Flight Ease Cancellation Fees

[Billthekid]

I searched the HAL forum, HAL's website, and used AI on Google and Alexia.  Nowhere could I find the cancellation fees for Flight Ease being mentioned or listed.  The Flight Ease website states   With Flexible Fares, you may change your flights without change fees** at any time prior to your cruise final payment date.  After the cruise final payment due date, fees up to the full cost of the ticket may apply.  But, those fees are not disclosed anywhere I have looked.  Does anyone know what those fees might be, or where to look?

[Wehwalt]

As I understand it, it is the standard fee for the airline. We looked at changing a post-cruise flight in February, after we had made final payment, and spoke both with Flight Ease and with the airline. It was the standard change fee for the airline plus the difference in fares. We stayed with the original booking.

Edited June 21 by Wehwalt

[gomama5996]

It's at the discretion of the individual airline. You would need to contact the specific carrier to find that out. HAL doesn't determine the fees.

[Billthekid]

I checked with the airline Flight Ease is using (Alaska Air) and their policy depends on what type of fare was purchased.  Flight Ease has Flexible and Restricted fares which does not equate to Alaska Airlines codes.  So if I wish to change or cancel a flight I should be able to know my fees beforehand.  My fare could be refundable or nonrefundable.  Flight Ease does not tell me that information.  As a minimum, those disclosures need to be provided.  

[Mary229]

Are we discussing before or after final payment?  If you select flexible and do not request immediate ticketing you can change or cancel the fare whenever you want with no fee before final payment.  Also I assume this is domestic since you are using Alaska air.  There is not usually a lot of benefit to using Flight Ease for domestic fares.  
 

Finally, the issue stated is always an issue with any consolidator.   I had a concern last year after final payment and a very knowledgeable forum member explained it to me:

 

For a flight change, you go through FE and charges will depend on fare rates at that time and their arrangement w/AA on change fees. In FE, the top right corner of the flight details (the screen that shows the cost, flights, locator numbers, seat assignments) will show the final date that changes can be made w/o fee. Beyond that date is when change fees apply and the $$ won't be known until you decide on the flights.

Again, this is for flight changes as you already know how to handle seat changes  😎

One caveat, you can reach out to AA to handle, but they will charge a $50 fee on top of fare & change fees. This is because they don't touch 3rd party bookings; FE is 3rd party.

A workaround (only once tickets have been issued) can be to cancel the FE flights and rebook direct w/AA using the credit. The amount of credit you receive will be less change/cancelation fees,  so it will be less than what you paid. I only do that if the new flight is considerably less than the original .

Edited June 22 by Mary229

[Billthekid]

Thank you Mary.  This is after the final payment.  What I am reading is there will be a credit. I assume it will be with the airlines minus fees and probably a year to use or lose.   

 

FE's website is absent of this information.  When I click on the terms and conditions, I get a blank screen that sez "no air rules available".  Airlines are required to have full disclosure of fees including cancellation fees.  Wonder if 3rd parties are exempt?

 

 

[Mary229]

47 minutes ago, Billthekid said:

Thank you Mary.  This is after the final payment.  What I am reading is there will be a credit. I assume it will be with the airlines minus fees and probably a year to use or lose.   

 

FE's website is absent of this information.  When I click on the terms and conditions, I get a blank screen that sez "no air rules available".  Airlines are required to have full disclosure of fees including cancellation fees.  Wonder if 3rd parties are exempt?

 

 

The third party issue doesn’t create an exemption.  The problem is the airline doesn’t know how much you paid and they usually will just give you a flight voucher.
 

 I really think in this case you would do better to buy your own air at Alaska Air. They have the Main Refundable class which can be cancelled up to the day of the flight.  I only use flight ease for international air or if for some reason I have a tight schedule and might arrive immediately before the cruise.  

[Billthekid]

The voucher makes sense.  A refund from HAL would probably be the simplest since I booked through them.  HAL never did tell me if the ticket was refundable.  Thanks for your insight.   

 

An additional comment about the FE's Guarantee Late Arrival Protection policy.  If your flights are delayed or canceled by the airline on the day you are en route to or from your cruise, our staff is ready to assist you, 24/7.  If our flight is delayed or canceled the staff assistance will kick in.  On our seven-day Alaska Cruise, the first four days are at sea, and then we dock at Juneau with an airport.  So do you think with half the cruise over, HAL would refund our cruise money and a portion of our FE funds, or fly us to Juneau after paying for hotel and meals for those four days and nights?  I don't believe it.  The guarantee protection is just the staff assistance.  Again no details are provided for the guarantee.  

 

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, Billthekid said:

The voucher makes sense.  A refund from HAL would probably be the simplest since I booked through them.  HAL never did tell me if the ticket was refundable.  Thanks for your insight.   

 

An additional comment about the FE's Guarantee Late Arrival Protection policy.  If your flights are delayed or canceled by the airline on the day you are en route to or from your cruise, our staff is ready to assist you, 24/7.  If our flight is delayed or canceled the staff assistance will kick in.  On our seven-day Alaska Cruise, the first four days are at sea, and then we dock at Juneau with an airport.  So do you think with half the cruise over, HAL would refund our cruise money and a portion of our FE funds, or fly us to Juneau after paying for hotel and meals for those four days and nights?  I don't believe it.  The guarantee protection is just the staff assistance.  Again no details are provided for the guarantee.  

 

It is assistance and not a guarantee as you astutely noted. They have an uneven history.  I have seen them go to great lengths to help but I am sure others could tell you stories of complete failure.   I find the best insurance is first to arrive a day early and if that is not possible buy good travel insurance.  The scenario you gave is trip interruption and would be covered. 

[BashfulBeki]

Recent experience with Flight Ease, which I have used before and with whom I was very pleased -

I booked with Flight Ease with my PCC about 9 months ahead. While we were amazed with the pricing - multi city European flights - we really disliked the layovers and departure and arrival times.  I called FlightEase directly and was able to make one departure change that made the itinerary slightly better.  Then I read an article that summer European flights were getting much cheaper and found great flight times on our favored airline for much cheaper.  But now I was past full payment date by about 24 hours.

I called FE anyway being optimistic and they flatly told me that I would lose half of my payment.  After swift calculations, I find that the new flight pricing would cost us $9 less than FE even with the loss of half our fares. So I ended up paying less, having better flight times, and racking up the Frequent Flyer miles. So, of course, I had to upgrade our seats since I was saving $9, lol.

And the icing on the cake was that when we received the refund from FE, it was for the whole amount, not half.

Moral of the story, check, check and recheck prices if you have booked your trip early.