EZ Air - not so Easy

[flyboy88]

I have cruised with Princess many times and decided I wanted to get my parents into cruising. I booked them on a Alaksa Cruisetour, and the good news is they really enjoyed cruising and would be interested in trying it again.

 

Now for the frustrating and disappointing part of the trip.... We purchased EZ Air through princess in order to make their first cruise experience as seamless and easy as possible... Or so we thought. The outbound flight prior to the cruise had no issues, it was coming home.

 

The flights were on Delta, and I had confirmation from Princess that the flights home were booked. 24 hours prior I received an email from Delta advising it was time to check in. When I went to Delta's site I was able to see their itinerary, and selected seats; however was unable to check them in as their tickets "could not be validated and to see an agent at the airport".

 

My parents get to the airport to see discover their seats had been booked, however Princess apparently DID NOT actually pay Delta for the flights. In order to get home and not be stuck for at least 24 hours, they had to pay almost $4000 to purchase last minute seats on the sold out flights. One of the Princess greeters at the airport, advised that they just pay for the tickets to get themselves home and worry about refunds later.

 

So far I have spoken to Princess who assures they paid for the tickets and did everything correct on their end, however they will not contact Delta to investigate what had occurred and then decide if a refund can/will be issued.

 

At this point, I don't believe their should be any question about the refund... We booked through EZ Air to keep it Easy, not stressful. What a way to end a fantastic first cruise. I also expressed to Princess that we expect a full refund for the almost $4000 charge.

 

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how was it handled and did Princess make it right in the end?

Edited June 2, 2016 by flyboy88

[flyboy88]

I'll keep you posted on outcome.

[Kamloops50]

Delta has been known to have problems when booked thru EzAir .

[cruisingram1]

What a frustrating experience! It's always hard to know what to do when you are left with little time to make a decision. Like an hour before you are going to board the plane!

 

I think one thing I might have done (and you indeed might have done it) was contact Delta as soon as the online check-in failed 24 hours prior to the flight. If they had been able to tell you then that the ticket was not paid for, you would have had 24 hours to try to get Delta and Princess to talk about who was responsible for the snafu. $4000 is a lot of money to be faced with losing. :eek:

 

Just back from a trip using EZ Air for the first time and it was, in fact, easy. But your story makes us aware to keep our guard up as there is always room for error in an easy process. Hope it works out for your parents.

[Thrak]

Delta is "swell". I booked a flight from Sacramento to Seattle to Fairbanks. Delta cancelled the flight and rebooked me from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Minneapolis/St. Paul to Fairbanks. Holy cow!!! My 7 hour flight had become an 18 hour flight with a trip across the country for no reason.

 

I now have "almost" my original flight back in place but, since that happened, I check every day to make sure my flight still shows properly. Apparently this sort of thing isn't uncommon with Delta.

[Justprettynpink]

EZair got our outbound flight ticketed but did get our return flight ticketed. I caught it by looking at our travel summary (air section) and not seeing ticket numbers for our return flight. I was able to catch it before we left.

[Alaskan Joe]

My wife and I ALWAYS fly Delta. With that said we have never booked EZ-air and we have never had a problem with Delta changing our flight itinerary. We always get non-stop flights, not sure if that has something to do with it or if EZ-air is the issue. However if we ever use EZ-air we will have our guards up. Thanks for the post this is one of those issues I will put in the back of my head and try to remember, that is if my CRS disease is having a good day. Oh yeah in case you don't know CRS= Can't Remember $h!t:D.

[PescadoAmarillo]

OP- it was very disturbing to hear of your parents' experience. Please do keep us posted on how this gets resolved. I would not let either Princess or Delta get away with this with a cost of $4000!!!!

[epixx]

Flyboy: Did parents ever have ticket numbers for the flights, or was it just a confirmation code? If no ticket numbers, then likely Princess' fault. If they had ticket numbers, it could have been Delta's fault.

[MTNestr]

I've always booked my flights directly (mostly Southwest) and never used EZ-Air. After I book I will routinely check the SW website to make sure they show my reservation.

 

With EZ-Air are you able to see your reservation on the airlines website that Princess booked for you?

[Host Anne]

Flyboy ~ thanks for letting us know about this situation. I just encouraged friends to use EZAir and I will let them know they need to watch their flight booking closely both through Princess and the airline.

 

This is the best thing about Cruise Critic....sharing important information that helps all of us. THANKS again!

[Kamloops50]

I've always booked my flights directly (mostly Southwest) and never used EZ-Air. After I book I will routinely check the SW website to make sure they show my reservation.

 

With EZ-Air are you able to see your reservation on the airlines website that Princess booked for you?

 

Yes you see your reservations and change seats if allowed on airline website.

Some airlines (IE Westjet) don't allow you change any thing on your reservations until Princess actually tickets the flight .

You can request an early release if your booking with air fare is paid in full.

[greenie082756]

Wow! That was expensive tickets! Where were they flying from / to?

 

I have used EZ-Air once. They kept changing the times on the flights from Phoenix to Ft. Lauderdale. I watched it like a hawk. Also checked in with the airline to pick our seats and to make sure everything was good. I was too nervous with someone else in control.

 

From my own experience, EZ Air is not all that easy and unless I see a really good deal and we are flying out of the country, I will take care of my own flight arrangements. :D

 

What epixx asked: Did your parents get ticket #s for the return flight or just a confirmation?

[moki'smommy]

.

 

With EZ-Air are you able to see your reservation on the airlines website that Princess booked for you?

 

Yes, I can see my reservation on the Delta site including an e-ticket number. I can pay luggage fees, make seat selections, request special services, add frequent flyer numbers, etc. just as if I'd booked the reservation myself.

 

Delta screwed us up on a flight that I'd booked myself. We were "notified" by e-mail that our flight was changed....to something totally unacceptable. I has specifically selected a flight that would have allowed us to leave after school/work....but Delta canceled the flight. After considerable discussion with Delta, we ended up with a flight that required me to take daughter out of school at noon. OK, it worked, but the entire reason we'd chosen Delta was the evening flight.

 

But, any airline can do it to you.

[azbirdmom]

When Princess purchases the tickets, the ticket numbers will show up on both the travel summary (accessible in the boarding pass section of the CP) and when the record is pulled up via the airline's website. It seems like this should have been caught prior to the trip by Delta and Princess software, but it is a good reminder for folks to check the status of the reservation when they use EZAir just to make sure all is well.

[riclop]

I have cruised with Princess many times and decided I wanted to get my parents into cruising. I booked them on a Alaksa Cruisetour, and the good news is they really enjoyed cruising and would be interested in trying it again.

 

Now for the frustrating and disappointing part of the trip.... We purchased EZ Air through princess in order to make their first cruise experience as seamless and easy as possible... Or so we thought. The outbound flight prior to the cruise had no issues, it was coming home.

 

The flights were on Delta, and I had confirmation from Princess that the flights home were booked. 24 hours prior I received an email from Delta advising it was time to check in. When I went to Delta's site I was able to see their itinerary, and selected seats; however was unable to check them in as their tickets "could not be validated and to see an agent at the airport".

 

My parents get to the airport to see discover their seats had been booked, however Princess apparently DID NOT actually pay Delta for the flights. In order to get home and not be stuck for at least 24 hours, they had to pay almost $4000 to purchase last minute seats on the sold out flights. One of the Princess greeters at the airport, advised that they just pay for the tickets to get themselves home and worry about refunds later.

 

So far I have spoken to Princess who assures they paid for the tickets and did everything correct on their end, however they will not contact Delta to investigate what had occurred and then decide if a refund can/will be issued.

 

At this point, I don't believe their should be any question about the refund... We booked through EZ Air to keep it Easy, not stressful. What a way to end a fantastic first cruise. I also expressed to Princess that we expect a full refund for the almost $4000 charge.

 

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how was it handled and did Princess make it right in the end?

D don't E expect L luggage T to A arrive is the worst!!!!

[Montrealais]

Yes' date=' I can see my reservation on the Delta site including an e-ticket number. I can pay luggage fees, make seat selections, request special services, add frequent flyer numbers, etc. just as if I'd booked the reservation myself.

 

Delta screwed us up on a flight that I'd booked myself. We were "notified" by e-mail that our flight was changed....to something totally unacceptable. I has specifically selected a flight that would have allowed us to leave after school/work....but Delta canceled the flight. After considerable discussion with Delta, we ended up with a flight that required me to take daughter out of school at noon. OK, it worked, but the entire reason we'd chosen Delta was the evening flight.

 

But, any airline can do it to you.[/quote']

 

 

 

Delta is at rank 49 on the 100 airlines awards list!

 

By the way it is the best rating for an American airline :D

 

Our next trip to and from Singapore from and to Montreal will be on a Qatar Airlines flight with only one stopover. Qatar is first on the list.

 

A bit more expensive but worth it.

[Cruiser411]

The OP's parents should have called Princess at the first sign of trouble, not Delta. Princess would have been responsible for rebooking the flights.

[akswimmom]

Hi, I have looking into using EZ air for our cruise in Europe next year. So I have been reading with interest any posts regarding EZ air. On the Princess site it says they have a 24-7 support via their route desk. Was this not the case for your parents? Did they offer any assistance?

Thank-you,

Jenny

[satxdiver]

I have used EZair for the first time last year to South America and it went great. Luckily from what I have read here it was not on Delta. I have a EZair flight and cruise scheduled for August and again it is not on Delta. Perhaps I lucked out not picking them. While I was working, I flew every week with extensive experience with AA and Continental (now United) so I am aware of some of the problems and how to address them. Hopefully my next trip will be according to plan. I hope the OP gets a resolution and I feel for their problem.

[flyboy88]

Flyboy: Did parents ever have ticket numbers for the flights, or was it just a confirmation code? If no ticket numbers, then likely Princess' fault. If they had ticket numbers, it could have been Delta's fault.

 

 

I could not find ticket numbers on the itinerary for either outbound (Air Canada) or inbound flights (Delta), just airline confirmation codes. I used this code and was able to log into Delta and see the itinerary and select them seats. I find it odd that if the ticket was not paid for by Princess, that it would allow me to get this far in the process.

[flyboy88]

What a frustrating experience! It's always hard to know what to do when you are left with little time to make a decision. Like an hour before you are going to board the plane!

 

 

 

I think one thing I might have done (and you indeed might have done it) was contact Delta as soon as the online check-in failed 24 hours prior to the flight. If they had been able to tell you then that the ticket was not paid for, you would have had 24 hours to try to get Delta and Princess to talk about who was responsible for the snafu. $4000 is a lot of money to be faced with losing. :eek:

 

 

 

Just back from a trip using EZ Air for the first time and it was, in fact, easy. But your story makes us aware to keep our guard up as there is always room for error in an easy process. Hope it works out for your parents.

 

 

I did follow up with Delta via Facebook as their response time is supposed to be 'within an hour' (I'm on my own vacation in Greece right now); however received no repose... Even yet.

 

However I did a Google search of the error, to discover that it was not uncommon and that in majority of cases, the agent at the airport just had to 'repair' the booking and everything was fixed..... Not one thing that I read had this outcome of having to buy a new ticket... :-(

I'll keep you all posted.

[flyboy88]

Wow! That was expensive tickets! Where were they flying from / to?

 

 

FAI-MSP-YYZ

The high Fare was due to it being a sold out, last minute ticket.

 

The irony here is I work for an airline in Canada and in over 9 years my parents have never utilized my travel privileges as the standby game is stressful to them. When on vacation, they like to know relax and know when they are going and come back, therefore they always book confirmed.

 

As this was their first cruise, I wanted everything to be seamless and with EZ Air there was the peace of mind if any enroute delays occurred.

 

All the documents Princess sent me only had airline confirmation numbers on them, and they would email me with schedules changes. Considering I was able to log onto Delta's website and see all itinerary, information, and selected seats I was sure it was all good.

 

I do have a friend at Delta, who is also going to look into this on their side to give me all and any information to bring forward to Princess

[flyboy88]

Hi, I have looking into using EZ air for our cruise in Europe next year. So I have been reading with interest any posts regarding EZ air. On the Princess site it says they have a 24-7 support via their route desk. Was this not the case for your parents? Did they offer any assistance?

 

Thank-you,

 

Jenny

 

 

My parents do not own a cell phone and are not tech savvy. I handle all their bookings for them, I did not find out about this whole situation until after they were home. They did not think of contacting Princess, as they believed the Princess Greeter at the airport who got involved was indeed someone who knew what they were talking about. the princess rep advised them to pay for the tickets to get home, and provided them a phone number (turned out to be the -774.. Call centre number) to get a refund.)

[tml1230]

D don't E expect L luggage T to A arrive is the worst!!!!

 

 

 

we fly 8-10 times a year with different airlines…based on our experiences, including 3 with princess EZAir, we always try to use delta first….everyones experience is different.

Edited June 3, 2016 by tml1230
wrong word