Are there any downsides to using EZ Air?

[trbarton]

5 hours ago, fluffybunny22 said:

Yesterday EZ Air opened for our Baltic cruise. We were able to get business class for a reasonable price and not much more than economy if we booked our airfare directly with the airlines. I don't usually handle the airfare side of our vacations and we've never booked airfare other than with the carrier. My husband wants to make sure there isn't some downside to booking through Princess. He also wants to make sure we aren't stranded somewhere because there aren't any direct flights from our airport to Copenhagen. As an added bonus I also booked my in laws flights so if something goes wrong or I've miscalculated I'll have multiple people mad at me.

 

5 hours ago, fluffybunny22 said:

 

EZ Air is great.  No need to worry.  You will get a message from Princess if their are any changes.  A big plus is that if something happens with your flight Princess/EZ Air will get you there even if it's the next port of call & pay for all of your expenses.  One suggestion is to print out your flight details & include the contact number for EZ Air in case you need to contact them.

 

What EZ Air are is consolidator fares so I have found out that their price is much lower than you could find on your own.  They were extremely helpful when I was flying with someone who was coming from a different airport but they arranged a flight where we both connected & flew on the same flight to Europe together.  The only thing that I would have done different was to have their flight arrive a little earlier so their was plenty of time in case of any delays, especially when your traveling btw a domestic terminal to an International terminal.

 

Tom

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by trbarton

[jasbo49]

6 hours ago, fluffybunny22 said:

Yesterday EZ Air opened for our Baltic cruise. We were able to get business class for a reasonable price and not much more than economy if we booked our airfare directly with the airlines. I don't usually handle the airfare side of our vacations and we've never booked airfare other than with the carrier. My husband wants to make sure there isn't some downside to booking through Princess. He also wants to make sure we aren't stranded somewhere because there aren't any direct flights from our airport to Copenhagen. As an added bonus I also booked my in laws flights so if something goes wrong or I've miscalculated I'll have multiple people mad at me.

 

Short answer: Do it.

 

Longer answer: I understand your husband's reluctance. I had the same concerns when we began to work with EZair. Since then (3 or 4 years ago), I've come to think there are no downsides.

 

-- You save money. I've yet to see a flight I can book with the airline that I can't book cheaper with EZair.

 

-- You don't have to pay now; you pay 75 days before the cruise date.

 

-- Your flight arrangements remain fluid until 45 days before you fly. You can check and rebook your flights every day until then.

 

I think you have found a good flight plan (great if you can get business class for not much more than economy).

 

We love EZair to the point where we recently booked a cruise mostly because we couldn't fly to Europe that cheaply on our own, and we could combine a Princess cruise with another tour and get a low-priced three-week vacation.

 

Jim

[flamomo]

5 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

There's been a few stories of people having flights, airlines and routes changed a couple of weeks before sailing.  I'd never use them.  Too much of a control freak on my flights.

I'm a bit of a control nut, and that's one of the reasons like EZAir. 

I scan thru the offered flights and I make the choice of which flights work best for me. I can check the flight offerings daily or as often as I want to get either a better fare or better timed flights if/when I find them. No having to go thru a 3rd party, which I far prefer.

I like knowing that if there is last minute problem, such as an unexpected flight cancellation, Princess can help me to make sure I get to my cruise, even if it means there's a delay in me getting to the ship. 

 

Most of my EZAir flights to and/or from Europe have been with Delta, and we've been able to upgrade to Delta Comfort right on the Delta website, and just pay the upgrade charge with a credit card.

[Colo Cruiser]

31 minutes ago, jasbo49 said:

 

Short answer: Do it.

 

Longer answer: I understand your husband's reluctance. I had the same concerns when we began to work with EZair. Since then (3 or 4 years ago), I've come to think there are no downsides.

 

-- You save money. I've yet to see a flight I can book with the airline that I can't book cheaper with EZair.

 

-- You don't have to pay now; you pay 75 days before the cruise date.

 

-- Your flight arrangements remain fluid until 45 days before you fly. You can check and rebook your flights every day until then.

 

I think you have found a good flight plan (great if you can get business class for not much more than economy).

 

We love EZair to the point where we recently booked a cruise mostly because we couldn't fly to Europe that cheaply on our own, and we could combine a Princess cruise with another tour and get a low-priced three-week vacation.

 

Jim

For those that are not aware this would apply to Flexible Air.  😎

[satxdiver]

I prefer AA and UA because those are the two major airlines that service our airport.  I am platinum on AA due to my constant flying when I was working.  As such I get two free bags and seats in the front of the cheap seats (extra legroom) so prefer AA.  After booking with EZair I go to the webpage of either AA or UA and have them add it to my upcoming travel.  That way they contact me when there is a change in times or aircraft.  I also select my seats on their website rather than on EZair.   All I use the EZair webpage is to book the initial flight and then rely totally on the AA/UA webpage and notifications. It has all worked out well so far.  Besides domestic flights, we have been to London, Santiago and Buenos Aires several times so we do have some experience with foreign flights.  Now we are about to find out about our flight to Sydney on AA of course.  

 

When I was working and flying weekly all over the USA, we referred to Southwest as the cattle car which was not far from wrong.  Luckily they did not cooperate with travel agencies which my international employer insisted on using so I have little experience with them. 

[Steelers36]

I read everyone's input so far and I would add the following as downsides after the big upside:

 

Great prices for one-way flights overseas (say you are taking a trip from London or Rome to Dubai or Singapore - not a round trip).  Anyway, flights to/from overseas have really good prices.  And of course others have mentioned the safety net that EZ Air provides in terms of disruptions.

 

On the downside, EZ Air doesn't include Southwest which has been a good option for us sometimes if we choose BUF airport.  EZ Air doesn't necessarily save you much for domestic flights, but you can book it and not make payment and also look for better fares, which isn't the norm on most airlines. 

 

Another downside is that Princess has way too much safety margin in booking return flights and there is zero wriggle room with EZ Air.  For example, ship arrives in Port Everglades and first flight you can book is 11:00am.  That cuts out a 10:45am, or even a 10:55am I would think.  Now without getting into a debate over how early a flight is reasonable from FLL when arriving back at PE, surely we would all agree that 10 or 15 minutes ahead of Princess' time is a non-issue.  I asked an EZ Air rep and they won't allow us to waive the flight protection benefit in order to book an earlier departure.

 

Another downside for me would be if I had a "nice" flight from A to B and then near departure date, I find out now we are leaving at some odd hour and we are flying from A to Z to B.  I am not sure how often this happens, but some posters have mentioned this.

 

I don't think the potential downside issues would have me use EZ Air to save a "couple of bucks" domestically, but the overseas savings make it a great deal.

 

(For an upcoming Caribbean trip I hope we do, I did book a one-way EZ Air south for the day before the cruise and plan to book my own one-way for the return trip.  Good pricing around 10am departure.  Either that or it is cheaper to stay over in FLL.  There are only so many flights and the later ones get booked up and cost more as well).

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by steelers36

[Doug R.]

8 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Another downside is that Princess has way too much safety margin in booking return flights and there is zero wriggle room with EZ Air.  For example, ship arrives in Port Everglades and first flight you can book is 11:00am.  That cuts out a 10:45am, or even a 10:55am I would think.  Now without getting into a debate over how early a flight is reasonable from FLL when arriving back at PE, surely we would all agree that 10 or 15 minutes ahead of Princess' time is a non-issue.  I asked an EZ Air rep and they won't allow us to waive the flight protection benefit in order to book an earlier departure.

 

Not disputing your observation, however, I booked a 10:50 am from FLL via EZAir on Jet Blue for my January cruise on the Regal.

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, Doug R. said:

Not disputing your observation, however, I booked a 10:50 am from FLL via EZAir on Jet Blue for my January cruise on the Regal.

That ship has an arrival time of 6:00am so that means 10:00am is the earliest allowed time.   The Royal class ships seem to have a 6:00am time slot, while the older classes have 7:00am (e.g. Crown).

 

[Coral]

28 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

 

Another downside is that Princess has way too much safety margin in booking return flights and there is zero wriggle room with EZ Air.  For example, ship arrives in Port Everglades and first flight you can book is 11:00am.  That cuts out a 10:45am, or even a 10:55am I would think.  Now without getting into a debate over how early a flight is reasonable from FLL when arriving back at PE, surely we would all agree that 10 or 15 minutes ahead of Princess' time is a non-issue.  I asked an EZ Air rep and they won't allow us to waive the flight protection benefit in order to book an earlier departure.

Though - if you buy Princess insurance, Princess is also covering EZ Air, so they are covering your insurance for your flight home. If you miss your flight - they (Princes or Aon) are potentially responsible. Though I think the airlines would step up but that maybe the reason they are doing such.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I think you scored a great deal and should keep it! We like EZ-Air because of the flex option and better rates. The only downsides we’ve incurred over the years are:

 

1) When there’s a schedule change, it can sometimes be annoying because Princess may require you to call and accept the change. 

2) If a schedule change is not to your liking, it’s a hassle to call Princess and wait for them to then call the airline because the airline won’t work directly with you.

3) Sometimes Princess will just change your flights without you choosing to, and it can be hard to impossible to get them switched back. This happened to my mother-in-law, and it took weeks to fix it. Even then, she never got her original routing back. The airline was blaming Princess, and Princess was blaming the airline. 

4) Princess enters your name as Firstnamemiddlenamme Lastname on the airline ticket, which has never caused a problem for us, but makes me a bit nervous each time.

 

Hopefully I didn’t scare you off EZ-Air, though. We especially like it for international travel and will be jumping on it as soon as flights are released for our next big adventure. You’re gonna love international Business class!!

[Globehoppers]

Some mis-information in several responses.

 

Princess does not randomly change flight itineraries.  Airlines do that to maximize revenue.  Example: you booked a flight for a certain price and that flight fills up.  The airline will inform EZAir that are changing your reservation to another less expensive (to the airline) flight not as heavily booked.  The true meaning of "Flex Fare."  

 

The new flight itinerary may not be the best for your travels.  We once were rerouted to flights with the minimum required connection time at ATL for scheduled travel to SYD via LAX.  45 minute connection at ATL is "legal" but not something I wanted to worry about with a 15 hour international flight involved.  Following a long discussion with EZAir we were able to obtain a 2-hour ATL connection window flying from a nearby airport which included a $500 price reduction.

 

EZAir prices offer little to no savings for domestic US travel.  If flying domestically only, say to catch a cruise departing from FLL originating in the midwest, if can be less expensive to look for airline sales on-line.  EZAir saving are mostly international, and mostly between the US and Europe.  Our R/T flight to Down Under was expensive weather with EZAir or direct via the airline.  EZAir is at its best for one-way travel and for Business class fares.

 

"Safety margins" are pretty standard for cruise lines.  Weather, customs/immigration can impact a ship's clearance time at a port.  We have also "jumped the gun" on this by making international reservations direct with the airlines inside the suggested window.  In our case, the fare was significantly less earlier in the AM than the flights offered by the cruise line's consolidator.  Win-win.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We’ve used EZ Air at least 12 times, generally for international flights. The only issue we’ve had was on our flight to Tahiti. I booked on one airline which had a code share agreement with the airline we were using to get to LAX (we had award travel to use to get us that far). At final payment, Princess purchased us a ticket on a different airline, but for the same price. When I called them to ask why, I was told that they didn’t have a contract in place for the original airline (why sell us the ticket then?). In the end, we had to claim our luggage after the flight to LAX and then re-check it at a different terminal for the flight to Papeete.

 

Thankfully, that didn’t scare us off, because we’ve saved a tremendous amount of money using EZ Air since then. 

[CynCyn]

I am trying EZAir for the first time in September.  I regretted not using it in May as I paid $371 and used miles for flights I could have gotten for $250.  I was pleased to see the flights in my AA account within minutes! Fingers crossed that it all works out.  I have saved $50 over booking with AA and I am going out of my home airport, which is difficult because we are a small, regional airport.

[lovestheH20]

Curious as to how luggage works with EZ Air with say AA?  Is carry on luggage allowed? If not what is the price for checked bags?  

[CynCyn]

58 minutes ago, lovestheH20 said:

Curious as to how luggage works with EZ Air with say AA?  Is carry on luggage allowed? If not what is the price for checked bags?  

You can take a carryon onboard.  I think the first bag is around $30. I know it went up but not sure by how much.

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 hours ago, lovestheH20 said:

Curious as to how luggage works with EZ Air with say AA?  Is carry on luggage allowed? If not what is the price for checked bags?  

It depends on the class of ticket booked, whether it is domestic or international and your AA loyalty level. For domestic flights, the first and second checked bags are $30 and $40. For international, the charges vary. We are flying AA internationally this year and both our checked bags (2 each) are free. 

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

It depends on the class of ticket booked, whether it is domestic or international and your AA loyalty level. For domestic flights, the first and second checked bags are $30 and $40. For international, the charges vary. We are flying AA internationally this year and both our checked bags (2 each) are free. 

Where to this time?  When is the press release?

[capriccio]

15 hours ago, lovestheH20 said:

Curious as to how luggage works with EZ Air with say AA?  Is carry on luggage allowed? If not what is the price for checked bags?  

 

There is a note on the EZ Air site that you must check with your airline for the applicable luggage allowance.  In my EZ Air experience (with United, not AA) the airline luggage allowance chart is followed for your seat class (economy, business, first, etc.).  Check AA's website. 

[fluffybunny22]

Thanks everyone. This make me feel better. The airfare has already jumped by $500 a ticket.

[polmcs]

I’m using EZ Air for the first time in Oct and flying from LAX to YVR to catch the 3 Day Vancouver to Los Angeles repositioning cruise and just experienced a “burp” with my EZ Air reservation after I made the final payment.

 

Immediately after any final payment for a cruise, my cruise personalizer usually throws a wobbly and moves my place of residency back to the UK (I’m a UK Citizen living here in the US) and although I can flip it back to the US, it falls over as it doesn’t think SAN is a valid airport in case of a repatriation emergency. It usually involves a call to Princess for them to flip a field in my reservation so that I can re-enter my details and have it stick. However, this time, with the residency flip, I lost my EZ Air reservation and the airline stated that it had been cancelled. 

 

Of of course the fare had gone up and Princess were not able to get it back again. I ended up having to rebook at a slightly higher fare, but the cruise price came down a smidge from when I submitted my final payment, so it all worked out in the end.

 

On a Friday night I also made the final payment on my Thanksgiving Cruise and again my residency flipped (no EZ Air as it’s round trip fromSan Pedro) and my cruise personalizer shows incomplete status. Looks like I’ll be calling Princess again on Monday.

[Aggie83]

I'm using EZ Air for the first time in Nov. I'm booked on AA from FLL to DFW. Was curious if I will get mileage credit to my AAdvantage account. I know there is a disclaimer that states that you may not get miles. 

[Ombud]

Something I found out with EZAir & Air Canada (the only NS from Montreal to SFO): I needed to pay $25 to secure an aisle seat at time of booking. I did not realize at the time that if I had paid $45 it would have covered checked luggage / upgraded seat / also aisle seat. Live & learn

 

(I always go to airlines web site to pick my seat .... I'm a control freak I guess)

 

Best deal to date: in November 2019: so EZAIR can help me find awesome deals (SFO to Miami / Montreal to SFO was only 200 less than that!) . My only issue that it defaults to Oakland but it a direct bart ride to SFO so that's my airport of choice

 

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by Ombud
Pic came out to large

[MixerDave]

If you miss the ship Princess will get you to the next port - What if it is a trip to Hawaii with 5 sea days - how would that work?  

[geocruiser]

I am using EZair for our upcoming cruise.  Our flight coming home was changed to a flight I did not like.  It gave us 42 minutes to change flight at O'Hare.  I call Princess and told them that I could not deplane and get to the next flight that fast, even with a wheel chair for him.  I told them my DH age and they understood that at that age he is not going to run to catch a plane.  The changed my flight for us.  The Princess agent was just so very nice and helpful to me.  I would use them again.

[candy4040]

On 7/26/2019 at 4:29 PM, fluffybunny22 said:

It doesn't look like the economy air I booked for my in laws includes baggage. They are flying Delta in basic economy and the only baggage you are allowed is what fits under the seat. No overhead baggage.

 

With Delta they allow one free checked bag on international flights (that's been my experience).