Tell me about Princess Ezy air...

Looking to use the service next year for AUS-USA flights, so would like to be prepared .

When are you required to pay for ticketing? I was led to believe it was at final payment time, so cruise and air anr paid together?

Can this be done via your TA (direct transfer and not credit card)?

Are the prices better than you can organise yourself?

Is there anything else that would help me make a decision to use Princess Ezyair?

I do appreciate your time and input.

We just used EZ Air for the first time, we booked a restricted flight and paid upon booking (ahead of final cruise payment, but not by a whole lot). I did the booking online, directly through Princess and paid by credit card. I'm not sure how your TA would deal with it, but if they take transfers regularly, I don't see why they wouldn't accept payment for the flight that way. I'm not an expert, so I could be wrong.

We didn't see any significant savings between booking the flights ourselves or going through Princess. We booked our pre-cruise hotel with them and purchased Princess insurance which would also cover the flight without extra expense.

We used Princess EZAir for our Mediterranean cruise out of Venice last November. Payment wasn't due until final payment (cruise & air).

We had what we thought were great flights scheduled until about three weeks before departure when Princess, the airlines, or someone changed our flights to less than favorable flights.

There were also problems with our tickets and we were caught up in the loop of calling Princess and them telling us to call Delta and Delta telling us to call Air France and so on - finally someone at Princess corrected it.

I'm not sure I'd use Princess Air again.

OP- Start out by reading the sticky at the top of this forum. Cruiseline arranged air often provides a cheaper fare (often you're just as good directly with the airline as FawnRiver commented). But understand that in most cases you aren't actually booked onto a specific flight until 30-60 days prior to travel. If something should go amok with your travel, that's when the ticket restrictions can become painfully apparent.

Just be sure you're an informed consumer before you make your purchase.

My understanding was (and still is) that if you pay for the flight when you book it, you're booked on the flights you've chosen and they can't move you. You get the confirmation number and can go to the airline's website and get your airline issued ticket number so you're confirmed (and depending on the airline, pay to pick your seats, etc.). I think the issue comes in with people who book flexible and leave off paying until they have to, by which time Princess may not have tickets for the flight you wanted.

Of course, I'm not an expert and I trust that if I'm wrong I will be corrected (gently please, its early and the caffine hasn't kicked in yet ;)).

My understanding was (and still is) that if you pay for the flight when you book it, you're booked on the flights you've chosen and they can't move you. You get the confirmation number and can go to the airline's website and get your airline issued ticket number so you're confirmed (and depending on the airline, pay to pick your seats, etc.). I think the issue comes in with people who book flexible and leave off paying until they have to, by which time Princess may not have tickets for the flight you wanted.

 

Of course, I'm not an expert and I trust that if I'm wrong I will be corrected (gently please, its early and the caffine hasn't kicked in yet ;)).

Honestly, I am not sure how it works. We booked flexible air paid for the air and cruise when it was due and then 3 weeks before the cruise we received an email about the change. Happened to several on our Mediterranean cruise. What was most irritating while we were in the Barcelona airport we talked with a couple that were on our original flights.

I may be wrong, but I believe flexible means just that - your flights may be changed - but I've only done Princess Air once.

We used EZAir from SID to Tampa, FL after our transpacific cruise. We selected our Delta flights from the flexible air menu on Princess with one change in Los Angeles (LAX). I was able to use the confirmation code to choose our seats on the DL website and put in all personal info, e.g. passport #, frequent flyer #, etc. The only change after booking was our connecting flight from LAX left one hour later than originally planned and we were advised of this way in advance. Even though the flight # changed, we kept our seats. I know that DL is notorious for changing flights, so kept a regular check on our booking. We were happy with the process, of course everything went as it was supposed to.

We used Princess EZAir for our Mediterranean cruise out of Venice last November. Payment wasn't due until final payment (cruise & air).

 

We had what we thought were great flights scheduled until about three weeks before departure when Princess, the airlines, or someone changed our flights to less than favorable flights.

 

There were also problems with our tickets and we were caught up in the loop of calling Princess and them telling us to call Delta and Delta telling us to call Air France and so on - finally someone at Princess corrected it.

 

I'm not sure I'd use Princess Air again.

Just offering another perspective here - We cruised the Med last fall also. My parents have sailed there several times over the years, so they have experience with cruise lines. We have lived in Europe and travelled there as a young family, but are new to cruising.

My parents flew using EZAir and it was only because of their booking that they arrived on time to the ship and the luggage was delivered the next port. Their original flight at ORD had mechanical difficulties and they called EZAir. EZAir/Delta re-reouted them, but their luggage was not able to join them at that point.However they were delivered at the next port. My parents swear by booking with the cruise line, and my Dad said it was competitively priced. They say it is too far to go to lose luggage or miss the ship. It makes sense! My husband and I used air mileage, and packed in carry-ons(Pinterest helped me pack!) ;)

The other passengers whose luggage did not join them were stuck shopping in European shops where the women are Size Zero.

Just offering another perspective here - We cruised the Med last fall also. My parents have sailed there several times over the years, so they have experience with cruise lines. We have lived in Europe and travelled there as a young family, but are new to cruising.

 

My parents flew using EZAir and it was only because of their booking that they arrived on time to the ship and the luggage was delivered the next port. Their original flight at ORD had mechanical difficulties and they called EZAir. EZAir/Delta re-reouted them, but their luggage was not able to join them at that point.However they were delivered at the next port. My parents swear by booking with the cruise line, and my Dad said it was competitively priced. They say it is too far to go to lose luggage or miss the ship. It makes sense! My husband and I used air mileage, and packed in carry-ons(Pinterest helped me pack!) ;)

 

The other passengers whose luggage did not join them were stuck shopping in European shops where the women are Size Zero.

You have a valid point. It was comforting to know both coming and going to Europe that Princess would provide us with some assistance if we missed any of our flights. And if I was flying in on the day of cruise, I'd most certainly use EZAir.

I imagine most flights booked with Princess work out fine.

The thing I liked best - we used a future cruise deposit of $100 to hold both the cruise and the air fare until final payment date.