Flight Ease concern

[txmrs]

We have air reservations through Flight Ease for a late August cruise. I understand that because these are flexible fares, it is possible that the price could go up before the final air change date, 45 days ahead of the cruise date. Has anyone experienced an increase? The Holland rep says that it is very rare but that it could happen.

[Lady Arwen]

It could, but in many, many times of using Flight Ease flex rate, our rate never once went up. At one time I called HAL because I had your concerns and wanted to pay our cruise in full to lock in our air rate. The HAL rep said that after 8 years working for HAL they had never seen the price change prior to final payment and advised against our paying for our cruise in full 6 months before we had to. I'm sure you will be fine!

[txmrs]

Thanks, Lady Arwen. You have certainly helped to ease my concerns!

[kazu]

I booked my flight ease flight very early - probably as soon as they opened or a day after.

 

the price never changed and it worked well.

 

I know they have that "out" but my PCC told me the same thing that Lady Arwen was told so I wouldn't stress about it too much ;)

[Globehoppers]

Its really the airlines themselves changing routing or increasing prices. "Flight Ease" is the same as Princess "EZ Air." Several EZ Air threads over the years have discussed airline routing changes for "flex" fares as airline aircraft load factors change and/or prices change. EZ Air and "Flight Ease" will try to get you to your destination without increasing prices. However, you may be routed via a much longer flight or stops/change planes are added.

[Lady Arwen]

Its really the airlines themselves changing routing or increasing prices. "Flight Ease" is the same as Princess "EZ Air." Several EZ Air threads over the years have discussed airline routing changes for "flex" fares as airline aircraft load factors change and/or prices change. EZ Air and "Flight Ease" will try to get you to your destination without increasing prices. However, you may be routed via a much longer flight or stops/change planes are added.

Not once did our flights change stops or routes or planes. Everything stayed exactly the same, except for once our departure flight time back to Toronto was changed by 3 minutes and we were informed immediately.

[CJcruzer]

I was told that the base fare would not change, the only thing that could affect the fare are taxes, surcharges....,

 

Not sure if this is true, but that is what HAL said.

 

 

If you find a lower fare, you can always drop the flex fare from your reservation, before final payment.

[MajMom96]

We’ve used flight ease several times for European itineraries and have never had our fares increase, even though the direct booking with the airline fares for the same schedules increased significantly as we approached our departure date. We would check the airline rates periodically just to assure ourselves that we were getting a good deal with flight ease and we were always pleased. [emoji483]

 

 

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[kevingastreich]

We’ve used flight ease several times for European itineraries and have never had our fares increase, even though the direct booking with the airline fares for the same schedules increased significantly as we approached our departure date. We would check the airline rates periodically just to assure ourselves that we were getting a good deal with flight ease and we were always pleased. [emoji483]

 

 

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We used them for Seattle to Copenhagen and return NY to Seattle for $501pp. I thought that was a fantastic deal!

[AryMay]

One word of caution...be very careful going online and checking prices once you have booked flights through HAL. I was curious what the fares would be if we left from a different airport so logged into my account to check.

 

A month later I noticed that the air reservations were no longer showing up on my account. Called HAL and they said the reservations had been cancelled online. YIKES! I have no idea how that happened nor did I get any warning that they were being cancelled. All I did (to my knowledge) is change the airport location to see which flights were available.

 

I was able to rebook the same flights although it came at a cost...$125 dollars more. The outcome would have been much worse if I wouldn't have discovered the cancellations until closer to our cruise. :(

[MajMom96]

One word of caution...be very careful going online and checking prices once you have booked flights through HAL. I was curious what the fares would be if we left from a different airport so logged into my account to check.

 

 

 

A month later I noticed that the air reservations were no longer showing up on my account. Called HAL and they said the reservations had been cancelled online. YIKES! I have no idea how that happened nor did I get any warning that they were being cancelled. All I did (to my knowledge) is change the airport location to see which flights were available.

 

 

 

I was able to rebook the same flights although it came at a cost...$125 dollars more. The outcome would have been much worse if I wouldn't have discovered the cancellations until closer to our cruise. :(

 

 

 

I don’t check the flight pricing through flight ease, I check on the airlines site directly, as though it’s a new booking. I don’t put in any info that could impact my original reservation through flight ease. It’s too easy to click a wrong button! [emoji12]

 

 

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[AryMay]

I don’t check the flight pricing through flight ease, I check on the airlines site directly, as though it’s a new booking. I don’t put in any info that could impact my original reservation through flight ease. It’s too easy to click a wrong button! [emoji12]

 

 

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The pricing on the airline website is not the same as Flight Ease pricing (which is one of the main reasons I booked my air through HAL.) Had I booked the same flight directly through the airline the cost would have been much higher.

 

And unfortunately you can't check the rates on HAL without having a cruise booked and logging into your account. Princess will let you check rates without being logged in to your account so it is much easier to do a dummy booking and check flight options.

[MajMom96]

The pricing on the airline website is not the same as Flight Ease pricing (which is one of the main reasons I booked my air through HAL.) Had I booked the same flight directly through the airline the cost would have been much higher.

 

 

 

And unfortunately you can't check the rates on HAL without having a cruise booked and logging into your account. Princess will let you check rates without being logged in to your account so it is much easier to do a dummy booking and check flight options.

 

 

 

🤣🤣🤣Yes, I know that the airline site will show different pricing than HAL. DUH! If you had read my previous post, you would see that I am simply saying that I watch the actual airline pricing to be sure I’m still getting a good deal with flight ease, and I’ve always found that I get a much better deal through HAL. My comments were to help alleviate any concern that the OP had about flight ease pricing being increased.

 

 

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[AryMay]

🤣🤣🤣Yes, I know that the airline site will show different pricing than HAL. DUH! If you had read my previous post, you would see that I am simply saying that I watch the actual airline pricing to be sure I’m still getting a good deal with flight ease, and I’ve always found that I get a much better deal through HAL. My comments were to help alleviate any concern that the OP had about flight ease pricing being increased.

 

 

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I am simply saying that checking prices on the airline website is not really that helpful. I would like to be able to check the cruiseline prices and monitor for changes without worrying that my reservation will get cancelled. I am not the only one that this has happened to as you read on another thread:https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2638787&page=2

 

The Flight Ease fares can go up but (and although not as common) they can go down. Because the fares are "flexible", I was able to rebook my reservations on Princess when prices dropped, but only because I was able to monitor the fares on their website. Checking prices on HAL is how my reservation got cancelled.

[boards]

Not once did our flights change stops or routes or planes. Everything stayed exactly the same, except for once our departure flight time back to Toronto was changed by 3 minutes and we were informed immediately.

 

That has been our experiences with flight ease and low and behold today, I checked into our flight information and guess what, our return flight time to DTW was changed by eleven minutes. That kind of change is the only kind changes we have experienced. No big deal.

[AncientWanderer]

One word of caution...be very careful going online and checking prices once you have booked flights through HAL. I was curious what the fares would be if we left from a different airport so logged into my account to check.

 

A month later I noticed that the air reservations were no longer showing up on my account. Called HAL and they said the reservations had been cancelled online. YIKES! I have no idea how that happened nor did I get any warning that they were being cancelled. All I did (to my knowledge) is change the airport location to see which flights were available.

 

I was able to rebook the same flights although it came at a cost...$125 dollars more. The outcome would have been much worse if I wouldn't have discovered the cancellations until closer to our cruise. :(

 

Thank you for sharing this, AryMay. I have what I think are good flights locked in to Hong Kong, but I have been so tempted to log into my HAL account and do a search to see if there is something better. I didn't because I thought I might mess things up. You have convinced me not to touch my booking. I may fish around for cheaper independent flights, but if I find something, I'll call HAL -- not try to make changes myself.

[MajMom96]

That has been our experiences with flight ease and low and behold today, I checked into our flight information and guess what, our return flight time to DTW was changed by eleven minutes. That kind of change is the only kind changes we have experienced. No big deal.

 

I’ve never had to check flight ease for updates. I get an itinerary change emailed to me by HAL every time there’s a flight update, no matter how minor. And then shortly after that, I get an update from the airline.

[Lady Arwen]

I’ve never had to check flight ease for updates. I get an itinerary change emailed to me by HAL every time there’s a flight update, no matter how minor. And then shortly after that, I get an update from the airline.

There are times when small changes will show up on your reservation before an email is received, sometimes as much as 24 hrs.

[drowelf]

I’ve never had to check flight ease for updates. I get an itinerary change emailed to me by HAL every time there’s a flight update, no matter how minor. And then shortly after that, I get an update from the airline.

 

Ditto here on that. There have been a couple of small changes to our August Flights that I booked back in December. Its the kind of things that always happens as the Airlines tweak their schedules. We've had 2 aircraft swaps on our domestic legs, that resulted in our departure 3 minutes later and on our final leg home the swap results in us sitting up front and arriving 5 minutes earlier, as the new plane has a FC cabin and we are travelling Business on the TATL legs.

 

Every time this has happened, I've gotten an email from my TA showing the updated itinerary. With the upgrade to FC, I did have to go onto the airlines site and choose some new seats, as our old seats were back in coach.

 

Cheers,

[MajMom96]

There are times when small changes will show up on your reservation before an email is received, sometimes as much as 24 hrs.

 

 

 

I guess I’ve never been that concerned. Especially when the flights have minor changes every few weeks when the cruise is still months away. I don’t need up to the minute updates until we’re a few days away from leaving to the airport. But usually by then, the airline schedule has settled down and rarely changes.

 

 

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[MajMom96]

Ditto here on that. There have been a couple of small changes to our August Flights that I booked back in December. Its the kind of things that always happens as the Airlines tweak their schedules. We've had 2 aircraft swaps on our domestic legs, that resulted in our departure 3 minutes later and on our final leg home the swap results in us sitting up front and arriving 5 minutes earlier, as the new plane has a FC cabin and we are travelling Business on the TATL legs.

 

Every time this has happened, I've gotten an email from my TA showing the updated itinerary. With the upgrade to FC, I did have to go onto the airlines site and choose some new seats, as our old seats were back in coach.

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Nice! What a great feeling to have to go in and choose FC seats! [emoji1303]

 

 

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[harryw]

Just to clarify, is it true that Flight Ease flex fares are not locked in and may increase before final payment?

[canadianbear]

5 minutes ago, harryw said:

Just to clarify, is it true that Flight Ease flex fares are not locked in and may increase before final payment?

Yes, it is possible for it to increase before final payment but not likely from what I’ve read in the past.  We’ve used Flight Ease several times and always better price than direct with air line and it never increased before final payment.

[bjnor]

On 6/12/2018 at 2:34 PM, AryMay said:

One word of caution...be very careful going online and checking prices once you have booked flights through HAL. I was curious what the fares would be if we left from a different airport so logged into my account to check.

 

A month later I noticed that the air reservations were no longer showing up on my account. Called HAL and they said the reservations had been cancelled online. YIKES! I have no idea how that happened nor did I get any warning that they were being cancelled. All I did (to my knowledge) is change the airport location to see which flights were available.

 

I was able to rebook the same flights although it came at a cost...$125 dollars more. The outcome would have been much worse if I wouldn't have discovered the cancellations until closer to our cruise. 😞

I also had this same experience - had great flights with pricing, but was curious about leaving from a different airport.  No warning that my existing reservation would be cancelled - after searching for issues with flightease I saw your post, but it was too late.  I was able to redo my flights and actually get a better deal, albeit with another airline, but do be careful about checking online once you have found flights you like.  I found that the Flightease fares are excellent.

[Cajuntraveler]

I am considering using HAL Flight Ease for a cruise scheduled for August 2019.  I have questions that are not answered on HALs web site.  I have always made my own flight arrangements but HAL's rates look attractive for my August cruise.

 

If I am a member of the airline's frequent flyer program do I earn the usual miles for the flight booked through HAL?

I get free baggage through a credit card with a couple of airlines.  Do I still get the free baggage benefit if I book through HAL?

Can I make my own seat assignments? (HAL's web site says seat assignments are not guaranteed??)

What benefits, if any, am I giving up by booking through HAL vs directly with my favorite airline?

 

If I understand correctly, I can add a flight to my cruise reservation and not pay for it till I make the final payment for my cruise.  The fare is not guaranteed, but from what I have read on this feed, the price of the flight rarely increases.

Thanks for sharing your experience with Flight Ease!