EZ Air question

We booked a one-way to Barcelona some months ago for early October and are now looking for alternative options to the itinerary Princess booked us on. When checking the cruise personalizer, it brings up our current airline booking but it doesn't seem to allow us to check other options without cancelling our current tickets - which I hesitate to do. I had hoped there was some way to do this without having to call Princess. Many thanks!

Instead of hitting the red Cancel button, look to the left of the screen and hit the green Modify or Add Flight button.

The next screen shows the details of what you have currently booked. From there you can ask to Edit, then Search for new flight options, without cancelling your current booking.

Just do it without logging in. The Princess site allows anyone to see what the air options are. You don't need to even be booked on a cruise to do so. Look at the cruise itinerary for your ship/date and select the 'air' tab.

OK - tried to edit and then search, and it took me to a page which stated:

Air itinerary that you are trying to retrieve may have a schedule change which is not reflected in our system. Please call .......

As expected, my call to Princess was less than helpful. After an 8 minute wait while the rep contacted the air people to find out what the problem was, she came back and said Delta had not confirmed the flights for unknown reasons. This is a booking I made on Nov 22 of last year. When I asked how soon they would make the changes to the online reservation so I would be able to make changes, she was totally clueless. I remained online and answered the how are we doing question with a very low mark. Appreciate y'alls help.

OK - tried to edit and then search, and it took me to a page which stated:

Air itinerary that you are trying to retrieve may have a schedule change which is not reflected in our system. Please call .......

 

As expected, my call to Princess was less than helpful. After an 8 minute wait while the rep contacted the air people to find out what the problem was, she came back and said Delta had not confirmed the flights for unknown reasons. This is a booking I made on Nov 22 of last year. When I asked how soon they would make the changes to the online reservation so I would be able to make changes, she was totally clueless. I remained online and answered the how are we doing question with a very low mark. Appreciate y'alls help.

Sounds like a possible situation where you have a reservation with Princess Air, but Princess Air has not actually issued your tickets.

Sounds like a possible situation where you have a reservation with Princess Air, but Princess Air has not actually issued your tickets.

Princess Air does not issue tickets until 45 days before the cruise but that apparently was not the problem in this case because I got a call from Princess saying the problem lies with Delta and they are trying to fix it so I will be able to make changes to our reservation online.

Princess Air does not issue tickets until 45 days before the cruise but that apparently was not the problem in this case because I got a call from Princess saying the problem lies with Delta and they are trying to fix it so I will be able to make changes to our reservation online.

I think Princess means they issue tickets as early as 45 days prior. The norm seems to be around 30 days.

Don't confuse a *reservation* with *tickets*. A reservation is a "placeholder" to set aside space, based on your intent to travel. A ticket seals the deal. It's very similar to the difference between a Letter of Intent and a Contract. Until Cruise Air actually purchases tickets (evidenced by actual 13-digit ticket numbers, not the 6-character confirmation/PNR), your reservation could change to a totally different airline, routing, etc.

Delta does change their flights fairly often.

Princess Air does not issue tickets until 45 days before the cruise but that apparently was not the problem in this case because I got a call from Princess saying the problem lies with Delta and they are trying to fix it so I will be able to make changes to our reservation online.

So are you saying Delta no longer flies the route you had a reservation for?

Since the OP didn't bother to write something simple like: "I was booked on DLxxx from ABC to XYZ on the xxth of YY departing at xx:xx and connecting to DLxxx from XYZ to PDQ" - it could be almost anything and we are just speculating.

Had we gotten some details, we could have known what to look for. But all we have are generalities.

CruiseAir rule number 14: GIGO.

Should I bring back Sgt Friday? We need just the facts.

Since the OP didn't bother to write something simple like: "I was booked on DLxxx from ABC to XYZ on the xxth of YY departing at xx:xx and connecting to DLxxx from XYZ to PDQ" - it could be almost anything and we are just speculating.

 

Had we gotten some details, we could have known what to look for. But all we have are generalities.

 

CruiseAir rule number 14: GIGO.

 

Should I bring back Sgt Friday? We need just the facts.

This OP didn't bother to provide flt specifics because it was irrelevant to my question which was the method by which one could get into the Princess EZAir system to make changes. Mary Ellen understood perfectly, responded in a civilized manner and resolved my problem. There was a glitch with Delta's booking system which was quickly resolved and allowed me to cancel with them and rebook AA.

Since you are clearly a whizbang expert on several airline blogs, perhaps you can tell me whether it is possible to apply miles to an Ezair reservation or whether than can only happen by booking directly with the airline? Just the facts, please.

Since you are clearly a whizbang expert on several airline blogs, perhaps you can tell me whether it is possible to apply miles to an Ezair reservation or whether than can only happen by booking directly with the airline? Just the facts, please.

And without details, that's as much as one can say.

Again, it's not clear what you mean by "apply miles". If you mean to use miles to upgrade, that is a function of the ticket and fare basis and airline specific rules. If you mean to earn miles, then that too is a function of fare basis and airline rules.

 

And without details, that's as much as one can say.

An AAdvantage person answered my question:

By making a booking through Princess EZAir, the only way you can use miles for your ticket is to cancel and re-book through the airline which, being a one-way fare, generally costs a lot more. Since the flight is already close to full anyway, decided to stick with Princess. Earning miles is not the issue - have more than enough. Problem with USAirways was the impossibility of ever getting any use out of them for any itinerary we had.

So, let's see if we have this right....you wanted to be able to book a ticket, using FF miles, through EZ Air. Really?

Well the name is EZ Air! :rolleyes:

An AAdvantage person answered my question:

By making a booking through Princess EZAir, the only way you can use miles for your ticket is to cancel and re-book through the airline which, being a one-way fare, generally costs a lot more. Since the flight is already close to full anyway, decided to stick with Princess. Earning miles is not the issue - have more than enough. Problem with USAirways was the impossibility of ever getting any use out of them for any itinerary we had.

When you buy through EZAir or any other cruiseline, you're their customer and not the airline's. Award seats are booked directly with the airline(s) involved, and since EZAir makes their profit by reselling tickets bought in bulk, there wouldn't be any profit in an award seat transaction.

FYI the USAirways Dividend Miles program is fully merged into AAdvantage. Any DM balance transferred 1:1 into AAdvantage. I'd access your account pronto and make sure the transaction happened, and it happened accurately. (Despite doom-and-gloom speculation the Vulcan Mile Meld went amazingly well). At least for now, AAdvantage is substantially unchanged for the occasional traveler...it's arguably the most generous of the Big 4 airlines. Keyphrase is "for now"....

I think Princess means they issue tickets as early as 45 days prior. The norm seems to be around 30 days.

 

Don't confuse a *reservation* with *tickets*. A reservation is a "placeholder" to set aside space, based on your intent to travel. A ticket seals the deal. It's very similar to the difference between a Letter of Intent and a Contract. Until Cruise Air actually purchases tickets (evidenced by actual 13-digit ticket numbers, not the 6-character confirmation/PNR), your reservation could change to a totally different airline, routing, etc.

Oh no! This is stressful! I just signed up for direct flight from Las Vegas to London thru eZAir on a British Air flight. I went to the British Air site and selected seats. Are you telling me Princess could change the flight to connecting flights at the last minute? Do you think I'd be better off cancelling the eZAir and booking directly through the airline? The attractive part was thinking I had air fare arranged but didn't have to pay right now.

Eileen - hopefully someone will come along that is able to explain how EZAir flexible and restricted fares work. There are some knowledgeable people on this forum.

Jerry

Oh no! This is stressful! I just signed up for direct flight from Las Vegas to London thru eZAir on a British Air flight. I went to the British Air site and selected seats. Are you telling me Princess could change the flight to connecting flights at the last minute? Do you think I'd be better off cancelling the eZAir and booking directly through the airline? The attractive part was thinking I had air fare arranged but didn't have to pay right now.

I totally missed your post! Since you haven't yet paid eZAir, most likely you have a reservation but no tickets. You can pull up your reservation, request seats, and use most or all of the airline's website without tickets.

30-45 days prior to travel (rarely as short as 7), eZAir will pull tickets from their bulk inventory purchased long ago, piece together an itinerary to get you from LAS to London, and charge you at that time. More likely than not you will get the flights per your reservation. OTOH they could completely change for a variety of reasons.

Please read the sticky post about cruiseline air, so you know what you're buying. There's pros and cons....when everything goes fine you get a good price...various posts over the years reveal what happens when travel goes amok. Only you can decide if it's worth it after becoming an informed consumer.

The attractive part was thinking I had air fare arranged but didn't have to pay right now.

In exchange for being able to cancel your trip or defer payment, you got uncertainty about your air travel.

Oh no! This is stressful! I just signed up for direct flight from Las Vegas to London thru eZAir on a British Air flight. I went to the British Air site and selected seats. Are you telling me Princess could change the flight to connecting flights at the last minute? Do you think I'd be better off cancelling the eZAir and booking directly through the airline? The attractive part was thinking I had air fare arranged but didn't have to pay right now.

Eileen, from our experience we've always received exactly the routing we've reserved through eZAir.

Eileen, from our experience we've always received exactly the routing we've reserved through eZAir.

Which is a data point. However, closely read from the relevant post from kenish (bolding added to highlight):

30-45 days prior to travel (rarely as short as 7), eZAir will pull tickets from their bulk inventory purchased long ago, piece together an itinerary to get you from LAS to London, and charge you at that time. More likely than not you will get the flights per your reservation. OTOH they could completely change for a variety of reasons.

So...until you actually have a ticket (and that means the 13 digit number of the ticket, NOT just the 6 character locator), you just have a "reservation" - which is something totally different and which will NOT get you onto an aircraft. At least not until you have that ticket issued to you.

Most likely, you will get that flight. Will you always - don't bet the farm.

In addition, some airlines will let you select a seat with just a reservation, others require an actual ticket. DL will not let you select a preferred or Comfort+ seat unless ticketed (as I have found out while DL putzed around before issuing a ticket for me).

That would make sense IF eZAir allowed one to select any flight. However, they ONLY show flights that ARE available in their inventory. ;) The available flights change with the inventory. This is just like doing an air deviation of old. You pick your flights and the price for those flights is clearly shown.

If what has been claimed here were true, there would be 100s of posts claiming 'bait and switch'. The posts I've seen complaining about poor flight arrangements are from those who didn't select their own flights in the first place. They just left it up to the cruise line.

The available flights change with the inventory. This is just like doing an air deviation of old. You pick your flights and the price for those flights is clearly shown.

Totally true when making a *reservation* with cruiseline air departments. As previously commented, that inventory may change significantly by the time ticketing happens. They certainly can't ticket if inventory no longer exists.

If what has been claimed here were true, there would be 100s of posts claiming 'bait and switch'. The posts I've seen complaining about poor flight arrangements are from those who didn't select their own flights in the first place. They just left it up to the cruise line.

It is not "bait and switch". The cruise air contract provides transportation by air from A to B for an agreed-to price. (In fact, even the CoC covering tickets directly purchased from airlines have the same clause...the reservation, flights, and times are "guidelines" and nothing more).

Although it's likely OP will travel as planned, if it changes (for example) to LAS-JFK-ORD-LHR (not unheard of), EZAir fulfilled their contract. Very occasionally, an "upside" surprise happens; the cruiseline's air department has no inventory remaining that can piece together a trip from A to B. They purchase a standard, published-fare ticket from the airline and have to eat the cost difference.

In exchange for being able to cancel your trip or defer payment, you got uncertainty about your air travel.

Thanks to everyone for all the info. This is the first time I've tried to arrange air transportation through the cruise line instead of doing it independently. I think I will be checking flights directly through airline web sites and if I find something comparable just bite the bullet and pay to confirm flights and seats. Although, it is reassuring that several posts reflected satisfaction with flights and no last minute changes. When you travel, it certainly is an adventure, isn't it? :)