Princess EZ Air AWFUL service

[mtnlvr53]

I am amazed at just how incompetent the companies that book flights for the cruise lines can be.  I just spent over FOUR hours on the phone with them trying to get my reservation issue resolved. We booked our flight for an Australian/New Zealand cruise on the Majestic Princess. The tickets were with Air New Zealand. We had booked Air NZ primarily because they have the sky couch.  In order to get the upgraded seats we had to actually have our flight reservations ticketed.  We did this in May and spoke with Air NZ to get our upgrades.  Sometime this fall, there was a flight change with one leg of our return flight from Auckland to Chicago. Our flight was to be from Auckland to LA and then  LA on to Chicago (on United). United made a flight change resulting in a connection that was too close. Air NZ called EZ Air to let them know of the change and EZ Air decided to change the flight from Auckland to LA to be Auckland to Houston.  This wouldn't have been too much of a problem EXCEPT for our upgrade. Since our upgrade was for a segment from Auckland to LA no one bothered to switch it over to the new flight. 

My first call was to Air NZ who told me that EZ Air made the change, a call to Princess who blamed Air NZ, a call back to Air NZ who sent me proof that the change was done by EZ Air. 2 hours later, with many arguments with over the fact that they had no right to change my itinerary without my permission and that their doing so was going to cost me an additional $100 to rebook my upgrade they finally agreed to give me shipboard credit IF I showed them proof that it was going to cost me more money (which I will be able to do). They kept telling me that I was LUCKY that they accidently didn't really book my ticket like they were supposed to (In May) because now they were going to be able to book my ticket going into Houston without it costing me any additional money on the base fare. Aren't I lucky?  A change in the airline's schedule wasn't going to cost me any money to get to my same destination with the same itinerary(insert extreme sarcasm) because "if you want to still go thru LA it will cost you each an additional $268". OMG!!!!! I tried to explain to them that if they had booked my ticket either Air NZ or United would have rebooked me with the proper connection at no additional charge and since the first leg of the flight would have remained unchanged the seat upgrade would also be unchanged so there would have been no additional charge. 

I know this is complicated but the bottom line is that they changed my itinerary without my knowledge or consent and it will cost me money for their choice. (and they didn't want to fix it without me spending 4 hours trying to resolve it--I truly believe they just hoped I would go away if they continued to make it difficult.)

[geoherb]

We never had a problem with EZ Air flights but we have had problems with airlines changing flights I booked. Sounds like United is the one you should be angriest at for changing its flight from Los Angeles to Chicago.

[mtnlvr53]

I would be upset with United IF they had done nothing to resolve the issue, but they didn't get a chance because EZ Air changed the flight without consulting me.  United changes flights all the time but they then rebook you on another flight. (which was readily available) EZ Air changed to flights completely without the need to do so and then denied that they did it and tried to charge me extra $$ to get on the flight that replaced the changed flight....

[mcrcruiser]

Seems to us that EZ  Air should have made it  right from the get go ,once you notified them 

[tanyaewa]

I would be frustrated in your place - but I am always nervous to use a 3rd party booker ( like ez air) if I have specific requests or ungrades I need.

 In that case I would always book the flights myself so that I could be aware and react to changes such as those that occurred.

I hope you find a solution that works

[Times Prince]

The OP made their own arrangements for an upgrade.  Princess EZAir changed to a flight which had allowable connections after United changed their flight schedule.   Now the OP is upset that the arrangements THEY made didn't transfer on the leg from Australia to Houston (was LAX).

This seems to be either a problem with the Air New Zealand carrier, or with the independent arrangements for an upgrade - or both.  I don't see this as a problem with Princess EZAir.  And they got OBC for the incident.

 

[Anubi]

My sympathies are with the OP.  We booked our flights with EZAir and got some bad information from Princess during the initial booking process.  Acting on that information, I called Air Canada and they got annoyed, said it was Princess's issue and sent me back to Princess.  Princess said that it was Air Canada's problem and they had to fix the issue, the woman I spoke to suggested that I demand to speak to a supervisor.  Back to Air Canada I went and the attitude I got from the ticket agent  - she refused to put me through to a supervisor - was so bad that I actually filed a complaint with Air Canada.  I felt like a ping-pong ball but the frustrating part was that no one would give me the information I needed and kept telling me to talk to the other party.  I finally contacted my travel agent and she was able to straighten up the mess.  The issue?  I was trying to upgrade, which Princess said I could do, and wanted to book our seats on the plane.   I would hate to have something as substantial as what the OP encountered.   I will never use EZAir again.  

[AF-1]

Did the OP notify EZ when they bought the upgrade with Air NZ?  Maybe they should have notified EZ Air of their upgraded seats; that way when United changed the flight to Houston EZ would have made a seamless change.  But I may not have all the info here.

Edited November 19, 2018 by AF-1
deleted sentence

[cherylandtk]

My sympathies also lie with the OP; they paid early for their tickets to be issued immediately and EZAir failed to do that. THEN, when flights were changed (as airlines frequently do) the OP was not correctly rebooked as they would have been if the tickets had actually been issued when paid for.

 

I appreciate all the people who post their issues with EZAir...while I still book EZ Air for overseas flights, I also have several routine tasks that I now do, including checking that tickets are actually issued when they are supposed to be.  This is not the first post on CC where EZAir failed to buy the tickets; another had an elderly couple stranded in Seattle(?) after their cruise because EZAir only booked the tickets to TO the cruise, but not back home.  

[PoohUnderstands]

I have seen this type of thing many times on CC.  The thing is that if you do use EZAir, try to make it as simple as possible but if you do upgrade, etc. keep an eye out for things such as above and be mentally prepared to go to battle (nicely?) with both sides if something happens.  I mean, I am using EZAir in that I am going to Europe using First Class/ Business Class for around $1600 per person and not having to upgrade as I booked such initially.  Now if I had booked the flights on my own at this time, I would not only have had to pay for them but could get no potentially price decrease as with EZAir, and it would have cost me over $8000!  So I am sitting here checking my flights and cost constantly, prepared for the worse, but hoping for the best.  EZAir made first/business class available for me, so worth the potential "work."  I guess it is in how you see it.  I love that the OP wouldn't give up.  That is the key!!!

 

Pooh

[theduffys]

Color me confused. We will be cruising with Princess, for the first time, next summer. Used EZAir because the price was better than I was finding.  Got our flight itinerary within two days and were happy with it. Since we are taking two Grands on this trip and want to sit together,I went yesterday to the United website to reserve our seats. Using the Confirmation number on the flight itinerary, I was informed that seats could not be reserved because the tickets had not been purchased yet!!  DH"s opinion is that since Princess does not have our money until the final payment, that they can"t purchase the tickets. If that is the case, how did we get an itinerary and confirmation number? 

[DrivesLikeMario]

I believe EZ Air is not responsible for re-assigning you the seats you upgraded to on your own.  They are responsible for the flights.  I can only imagine how aggravating it was to deal with but they did what they're contracted to do.

[mtnlvr53]

I know my post was long and possibly confusing but the issue was that they changed my flight route. If they had just booked the same route (with the necessary flight changes) there would have been no issue.

The other thing that made me really upset was the fact that they denied changing the route. They told me twice that Air NZ did it: they did not. Air NZ sent me proof that EZ Air made the change. Had they told the truth I would have cut out 2 hours of my frustration. 

 

**In answer to the person who wants seat assignments: the only way you can do that is to pay for the ticket separately. Have them convert to a non-refundable seat (actually ticket the seat) then you can go on the airline's website and select your seats. Until then, you have to wait for EZ Air to book the flight--which they will not do until 45 days before your cruise.

[Tedferg]

Can someone please clarify 'Purchase Ticket' with EZ Air. Our travelling friends have booked flexible fares with EZ Air. I understood that airlines will not assign seats until ticketed etc. but now wonder how EZ Air can guarantee a seat and a price but no assigned seat.

 

Is this like GTY cabin - you are sure to get on the plane but no assigned seat ?

 

Incidentally we are travelling using Alaska air miles and so no need for EZ Air. I casually found that Alaska had changed a flight but not notified me. The changed flight had a long layover, so I called Alaska and changed to a better itinerary. When I asked why they had not notified me, she said, 'It is too far out and could change again, they do not confirm until 60 days out'. So no matter how you book, it is wise to check periodically.

[4cats4me]

Last year while planning our European cruise, I was blown away by the great prices if using EZ Air, but I was reluctant to use EZ Air for some of the above-mentioned reasons. 

I like to  have my seat assignment locked in well  before 45 days out for a 12 hour flight, plus I wanted to upgrade to Premium Econ, so ultimately we chose to book air independently and pay more, but at least we had peace of mind and didn’t have to battle with third parties. This post just illustrates why EZ Air is not always the best choice for everyone. .  It’s great as long as there are no obstacles but a little challenging if an issue should arise.  

 

 

Edited November 19, 2018 by 4cats4me

[DrivesLikeMario]

You can still use EZ Air and get your seat assignments.  Depending on the carrier, some will allow you to book them as soon as you book the EZ Air. 

With others like British Airways, you have to book the air, pay for the air in full, request Princess to ticket the air, then use the Locater # at the airline's website, select seats and finally, pay for the seats (or upgrade them if you have miles).  Your ticket is now changed to non-flexible and if the price goes down, you will not get the lower fare. 

When we're sure the price won't go down, we pay off our Flexible air and get seats.  Sometimes this is as far as 325 days prior to the travel dates and sometimes it's only about 100 days prior.  I agree that EZ Air is not always the best deal but in our particular case, it usually is even if the pricing is the same as the airline's website because of the assistance they offer in getting you to the port in case of travel problems.

Edited November 19, 2018 by DrivesLikeMario

[Pickels]

Since we started cruising (2003), I've always dealt directly with the airline, never with a third party.  On one cruise out of Puerto Rico, our ship had a problem with the propulsion system and the captain didn't want to take a chance traveling down to Aruba.  Turning around we limped back to Puerto Rico.  We had a flight out of Puerto Rico to Tampa Florida.  Needless to say, we were not going to make our flight; I called Jet Blue from the ship, told them our situation, and they were able to change our flight to a later one. I felt more confident dealing directly with the airline, no hassle, no problems, easy-peasy, made the change, and we were able to continue our vacation. 

[Desert Cruizers]

When I have booked our 1 way flights to Europe, I always follow this up by calling the particular airline to obtain my seats and reconfirm I am on that flight. When I booked our flights to Copenhagen through RCCL's Air 2 Sea I had to call Air NZ to get our seats. I follow this up by checking my reservations up to leaving to check for any changes. I also through the airlines link, ask to be notified of any changes ( Times, Gates etc )

[mtnlvr53]

I like the idea of having the airline follow up directly with me if there is a change. I have done that with United but having never flown Air NZ I don't know if they have that service. I will check it out and sign up if they do. Thanks for that suggestion!

 

[GJCruiser]

4 hours ago, theduffys said:

Color me confused. We will be cruising with Princess, for the first time, next summer. Used EZAir because the price was better than I was finding.  Got our flight itinerary within two days and were happy with it. Since we are taking two Grands on this trip and want to sit together,I went yesterday to the United website to reserve our seats. Using the Confirmation number on the flight itinerary, I was informed that seats could not be reserved because the tickets had not been purchased yet!!  DH"s opinion is that since Princess does not have our money until the final payment, that they can"t purchase the tickets. If that is the case, how did we get an itinerary and confirmation number? 

Until you pay for the ticket, it is not available for seat selection, on some airlines. So, at final payment of the cruise, when you pay for the EZAir ticket, it is then an actual ticketed fare and you can select your seats.

[Hlitner]

Dealing with EZAIR certainly complicated things and can be a big hassle if anything is changed by the airline.  However, we will take our chances when it comes to International Business/First Class since we can often save thousands of dollars by taking advantage of EZAIR Flex pricing.  On domestic there is often not enough savings (if any) to justify using EZAIR.  As to International Economy, one should also check the cost of doing it on your own vs EZAIR.

 

Hank

[jasbo49]

My main beef with this, other than the fact the OP wants to make changes and expects Princess to follow along, is the topic heading about AWFUL service. Like many others here, I’ve had a lot of great experiences with EZair. I wish I could use them for other trips because it’s so cheap and easy.

 

I am not saying EZair is for everyone or does not a fault or two, but don’t complain that it is AWFUL as if you’re saving everyone from a scourge. It is mostly a pretty good for most of us.

 

Jim

[Desert Cruizers]

On our  flight to Copenhagen, our connecting flight in Boston was moved up. Since we had to travel to the INTL Terminal I had our flight from home to Boston changed to allow us more time to get off, get our luggage & get to the other terminal. This was all because the flight to Boston was a round trip and flight to Copenhagen a 1 way  so not ticketed together. United made the change on our R/T flight so my dealing was with them not the Air 2 Sea on RCCL. On getting notification to come over on your phone there is a box to check when checking your Reservation to be notified. This will give you your arrival & departure gates  I still recommend at the airport to double check the boards for any immediate changes in departure gates and not rely on the phone alerts. This happened to me on a return flight out of DFW. I had to turn phone off so didn't get the update because charging cable went bad and couldn't keep it charged. 

[knittertwitter]

20 hours ago, geoherb said:

We never had a problem with EZ Air flights but we have had problems with airlines changing flights I booked. Sounds like United is the one you should be angriest at for changing its flight from Los Angeles to Chicago.

 

I had this problem too.  Booked great flights through EZ Air, then had American Airlines change the departing flight (to the cruise) by about 50 minutes.  Not that bad in the grand scheme of things so I wasn't bothered by it.  Then American Airlines changed the return flight (returning home from the cruise) from around 12:00 PM to 5:45 AM!  I'll still be on the cruise at that time so obviously that's not feasible.

 

I called Princess and they re-booked me to a better flight, but the cost increased by about $350.  I decided to look for better options elsewhere, and booked on Expedia for a few dollars less than the price I originally paid for the original flights.  I'm now on two different Canadian airlines, who both seem to have a better history of not tinkering with flight schedules than does American Airlines.

[Desert Cruizers]

Most changes I have had, have been with United.