EZ Air Wackiness

[Sea Hag]

This chain of events really takes the cake. We were on a short camping trip over the weekend, and I got an email from Princess saying that we had a flight change. No worries. It happens. When I checked it out this afternoon, they'd changed us to a flight with a shorter connection time in Seattle than I was comfortable with. Flight shopping time. 

 

I started that flight shopping with a cost of $1140 and change for the two of us.

 

I looked for replacement flights and found our original flight, with the good connection time, was still showing available. What's up with that? Walked through the engine and ended with a total showing of $1600 something, $504 more than what our charges were for the same flight before they switched up. Doh! Bite the bullet and just change to the flight we wanted. Too bad about the $504, but whatever.

 

Hit the button to make the change and the total price went up to $2700 something! I've never seen EZ Air do that - drastic change of price after having given a total.

 

Went back into change flights and started over. Selected the same flight that I'd chosen before (I know, definition of insanity) and went forward with that. Total price for the two of us was $1180 and change. 

 

I'm absolutely certain that all this shopping was done as economy, since the seat selection for the $2700+ was economy seats. 

 

So, I'm bewildered by it all, but at least we're back on the flights I wanted without paying an arm and a leg. 

[SCX22]

Fare fluctuation is normal with EZAir.  The prices can change minute to minute, morning or evening.

 

Is the airline Delta?  Delta is notorious with releasing inventory to EZAir far in advance and then renegging on booked EZAir reservations as the flight date gets closer and their inventory management realizes that they sold a seat on prime time flight for too low. 

 

Happened to my parents FLL to SFO via ATL.  They booked their Delta flight with a 2 hour connection in ATL 6 months prior.  3 months before they were supposed to fly, they got an EZAir notification that they had been moved to a later ATL to SFO flight with a 5 hour layover in ATL.  Not happy, they called EZAir made a stink and EZAir reinstated their original flights at no extra charge.  Had they not made a stink, the flights with a 2 hour connection would have cost them and extra $300 pp through EZAir.

[ldubs]

This just isn't right.   Once they accept your booking, other than for obvious reasons,  it should remain in place. 

 

@Sea Hag, glad it worked out for you.   

Edited April 23 by ldubs

[Wandawithdogs]

Plane schedule change fine, but they switched you to another flight!!

[Arizona Wildcat]

4 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

This chain of events really takes the cake. We were on a short camping trip over the weekend, and I got an email from Princess saying that we had a flight change. No worries. It happens. When I checked it out this afternoon, they'd changed us to a flight with a shorter connection time in Seattle than I was comfortable with. Flight shopping time. 

 

I started that flight shopping with a cost of $1140 and change for the two of us.

 

I looked for replacement flights and found our original flight, with the good connection time, was still showing available. What's up with that? Walked through the engine and ended with a total showing of $1600 something, $504 more than what our charges were for the same flight before they switched up. Doh! Bite the bullet and just change to the flight we wanted. Too bad about the $504, but whatever.

 

Hit the button to make the change and the total price went up to $2700 something! I've never seen EZ Air do that - drastic change of price after having given a total.

 

Went back into change flights and started over. Selected the same flight that I'd chosen before (I know, definition of insanity) and went forward with that. Total price for the two of us was $1180 and change. 

 

I'm absolutely certain that all this shopping was done as economy, since the seat selection for the $2700+ was economy seats. 

 

So, I'm bewildered by it all, but at least we're back on the flights I wanted without paying an arm and a leg. 

Note if you shop a flight the next person gets a higher fare from the computer and if there is another inquiry in the next hour a fare moves up again.  Takes a couple hours to move the price back down.

Talk to a person and definitely check out the airlines direct.

[Sea Hag]

11 hours ago, Wandawithdogs said:

Plane schedule change fine, but they switched you to another flight!!

I know that! I assumed that the original flight I'd booked - the one that I wanted and the one we're booked on now - was canceled. The extreme wackiness, to my mind, was when the booking engine showed a total of $1600 something and then jumped to $2700 something at completion. And then went back down to $1180. 😂

[Arizona Wildcat]

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

This just isn't right.   Once they accept your booking, other than for obvious reasons,  it should remain in place. 

 

@Sea Hag, glad it worked out for you.   

Booking very early with a fixed fare and later payment is the main benefit of consolidator fares.

What is difficult is the airlines often change flights and the consolidators depending on the airline cannot choose what flight to move your reservation.   Consolidator fares have limited flight choice.

As to fares, try this. . . . do a mock economy booking on a route starting at a smaller airport.  Then do it again several times.  The fare will move up.  Then try the next day.  The fare will reset.   If seats are very limited the change can be extreme.

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Booking very early with a fixed fare and later payment is the main benefit of consolidator fares.

What is difficult is the airlines often change flights and the consolidators depending on the airline cannot choose what flight to move your reservation.   Consolidator fares have limited flight choice.

As to fares, try this. . . . do a mock economy booking on a route starting at a smaller airport.  Then do it again several times.  The fare will move up.  Then try the next day.  The fare will reset.   If seats are very limited the change can be extreme.

 

Thanks.  Certainly if a flight changes then a rebooking is needed.  But in this case the original flight had not changed.