Princess EZAir - SO FRUSTRATED

[Incredimom]

So I purchased Princess EZAir Flights for my husband and I for our cruise in May. It is still 62 days before our flight and we had decided to change the flight for a day earlier so we would have more time in Vancouver before the cruise. So I called Princess to make that happen because we made sure that we purchased flights that were on the flexible plan so that we could change/cancel within 45 days. Well, they tell me that it is going to cost me over $1000 to change or cancel this flight because "the ticket has already been issued". They won't explain to me what that means. I am really frustrated and upset about this. I went with the EZAir because I could change/cancel within 45 days. Any tips or help that anyone can offer would be much appreciated. I can't spend that money to get it changed so if not I guess we won't get that extra day that I wanted. 😞

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, Incredimom said:

So I purchased Princess EZAir Flights for my husband and I for our cruise in May. It is still 62 days before our flight and we had decided to change the flight for a day earlier so we would have more time in Vancouver before the cruise. So I called Princess to make that happen because we made sure that we purchased flights that were on the flexible plan so that we could change/cancel within 45 days. Well, they tell me that it is going to cost me over $1000 to change or cancel this flight because "the ticket has already been issued". They won't explain to me what that means. I am really frustrated and upset about this. I went with the EZAir because I could change/cancel within 45 days. Any tips or help that anyone can offer would be much appreciated. I can't spend that money to get it changed so if not I guess we won't get that extra day that I wanted. 😞

Welcome to CC and Princess forum.

 

How did you book the original flights?  Have you logged into the Cruise Personalizer and gone to EZair page to check on flight options for yourself?

 

Yes, the normal ticketing time is around the 45 day mark.  If the guest requests early ticketing, it can be sooner, but then the ticket becomes subject to airline rules.

 

It seems obvious you did not request early ticketing.  Use the EZair page in Cruise Personalizer and shop for a new flight and see what happens.  You can always back out and keep what you have.

 

All things considered, it is certainly expected that flights will cost more today since your desired departure date is closer than when you booked.

 

PS - You probably got the overseas call center and they are poor with some info they give out.  Don't call Princess to make flight changes - do it yourself.

Edited March 10 by Steelers36

[Incredimom]

Well shoot, I just discovered my problem and I guess it was me that made it that way. I didn't realize that by choosing seats, that would make the "early ticketing" happen and then make it so I couldn't change without penalty! 

 

I guess Live and Learn. So if any of you purchase flights from Princess EZAir - make sure you don't choose your seats or you won't be able to change/cancel your flight without penalty.  😞

[Abercrombie2019]

1 minute ago, Incredimom said:

Well shoot, I just discovered my problem and I guess it was me that made it that way. I didn't realize that by choosing seats, that would make the "early ticketing" happen and then make it so I couldn't change without penalty! 

 

I guess Live and Learn. So if any of you purchase flights from Princess EZAir - make sure you don't choose your seats or you won't be able to change/cancel your flight without penalty.  😞

Different airlines have different rules for selecting seats.  

Edited March 10 by Abercrombie2019

[coo359a2]

It means that you have "bought" the tickets just as if you had booked directly with i.e.. Delta and paid for the tickets at that time.  You can see the ticket number on your Travel Summary where your flight info is.

 Evidently, they can ticket the flights before your 45 day window.  EZair for some reason ticketed our flights for June 2023 to London in Jan 2023.  We were ok and lucky in that prices didn't go down and we were ok with the flight date.  

 

We are flying home from Vancouver in May 2024 and I requested Early Ticketing as we fly out the day cruise ends and our flights have almost doubled in price.  So again no problem for us.  Plus, we leave on 23 March on a cruise that ends in Vancouver in May and I didn't want to have to worry about when our flights would be ticketed while cruising there.

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, Incredimom said:

Well shoot, I just discovered my problem and I guess it was me that made it that way. I didn't realize that by choosing seats, that would make the "early ticketing" happen and then make it so I couldn't change without penalty! 

 

I guess Live and Learn. So if any of you purchase flights from Princess EZAir - make sure you don't choose your seats or you won't be able to change/cancel your flight without penalty.  😞

No, that is not true.  Many airlines do allow seat selection as you are making the EZair booking.  Others will not allow it until ticketed.  You have to explicitly request Early Ticketing in EZair page to make that happen (or call in to do that).  When requesting early ticketing, the flight has to be fully paid for.  Just because you selected a seat does not mean the flight is ticketed. 

 

Has EZair changed a policy and presented a message or warning that selecting a seat means you will be ticketed immediately?  Doesn't make sense to me as guests are typically booking flights long before Final Payment date and you cannot be ticketed without paying.

[Steelers36]

I noticed last year that I could still go in and shop flights after I had done ticketing and it was still >45 days.  I didn't want to change anything as I had super pricing, but I was curious a time or two as to what things were like close to the limit of 45 days.  Presumably, I was not being surcharged - just a higher price.  (This was for international one-ways each way and not domestic like the OP's situation).

[coo359a2]

11 minutes ago, Incredimom said:

Well shoot, I just discovered my problem and I guess it was me that made it that way. I didn't realize that by choosing seats, that would make the "early ticketing" happen and then make it so I couldn't change without penalty! 

 

I guess Live and Learn. So if any of you purchase flights from Princess EZAir - make sure you don't choose your seats or you won't be able to change/cancel your flight without penalty.  😞

So far flying on Delta booking through EZair, we have been able to select Delta economy seats with no charge at the time we book flights with EZair..  When we upgraded to Premium Economy, we had to ask for early ticketing to be able to get those seats. Was able to get seat assignments on United flights at the time of booking with EZair about 300 days before our flight.

 

We are flying home from Vancouver in May on Westjet and have no idea how we will get seat assignments on Westjet. Have our flights ticketed and seat assignments on the Delta segment and hoping Delta might be able to help get assigned seats with Westjet..

Edited March 10 by coo359a2

[Thrak]

7 minutes ago, Incredimom said:

Well shoot, I just discovered my problem and I guess it was me that made it that way. I didn't realize that by choosing seats, that would make the "early ticketing" happen and then make it so I couldn't change without penalty! 

 

I guess Live and Learn. So if any of you purchase flights from Princess EZAir - make sure you don't choose your seats or you won't be able to change/cancel your flight without penalty.  😞

 

Weird. In the past I have used Flexible booking and chosen my seats. I was still able to make adjustments to the flight without penalty. If the price went down I was able to get the new rate. However, if the price had gone up I had no option but to pay more because the flights now cost more. On our recent flights we changed our plans. Our homeward flights went from Melbourne, AU to San Francisco, to Redding. Our plans changed and I wanted to re-book without the San Francisco to Redding portion. Nope. Dropping that second segment, instead of making things cheaper, increased the price quite a bit as pricing had gone way up since the initial booking. We just "missed" the second flight.

[Incredimom]

My flights are with Delta and i guess by choosing the seat selection that requested Early Ticketing and I didn't realize it. If there was a warning - somehow I missed it. I tried to just do the change myself on the cruise personalizer but it was charging a penalty fee so I called and they let me know that because the ticketing has already happened there is nothing I can do unless I pay the fee. 😞 

 

I feel pretty stupid and frustrated about this. But I guess I just don't get that extra day....

Edited March 10 by Incredimom

[SCX22]

With a flexible airline reservation through EZAir, it doesn't matter whether or not the air has been ticketed.  So long as you make the flight change before the 45 day mark, there should be no extra charges.  Choosing seats doesn't affect that policy.  EZAir, in the last 6 months, has taken it upon themselves to ticket flexible reservations early; I think this has to do with them dropping the ball during the restart and not issuing tickets.

 

The only way you could have requested early ticketing is if you went to the Flights tab of you Cruise Personalizer and clicked on the Request Early Ticketing button.  Delta does allow for seat selection prior to having been ticketed by EZAir.

 

Forget trying to have the call center do it.  Try to change the flights yourself through the Cruise Personalizer.  Before you agree to the changes and the air reservation is changed, the final checkout page will show you the difference in fare (refund or additional payment) and any fees that were levied.  If there are fees that are levied then that will mean that your flexible reservation is indeed ticketed and cannot be changed without a fee.

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, Incredimom said:

My flights are with Delta and i guess by choosing the seat selection that requested Early Ticketing and I didn't realize it. If there was a warning - somehow I missed it. I tried to just do the change myself on the cruise personalizer but it was charging a penalty fee so I called and they let me know that because the ticketing has already happened there is nothing I can do unless I pay the fee. 😞 

 

I feel pretty stupid and frustrated about this. But I guess I just don't get that extra day....

To be fair, had you booked directly with Delta, you would be facing the same situation.  Paid-for tickets looking to change dates means a likely fare increase, plus a change fee.  So, this doesn't seem like an EZair issue.  Still not sure how you ended up requesting early ticketing since seat selection on Delta ought to be part of the booking process as indicated in above post.

[Incredimom]

Just now, SCX22 said:

With a flexible airline reservation through EZAir, it doesn't matter whether or not the air has been ticketed.  So long as you make the flight change before the 45 day mark, there should be no extra charges.  Choosing seats doesn't affect that policy.  EZAir, in the last 6 months, has taken it upon themselves to ticket flexible reservations early; I think this has to do with them dropping the ball during the restart and not issuing tickets.

 

The only way you could have requested early ticketing is if you went to the Flights tab of you Cruise Personalizer and clicked on the Request Early Ticketing button.  Delta does allow for seat selection prior to having been ticketed by EZAir.

 

Forget trying to have the call center do it.  Try to change the flights yourself through the Cruise Personalizer.  Before you agree to the changes and the air reservation is changed, the final checkout page will show you the difference in fare (refund or additional payment) and any fees that were levied.  If there are fees that are levied then that will mean that your flexible reservation is indeed ticketed and cannot be changed without a fee.

 

Yes I tried to do it myself and it is indeed charging the penalty. The call center told me that with Delta by choosing the seats I made the early ticketing happen. There could have been a pop-up warning but I don't remember it.  😞

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

With a flexible airline reservation through EZAir, it doesn't matter whether or not the air has been ticketed.  So long as you make the flight change before the 45 day mark, there should be no extra charges.  Choosing seats doesn't affect that policy.  EZAir, in the last 6 months, has taken it upon themselves to ticket flexible reservations early; I think this has to do with them dropping the ball during the restart and not issuing tickets.

 

The only way you could have requested early ticketing is if you went to the Flights tab of you Cruise Personalizer and clicked on the Request Early Ticketing button.  Delta does allow for seat selection prior to having been ticketed by EZAir.

 

Forget trying to have the call center do it.  Try to change the flights yourself through the Cruise Personalizer.  Before you agree to the changes and the air reservation is changed, the final checkout page will show you the difference in fare (refund or additional payment) and any fees that were levied.  If there are fees that are levied then that will mean that your flexible reservation is indeed ticketed and cannot be changed without a fee.

Totally agree with you and aligns with my original post in this thread.  It may not be OP's fault if EZair/Princess did early ticketing.

[Incredimom]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

To be fair, had you booked directly with Delta, you would be facing the same situation.  Paid-for tickets looking to change dates means a likely fare increase, plus a change fee.  So, this doesn't seem like an EZair issue.  Still not sure how you ended up requesting early ticketing since seat selection on Delta ought to be part of the booking process as indicated in above post.

 

The fare itself did go up by $50 so I expected to pay the extra $100 for the fare, but not for the canceleation/change fee. Yea, I still don't know how I ended up requesting early ticketing...

[Arizona Wildcat]

21 minutes ago, Incredimom said:

Well shoot, I just discovered my problem and I guess it was me that made it that way. I didn't realize that by choosing seats, that would make the "early ticketing" happen and then make it so I couldn't change without penalty! 

 

I guess Live and Learn. So if any of you purchase flights from Princess EZAir - make sure you don't choose your seats or you won't be able to change/cancel your flight without penalty.  😞

So sorry.  Be really careful when using a consolidator like EzAir.  You probably said something when you booked about wanting to select seats.  That requires ticketing.

All I know to do now (worked as a TA selling group airline packages long long ago) is call the airline directly giving you booking code see what you can do.

I tip, call on the weekends or early evening to get US based agents.

Edited March 10 by Arizona Wildcat

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, Incredimom said:

 

Yes I tried to do it myself and it is indeed charging the penalty. The call center told me that with Delta by choosing the seats I made the early ticketing happen. There could have been a pop-up warning but I don't remember it.  😞

Thanks for explaining.  I guess we should all be more aware.  But Princess is the problem if they are ticketing without advising guests and still have the 45-day policy.

[Thrak]

1 minute ago, Incredimom said:

 

The fare itself did go up by $50 so I expected to pay the extra $100 for the fare, but not for the canceleation/change fee. Yea, I still don't know how I ended up requesting early ticketing...

 

I doubt it's your fault. Some clown at Princess did this.

[startedwithamouse]

I know you want to spend an extra day in Vancouver, but if you have a late original flight home, you can store your luggage at the port and tour the city for a few hours. 

Edited March 10 by startedwithamouse

[Incredimom]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

I know you want to spend an extra day in Vancouver, but if you have a late original flight home, you can store your luggage at the port and tour the city for a few hours. 

Thank you - but we are flying home from Anchorage.

[coo359a2]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Thanks for explaining.  I guess we should all be more aware.  But Princess is the problem if they are ticketing without advising guests and still have the 45-day policy.

As I posted earlier, we were ticketed (on Travel Summary) 6 months before our actual flight on Delta to London.  Didn't think to much about it since price and dates were what we expected.  Don't know how we would have felt if we had wanted to change to a new  flight schedule 4 months  out.  Daughter and family were also ticketed before the 45 day window on their flights from Australia to Alabama.

[Arizona Wildcat]

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Totally agree with you and aligns with my original post in this thread.  It may not be OP's fault if EZair/Princess did early ticketing.

Steelers, in a consolidator block selecting a seat requires ticketing.  The OP asked about selecting seats and this generated ticking earlier.

[Incredimom]

1 minute ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Steelers, in a consolidator block selecting a seat requires ticketing.  The OP asked about selecting seats and this generated ticking earlier.

 

Yea, I just wish I would have realized this sooner before I selected the seats. Like I said, this is probably all my fault and there could have been a warning - but I don't remember that happening. It's just frustrating - but I hope my error can help someone else!

[Incredimom]

So in another topic - can someone tell me if this is going to be a problem....

 

I noticed that the tickets do join our names together and I'm wondering if this is going to cause a problem going through security.

 

My Name is DeDe Smith and the ticket says DEDELINMRS SMITH

 

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Steelers, in a consolidator block selecting a seat requires ticketing.  The OP asked about selecting seats and this generated ticking earlier.

I have pre-selected seating in EZair bookings every time when able to do so (i.e. allowed).  This was been done months before ticketing date and never caused nor required ticketing.  Several years ago, I did explicitly request ET so I could do seat selection on Air Canada.

 

So, I do disagree with your premise and also am aware many other members here have also been able to do seat selection - depending on airline and class of ticket - without generating ticketing. 

 

If this is a recent change, then secretive Princess needs to pony up and publish it.