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Princess EZ Air Warning


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For a 15 day land/sea cruise in Alaska this coming June, I booked EZ Air flights last fall, monitored them daily, re-booked twice for lower fares, then continued to watch the flights checking on them daily for further reductions. No further reductions showed up, and nothing changed on the flight portion of my personalizer on Princess—all flights remained the same. However, “something” made me plug my locator number into the DELTA website, and that’s when everything blew up. The flight to Alaska was now an hour earlier with a longer layover, but the worst part was that our return flights were no longer in synch. The flights all over lapped and did not line up at all. There were red exclamation marks all over the page and notices to contact Delta immediately. I did that, but was told since the flights were not yet ticketed, I needed to contact Princess/EZ Air. It took well over an hour on the phone with Princess and resulted in very satisfactory flights. However….

 

Two items of note here:

#1 I’m not sure what would have happened if I had not had the “feeling” to plug my reservation into the Delta website. The problem likely would have come to light at final payment, and then I’m sure it would have been much more difficult to find flights similar to the ones I had booked last fall

#2 When I asked what I could/should do to avoid something like this happening again, she said it seemed to her to be quite a fluke, but to be certain of your flights —since the airlines can and do change/cancel flights all the time—occasionally checking your reservation on the airlines’ website is good advice.

Finally, If Princess is indeed reading these boards—kudos to Ophelia, the Princess rep who worked so very hard for me to resolve this issue. Thank you Princess and Ophelia!

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Thanks for the posting. We use EZair all the time these days and I always check my air reservation on the airline's webpage for problems like you cited. Your experience needs to be put in bold letters: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR FLIGHT RESERVATIONS ON THE AIRLINE'S WEBPAGE! While we have not had the experience the OP has had, our time is probably coming.

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You may be missing the fact that this could all happen again before your Final Payment. Keep monitoring your flights.

 

Personally, I would never use cruise line air for domestic travel.

 

BTW, this is not specific to EZair....it is specific to the way that all airlines are currently managing their fleets and schedules.

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This exact problem happened to us on our Alaska cruise tour last June. Our departure flights were fine but the return was just like yours. I rec'd no email notice and called Delta. I was also referred to EZ Air/Princess. It took several phone calls and lots of time on hold, but we were booked on another airline on return and worked out well. Like you, I wondered what would have happened had I not checked the flights.

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2 years ago on a West bound TA our return flight from FLL-LAX was cancelled while we were at sea, 3 days out, and only was notified when we tried to sign up for the baggage service upon docking. Delta blamed Princess EZ Air and Princess blamed Delta, we were finally given seats on our original flight but were not seated together, I gave up my Premium Economy to sit by my wife in Economy and the lady almost didn't take it. Delta seems to be the one that has the most issues, just saying.

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We booked our flights direct with Alitalia for our cruise out of Rome this August. The flights (business class non refundable) are non stop from Toronto to Rome. Price was $3157CDNper passenger, Princess EZ Air is currently offering the same flights for $6309 per passenger. Always check flight prices online, I used Expedia for final booking. Had an Alitalia representative reserve our seats.

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One should always check flights on the airlines web site if booked a long time in advance .This is not just for EZ Air flights but for flights booked in any manner even directly from the airline. Sometimes you get notified about changes and sometimes the computer doesn't notify you.

I was actually very impressed yesterday when I got an email from EZ Air telling me my flights(that aren't ticketed yet) for next December had changed times.

I went to the AA web site to see and indeed the flight times now were even better than when I booked.

Always check regularly !!

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Thank you for posting, while I have cruised more RCCL then Princess, when booking any flights whether through the Cruise line or on your own, it is wise to check you flights through the airlines regularly. I have also added to be notified of any changes on the airline web site.

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Believe me, it is NO fluke! I had the same thing happen but for mine, the flight was completely cancelled! I had no warning from Princess (did not expect warning from the airline since it wasn't ticketed yet). They automatically put me on a flight that was 90 minutes too early on disembarkation day. I would've never made that flight! I had to completely change air carriers and pay more for the new ticket. Argh! :mad: It really pays to monitor these things on your own.

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Perhaps the notices are airline specific? We have exclusively used EZAir for United. As flight changes have occurred, we see the "Travel Arrangements" turn red while in the Cruise Personalizer and there are further warnings when we click on that link. The last couple of times our TA has forwarded a notice from Princess as well indicating that the flights times have changed. So there's lots of layers of protection, at least when it comes to United / Princess.

 

As for cost, there are some crazy low fares right now for some of the routes. For example, we were able to book flights for our January cruise to Singapore this week. United wanted over $1,000 round trip from Phoenix but for the same flights, EZAir was $740. Our friends are on the same cruise traveling from Chicago. Their round trip fare on United using EZAir was $570 per person.

 

It always pays to check multiple sources when booking airfare for a cruise, and also to check frequently for possible changes in flights or outright cancellations.

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We booked our flights direct with Alitalia for our cruise out of Rome this August. The flights (business class non refundable) are non stop from Toronto to Rome. Price was $3157CDNper passenger, Princess EZ Air is currently offering the same flights for $6309 per passenger. Always check flight prices online, I used Expedia for final booking. Had an Alitalia representative reserve our seats.

 

That seems really high. We used EZ Air last year round trip to Barcelona from Seattle. Business class was $2350 pp US. This July we are using EZ Air for our cruise out of London. Business class is $2415 pp. To top it off these were flexible fares that could be changed or canceled up to 45 days in advance.

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Sorry I missed that notice.

 

I am using EZ Air for the first time and didn't notice the notice either.

 

Perhaps the notices are airline specific? We have exclusively used EZAir for United. As flight changes have occurred, we see the "Travel Arrangements" turn red while in the Cruise Personalizer and there are further warnings when we click on that link. The last couple of times our TA has forwarded a notice from Princess as well indicating that the flights times have changed. So there's lots of layers of protection, at least when it comes to United / Princess.

 

I am using United also and really have missed it. I have checked the airlines website though. I am flying for $2700 Business Class, direct through United it is $8100.

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I just checked my EZ Air today after reading this post. I’ve had good experiences with Princess Air until this upcoming trip. A couple of weeks ago I was checking my air and even though I could see the air reservation in my cruise personalized and I paid for the air in January, it said my reservation had been canceled. When I called Princess they said my travel companion canceled the flights in October. I asked how that could be possible when I, the person who booked the trip, never received confirmation of such a change AND I paid for the flights 4 months after the reservation was canceled AND the reservation was still showing on my personalizer. Their only response was “Yeah, that is really strange.” So I agree. Check often.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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When we book EZ air with Princess there is ALWAYS a notice that comes up that tells us that we are responsible for checking the airlines website.

 

This is one of the reasons I don’t use EZ air. I don’t have the time to be checking airline websites all the time.

Tony

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When we book EZ air with Princess there is ALWAYS a notice that comes up that tells us that we are responsible for checking the airlines website.

 

This is one of the reasons I don’t use EZ air. I don’t have the time to be checking airline websites all the time.

Tony

 

We find that using EZ air for Transatlantic cruises offer a significant savings that makes checking your airline website worth it. For instance....if we booked a one way flight from Europe after our Transatlantic this April 2018 on our own it was $2300. Using EZ air we were able to purchase the same flight on the same airline for $475. That was a no-brainer for us. I can check every week to make sure that all is well for that savings. It takes literally about 2 minutes....if that. It certainly is not a bother.

 

We have also used EZ air for domestic flights as well with savings over what we could get by booking directly with the airline.

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When we book EZ air with Princess there is ALWAYS a notice that comes up that tells us that we are responsible for checking the airlines website.

 

This is one of the reasons I don’t use EZ air. I don’t have the time to be checking airline websites all the time.

Tony

 

This is my first time and the savings is $$$$. It is an international flight.

 

I have been notified of one change through my TA. It didn't show up at first on the Princess site until I hit "change or modify" and then it showed up. Bizarre.

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Booking through EZAir usually provides the lowest fares compared to airline websites. However, EZAir does not provide seat selection which can only be accomplished through the airline using the six-character reservation code. One should always check both EZAir and the airline periodically for updates/changes, and provide the airline with your contact information for changes. Interestingly, for an upcoming R/T flight to Australia from the US received three different reservation codes over a period of several weeks... The second one works with both EZAir and the airline! Always check.

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Booking through EZAir usually provides the lowest fares compared to airline websites. However, EZAir does not provide seat selection which can only be accomplished through the airline using the six-character reservation code.

 

I am flying United to Europe and I can select my seats. I have even gone into United's website and they are blocked off.

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