First timer Flightease Question

[ukpylot]

I see this is a popular topic but thought I'd ask a direct question for those who have experience.... booking flights for the Feb South America cruise and my favourite itinerary is on AA through Dallas. We will arrive the day before departure so I kinda feel like we should be fine, and AA is a pretty good carrier.

 

The Flightease cost is $350 more than if I book direct with AA, but I wonder if that is good insurance for HAL taking care of getting us to the ship if something goes wrong ? Any thoughts from people who know more about it than me?

[Mary229]

I am surprised the AA direct fare is cheaper.  I fly often from DFW and have never found that to be the case with international flights.  I am flying to South America in February also.  
 

I would not pay $350 extra for that particular provision as they only provide assistance in case of late arrival and it is not equivalent to insurance.  AA has changed their cancellation and change of reservations fees to be much more consumer friendly so I would go direct but please be sure you are comparing apples to apples. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

If your flight is cancelled HAL will provide its best effort to get you yo the ship.  Going in a day early - you should do that any way.  Two days better so you can enjoy SA.

[iceman93]

It may sound silly, but be absolutely 100% sure you're looking at the exact same flights from both sources.  I saw an odd situation once like you're describing, and I don't remember exactly what happened but it was something like the FlightEase flights having an overnight layover in the connecting city that I almost didn't notice because I was just looking at flight numbers and arrival dates.

[cat shepard]

Though my September American flights were domestic, and might not be a fair comparison- American changed our flights seven times. One changed our departure four hours earlier at 5:40 a.m. The last change changed our arrival time to seven hours later after midnight. 
 

Because we booked through Flight Ease, they found much more reasonable flights for us, and eliminated the hassle for us. 

[ukpylot]

4 hours ago, iceman93 said:

It may sound silly, but be absolutely 100% sure you're looking at the exact same flights from both sources.

I've double checked, they are definitely the exact same flights - maybe the Flight Ease ticket is a slightly better ticket. Both are regular economy main cabin, though.

 

Checked again - AA total for 2 is $3733.17, Flight Ease is $4069.98 (restricted fare). They do have a cheaper fare with some latin american carriers but I want to go with ones I know.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, ukpylot said:

I've double checked, they are definitely the exact same flights - maybe the Flight Ease ticket is a slightly better ticket. Both are regular economy main cabin, though.

 

Checked again - AA total for 2 is $3733.17, Flight Ease is $4069.98 (restricted fare). They do have a cheaper fare with some latin american carriers but I want to go with ones I know.

I never use the restricted fare. Is the flexible the same.  You can change flexible until final payment and I have never once had it increase, ever.  My current dfw to Buenos Aires , non-stop, premium economy, one way, is $1100 pp. it has gone up since I booked it but my price has not

[Mary229]

Just now, Mary229 said:

I never use the restricted fare. Is the flexible the same.  You can change flexible until final payment and I have never once had it increase, ever.  My current dfw to Buenos Aires , non-stop, premium economy, one way, is $1100 pp. it has gone up since I booked it but my price has not

PS.  Nonstop is the best way to prevent issues, check the days around your desired day, it might be worth going a day earlier 

[ukpylot]

4 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I never use the restricted fare. Is the flexible the same.  You can change flexible until final payment and I have never once had it increase, ever.  My current dfw to Buenos Aires , non-stop, premium economy, one way, is $1100 pp. it has gone up since I booked it but my price has not

 

The flexible fare is another 100 each. Also, because I booked one of the "free inside cabin" deals I've already made full payment so I don't know that I could do the flexible fare anyway (or I can but not get the benefit).

No nonstops from San Diego (or LAX), sadly. I'm not too worried about getting there and missing the cruise but I do see the benefit if the boat is late getting back and having to try and change flights from onboard.

[FlorenceItaly]

6 minutes ago, ukpylot said:

 

The flexible fare is another 100 each. Also, because I booked one of the "free inside cabin" deals I've already made full payment so I don't know that I could do the flexible fare anyway (or I can but not get the benefit).

No nonstops from San Diego (or LAX), sadly. I'm not too worried about getting there and missing the cruise but I do see the benefit if the boat is late getting back and having to try and change flights from onboard.

Your post caught my attention.  I am on a casino cruise that required me to pay in full at time of booking.  Mine is a 16 day TA in May.  I am looking at airfare, flexible rate and notice if I book airfare payment is due now.  Are you seeing the same thing?  I am only interested in one way air from AMS.

[CruiseCruiseCruise13]

Maybe you already checked this, but the tickets could be different class of economy.
A lot of airlines have economy basic and standard economy now.
Flightease only book standard economy (which usually includes a checked bag) the AA website could be showing you the basic economy price (usually no checked bag) they are not a different class of service, just a class of ticket and of course a different price 🙂

[Mary229]

6 minutes ago, CruiseCruiseCruise13 said:

Maybe you already checked this, but the tickets could be different class of economy.
A lot of airlines have economy basic and standard economy now.
Flightease only book standard economy (which usually includes a checked bag) the AA website could be showing you the basic economy price (usually no checked bag) they are not a different class of service, just a class of ticket and of course a different price 🙂

Adding to this, for my AMS one way back to DFW the business class was only $100 different than premium economy on the day I booked.  You have to check all classes and the flexible days. 

[opa&oma]

Flight Ease flights can be and are changed many times before your cruise, sometimes while you on board for return flights.  I don't trust them any more than the airlines themselves.