Flights changed with Princess EZ Air

[windango]

We booked our flights with Princess EZ Air a few months back for our upcoming cruise out of FLL on Dec 7, 2018. We're past final payment but haven't ticketed yet since it's still more than 45 days out. We chose an 11:50 a.m. flight out of FLL on American with a decent layover and that would get us back to the west coast at a reasonable time. Princess still shows our flights exactly as booked. But when I logged into the American Airlines website today to confirm all is well (we're traveling with my elderly mother) a red alert popped up stating our flights have changed. They now have us leaving FLL at 6:30 am. Obviously that's not possible. I plan to call Princess first thing on Monday since so many of you seasoned cruisers have mentioned that the Princess reps on the weekends aren't always as experienced as the weekly reps. However, I'd like to be prepared before I do call with alternatives that would still work and have found several flights that are OK. None are as great as what we originally booked, but acceptable. This is our first time using EZ Air and I'm not sure what to expect when I do call. Most of the flights have gone up in price and all of the decent alternatives are more expensive than what we'd originally booked. Does anyone know if Princess will allow us to book a flight now showing as more expensive than what we first booked while still keeping the price we originally booked under? Any and all comments are welcome. If it makes any difference we also booked Princess travel insurance.

[Hlitner]

Have you gone onto the Princess web site and looked at the current EZAIR flight options for your day?

 

Hank

[franktown]

On a recent cruise I booked Delta with ez-air and Delta made 4 flight changes in a 3 month period the last 51 days before departure. Two of them were minor but the last had me leaving FLL about the same time the shipped docked. I contacted princess and they immediately rebooked me on a acceptable flight. They honored the original price even though the current price was significantly more.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sorry you have to deal with this but at least its far enough out that you may be able to get more acceptable flights.

Its not the fault of EZ Air.

Airlines can change flights on a whim.

I think American is worse IMO as they have changed several of my flights in the past.

[windango]

Thank you everyone, that makes me feel better! I don't blame Princess at all, I know airlines change their flight schedules frequently trying to keep planes full and maximize efficiency. I've found several other EZ Air flights that will work so it's nice to know that others have had luck with getting rebooked on acceptable flights while keeping their original price, since prices have only gone up since we booked.

[caribill]

We booked our flights with Princess EZ Air a few months back for our upcoming cruise out of FLL on Dec 7, 2018. We're past final payment but haven't ticketed yet since it's still more than 45 days out. We chose an 11:50 a.m. flight out of FLL on American with a decent layover and that would get us back to the west coast at a reasonable time. Princess still shows our flights exactly as booked. But when I logged into the American Airlines website today to confirm all is well (we're traveling with my elderly mother) a red alert popped up stating our flights have changed. They now have us leaving FLL at 6:30 am. Obviously that's not possible.

 

Does the AA web site still show your original flights/times as still being available?

[Worldtraveler 4727]

This happened to us too last summer, and I certainly recognize your slightly panicked feeling. I called Princess and got a great rep. It took a while on the phone, but she was able to re-book us on acceptable flights and allowed us to keep the original price. I'm sure it will work out for you. :)

[moki'smommy]

Yes, in my experience, they will work out an acceptable flight at the original fare. If the airline does it after ticketing, you work directly thru the airline with the same results. It may not be exactly what you want or why you chose the original flight, but they'll come up with something that will work and they won't change your fare to do it.

 

We had one where they changed us from a Friday flight (Saturday departure) to a Saturday flight so late that we'd have missed the ship! Yes, they changed it an got us in on Friday.

[windango]

Does the AA web site still show your original flights/times as still being available?

 

The AA website is where the flight is showing now changed to departing at 6:30 a.m. and Princess still shows us leaving on that same flight at 11:50 a.m. Great tips from this board have made me check both sites frequently for changes. Clearly we can't make a flight that leaves before we're scheduled to arrive in port. Thanks to all that replied, I'll be prepared tomorrow with alternatives so we can make this work! Hopefully they'll also let me make the necessary changes to mom's flight too since we're all travelling together. She's close to 80 and easily confused so it would be awful if she ended up on another flight!

[LeeW]

The AA website is where the flight is showing now changed to departing at 6:30 a.m. and Princess still shows us leaving on that same flight at 11:50 a.m. Great tips from this board have made me check both sites frequently for changes. Clearly we can't make a flight that leaves before we're scheduled to arrive in port. Thanks to all that replied, I'll be prepared tomorrow with alternatives so we can make this work! Hopefully they'll also let me make the necessary changes to mom's flight too since we're all travelling together. She's close to 80 and easily confused so it would be awful if she ended up on another flight!

 

Fairly common for the airline or EZ Air to stick you on a different flight - are you sure that this is the same flight number? If the airline moves you more than an hour you can get a different flight at no additional cost (find flights that will work before you call). You might call the airline today and see if they will fix the problem.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

If it's not ticketed, the airlines will not handle it. Before then, it's a Princess issue.

[Tranquility Base]

If it's not ticketed, the airlines will not handle it. Before then, it's a Princess issue.

I have a query about getting a flexible ticket issued before the 45 days.

If I make full final payment early, (cruise & air) will the flight be ticketed ?

I would want to do this so as to be able to select seats for the flight with the airline.

 

Thanks.

[caribill]

I have a query about getting a flexible ticket issued before the 45 days.

If I make full final payment early, (cruise & air) will the flight be ticketed ?

I would want to do this so as to be able to select seats for the flight with the airline.

 

Thanks.

 

Full payment is always due weeks before the 45 day limit on making changes to EZAir, so just making final payment (early or on time) will not mean the ticket will be issued. You will have to specifically ask Princess to have the ticket issued if you want it issued before the 45 day deadline.

[Renmar]

We found this out a few days ago the hard way; the 45 day is counted from the day of your flight and not from the day of your cruise, (unless your flight is the same day as the cruise).

If you change your flight to flying in a day, or more, earlier than the departure date of your cruise your 45 day change option is reduced by the amount of days you fly in early.

Example; our cruise is November 18 but we fly in on the 17th. October 4 was the 45th day (counting back from cruise departure) that we could change our flight without an extra fee. That was also the day that our flight went down in price close to $ 150.00 Can. per person so our TA tried to change our booking online but unfortunately Princess website was down that day.

When she tried the next day we were told about the 45 day rule from flight departure. The EZair portion of the Princess website does not make any mention of that, it just states the 45 day from departure.

 

From the Princess website;

Worry-Free Booking With our Flexible air, you can change your flight up to 45 days prior to departure with No Change Fee. Book your flight now with no amount due until cruise final payment.

 

Not until you receive the air confirmation is it mentioned that itis from the day the flight departs (in very small print ofcourse).

 

No fees will be charged for changes and cancellations made more than 45 days from the outbound flight date or sail departure date (whichever is earlier).

•Tickets are nontransferable.

• In some instances, name changes will not be permitted, and will require cancellation and rebooking of flights. The original airfare and schedule may no longer be available

and a new reservation may need to be created at the current available price. If the current available price exceeds the original airfare, customer must pay the additional

charge.

•Change and cancellation can be made 45 days or less from the outbound flight date or sail departure date (whichever is earlier) and a fee starting at $150up to the full cost

of the ticket, perticket will apply.

• Prices are for e-ticket, per person and include all flight taxes and fees.

This showed us again to always read the fine print.

Theo

[Tranquility Base]

Thanks for the info.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Tranquility Base

[moki'smommy]

I have a query about getting a flexible ticket issued before the 45 days.

If I make full final payment early, (cruise & air) will the flight be ticketed ?

I would want to do this so as to be able to select seats for the flight with the airline.

 

Thanks.

As above, you have to specifically request that Princess ticket your flights early. This saves your current flex fare, but removes all the other flexible features (you can't cancel without penalty, take advantage of reduced fares if they happen, etc). But it does enable you to secure seats on those airlines that require purchased tickets first and allows you to deal directly with the airline for any issues such as changed flight times.

[windango]

I thought I would come back and report the outcome.  It took 5 phone calls and about 2.5 hours on the phone with Princess, but they did rebook our flights.  We'll end up sitting at the airport in FLL for a few more hours than we wanted but at least we'll get home!  The process is painful as when you call, the Princess rep has to relay your concern to the EZ air folks, they relay back an option or two and you go back and forth with the Princess rep in the middle.  Lots of time on hold and a pretty frustrating process, but in the end it worked out. 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, windango said:

I thought I would come back and report the outcome.  It took 5 phone calls and about 2.5 hours on the phone with Princess, but they did rebook our flights.  We'll end up sitting at the airport in FLL for a few more hours than we wanted but at least we'll get home!  The process is painful as when you call, the Princess rep has to relay your concern to the EZ air folks, they relay back an option or two and you go back and forth with the Princess rep in the middle.  Lots of time on hold and a pretty frustrating process, but in the end it worked out. 

Glad you got this worked out!  We had a similar issue last spring and the Princess rep was more than happy to unload me directly on the EZ Air rep when I asked to avoid all the to and fro.  The EZ Air rep was great and worked it all out while I was on the phone with him.

[sprint180]

Glad it worked out.  I booked with ez air for the first time this trip.  I have heard many stories good, and bad about ez air.  I am a bit nervous as my flight has changed 4 times since I booked.  I will have to remember to check Deltas website too.

 

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, windango said:

I thought I would come back and report the outcome.  It took 5 phone calls and about 2.5 hours on the phone with Princess, but they did rebook our flights.  We'll end up sitting at the airport in FLL for a few more hours than we wanted but at least we'll get home!  The process is painful as when you call, the Princess rep has to relay your concern to the EZ air folks, they relay back an option or two and you go back and forth with the Princess rep in the middle.  Lots of time on hold and a pretty frustrating process, but in the end it worked out. 

 

A couple of weeks ago I had a lengthy conversation with one of the EZAIR specialists (the people that really handle the EZAIR bookings).  It was an interesting conversation to say the least.  She explained to us that the same office handles the air for Princess, HAL, Seabourn and Cunard!  It is all the same system and they work with the same airline bulk ticket contracts across the 4 lines.  She further explained that her office had reached out to some of the reservations agents (the folks we get when we call the cruise line's toll free number) to explain that they (the EZAIR) folks are happy to help any passenger with specific problems.  But apparently the cruise lines instruct their own reservations folks to try to deal with most issues including EZAIR.  So the bummer is that we get stuck with reservations folks who really have minimal training/experience with air issues when there are real experts available.  

Our particular issue started when we called HAL with a specific air question regarding one of our current reservations.  The reservations clerk obviously had not information and was not helpful so we asked to be transferred to the air office.  The reservations person refused our request after telling us she was trained to handle the issue.  So we asked her to transfer us to the Mariners Club (this is HAL's frequent cruiser office) and asked them if they could please transfer us to the air office and give us a direct number (they did grant our request).  Once I got to the air office we quickly got answers to all of our questions plus she was able to quickly pull-up all the flight options.

Hank

[colville2002]

On 10/7/2018 at 8:34 PM, LeeW said:

The AA website is where the flight is showing now changed to departing at 6:30 a.m. and Princess still shows us leaving on that same flight at 11:50 a.m. Great tips from this board have made me check both sites frequently for changes. Clearly we can't make a flight that leaves before we're scheduled to arrive in port. Thanks to all that replied, I'll be prepared tomorrow with alternatives so we can make this work! Hopefully they'll also let me make the necessary changes to mom's flight too since we're all travelling together. She's close to 80 and easily confused so it would be awful if she ended up on another flight!

Fairly common for the airline or EZ Air to stick you on a different flight - are you sure that this is the same flight number? If the airline moves you more than an hour you can get a different flight at no additional cost (find flights that will work before you call). You might call the airline today and see if they will fix the problem.

Not sure if the UK EZAir is different but we had this happen to us recently (flight changes were over an hour and all four flights changed) but the flights we were changed to weren't impossible to make, just not at the times we wished (and with shorter transfer times in Heathrow than the travel agent originally recommended, to the point of her having to read a statement about it and confirm my agreement to said statement).  We got our travel agent to call Princess and they wanted to charge us the difference in the flight costs between our original booking price and the flights we wanted to change to, even though the flights we had been changed to were currently the same price as the ones we wanted. 

Our agent also wanted £50 per person admin fee for making the change (we didn't get our usual agent who I think would have waived that) but this meant we were going to be charged around £400 to change to flights more in keeping with our original booking.  Should we have been able to change to acceptable flights through EZAir with no charge given what you say?

[LeeW]

US rules require the airline to change flights for free if more than an hour changed but sounds like UK rules are not as generous.  If flight was with AA, would think that US rules would apply but if plane was actually code-shared from a European airline probably would not.

[colville2002]

Thanks Lee.  The EZAir booking shows it as booked with AA (for the transatlantic leg) but operated by BA, so maybe that's what it was.  I'll take a look and see if I can find anything on similar UK rules

[karabear15]

I'm having similar issues with EZAir and the airlines in general.  Times have all changed, and thats fine because it wasn't anything major.  The other day just before final payment was due I got a pop-up expressing that we needed to pick all new flights because there was a major change from one of the airlines.  I contacted my TA and expressed that our flights were still showing up as options to book through EZAir, so I was extremely confused.  Turns out our flight home changed the connection from LGA to ATL and it messed up the entire system.  Now however, when I log into my reservation on United Air's website, it's showing us leaving Friday and returning the following Saturday as originally planned, but on Delta's site, it's showing that we are leaving Saturday and returning the next Saturday.  So round and round we go trying to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it.

[windango]

10 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

A couple of weeks ago I had a lengthy conversation with one of the EZAIR specialists (the people that really handle the EZAIR bookings).  It was an interesting conversation to say the least.  She explained to us that the same office handles the air for Princess, HAL, Seabourn and Cunard!  It is all the same system and they work with the same airline bulk ticket contracts across the 4 lines.  She further explained that her office had reached out to some of the reservations agents (the folks we get when we call the cruise line's toll free number) to explain that they (the EZAIR) folks are happy to help any passenger with specific problems.  But apparently the cruise lines instruct their own reservations folks to try to deal with most issues including EZAIR.  So the bummer is that we get stuck with reservations folks who really have minimal training/experience with air issues when there are real experts available.  

Our particular issue started when we called HAL with a specific air question regarding one of our current reservations.  The reservations clerk obviously had not information and was not helpful so we asked to be transferred to the air office.  The reservations person refused our request after telling us she was trained to handle the issue.  So we asked her to transfer us to the Mariners Club (this is HAL's frequent cruiser office) and asked them if they could please transfer us to the air office and give us a direct number (they did grant our request).  Once I got to the air office we quickly got answers to all of our questions plus she was able to quickly pull-up all the flight options.

Hank

That's very interesting and I'd give good money for that direct phone number to the EZ Air folks!  On my third call, the Princess Rep who answered sounded like an older lady and she actually did patch me straight through to one of the EZ Air reps who was the one that was able to straighten it all out.  I ended up having to call back again the next day as my mom's ticket was still showing as voided/cancelled on the United site and once again, had to sit on hold while they contacted EZ air for me.  It seems like such poor customer service and a waste of the reps time as well.  I have to wonder why they insist so strongly on trying to handle it themselves and not directing us to the people that can really help.