New restrictions on easyair?

[billco]

I see this new 5 day restriction also apples to Holland America Flight Ease. I have a HAL Transatlantic Cruise next April followed by a river cruise out of Amsterdam. I already made my flight reservation and hope they don't cancel as a regular commercial back to the states would cost twice as much.

 

[startedwithamouse]

7 hours ago, tothemall&beyond said:

What loophole? Should not make any difference to Princess for passengers to travel on the dates we want to travel. 

It should.

 

EZ air is for your cruise, not your vacation or other travel.

 

Supply and demand could play a factor.

 

What if a huge amount of guests booked 8 days prior to their week long cruise, which falls a day before the voyage before them? That shuts out guests, or makes the airfares spike in cost for guests on that voyage because people are using EZ air out of the normal scope of flying in for a cruise. 

 

Edited Saturday at 08:44 PM by startedwithamouse

[startedwithamouse]

7 hours ago, tothemall&beyond said:

I think you are the one misunderstanding. An EZ Air booking has to be tied to your particular sailing and Princess is now limiting the range of days you can select to fly to only 5 days prior to your embarkation and 5 days following your disembarkation. 

I was responding to the OP to have them check the cruise prior to theirs.

[gottagocit]

4 minutes ago, billco said:

I see this new 5 day restriction also apples to Holland America Flight Ease. I have a HAL Transatlantic Cruise next April followed by a river cruise out of Amsterdam. I already made my flight reservation and hope they don't cancel as a regular commercial back to the states would cost twice as much.

 

Good luck with it. Hopefully they won’t be cancelled but grandfathered to allow the flights outside 5 days. 

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

They want to get everyone a seat. Imagine a cruise departing out of Boston on 7/6 and another on 7/13.  Both sets of passengers want to fly in on 7/2 so that they can enjoy the Boston Pops on the 4th. Princess is simply giving priority to the passengers on the 7/6 cruise. They’d hate to disappoint the passengers on that cruise because the people on the 7/13 cruise took so many seats which are, after all, finite and outside of Princess’ control. If you were making the decision and you had to tell people 11 days in advance of their departure to find other arrangements, or tell people 4 days in advance of their departure to find other arrangements, which would you choose?  Seems rather obvious. 

...or Taylor Swift currently on a London stop.  

[SCX22]

33 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

What if a huge amount of guests booked 8 days prior to their week long cruise, which falls a day before the voyage before them? That shuts out guests, or makes the airfares spike in cost for guests on that voyage because people are using EZ air out of the normal scope of flying in for a cruise. 

 

The problem is Princess is forcing the airfare to spike under the new terms.  Now, all passengers, if choosing to use EZAir, have to fly in within 5 days of sailing/depart within 5 days of disembarkation, instead of letting the flight arrivals spread out. 

 

If I fly in a week before a 2 week cruise, then I've opened up availability for 2 others to fly in the day of or the the day before.  The 5 days prior won't have an effect, because there is no cruise departing if the ship is on a turnaround cycle of more than 7 days (could be more, but I haven't really thought it out that far).

 

If there is a major event, the airfares will spike to begin with.  It's not just cruiser passengers trying to get to that city, but other travelers.  It's simple supply and demand.  This is one of the reasons I don't cruise or fly near or around major US holidays.  For example, the flights for the 07/05/24 departure of the Island Princess TA are higher because it coincides with July 4th.  The airlines know this and the airlines are the ones that set the fare.  Try finding a cheap flight during the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas.  The airlines know better than to discount this time frame because they know they have a captive audience; people will pay whatever price to get home for the holidays.

 

At the end of the day, Princess still gets a cut of the airfare, regardless of when the passenger departure/return is.

Edited Saturday at 09:13 PM by SCX22

[tothemall&beyond]

5 hours ago, FLAlaska said:

Probably because they have limited flights available .Princess is offering flights to help you get to your cruise, not your vacation. So I assume they are prioritizing people heading straight to the cruise ships 

That doesn't make any sense. First, as someone who has been flying EZAir for 13 years, I can tell you they have a very wide expanse of flights at their disposal. Second, and moreover, the more remote in time you go out from the cruise, the less you'd be actually be impacting the availability of flights to/from that cruise.

[tothemall&beyond]

5 hours ago, Luv2cruz1000 said:

Too far out for me to check....is the 5 days including the one the cruise ends. Our cruise ends on a Saturday and hope to fly from Alaska the following Thursday. We had good luck with flights using Carnival's flights, hoping to get the competitive pricing with EZ Air.

Does not include embarkation or disembarkation days. 5 days prior and 5 days after. I tested it with several upcoming bookings. 

[cr8tiv1]

This is a switch.  Recently, there have been many threads about not booking EZ Air.  I don't think we will ever know the history behind this change.  Blame it on JP ???????

[azbirdmom]

I just did a test on an Alaska cruise tour.  EZAir uses the dates of the cruise tour not just the cruise to set the 5 day window before or after.  So it's not just the cruise dates that matter in this situation.

 

This change is one more reason for us to avoid booking through EZAir.  We are much happier booking direct and at least having flexibility and control over our flights.

[AZaTaz]

15 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

I just did a test on an Alaska cruise tour.  EZAir uses the dates of the cruise tour not just the cruise to set the 5 day window before or after.  So it's not just the cruise dates that matter in this situation.

 

This change is one more reason for us to avoid booking through EZAir.  We are much happier booking direct and at least having flexibility and control over our flights.

Thanks for checking mine was to far away. 

[SCX22]

I was discussing this with my girlfriend.  She thinks this change, if it isn't a glitch (which I really hope it's a glitch), is to simplify the ticketing process.  If all guests have to fly within 5 days of their cruise, EZAir has a set deadline to ticket all the air for a particular sailing.  If people are flying any day before their cruise, ticketing at the 45 day mark is a moving target and is dependent on the air departure date.  I remember during the restart when EZAir was dropping the bomb and forgetting to pay for the air, resulting in people arriving at the airport with no reservations.  I rebutted her by asking how this affects the return.  No, answer.  🤷‍♂️  Again, this was just my GF's opinion.

Edited Saturday at 10:19 PM by SCX22

[startedwithamouse]

14 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

I was discussing this with my girlfriend.  She thinks this change, if it isn't a glitch (which I really hope it's a glitch), is to simplify the ticketing process.  If all guests have to fly within 5 days of their cruise, EZAir has a set deadline to ticket all the air for a particular sailing.  If people are flying any day before their cruise, ticketing at the 45 day mark is a moving target and is dependent on the air departure date.  I remember during the restart when EZAir was dropping the bomb and forgetting to pay for the air, resulting in people arriving at the airport with no reservations.  I rebutted her by asking how this affects the return.  No, answer.  🤷‍♂️  Again, this was just my GF's opinion.

Marry her.

[Ombud]

6 hours ago, canadarocks said:

 

Is this a change because EZAIR is a consolidator? FWIW my timing is limited and 5 nights before or after doesn't negatively affect me. But my flight SFO->LHR / MIA->SFO just doubled. That does affect me. Plus UAL only gives points / flight leg if I upgrade (well I do that anyway & my upgrade is still $229)

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

if it isn't a glitch (which I really hope it's a glitch)

With reports of Seabourn & HAL instituting the same 5 day policy, I doubt if it’s a glitch.
 

As I earlier posted, all CCL lines pool their airfare bookings to get the best consolidator deals which leads me to believe they’ll all have the same terms…5 days before or after a cruise, or cruise tour as @azbirdmom posted.

 

[Astro Flyer]

I have a question not about the new limit but instead about EZair flights that are not from our home airport listed in our Princess details.

 

We’re cruising around Australia roundtrip Brisbane & then 2 days later we’re sailing from Auckland to LAX. EZair airfares are currently available however we cannot see a BNE/AKL flight.

Has anyone been able to contact EZair to make a reservation from an airport that’s nowhere near their home airport?

 

[gottagocit]

9 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

I have a question not about the new limit but instead about EZair flights that are not from our home airport listed in our Princess details.

 

We’re cruising around Australia roundtrip Brisbane & then 2 days later we’re sailing from Auckland to LAX. EZair airfares are currently available however we cannot see a BNE/AKL flight.

Has anyone been able to contact EZair to make a reservation from an airport that’s nowhere near their home airport?

 

We did almost your exact trip in 2019 but with 5 planned days between the voyage our of Brisbane ending and the start of our Auckland one. We did call and learned we could not book the flight between Brisbane and Auckland using Princess. We had to book it elsewhere but at the time we did book the rough trip flight on the first voyage with no flights on the second.
This ended up screwing us later when our second cruise was ‘interrupted’ sadly when my DW’s mother passed suddenly back in the states and we had to disembark in Wellington to make our way home. 
since the original flight home was booked under the Brisbane voyage our ‘interruption’ claim to recover the original flight home due to the interruption of the second voyage was declined. We were reimbursed for some of the new cost to get home but the limit of your interruption coverage is the base cost of your cruise plus airfare. So only the cruise cost counted and the short term on way flight home cost far more than the cruise did so we lost lots of $’s. It was a secondary concern at the time of course due to the loss of loved one but later it did frustrate the heck out of us when we filed with princes protection. 

[Coral]

Sounds like not a glitch 😞 

 

Makes panning a river cruise before an ocean cruise with Princess air difficult now. It would be great if they allow exceptions for a minimal fee, like they use to charge for air deviations, but I doubt that is an option. Maybe a compromise would be to make people buy the tickets and ticket them within 60 days before departure or something that can satisfy the consolidator, the cruise lines and the passenger.

[tothemall&beyond]

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

This is a switch.  Recently, there have been many threads about not booking EZ Air.  I don't think we will ever know the history behind this change.  Blame it on JP ???????

I jumped to blame JP also, but now seems to come from even higher up at CCL as also just happened on Seabourn and HAL.

[Astro Flyer]

@gottagocit…thanks for sharing your experience as a result of your DW’s sudden passing away. 😟

Booking directly airfares are reasonable in the $200-$300 USD range.

[tothemall&beyond]

2 hours ago, SCX22 said:

I was discussing this with my girlfriend.  She thinks this change, if it isn't a glitch (which I really hope it's a glitch), is to simplify the ticketing process.  If all guests have to fly within 5 days of their cruise, EZAir has a set deadline to ticket all the air for a particular sailing.  If people are flying any day before their cruise, ticketing at the 45 day mark is a moving target and is dependent on the air departure date.  I remember during the restart when EZAir was dropping the bomb and forgetting to pay for the air, resulting in people arriving at the airport with no reservations.  I rebutted her by asking how this affects the return.  No, answer.  🤷‍♂️  Again, this was just my GF's opinion.

Apparently not a glitch as is new policy at several other CCL cruise brands, too. Your GF's theory doesn't really hold up as Princess could resolve any "moving target" issue by simply requiring those people flying outside of the 5 day window to "early ticket" themselves before the 45 day mark imposed by the airlines. We often "early ticket" to avid any dropped balls by Princess - and to be able to select seats for some internat'l flights for which you have to actually be ticketed.

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

I have a question not about the new limit but instead about EZair flights that are not from our home airport listed in our Princess details.

 

We’re cruising around Australia roundtrip Brisbane & then 2 days later we’re sailing from Auckland to LAX. EZair airfares are currently available however we cannot see a BNE/AKL flight.

Has anyone been able to contact EZair to make a reservation from an airport that’s nowhere near their home airport?

 

Me 🖐 my closest airport is OAK but I will either fly in / out of SFO or LAX. SFO is not the closest airport and logistically LAX is either a 6 hr drive away OR a 1.5 flight OR heading out from a kids house

[SCX22]

4 minutes ago, tothemall&beyond said:

Your GF's theory doesn't really hold up as Princess could resolve any "moving target" issue by simply requiring those people flying outside of the 5 day window to "early ticket" themselves before the 45 day mark imposed by the airlines. We often "early ticket" to avid any dropped balls by Princess - and to be able to select seats for some internat'l flights for which you have to actually be ticketed.

 

Not sure what the statistic is, but I doubt many people request for early ticketing.  It negates the EZAir benefit of being able to refare to a lower airfare before the 45 day mark.  I avoid EZAir forgetting to ticket problem by checking if my Travel Summary has the air ticket numbers listed at the 40 day mark.  If not, then I call EZAir and tell them to ticket my reservation.  This way I don't forfeit the ability to refare.  When it's less than 45 days, there's nothing to lose by forcing the air to be ticketed.  If I had to book what is essentially a restricted ticket to book air with a departure of more than 5 days pre/post cruise, I would seriously reconsider using EZAir altogether because I lose the ability to lock in an air reservation at a specific price without being penalized for cancelation, if I want to rebook either with EZAir or directly with the airline due to lower pricing.  Might not get a lower price for business and higher classes, but cattle class prices fluctuate and that's the class I fly.

 

I still agree that this change is a major blow to the benefits of EZAir and the air programs of cruise lines under the CCL umbrella.

[shellbeachjim]

55 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Me 🖐 my closest airport is OAK but I will either fly in / out of SFO or LAX. SFO is not the closest airport and logistically LAX is either a 6 hr drive away OR a 1.5 flight OR heading out from a kids house

Our airport is San Luis Obispo (SBP) and most of us here refer to the fares flying from here as an extra tax on the airfare. The worst one we encountered was $5000/person by adding SBP to SFO when we were flying to Singapore. We ended up flying to SFO independently, spent a couple of days in the Bay Area, then flew to Singapore. W-a-y cheaper overall. I search for airfares from SBP, LAX, and SFO whenever we use EZAir and choose appropriately.

 

By the way, Cunard still requires you to call them to make flight arrangements and don't allow you to do it online. They apparently use the same search mechanism as EZAir internally, but don't make it available to customers via the web.

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

I have a question not about the new limit but instead about EZair flights that are not from our home airport listed in our Princess details.

 

We’re cruising around Australia roundtrip Brisbane & then 2 days later we’re sailing from Auckland to LAX. EZair airfares are currently available however we cannot see a BNE/AKL flight.

Has anyone been able to contact EZair to make a reservation from an airport that’s nowhere near their home airport?

 

We’ve done this a couple of times, but not since 2019, both times involving Honolulu instead of our home airport.