Booking on Flight Ease - a word of warning

[lupaglupa]

Since nothing in any of the information about how to use Flight Ease describes this and the system, I am told, won't help you once you've made the mistake, I offer this information to all of you in the hope you won't make the error I did. 

 

Flight Ease allows you to book round trip or departure or return. BUT what they don't tell you is that if you choose to book just half of your trip you cannot then book the other half. You can make one booking and one booking only and to fix your mistake you have to cancel the first booking and start all over again - at a likely increased price. 

 

We are doing a transatlantic and when viewing our options we found that the flight we wish to take over to Amsterdam doesn't appear among the choices for round trip options. And the flight we want home from Fort Lauderdale doesn't either. The two airlines we want (both offering us non-stop flights) don't mix and match. It seemed obvious to us that we should book the legs separately. But once the flight to Amsterdam was in "the system" I had no ability to add the return leg. I called Flight Ease and was told what I want to do isn't allowed. Either I cancel the flight I booked (which I was told had gone up in price several hundred dollars overnight) and rebook all new flights, or I stay where I am with no Flight Ease on the return. And yes, that means I lose that half of my flight credit. 

 

I told the woman on the phone I thought it would be nice if they added this important information to their website, but I doubt very much that they will. So I pass it on to all of you. 

[tupper10]

I had this happen on one of our flights and I asked for a supervisor who then booked the one flight.  So IMHO I would call back - get a supervisor and get your fight home booked.  Also just a FYI your FLL flight home it is often cheaper to book on your own so I would compare the fare.  I heard you can do a 'fake' booking on Princess which also uses flightease to see the fare.  

[lupaglupa]

I did ask for a supervisor and was told no. I don't think we're losing much money - the flight home is pretty cheap and the booking is easy. And it's way more important to me to do the non-stop than it is to get the credit.  But I wish I had known beforehand. I hate when they create a rule they don't explain to you. 

[sandiego1]

Good to know! I was planning on booking 1 way flights for the Pole to Pole cruise in Jan 2025 in a few weeks  (have to wait until about 11 months out for flight availability). Since the cruise is 133 days, the return flights won’t be available until June at the earliest. I guess I’ll have to wait until then to book round-trip flights.

 

thanks for the info.

[Mary229]

I have been able to buy a separate ticket .  In one instance I booked the second leg 4 days prior to the sailing. I had booked to Europe with FE but had booked Southwest on the return leg. Southwest radically changed my flight, I called flight ease and had no issues booking that trip.  Unfortunately so much at HAL these days is who you talk to.  It is always best to call back and try another customer service rep 

[Gigi1977]

My PCC was able and willing to help me when I did this.   He was able to ‘preserve’ my existing flight and add the additional flight.   I have a GREAT PCC.  

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[CHOPPERTESTER]

How do you book Flight Ease as a multi-city on a B2B to avoid getting crazy $$$$ quotes for a one way for each segment?

[Mary229]

38 minutes ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

How do you book Flight Ease as a multi-city on a B2B to avoid getting crazy $$$$ quotes for a one way for each segment?

You have a 30 day window on either side of any cruise.  So you can book your flights associated with a a single cruise.  So say your first cruise is February 1 -15 your flight there can be as early as January 1 and your return as late as March 14

[CHOPPERTESTER]

21 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

You have a 30 day window on either side of any cruise.  So you can book your flights associated with a a single cruise.  So say your first cruise is February 1 -15 your flight there can be as early as January 1 and your return as late as March 14

Thanx but the Flight Ease web site sees I have a B2B with separate booking numbers and will only let me book the outgoing flight on the first leg, directing me to the other booking to complete the return leg. This causes flight pricing to assume a one way for each which is way more than double a multi-city booking (ie YOW to KEF and then CPH to YOW) on other booking sites. Has anybody had success getting this corrected on the web site or will I have to call Flight Eaze to work around the web site restrictions?

Edited January 3 by CHOPPERTESTER

[Mary229]

7 minutes ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

Thanx but the Flight Ease web site sees I have a B2B with separate booking numbers and will only let me book the outgoing flight on the first leg, directing me to the other booking to complete the return leg. This causes flight pricing to assume a one way for each which is way more than double a multi-city booking (ie YOW to KEF and then CPH to YOW) on other booking sites. Has anybody had success getting this corrected on the web site or will I have to call Flight Eaze to work around the web site restrictions?

I would call.  For any odd situation, like my own described above, it is best to call and work with an agent.  

[lupaglupa]

15 hours ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

How do you book Flight Ease as a multi-city on a B2B to avoid getting crazy $$$$ quotes for a one way for each segment?

My situation was a bit different but with some of the same issues. "The system" wouldn't show me the non-stop flights I wanted because they weren't combinable. As long as I hade both legs visible it wanted to force me to use an airline that could serve me on all flights, even though that meant flying several extra legs. 

 

I put "the system" in quotes because the person I spoke to on the phone at Flight Ease said that what she can see is the same as what I can see - according to her they don't have anymore flexibility in choosing flights than we do. She kept telling me "the system" can't do that......

[chisoxfan]

I just used Flight Ease for the first time and was reasonably satisfied. I believe our cruise also had a 500 'bonus' which seemed to help pricing. My question is.... once I booked (Premium Economy and Economy Nonstop return) is there any way to look at other options? When I go online it shows my reservations but does not allow me to input different dates, Class of Service, etc. I would be interested in looking at BC and other options as pricing and availability always change. Thanks in advance.

 

[lupaglupa]

I cannot look at anything in terms of options - it just lets me see what I've already booked. 

[ski ww]

I'm glad I'm not the only one having trouble with FlightEase It's taking hours on the phone with Delta & KLM and HAL and I'm still not sure I have my problem sorted out.

[lupaglupa]

I have to say this is one bonus that won't sway my decision to make a booking in the future. 

[Haljo1935]

19 hours ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

Thanx but the Flight Ease web site sees I have a B2B with separate booking numbers and will only let me book the outgoing flight on the first leg, directing me to the other booking to complete the return leg. This causes flight pricing to assume a one way for each which is way more than double a multi-city booking (ie YOW to KEF and then CPH to YOW) on other booking sites. Has anybody had success getting this corrected on the web site or will I have to call Flight Eaze to work around the web site restrictions?

I have always had to call FE for them to do it; the system has not allowed me to book myself that way. Same for the issue of booking 1 leg of a trip then adding the other leg - took a human, but I have gotten them to honor the lower price of the already booked leg.

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, lupaglupa said:

I cannot look at anything in terms of options - it just lets me see what I've already booked. 

@chisoxfan this sounds scary, but as @Mary229 will tell you, it works. To search for other options (or pricing changes) once booked, you will click as if you're going to cancel your booking (flight, not cruise) and will get a list of results. Once you see them, don't do anything else, ie do not continue forward in the process, simply close the browser; your original booked flights remain intact.

[chisoxfan]

10 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

@chisoxfan this sounds scary, but as @Mary229 will tell you, it works. To search for other options (or pricing changes) once booked, you will click as if you're going to cancel your booking (flight, not cruise) and will get a list of results. Once you see them, don't do anything else, ie do not continue forward in the process, simply close the browser; your original booked flights remain intact.

OK will try it. Thanks for the heads up.