Possible Downside to Using EZ-Air

[JayRich65]

Sorry, a little long, but wanted to try to fully explain. 

I've used EZ-Air at least 5 times without any hiccups, but our flights to our cruise this summer have gotten caught in the downside.  Let me first say, it would not be as big of a problem, if I didn't really want to stay with DELTA/SkyTeam, as of today, I could book flights on other airlines a little bit cheaper or right around the same price but I want to stay on my preferred airline. 

The last couple of flights to Europe, I've taken a direct flight from IAD then connected.  This trip I chose to flow out of my local airport and connect to direct flight to LHR (final destination).  For outbound, Delta has changed my departure time by about 16 hours earlier (from 7AM to 3pm day before, with 2 connections) because it cancelled the 7AM flight, for the inbound Delta moved the connection about 3 hours later, so now I have a 7+ hour layover in JFK, neither of these are ideal, but I guess workable.  Since these flights have not been ticketed, Delta is under no obligation to change to desired flights.  I talked to my TA and the only way to change flights, is to now accept what is available on EZ-Air at that current prices, or accept the changes.  Presently there are very limited options on Delta coming home all including an overnight stay at JFK.  At the end of the day, I'll keep checking both Princess EZ-Air and Delta, currently booking Delta direct is about $300 more in total.

Anyone else run into the downside?

[riffatsea]

I am really confused by your post?

Are you saying that when Delta changed the time of your flights that there were no other flights you could switch to on EZ Air? Delta doesn't have to change the flights for you at all since you haven't paid for them and assuming you booked the EZ Air changeable option why can't you just change to the flights you want using EZ Air?

That's the part that I don't understand. Why is your TA involved at all?

I have booked through an agent but I book the EZ Air myself separately.

Edited February 5, 2020 by riffatsea

[thinfool]

Lotta information missing.  No way to make a knowledgeable comment.

"Home airport"?

Travel dates?

Destination(s)?

 

Also, I did not see a question....only rather random musings and facts.

 

And this might have more success in the "Cruise Air" forum.

Edited February 5, 2020 by thinfool

[CATGUY7]

I am facing a somewhat similar issue.  Purchased EZ Air one way business class  from Vancouver to Cincinnati, routing through Seattle.  At that time, there were only overnight flights available.  Not ideal, but the price was good.   

 

When checking the flight three weeks ago on the Delta site, I noticed that there was a schedule change, and a message that the 65 minutes we had to change planes in Seattle may result in a missed flight.  I have not ticketed the flights yet.  Final payment is due in April.  Delta won’t discuss the issue, and EZ Air doesn’t have seats available on a flight plan that doesn’t consume 15-16 hours of the day we return.  

 

Not sure how I feel about losing the ability to deal with Delta on a changed flight.  I haven’t contacted EZ Air since I don’t see any other flights on the schedule that work. 

 

If i ticket the flights now, will I have the ability to deal with Delta directly?

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree very confusing. 

When is your cruise?

 

Not sure why it would be the fault of EZ Air if airlines change their flights

[JayRich65]

Sorry facts, I was intentionally trying to be a little vague, EZAir booked 7/12 - RIC-JFK-LHR, 700AM - 10:45PM, Delta cancelled 700 flight RIC-JFK, so automatically rebooked RIC-LGA-BOS-LHR, leaving 7/11 at 245PM, arriving 7/12 715AM.  There is a desirable option to change going over RIC-DTW-LHR, but then the problem is changing the return (as I'm not sure if I can only change one leg). 

I'm on the 1235pm on 7/27, LRH-JFK-RIC, originally about a 3 hour layover is now a 7 hour layover arriving RIC at just before mid-night on 7/27.  The only return flights on Delta now being offered is leaving late afternoon on 7/27, requiring overnight layover at JFK, which is actually more expensive then I originally was quoted.  So, yes it appears until it's ticketed, airline takes no responsibility for schedule changes and I'm stuck with the auto rebook.  I did book EZAir directly, but I called TA for advice and see if there were any other options.

Once it is ticketed, then yes Delta will help with flight changes, but it has not been booked yet.

 

[Thrak]

I think Delta is evil. They have changed my flights a number of times. Once they changed a flight from Sacramento to Seattle to Fairbanks and turned it into a flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Minneapolis/St. Paul to Fairbanks. No thanks. They have changed my return flight to one that left before the ship was due to dock. Nope. Last time they changed one of my flights to arrive half an hour after the next flight left. Nope, nope, nope.  I end up with Delta flights because they are pretty much what is available when I leave Sacramento or return there. Not because I like Delta. We're booked for flights to Australia this November. I won't hold my breath for Delta to not mess with the flights.

[riffatsea]

Are you saying that there are no other EZ Air flights offered on Delta and that is why you are stuck with those?

IF they are not ticketed then you are not "stuck". Just cancel and book what you want on the Delta web site.EZAir doesn't offer all flights on every airline.

 

I generally like Delta. All airlines change flights and you have the right to accept the change or ask for something better IF the change is more than a certain amount of time(not sure of that number)

 

EZ Air is only good because you can get a lower price if the price changes for the better and you don't have to pay for the flight right away. I check EZ Air and make sure my account on the airline is up to date with my email and text for them to tell me about changes.

Booking air tickets far in advance is a crap shoot as to the airline keeping the schedule intact without any changes!

 

[phred119s]

Just my personal experience from our original June cruise booking (we had to change to July a little over a week ago, bye Delta...). 
 

Delta has constant schedule changes. I swear it’s more than other airlines though all have them. But in our case, our arrival in Copenhagen was 2 hours later than we originally booked. I was told we would have to pick new flights. The prices weren’t even comparable so no. I waited it out a month for another schedule change which resulted in not having a legal connection. Called Princess again after verifying with Delta that Princess can indeed change it due to schedule changes. They changed the flights without a legal connection and the original flight I was complaining out the month prior with no pricing changes. (Both out and back had changes a month apart.)

 

as many have suggested over time, call back until someone can do it. 

[Mud_Shark]

same problem - different airline.

 

It makes me want to ticket early so that I now can deal direct with the airline when there is a change, and they usually try to give you as good a routing as you had at the same price.

 

Don

[caribill]

7 hours ago, CATGUY7 said:

I am facing a somewhat similar issue.  Purchased EZ Air one way business class  from Vancouver to Cincinnati, routing through Seattle.  At that time, there were only overnight flights available.  Not ideal, but the price was good.   

 

When checking the flight three weeks ago on the Delta site, I noticed that there was a schedule change, and a message that the 65 minutes we had to change planes in Seattle may result in a missed flight.  I have not ticketed the flights yet.  Final payment is due in April.  Delta won’t discuss the issue, and EZ Air doesn’t have seats available on a flight plan that doesn’t consume 15-16 hours of the day we return.  

 

Not sure how I feel about losing the ability to deal with Delta on a changed flight.  I haven’t contacted EZ Air since I don’t see any other flights on the schedule that work. 

 

If i ticket the flights now, will I have the ability to deal with Delta directly?

 

Yes, but since you will be ticketed on the new schedule EZAir has provided, Delta does not have to make a change to your preferred flights at no additional cost. You may end paying quite a bit for different flights dealing with Delta.

 

If the 65 minutes is considered a legal connection, then Delta is under no obligation to make changes for you for free.

[frugaltravel]

This is totally an issue of a traveler's desire to be a captive of one airline or alliance. I was a Delta captive for years and had platinum status with them. Then my eyes were opened to take the best price/connections and to become a "free agent." Never looked back and never regretted my decision.

 

[riffatsea]

I agree that I would not be "captive" to any airline!!

IF Delta doesn't fly non stop to where I wish to go I happily switch to another airline who does.

IF Delta's schedule /flight times are not as good as other airlines then bye bye Delta.

There is no point in remaining loyal to one airline at the expense of having terrible connections!!

[susancruzs]

I rarely cruise and return to same city, so I use EZ air all the time.  As long as I'm flexible (retired), it saves me a great deal of money on one way fares.  I can't imagine trying to be restrictive with it though. 

 

I like Delta but they do change flights often.  For my NYC to MKE in Sept. I've received at least 3 or 4 emails of changes.  It is o.k., because direct flight, rarely do I get direct to Milwaukee.  I'm flying American and SAS to Copenhagen, no changes yet.

[AF-1]

The choice is up to the OP.;  they want to stay with Delta; that is their choice.  By staying with Delta they have to deal with schedule and time changes.  Since the ticket has not been paid for; they have the option to search EZ air for different airlines to LHR.  It is surprising that Delta has bad connections to LHR.  They fly from ATL,JFK, BOS, DTW.  So not sure why the OP can not get decent connections.  Keep us posted.  Have fun out there.

[Globehoppers]

13 hours ago, Thrak said:

I think Delta is evil. They have changed my flights a number of times. Once they changed a flight from Sacramento to Seattle to Fairbanks and turned it into a flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Minneapolis/St. Paul to Fairbanks. No thanks. They have changed my return flight to one that left before the ship was due to dock. Nope. Last time they changed one of my flights to arrive half an hour after the next flight left. Nope, nope, nope.  I end up with Delta flights because they are pretty much what is available when I leave Sacramento or return there. Not because I like Delta. We're booked for flights to Australia this November. I won't hold my breath for Delta to not mess with the flights.

 

Not limited to Delta.  Exact same experience with United who tried to re-route me through 4 stops to get from TPA to YQB City, one of which arrived after the connection departed.  The "only" alternative was to overnight at EWR.  And another time when they tried to route me through ATL to connect with a flight to LAX for a further connection to SYD with the connection time in ATL being the minimum allowed 45 minutes.  After an hour-plus on the phone they changed the routing to depart from MCO and saved m $500!  There are almost always weather delays flying out of TPA during summer months.

[frugaltravel]

I agree with Globehoppers - major schedule changes aren't only an issue with Delta. I recently had a 3 hour schedule change with a domestic flight on American. Have had plenty with United too. In many ways I love schedule changes - it gives me the flexibility to choose almost any option with that airline regardless of what the cash price would have been. This is always AFTER I buy the ticket. I rarely use EZAir, even for one way tickets. Options for one way international tickets are available. One just needs to know where to look to get the best prices (i.e. lower than EZAir).

 

[PoohUnderstands]

5 minutes ago, frugaltravel said:

I agree with Globehoppers - major schedule changes aren't only an issue with Delta. I recently had a 3 hour schedule change with a domestic flight on American. Have had plenty with United too. In many ways I love schedule changes - it gives me the flexibility to choose almost any option with that airline regardless of what the cash price would have been. This is always AFTER I buy the ticket. I rarely use EZAir, even for one way tickets. Options for one way international tickets are available. One just needs to know where to look to get the best prices (i.e. lower than EZAir).

 

"where to look".........  where would that be?(would this just be for economy?  I am just interested in a site where bus./first would be less than EZair.

 

Pooh

Edited February 5, 2020 by PoohUnderstands

[Rick&Jeannie]

I'd like to share an experience that I had with EZAir.  You don't always see all available flights!  I usually try for EZAir since it has generally given me better pricing than going direct with Delta (my preferred airline as well).  A couple of cruises back I picked a flight combo (roundtrip) from what showed on the EZAir selections.  I really was not overly happy with the connections that I had for 1 leg of the flight, but I was willing to live with it if that's all that was available.  On a whim, I plugged in the same trip direct into Delta's site.  It came back with a couple of MUCH better connections.  I made note of the flight numbers and then called EZAir.  When I explained what I had done and gave the rep the desired flight numbers she plugged me right in and made the change for me!  No explanation as to why it did not show up on the EZAir selections.

[PoohUnderstands]

Just now, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'd like to share an experience that I had with EZAir.  You don't always see all available flights!  I usually try for EZAir since it has generally given me better pricing than going direct with Delta (my preferred airline as well).  A couple of cruises back I picked a flight combo (roundtrip) from what showed on the EZAir selections.  I really was not overly happy with the connections that I had for 1 leg of the flight, but I was willing to live with it if that's all that was available.  On a whim, I plugged in the same trip direct into Delta's site.  It came back with a couple of MUCH better connections.  I made note of the flight numbers and then called EZAir.  When I explained what I had done and gave the rep the desired flight numbers she plugged me right in and made the change for me!  No explanation as to why it did not show up on the EZAir selections.

will keep that in mind.  Thanks.  So far I book when EZair is immediately first available and have gotten great flights and connections when needed.  I have noticed that some of my flights further along the way but still 3-6 months out, no longer show as available on EZair.  So I always book my flights at 330-300 day mark to get, in my experience, the best possible flights and connections.

 

Pooh

[Globehoppers]

4 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'd like to share an experience that I had with EZAir.  You don't always see all available flights!  I usually try for EZAir since it has generally given me better pricing than going direct with Delta (my preferred airline as well).  A couple of cruises back I picked a flight combo (roundtrip) from what showed on the EZAir selections.  I really was not overly happy with the connections that I had for 1 leg of the flight, but I was willing to live with it if that's all that was available.  On a whim, I plugged in the same trip direct into Delta's site.  It came back with a couple of MUCH better connections.  I made note of the flight numbers and then called EZAir.  When I explained what I had done and gave the rep the desired flight numbers she plugged me right in and made the change for me!  No explanation as to why it did not show up on the EZAir selections.

 

Happened to me, as well.  Cruise line air consolidators are limited in what they can offer by cruise line rules.  For example, they may not show mid-morning flights since  a ship could be delayed clearing port security forcing ,missed flights/connections, directing all options to PM flights.  

[frugaltravel]

14 minutes ago, PoohUnderstands said:

"where to look".........  where would that be?(would this just be for economy?  I am just interested in a site where bus./first would be less than EZair.

 

Pooh

I use a - heaven forbid - travel agent that specializes in discounted international airfares. Yes that includes first and business class. They use consolidators, wholesalers, etc. The best consolidators only deal with agents and not the public. It makes things much more streamlined for them.  Their restrictions are usually less onerous than many restrictions with cruise air tissues once issued. I can even get decent one way fares originating overseas.

 

Since you are looking for a "site" you won't find them.

 

 

Edited February 5, 2020 by frugaltravel

[AF-1]

My travel agent provided me with a business class ticket on United that was just too good to pass up. I normally fly Delta everywhere overseas; but this price beat EZ Air and Delta website.  Bottom line; I just give my travel agent my request and he will try and get me best price; he belongs to an international travel consortium so this helps with int'l flights

[CATGUY7]

3 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'd like to share an experience that I had with EZAir.  You don't always see all available flights!  I usually try for EZAir since it has generally given me better pricing than going direct with Delta (my preferred airline as well).  A couple of cruises back I picked a flight combo (roundtrip) from what showed on the EZAir selections.  I really was not overly happy with the connections that I had for 1 leg of the flight, but I was willing to live with it if that's all that was available.  On a whim, I plugged in the same trip direct into Delta's site.  It came back with a couple of MUCH better connections.  I made note of the flight numbers and then called EZAir.  When I explained what I had done and gave the rep the desired flight numbers she plugged me right in and made the change for me!  No explanation as to why it did not show up on the EZAir selections.

This is what I have been dealing with.  I knew Delta had other flights available, but I didn't think EZAir offered the choice of those flights.  Thank you for sharing your experience.

[Hlitner]

I do not understand the downside.  If I understand the situation, the OP booked their Delta flights with EZAIr at some kind of discount.  Delta has now eliminated their desired flight.  If they had originally booked direct with Delta (and immediately paid for the flights) they would usually be able to get Delta to switch to other flights with no penalty.  But with EZAIr the other flights may not be available or now at a higher cost.  But the OP does have the ability to cancel their EZAIr and pursue other options without any penalty from EZAIr or Delta.  

 

Like the OP we recently faced a situation with Seabourn (who uses the same folks as EZAIr) in that we were not happy with the flights offered.  We simply booked our flights directly with the airline at a slightly higher price.  It is all about choices and EZAIr is only one choice.

 

Hank