ez air - what economy class am I booking?

[wheezedr]

On 6/22/2019 at 2:20 PM, ghstudio said:

 

The saga has not yet ended 🤔 

 

Going back to the EzAir web site and searching for flights, I get different results, prices and availability between flexible and restricted every time I search.  I've done it six times with the same search and I've gotten widely different results.  

 

I know airfares change often, but not minute to minute continuously.....

 

I think I'll just leave this, most of the afternoon, challenge for now and enjoy some nice bourbon by the pool.....

I have had this happen on multiple occasions.   If I find a fare I can live with, especially if it is a flexible, I grab it on the spot.  Later I can come back to see if something better shows up.

[crusinthrough]

I have not used EZ Air but on international flights one checked bag is included at no cost with most carriers. It doesn't matter, which cabin *first, basic economy, main etc.) that you are in. 

[gkkapp]

5 hours ago, crusinthrough said:

I have not used EZ Air but on international flights one checked bag is included at no cost with most carriers. It doesn't matter, which cabin *first, basic economy, main etc.) that you are in. 

Flew to England in May on United from Dulles.  Yes, international flights give you one bag free plus your carry on and one personal item.  Doesn't matter which class you are and if you fly from another city in the USA to a connecting airport you still get the one free bag because your flight is an "international flight" to begin with.  My personal item is a large purse (holds lots of stuff) and DH's is his camera bag.

Hope this helps.

<<<Karen>>>

[EllieinNJ]

We booked our United flights through EZ air months ago and was able to reserve our regular economy seats in the two across rows.  I just now checked our reservation on United and they changed our seats to an inside and aisle in the center.  They made ALL the two across on the whole plane "extra leg room" with an upcharge of $95 pp.

[polmcs]

15 hours ago, gkkapp said:

Flew to England in May on United from Dulles.  Yes, international flights give you one bag free plus your carry on and one personal item.  Doesn't matter which class you are and if you fly from another city in the USA to a connecting airport you still get the one free bag because your flight is an "international flight" to begin with.  My personal item is a large purse (holds lots of stuff) and DH's is his camera bag.

Hope this helps.

<<<Karen>>>

Not all airlines give 1 free bag on international flights. British Airways will offer a “Hand Baggage Only” fare, though I’ve not seen that fare class offered through EZ Air. One other thing to bear in mind, that traveling in economy when there is one free bag, gives a luggage allowance of 50lbs. Travel in business and that bag weight usually rises to 70lbs and increases to 2 to 3 bags depending on the airline. 

[gkkapp]

8 hours ago, polmcs said:

Not all airlines give 1 free bag on international flights. British Airways will offer a “Hand Baggage Only” fare, though I’ve not seen that fare class offered through EZ Air. One other thing to bear in mind, that traveling in economy when there is one free bag, gives a luggage allowance of 50lbs. Travel in business and that bag weight usually rises to 70lbs and increases to 2 to 3 bags depending on the airline. 

We have flown British Airways booked through EZair several times and always had the one bag free plan.  I think Princess would not do a "hand baggage only" plan since people using EZair are going on a cruise and would most likely have a "suitcase" plus a carry on.  I think you could get away with just a carry on on a short cruise perhaps to the Caribbean but a cruise in Europe is usually longer then a week.  Also, people might stay in Europe both before and after the cruise.  My only point was to the OP who asked if they got a free bag using EZair.  We never even come close to the 50lbs limit, either.

<<<Karen>>>     

[tothemall&beyond]

On 6/22/2019 at 6:20 PM, Astro Flyer said:

That’s always been my EZair experiences & appreciate confirming that’s still their policy.

 

Yesterday I booked a Flexible EZair flight on AA and was able to reserve seats which isn’t possible with their Basic Economy airfares until shortly before flying.

This is REALLY good news. We booked EZAir on AA for our flight to BCN in November 2020 as soon as flights were available. We were able to choose our seats immediately, and our rez has shown all along on the AA site, complete with our AAAdvantage numbers and our requested seats assigned. The one thing we couldn't ascertain was whether the rez (at an incredibly good fare) was Basic Economy or MCE due to Princess' confusing red letter boilerplate about baggage fees. I called AA a while back and they couldn't tell either - until the rez actually gets ticketed by Princess. Princess has repeatedly told us they don't do Basic Economy. So I guess, based upon your insights, that we do indeed have MCE and 1 bag pp will be included.  That's terrific news, if true. Thanks.

Edited June 25, 2019 by tothemall&beyond

[tothemall&beyond]

On 6/24/2019 at 8:22 AM, gkkapp said:

Flew to England in May on United from Dulles.  Yes, international flights give you one bag free plus your carry on and one personal item.  Doesn't matter which class you are and if you fly from another city in the USA to a connecting airport you still get the one free bag because your flight is an "international flight" to begin with.  My personal item is a large purse (holds lots of stuff) and DH's is his camera bag.

Hope this helps.

<<<Karen>>>

Not true anymore. This past year, many carriers (including AA) started charging $60 for the first bag on transatlantic flights if you have Basic Economy ticket. You only get the 1 free checked bag if you have MCE or higher.

[gkkapp]

1 hour ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Not true anymore. This past year, many carriers (including AA) started charging $60 for the first bag on transatlantic flights if you have Basic Economy ticket. You only get the 1 free checked bag if you have MCE or higher.

OP's original question involved EZair and I was just stating our experience with them regarding baggage.  I haven't looked at booking with the air line directly in several years as EZair has been less expensive and the flexible feature allows for price saving changes at no charge.  Sorry I bothered to response at all .

<<<Karen>>>

[tothemall&beyond]

2 hours ago, gkkapp said:

OP's original question involved EZair and I was just stating our experience with them regarding baggage.  I haven't looked at booking with the air line directly in several years as EZair has been less expensive and the flexible feature allows for price saving changes at no charge.  Sorry I bothered to response at all .

<<<Karen>>>

I am talking about EZAir, too! Not at all about booking directly with the airline. 

For the past 6 years, we have always used EZAir - for the same reasons you do. Also, because if something goes wrong on the cruise (as happened to us when the April 2018 Royal TA missed a debarkation port for about 300 guests), Princess will stand behind you and get you to your destination. Those without EZAir were on their own - even with Princess insurance.

But what I was specifically pointing out is that Princess now has a red letter blurb about baggage not (necessarily) being included on EZAir, and when you click the link, it brings you to the airline's site/policies. That's why people are asking if any EZAir fares are Basic Economy.

Please don't take it so personally when people just try to set the record straight with current, updated information.

[Astro Flyer]

4 hours ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Not true anymore. This past year, many carriers (including AA) started charging $60 for the first bag on transatlantic flights if you have Basic Economy ticket. You only get the 1 free checked bag if you have MCE or higher.

Yes & that’s why I always check to confirm current policy which for AA’s Basic Economy is:  $60 1st bag fee applies to Transatlantic Basic Economy tickets

 

Also with AA’s Basic Economy to/from Europe seats can be reserved at time of booking.

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[tothemall&beyond]

1 minute ago, Astro Flyer said:

Yes & that’s why I always check to confirm current policy which for AA’s Basic Economy is:  $60 1st bag fee applies to Transatlantic Basic Economy tickets

 

Precisely. That's why I'm hoping Princess reps are correct in telling us that EZAir is never Basic Economy. But, if so, why is Princess putting that caveat on the page? Guess I'll find out in September when they actually issue our tickets.

[Astro Flyer]

14 minutes ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Precisely. That's why I'm hoping Princess reps are correct in telling us that EZAir is never Basic Economy. But, if so, why is Princess putting that caveat on the page? Guess I'll find out in September when they actually issue our tickets.

 

Maybe that statement is included because Economy/Basic Economy tickets in North America have a baggage fee except for upper levels of frequent flyers & passengers with their chargecard.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[caribill]

7 hours ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Precisely. That's why I'm hoping Princess reps are correct in telling us that EZAir is never Basic Economy. But, if so, why is Princess putting that caveat on the page?

 

Because if you bring a second or third bag on that international flight, it is not free.

 

And if it is just a domestic flight, even the first bag is not normally free.

 

The warning covers all possibilities.

[gkkapp]

12 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Because if you bring a second or third bag on that international flight, it is not free.

 

And if it is just a domestic flight, even the first bag is not normally free.

 

The warning covers all possibilities.

Thank you, caribill-

That's all I was trying to point out.  We have used EZair for domestic flights and paid for a bag but never for one bag only on international flights.  And.....the red letter warning has been there for sometime (several years anyway) and I always check with the air line we've booked with to make sure.

<<<Karen>>>

[tothemall&beyond]

On 6/26/2019 at 1:23 AM, caribill said:

 

Because if you bring a second or third bag on that international flight, it is not free.

 

And if it is just a domestic flight, even the first bag is not normally free.

 

The warning covers all possibilities.

Caribill and gkkapp: I appreciate your comments, but please know that I am very well aware of the customary baggage policies for both domestic and international travel. We have travelled overseas extensively with EZ Air and never had to pay for baggage on any airline (we've had allowances of 1 bag per person to/from Europe and 2 bags per person to/from Asia). But I'm talking about the new caveat Princess EZ Air has for even the FIRST bag on international flights - which I personally have never had on any of my bookings till now. Here's the Princess blurb at issue that both our friends and us have on our most recent EZ Air bookings:

Prices do not include baggage fees of up to $200 for the first or second standard bag.

Notice that it says for the "first or second bag"...

Edited June 29, 2019 by tothemall&beyond

[tothemall&beyond]

On 6/25/2019 at 5:38 PM, Astro Flyer said:

 

Maybe that statement is included because Economy/Basic Economy tickets in North America have a baggage fee except for upper levels of frequent flyers & passengers with their chargecard.

maybe...

[pamwigs]

There are 4 fare types with EZAir

First Class

Business

Economy

Premium Economy

I believe the real driver on a fare is the city you leave from. Some places cost more. We are limited for the departure times. We don't want to fly in the middle of the night. I don't like EXAir. Not worth a few $ savings to have a flight changed 2 or 3 times. 

[polmcs]

Basic economy flights on AA are non changeable, even for elites. You can’t change dates and can’t change destination, or cancel with the usual fee and save the funds for a new ticket.This would be a very good reason for Princess to avoid offering EZ Air tickets in BE.

[chubbypiggy]

Two days ago I used Princess' site and booked Air Canada (RT L.A. to Vancouver).  After the purchase, I was given Air Canada's booking reference number.  So I went to the AC website and entered the reference number.  My booking came up, and under "checked baggage" section, it shows "1st bag complimentary". So I printed that page.

 

Yesterday, I went to the AC site again, and now under the "check baggage" section, it shows $30 for the 1st bag.

 

Wonder why it changed from "complimentary" to "$30"?  If I show the page that I printed 2 days ago showing "complimentary", will I not need to pay or still need to pay $30? 

[actnwrks]

We have flexible flights on American Operated by BA, with the flight home being an AA flight.  When trying to request our seats EzAir says we need to call the airline to book.  Do we call AA or BA?  Can we request and pay for premium seats or do we need to wait until they are ticketed?

 

[polmcs]

If the flights are marketed by AA (I.E. have AA flight numbers) then you should be able to go to AA.COM and use the PNR shown by EZ Air (6 character booking reference code) to select seats. For the flight marketed by AA , but on BA metal, when selecting “chose seats” the web page will ask if you want to go to BA.COM to do so and it will open a MMB (manage my booking) page on the BA site and automatically populate the BA PNR. It should be noted however, that unless you have OneWorld status with BA/AA, or other OW alliance carrier, you will be charged for any advance seat assignments on BA (If seated in First class, there is no charge to reserve a seat). You will not be charged for a seat assignment in economy, premium economy, or business if you wait until check in time, unless you opt for an exit seat, if available.

 

For the AA marketed and operated flight on the return, just do the same as above, but you will stay on the AA page and you can select a seat for free, or pay for the more desirable premium and more leg room seats. No charge for these if you have OW status.

[jgrahamiii]

I booked NY to Anchorage and then back from Vancouver via ezAir recently.  Bookings were considered "non-restricted".  I got L class for the outbound flight on United and U class inbound on Delta.  In both cases, I was immediately able to book seats, and once I was paid and ticketed (generally 45 days out, but I was able to call and get early ticketing), I could upgrade those seats for a price on the airline websites to add extra-leg room seats. Note sure about United, but in the case of Delta, this meant that I was clearly booked as "Main" cabin, and not "Basic" (Basic has no advanced seat reservation and no path to upgrade to Comfort Plus).  None of these fairs include luggage, nor did I expect them to, so I'm not sure if this information helps of not. One interesting thing, United offered me a "package" that included the extra leg room seats on both flights outbound plus one bag. The package price cost more than doing each of these separately.  Odd. -John

[Steelers36]

On 6/22/2019 at 6:20 PM, Astro Flyer said:

That’s always been my EZair experiences & appreciate confirming that’s still their policy.

 

Yesterday I booked a Flexible EZair flight on AA and was able to reserve seats which isn’t possible with their Basic Economy airfares until shortly before flying.

I just booked AA flights from BUF-FLL one-way on Princess site using EZ Air and when I went into AA website and entered my confirmation info, it came back and said I should contact AA or my TA to book/ticket the flight.  There was no offering to select seats.  This is what my past experience was with Air Canada years ago when I last used EZ Air. 

 

Are you saying you can select seats right away or have to wait until ticketed?  (I know we can ask Princess EZ Air to go ahead and ticket the flight but of course that removes the options to 45 days of cancelling, changing, etc for free.

 

Also, I did a mock booking for the same flight on AA website and for Main Cabin Economy, seat selection is $20 per segment or $29 for the extra seats.  EZ Air indicates contact airline for seats - except for some middle seats or seats towards the back.  Perhaps you meant selecting on the EZ Air site.  I want to at least pay to be close up front just in case Flight #1 runs late and we need to hustle to make connection.  

 

Thanks for any insight on doing this with domestic USA flights. 

 

PS - I have no AA status.  Just  a convenient itinerary at a good price.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by steelers36

[jgrahamiii]

My only experience was with Delta and United as posted above.  I had my Princess rep book the flights on the phone, but they were exactly the same flights I could have done on the EzAir website for same price (I had her do since we were booking 4 tickets under two different reservation numbers - what a pain that Princess doesn't allow two staterooms under one number!).  She confirmed for me that we would be able to select seats immediately, which I did by merely going to the United and Delta websites and entering confirm number and name info (I do have a frequent flier account with Delta, but my kids don't, and it worked for both sets of reservations).  I had paid in full, since we were under 60 days (though above 45). Not sure if that mattered.  I was able to select seats on all segments, but not anything that required an additional fee - so I could not get the extra leg room seats or the preferred, nearer the front of the plane seats at that time.

 

I then called Princess Air (via the regular number and a representative, and waited on hold a very long time, until a a very helpful Air rep ticketed us.  Once she did that, I could not longer change without penalty, but that immediately opened up the upgraded seats on the airline websites for a fee - same amount if I had booked directly with airline (for more money than EzAir). If I had waited until 45 days out, I could have avoided that wait, but I definitely wanted certain seats and wanted to make sure they were not gone at the 45 day mark (all the other extra leg room seats around me are still there, so it was probably a waste of time, but I didn't want to risk it).

 

I'd suggest calling the airline. -John