EZair-Not getting what you thought????

[teacherman]

We are looking at using EZair for the first time, a flexible fare round trip, business class, to South America, on 2 different airlines. It shows a very good price under flexible ticketing. QUESTION: have any of you ever done this, selected your seats, and then after paying final payment, been informed that you either had been moved to a different flight, different seats, economy rather than business class, etc? I am maybe being a nervous nellie on this but it is easier to learn from other people's experiences before making a decision. EZair says that THEY release the tickets to the airline once they are paid for. It seems like the airline would release the tickets to EZair. Any information is welcome. Thank you.

[Coral]

With any flights, who ever you book with, can change times, flights and seats. You can book the same ticket with EZ Air and Delta but if they change times, planes or whatever - the result will be the same, it will need to be adjusted. Booking direct isn't going to prevent a time or plane change. I have booked direct with United a ton and had a ton of changes due to a smaller or larger plane, time cancelled, etc.. and my seats get changed or times get changed. This is airline world.

[cb at sea]

Flights can always be changed....it's happened on our last 4 flights....very aggravating! All the airlines do it all the time. If what they change you to doesn't suit you, call and talk to someone...you should get the same thing you paid for on the changed flight.

[PescadoAmarillo]

When we have used EZ Air and didn't have to pay to select specific seats, we did lose those seats. When we have used EZ Air and gone to the airline's website and purchased specific seats, we did not lose those seats. As others have mentioned, the issue is less Princess than it is the airlines. The same thing has happened to me more than once when I have booked directly with the airline. The trick seems to be that when I pay extra, the seat selection sticks.

 

Even with purchasing specific seats, we have saved $000 over the years with EZ Air flexible pricing.

[Wolf1314]

So after EZ Air flexible price we booked, before we pay the final payment, is it possible the price will change?

[PescadoAmarillo]

So after EZ Air flexible price we booked, before we pay the final payment, is it possible the price will change?

If the price drops up to 45 days before the outbound flight you can get the lower price...most of the time. An exception might be if your price was originally bundled as part of a promotional deal, and then you might lose something on the cruise itself (OBC, etc.).

[EndersFoul]

As everyone else has said the airlines will change your flight not princess. We typically do EZ air and then request early ticketing (pay early) and then book upgraded seats with the carrier directly.

 

EZ air provides that peace of mind especially if you fly in/out the same day as the cruise. We were grateful to have it in Houston when the CB came back late. Princess paid for a night in Houston and rebooked our flights.

[-Lew-]

If the price drops up to 45 days before the outbound flight you can get the lower price...most of the time.

I'll add that getting the lower fare will require rebooking your flights. The same flights may or may not be available through eZAir when lower fares appear.

 

The ability to check for lower fares and replace your current booking sometimes works and sometimes does not. Lately I've had to cancel and rebook which is a risk. Might want to call Princess for assistance when replacing current flights doesn't work.

 

As for flights changing...expect it. I can't recall the last time at least one flight in an itinerary has not changed. When that happens, contact the airline to see what they can do for you if the new flight doesn't work.

 

[easyboy]

When we have used EZ Air and didn't have to pay to select specific seats, we did lose those seats. When we have used EZ Air and gone to the airline's website and purchased specific seats, we did not lose those seats. As others have mentioned, the issue is less Princess than it is the airlines. The same thing has happened to me more than once when I have booked directly with the airline. The trick seems to be that when I pay extra, the seat selection sticks.

 

Even with purchasing specific seats, we have saved $000 over the years with EZ Air flexible pricing.

Exactly. It is the airline's prerogative, not EZ Air. Paying for the choice seats gives that assurance.

[skynight]

I would be pretty confident that if I booked and paid for business class as you mention, the airline would keep me in business class. But, you still have to keep watching the flights as airlines change their departure times and equipment frequently.

[vantec]

I agree - airlines mess with people all the time, so expect it to happen. The problem we ran into when using EZair was that when there was a problem nobody would help us - Princess said to call the airline, the airline said to call Princess. We have decided it is easier not to have a middle man (Princess) and only rely on ourselves to deal with the problems and changes that will most certainly happen.

[Times Prince]

We are looking at using EZair for the first time, a flexible fare round trip, business class, to South America, on 2 different airlines. It shows a very good price under flexible ticketing. QUESTION: have any of you ever done this, selected your seats, and then after paying final payment, been informed that you either had been moved to a different flight, different seats, economy rather than business class, etc? I am maybe being a nervous nellie on this but it is easier to learn from other people's experiences before making a decision. EZair says that THEY release the tickets to the airline once they are paid for. It seems like the airline would release the tickets to EZair. Any information is welcome. Thank you.

Different flight and had seat assignments disappear because of the different flight - yes. Different class of seat - no. We always go to the airline site and choose our seats ourselves (or verify the choices if equipment or flight has changed). That has worked for us, where the airline allows prior selection (some don't). As far as the release thing - I think it is some squirrelly business transaction between EZAir and the airlines concerning reservation and actual money transfer. As long was we've paid for it we should expect them to honor it (Some incidents have however been posted).

 

EZair is definitely the way to go for an "open jaw" flight, as I have never been able to match prices looking at airline sites.

 

I agree - airlines mess with people all the time, so expect it to happen. The problem we ran into when using EZair was that when there was a problem nobody would help us - Princess said to call the airline, the airline said to call Princess. We have decided it is easier not to have a middle man (Princess) and only rely on ourselves to deal with the problems and changes that will most certainly happen.

Well and good for domestic round trip flights to/from the same airports. For "open jaw" flights (e.g. home to FLL, return from Heathrow, in England) we have found EZair prices to be better than anything we can book ourselves.

[lovevacadays]

My flight to Fort Lauderdale for our cruise got changed twice. It can happen. We are at the mercy of the airlines. I booked direct with American using points.

 

I am wondering if we should use EZ Air for our flights next year to Europe. Our embarkation and disembarkation ports are different so it is a little confusing.

[Astro Flyer]

I am wondering if we should use EZ Air for our flights next year to Europe. Our embarkation and disembarkation ports are different so it is a little confusing.

My experience has been that international airfare to & from the US are impossible for me to beat & would highly recommend it for your Europe flights.

 

We booked flights using their Flexible EZair (ours was cheaper than Restricted) as soon as they became available. Since booking at $576 our airfare has dropped to $241 and has better flights. We're arriving 2 days early & the savings we got by arriving early easily pays for our pre-cruise stay. :)

 

I've learned how to use the Cruise Personalizer to modify our airfare & flight but you can also have your booking agent (TA or Princess) assist you with changes. I regularly check the airfare for the cruise we're sailing (not from my CP) and if I discover a better option will use the CP to make the change. All you need to do is input your home airport & the system automatically has your embarkation & disembarkation airports listed.

 

By arriving early or staying late it's possible to fly to or from a city that's not where you'll get on or off the ship.

[lstone19]

As someone who recently retired from an airline and had a hand in the schedule development process, let me tell you a little but about how the schedule development process. Most airlines open schedules for sale at 11 months out. At that point, what is for sale is a future schedule - a best guess at what will be operated that is frequently just a repeat of the current year schedule for the same season. Why? Because much of what determines the schedule is past results - results that are just happening. My area of involvement was the length of flights. We typically did that part about six months out. Somewhere closer in, the scheduled has to be fleeted - assigning the right size plane to each flight (and of course, in a way that is feasible to fly). Different planes fly at different speeds so fleeting can have impacts on the published schedule. Finally, the final schedule is "published" two to three months before the schedule effective date. But even then things can change once pilot and flight attendant schedules are developed - sometimes, a schedule needs some minor tweaks to be flyable for the crew.

 

As cruisers, we tend to plan early considering that most cruise lines allow bookings 1-1/2 to 2 years out. So we wait until 11 months and start booking the air as soon as it opens for sale only to see the schedule keep changing as the schedule gets developed.

 

Almost all airlines allow you a free change (even on non-refundable fares) if a carrier schedule change makes it not work for you. Don't be afraid to ask for that change. Many carriers will say the change has to be more than a certain number of minutes but if the change puts you in violation of cruise line "flights must be later than x:xx" rules, tell them their change makes your "connection" illegal (e.g. cruise line says no flights earlier than 10:00, you booked a flight at 10:05, airline then changes it to 9:55 but says 10 minutes doesn't get you a change, tell them it may be only 10 minutes but it's now earlier than you're allowed to book). Airlines consider cruise line business very important and even if you booked the air independently, they really don't want complaints from the cruise lines about problems their customers experienced.

[JoRoy218]

We booked thru EZAir for our upcoming Alaska trip many months ago. As mentioned above, there were numerous flight changes by Delta and the ultimate change was a scheduled connection leaving BEFORE our first flight landed. SO, there was a barrage of phone calls to Delta and Princess (LOTS of wasted time) before I connected with a very helpful Princess rep who connected me to the EZAir Dept within Princess. He communicated directly with the airlines and was able to get us re-scheduled on another airline with flights to our liking (as opposed to a redeye they initially wanted us to take - NOT!). I always check fares with airlines directly before I reserve with EZAir and so far, they beat them by a mile. Just have to roll with the punches but speak up when needed.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We booked business class with EZair for our upcoming Mediterranean cruise. Couldn't beat the price. We immediately went into the Delta site, entered our Sky Miles number and selected our seats. Delta has already notified us of a couple time changes. We've found this to be normal. Don't be afraid to use EZair, you won't find better fares for international flights.

[JudithLynne]

Istone 19......

 

Thank you for your interesting and informative post.

[AF-1]

lstone19; thanks for the great info

[teacherman]

Okay, we did it. We booked round trip business class to South America. We fly down to Santiago on Delta and back from Buenos Ares on AA. I did it myself on Cruise Personalizer. It told me to do seat selection. When finished, it gave me Locator Numbers for each airline. I then looked it up on the airline sites and it was there, showing the seat numbers. AND it also said these seats were pending based on final payment. I then looked at the airline sites for those flights and it showed those seats were no longer available (they were before I did the booking). The Delta flight is ok with one change in Atlanta (2 1/2 hour layover). The AA flights have 2 changes, a 2 hour change in Miami (customs and immigration) and a 45 minute change in Philadelphia. That is the one I am concerned with.

 

I know that airlines change schedules. It has happened to us many times. MY CONCERN is that since these tickets have not yet been paid for, the airline may give them to another customer who wants them for a higher price than Princess is selling them for,. i will continue to monitor offerings and change flights if I find something better. But it seems that each airline only has one flight daily to and from those places.

[Colo Cruiser]

Good luck.

[cherylandtk]

Teacherman. That won't happen; the airlines know that the ship is flying in a literal boatload of people as well flying out the same number. They want that business, and as a result, they will reserve a booking (unpaid) for cruiselines up until their contracted payment date of 45 days before the cruise. Try arranging that sort of deal on your own...not gonna happen.

 

The only things you need worry about are to keep checking that schedules have not changed and to check that Princess actually makes the payment on your reserved seats at the 45 day mark. If you want them to do it earlier, you can fill out a form at final payment that acknowledges they are buying the air early and it becomes non-refundable at that point.

[lovevacadays]

My experience has been that international airfare to & from the US are impossible for me to beat & would highly recommend it for your Europe flights.

 

We booked flights using their Flexible EZair (ours was cheaper than Restricted) as soon as they became available. Since booking at $576 our airfare has dropped to $241 and has better flights. We're arriving 2 days early & the savings we got by arriving early easily pays for our pre-cruise stay. :)

 

I've learned how to use the Cruise Personalizer to modify our airfare & flight but you can also have your booking agent (TA or Princess) assist you with changes. I regularly check the airfare for the cruise we're sailing (not from my CP) and if I discover a better option will use the CP to make the change. All you need to do is input your home airport & the system automatically has your embarkation & disembarkation airports listed.

 

By arriving early or staying late it's possible to fly to or from a city that's not where you'll get on or off the ship.

 

Thank you. That is great information. We do plan on either a pre or post stay or maybe both. This makes me feel better about the airfare situation. :):):)

[Astro Flyer]

Thank you. That is great information. We do plan on either a pre or post stay or maybe both. This makes me feel better about the airfare situation. :):):)

 

You're welcome & hope that it works as great for you as it does for us. :D

[mthomp5]

 

The only things you need worry about are to keep checking that schedules have not changed and to check that Princess actually makes the payment on your reserved seats at the 45 day mark. If you want them to do it earlier, you can fill out a form at final payment that acknowledges they are buying the air early and it becomes non-refundable at that point.

 

What is the best way to confirm if Princess made the payment to the airlines? Would you call the airlines or is there some indication in Cruise Personalizer?