare, and if that's the case, I'd say you were somewhat lucky that even the original quoted price was still available, even with the departure date and airport that weren't your first choice.

What is the earliest time of day that the cruise line recommends for flights? What airline are they offering your flights on? Does that airline have flights that connect well on a Sunday? 

We fly to Manchester every few years to visit family. Getting connections to line up can be a challenge and judging how long to allow in LHR or ? for potential terminal changes and immigration/customs can be worrisome. 

It is odd to me that the agency is not offering a flight out of a north of England airport --or is the agency not  located near you? 

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Iglu.com is made up of three brands - Iglu Ski , Iglu Cruise and Planet Cruise . We are the UK’s largest independent agent of ski holidays and cruises, following our acquisition of Planet Cruise in June 2013.

Founded in 1998, we stand for expertise, variety and value. We are incredibly proud of our 300+ staff who are all experts in their roles and between us we’ve skied, cruised and holidayed so broadly that we can offer a genuinely accurate and detailed level of service no matter where you are travelling.

We offer holidays from most of the UK ski package market and work with every major cruise line, giving us a remarkable breadth of choice across our holiday offerings, which is unmatched online. And, as we are fully independent and not financially connected to any cruise line or tour operator, we are able to offer true and honest value when helping to find the best holiday for you.

Company Details

Iglu.com Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Company number : 03629676. Registered office address: 2nd Floor, 165 The Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 1NE.

Security and Financial Protection

Iglu.com Ltd is financially secure and is a member of both ABTA (#J0332) and ATOL. Our flight-inclusive packages, where we’re the principal, are financially protected by our substantial Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL, #2987). You will be issued with an ATOL Certificate outlining proof of your protection upon booking. All other package holidays (such as a cruise-only holiday), where we are the principal but do not include a flight, are protected by way of a Financial Failure insurance policy held with Evolution Insurance.

Package holidays with flights, where we act as an agent for licensed tour operators are ATOL Protected by the Civil Aviation Authority and an ATOL Certificate outlining proof of your protection, including the ATOL number of the relevant operator will be issued immediately upon booking. ATOL Protection extends primarily to customers departing from the UK. In addition, all package holidays without flights where we are the agent will be fully financially protected in accordance with the appropriate travel organiser’s statutory obligations.

Holidays that do not constitute a package (such as a standalone hotel booking) will not be part of a scheme of financial protection. Our team will advise when this is the case prior to booking.

IgluCruise   Reviews

In the Cruise Agency category

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Reviews 4.8.

43,706 total

Most relevant

Always choose Iglu if possible

Always choose Iglu if possible. Helpful agents ( not a foreign call centre), reliable and professional. Todays’s booking done easily with friendly assistance. During Covid my booking was rolled over several times with no issues. Problems have been solved timely and without stress.

Date of experience : 20 April 2024

A great service

The booking by telephone was simple and we were pleased with the advice given. However, just a small gripe. Our agent gave us a direct line number but this did not work when we tried to confirm something on the following morning. However, we phoned the original number and someone else dealt with our query.

Date of experience : 18 April 2024

Can't fault

Can't fault, yet again. Excellent customer service from both Emily and Janet. No pushy sales pitch, every question answered, call back when promised. Polite and friendly and could understand every word spoken. Even helped with our future cruise credits from Cunard. Near perfect experience

Date of experience : 16 April 2024

Happy to travel by cruise after covid.

I was very lucky to have a super bloke like Sam to look after me. He explained all details to be and took my details with good conversations that I could understand him clearly. I am therefore looking forward to my break on Ventura. This is my 1st trip since Covid on a cruise as I have a low auto immunity. Will be lovely to travel again by ship. Thank you to Sam and his team.

Date of experience : 13 April 2024

I reccomend Igloo

Our agent Katie was informative and extremely helpful in booking our P&O cruise. We got a better deal than going direct so we were very pleased.

Cruise booking with Gary is perfect …

Once again ,Gary found us another perfect cruise today. Gary makes the whole process of booking your cruise a pleasure . Gary is exceptional at tailoring your cruise requirements, and he is an outstanding cruise agent and a credit to IGLU cruise company. Thanks again, Gary Diane & Lesley

Thorough and professional throughout

Iglu cruise agent Jon was most helpful and informative about the cruise we were interested in and managed to find us a great deal which suited our needs. He was thorough and professional throughout.

When I booked my cruise

When I booked my cruise, Gary was very helpful but he couldn’t book my drinks package which she said I had to do myself being a lady of a certain age. I find it difficult. I tried on numerous occasions to try and book it still not have been able to book it. Also when the email come across advertising the cruise it said coach transfers or spending money on board or free parking and as we went for the top room which was a suite and I asked for the free parking he said we weren’t entitled to. It wasn’t very clear on the advertising so was not happy about that , they’re my main concern. Everything else was fine.

I am sorry but I can’t remember the…

I am sorry but I can’t remember the lady’s name who processed our booking but she couldn’t have been more helpful. She was easy to understand and had all our information on hand. She was a pleasure to deal with and made our booking easy. Tony

Date of experience : 19 April 2024

See was very helpful and patient.I gave…

See was very helpful and patient.I gave 3 stars because I requested a paper copy of my booking because my printer won’t listen to the iPad and this facility is not available. I a made written copy of info on the email,I don’t know how I’ll manage tickets and boarding passes

The rep was very good and very helpful.

The rep was very good, looking for all the requirements I required to book an extra 2 people onto the same holiday I have already booked and hopefully managed to link the 2 holidays. He rang me back when he said he would and offered to help with any queries relating to both bookings. Very happy to have been able to speak with someone rather than just book online or use live chat. Thank you.

Date of experience : 17 April 2024

I was looking for a Norway cruise for…

I was looking for a Norway cruise for August'24 to be able to join my son, his wife and our granddaughter, who had already booked. I phoned Iglu Cruises and spoke with Guy Barry who was very pleasant and helpful giving me all the options and prices. Although it was available to find these options and book on-line I prefer to speak with an actual person, and was able to find the cabin and deck we wanted to be near to my family. Guy was as also able to arrange this at the on-line price and saved us a little extra money. He was also able to give us much more info than you get by booking on-line. It's much more personal and he was very kind and nice to talk to. I would recommend booking with Iglu Criuses. We have previously booked with them for a Two week Panama Canal cruise and South America at a very good price at the time.

Date of experience : 30 March 2024

Very easy process, great price and friendly, knowledgeable agent

Very easy process and a great price too! Our Cruise agent, Bronya, was very friendly, professional and efficient in explaining and processing our Cruise Booking 😀

I must say they offer an excellent…

I must say they offer an excellent service. Jamie the gentleman that dealt with my booking was so helpful and talked through everything with me, he had a lot of patience with me.

Everything worked out well in the end

Everything worked out well in the end, I think IGLu's website was over whelmed and couldn't sustain the activity on the day I booked. Staff were very friendly, reassuring and calm in resolving the problems I encountered.

Date of experience : 15 January 2024

You cannot go wrong booking with Iglu

You cannot go wrong booking with Iglu. They offer a genuine discount and guarantee best price. You can book directly and easily but if you need to deal with an advisor, they are very efficient and helpful. Ashlyn dealt with our booking extremely well.

Australia and NZ

Just booked a cruise and stay and was so easy! Victoria was very knowledgeable and made the process quick and straightforward, with our add on stay and regional airport.

Very helpful

Very helpful, friendly, knowledgeable staff, able to answer our queries. Booking over the phone was very straightforward. I would highly recommend this service and company.

Outstanding and informative service…

Outstanding and informative service from Sarah. Would highly recommend Iglu Cruises. See less process explained for the first time cruisers. I will definitely be using this company again

Excellent Services

Booked with Ms Amanda Bartle more than 15 times so far. She has ample knowledge of various cruises. Excellent prompt service as usual. More importantly, she is polite and helpful while the price is always competitive. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend her as she is a first class cruise specialist.

Suggested companies

Planet cruise, p&o cruises, cruise.co.uk.

IgluCruise   Reviews

In the Cruise Agency category

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Reviews 4.8.

43,706 total

Most relevant

Anthony was really helpful- he gave me…

Anthony was really helpful- he gave me lots of information and nothing was too much trouble - thank you

Date of experience : April 20, 2024

Very helpful customer service

Jamaal was very helpful and was able to provide lots of information and answer all my queries. First time using Iglu and very impressed. Will definitely use again!

Date of experience : April 18, 2024

Extremely bad after deposit customer experience

Iglu are extremely hard to contact after your one to one phone call to take your deposit. You can't speak to anyone if your holiday is outside 4 weeks. Their live chat is a robot that just sends you information. You have to fill in a request form and wait 72hrs for them to get back to you. I want to change my holiday but I can't speak to anyone about it. I have to use their form. Im still waiting for a reply. This is an extremely poor and frustrating system. I wont use Iglu again and I wouldnt recommend them either.

Date of experience : April 19, 2024

Iglu are always very helpful and…

Iglu are always very helpful and friendly and the web site is very good, we've used Iglu to book multiple cruises and they're always very helpful & efficient.

Quick response time answering phone

Quick response time answering phone. Agent was polite and helpful and transaction was easy. Agent more than price matched a quote I had received elsewhere.

Date of experience : April 17, 2024

Big help and big savings thank you

Sarah was really helpful with all of my questions and saved our group a lot of money! Brilliant customer service well done!

I have just had confirmation and the…

I have just had confirmation and the cabin I have booked single beds only was NOT told this when booking the cruise. Now waiting to hear from Iglu regarding changing cabins for double or king size cabin.

Date of experience : April 12, 2024

Speedy service!

I hadn’t asked for a call back it was very helpful and answered all my questions. I did feel I was being pushed a bit into booking eg the cabin was the last one, couldn’t be held etc but this was more or less true. My ring back came right on the said time. Lots of follow up e mails but as to be expected I am now being inundated with cruise holidays e mails from Iglu. I have used Iglu before and have encountered no problems so would recommend them.

Date of experience : April 10, 2024

This will be our first time Cruising…

This will be our first time Cruising with Iglu , and our agent Ben Whittle put us at ease , and answered all of our questions he was patient with us ,friendly, and professional

Date of experience : April 08, 2024

Excellent service from Amanda

Excellent service from Amanda, could not be faulted. Had not used Igloo before but will most certainly do so in the future.

Booking cruise to Norway through Liam was a joy.

What patience Liam has. Gold standard of customer service for sure. I didn’t feel rushed - in fact it was like having a cruise expert friend talk me through things. Thank you Liam

Excellent Spoke with Kallum, he answered all my questions was not pushy at all, plus the package i choose was excellent value for money, simply can not wait and will definitely use Iglu cruises again!

Date of experience : April 16, 2024

Very good advice from Amanda who was…

Very good advice from Amanda who was very well informed, provided useful suggestions and confirmed our choices before booking

Rhys was very professional and super…

Rhys was very professional and super helpful with all my queries. Great communications. Very fast respobses, And went out of his way to help me acheive the criuse I wanted.

My call was answered quickly and the…

My call was answered quickly and the agent was helpful. Felt disappointed that although free parking was indicated in the advert it was not available for my trip.

Helpful and friendly staff

Leanne who I dealt with was very efficient and helpful and then I spoke to Amber who took over the booking for the deposit who was also very helpful and friendly.

Guy was extremely helpful and…

Guy was extremely helpful and knowledgeable.Kate assisted in his absence and was also very competent. Both were very personable and answered all our questions.

Claire was both helpful and patient

Claire was both helpful and patient! Talked us through all options and we arrived at a good conclusion. Her knowledge was really appreciated and very useful.

Very helpful and pleasant customer…

Very helpful and pleasant customer service. Fully informed of all our options and money saving deals. Always a pleasure to book with Iglu. I have used them many times

Excellent service

Jon, was helpfull and very professional. He went through everything with me, givening me options. Excellant service