Please share your EZ Air experience

[sadiwest]

Have a ways to go time wise but choosing between booking myself for 1-2 days prior arrival or through Princess. 

 

I'd prefer to choose my own flights/times but would the benefit of booking through them outweigh it?  I'd like to fly in at LEAST the day prior.  If we flew in another day earlier that would work too.  I don't imagine the cost savings (if any) could outweigh the option of flying at my desired times.

 

What's your experience? 

[chrysalis]

depends on where you are flying too, and from. North America to europe can be very substantially cheaper, especially for Premium Economy or First/Business Class. The same can be said going to Asia.

[sadiwest]

17 minutes ago, chrysalis said:

depends on where you are flying too, and from. North America to europe can be very substantially cheaper, especially for Premium Economy or First/Business Class. The same can be said going to Asia.

Sorry this is to Vancouver from the East Coast. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

There are literally hundreds of threads on this.

Flying in even from North America to say Florida the day of your cruise is not smart.

EZAir can be great as Chrysalis said for deals on International fares.  Usually similar or same fare within North America. 

Any advice meaningless as you have not said where you are flying.

EZAir vs having control over your flights?  You need to decide.  If the same fare - book direct.  For a few $$ in savings I would book direct.  Overseas, I check with my business class consolidator TRAVEL AGENT and compare.  My TA is usually about the same price and being able to call them 24/7 is worth a lot to me, but as a former TA easier to compare for me.

All I can say is Google business class travel.agents, fly in 1or 2 days early and make absolutely positively sure you understand the restrictions-ALL OF THEM - on any ticket you purchase  

Looking at your update - if a US carrier, simply fly in a day ahead.  Canadian carrier - absolutely best to book direct.

Edited April 12 by Arizona Wildcat

[sadiwest]

13 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

There are literally hundreds of threads on this.

Flying in even from North America to say Florida the day of your cruise is not smart.

EZAir can be great as Chrysalis said for deals on International fares.  Usually similar or same fare within North America. 

Any advice meaningless as you have not said where you are flying.

EZAir vs having control over your flights?  You need to decide.  If the same fare - book direct.  For a few $$ in savings I would book direct.  Overseas, I check with my business class consolidator TRAVEL AGENT and compare.  My TA is usually about the same price and being able to call them 24/7 is worth a lot to me, but as a former TA easier to compare for me.

All I can say is Google business class travel.agents, fly in 1or 2 days early and make absolutely positively sure you understand the restrictions-ALL OF THEM - on any ticket you purchase  

Looking at your update - if a US carrier, simply fly in a day ahead.  Canadian carrier - absolutely best to book direct.

Devil's advocate here but I, like many people, thrive on the anticipation of an upcoming trip. There may be millions of similar threads but I'm asking so I can interact in real time with recent travelers who have helpful information. 

 

That being said I did say I'm going East Coast to Vancouver but probably posted after you already started typing.  

 

Having worked for an airline YEARS ago, I'll be sure to understand my restrictions before purchase.

 

Thank you for your input. 

Edited April 12 by sadiwest

[Arizona Wildcat]

Did you read all my post?

 

Things with the airlines are very different today.  Long long ago I worked for Western Airlines.  Back then far fewer planes operated with regulated fares and arrived and departed about 98% on time.

 

Today customer service seems dead or dying.  All I can share is in December friends with EZAir were flying to LA for a Panama Canal cruise from LHR.   Scheduled to arrive a day ahead.  Bad weather and Princess assured them they would meet their flight at LAX.  Oops.  They got themselves to San Pedro and watched their ship sail away.  Some 12 hours later they finally were Scheduled to.meet their ship.  Sadly not using a non stop to Cabo in Mexico, but a hotel followed by a flight to Mexico City followed by another flight in Mexico, motel, 8 hour local bus ride, 2 more nights in Costa Rica and them the ship.

The problems, nobody knowing airports nearest the ports and for Sunday morning nobody answering the phones for EZAir!

They described their journey as frightening.   Once on board as interesting. 

 

Am sure you have found similar horror stories caused by consolidator issues. 98%+ of the time all is good.  The rest . . . 

[2theship]

Even when booking with EZAir, you have control over the exact flights you are taking and you have the advantage of being able to make changes without penalty within a certain time frame. Do some research on connecting airports and develop some knowledge of the airlines that serve your city and go from there. After you book, monitor your flights for any changes, don't depend on the cruise line or airline for timely updates.

[sadiwest]

23 minutes ago, 2theship said:

Even when booking with EZAir, you have control over the exact flights you are taking and you have the advantage of being able to make changes without penalty within a certain time frame. Do some research on connecting airports and develop some knowledge of the airlines that serve your city and go from there. After you book, monitor your flights for any changes, don't depend on the cruise line or airline for timely updates.

I guess my issue is I'm not sure what control I have.  There exists maybe ONE nonstop flight between EWR and Vancouver.  I'd like to be on it.   Otherwise I do 100% prefer Princess to be in charge so we minimize our risks of being late/missing the ship. 

 

 

This is where I'm seeking the information....   thank you. I didn't know I had ANY say in the flights at all. 

[sadiwest]

32 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Did you read all my post?

 

Things with the airlines are very different today.  Long long ago I worked for Western Airlines.  Back then far fewer planes operated with regulated fares and arrived and departed about 98% on time.

 

Today customer service seems dead or dying.  All I can share is in December friends with EZAir were flying to LA for a Panama Canal cruise from LHR.   Scheduled to arrive a day ahead.  Bad weather and Princess assured them they would meet their flight at LAX.  Oops.  They got themselves to San Pedro and watched their ship sail away.  Some 12 hours later they finally were Scheduled to.meet their ship.  Sadly not using a non stop to Cabo in Mexico, but a hotel followed by a flight to Mexico City followed by another flight in Mexico, motel, 8 hour local bus ride, 2 more nights in Costa Rica and them the ship.

The problems, nobody knowing airports nearest the ports and for Sunday morning nobody answering the phones for EZAir!

They described their journey as frightening.   Once on board as interesting. 

 

Am sure you have found similar horror stories caused by consolidator issues. 98%+ of the time all is good.  The rest . . . 

Yes I read it all. Other reply said I have some control over EZ Air flights which I did not know.  That plays a big part in it. I'm not just afraid to fly...       terrified.  

Last time I went to Alaska was September 2001.  I was solo.   Ended up there for 3 weeks before I could fly home....solo.  If I can get a non stop flight it's worth significantly more to me. 

Edited April 12 by sadiwest

[karatemom2]

We had one very good experience with EZ Air for our British Isles cruise, with an LAX to Heathrow flight. However, we had a truly nightmare experience when we booked through them for an LAX to Vancouver flight for an Alaska cruise. We were able to work it out, but when I say we literally spent hours on the phone and had to speak to multiple people, it is no exaggeration. 

 

We are now pretty set on booking our airfare using points which is what we did for our cruise this summer, so I doubt we would use EZ Air again. However, the rates do tend to be good and when it works well it's great. You really have to stay on top of it though and be prepared to invest the time to fix problems when things go awry.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Did you read all my post?

 

Things with the airlines are very different today.  Long long ago I worked for Western Airlines.  Back then far fewer planes operated with regulated fares and arrived and departed about 98% on time.

 

Today customer service seems dead or dying.  All I can share is in December friends with EZAir were flying to LA for a Panama Canal cruise from LHR.   Scheduled to arrive a day ahead.  Bad weather and Princess assured them they would meet their flight at LAX.  Oops.  They got themselves to San Pedro and watched their ship sail away.  Some 12 hours later they finally were Scheduled to.meet their ship.  Sadly not using a non stop to Cabo in Mexico, but a hotel followed by a flight to Mexico City followed by another flight in Mexico, motel, 8 hour local bus ride, 2 more nights in Costa Rica and them the ship.

The problems, nobody knowing airports nearest the ports and for Sunday morning nobody answering the phones for EZAir!

They described their journey as frightening.   Once on board as interesting. 

 

Am sure you have found similar horror stories caused by consolidator issues. 98%+ of the time all is good.  The rest . . . 

Wow!  I remember Western Airlines.  My first flight was on them.  (Guess that ages me 🤣)

[partybarbie]

We used EZ Air last month to fly round trip from SFO to Auckland. You can deviate the flight to add extra days on at the beginning, or end, of your cruise. You pick from the flights offered, so you have complete control there.
 

We will use EZ Air again in September. We have one way flights, on Air Canada, from Sacramento to Barcelona. The cost was $550, per person. I haven’t been able to find anything cheaper.

[nasa1974]

@sadiwest

For the most part I have had good luck with EZAir. I have had no problem booking a flight a day early and I wouldn't think two days early would be a problem. You have a pretty good selection of flights and times. They don't offer budget airlines.  Also depending on the airline, you can't pick your seats until final payment. I don't remember which airlines.

A few years ago, I used EZAir for flights to and from Fort Lauderdale. I noticed that our flights had gotten cheaper by about $200. I was able to rebook with no fees.

[love to cruz]

31 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

@sadiwest

For the most part I have had good luck with EZAir. I have had no problem booking a flight a day early and I wouldn't think two days early would be a problem. You have a pretty good selection of flights and times. They don't offer budget airlines.  Also depending on the airline, you can't pick your seats until final payment. I don't remember which airlines.

A few years ago, I used EZAir for flights to and from Fort Lauderdale. I noticed that our flights had gotten cheaper by about $200. I was able to rebook with no fees.

We quite often fly in 3 to 4 days early & use EZ air all the time.

[mattR]

If you book with EZ Air don't they get you to the ships next stop if you happen to miss the boat? I booked with EZ Air for a quick little one hour flight morning of cruise from Edmonton to Vancouver.  It's during the summer and there are a couple flights after ours that could still get us to the ship if there was a problem with ours. We always fly in a day early at least but since this is such a short trip I thought we would save on the hotel room and just fly in morning of using the EZ Air get you to the ship as our insurance. Is this correct?

[Donwoods123]

8 hours ago, sadiwest said:

I guess my issue is I'm not sure what control I have.  There exists maybe ONE nonstop flight between EWR and Vancouver.  I'd like to be on it.   Otherwise I do 100% prefer Princess to be in charge so we minimize our risks of being late/missing the ship. 

 

 

This is where I'm seeking the information....   thank you. I didn't know I had ANY say in the flights at all. 

We always use EZ Air. You get to pick your exact flights when you reserve it.  We have not had any problems.  We fly out of LAX with direct flights.  We like the security of knowing that if we somehow are late, Princess will make arrangements for us to get to the ship at their expense.

 

I would not hesitate to use them again.

[Jose Zalfadilla]

I may be in the minority of minorities, but I have never encountered anything negative when using EZ Air. I sometimes use it but mostly book directly with the airline. However, regardless of with whom I book air travel, I've been able to do the same thing with EZ Air that I am able to do with direct airliner booking, i.e., choose desired flight time, choose airline, type of aircraft used (by choosing schedule), choose or change seats, etc., all before Princess pays the flight in full. But, I have been cautioned by airline agents on the phone that the fact Princess will not pay them until close to flight date, exposes me to the risk of having my air booking cancelled because the airline wants the revenue now rather than later.  But then, I'm always flexible of last minute changes to travel arrangements. If any of this helps. 

Edited April 13 by Jose Zalfadilla
Typos

[phabric]

I always book with EzAir.   I book the day they become available for my cruise.  I have not had any problems with EzAir with flights to FLL and Europe.

 

I pick the time and dates I want with Flexible, a day or two pre and post cruise depending on the flight times and price. 

 

I check the prices daily and modify (not cancel) if the price has gone down. Example -  My EzAir - Flexible - Sept - YYZ-YVR and Oct - SFO-YYZ I have $620.30 CDN/pp, today the same flights $801 CDN/pp.

 

When final payment is close, I check direct with the airline and take the best price.

 

With EzAir - Flexible- you can book and modify you booking up to 45 days with no $ penalty. Pay at cruise final payment.

If you book direct with the airline - you pay at time of booking, can not modify without paying a $ penalty.

 

EzAir price does not include luggage fees.

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

I always book with EzAir.   I book the day they become available for my cruise.  I have not had any problems with EzAir with flights to FLL and Europe.

 

I pick the time and dates I want with Flexible, a day or two pre and post cruise depending on the flight times and price. 

 

I check the prices daily and modify (not cancel) if the price has gone down. Example -  My EzAir - Flexible - Sept - YYZ-YVR and Oct - SFO-YYZ I have $620.30 CDN/pp, today the same flights $801 CDN/pp.

 

When final payment is close, I check direct with the airline and take the best price.

 

With EzAir - Flexible- you can book and modify you booking up to 45 days with no $ penalty. Pay at cruise final payment.

If you book direct with the airline - you pay at time of booking, can not modify without paying a $ penalty.

 

EzAir price does not include luggage fees.

I use the same strategy.  Fortunately for me if I book direct, I do not pay a penalty.

[partybarbie]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

 

EzAir price does not include luggage fees.

On international flights, we have never paid for the first checked bag. I’m thinking this is only on domestic flights?

[phabric]

3 minutes ago, partybarbie said:

On international flights, we have never paid for the first checked bag. I’m thinking this is only on domestic flights?

Yes domestic flights

[juicyjuju]

I have booked a flight from Dublin to U.S.A in July using EzAir. I get off the ship in June in Rome and my flight is about two weeks after disembarkation, so there is lots of flexibility for flights 

[dreaminofcruisin]

On 4/12/2024 at 12:07 PM, sadiwest said:

I guess my issue is I'm not sure what control I have.  There exists maybe ONE nonstop flight between EWR and Vancouver.  I'd like to be on it.   Otherwise I do 100% prefer Princess to be in charge so we minimize our risks of being late/missing the ship. 

 

 

This is where I'm seeking the information....   thank you. I didn't know I had ANY say in the flights at all. 

 

Whether or not you have booked the cruise, you can do a 'mock' trial of the EZ Air options.

Go to the Princess website.

Pick the cruise you are interested in.

Pick "Flight Quotes" --- assuming you are within about 300 days of the cruise-- and it will show you the current EZ Air options and prices.

 

[muffydawg]

For our October 2024 Island Princess voyage I found EZ Air was easily $900.00pp more expensive for biz class than booking directly with the airline.

[love to cruz]

1 hour ago, muffydawg said:

For our October 2024 Island Princess voyage I found EZ Air was easily $900.00pp more expensive for biz class than booking directly with the airline.

I just checked our business class airfare with Virgin Atlantic in September. With easy air we are paying $4592.72 for TWO people. Virgin Atlantic wants $5772 for ONE person for the same exact flight. We swear by EZ Air for international flights.