Flight Ease pricing difficulties

[Vandelay Inc]

Hi all. I am really annoyed. Pretty certain none of you can do anything about this. And I hate reading posts of other people complaining. Feel free to ignore this post if you want. Or read it, empathize, and commiserate.

 

I'm booked for a cruise. I have been watching airline prices waiting to book my flights. I was so excited when the prices on the airline website dropped by $90 a person. But on the HAL website, the price didn't budge. Yes, the price on the airline website was nearly $100 per person less than HAL Flight Ease site.

 

So I called HAL and spoke to a cruise planner. I asked when HAL adjusts its prices. Do the rates get update in realtime, once a day, at midnight, at noon? When should I look to see if the prices are updated? Basically, I got a sales pitch. HAL's prices are competitive, they are updated periodically, it's best to book thru HAL because of their travel services with delays, next port protection, helping rebook cancelled flights, etc. Yeah, I know that. But how do I save the $90? No response. Just a reiteration of all the great services that Flight Ease offers at a competitive (higher) price. He actually said to me $90 isn't much more expensive!

 

I could believe that, so I called back. I spoke to another HAL booking rep. Hi, I noticed the prices have dropped.  HAL's prices are $90 higher than the airline. And I did a test booking on Princess Cruises' website, they have their own version of Flight Ease. Yes, they are both owned by Carnival and they both have Flight Ease and their websites look identical. Their prices are $60 less than HAL. so why is it that HAL is more expensive. He was actually interested and wanted to find out.

 

So he put me on hold while he did some research. And he confirmed what I already knew. Airline was $X; Princess was X+30; HAL was X+90. So he transferred me to the Pricing Adjustment Desk to find out if I could get a price match. No luck. The pricing desk informed me they do cruise price adjustments, not flight adjustments. Sorry. The prices change from time-to-time and are competitive. But HAL doesn't have a flight price match.

 

I had enough. I sent an e-mail to HAL Customer Care. All I want to know:

1. Why are HAL's prices higher than the airlines?

2. If they want to make a premium over the airlines prices, fine. Let's say they want $20 a person markup to cover their services. No problem. But when the airline goes down $90, how come HAL's doesn't budge? So instead of a $20 premium, they are potentially keeping $110 per traveller?

3. When does HAL website update their prices? midnight? 8 AM? Once a week? Whenever the airline changes?

4. Why do the call center reps keep repeating the prices are competitive? Who are they competing with? In my limited survey, HAL is more expensive than the airline and more expensive than Princess. Granted, it's one itinerary and I only did this once. Where's the competition? Competitive usually means similar or better or would involve a price match if I find lower. HAL might have lower prices another time, but not now.

 

The reply....thanks for contacting us. Our prices vary from time-to-time, sometimes they may be lower than that of the airline. We offer travel services. We help with cancelled, rebooked, delayed flights, next port protection, and so on.

 

Yeah, I knew that. So I'm stuck watching the Flight Ease pricing and I'm hoping for the best.

[Arizona Wildcat]

18 minutes ago, Vandelay Inc said:

Hi all. I am really annoyed. Pretty certain none of you can do anything about this. And I hate reading posts of other people complaining. Feel free to ignore this post if you want. Or read it, empathize, and commiserate.

 

I'm booked for a cruise. I have been watching airline prices waiting to book my flights. I was so excited when the prices on the airline website dropped by $90 a person. But on the HAL website, the price didn't budge. Yes, the price on the airline website was nearly $100 per person less than HAL Flight Ease site.

 

So I called HAL and spoke to a cruise planner. I asked when HAL adjusts its prices. Do the rates get update in realtime, once a day, at midnight, at noon? When should I look to see if the prices are updated? Basically, I got a sales pitch. HAL's prices are competitive, they are updated periodically, it's best to book thru HAL because of their travel services with delays, next port protection, helping rebook cancelled flights, etc. Yeah, I know that. But how do I save the $90? No response. Just a reiteration of all the great services that Flight Ease offers at a competitive (higher) price. He actually said to me $90 isn't much more expensive!

 

I could believe that, so I called back. I spoke to another HAL booking rep. Hi, I noticed the prices have dropped.  HAL's prices are $90 higher than the airline. And I did a test booking on Princess Cruises' website, they have their own version of Flight Ease. Yes, they are both owned by Carnival and they both have Flight Ease and their websites look identical. Their prices are $60 less than HAL. so why is it that HAL is more expensive. He was actually interested and wanted to find out.

 

So he put me on hold while he did some research. And he confirmed what I already knew. Airline was $X; Princess was X+30; HAL was X+90. So he transferred me to the Pricing Adjustment Desk to find out if I could get a price match. No luck. The pricing desk informed me they do cruise price adjustments, not flight adjustments. Sorry. The prices change from time-to-time and are competitive. But HAL doesn't have a flight price match.

 

I had enough. I sent an e-mail to HAL Customer Care. All I want to know:

1. Why are HAL's prices higher than the airlines?

2. If they want to make a premium over the airlines prices, fine. Let's say they want $20 a person markup to cover their services. No problem. But when the airline goes down $90, how come HAL's doesn't budge? So instead of a $20 premium, they are potentially keeping $110 per traveller?

3. When does HAL website update their prices? midnight? 8 AM? Once a week? Whenever the airline changes?

4. Why do the call center reps keep repeating the prices are competitive? Who are they competing with? In my limited survey, HAL is more expensive than the airline and more expensive than Princess. Granted, it's one itinerary and I only did this once. Where's the competition? Competitive usually means similar or better or would involve a price match if I find lower. HAL might have lower prices another time, but not now.

 

The reply....thanks for contacting us. Our prices vary from time-to-time, sometimes they may be lower than that of the airline. We offer travel services. We help with cancelled, rebooked, delayed flights, next port protection, and so on.

 

Yeah, I knew that. So I'm stuck watching the Flight Ease pricing and I'm hoping for the best.

A couple things.  Airline website prices can change literally every time a person inquires about or books a ticket.  Thus impossible for Flight Ease to keep current.  Flight Ease will update maybe twice a day.  That about all that they can do.

Flight Ease is a consolidator- not a travel agent - as such they will book or often have access to group blocks of seats.  The groups are often organized by other consolidators.

Group blocks for domestic travel on average offer little or no discounts - but usually more flexibility. 

FWIW - If a flight is changed or canceled you will probably with the chaos today know before Flight Ease.  Will they TRY to fix things - sure; but there often little they can do that you could not do if you booked direct.  The big exception being when you pay and if you miss the ship they will (eventually) get you to the ship paying for any additional costs.

Domestically go direct.  International flights Flight Ease will often make sense.

I also presume before X date they will reduce the price if the ticket has not been issued.  RCL and Princess do so, but you need to purchase first and go through a hassle to get a reduction. 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Arizona Wildcat

[cbr663]

OP why is your preference to book flights with Flight Ease vs direct with an airline?

[robotpony]

I would assume part of the cost of flight ease would bare the cost of ensuring that travellers get to their destination, via rebooking, holding the ship, and whatever else they provide with their Late Arrival Protection. I also assume that they use something like the Amex/Corporate gateway for booking flights, which is at least partly negotiated between companies that use it. This is all in addition to any technical limitations that likely exist, like updating less regularly, and not attempting market adjusted pricing (which varies the price on an airline site each time you visit based on some marketing calculus).

[barbierahrah]

I’ve had nothing but trouble wit Flighteze!  My flights have disappeared from the website for 10 days due to a scheduling change.  Shouldn’t take that long, should it?  Holland Flighteze doesn’t had the same flights for me that SAS does.  When I call, they put me on hold for hours and then cut me off.  I don’t want to pay another cent til my air tickets are confirmed.  How do I contact customer care???

[BobbiSox]

It has been my experience that FlightEase is worth every penny. We were in line to check-in (at our local airport  JAX) for a flight to Boston to get on the ship. Flight canceled. Called HAL from the airport, and was told to go home. They set us up with a flight to meet up with the ship Key West, two days later. They sent a private car to pick us up at the Key West airport, booked us into a beautiful water-front suite overnight, and sent another private car to take us to the port the next day. All expenses paid, including our meals, and port fee amount for the KW port was refunded to us. That's why I use FlightEase. 

Edited January 18, 2023 by BobbiSox
typo

[ski ww]

The couple of times we used FlightEase they were cheaper then booking with the airline direct.

[Mary229]

Flight ease adjusts overnight to reflect the current fare.  They actually will sell out of a flight and go in and allot for more.   I had this happen this week.  On Saturday it showed the flight at $342, Monday it was over $1400, went back yesterday and it was back to $342.  
 

for domestic flights their flight will be for the changeable/cancellable fare. Since the pandemic many airlines have tiered economy.  The first tier is non-cancellable, HAL does not sell that fare, they sell the next fare.  I know for American they show the non-refundable fare and only after you click through do they give you the true price for cancellable fares. The difference is usually $50 - $100 per segment. 
 

in my experience they are extremely competitive and at worst the same 

[SilvertoGold]

5 hours ago, BobbiSox said:

It has been my experience that FlightEase is worth every penny. We were in line to check-in (at our local airport  JAX) for a flight to Boston to get on the ship. Flight canceled. Called HAL from the airport, and was told to go home. They set us up with a flight to meet up with the ship Key West, two days later. They sent a private car to pick us up at the Key West airport, booked us into a beautiful water-front suite overnight, and sent another private car to take us to the port the next day. All expenses paid, including our meals, and port fee amount for the KW port was refunded to us. That's why I use FlightEase. 

This is really interesting to read about.  So different from what we read from other' experiences. Could I ask what stateroom category you booked?

Edited January 18, 2023 by SilvertoGold

[Hlitner]

15 hours ago, Vandelay Inc said:

Hi all. I am really annoyed. Pretty certain none of you can do anything about this. And I hate reading posts of other people complaining. Feel free to ignore this post if you want. Or read it, empathize, and commiserate.

 

I'm booked for a cruise. I have been watching airline prices waiting to book my flights. I was so excited when the prices on the airline website dropped by $90 a person. But on the HAL website, the price didn't budge. Yes, the price on the airline website was nearly $100 per person less than HAL Flight Ease site.

 

So I called HAL and spoke to a cruise planner. I asked when HAL adjusts its prices. Do the rates get update in realtime, once a day, at midnight, at noon? When should I look to see if the prices are updated? Basically, I got a sales pitch. HAL's prices are competitive, they are updated periodically, it's best to book thru HAL because of their travel services with delays, next port protection, helping rebook cancelled flights, etc. Yeah, I know that. But how do I save the $90? No response. Just a reiteration of all the great services that Flight Ease offers at a competitive (higher) price. He actually said to me $90 isn't much more expensive!

 

I could believe that, so I called back. I spoke to another HAL booking rep. Hi, I noticed the prices have dropped.  HAL's prices are $90 higher than the airline. And I did a test booking on Princess Cruises' website, they have their own version of Flight Ease. Yes, they are both owned by Carnival and they both have Flight Ease and their websites look identical. Their prices are $60 less than HAL. so why is it that HAL is more expensive. He was actually interested and wanted to find out.

 

So he put me on hold while he did some research. And he confirmed what I already knew. Airline was $X; Princess was X+30; HAL was X+90. So he transferred me to the Pricing Adjustment Desk to find out if I could get a price match. No luck. The pricing desk informed me they do cruise price adjustments, not flight adjustments. Sorry. The prices change from time-to-time and are competitive. But HAL doesn't have a flight price match.

 

I had enough. I sent an e-mail to HAL Customer Care. All I want to know:

1. Why are HAL's prices higher than the airlines?

2. If they want to make a premium over the airlines prices, fine. Let's say they want $20 a person markup to cover their services. No problem. But when the airline goes down $90, how come HAL's doesn't budge? So instead of a $20 premium, they are potentially keeping $110 per traveller?

3. When does HAL website update their prices? midnight? 8 AM? Once a week? Whenever the airline changes?

4. Why do the call center reps keep repeating the prices are competitive? Who are they competing with? In my limited survey, HAL is more expensive than the airline and more expensive than Princess. Granted, it's one itinerary and I only did this once. Where's the competition? Competitive usually means similar or better or would involve a price match if I find lower. HAL might have lower prices another time, but not now.

 

The reply....thanks for contacting us. Our prices vary from time-to-time, sometimes they may be lower than that of the airline. We offer travel services. We help with cancelled, rebooked, delayed flights, next port protection, and so on.

 

Yeah, I knew that. So I'm stuck watching the Flight Ease pricing and I'm hoping for the best.

We have no sympathy on this issue....None,,,,Nada!  Why?  You have a choice and that is the kind of thing that exists with airfares no matter how you book.  Airfares often change multiple times a day and there are times when it really makes sense to book your own air and other times when you can save a lot with flightease.  Over the years we have found flightease to offer amazing fares for International fares (especially Business and First Class) but their domestic coach fares and generally nothing special.  

 

The main reason I have no sympathy is that if the higher flightease price bothers you (obviously it does) than you can simply book direct with the airline at a lower price.  No big deal as we do this all the time. Also keep in mind that if you wait, you may well find that both flightease and the airline prices increase!  When it comes to booking direct with an airline you get what you get!

 

Hank

[Vandelay Inc]

21 hours ago, cbr663 said:

OP why is your preference to book flights with Flight Ease vs direct with an airline?

The main reasons:

If you book on an airline, you have to pay at booking and the fare is fixed.

With Flight Ease, in theory, if the price goes down before final payment, you can get an adjustment.

 

If you cancel the cruise before final payment, the airline reservation goes away without penalty.

 

In the rare cases that flights get cancelled, Flight Ease will try to help you re-book on same or different airline. Self-booking, you are stuck with whatever the airline will do for you.

 

If you miss embarkation, Flight Ease will help you catch up to the ship; airline might not be so helpful.

I wouldn't mind paying a surcharge for those benefits.

 

If they said, "there's a $50 surcharge", I'd do it. When they say "we're competitive" by charging $90 more, I can't say that's totally correct. I'll keep watching, thanks for the pros and cons.

[Torquer]

Our experience has been that the FlightEase prices are great for international business class flights, often $1000+ cheaper than you can get anyplace else.  Prices are pretty comparable domestically.  It is up to you to decide to decide if the benefits of booking through HAL are worth the cost, if the flight is more expensive than if purchased directly from the airline.  We have not had a domestic cruise in the last 5 years, but if we did, we would probably use FlightEase.  The benefit of being able to freely cancel the flights, before final payment, and the (perhaps) benefit of HAL helping us get to the ship if we miss a flight make it worthwhile to us.

[BobbiSox]

We have always flown from our home airport JAX to Fort Lauderdale, more time than I can count.  The flight was 90 minutes, non stop, and cost around $100.00-150.00 per person. More recently, I had been trying to book the same type of fare. NO MORE NON-STOPS. We would have to stop somewhere way out of the way, for a FOUR hour layover. The cost? About $600.00 per person, not even a premium seat. That whole thing would make for a very long day, seeing how they are asking us to be at the airport two-three hours before the flight. I can drive to Ft. Lauderdale in five hours. That's what I'll do. 

[Mary229]

41 minutes ago, BobbiSox said:

We have always flown from our home airport JAX to Fort Lauderdale, more time than I can count.  The flight was 90 minutes, non stop, and cost around $100.00-150.00 per person. More recently, I had been trying to book the same type of fare. NO MORE NON-STOPS. We would have to stop somewhere way out of the way, for a FOUR hour layover. The cost? About $600.00 per person, not even a premium seat. That whole thing would make for a very long day, seeing how they are asking us to be at the airport two-three hours before the flight. I can drive to Ft. Lauderdale in five hours. That's what I'll do. 

HAL often changes contracts with carriers and sometimes you need to wait until the contract renews.  I have learned not to let the first glance deter me, things change daily (except on the weekends). I find the same issues with my Chase travel portal.  Just keep checking.

 

I want to also mention that since the pandemic many US airlines have altered their change rules.  If you buy the refundable economy  ticket for a few more dollars or higher class you can change worry free.  The policies are now almost as good as Southwest’s points redemption policies.  American Airline’s policies are almost identical to Southwest