Flight Ease Questions

[Laminator]

14 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

But that doesn’t answer the question.  Is it the airline or hal messing up? I’m not a hal cheerleader by any stretch of the imagination but I’m not just going to assume they forgot to pay based on what others are saying.  Is it hal or the airlines in each case?  I’d like to hear that straight from hal or at least an explanation.  I’ve been waiting for a credit of miles from westjet since November.  My query is still listed as open.  If they can’t credit miles I’d be much more inclined to believe it’s an airline problem.  Crediting miles should be easy to resolve.

This is definitely a HAL fault. If it was an airline fault I would have been able to handle it with them as I fly United enough to where I have status with them. HAL failed to pay for the reservation when required at the 30 day prior to flight departure date. 

[Florida_gal_50]

5 minutes ago, Laminator said:

This is definitely a HAL fault. If it was an airline fault I would have been able to handle it with them as I fly United enough to where I have status with them. HAL failed to pay for the reservation when required at the 30 day prior to flight departure date. 

Ok.  If I don’t see that in black and white I’m not going to believe it.  People can blame whoever based on what they “feel”. Companies love to play the blame game.  My experience with united has not been good.  I flew with them recently because I was forced to when another airline canceled my flight.  They did nothing to change my mind about them and this was in first class.  I’d hate to see what economy is like. In my case,  It was the airline that canceled the flight, not hal. This was when I was on the ship.

 

[Laminator]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Ok.  If I don’t see that in black and white I’m not going to believe it.  People can blame whoever based on what they “feel”. Companies love to play the blame game.  My experience with united has not been good.  I flew with them recently because I was forced to when another airline canceled my flight.  They did nothing to change my mind about them and this was in first class.  I’d hate to see what economy is like. In my case,  It was the airline that canceled the flight, not hal. This was when I was on the ship.

 

I have flown nearly one million miles in my lifetime so I understand the airline game much better than the cruise line game. Although i received an instant flight confirmation from United when I booked the flight ease tickets United was unable to give me any info on that particular confirmation number as HAL had not made the payment yet. I called United as I wanted to combine my wifes and mine reservation as we are traveling on separate reservations due to separate casino offer bookings. My wifes United reservation disappeared at the same time as mine did. You believe whatever you wish but if i were a gambling man, and since I am on a casino offer i must be, i would bet the house on this. 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I have flown nearly one million miles in my lifetime so I understand the airline game much better than the cruise line game. Although i received an instant flight confirmation from United when I booked the flight ease tickets United was unable to give me any info on that particular confirmation number as HAL had not made the payment yet. I called United as I wanted to combine my wifes and mine reservation as we are traveling on separate reservations due to separate casino offer bookings. My wifes United reservation disappeared at the same time as mine did. You believe whatever you wish but if i were a gambling man, and since I am on a casino offer i must be, i would bet the house on this. 

This is the first concrete information I’ve heard from you.   You made no mention of it prior to this.  It sounded like a feeling based on others posts. I’d have been all over hal to make good on this.  With that information what did the ta or your pcc have as an answer to that?  There should be compensation if this is happening so much.  Knowing United  the way I do I’d be shocked to learn they didn’t lose the money.

[Laminator]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

This is the first concrete information I’ve heard from you.   You made no mention of it prior to this.  It sounded like a feeling based on others posts. I’d have been all over hal to make good on this.  With that information what did the ta or your pcc have as an answer to that?  There should be compensation if this is happening so much.  Knowing United  the way I do I’d be shocked to learn they didn’t lose the money.

My PCC told me she would forward the issue to the flight ease department which she did. Within an hour the situation was rectified. My flight as well my wifes flight reappeared on our apps. I called United immediately to verify the flights. United was able to verify the confirmation numbers and flights. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

4 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I have flown nearly one million miles in my lifetime so I understand the airline game much better than the cruise line game. Although i received an instant flight confirmation from United when I booked the flight ease tickets United was unable to give me any info on that particular confirmation number as HAL had not made the payment yet. I called United as I wanted to combine my wifes and mine reservation as we are traveling on separate reservations due to separate casino offer bookings. My wifes United reservation disappeared at the same time as mine did. You believe whatever you wish but if i were a gambling man, and since I am on a casino offer i must be, i would bet the house on this. 

Not to get into specifics but I agree with you that this definitely did happen. I have read and know of several with both HAL and Princess (as I mentioned before one in the same department that handles the air) they are dropping the ball. Again right had does not know what the left is doing, extremely disorangized and overwhelmed. A lot of what is triggering this is if there is an itinerary/schedule change, most are due to canceled flights by the airline and if these changes are happening close to when that 30 day mark is. The reservation once there is a change goes into a different queue to work on fixing the schedule change but they unfortunately get missed out of the queue to pay the dollar amount to the airline. Often they have not fixed the new air in time for payment. Most are getting caught and fixed and you need to give them a week to 10 days after the 30 day mark. But if you are within 2 weeks from travel then you need to be proactive. This I am sure is costing HAL and Princess Big money to fix this problem. Right now my suggestion is if your air dissappears from the airline website or app around 30 days to be patient, most are reappearing in about 5 days to a week. 

[Florida_gal_50]

9 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Not to get into specifics but I agree with you that this definitely did happen. I have read and know of several with both HAL and Princess (as I mentioned before one in the same department that handles the air) they are dropping the ball. Again right had does not know what the left is doing, extremely disorangized and overwhelmed. A lot of what is triggering this is if there is an itinerary/schedule change, most are due to canceled flights by the airline and if these changes are happening close to when that 30 day mark is. The reservation once there is a change goes into a different queue to work on fixing the schedule change but they unfortunately get missed out of the queue to pay the dollar amount to the airline. Often they have not fixed the new air in time for payment. Most are getting caught and fixed and you need to give them a week to 10 days after the 30 day mark. But if you are within 2 weeks from travel then you need to be proactive. This I am sure is costing HAL and Princess Big money to fix this problem. Right now my suggestion is if your air dissappears from the airline website or app around 30 days to be patient, most are reappearing in about 5 days to a week. 

Thank you for the concrete info.  This makes way more sense than Hal "forgot" to pay.  That would be super shady if this was done on purpose to save money or something like that.  This is why I was looking for concrete info so I can keep on top of my flights rather then a feeling or suspicion.  

[Laminator]

42 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thank you for the concrete info.  This makes way more sense than Hal "forgot" to pay.  That would be super shady if this was done on purpose to save money or something like that.  This is why I was looking for concrete info so I can keep on top of my flights rather then a feeling or suspicion.  

@LAFFNVEGAS i have to vehemently disagree with you on the waiting here. There were 2 business class seats left on our flight, the seats we had originally booked, when the reservation disappeared. If I had waited chances are extremely good those business class seats would have been gone. Then I would have to jump thru hoops with connections or fly out 2 days earlier. I understand you are a travel expert and know much more about the travel intricacies than I do but I do understand numbers. Waiting for 5 days with only seats available would have been asking for trouble.

Edited May 23, 2022 by Laminator

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 minutes ago, Laminator said:

@LAFFNVEGAS i have to vehemently disagree with you on the waiting here. There were 2 business class seats left on our flight when the reservation disappeared. If I had waited chances are extremely good those business class seats would have been gone. Then I would have to jump thru hoops with connections or fly out 2 days earlier. I understand you are a travel expert and know much more about the travel intricacies than I do but I do understand numbers. Waiting for 5 days with only seats available would have been asking for trouble.

Actually there is an agreement in most cases with the Airlines and cruiselines and that your reservation is technically still on reserve but just not showing. Part of the problem with the long wait times and agents not getting to fixing everything is handling all the numerous constant phone calls with upset people and when these reservations are in limbo, that person at Flight Ease most likely cannot help you because of the status it is in. While if you think there are only 2 Business Class seats remaining many are probably in a hold status including your reservation.  

[Laminator]

8 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Actually there is an agreement in most cases with the Airlines and cruiselines and that your reservation is technically still on reserve but just not showing. Part of the problem with the long wait times and agents not getting to fixing everything is handling all the numerous constant phone calls with upset people and when these reservations are in limbo, that person at Flight Ease most likely cannot help you because of the status it is in. While if you think there are only 2 Business Class seats remaining many are probably in a hold status including your reservation.  

To cover my rear end I actually rebooked those flights directly with United choosing the 2 original seats we had. That reservation was paid for and then canceled within the 24 hour free cancelation booking period. We were in 3D and 3F and are now in 1L and 2L as we were not able to choose seats next to each other.

Edited May 23, 2022 by Laminator

[meemo]

We are flying from Cleveland to Copenhagen on June 18th.  Our flights have disappeared from the United airlines website and when I contacted them they told me the flights weren't ticketed and that we don't have active flights!  I am on hold with Flight ease to see what is up.  The flight ease webpage talks about schedule changes but all the same exact flights and times are still available for that day.  The cost for our round-trip for both of us was around $3,700 but the same flights are now over $12k!  We are supposed to sail on the Nieuw Statendam on June 22nd.  This is our first ever Holland America cruise (first booked for Aug 2020...)

 

If this is happening due to non payment from HAL to the airlines, should we be concerned about the financial health of Holland America??  We have paid around $25,000 to HAL for 2 separate cruises this year and I am getting an uneasy feeling about this.  Thoughts??

[Laminator]

3 minutes ago, meemo said:

We are flying from Cleveland to Copenhagen on June 18th.  Our flights have disappeared from the United airlines website and when I contacted them they told me the flights weren't ticketed and that we don't have active flights!  I am on hold with Flight ease to see what is up.  The flight ease webpage talks about schedule changes but all the same exact flights and times are still available for that day.  The cost for our round-trip for both of us was around $3,700 but the same flights are now over $12k!  We are supposed to sail on the Nieuw Statendam on June 22nd.  This is our first ever Holland America cruise (first booked for Aug 2020...)

 

If this is happening due to non payment from HAL to the airlines, should we be concerned about the financial health of Holland America??  We have paid around $25,000 to HAL for 2 separate cruises this year and I am getting an uneasy feeling about this.  Thoughts??

This is EXACTLY what happened to us. Fortunately I have a great PCC that handled this quickly. For all I know it could be an internal computer issue at HAL where the monies are not being disbursed in a timely fashion. There have been numerous posts about this exact same occurrence posted in this forum recently. I don't think any cruise company is in great or even decent shape right now but I don't see HAL going anywhere. I rebooked at over $10,000 per on flights that cost me less than $3600 for both of us. I would have canceled that booking no matter what. I just wanted to try and save the seats giving HAL time to work out the issues. Being on a casino offer the casino pays HAL for our cabin within 1 to 2 days of booking so final payment dated are irrelevant for me. If I book a casino offering 6 months out I need to purchase the airfare immediately also. And I can not make any changes. 

[Mary229]

3 hours ago, Laminator said:

This is definitely a HAL fault. If it was an airline fault I would have been able to handle it with them as I fly United enough to where I have status with them. HAL failed to pay for the reservation when required at the 30 day prior to flight departure date. 

I second this.  My TA was told by Flight Ease that this is precisely what happened.  Funny thing is my sister’s was paid on time.  I had made both reservations the same day for the same flights and paid in a single transaction yet hers was paid in time, mine was not 

[Laminator]

21 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I second this.  My TA was told by Flight Ease that this is precisely what happened.  Funny thing is my sister’s was paid on time.  I had made both reservations the same day for the same flights and paid in a single transaction yet hers was paid in time, mine was not 

That's why I think it is possible/probable that whatever vehicle HAL uses to pay the associated airline is flawed. As I said earlier my wifes cabin and airline reservation were separate from mine. Both of our flight reservations disappeared at the same time. 

[meemo]

Well, after 4 1/2 hours on hold I had someone answer (Jill, I think)  I sympathized for how busy it has been for them and then told her about my flights not being ticketed and dropped by United.  She said nothing in return, the line was quiet for 2 min then the call ended.....  Ugggghhhh!!

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I second this.  My TA was told by Flight Ease that this is precisely what happened.  Funny thing is my sister’s was paid on time.  I had made both reservations the same day for the same flights and paid in a single transaction yet hers was paid in time, mine was not 

And yet some make it sound like this is an on purpose, that hal is doing something shady. Sounds to me they are having glitches, as Laffinvegas pointed out. It’s not excusable just the same. 

[Laminator]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

And yet some make it sound like this is an on purpose, that hal is doing something shady. Sounds to me they are having glitches, as Laffinvegas pointed out. It’s not excusable just the same. 

I don't see anyone saying HAL is doing this on purpose. There is no one implying HAL is doing anything shady. They are obviously having issues. I have seen other posters in different threads stating they lost their original flights and had to change to flights that were nowhere near as convenient due to stops or longer layover times. I think the purpose of the information posted here is to let members they could experience an issue and to watch out for it. It was because of other posts I read on CC where pax had issues that I was diligent in checking my flights constantly. The entire travel industry is a mess right ow for the most part. 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I don't see anyone saying HAL is doing this on purpose. There is no one implying HAL is doing anything shady. They are obviously having issues. I have seen other posters in different threads stating they lost their original flights and had to change to flights that were nowhere near as convenient due to stops or longer layover times. I think the purpose of the information posted here is to let members they could experience an issue and to watch out for it. It was because of other posts I read on CC where pax had issues that I was diligent in checking my flights constantly. The entire travel industry is a mess right ow for the most part. 

Seems to me this is a total turn around from what you posted earlier.  I’ve had multiple changes and also canceled flights where I had to take an extra long flight on your beloved united. That’s a total different situation then hal forgot to pay.  I’ve seen maybe one post wondering if hal forgot to pay.  I don’t think this is just hal that is having changes.  Long before I ever booked through flight ease I checked my flights fairly often.  That’s just good common sense.  Flights change.  I don’t watch the news very often but when I do I always hear how Alaska airlines is canceling more and more flights.   Now they seem second worse to united.

[Laminator]

10 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Seems to me this is a total turn around from what you posted earlier.  I’ve had multiple changes and also canceled flights where I had to take an extra long flight on your beloved united. That’s a total different situation then hal forgot to pay.  I’ve seen maybe one post wondering if hal forgot to pay.  I don’t think this is just hal that is having changes.  Long before I ever booked through flight ease I checked my flights fairly often.  That’s just good common sense.  Flights change.  I don’t watch the news very often but when I do I always hear how Alaska airlines is canceling more and more flights.   Now they seem second worse to united.

I will admit living very close to ORD where United is a hub I fly them quite a bit. I have over 800,000 miles with American however. About 120,000 with my "beloved" United. Please just read my actual response and not what you think I am saying. I am quite concise. 

[Primus]

It's not just HAL where flights are being cancelled for non-payment.  We're 5* on HAL and tried our first Seabourn in November 2021.  One week before sailing our flights were also cancelled for non-payment by Seabourn.  This also occurred on a Saturday morning so no one was available to assist until they returned to the office on Monday.  Super stressful situation for us but seemed of little concern for Seabourn employees.  The original flights on American luckily did get re-booked.

[Laminator]

1 hour ago, Primus said:

It's not just HAL where flights are being cancelled for non-payment.  We're 5* on HAL and tried our first Seabourn in November 2021.  One week before sailing our flights were also cancelled for non-payment by Seabourn.  This also occurred on a Saturday morning so no one was available to assist until they returned to the office on Monday.  Super stressful situation for us but seemed of little concern for Seabourn employees.  The original flights on American luckily did get re-booked.

I have seen it happening on Princess also. 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Laminator

[Primus]

Oops, I meant to say that we had the same problem with Silversea rather than Seabourn.

[Roz]

After reading thru all the replies I'm more confused than ever.  Thank you to all who contributed.

[Roz]

In the space of one week fares went up by $50 for a one-way premium economy seat to BA, so I went ahead and booked directly with United.  

 

I booked a one-way ticket to Vancouver back on April 16.  I was thinking of changing my flight date.  Fares are now $100 - $200 higher.  

[Mary229]

Airfares are escalating daily.  I will keep checking mine biweekly hoping for a price break.