EZ Air Question

Good morning,

I am new to Princess (have cruised on Carnival) Our first Carnival cruise we booked the air through the cruise line, and have since learned that it is less expensive to book on our own, as well we can choose better flights. (we like to fly in a day or 2 early as we typically cruise in the winter months (Jan-Feb) and the weather can be unpredictable.

I have been doing some reading, and it looks like with Princess you sometimes get the option to fly in a couple of days earlier.

We would be flying from Calgary, Alberta, to Florida. (we aren't cruising until 2018 so have lots of time to research) I just wondered if anyone had any experience with this, and if it was less expensive than booking on your own?

There would be a group of 8 of us.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Ours is booked through Princess & we are flying in the day before. I think the fares were the same as what we found on AA's website. We normally book our own air, but this was part of a prize package, so had to be booked through Princess.

We have always used Princess EZAir, and so far it has always been cheaper than booking directly through the airline or through an online discount site. If you book flexible air, you will have the option to rebook if the fare drops during your next year until you cruise. If you see an itinerary that suits you better, you can rebook for that reason. No fees if done before final payment. Last year I rebooked 3 times to the best of my memory. Twice because the fare dropped, and once because a better itinerary became available. :)

We are Diamond on CCL and have started with Princess.

Used EZ air for first time last month and worked great. Got to Copenhagen day before with no problem.

Only little problem is we cannot change gateway city on our own. Had to contact TA to allow us to do it and if we wanted to go back to original gateway TA would have to get us ok to do so.

EZ Air works just like many other travel sites. After you have booked your cruise you go into the on line cruise personlizer. Bring up EZ Air. You put in the dates you want to fly and airport, and it gives you flight options. You do the same for the return flights.You do it yourself. Flights are available in the normal time frame or around 300/330 days out. If you don't like the prices or selections you can always book through another site or directly with the airline. EZ Air is just another option, which has been providing some good fares.

I'm not sure how you book 8 people if they have different booking numbers. Probably each has to select their own flights through their own cruise personlizer.

Each booking number would have to book their own air separate.

What I do,

- I check out EZ Air after booking my cruise. Air prices open up after 330 days out.

- I put in the dates I want to arrive and depart.

- The prices and times will come up Flexible (have only reserved a seat, do not pay until final payment, can change or cancel as many times as you want) and Restricted (have to purchase when you do the booking, penalty charged for any changes and lost if cancelled).

- I will book Flexible to hold a reservation with the time and price I like.

- I keep checking EZ Air prices often as the price do change. Use the Modify button to make any changes, you will receive a new booking number each time.

- Since I have not actually paid any money for my air with EZ Air, I check the different airlines for their price.

- If, airline price is less that EZ Air, I cancel EZ Air.

- If, EZ Air is cheaper than the airlines by final payment, I purchase my air at final payment.

Princes does not charge a fee for using EZ Air. The other cruise lines, you have to purchase the air when you make a reservation.

Just to add to the others great advice, my experience booking EZair shows to check the very first day the bookings open up. I see you cruise isn't until 2018.

Although I have not flown yet, I found the best options/itinerary were within the first five days for my trip. I booked the first day and found great prices and nice flying times. Two days later I found very similar flight times, same number of connections, but with a different airline.

The change in price from the first booking to the second booking was $300 pp cheaper. The overall savings from the cheapest, similar flights I could find ANYWHERE else was $1100.00. We're flying Boston to Alaska.

Although I am still checking EZair flights for even more savings, I've found most flights listed now are longer, terrible times, with more stops. My ship is filling up quickly and I think every desirable flight has now been snatched.

I purchased the flexible airfare and am flying in one day earlier and flying home two days later, after my cruise. To be fair, I should mention that I booked through Princess, in their own sponsored hotels...not sure if that makes a difference. I'll add that the Princess hotel purchases also saved us a couple hundred dollars. The hotel price also includes transfers, hotel to ship, ship to hotel, and hotel to airport.

So, my suggestion is to check your airfares ahead of time to get your bearings "especially around the time of year of your planned trip... in 2017". Then play around with the dates...a day or two before and a day or two after. Many times you will find flying on a different day will save you money. My booking, with the savings gained by moving the days around, actually paid for the three nights of hotels on our trip.

You might also considered another nearby airport. For me, I chose another airport one hour farther away and save another $250.00. If you go that route, be sure to choose that as your 'home' airport under in the Personal Information page on the Princess site.

Good luck!

I can't add a lot to this except to say that when we used Easyair last fall to fly to Barcelona it allowed us to book a week or so prior to the cruise so we were able to have a nice little holiday in Europe before boarding. Prices were cheaper than we could find on our own and we did not use Princess hotels as it was less expensive to do so.

Like others I continually looked for price reductions as I booked quite a few months out and did manage to refare a small amount. But the flight and connection times got worse and the prices got higher as the time got closer.

We have always used Princess EZAir, and so far it has always been cheaper than booking directly through the airline or through an online discount site. If you book flexible air, you will have the option to rebook if the fare drops during your next year until you cruise. If you see an itinerary that suits you better, you can rebook for that reason. No fees if done before final payment. Last year I rebooked 3 times to the best of my memory. Twice because the fare dropped, and once because a better itinerary became available. :)

Each booking number would have to book their own air separate.

 

What I do,

 

- I check out EZ Air after booking my cruise. Air prices open up after 330 days out.

- I put in the dates I want to arrive and depart.

- The prices and times will come up Flexible (have only reserved a seat, do not pay until final payment, can change or cancel as many times as you want) and Restricted (have to purchase when you do the booking, penalty charged for any changes and lost if cancelled).

- I will book Flexible to hold a reservation with the time and price I like.

- I keep checking EZ Air prices often as the price do change. Use the Modify button to make any changes, you will receive a new booking number each time.

- Since I have not actually paid any money for my air with EZ Air, I check the different airlines for their price.

- If, airline price is less that EZ Air, I cancel EZ Air.

- If, EZ Air is cheaper than the airlines by final payment, I purchase my air at final payment.

 

Princes does not charge a fee for using EZ Air. The other cruise lines, you have to purchase the air when you make a reservation.

The ability to change flexible air reservations with no fees is only until 45 days before embarkation or 45 days before the first flight, whichever comes first.

After that, any changes are subject to the airline's normal change fees.

Question... I've never booked air through a cruise line because I want to be able to choose my own seat and so forth (I don't like to use Expedia for it for that reason either - my preferences were completely ignored even though there WERE open seats that fit my preferences - thankfully the agent at the check-in counter that time found me something that though not my preference was better than the assigned very middle seat on an overseas flight - ICK!). But I've had people tell me you CAN select your seat going through the cruise line. True or not?

Anyway... I'm pondering a Norway cruise r/t from Southampton England so I would obviously be flying into London. If I do the cruise, I'd likely tack a couple of days in Paris on at the end (hit two "want to do" trips in one go). Would I be able to book both legs of that - into London, out of Paris through EZAir? Or would I be looking at just one way through them and the other on my own. If I decided to go with EZAir that is.

Question... I've never booked air through a cruise line because I want to be able to choose my own seat and so forth (I don't like to use Expedia for it for that reason either - my preferences were completely ignored even though there WERE open seats that fit my preferences - thankfully the agent at the check-in counter that time found me something that though not my preference was better than the assigned very middle seat on an overseas flight - ICK!). But I've had people tell me you CAN select your seat going through the cruise line. True or not?

 

 

Yes ... in most cases. Sometimes it depends on the airline.

 

I have always been able to choose my seat when flying to Europe with a US airline, such as Delta, etc. After reserving a flight thru EZAir, I go to the airline's website and make my seat selection(s).

 

Conversely,when flying across the Pacific to Papeete on Air Tahiti Nui, a call to the airline close to the flying date was necessary to get seat assignments.

 

I do understand based on posts I have read on CC, that some non-US airlines don't allow online seat selection. Others may be able to confirm/refute that.

Question... I've never booked air through a cruise line because I want to be able to choose my own seat and so forth (I don't like to use Expedia for it for that reason either - my preferences were completely ignored even though there WERE open seats that fit my preferences - thankfully the agent at the check-in counter that time found me something that though not my preference was better than the assigned very middle seat on an overseas flight - ICK!). But I've had people tell me you CAN select your seat going through the cruise line. True or not?

 

 

Yes ... in most cases. Sometimes it depends on the airline.

 

I have always been able to choose my seat when flying to Europe with a US airline, such as Delta, etc. After reserving a flight thru EZAir, I go to the airline's website and make my seat selection(s).

 

Conversely,when flying across the Pacific to Papeete on Air Tahiti Nui, a call to the airline close to the flying date was necessary to get seat assignments.

 

I do understand based on posts I have read on CC, that some non-US airlines don't allow online seat selection. Others may be able to confirm/refute that.

 

Good to know! I'll check it out if I decide to go with the cruise! Thank you!

How do you pay for the EZ Air flights?

1) Is it included in the final cruise payment?

2) Do you pay for the EZ Air separately?

3) Can you use different Credit cards for final cruise payment and EZ Air?

Thanks for any help.

How do you pay for the EZ Air flights?

1) Is it included in the final cruise payment? YES

2) Do you pay for the EZ Air separately? NO - included in final payment

3) Can you use different Credit cards for final cruise payment and EZ Air? NOT SURE if you can split the payment or not. Your TA would know.

caribill-thanks for the info about the 45 days rule. I wasn't sure just how long before the flight you could change. :)

How do you pay for the EZ Air flights?

 

1) Is it included in the final cruise payment? YES

2) Do you pay for the EZ Air separately? NO - included in final payment

3) Can you use different Credit cards for final cruise payment and EZ Air? NOT SURE if you can split the payment or not. Your TA would know.

Thank you! I will check with my TA about using different credit cards.

Gordon - I'm curious about this as well. If I can't pay with my AAdvantage card for the flights, I'm assuming I'll loose my free baggage, which I'll need to factor into any cost comparisons. Obviously I could pay for everything with that card, but I don't want to give up double points on my Princess card for the cruise portion.....decisions decisions [emoji3]

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How do you pay for the EZ Air flights?

 

1) Is it included in the final cruise payment?

2) Do you pay for the EZ Air separately?

3) Can you use different Credit cards for final cruise payment and EZ Air?

 

Thanks for any help.

You can certainly split the payment final amount between two different credit cards, but both credit card bills will just show Princess Cruises. If you have an airline credit card that requires its use to get some special rewards, such as free luggage, you probably will not receive that perk using EZ Air. At least my airline credit card works this way.

That makes sense. Not the answer I wanted, but an answer that I can now factor into final planning - thanks.

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How do you pay for the EZ Air flights?

 

1) Is it included in the final cruise payment?

2) Do you pay for the EZ Air separately?

3) Can you use different Credit cards for final cruise payment and EZ Air?

 

Thanks for any help.

1) If you use 'flexible' airfare, you pay at final cruise payment.

2) Only if you use 'restricted' airfare, pay when you book.

3) I know you can for 'restricted' airfare, not sure about flexible.

Question... I've never booked air through a cruise line because I want to be able to choose my own seat and so forth (I don't like to use Expedia for it for that reason either - my preferences were completely ignored even though there WERE open seats that fit my preferences - thankfully the agent at the check-in counter that time found me something that though not my preference was better than the assigned very middle seat on an overseas flight - ICK!). But I've had people tell me you CAN select your seat going through the cruise line. True or not?

 

Anyway... I'm pondering a Norway cruise r/t from Southampton England so I would obviously be flying into London. If I do the cruise, I'd likely tack a couple of days in Paris on at the end (hit two "want to do" trips in one go). Would I be able to book both legs of that - into London, out of Paris through EZAir? Or would I be looking at just one way through them and the other on my own. If I decided to go with EZAir that is.

I suggest going to the anticipated airlines website and create a mileage rewards account. It will come with a number. Call Princess when booking flights, tell the rep you wish to apply your airlines account number to the booking. Also, request your seat selection. Usually they will put you on hold and call their airline department. Once booked, wait a day or two and check your airline's website, depending on the airline, you should be able to see your booking number. You can verify your seat selection, or, change it right there. As someone mentioned, there are airlines out there that do not provide any pre-seat selection.

Remember, until Princess actually 'pays' the airlines, and even after they pay, the airlines has a right to change your seats to whatever they want...if, for medical reasons, you need a bulkhead seat, it might be necessary to call the airline.

You have to be careful with EZair....they play some tricks for unknown reasons.

I wanted to book RT flights to the Norway cruise. Looked at RT and the flexible prices were very good...on delta and their partners. Flight over to the cruise had great connections...one stop short layover. I had a choice of four flights home, all with two stops on KLM through amsterdam...not so good.

I've played this tune before with TA's....I always double check things. So I entered one way to the cruise and the same good flights showed up. I then entered one way from the cruise and a one stop home appeared...on delta. Adding the two one way flexible tickets was the same as booking the RT.

Called EZair. "sorry, we can't book two one way tickets" "if you want to book RT, we can only book you on the flights you see".

Not exactly consumer friendly policy....but they do what they want and our choice is to take it or leave it. My choice...take the good return flight and book the "to" flight on air miles.

Just be careful. There should be no problem flying to London and returning from Paris...but you can easily check that out before you even book the cruise on their web site.

Not so sure they are playing tricks, but rather they pre-reserve consolidated flights without over-extending themselves? Looking for clarification.

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You have to be careful with EZair....they play some tricks for unknown reasons.

 

I wanted to book RT flights to the Norway cruise. Looked at RT and the flexible prices were very good...on delta and their partners. Flight over to the cruise had great connections...one stop short layover. I had a choice of four flights home, all with two stops on KLM through amsterdam...not so good.

 

I've played this tune before with TA's....I always double check things. So I entered one way to the cruise and the same good flights showed up. I then entered one way from the cruise and a one stop home appeared...on delta. Adding the two one way flexible tickets was the same as booking the RT.

 

Called EZair. "sorry, we can't book two one way tickets" "if you want to book RT, we can only book you on the flights you see".

 

Not exactly consumer friendly policy....but they do what they want and our choice is to take it or leave it. My choice...take the good return flight and book the "to" flight on air miles.

 

Just be careful. There should be no problem flying to London and returning from Paris...but you can easily check that out before you even book the cruise on their web site.

Regarding coming back from a different airport in Europe, just change your return date first in the booking tool, and all European airports will show up. We very typically will cruise into Southampton and fly back out of Amsterdam.

Also regarding less expensive or equivalent fares from the airline, remember EZair offers the "next port" "insurance should a flight into the port city be delayed on the day of sailing.

Thank you! I will check with my TA about using different credit cards.

You can use different credit cards, but all the charges will be directly to Princess.

You cannot charge EZAir flights to an airline even if using an airline's credit card. The charge must go to Princess.