EZAir - For the Win

[Cruiser_1977]

I have never booked airfare through the cruise lines. I decided for my trip in January 2020 to at least look at it. The exact same flights in the same class on one of the travel sites are only $66.60 less expensive. I think the following advantages are worth the extra money:

* Book your flight now with no amount due until cruise final payment.

* Ensures you'll get your cruise if flights are delayed or cancelled, and we'll get you home if for any reason the cruise or Princess transfer cause you to miss your return flight.

* With our Flexible air, you can change your flight up to 45 days prior to departure with No Change Fee.

 

[trbarton]

21 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

I have never booked airfare through the cruise lines. I decided for my trip in January 2020 to at least look at it. The exact same flights in the same class on one of the travel sites are only $66.60 less expensive. I think the following advantages are worth the extra money:

* Book your flight now with no amount due until cruise final payment.

* Ensures you'll get your cruise if flights are delayed or cancelled, and we'll get you home if for any reason the cruise or Princess transfer cause you to miss your return flight.

* With our Flexible air, you can change your flight up to 45 days prior to departure with No Change Fee.

 

 

I agree with you. A very good reason for going through Princess especially if you get a lower fare.  I like the idea that you don’t have to make any payment until your final payment is due plus you have protection incase something happens with your flight. It’s like having free insurance for your flight. 

 

Tom😀

[Tedferg]

Is EZ Air paid at Final Payment or 45 days before sailing ? I ask because some airlines don't allow seat selection until 'Paid' and wondered when 'Paid' occurs. Another benefit is flight is covered under Princess Trip Insurance, right ?

[Grburkart]

I found EZair to be literally thousands of dollars cheaper on my business class flight from Barcelona to Edmonton. Plus all the other benefits you mentioned are worth their weight in gold. 

 

Glenn

[DrivesLikeMario]

The great thing about flexible EZ Air is that if the price goes down, you can re-book and get the lower price.  I really love that feature and of course, the reassurance that they'll get you to your destination if problems arise.  Traveling in January can be a bit risky with the weather, so that's always a good feature to have.

[triple7tahoe]

From my recent experience- We received an offer for a cruise out of Australia with "up to $300 off EZAir"  We booked the cruise and the discount was given. Chose premium economy on Qantas a little over 6 months ago and were able to select seats at that time. I continued to check airfare and found slightly less expensive but would lose the $300. I was also told  that if we changed we would have to see if seats were still available and might lose those as well. I am now seeing airfare for our flight is almost double what we paid. We are three weeks away from our departure.

[Diver2014]

We're using EZAir in May and as soon as I made our reservation, they showed as 'booked' so I was able to select seat assignments on both the domestic leg and the transatlantic leg.  Prices were a lot cheaper than booking on our own.

[Xyla]

We used EZAir to book our business class seats from TX to Athens (and home from Rome) and got a great deal at $2k each. Actually I booked at 2.4k, then kept checking and a month later found another flight considerably cheaper. Since we are still a ways away (cruise is in July) it was super easy to modify the flights at no charge. I've been able to select seats each time. I also continually check directly with the airlines and the same seats have never been less than $4k. I haven't actually flown yet but so far, so good.

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

* Ensures you'll get your cruise if flights are delayed or cancelled, and we'll get you home if for any reason the cruise or Princess transfer cause you to miss your return flight.

Our last experience with Princess EZ Air is a perfect example of this.  The Sapphire Princess was delayed entering the port of Shanghai due to fog.  By the time we were able to dock, we were told we would miss our EZ Air flights to Hawaii, though they didn't take off for four hours (since disembarkation in Shanghai, is, in the best of circumstances, time consuming and fraught with frustration). 

 

It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun and it wasn't quick, but, in the end, we were booked on new flights, transferred to an extremely nice hotel in Shanghai, and then, the next day, provided breakfast and a transfer to the Shanghai Pudong Airport. Though the re-booked flights were not of our choosing (code share flights, neither of which was on the booked airline, we couldn't get boarding passes for the connecting flight until we arrived at Incheon airport, and we had only 60 minutes between flights), we knew that, if something went wrong again, we would be re-booked at Princess expense and our hotel, if necessary, one way or the other would be paid for.

 

Those people with independent arrangements to fly out the same day were given access to the internet and phone on the ship (both bogged down to a crawl) to try to make their own arrangements.

 

I add Princess Flexible EZ Air to every cruise booking we make.  We can decide at final payment (or even later) whether to keep the flights.

 

BTW, we flew non-stop to London for $157pp and Shanghai to Honolulu for $337pp.  We couldn't come close to those fares if we had booked commercially.

[flamomo]

It's important to keep monitoring fares fairly frequently as you await your cruise. The fares go up and down quite often.

For some cruises I have cancelled and rebooked the flights more than once when there was a decrease, or if there were flights that better suited us, at the same or even a better price. There have been times when our fares have gone down several hundred dollars per person.

What's great is that you don't have to bother calling Princess to get those changes; just do it yourself online.

 

Until recently, I have only used EZAir for international flights, but for my cruise in a few months, just for the heck of it, I checked to see what sort of deal I could get for a flight between FL and LA using EZAir. Found a direct flight on Delta for $60!!!, which I booked immediately.

[firecrewcapt]

We use EZ Air all the time and I have found that if you click on First Class in the drop down window the price is usually cheaper if you had clicked on Business Class.  We end up in Business Class at a cheaper rate, that's my experience. This works for domestic and International flights.Just saying.

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Is EZ Air paid at Final Payment or 45 days before sailing ? I ask because some airlines don't allow seat selection until 'Paid' and wondered when 'Paid' occurs. Another benefit is flight is covered under Princess Trip Insurance, right ?

It’s paid at final payment but some passengers report paying earlier depending upon their airlines policy for advance seat assignments.  

 

I book in Economy & have always been able to immediately make an advance seat assignment on actual US air carriers flights (not a codeshare on a non-US airline).  Most of the non-US airlines I’ve flown charge a seat assignment fee prior to check-in although Air New Zealand didn’t charge a fee.

 

My experience has been that our flights in Economy issued a ticket number when booking long before final payment.  Others have different experiences & pay EZair prior to final payment to request seat assignments.  There are many variables in airline policies so experiences can vary.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[trbarton]

2 hours ago, triple7tahoe said:

From my recent experience- We received an offer for a cruise out of Australia with "up to $300 off EZAir"  We booked the cruise and the discount was given. Chose premium economy on Qantas a little over 6 months ago and were able to select seats at that time. I continued to check airfare and found slightly less expensive but would lose the $300. I was also told  that if we changed we would have to see if seats were still available and might lose those as well. I am now seeing airfare for our flight is almost double what we paid. We are three weeks away from our departure.

 

Did you have to pay for your seat assignments? I’m on Qantas next month to Sydney & I had to pay $30 each for seat assignments or wait until

at the airport. 

 

Tom🤔

[triple7tahoe]

Tom,

We are on the same cruise as you; We are also on the one just before.

I have not paid any extra-I am not sure just when my requested seats (I did request via Qantas website as soon as I had confirmed my flight) became "MY Seats". I have been following the CC blogs and saw the problems some were having getting desired seat assignments so I kept watching Qantas site. I would do a trial booking so see if the seats I had requested were available and they kept showing up as NOT available. In the last week or so, I started having trouble signing onto the Qantas site with the booking number given to me by the airline and kept getting an error message-"Try back later".  Gave up and called Qantas and got recording saying they were experiencing high volume; try at different time. Tried at O-dark thirty; tried at midnight; tried two or three other times with same results.  Finally pushed one and waited-It took 24 minutes but I finally got through-I won't say the agent I got was super pleasant but she confirmed that the seats I had requested, where, in fact, mine. I tried to find out how I was supposed to get early boarding pass on line and she could not tell me. I am guessing we will just go over to SFO a little early and take care of it there.  With all the luggage we are taking, should be fun and probably not a BART trip (That is certainly the way to go for us)  Presently dealing with transfer in Hong Kong to hotel.  beginning to look like taxi, again because of luggage. It will be interesting to leave from the old airport since I did that many a time in much earlier trips.

[Colo Cruiser]

4 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Is EZ Air paid at Final Payment or 45 days before sailing ? I ask because some airlines don't allow seat selection until 'Paid' and wondered when 'Paid' occurs. Another benefit is flight is covered under Princess Trip Insurance, right ?

It is paid at final.

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

It’s paid at final payment but some passengers report paying earlier depending upon their airlines policy for advance seat assignments.  

 

I book in Economy & have always been able to immediately make an advance seat assignment on actual US air carriers flights (not a codeshare on a non-US airline).  Most of the non-US airlines I’ve flown charge a seat assignment fee prior to check-in although Air New Zealand didn’t charge a fee.

 

My experience has been that our flights in Economy issued a ticket number when booking long before final payment.  Others have different experiences & pay EZair prior to final payment to request seat assignments.  There are many variables in airline policies so experiences can vary.

Thanks Astro and Colo Cruiser - I asked on behalf of fellow travellers, we have Miles on Alaska for our flight to Vancouver prior to Alaska. Friends got a sweet non-stop on Air Canada and it shows $18 charge for seat assignment - don't know if there is a charge once it is 'Paid'.

Edited February 16, 2019 by Tedferg

[Astro Flyer]

12 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Thanks Astro and Colo Cruiser - I asked on behalf of fellow travellers, we have Miles on Alaska for our flight to Vancouver prior to Alaska. Friends got a sweet non-stop on Air Canada and it shows $18 charge for seat assignment - don't know if there is a charge once it is 'Paid'.

Checking the Air Canada website their are fees for advance seat assignments prior to check-in for Economy seats.

 

https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/fly/onboard/preferred-seats/online-advance-seat-selection.html

Edited February 16, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[Tedferg]

Thanks again Astro, looks like it is worth the fee to select seats.

[Astro Flyer]

19 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Thanks again Astro, looks like it is worth the fee to select seats.

You’re welcome...we usually pay for an advance seat assignment particularly on long flights.

 

I don’t know the AC policy but on other airlines I’ve flown the fees were non-refundable.  As I recall each Flexible EZair airfare reduction was a cancellation & rebooking so the fee would be lost.  For that reason I wait until deciding that I have the best flight & airfare combination before paying for a seat assignment.  Airlines I’ve flown allow me to check seat options after signing into my reservation & based on availability my experiences have been that not many pay for seats long in advance.

Edited February 16, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[Thrak]

Our flights from Sacramento to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic are less than 10% of the cost anywhere else for the exact same flight numbers. Can't beat that pricing.

[azbirdmom]

We have saved thousands booking EZ Air.  We try to fly United given our "status" with them and the extra perks that go along with that.  It used to be that only the international routes showed significant discounts on EZAir vs. other websites but for at least a year we've noticed the same for domestic flights too.  I appreciate that I can change the flights for more savings up until 45 days prior to departure.  Or be able to drop the flights entirely before then if I choose to use miles.  It really is a fantastic deal.

[tanyaewa]

“I add Princess Flexible EZ Air to every cruise booking we make.  We can decide at final payment (or even later) whether to keep the flights.”

 

absolutely.  And I go back frequently to check for better pricing and have usually found it.  We love using it from YVR

[polmcs]

I’ve used EZ-Air for the first time on my Vancouver to LA cruise in November. I hadn’t thought about EZ-Air for domestics, so I had booked and paid for flights on Alaska Air. The day after I had booked, there was a huge schedule change and I was moved to a flight that departed 4hrs earlier than I had previously booked and that time did not work at all. There was a similar flight time available, but as I had actually booked the flight as an American codeshare and they didn’t offer the new flight as a codeshare, I couldn’t switch to that one.

 

I then got a mail from Princess advertising EZ-Air, so I took a quick look. I found a reasonable fare to Vancouver on AA (vs. my original flight to Seattle with a car rental to Vancouver) which matched what I could see on ITA Matrix, except obviously, I didn’t have to pay in advance on what would be a non refundable ticket if buying direct from AA. I called AA and cancelled the Seattle tickets for a refund due to the schedule change and booked via EZ-Air. I added my AA frequent flier number and I was able to go to the AA site and select seats for my flights. I also get free luggage to boot! 😉

[beg3yrs]

9 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Is EZ Air paid at Final Payment or 45 days before sailing ? I ask because some airlines don't allow seat selection until 'Paid' and wondered when 'Paid' occurs. Another benefit is flight is covered under Princess Trip Insurance, right ?

You've had several answers to this question and while none of them are "wrong", they haven't been complete.

 

You pay Princess for your flights at Final Payment. Princess doesn't pay the airlines until the 45 day before sailing and may take another week or so after that. It's at the 45 day point that you no longer have the opportunity to change or even cancel your flights altogether. So, the airline won't show your ticket as "Paid" until Princess pays them.

 

If you want Princess to pay them early so you can select seats, you must call and ask for this to be done. They'll be happy to do so but you will waive the right to change or cancel at that time.

[Retired_Army]

As has been stated, the seats are really guaranteed until the airline has been paid, usually about 45-days out. You can ask Princess to pay them early at which point they become restricted fares and cannot be changed without penalties.  You will need to do this if you want to "upgrade" the seats to economy plus or whatever you airline calls it.

 

Some airlines, e.g. Delta/American, allow you early boarding privileges if you possess one of their co-branded credit cards.  Others, like United, require you to purchase the ticket with that credit card to enjoy the privilege. In that case, even if you charge the amount of your airfare to that card, you won't see the benefit as the airline is paid as part of a bulk fare purchase from Princess Cruise Lines.