EZ air question from 1st time Princess cruiser

[mrsgthatsme]

I will be cruising Princess for the first time this spring. Wondering if some seasoned cruisers could fill me in on the advantages of using EZ air. Are the fares ever less than when you do your own prince hunting/booking?

[custompcsys]

Are the fares ever less than when you do your own prince hunting/booking?

 

Yes, especially on open jaw and one-way fares they are cheaper most of the time, at least in my experience. If you are doing a transatlantic or a cruise that departs from city A and ends in city B they are definitely worth a look.

[Kamloops50]

I will be cruising Princess for the first time this spring. Wondering if some seasoned cruisers could fill me in on the advantages of using EZ air. Are the fares ever less than when you do your own prince hunting/booking?

 

If you buy Flexible Tickets , they don't have to paid until final payment .

They say price isn't guaranteed but never have had the price go up . You can change up to 45 days before departure.

[emmak8]

We often use EZair. First, you can book a flexible flight and you don't have to pay until final cruise payment.You're not stuck with nonrefundable tickets. Also makes it simple if you have to cancel your cruise at final payment.

Second, it is most often the best value when flying one way to a port and one way home from another port. Example : NY to Houston and Barcelona to NY $611

 

Plus, prices can be adjusted if the fare goes down.

[caribill]

Check EZAir as just one of the sources you use to book airfare.

 

It may have better pricing or it may have pricing not as good as you can find elsewhere.

[jsmac3]

There is a more detailed discussion of EZAir on the Cruise Air Forum. EZAir can be very good when everything goes as planned.

 

The last time we used EZAir, 3 weeks before departure and well after final payment, our flights were completely changed. We still made it to our destinations - it was just an inconvenience.

 

Most of the time, it works out as planned.

[Colo Cruiser]

I will be cruising Princess for the first time this spring. Wondering if some seasoned cruisers could fill me in on the advantages of using EZ air. Are the fares ever less than when you do your own prince hunting/booking?

 

 

Its always best to shop. We have found recently that non restricted fares are cheaper then the restricted one.

[Potstech]

Have always found better fares and wider choices using alternate sources for flights. Recent Anchorage one way flight to Richmond Va was $220 for EZ Air and $160.00 for the same flight through other means. Same with flights to FLL last April. It always pays to check many ticket brokers.

[JF - retired RRT]

Doesn't EZAir also guarantee that if there is a flight delay they will get you to the port by departure or get you to the next port?

[Kamloops50]

Doesn't EZAir also guarantee that if there is a flight delay they will get you to the port by departure or get you to the next port?

 

It depends on the cruise . In Alaska they can't get to the next port from Seattle or Vancouver Northbound or Hawaii rtn from California.

These are a result of PVSA (commonly called "Jones Act").

[Times Prince]

I will be cruising Princess for the first time this spring. Wondering if some seasoned cruisers could fill me in on the advantages of using EZ air. Are the fares ever less than when you do your own prince hunting/booking?

For domestic flights with the same departure/return airport one can almost always find a cheaper fare dealing directly with the airline web site.

 

Keep in mind, though, that the EZair price includes some insurance which also provides the next port coverage in many cases. So the price difference may be just insurance cost, well worth it in winter months.

 

For "open jaw" flights (different arrival / return airports) Princess often comes out less expensive as airlines often charge round trip prices for each one-way leg.

 

Also we have found that one can actually book a return flight from a different airport using EZair. For instance, if the cruise ends in Southampton, England then by changing the return date first in the tool, one can return from any airport in Europe.

 

 

Its always best to shop. We have found recently that non restricted fares are cheaper then the restricted one.

We have found this particularly true for open jaw flights to Europe (e.g. with a transatlantic cruise).

[huskerc]

As an example, for a med cruise next year Rome -> Athens, I am able to book the following itinerary for hundreds less than booking directly, and it's refundable until 45 days out with no payment due now.

 

IND to CDG (Paris)

- 3 day stay in Paris

 

CDG to FCO (Rome)

- Start the cruise

 

ATH to IND

- Heading back home the day after

 

The Paris stay obviously has nothing to do with the cruise, it's just great that the system is flexible enough to let you do something like that.

[caribill]

As an example, for a med cruise next year Rome -> Athens, I am able to book the following itinerary for hundreds less than booking directly, and it's refundable until 45 days out with no payment due now.

 

IND to CDG (Paris)

- 3 day stay in Paris

 

CDG to FCO (Rome)

- Start the cruise

 

ATH to IND

- Heading back home the day after

 

The Paris stay obviously has nothing to do with the cruise, it's just great that the system is flexible enough to let you do something like that.

 

And up to 45 days before the cruise you can take advantage of any price drop you find. Can't do that with the airlines.

[Kenswing]

Its always best to shop. We have found recently that non restricted fares are cheaper then the restricted one.

 

We noticed the same thing. For our British Isles cruise Restricted fares were the same as the Delta website at $5500 per person. Flexible was $3640.. Guess which one we chose? :D

[retrembl]

I will be cruising Princess for the first time this spring. Wondering if some seasoned cruisers could fill me in on the advantages of using EZ air. Are the fares ever less than when you do your own prince hunting/booking?

 

We booked our Air Fare Direct with UA Non-Stop Boston to San Fran Price including all Taxes was $382.00. EZ Fare through Princess was Delta with one stop Price was $469.00. We always fly a day or two b/4 the cruise date to ensure we don't miss the cruise due to weather. Also we book our flights in Feb 2015 for a cruise schedule in Nov 2015. If you book your flight direct, you need to advise Princess about you flight numbers. Hope this helps

[Colo Cruiser]

We noticed the same thing. For our British Isles cruise Restricted fares were the same as the Delta website at $5500 per person. Flexible was $3640.. Guess which one we chose? :D

 

 

For sure! Makes you wonder though. :)

[caribill]

If you book your flight direct, you need to advise Princess about you flight numbers. Hope this helps

 

Not really necessary unless you are using Princess transportation to/from the cruise and are doing this the day the cruise starts/ends.

[tml1230]

And up to 45 days before the cruise you can take advantage of any price drop you find. Can't do that with the airlines.

 

we recently used EZ air for the first time for an upcoming transatlantic….WOW was the price good!…plus as caribill says...we watched / tracked the EZair costs on-line and with a simple call to princess got it reduced another $90…Heck they are almost paying ME to fly to London!

[dockhl]

we recently used EZ air for the first time for an upcoming transatlantic….WOW was the price good!…plus as caribill says...we watched / tracked the EZair costs on-line and with a simple call to princess got it reduced another $90…Heck they are almost paying ME to fly to London!

 

How did you do that ? When we have signed into the Cruise Personalizer, it won't let us search for air since we have already booked air. I must be missing something :confused:

[flamomo]

How did you do that ? When we have signed into the Cruise Personalizer, it won't let us search for air since we have already booked air. I must be missing something :confused:

 

 

Just open a separate window and do an anonymous cruise search on the Princess site, and do fake booking without inputting your personal info. You should be able to look at EZAir to check current pricing.

[Pierlesscruisers]

Not really necessary unless you are using Princess transportation to/from the cruise and are doing this the day the cruise starts/ends.

 

Not necessary, but it is a help sometimes if a flight is delayed in some manner as then Princess can check on your flight and know what your situation is if you're not arriving on time. Especially true if you hare Princess insurance.

 

Tom

[Pierlesscruisers]

Yes, especially on open jaw and one-way fares they are cheaper most of the time, at least in my experience. If you are doing a transatlantic or a cruise that departs from city A and ends in city B they are definitely worth a look.

 

What is an "open jaw" fare? I've never heard that term before.:confused:

 

Tom

[freetocruise]

After years of booking 1 way flights to/from Europe or trying to coordinate RT air with different transatlantics, I finally checked EZ air for our 1 way return from London after a spring transatlantic. I was surprised at how cheap they were in all classes compared to a one way through the airlines. And they were unrestricted fares.

 

I have read that one way or open jaw to/from Europe is a better way to use EZ Air than for domestic airfare. Also, they allowed me to set a return date more than 3 weeks after the ship arrives as we plan to do some land touring on our own.

[USN59-79]

What is an "open jaw" fare? I've never heard that term before.:confused:

 

Tom

Open jaw means a round trip in which you arrive in one city but fly back from another. For example, we are flying to London but getting off the ship in Rome, so we are looking at an "open jaw" fare.

[azdmelani]

How did you do that ? When we have signed into the Cruise Personalizer, it won't let us search for air since we have already booked air. I must be missing something :confused:

 

Go to add/modify flights in the cruise personalizer, and search for your flights again. If you dont like what you see, then go back to cruise personalizer or close out of the window.

 

If the fares have gone down and you purchased flexible fares and are outside the 45 day window, refare with no change fees.