EZ Air questions

[moki'smommy]

I think I know this, but I'm going to review with you guys....

If I book EZ Air with a flex fare and I specifically select a non-stop flight, EZ air can still do anything they want with my flight and I could end up on a flight with a 6 hour layover. So the only advantage to booking this is that IF we had to cancel our cruise prior to the penalty period, our air would also cancel.

 

I can book at the same fare thru the airline, but that fare would not be refundable.

 

I'm a little concerned because before I booked the cruise, EZ air was showing multiple non-stop flights. Now they are only showing one, while the airlines are showing several. And even if I were to book with the airlines, they can still fool with my flights and give us something awful--I've had that happen! Decisions, decisions.....

[fishywood]

You can actuually change, refare, or cancel your EZAir flexible fare flights up to 45 days before your first flight. So you are protected even beyond final payment date.

 

As you say you are equally likely to be unfavorably time changed whether you book direct or thru Princess. I had found what a thought a too-good-to-be-true first class fare for my May Alaska cruise right after I booked. But less than a week after I selected it it was gone. Due to Delta deciding that the connection time in SLC was no longer viable. So not Princess' fault, and if any futher manouvering is done now that I have made final payment I can at least be (reasonably) confident Princess will still get me there on time and for the agreed upon fare. I ended up switching to flying in to YVR two days early, but have to get home ASAP after disembarking due to a family commitment coming up right after I booked. So fingers crossed...

[EllieR]

My experience has been that Princess honours the itinerary you selected. If there is a change, it's from the airline.

 

My suspicion is that the removal of non-stops from the EZ Air site is because the airline is no longer making that itinerary available for Princess bookings. This could be because, and this is only speculation, that the airline made so many seats available to Princess for bookings and that number of seats was reached. Of course, I'll happily eat my assumptions if someone has actual facts to dispute this. ;)

[satxdiver]

EZair gets airline tickets that the airline feels they will not be able to sell therefore it is a consolidator. As time goes by the airline may see a demand for tickets go up and withdraw any unsold tickets that they have granted to consolidators which include travel companies. The airlines however cannot withdraw tickets already sold or committed such as by EZair. The airlines can and do change their schedules every quarter to match the demand so your airline reservations can be altered by the airline at a later date. The moral is that the airline has to honor the ticket if the airline schedule supports it (i.e. direct flight still exists) or if the airline no longer offers a direct flight then the OP's ticket will have to be changed but the fare will remain the same.

[Micahs Grandad]

EZair gets airline tickets that the airline feels they will not be able to sell therefore it is a consolidator. As time goes by the airline may see a demand for tickets go up and withdraw any unsold tickets that they have granted to consolidators which include travel companies. The airlines however cannot withdraw tickets already sold or committed such as by EZair. The airlines can and do change their schedules every quarter to match the demand so your airline reservations can be altered by the airline at a later date. The moral is that the airline has to honor the ticket if the airline schedule supports it (i.e. direct flight still exists) or if the airline no longer offers a direct flight then the OP's ticket will have to be changed but the fare will remain the same.

 

Thanks for the info

[riffatsea]

Hmm? I thought that "flex fare just meant that you could change your mind and change the flight before the 45 day mark.

Once you pick your actual flight I didn't think that Princess would change it unless the airline made a change in the schedule.

IF you don't see a non stop listed with Princess that you would want then I'd book it with the airline.

We booked a flight with Princess but didnn't pay for it and have been informed of a schedule change by the airline that actually made it better for us.

The price on the airline site has gone up for our flight about $200 so we are happy that we bought from Princess but i don't think that happens for all flights.

[caribill]

Hmm? I thought that "flex fare just meant that you could change your mind and change the flight before the 45 day mark.

Once you pick your actual flight I didn't think that Princess would change it unless the airline made a change in the schedule.

 

 

When Princess first started the EZAir concept, they said that flights and pricing were not guaranteed for flex fares until you made final payment. Up until that time, either price or flights or both could change.

 

 

What it has evolved to is that as flights get booked (not just through Princess), the airline changes the fares, good old "supply vs. demand."

 

Princess then basically has a choice, to keep the fare you were quoted or the flight schedule you picked. What Princess has decided is that price is more important than schedule (at least they think passengers would be more upset with a price increase), so to keep the pricing Princess switches you to another flight schedule where the airline has not raised the price. This has nothing to do with the airline changing the scheduling of your originally selected flights; in fact your original flights may still be available, but at a higher price.