Poll on flights

[ohnonotmeagain]

I'm sure this has been asked many times but do you book with airline direct or use Ez air and more importantly why?

Thanks in advance. 

[johnmik1]

8 minutes ago, ohnonotmeagain said:

I'm sure this has been asked many times but do you book with airline direct or use Ez air and more importantly why?

Thanks in advance. 

Just returned home from Europe after a cruise on Regal and the price of the one way flight was $350 using EZ air and the price on the AA website was over $3000.Thats why I use EZ air!

[skynight]

Upside. Had flexible air using EZ Air. Just re-booked our return flight from FLL saving total $58 for two. Don't have to pay until final cruise payment date. Downside. If you want to upgrade to an extra legroom seat you can't do it on United until EZ Air pays United. This normally happens 45 days before flight, or can happen if you ask EZ Air to pay earlier and then you pay Princess for the flights.

[LAS!!1414]

I check pricing with EZ and airlines including using Frequent Flyer Miles. Usually EZ has the best deals plus you can make a reservation and are not required to pay until you pay for the cruise. In the mean time, I double check  EZ and sometimes the fare goes down ,so I rebook. With the airlines, you pay at the time of reservation and are then committed.

 

EZ air price last Oct = Newark to Barcelona  on UA was  $ 78 !!!   

[Seacreature101]

Love EZ air.  Just keep checking cost as you can get credit if price goes down with flexible air.  

[phabric]

I booked Flexible for Toronto, Canada to Athens, Rome to Toronto for our Med cruise in Oct on the Sky in 2018 when the price was released.

 

I check EzAir daily (Personalizer, travel arrangements, Modify booking) for the price, if it goes down I cancel and rebook with the new price and receive a new booking number each time.

 

I noticed that our return no only showed a non stop flight, the airline had cancelled the flight.  I booked an one stop flight with another airline and saved over $300/pp.

 

Checking daily the price goes up and down a few times, saving a few more $ when it goes down.

 

Yesterday, the price was down $177/pp, I cancelled and rebooked with the new price (same flights and seats).

 

From the time I originally booked I have saved nearly a $1,000/pp, checking daily and rebooking.  If, I had booked direct with the airline, I would have been  struck with the price.

 

At other times, I have booked Flexible and also check direct with airlines and found the airline was cheaper, cancelled EzAir and booked with direct with the airlines, you have the choice until final payment.

 

YYZ-ATH, FCO-YYZ originally priced - CDN $2,997 now $1,994/pp Premium Economy 

[minabruuke]

It just depends. EZ air doesn't offer all flights. You can get a great deal with EZ air but sometimes you also can't find your ideal flights and/or prices are identical. For US domestic flights I have noticed it is common to see EZ air pricing that appears at first glance to be the same as you can get directly through the airline but it is actually better because the fare on EZ air is regular economy and the ticket priced the same with the airline is basic economy. It seems like EZ air can really be a great deal for long haul international flights (especially one ways). Still EZ options are sometimes very limited out of certain airports so it is not always the best option.

 

As an example, I recently took a cruise with my mom and we live in different states. For her, we were able to book flexible EZ air regular economy tickets for the same price as basic economy tickets directly through the airline. For me, the choices through EZ air were extremely limited and not any better price wise so I booked through the airline to get cheaper flights that actually matched up with her flights. Interestingly, I was departing from a hub where you might expect more options and she left from a regional airport. You just have to check the prices and options for your trip to see what your best options are.

[LoriPhil]

Does EZ Air allow you to opt for business class when you first book?

[ohnonotmeagain]

I'm not sure, flights not available to book yet, just looking at options for the moment. 

[Colo Cruiser]

30 minutes ago, LoriPhil said:

Does EZ Air allow you to opt for business class when you first book?

Yes along with first as well.

[suekel]

45 minutes ago, LoriPhil said:

Does EZ Air allow you to opt for business class when you first book?

YES

[suekel]

I love EZ Air.  I've rebooked my flights for my next cruise 5 times, saving $300pp.  I could have gotten cheaper using my miles but I like to save my miles for non cruise vacations since EZ Air is always reasonable.  

[Jezabel2924]

I always check EZair and compare pricing and options.  For our upcoming cruise from Dover we booked EZair into London non-stop for $300 each and used points for the return flight.  

[cruisequeen4ever]

I go with whichever is cheaper. We use EZ-Air if we are booking 11 months in advance, since it’s refundable. If it’s close to the cruise, we will compare pricing and go nonrefundable directly through the airline if it’s cheaper. 

[reedprincess]

Direct with airline as EZ Air doesn't recognize my airport, always says it doesn't exist, please try again.  

[cherylandtk]

One more benefit to EZAir if also using Princess insurance....your flights are covered at no extra cost and you get next port protection in case of flight delays or missed connections.

[Reina del Mar]

Usually check prices and compare flights to see which suits us best. We give the Cruiseline our preferred flights to see what they can do to better the prices we have found. Then there's the advantage of them promising to get you to the ship...even though we usually fly in a few days pre cruise.

 

Our most recent experience , with RCCL and Easyjet ( low cost carrier) has been a nightmare though,  as The locator number to book extra leg room seats was not available until 10 days before, which was pretty stressful!...Not sure we'd do that again!

 

Think each scenario has its own benefits...but check terms and conditions with whatever you book.

[Cruise-Crazzy]

I compare prices and book cheapest.

 

[kennicott]

We almost always book flights, using various aspects of our airline's mileage program within the U.S. including Hawaii. For international travel though, we generally use E.Z. Air, Business Class, we don't fly coach international anymore. In recent trips to Europe, E.Z. Air has came up with some darn good B.C. one way fares. One problem with Princess and E.Z. Air, if you do your own Air, make sure everything is okay with Princess before you pay for the air. We learned the hard way, for a flight back to the States from Dubai. We had booked our own travel, like 7 months in advance. Even though our ship would be in Dubai 26 hours before the flight left they gave us nothing but grief over getting off the ship. They made us get a "Cruise Deviation" which we did but even then they were so snotty about it all I canceled the entire cruise. Almost canceled out Princess, period, and us with about 350 days sailing with them. Fortunately, subsequent cruises went well. All is forgiven.      

 

When using E.Z. Air we never use our resident city, Anchorage, as our "Gateway Airport" even though it is offered by E.Z. Air as such, we use Seattle instead. We cruise with Regent to, same goes for their Air. Reason, we can get to Seattle using our Alaska Air mileage program and if we use Anchorage as a Gateway, we often get booked on a carrier that has only one or two flights a day out of here to Seattle for connections there, if something goes awry due their cancellation here or big delay, we begin the journey in a mess. Whereas, Alaska Airlines has dozens of flights, so Seattle makes a good secure Gateway for us, plus, we go the day before our Seattle connecting flight too, which they won't let you do with cruise line Air. Only exception is, if we can get cruise line Air with Icelandair to Europe from Anchorage. Only seven hours to Reykjavik, Iceland, in first class.  

[deliver42]

I've only used EZ Air once, on our last cruise to Alaska. Got booked on Delta, round trip, at a great price, which was about $80.00 less than Delta's site, with the guaranty that we'll be on the ship on time, which we were. We usually fly in the day before, but that was my error, not Princess'. Very satisfied with EZ Air, and would use them again.

[wheezedr]

Like many I try both ways but find EZair generally wins out when doing one way cruises.  Just booked SFO into Buenos Aires with return from Santiago and no airline sites could get close in price.  Always have to defer to SFO as they insist on booking me via San Jose 

[Go-Bucks!]

Recently booked a cruise during a sale and part of the sale was Ezair flights.  I've never used them before but told my travel agent to check this time.

 

To my utter shock, the sale price for Delta r/t Ohio to Ft. Lauderdale was $33....total price!!  Wow, from now on I'll always have her check them and compare prices.  I usually fly Southwest domestically so no baggage fees, but even with baggage fees I'll be ahead.

[Cruiser_1977]

EZ Air. It was less expensive and the benefit of them getting me to the ship if something goes wrong.

[Hlitner]

I do not understand this "poll" concept.  The topic is simply the best option for booking one's air and the answer is you should analyze the available options and flights that meet your needs and make a decision based on the particular circumstances.  There is no one method fits all.  For example, we have an October cruise from Civitavecchia to Florida.  We made a decision that we wanted to fly over to Italy in lay flat Business Class seats.  A comparison of the EZAIR offerings versus booking through normal means quickly revealed that EZAIR had fantastic one-way Business Class fares from the USA to Rome.  But an analysis also showed us that using EZAIR round trip (which would include Business Class from FLL back to the Northeast made little sense (it was about $800 per person for that short 2 hour flight).  So we simply used EZAIR to get our one-way flight to Italy and will book Southwest to get a regular flight home from FLL.  

 

The reason we think a "poll" is silly is that each circumstance is going to differ.  So look at all your options (including EZAIR) and make a decision.   Decision making based on polls is kind of like a horse designed by a committee (you likely will get a camel).

 

Hank

[satxdiver]

For the last several years we have used EZair exclusively.  It has many advantages such as ability to cancel/change flights up to 45 days before, payment at the time of the cruise payment and assistance with problems while in transit.  I do check however to see if there is a cheaper alternative but so far I have not found any.  We are quite sold on EZair.