Princess EZ Air Warning

[hpeabody]

I used EZ Air for my upcoming flight to Barcelona. I initially booked about 1 week ago. I was able to select my seat while in the EZ Air process. Once completed, I immediately went to the Delta website to check the booking and I made a change to 1 seat assignment, added my personal information required due to international flight. All was fine (and still is) 2 days ago I went to the Delta website and brought up my booking. There was red all over telling me there was a schedule change. My outbound flight was changed from 11:30 AM to 11:33 AM. OK. I went to look at my Princess EZ Air information and it was still showing 11:30 AM at that moment. I just looked at it right now and Princess has changed it to 11:33 AM. There is no mention of any change at all on Princess, though the information is correct. I never received any email from Delta or Princess about the schedule change. My change is very minor, but some folks are faced with significant issues when this happens.

 

I think the point I want to make is that there is a lot of inconsistency and ultimately WE/OURSELVES are responsible to monitor and manage our EZ Air bookings. If you find something not right call Princess ASAP. I find they are typically quite helpful in these instances.

[NoWhiners]

The flights are business class, LAX to London and back, have been paid for, ticketed, and seats assigned.

 

Yep, us too. Didn't matter, our seats had been changed when we did the checkin 24 hours in advance. You'll probably be Ok, but don't be surprised. If it happens, ask the flight attendants to help you get seats together. That was what they told us when we explained what happened (about 2 hours into the flight. They saw me waving at DH and asked what I was doing :) ). We asked everyone we could find what happened and to get us seats together, no one could help. The FAs say the people in the terminal don't help but that they can :D

 

Good luck

ML

[Yooper77]

Since this is my first time cruising with Princess, it is obviously my first time using EZair. I thought it was great...

1. I generally book straight through delta and redeem award tickets for vacation travel.

2. Business class roundtrip from HSV-CPH was about $800 cheaper per ticket than orbitz/Expedia/etc. It was also a significantly better value than redeeming an award ticket.

3. Immediately after booking through EZair, I logged into my skymiles account and linked the reservation. It was available within minutes.

4. I made seat reservations through EZair, but modified via my skymiles account.

5. It is probably just habit, but if ticketing through a 3rd party, I always go to my delta account to review. First hand info is always better than second hand! :)

 

Maybe I was lucky and happened to catch everything at the right time, but for a single experience...I really like EZair and I will continue using them going forward.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Yooper77

[moki'smommy]

I used EZ Air for my upcoming flight to Barcelona. I initially booked about 1 week ago. I was able to select my seat while in the EZ Air process. Once completed, I immediately went to the Delta website to check the booking and I made a change to 1 seat assignment, added my personal information required due to international flight. All was fine (and still is) 2 days ago I went to the Delta website and brought up my booking. There was red all over telling me there was a schedule change. My outbound flight was changed from 11:30 AM to 11:33 AM. OK. I went to look at my Princess EZ Air information and it was still showing 11:30 AM at that moment. I just looked at it right now and Princess has changed it to 11:33 AM. There is no mention of any change at all on Princess, though the information is correct. I never received any email from Delta or Princess about the schedule change. My change is very minor, but some folks are faced with significant issues when this happens.

 

I think the point I want to make is that there is a lot of inconsistency and ultimately WE/OURSELVES are responsible to monitor and manage our EZ Air bookings. If you find something not right call Princess ASAP. I find they are typically quite helpful in these instances.

When a similar change happened to me, I received an e-mail from Delta informing me of the change....which, as with your change was less than a 5 minute difference. My guess is that either I gave them my e-mail during the seat selection/verification process or they had it since it is tied to my Skymiles account.

[caribill]

 

Let's get down to specifics.

 

Below -- all booking would be on Princess EZ air.

1. When I initial book with United will I be able to select my seats?

2. When I initial book with Delta will I be able to select my seats?

3. When I Initial book with Southwest will I be able to select my seats?

4. When I initial book with American will I be able to select my seats?

 

 

a) Southwest flights are not available on EZAir

b) Southwest does not do seat assignments. 24-hours before your flight* you can sign in to get a position in line. Then, once on the plane you can select any unoccupied seat. (*you can pay extra to automatically get a spot near the front of the line)

[majorjan]

I also wanted to double check prices and possible better flight schedules but was concerned I may accidentally cancel our existing flights. I was able to find the available flights by not logging in and then selecting "Plan a Cruise", then "Cruise Details" and then "Flight Quotes" on the black bar. This allows you to put in your flight options and get the quotes. This way there is no chance that you will accidentally cancel your existing flights.

 

Thank you!!! I was also afraid I'd accidentally cancel my flight! I did what you suggested, and was able to see my flight, and that it had gone up double now. A great tip!

[OhioDogLover]

We have used EZ Air periodically through the years and overall it was fine. At least, until this most recent cruise. This one has been a terrible experience. After a great deal of research, we ended up booking EZAir to London and back to Ohio. I was the coordinator for our group of 5. I have spent interminable amounts of time on hold, been told more than once that one of our party did not have tickets when she did, and argued with them when they did not ticket our return tickets until I called and insisted that they do so - less than 30 days before our trip. I contacted each airline and got seat assignments. For the one flight originating in the USA, that was simple except that the Princess tickets made it impossible to get the seats on line. The other 3 required time on hold with the airlines and fees to boot to get your usual coach seat. I'm not talking anything special, just coach seats. For some reason, the online seat selection process would not work for these tickets. The alternative was to wait until we got the airport. I'm willing to do that for a short flight in the states, but not for an international flight.

 

WHY? I don't know. Some of it is EZ Air. When I asked the LAST in a line of Princess reps why this was so difficult this time, she said, call the customer service line and complain if you want. I.e. "I don't care." Don't even get me started on the airlines these days. The only airlines who appear to give a darn anymore are Southwest (which we are not flying) and Air Canada (which we are). At least the Air Canada rep was nice after I was on hold for half an hour. It still cost me $30 each for coach seats from London to Toronto.

 

I guess the process has just become very difficult.

Next time, I don't know what I will do. I feel as if i should try to do something different. This was ridiculous.

 

Ohiodoglover

[spookyfudge]

For a 15 day land/sea cruise in Alaska this coming June, I booked EZ Air flights last fall, monitored them daily, re-booked twice for lower fares, then continued to watch the flights checking on them daily for further reductions. No further reductions showed up, and nothing changed on the flight portion of my personalizer on Princess—all flights remained the same. However, “something” made me plug my locator number into the DELTA website, and that’s when everything blew up. The flight to Alaska was now an hour earlier with a longer layover, but the worst part was that our return flights were no longer in synch. The flights all over lapped and did not line up at all. There were red exclamation marks all over the page and notices to contact Delta immediately. I did that, but was told since the flights were not yet ticketed, I needed to contact Princess/EZ Air. It took well over an hour on the phone with Princess and resulted in very satisfactory flights. However….

 

Two items of note here:

#1 I’m not sure what would have happened if I had not had the “feeling” to plug my reservation into the Delta website. The problem likely would have come to light at final payment, and then I’m sure it would have been much more difficult to find flights similar to the ones I had booked last fall

#2 When I asked what I could/should do to avoid something like this happening again, she said it seemed to her to be quite a fluke, but to be certain of your flights —since the airlines can and do change/cancel flights all the time—occasionally checking your reservation on the airlines’ website is good advice.

Finally, If Princess is indeed reading these boards—kudos to Ophelia, the Princess rep who worked so very hard for me to resolve this issue. Thank you Princess and Ophelia!

 

Similar thing happened to us. Except the flight got in an hour later and we would not have made the ship connection. I had to contact the airlines and they indicated it was their right to move the flight, but they would not charge me to book me on an earlier flight. so be careful on EZAIR

[gvre]

Yep, us too. Didn't matter, our seats had been changed when we did the checkin 24 hours in advance. You'll probably be Ok, but don't be surprised. If it happens, ask the flight attendants to help you get seats together. That was what they told us when we explained what happened (about 2 hours into the flight. They saw me waving at DH and asked what I was doing :) ). We asked everyone we could find what happened and to get us seats together, no one could help. The FAs say the people in the terminal don't help but that they can :D

 

Good luck

ML

Did you have business class and they kicked you out of your seats?

[azbirdmom]

I used to get phone and / or email notifications from United when any flight segment changed regardless of where I booked the flights but those stopped quite a while ago. For EZ Air, I used to get notifications on the CP and also via email when a United flight that I booked through Princess changed but clearly that didn't happen yesterday. By the way I ended up contacting the Princess Inventory Control person that I had worked with on this booking and mentioned all of this to her. She is working with the air department to make sure things are fixed on their end for this booking. Hopefully they will also look into why this change didn't create alerts as well.

 

Well I will correct what I stated yesterday. I got an email tonight from United about the flight that we booked through EZair that was canceled. Although they are a little late with this since I've already had United move us to new flights, I am pleased that United is in fact notifying passengers about the canceled flights. This is what they sent:

 

 

Important update on your upcoming flight

 

An update about your scheduled flight to/from Singapore

 

As part of an ongoing commitment to our Singapore market, United will modify our West Coast service to/from Singapore (SIN) on 27 October 2018 by adding a second daily flight to/from our San Francisco (SFO) hub and canceling our scheduled service to/from Los Angeles (LAX). With this change, we’ll deliver to our customers a highly requested route schedule, as well as improved connectivity across United’s network.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience. To minimize any impact this may have on your upcoming reservation, we are arranging convenient alternatives to your existing itinerary and will contact you soon to discuss options.

 

In the meantime, please feel free to call us at 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) or contact your travel agent if you have questions.

 

We look forward to welcoming you on board and thank you for choosing United.

[caribill]

Similar thing happened to us. Except the flight got in an hour later and we would not have made the ship connection. I had to contact the airlines and they indicated it was their right to move the flight, but they would not charge me to book me on an earlier flight. so be careful on EZAIR

 

Do not blame EZAir for this one. If you had booked directly with the airline they still would have changed the schedule.

 

By the way, even if the original flight schedule had been kept, flying in so close to the end of the cruise boarding period is very risky as I have been on numerous flights that for one reason or another arrive an hour or more late. The airline did you a favor making a change that forced you onto an earlier flight.

[caribill]

I contacted each airline and got seat assignments. For the one flight originating in the USA, that was simple except that the Princess tickets made it impossible to get the seats on line. The other 3 required time on hold with the airlines and fees to boot to get your usual coach seat. I'm not talking anything special, just coach seats.

 

If the airline policy is to charge for an advance seat assignment for "just coach seats," then it does not matter how you booked. EZAir or direct with the airline. Same problem either way.

[rockdoctor]

Very curious about you experience. Princess always notifies my TA about schedule changes and she forwards them to me. The changes were also on your CruisePersonalizer.

[NoWhiners]

Did you have business class and they kicked you out of your seats?

 

Yes, we had business class and they gave away our seats. We were still in business class but not next to each other--we were on opposite sides of the plane! It worked out fine (sat in the bar in the back of our cabin) but it was a bit annoying.

[CA Sissies]

Regarding my post yesterday about Princess EZAir misspelling my name:  First, I apologize for naming the travel agent.  Didn’t know the rules.  That being said, the travel agency (and three of their agents) were nothing but helpful.  My issue is with Princess.  Secondly, for the person who asked how my name was misspelled, it was spelled “Shelliel”, exactly as entered on my flight booking.  My name is Shellie.  My middle name is Lee.  My Princess cruise  was booked by Shellie Lee, the name on my passport.  All flight arrangements were made on Princess Cruise Personalizer.  For international flights, our identification for boarding flights, TSA clearance, Immigration, etc., is with passport, correct?  Why, then, was my flight booked for Shelliel?  Not Shellie Lee.  Not Shelliel Lee.  My conversations with both American Airlines and Air New Zealand told me this mistake could not be corrected without rebooking and both said it was likely that either the gate agents or TSA agents would not allow boarding the international flights because of the mismatch.  My “advocates” (Princess and travel agents) insisted this was not going to be a problem.  After another two hour call yesterday with both Princess and my travel agent, I knew I would get nowhere and, in order to get some sleep in the next month, I had to cancel the booked flights.  The penalty was hefty and I lost the seat upgrade premium I had paid directly to Air New Zealand.  This boils down to a financially painful way of finding holes in seemingly seamless processes.  

[Coral]

39 minutes ago, CA Sissies said:

Regarding my post yesterday about Princess EZAir misspelling my name:  First, I apologize for naming the travel agent.  Didn’t know the rules.  That being said, the travel agency (and three of their agents) were nothing but helpful.  My issue is with Princess.  Secondly, for the person who asked how my name was misspelled, it was spelled “Shelliel”, exactly as entered on my flight booking.  

The odd thing is that there was another thread about this. Also my boarding passes also take my first name and middle initial and blends them together also. They always seem to do this. I just looked at my boarding passes with Swiss and United all say Lastname/firstnamemiddleinitial.

 

I just looked at my traveler information for my united flight and it shows as FirstNameFirstitial an then last name.

 

This is how it always is and it works for me. I will try to find the other thread where others said it is normal also.

 

BTW - I booked these tickets myself using FF miles on 2 different FF miles involving 4 different airlines (American, British, Swiss and United). They are all the same spelling which blends my first name with my middle initial as one.

 

-----

 

I can't find that thread but found a different one: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2531566-ez-air-mangled-name-on-airline-documentation/  

 

 

Edited January 24, 2019 by Coral

[CA Sissies]

Thanks for the info.  My issue is a little different.  My eTickets list FIRSTNAMEMIDDLEINITIALSPACEMSSPACELASTNAME.  My passport spells out my full middle name (no middle initial).  In both AA and ANZ data bases, my first name was showing as Shelliel with no middle initial or full name.  The airlines agents are the ones who cautioned me about potential problems boarding.  My travel agents and Princess thought it would present no problems BUT THEY WOULD NOT GUARANTEE it.  And my point here is that Princess should have booked my flights with the passport information they require when you book their cruises.  Period.

[Coral]

9 minutes ago, CA Sissies said:

Thanks for the info.  My issue is a little different.  My eTickets list FIRSTNAMEMIDDLEINITIALSPACEMSSPACELASTNAME.  My passport spells out my full middle name (no middle initial).  In both AA and ANZ data bases, my first name was showing as Shelliel with no middle initial or full name.  

That is how some of mine are spelled out also. I think you would have been fine. Mine have always been similar to this. Even on the same reservation, it is listed a few different ways.

Edited January 24, 2019 by Coral

[PescadoAmarillo]

The blending of the first name and first letter of the middle initial has always been the case for our EZ Air bookings and we’ve never had any issue from it. In fact, DH has now been assigned a Captains Circle number under the blended name (which we never use to book a cruise). 

[AF-1]

My wife has had the blended name with middle name and last name together.  Not a problem with airlines; for those of you above who mention schedule changes.  Airlines revise and tweak their schedules every quarter;  they may change times and aircraft depending on demand for those routes.  Normally airline may or may not notify you if the schedule change is under 30 minutes.  Over 30 minutes; you have the option to change or cancel.

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

The blending of the first name and first letter of the middle initial has always been the case for our EZ Air bookings and we’ve never had any issue from it. In fact, DH has now been assigned a Captains Circle number under the blended name (which we never use to book a cruise). 

I agree. Just booked EZ Air yesterday and its the same.

Never been an issue.

[Coral]

13 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

I agree. Just booked EZ Air yesterday and its the same.

I think it is normal for airlines in general. My flights using FF miles though multiple airlines had the same system.

[CA Sissies]

Again, thank you all for your input.  I cancelled and rebooked with fees because the agents at both Air New Zealand and American said my personal data had been entered into their systems with my first name spelled incorrectly by Princess and that would LIKELY be an issue with gate agents and/or TSA.  Has nothing to do with the order of anything, initial, full middle or otherwise.  Sounded to me like a simple typo or someone failing to hit the Space bar between first, middle, last or whatever.  Travel agent and Princess assured me, but would NOT GUARANTEE me, there should be no problem.  Perhaps I was scammed, but a 70 year old woman (who is already subjected to body searches at every TSA stop because of lots of metal in my limbs) traveling alone halfway around the world and back wants to be guaranteed non-eventful boardings.  I had been on the phone with my agent and Princess for at least 7 hours in 3 days.  Enough.  

 

Enjoy your travels.

[Coral]

35 minutes ago, CA Sissies said:

Again, thank you all for your input.  I cancelled and rebooked with fees because the agents at both Air New Zealand and American said my personal data had been entered into their systems with my first name spelled incorrectly by Princess and that would LIKELY be an issue with gate agents and/or TSA.  Has nothing to do with the order of anything, initial, full middle or otherwise.  Sounded to me like a simple typo or someone failing to hit the Space bar between first, middle, last or whatever.  Travel agent and Princess assured me, but would NOT GUARANTEE me, there should be no problem.  Perhaps I was scammed, but a 70 year old woman (who is already subjected to body searches at every TSA stop because of lots of metal in my limbs) traveling alone halfway around the world and back wants to be guaranteed non-eventful boardings.  I had been on the phone with my agent and Princess for at least 7 hours in 3 days.  Enough.  

 

Enjoy your travels.

Next time - use a real agent and not a big box store. They are order takers. A real agent should have helped and gotten to the bottom of this. They have connections. I think what you did was unnecessary as my tickets always come out that way. Though, you can sleep better at night now. Have a good cruise.

Edited January 24, 2019 by Coral

[Desert Cruizers]

One thing I do is make sure I am alerted on my phone of any Changes up to and after departing from my Home city. I also check the over heads once at the airport and gate for any changes. There is a box to check when looking at you reservations on the Airline web site to be alerted and place for Phone #. After a Gate change in DFW and my charging cable going bad so couldn't charge my phone, I missed a gate change so bought a 12 hr charger to take with me. I probably will upgrade to the larger charger.