Princess EZ Air EASY? Not really!

[remydiva]

I use Princess EZ Air because usually...it's....EASY. and for the guarantees it offers which is important to me when travelling overseas.

 

But after 6 hrs, 4 phone calls and with great frustration, I ended up booking flights to Europe that were only 'ok' but not great.

 

Let me rephrase that...when I phd this morning at 10 am PST,I got a 'great price' when I said I wanted to book a room and air with the provision that I could do a stop over in Paris on the return leg. So the agent first of all took all the details of the room booking to make sure there were rooms available, then went to the air screen.

 

Yes, she could do that for me and the price would be $1823 return. Great...I said book it! She said well she couldn't book the air until she booked the room.

 

Back to the room screen...type type, booked. Then back to the EZ Air screen..as in 3 mins later...and presto! the $1823 fare was no longer available and it was now $2033. WHAT??? :eek:I said how could that be..didn't you have it up on your screen? No, she says..she had to 'leave that screen to book the room'.

 

I chose to mull it over and phoned back later at 3pm.

 

At that time, another agent confirmed that $2033 was the lowest price showing but lo and behold, the trip to the port was now better with only one stop vs the two that was offered at 10 am. This was not available earlier or did the agent miss it? But wait for it..now the only return flights from Paris had us overnighting in Montreal! :eek:I said try for the next day and the same thing. I said what about the earlier flights that I know exist..agent said 'they don't show up on the screen'. :confused:

 

I phd the airlines directly and they had the flights available but their computer wouldn't let them give me a price for some strange reason. :rolleyes:

 

45 mins later, I phd Princess back again (Agent #3 now) who was able to get the $2033 price but now the one stop flight to port was 'not showing' so we were back to the two stop flight. But wait! We now could get the earlier better flight back from Paris with no overnite in Montreal! WHAT IS GOING ON?

 

On Princess's website under EZ Air it states clearly that the advantage of EZ Air is you can select departures, flights and carriers 'at no extra charge'. When I asked about this, all the agents said they could only see what was on their screen and not was available everywhere even though obviously there were seats available on many other better flights.

 

It would appear that EZ Air or the airlines themselves rotate what flights they make available to Princess and change this availability hourly or more frequently.

 

Are they trying to dump the less desirable flights on unsuspecting desperate passengers? :rolleyes: When I explained to all 3 agents that IF I did not get the flights from them that I knew were available, then I would be cancelling the trip. I could 'see' the flights available on Princess's website but the return flight was tied to an arrival flight that was not desirable...it's like they are lost leaders...one part of the combo flight is good, one is bad...you pick!

 

Has anyone ever seen this rotation of 'available' flights changing minute by minute..remember the first one changed in 3 mins while I was on the phone!

 

Interestingly, none of the 3 agents I spoke with today asked me to participate in the survey after my phone calls. I've always been asked to do the survey in the past. Guess that keeps the results up...only ask the people you please to rate your performance!

[icat2000]

Just book your own air and own accommodation next time.

[CruisinEars]

I also recommend going to your personalizer and just search for your own flights. As a side note, when I was working as a Res Agent, I ran into the rotating flights all the time. It was frustrating. When I found what the customer wanted and then it disappeared, I just called the air department and they were usually able to book it manually.

[dorisis]

Typical airline run around. Seems to be the norm. This is what happens to me when I book flights with almost any airline. And if using FF miles it is even worse.~Doris~

[cherylandtk]

This is mostly an airline problem, they are constantly changing pricing every hour. The further limitation with EZ Air is that booking engine does not show all airlines, nor all flights from the airlines (mostly due to which fare buckets and city pairs are covered in their contracts with the airlines).

 

I have yet to find the pricing to be better than what I could book on my own. Nor have the benefits of next port protection been worth the incremental cost.

[Matcodixon]

I have used EZ air about half the time so far, The Princess website makes it easy to see what they have available and at what pricing. For our Med cruise they had the best flights and prices I could find, much better than anything I found on my own. They make it easy to shop and compare.

[curiouscat]

I have used EZ air about half the time so far, The Princess website makes it easy to see what they have available and at what pricing. For our Med cruise they had the best flights and prices I could find, much better than anything I found on my own. They make it easy to shop and compare.

 

Yes the airfare fluctuates from minute to minute...but they should have "contracted" air which would be more set. This is air they buy in bulk from the airlines for a better price and that they make $ off of. Hence, it would be better than published air you could get on your own. If they don't have the contract air from your city with that airline then it will fluctuate ..... Most Delta flights are not contracted air.

[remydiva]

I also recommend going to your personalizer and just search for your own flights. As a side note, when I was working as a Res Agent, I ran into the rotating flights all the time. It was frustrating. When I found what the customer wanted and then it disappeared, I just called the air department and they were usually able to book it manually.

 

Obviously YOU were a great res agent as none of the three I spoke with claimed to be able to do anything other look at what was on the screen. I get the fluctuating prices..happens to our gas prices all the time. However I don't get why my res agent couldn't or wouldn't do it manually as you suggested.

 

Agreed that usually EZ air offers good prices..certainly when I compared to Internet discount sites it was a lot cheaper...was there something I should have said to the res agent to inform them that they could contact the air dept a nd do things manually?

[shipsealand]

I did booking of the cruise portion and Ezair directly via their website. I did the cruise portion separately first for a good price and then checked periodically til I saw a good enough air itinerary and price which occurred couple of months later. Since I stayed on the site w/ my computer screen, it does not become lost. Later on I saw and even better cruise price and did that rebooking thru a Princess agent (but not via Princess's personal Cruise Vacation Planner).

 

Although I sometimes am thinking it would there be any advantage w/using Princess's CVP or an independent TA?

[jnc411]

I have not used EZ air as yet , and after reading this , don't think I will. I will go back to booking my own air and hotels, usually do pretty good on price and seats where I want. Husband is a tall man and seating is important to us. I don't think EZ air does that . So thanks for this thread and the information.

Cori

[remydiva]

I emailed customer service last nite and received a phone call at home today. Princess wants to hear from its customers about what improvements are desired to its EZ air. I want segment by segment selection available like you can get from most online airlines. I was assured my comments mattered. Other questions were answered and overall a thoughtful very helpful customer service response.

The rep,suggested that perhaps,if I had asked specifically to be transferred to the air dept I may have been able to access the flights and seats I knew existed. I'll try that next time....

[CZEE]

I want segment by segment selection available like you can get from most online airlines.

 

Me, too! I've tried to use EZAir, but cannot because I fly Southwest as much as I can. There's no way to book a return flight from overseas without using their flight to FLL or some other place that Southwest goes. They can't beat Southwest. And most of the times I can get direct flights from Southwest, where I have to have two changes of planes from Princess.

 

For some reason EZAir doesn't get good prices for United which hubs in Denver. I prefer to fly that, if I can, rather than Delta or AA. So I always end up doing my own flights. Princess has never seemed interested when I've asked why we can't book segments. All I get from the agents is "It's not possible." Why isn't it? Princess should make booking segments individually available on EZAir. I'd have used it for my last to TAs.

[CZEE]

I'd have used it for my last to TAs.

 

"two" I know the difference. LOL