Booking Air for Your Cruise Clients Without Losing Your Mind
Air comes up constantly in conversations with cruise advisors. Do you book it? Do you go through the cruise line? Which lines have programs worth using and which ones are more trouble than they're worth?
I covered all of this in a recent episode of 7 Figure Cruise Business. It's a short one, eight minutes, and worth a listen if this topic stresses you out.
The most important thing I can tell you is this: you need a process. Air is one of those areas where decision fatigue is real, and if you're starting from scratch every time a client asks, you're going to wear yourself out. Write your rules down, make them official, and stop relitigating the same decisions over and over.
Here's how I think about it.
Start with your non-negotiables
Mine is straightforward: I will not book air through any provider that doesn't offer 24/7 emergency phone support. I sleep. I cannot be available around the clock when clients are traveling, and airline agents will push travelers back to their booking agent at every opportunity. Once a client has checked in for a flight, the airline has full control of that ticket, but that doesn't stop agents from sending clients back to us. Having a supplier with real support on the other end means someone can actually help when something goes wrong at 2am.
There is a consolidator with a genuinely excellent booking platform and competitive cruise rates that I will not use because they don't have that support. The day they add it, I'll be in. Until then, it's a non-negotiable.
The channels I'll actually book through
Cruise line air programs, when they're good. I like the programs through Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, and that family of brands. Easy platforms, competitive pricing, and the ability to lock in fares without payment until final. Flight changes happen and you have to stay on top of them, but overall these work well.
Luxury lines often do a genuinely good job sourcing schedules, so I'll usually give those a shot as long as there's a window to decline and cancel without penalty if the schedule doesn't work.
For business class or cases where the cruise line program isn't good, I'll use a consolidator like Regal Wings or Global First. And if there's no better option, I'll book directly with the airline and make sure the client knows they'll need to handle any issues directly with the carrier.
There is one mass market cruise line with an extremely well-priced air program that I will not touch. The tradeoffs, crazy layovers, travelers not sitting together, no predictability, have caused enough client frustration over the years that I won't book it regardless of how well I prepare people in advance. At this point I'll pass on the booking entirely if a client insists on that air program. That's how firm that line is for me.
Make sure clients know who to call
Whatever you book and however you book it, the most important thing is making sure your client knows exactly who to contact in an emergency, and not just buried in their documents. Cover it in your pre-departure call. Put it in a prominent section of their travel documents. Mention it in email. The goal is that if something goes wrong at midnight, they're not panicking and calling you because they don't know what else to do.
Questions to help you build your own air rules
Here's what I'd encourage you to think through and write down:
Which channels am I willing to book air through?
Which cruise line air programs will I use, and which are off limits?
Will I charge a fee for booking air? If so, how much and under what circumstances?
How will I communicate my air policies to clients upfront?
Put your answers somewhere official: your website, your terms and conditions, your client onboarding documents. Make it a policy, not a judgment call you make fresh every time.
This episode came out of a workshop I did recently on building a Custom Cruise Experience service. It’s a framework for showing clients exactly what it looks like to work with you and why a curated cruise experience is worth more than anything they could put together on their own. If that's something you want to build out, the training and workbook are available here.
Listen to the full episode of 7 Figure Cruise Business on Spotify or Apple.
