Flight Ease Glitch! Be Careful!

[Hlitner]

Just stumbled on an interesting Flight Ease problem that can immediately cancel your air reservation with no warning. We had a flight ease reservation (which we verified on the airlines own web site). Today I went into the system to check our reservation and look around to see if there were better deals. Normally the Flight Ease system will immediately show your existing reservation and you can click on change to look at other options without a problem. But this time I decided to change my departure airport (to check for other options). I changed the departure airport and checked some options but did not make any changes. But I later noticed that my original reservation had disappeared from the HAL site. I went to the airline web site and discovered that my entire reservation had been canceled! Fortunately I was able to simply rebook the same flights and seats at the same price.

 

The problem is that Flight Ease canceled my reservation with no warning and not even a hint that this had happened. It is only because I am anal about checking existing reservations that I noticed the flights had been canceled. So beware when using the Flight Ease online system.

 

Hank

[Krazy Kruizers]

That is why I always book our own flights.

Checking anything booked via HAL (or anyone else) can cancel your existing flights -- in other words -- they don't want you checking on anything.

[whogo]

I was not even aware that you could book HAL air online.

[Hlitner]

That is why I always book our own flights.

Checking anything booked via HAL (or anyone else) can cancel your existing flights -- in other words -- they don't want you checking on anything.

 

We hear ya and normally do the same. But in this case we needed expensive one-way Business Class to Australia and HAL's flight ease offered our desired flights for about $1000 per person less than normal sites.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

I was not even aware that you could book HAL air online.

 

This is relatively new. HAL now has an online air booking option and its the exact same system that is used by Princess. We have long wondered why the CCL brands don't share some of their software and systems and it appears that with Flight Ease they are doing just that! Our experience with cruise line air (from many lines) is that they often have very good Business and First Class fares on International flights. When it comes to domestic economy we do not even waste our time with the cruise line sites.

 

Hank

[MajMom96]

Just stumbled on an interesting Flight Ease problem that can immediately cancel your air reservation with no warning. We had a flight ease reservation (which we verified on the airlines own web site). Today I went into the system to check our reservation and look around to see if there were better deals. Normally the Flight Ease system will immediately show your existing reservation and you can click on change to look at other options without a problem. But this time I decided to change my departure airport (to check for other options). I changed the departure airport and checked some options but did not make any changes. But I later noticed that my original reservation had disappeared from the HAL site. I went to the airline web site and discovered that my entire reservation had been canceled! Fortunately I was able to simply rebook the same flights and seats at the same price.

 

 

 

The problem is that Flight Ease canceled my reservation with no warning and not even a hint that this had happened. It is only because I am anal about checking existing reservations that I noticed the flights had been canceled. So beware when using the Flight Ease online system.

 

 

 

Hank

 

 

 

Great heads up! Thanks! We don’t bother going into flight ease once our reservation is made. We usually just check status and pricing directly on the airline site. We’ve never had a problem doing it that way.

 

 

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[sail7seas]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

 

Great you verified.

[rkacruiser]

Maybe the lesson to be learned is that once one has accepted the Flight Ease air reservation/price is to stop checking, at least on HAL's system?

[MajMom96]

Maybe the lesson to be learned is that once one has accepted the Flight Ease air reservation/price is to stop checking, at least on HAL's system?

 

 

 

I agree! It sounds like the system isn’t set up for performing “what if” scenarios on a confirmed reservation.

 

 

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[pascalburns]

thaks for the update.

[mfanderso]

Just stumbled on an interesting Flight Ease problem that can immediately cancel your air reservation with no warning. We had a flight ease reservation (which we verified on the airlines own web site). Today I went into the system to check our reservation and look around to see if there were better deals. Normally the Flight Ease system will immediately show your existing reservation and you can click on change to look at other options without a problem. But this time I decided to change my departure airport (to check for other options). I changed the departure airport and checked some options but did not make any changes. But I later noticed that my original reservation had disappeared from the HAL site. I went to the airline web site and discovered that my entire reservation had been canceled! Fortunately I was able to simply rebook the same flights and seats at the same price.

 

The problem is that Flight Ease canceled my reservation with no warning and not even a hint that this had happened. It is only because I am anal about checking existing reservations that I noticed the flights had been canceled. So beware when using the Flight Ease online system.

 

Hank

 

The same thing happened to me. I booked my air through HAL as soon as it was available because they were less expensive than the airlines. I went into my reservation several times to see if there were any better prices and was able to do so without any problems. Then I read on another thread that someone's reservations had been cancelled after they went in and looked at other options. I decided to check mine out and mine had also been cancelled. I too had gone into the reservation to see what was available from a different airport. I wasn't sure at what point mine was cancelled but since that is when yours was cancelled, that is probably what happened to me. Of course the cheap fares were gone by this time so I had to book through the airline and take different flights to get the cost down but still paying more than my original reservation. My TA called HAL and they said they couldn't do anything since the flights had not been paid for and ticketed. I told them I got no warning that my reservation was being cancelled. I don't think they believed me.

 

I wonder if this is another quirk of the new website.

[Mary Ellen]

The Princess site lets one check out air fares and routes without being booked. This allows me to do what you did, check for a better price/route, without getting into my actual booked flight. The HAL site (once again) falls short in this aspect. Even when looking at a HAL cruise I use the Princess Flight Ease to get an idea of flight options.

 

Last summer we saved about $5,000/pp using HAL air for business class r/t Amsterdam. I’ll use cruise air to save that kind of money.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

[cbr663]

Thanks for the heads up Hank.

 

The take away for me is check out as much as you like until you book. But once you are book, leave it be.

[TiogaCruiser]

About 4-6 weeks ago or so there was a thread on this same thing. It was rather shocking how many people said the same exact thing happened to them.

 

It’s a shame that that is still happening (assuming it was reported to HAL). At the very least there could be a warning posted that it is live data, and any changes made are automatically saved. It could be as simple as a message warning, such as “Do you really want to change this reservation?” and a “no” prevents a data change (search).

[doublebzz]

This is relatively new. HAL now has an online air booking option and its the exact same system that is used by Princess. We have long wondered why the CCL brands don't share some of their software and systems and it appears that with Flight Ease they are doing just that! Our experience with cruise line air (from many lines) is that they often have very good Business and First Class fares on International flights. When it comes to domestic economy we do not even waste our time with the cruise line sites.

 

Hank

Agree completely particularly on one way premium class flights.

 

You say HAL is now using the same system as Princess; however, I can't seem to find how to check on flights when making a booking. On Princess, once you have chosen a cruise, you can access flight choices under cruise details. How is it done on HAL?

[ger_77]

I had thought of doing the same thing, to check another airport for departure, but then thought better of it, because I didn't know if my reservation would be cancelled or not. I'm glad I didn't go into the site any farther. I guess a person has to phone a Flight Ease agent and have them look into it for you in order to keep your existing reservation.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Hlitner]

Agree completely particularly on one way premium class flights.

 

You say HAL is now using the same system as Princess; however, I can't seem to find how to check on flights when making a booking. On Princess, once you have chosen a cruise, you can access flight choices under cruise details. How is it done on HAL?

 

I do not have the answer :(. The sites certainly look the same (Princess and HAL) but when we have used Princess their site seemed more stable and we could look around at all kinds of options without canceling our existing reservation. In our case with HAL we simply had to wait until our disembarkation day was withing 330 days. At that point the HAL site became functional and worked exactly the same as Princess. But the problem happens after one has already booked a flight(s) on HAL and then later decides to go looking at other options and newer pricing. As I posted, HAL's site might unilaterally cancel your existing reservation with no notice or warning. And what makes it worse is that you would not even realize your flight had been canceled unless you happened to double check the reservation. Our flights were on Qantas and immediately visible on the Qantas web site after we booked. But, our reservation was immediately canceled as soon as we started looking at other options on Flight Ease. My only suggestion is that once you choose flights on Flight Ease...do not even consider looking at other options :(.

 

Hank

[Aruba]

That could have been a disaster -- good thing you checked!

Thanks for passing that information along. Forewarned is forearmed...

[ChinaShrek]

About 4-6 weeks ago or so there was a thread on this same thing. It was rather shocking how many people said the same exact thing happened to them.

 

It’s a shame that that is still happening (assuming it was reported to HAL). At the very least there could be a warning posted that it is live data, and any changes made are automatically saved. It could be as simple as a message warning, such as “Do you really want to change this reservation?” and a “no” prevents a data change (search).

 

Yes, this happened to me in January, and I posted about it in another thread. The website should clearly state that doing another search will delete your reservation. I would only book on HAL if I never check flights again.

[Hlitner]

Well HAL fans, this customer has done his good deed for the day:). This morning I talked to the HAL Air Department and explained what had happened and that through Cruise Critic I had learned that it had happened to others. The Air Department person got me the e-mail address for the air department IT folks..which is where this stuff can be fixed or ignored. A few minutes ago I sent them a detailed e-mail explaining the detail of their software "glitch." Whether they will act on the information is the big question. But from my own experience in corporate software, this kind of thing usually makes it to a an existing working group. For those who have never worked in the IT environment, when they design this kind of "front end" system (the back end would be SABRE) they would have likely spent weeks or months testing different scenarios. But even the best testing can miss certain glitches and this is certainly a major glitch.

 

Hank

[MajMom96]

Well HAL fans, this customer has done his good deed for the day:). This morning I talked to the HAL Air Department and explained what had happened and that through Cruise Critic I had learned that it had happened to others. The Air Department person got me the e-mail address for the air department IT folks..which is where this stuff can be fixed or ignored. A few minutes ago I sent them a detailed e-mail explaining the detail of their software "glitch." Whether they will act on the information is the big question. But from my own experience in corporate software, this kind of thing usually makes it to a an existing working group. For those who have never worked in the IT environment, when they design this kind of "front end" system (the back end would be SABRE) they would have likely spent weeks or months testing different scenarios. But even the best testing can miss certain glitches and this is certainly a major glitch.

 

 

 

Hank

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the initiative to get the issue to the right people. I think sometimes people on this site think that HAL monitors their comments and just ignores them. I think that’s unfair to HAL to make those assumptions. Getting the issues directly to HAL is the only way to initiate action (or inaction). Hopefully they will take action in this case.

 

 

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[summer slope]

I don't know anything about Flight Ease. Do you have to have a cruise booked to use them?

[doublebzz]

I do not have the answer :(. The sites certainly look the same (Princess and HAL) but when we have used Princess their site seemed more stable and we could look around at all kinds of options without canceling our existing reservation. In our case with HAL we simply had to wait until our disembarkation day was withing 330 days. At that point the HAL site became functional and worked exactly the same as Princess. But the problem happens after one has already booked a flight(s) on HAL and then later decides to go looking at other options and newer pricing. As I posted, HAL's site might unilaterally cancel your existing reservation with no notice or warning. And what makes it worse is that you would not even realize your flight had been canceled unless you happened to double check the reservation. Our flights were on Qantas and immediately visible on the Qantas web site after we booked. But, our reservation was immediately canceled as soon as we started looking at other options on Flight Ease. My only suggestion is that once you choose flights on Flight Ease...do not even consider looking at other options :(.

 

Hank

I understand your issue but I still have the basic question about how you access Flight ease on the HAL web site. On Princess, you can check the flights before you make a booking. On HAL site, it appears you have to have a cruise booking before you can access the flights or am I wrong?

[Lady Arwen]

I don't know anything about Flight Ease. Do you have to have a cruise booked to use them?

Yes, you need your booking number to access Flight Ease information.

[Lady Arwen]

I understand your issue but I still have the basic question about how you access Flight ease on the HAL web site. On Princess, you can check the flights before you make a booking. On HAL site, it appears you have to have a cruise booking before you can access the flights or am I wrong?

Yes, you have to have a booked cruise before you can check flights with Flight Ease. You need your reservation number to access.