Saving on Flights and Hotels
The flight can cost almost as much as the cruise. Here is how to keep it down.
Get Free River Cruise QuotesOn a European river cruise, the flight can be one of the biggest items after the fare itself. A little planning here often saves more than any cruise discount.
Line Air or Your Own Flights?
Many river lines sell air packages, and some run promotions with reduced or included air on selected sailings. The value of line air is not only the ticket: it usually comes with transfers between the airport and the ship, and the line is on your side if a delay means you reach the dock late. The trade-off is less choice over airline, routing and times.
Booking flights yourself gives you control, and sometimes a better price, especially if you have airline miles or fly from a hub with lots of competition. You then arrange transfers yourself and carry the risk of a missed connection. The fair way to decide is to ask for the cruise priced both ways — with the line’s air and cruise-only — and compare the totals, including the cost of getting from the airport to the quay. Airfares for Less is our network’s airfare site if you want to check flights yourself.
Open-Jaw Tickets and Direction
Most European river itineraries are one-way: Amsterdam to Basel, Passau to Budapest, Basel to Amsterdam. Two one-way tickets can cost a lot more than a single open-jaw return, so search multi-city fares, not two separate tickets. Direction matters too: sailing the same route in the opposite direction may change which airport you need and how much the flights cost. If the dates are flexible, ask your advisor to check both directions.
- Search multi-city (open-jaw) fares rather than two one-way tickets.
- Check whether a nearby airport or a train from a larger hub works out better.
- Allow a buffer: arriving the day before embarkation is safer than flying in on the morning you board.
- If you use miles, look for award space early — peak summer and Christmas-market dates go first.
How Many Hotel Nights Do You Need?
Arriving a day early protects your cruise, but you do not always need the line’s multi-night pre-cruise package. A single night in a simple, well-located hotel near the embarkation point may do the job. Pre- and post-cruise extensions are convenient and often include tours and transfers, so compare them with booking a hotel and exploring on your own — both can be good value, depending on how you like to travel.
Some ships allow you to board earlier on embarkation day or stay aboard until a set time on the last morning; check the times so you do not book a hotel night you do not need. For independent hotel bookings, Rooms Cheap covers hotels in river cruise cities.
Flight and Hotel Questions
Should I book the river cruise line’s air package?
Get a quote for it and compare it with booking yourself. Line air often includes transfers between airport and ship, and the line helps if a flight disruption makes you miss embarkation. Booking yourself can cost less or more depending on the route and season, and gives you more control over times and airlines.
What is an open-jaw ticket?
A ticket that flies into one city and home from another — for example into Amsterdam and home from Budapest. Most European river cruises start and end in different places, so an open-jaw ticket avoids an extra journey back to your starting point.
Price It Both Ways
Our cruise advisors at Mister Cruise will quote your river cruise with the line’s air and cruise-only, so you can see which saves more.
Get Free River Cruise Quotes