EZAir Domestic Flights

[BigGuy25]

We’ve used EZair many times, but always for international European flights, and always saved considerable money over booking direct.  We recently booked a Vancouver to Hawaii cruise for September 2020.  Our flights are Phoenix to Vancouver and then Honolulu to Phoenix.  Currently, the EZair first class fare is exactly the same as booking directly through the airline.  What’s your experience?  I realize I’m looking at a booking almost 10 months out.  Should I expect EZair fares to drop when we’re six months out, etc?  Thanks.

[azbirdmom]

It really depends on the airline.  I also book flights from Phoenix and usually stick to United.  They tend to have high fares when they are released and then they have always come down in time.  Anything can happen obviously but I have never paid fares as high as they are when initially released.

[frugaltravel]

I have always booked airfare separately from the cruise line because I found it less expensive than EZ Air. But I did book a flight to Vancouver and back from Los Angeles recently through EZ Air because it was less expensive than what I could get directly through the airline. So obviously it is a matter of ymmv.

[polmcs]

We found that our flight from SoCal to Vancouver on EZAir was pretty much the same price as we could book direct with the airline, but as we were looking at a flex fare on EZ Air, we were not locked into the price/non refundable, so we were not only able to take advantage of a fare drop, but we also changed our routing and get a quicker overall travel time. That would have been impossible if we had booked direct with the airline unless there was a significant change in their schedule. 

[flamomo]

If for no other reason, booking using EZAir's flexible schedule leaves you the option of changing your reservations up until 45 days out from the date of the first flight. So if fares later, but before 45 days, go down, you may want to take advantage of the opportunity to pay less. Or you find EZAir flights with some other advantage like a better schedule, you may want to cancel and rebook.

Once you book direct with an airline, you are locked into the booking and have to pay for it at the time of booking. Not so with EZAir, as the air portion can wait till final payment to be paid.

But then, you know all this stuff, having used EZAir for international flights.

JMHO, but using EZAir for both domestic and international flights makes the most sense, even if the prices are the same as the airline's.

Edited November 6, 2019 by flamomo

[AF-1]

Hi,  we used EZAir for our trip in Feb.  Domestic flight to Florida. Booked 11 months out;  airfare dropped twice during the 11 months;  we would not have been able to change to the cheaper flight on airline website;  with EZAir we saved money because we could re-book to the lower price without any penalty.

[PoohUnderstands]

3 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Hi,  we used EZAir for our trip in Feb.  Domestic flight to Florida. Booked 11 months out;  airfare dropped twice during the 11 months;  we would not have been able to change to the cheaper flight on airline website;  with EZAir we saved money because we could re-book to the lower price without any penalty.

Yes, I was in the same boat.  In fact my airfares went down several times and I am still not taking the cruise until March, but have rebooked my EZair flights 4 times since initial booking! However, the last time I rebooked that better fare only lasted 24 hours and then went up.  In fact, today, the same flights I booked are $542 more!!!!  So to answer your question, the best way to go is to book the first day flights are available as sometimes they are the lowest and you can get a choice of all available flights and usually the "best" are gone pretty quickly.  Definitely book only flexible flights.  Then, I literally quickly check daily(easiest way is to "Save" your cruise and then can go to quickly to check flight costs);  my best decrease was, as I said, only available for 24 hrs.  So if I had not checked daily would have missed it.  I enjoy being my own TA, and checking is part of my daily routine of checking email, etc.

 

Pooh

Edited November 6, 2019 by PoohUnderstands

[knbcruisers]

Pooh is correct...book as soon as the scheduling opens and then check frequently. I had 3 price reductions of about $120.....and then I saw  Monday. that the original outbound flight was cancelled. I was able to rebook another flight the same day and keep the original return. And actually saved another $40

[caribill]

20 hours ago, flamomo said:

JMHO, but using EZAir for both domestic and international flights makes the most sense, even if the prices are the same as the airline's.

 

Some airlines are never included in EZAir. Main one not included is Southwest, an airline that often offers the best domestic fares, especially when you take baggage fees into account (2 checked-bags at no charge on Southwest).

[mevs904]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Some airlines are never included in EZAir. Main one not included is Southwest, an airline that often offers the best domestic fares, especially when you take baggage fees into account (2 checked-bags at no charge on Southwest).

 

Very true.  We prefer to fly Southwest for our domestic flights so we don’t use EZAir for those.  We did book EZAir for our Baltic cruise last August and had an excellent flights to and from Copenhagen on SAS with a good price.  We will certainly consider them in the future.

[Globehoppers]

For US domestic flights EZAir is more of a convenience than it is for good prices.  EZAir is great for international flights where airline overcharge fees are prevalent and where one-way or multiple city departure/arrivals are needed.  The real benefit of EZAir domestically in the US is the "flexible" fare schedule which permits changes up to ticketing.

[Kamloops50]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:34 PM, BigGuy25 said:

We’ve used EZair many times, but always for international European flights, and always saved considerable money over booking direct.  We recently booked a Vancouver to Hawaii cruise for September 2020.  Our flights are Phoenix to Vancouver and then Honolulu to Phoenix.  Currently, the EZair first class fare is exactly the same as booking directly through the airline.  What’s your experience?  I realize I’m looking at a booking almost 10 months out.  Should I expect EZair fares to drop when we’re six months out, etc?  Thanks.

If you found the flights you want. Booked them as Flexible and check prices regularly . If they drop you can change. The advantage EzAir Flexible you pay at final payment and can cancel up to 45 days before the cruise.

[palolake]

In our situation at least, EZair is the same price as Basic Economy with the airlines but it's Economy class with EZair. 

[Cruiser_1977]

My EZAir FC ticket nonstop to LAX (booked about 300 days out) has consistently been at least $300 cheaper than booking direct with the airline. The price I paid has continued to be less expensive than when I've run the search again. The cost difference between economy and FC has been consistent as well.

Edited November 7, 2019 by JennyB1977

[knbcruisers]

2 hours ago, palolake said:

In our situation at least, EZair is the same price as Basic Economy with the airlines but it's Economy class with EZair. 

This is important to know.  The airline websites and the big online travel sites will show you the Basic Economy price which is not great since you can’t pick seats, or purchase the upgraded economy plus seats.  EZAir is booking you in standard coach seats.  

[palolake]

3 minutes ago, knbcruisers said:

This is important to know.  The airline websites and the big online travel sites will show you the Basic Economy price which is not great since you can’t pick seats, or purchase the upgraded economy plus seats.  EZAir is booking you in standard coach seats.  

 

And sometimes you have to pay for your carry on!

[ColoradoMom!!]

We are using EZair for the first time as it was included ($250 per person) in our cruise fare for our LA departure trip to Hawaii in Jan 2020.

 

I found it very easy to use, and rebook as my itinerary changed.  We decided to fly into SNA a few days early to go to Disneyland.  The fare has been under the $250, so I haven't spend any money.  The only downside is paying for luggage which we normally don't do because we would use Southwest for CA airports with free bags.

 

My question is, when should we request seats?  We are on United.

Edited November 7, 2019 by ColoradoMom!!

[caribill]

1 hour ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

We are using EZair for the first time as it was included ($250 per person) in our cruise fare for our LA departure trip to Hawaii in Jan 2020.

 

I found it very easy to use, and rebook as my itinerary changed.  We decided to fly into SNA a few days early to go to Disneyland.  The fare has been under the $250, so I haven't spend any money.  The only downside is paying for luggage which we normally don't do because we would use Southwest for CA airports with free bags.

 

My question is, when should we request seats?  We are on United.

 

When I recently made an EZAir booking that included a domestic United flight, the EZAir process allowed me to pick seats then.

 

You may want to go to the United web site now with the United booking number you were given and see if you can select seats now.

[frugaltravel]

2 hours ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

The only downside is paying for luggage which we normally don't do because we would use Southwest for CA airports with free bags.

How is that a "downside"?  Would you rather pay for bags or pay much more for a ticket that includes "free" bags?  That is the deception with Southwest that many people (fortunately not you!) often miss.  They see "FREE BAGS" with Southwest and don't look at the total cost, which with Southwest can sometimes be more than another airline if one considers both price and bag fee.

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by frugaltravel

[7SeasLover]

We will be using EZ Air for the first time for an Ireland/Scotland cruise in April, 2021. (Two couples traveling together.). I want to arrive in London at least 3 days in advance to tour, as my brother has never been there and I want him to see as much as possible. We will likely hire private tours, etc.

 

can we still use EZ Air if we are arriving 3 or 4 days in advance? We also want to use the Princess transfer to Southampton, too. I presume we would just have to get back to Heathrow to meet up with Princess for the transfer. 

 

We want to stay in London a few days after the cruise as well, and use EZ Air to return to LAX. Does anyone know if this is doable through EZ Air? 

 

Last question... can we upgrade seats to Business or First Class on EZ Air? Thanks for any insight you can offer!

Ginny

Edited November 7, 2019 by 7SeasLover

[azbirdmom]

2 minutes ago, 7SeasLover said:

We will be using EZ Air for the first time for an Ireland/Scotland cruise in April, 2021. (Two couples traveling together.). I want to arrive in London at least 3 days in advance to tour, as my brother has never been there and I want him to see as much as possible. We will likely hire private tours, etc.

 

can we still use EZ Air if we are arriving 3 or 4 days in advance? We also want to use the Princess transfer to Southampton, too. I presume we would just have to get back to Heathrow to meet up with Princess for the transfer.   Yes, just insert your desired arrival date when making the reservation.  You would need to make your way back to the transfer pick up location on embarkation day.

 

We want to stay in London a few days after the cruise as well, and use EZ Air to return to LAX. Does anyone know if this is doable through EZ Air?  Yes, just insert your desired departure date when making the airline reservation.  You'll need to find your way back to the airport as Princess transfers would only be applicable on disembarkation date unless you book a hotel package with them.

 

Last question... can we upgrade seats to Business or First Class on EZ Air? Thanks for any insight you can offer!  You can select Business or First Class from the dropdowns when making the reservation.  In terms of upgrades though, that gets a little trickier because every airline has their own rules about that.  I usually book United and have contacted them to get on the upgrade waitlist using miles + copay after the flight has ticketed.  I wasn't as lucky doing that for Lufthansa, even with a United codeshare.  Check the airline rules about upgrades as they can be quirky when it comes to "bulk" tickets.

Ginny

 

[7SeasLover]

Princess hotels? I didn’t know we could book precruise hotels. I’ll have to search their website for info!

[ColoradoMom!!]

4 hours ago, frugaltravel said:

How is that a "downside"?  Would you rather pay for bags or pay much more for a ticket that includes "free" bags?  That is the deception with Southwest that many people (fortunately not you!) often miss.  They see "FREE BAGS" with Southwest and don't look at the total cost, which with Southwest can sometimes be more than another airline if one considers both price and bag fee.

 

Frugal Travel - love your name.  Actually if I was given the option to use SW by EZAir, I would be way under my $250 RT fare allowance from DEN - LAX - guess I should have put it that way.  Free is free - but having traveled DEN to LA area so often, if you plan ahead, you can score some great deals on SW.  While I always price out the competition, I find that SW usually is the best rate for me.  I am flying one way for example next month for $65, so adding the free bags is truly Frugal Travel! 

[Kamloops50]

15 hours ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

Frugal Travel - love your name.  Actually if I was given the option to use SW by EZAir, I would be way under my $250 RT fare allowance from DEN - LAX - guess I should have put it that way.  Free is free - but having traveled DEN to LA area so often, if you plan ahead, you can score some great deals on SW.  While I always price out the competition, I find that SW usually is the best rate for me.  I am flying one way for example next month for $65, so adding the free bags is truly Frugal Travel! 

SW isn't an airline on EzAir.

[frugaltravel]

2 hours ago, Kamloops50 said:

SW isn't an airline on EzAir.

Obviously from what Coloradomom wrote she already knows that. Well obviously it was not obvious to everyone 🙂