HAL Flexible Air - does price ever increase?

Looking at booking my flights to Rome with HAL Flexible Air and wondering if the airfare price goes up between now and the final payment date, will we have to pay the increase or are we locked in at the price we see today? Conversely if it were to go down what would happen? I am assuming both could happen otherwise why have a difference between flex fare and restricted....so then the question becomes how often have people experienced an increase in price? Our final payment would be in 2 months from now. Any shared experiences would be appreciated [emoji4]

 

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These were our exact questions last spring when we sailed on Koningsdam to the Med and booked our air with HAL Flight East. We booked flexible rate (which was actually less than non flexible!) approximately 7 months prior to our cruise. The rate was much, much lower than we found dealing directly with any airline.

 

I frequently checked these flights, both with HAL online and with the airline's website and saw the prices climb higher and higher. Because, technically with the flex rate, the price can increase with Flight Ease. I decided to call HAL and offer to pay the air and cruise (if the cruise is paid in full, the rate will not increase) prior to final payment to lock in the flight price. The HAL rep I spoke to said that in 8 years working with HAL, he had never, ever seen the price of the air portion increase and that it would be crazy to pay it all more than six months ahead of schedule. So, we did not. The price for us never changed! So grateful that I spoke to this HAL rep, who clearly had experience with Flight Ease bookings.

Edited May 26, 2018 by Lady Arwen
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I will be very happy to keep the flexible fare right where it is. The difference for us was SO significant I would not haggle if the EasyAir price goes down as long as it's unlikely to go up. FYI this is for business class open-jaw US to Hong Kong, Tokyo to US. I think you can imagine the prices with airlines for that.

 

Dennis

 

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These were our exact questions last spring when we sailed on Koningsdam to the Med and booked our air with HAL Flight East. We booked flexible rate (which was actually less than non flexible!) approximately 7 months prior to our cruise. The rate was much, much lower than we found dealing directly with any airline.

 

I frequently checked these flights, both with HAL online and with the airline's website and saw the prices climb higher and higher. Because, technically with the flex rate, the price can increase with Flight Ease. I decided to call HAL and offer to pay the air and cruise (if the cruise is paid in full, the rate will not increase) prior to final payment to lock in the flight price. The HAL rep I spoke to said that in 8 years working with HAL, he had never, ever seen the price of the air portion increase and that it would be crazy to pay it all more than six months ahead of schedule. So, we did not. The price for us never changed! So grateful that I spoke to this HAL rep, who clearly had experience with Flight Ease bookings.

 

 

 

I agree! We’ve never had the airfare increase once we booked a cruise and reserved flights through FlightEase. And we’ve always found that the airfare through HAL has been cheaper than booking direct with the airlines. The only time we don’t book through HAL is when we have enough points on our credit card to cover air.

It really depends on when you book. I reserved flights for our August cruise in January with HAL's Flight Ease (flexible price). In April, Delta's price on their website was less than the HAL price that I had reserved with. HAL refused to match Delta's website. So I booked directly with Delta.

It really depends on when you book. I reserved flights for our August cruise in January with HAL's Flight Ease (flexible price). In April, Delta's price on their website was less than the HAL price that I had reserved with. HAL refused to match Delta's website. So I booked directly with Delta.

 

 

 

Good to know. It’s just a good example to stay on top of things yourself and I’m assuming you had no penalty for cancelling your air with HAL so it was a good thing all around.

No penalty. I think the best airfare prices are 10-11 months before the cruise. I wish I had booked it in September instead of waiting until January.

Am I correct in assuming that you cannot call the airline and choose seats until you actually make payment?

Am I correct in assuming that you cannot call the airline and choose seats until you actually make payment?

We chose our seats as soon as we booked our flights. We used our airline booking number at the airline website and chose seats for our return flights. You will get this number from HAL when you book your flights/

Am I correct in assuming that you cannot call the airline and choose seats until you actually make payment?

 

 

 

We were able to select our seats about 24 hours after we booked our flights through HAL. They told us it takes about that long for the reservation to appear in the airline’s system. And even though we booked regular economy through HAL (because it was an excellent deal), we were able to pay the standard airline price to upgrade to extra legroom seats when we logged in to select our seats. And everything turned out great! No issues, other than I received duplicate emails whenever there was a minor change in the flight times - one from HAL and one from American. But the good news is, the two notices were always in sync! 🤣🤣

We were told by our TA that Holland America does not pay for the flights until about 45 days prior to scheduled payment date. Checked with AA and their website said the booking was not paid and seats could not be selected until payment was made. TA also said that we could pay for the flights now which should enable selecting seats and legroom upgrade but it would make the air charges non refundable. Any comments????

Thanks

Lynn & Steve

We were told by our TA that Holland America does not pay for the flights until about 45 days prior to scheduled payment date. Checked with AA and their website said the booking was not paid and seats could not be selected until payment was made. TA also said that we could pay for the flights now which should enable selecting seats and legroom upgrade but it would make the air charges non refundable. Any comments????

Thanks

Lynn & Steve

Well that's not good! We flew with British Airways (return) and had no trouble picking our seats months prior to final payment and we did not pay for the flights until then, either. Perhaps, American Airlines has a different policy with seat selection. We also did not use a TA as we booked cruise and flights direct with HAL. I would check with HAL yourselves, rather than take the word of the TA.

Well that's not good! We flew with British Airways (return) and had no trouble picking our seats months prior to final payment and we did not pay for the flights until then, either. Perhaps, American Airlines has a different policy with seat selection. We also did not use a TA as we booked cruise and flights direct with HAL. I would check with HAL yourselves, rather than take the word of the TA.

 

Good luck. HAL may not even talk to you if you booked your flight through a TA. I would just pay for the flights now unless you may not go on the trip.

We were told by our TA that Holland America does not pay for the flights until about 45 days prior to scheduled payment date. Checked with AA and their website said the booking was not paid and seats could not be selected until payment was made. TA also said that we could pay for the flights now which should enable selecting seats and legroom upgrade but it would make the air charges non refundable. Any comments????

 

Thanks

 

Lynn & Steve

 

 

 

I wonder if that is because you went through a TA? Whenever I’ve booked the cruise and the flights directly with HAL, I’ve been able to select airline seats within 24 hours of the booking, even for cruises over a year away. And I don’t “pay in full” for the cruise or the air until the final payment due date. This is all done with just the original deposit.

I wonder if that is because you went through a TA? Whenever I’ve booked the cruise and the flights directly with HAL, I’ve been able to select airline seats within 24 hours of the booking, even for cruises over a year away. And I don’t “pay in full” for the cruise or the air until the final payment due date. This is all done with just the original deposit.

Exactly our same experience! Picked seats at time of booking and no payments til cruise final payment date. For some reason there seems to be many different experiences reported here regarding this subject. Could be the TA? Could be the airline? Who knows!

Update - I have gone ahead and booked flexible air. Our flights will be with Air Canada and Lufthansa. In my HAL account I can see my booking id, which I tried on AC's website but it did not recognize it. On Lufthansa's site it did allow me to see my flights, but I can't seem to make any seat requests. So far I haven't received any email confirmations of my booking (booked 3 days ago).

Question for those that have booked before and continued to watch the pricing for increases/decreases.... how have you done that? Now when I go into HAL's site to search for the same flight, it just keeps bringing up my reservation, it doesn't let me see what flights are available and the respective prices. If I needed to change flight times/routes before the final payment would be only option be to call HAL directly to get the options? Thanks in advance.

Update - I have gone ahead and booked flexible air. Our flights will be with Air Canada and Lufthansa. In my HAL account I can see my booking id, which I tried on AC's website but it did not recognize it. On Lufthansa's site it did allow me to see my flights, but I can't seem to make any seat requests. So far I haven't received any email confirmations of my booking (booked 3 days ago).

Question for those that have booked before and continued to watch the pricing for increases/decreases.... how have you done that? Now when I go into HAL's site to search for the same flight, it just keeps bringing up my reservation, it doesn't let me see what flights are available and the respective prices. If I needed to change flight times/routes before the final payment would be only option be to call HAL directly to get the options? Thanks in advance.

I do know that Air Canada and Lufthansa do NOT let you choose your seats unless you call them and I believe there is a charge to do so. We generally fly with British Airways to Europe and can do seat selection immediately. As for finding your flights online with HAL, the format might have changed since the re-do of their website (it's not great). I would call HAL and ask how to access this. You used to be able to get it from your reservation by going to Transportation and you would see Pre-cruise, Post-cruise and flights. If you clicked on flights, everything available would be displayed. We'll be booking with Flight Ease soon for our Med cruise and I'm crossing my fingers it will go well!

We made our flights through a Hal PCC and the only person who could make changes was the PCC, the same as if you booked them through a TA. We last year thought about changing a flight on our South Pacific cruise and were told it would have been an cost extra charge to do that, so we left it as scheduled. BTW it worked out fine. We also were advised when and if there were any changes in the flights.

Update - I have gone ahead and booked flexible air. Our flights will be with Air Canada and Lufthansa. In my HAL account I can see my booking id, which I tried on AC's website but it did not recognize it. On Lufthansa's site it did allow me to see my flights, but I can't seem to make any seat requests. So far I haven't received any email confirmations of my booking (booked 3 days ago).

Question for those that have booked before and continued to watch the pricing for increases/decreases.... how have you done that? Now when I go into HAL's site to search for the same flight, it just keeps bringing up my reservation, it doesn't let me see what flights are available and the respective prices. If I needed to change flight times/routes before the final payment would be only option be to call HAL directly to get the options? Thanks in advance.

Bring up your flight reservation again. To the right of the screen you will see a "change flights" option, select that and look at flights just like you did when you booked your current flights. If you want to change flights or price, the program will guide you, if not just pull out of the program. You cannot inadvertently make changes you do not want as the program requires specific steps to do so. I have done this many times and saved money because of price drops. When getting a lower price you select the same flights you have booked, but the price will be different as will the HAL and airline confirmation number. It is a user friendly program.

You cannot inadvertently make changes you do not want as the program requires specific steps to do so.

 

I'm not too sure about that. I somehow deleted my flight reservation without wanting to. I simply wanted to look at what was currently available on HAL and by doing so my flight was automatically deleted. In fact, I didn't even make a new reservation. I just entered a search criteria. I find HAL flight ease difficult to use and will avoid in the future. Airline websites are better.

We made our flights through a Hal PCC and the only person who could make changes was the PCC, the same as if you booked them through a TA.

 

I booked a flight on HAL's Flight Ease and wanted to make changes. My TA said I had to call HAL. HAL said I had to call the TA (since the cruise was booked through a TA). It took days to get it resolved. I will book directly with the airline and call them if I need to make changes/cancel a flight.

I have always been able to choose my seats with Delta when using Flight Ease. However, American would not let me. It wasn't a TA problem, it is an American problem.

I'm not too sure about that. I somehow deleted my flight reservation without wanting to. I simply wanted to look at what was currently available on HAL and by doing so my flight was automatically deleted. In fact, I didn't even make a new reservation. I just entered a search criteria. I find HAL flight ease difficult to use and will avoid in the future. Airline websites are better.

I am sure about what I said as I have done it many times, sorry it did not work for you, I find the Flight Ease program to be very usable as is the flight program with Princess. For us, the major advantage of a cruise line flight program is that you can book way out yet not have to pay for flights until final payment or even after and you can take advantage of price drops on an unpaid reservation.

I have always been able to choose my seats with Delta when using Flight Ease. However, American would not let me. It wasn't a TA problem, it is an American problem.

Totally agree with you. British airways and Westjet always let us choose, but Air Canada will not. This is not a fault of Flight East, it's the airline policy.

I am sure about what I said as I have done it many times, sorry it did not work for you, I find the Flight Ease program to be very usable as is the flight program with Princess. For us, the major advantage of a cruise line flight program is that you can book way out yet not have to pay for flights until final payment or even after and you can take advantage of price drops on an unpaid reservation.

Yes, the same experience here. Never had issues at all booking with Flight Ease. Perhaps things get complicated when you book with a TA. We always book everything directly with HAL and, touch wood, everything went perfectly.