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Flying EZAir The "Day Of"


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I'm looking at using EZAir for the first time, for one of our upcoming trips, next April out of San Pedro. The flight down would be from Montreal to LAX, and EZAir's various options make it clear that there are significant savings to be realized using either United, Delta or AA. I'm also noticing that there are significant savings to be had by flying the day of the cruise (which is the default selection on the EZAir page) rather than our usual "day before", both in lower airfare and not needing a hotel for that night. With some of the EZAir flights, we could get to LAX by 12:30, and yes, we are very well aware of LA traffic getting down to San Pedro. A big downside for us would be losing any chance for getting decent Sanctuary loungers for the sea days. Any thoughts, comments, personal experiences with a Princess-acceptable trans-continental flight would be appreciated. Yes, we fully understand the risks in flying in the day of, I'm only asking these questions because Princess seems to formally accept this by offering it..

 

 

 

And on a very related note, IF we do miss the ship departure, Princess have the "Late Arrival Protection" with such an EZAir booking. On this trip, the first stop is Cabo, after one sea day. How would Princess handle this? Would they cover airfare down to Cabo and two nights of hotel?. Would we stay in LA for two days and fly down the day of the ship's departure, or could we immediately fly down to Cabo and spend the time there waiting for the ship?

 

 

Thanks in advance...

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Day of is risky of course. That being said, we will take our 18th cruise in Oct. For economic reasons we have always arrived in our departure port the day of. There has never been a problem. We book all flights through ezair. These included many international flights. Good luck. Most responses will say don't risk it.

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Have you considered driving to Syracuse, NY so you can catch a domestic flight instead?

 

I have flown in day of, and factors I consider are general weather around when the flight will be, as well as connecting airport. For example having to go through Detroit or Minneapolis in winter is riskier than Atlanta. If missing a flight will cause you to basically miss a sea day and part of Cabo in the (unlikely?) event you miss embarkation only you can decide how much of a downer that would be on your vacation.

 

Whether you carry other travel insurance also factors in, some insurance policies will allow you to just call it "trip in vain" and cancel the whole booking and take a do over if you were going to miss embarkation.

 

It's not the normal, but I've had multiple 1-2 hr delays on flights, and one of our cruises we had a 6 hour mechanical on our first flight out (with no alternatives). Thankfully we were going into the layover city the night before so we had a cushion, but we basically had 2.5 hours in the hotel before we had to be back at the airport for our connecting flight to port. With air travel being the way it is nowadays, I would want at least a 4 hour cushion and preferably more... but travel stresses me out and I don't want to risk missing the trip because scheduling V-time is difficult for us.

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You wanted to hear from people who have done EZ Air and flown in the day OF the cruise. We've done that. We arrived at the embarkation airport at 9:30am though. That gave us a bigger cushion of time for problems. Sail time wasn't until late - maybe 8pm - I think. Like you, we knew the risks. I had found alternate flights for us ahead of time in case we ran into problems. It pays to be armed with options when your flight is delayed or cancelled. Thankfully, I didn't need to use them.

Obviously, it is NOT the first choice of any cruiser, but needs must sometimes. If there's any way you can fly the day before, do it and save yourself some stress.

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[...]IF we do miss the ship departure, Princess have the "Late Arrival Protection" with such an EZAir booking. On this trip, the first stop is Cabo, after one sea day. How would Princess handle this? Would they cover airfare down to Cabo and two nights of hotel?. Would we stay in LA for two days and fly down the day of the ship's departure, or could we immediately fly down to Cabo and spend the time there waiting for the ship?

 

Princess' Late Arrival Protection does not function like travel insurance that reimburses you for expenses incurred due to travel delays. The only thing Princess promises is to do the flight reticketing in order for you to arrive at an intermediate port--and not necessarily the first one:

 

Air Transportation: Late Arrival Protection

Passengers who book air travel through Princess Cruises will be automatically enrolled in the Princess late arrival protection program. If guests miss or will miss their original port of embarkation due to airline delay or an airline service disruption, such as flight cancelation or flight re-routes, Princess will work with the airlines to find a reasonable alternative to provide flights to the next appropriate* port at no additional air cost to the guest.

Factors taken into account in determining the appropriateness of a port of call include, but are not limited to:

  • visas and other legal documentation that may be required
  • application of the Passenger Services Act to the new itinerary
  • airport/port infrastructure
  • comparability of cost, flight connections, and travel time required (note, any refund due on the unused air ticket must be used to offset the cost of the new air ticket)
  • where in the original itinerary this port is located

Now I am not going to chastise you for considering a transcontinental flight the day of the cruise. We all do what our time and budget allows. I have flown from Florida to Montreal the morning of embarkation (and arrived more than an hour late due to the connecting flight in Atlanta being delayed by a leaking coffee maker!) and was going to do the same to Vancouver this past May but Delta rejected EZAir's routing as having insufficient connection time (31 minutes at SLC).

 

If you have ever seen the baggage claims at turnaround ports on a busy weekend day during the high season you would be perfectly safe concluding that a great percentage of cruise passengers fly in the day of with no issues reaching the ship before final check in. So join them without too much worrying. But with travel insurance that covers all expenses due to delayed/cancelled flights.

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Have you considered driving to Syracuse, NY so you can catch a domestic flight instead?

 

 

I agree with going to NY. Straight down route 81.

This is something that happens a lot in JFK airport in NYC. Turtles in love can cause you to miss a cruise!!!

 

2018

http://www.fox5ny.com/news/turtles-on-the-tarmac-at-jfk

2017

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/07/40_turtles_on_jfk_airport_runway_reportedly_delay.html

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/06/29/new.york.turtles.airport/index.html

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I'm looking at using EZAir for the first time, for one of our upcoming trips, next April out of San Pedro. The flight down would be from Montreal to LAX, and EZAir's various options make it clear that there are significant savings to be realized using either United, Delta or AA. I'm also noticing that there are significant savings to be had by flying the day of the cruise (which is the default selection on the EZAir page) rather than our usual "day before", both in lower airfare and not needing a hotel for that night. With some of the EZAir flights, we could get to LAX by 12:30, and yes, we are very well aware of LA traffic getting down to San Pedro. A big downside for us would be losing any chance for getting decent Sanctuary loungers for the sea days. Any thoughts, comments, personal experiences with a Princess-acceptable trans-continental flight would be appreciated. Yes, we fully understand the risks in flying in the day of, I'm only asking these questions because Princess seems to formally accept this by offering it..

 

And on a very related note, IF we do miss the ship departure, Princess have the "Late Arrival Protection" with such an EZAir booking. On this trip, the first stop is Cabo, after one sea day. How would Princess handle this? Would they cover airfare down to Cabo and two nights of hotel?. Would we stay in LA for two days and fly down the day of the ship's departure, or could we immediately fly down to Cabo and spend the time there waiting for the ship?

Thanks in advance...

We have used EZAir coming from mid-USA to the coast.

 

It appears you have a direct flight from Montreal to LAX, in which case you will not be subject to the ambiguity of multiple plane connections, which is a good thing. Understanding that this is a significant savings option I would book it. I would also book a Princess Transfer from LAX to the port, putting all the travel arrangements directly in Princess' hands (they can't say you missed a ship because of your taxi's fault).

 

We had (in winter) a series of delayed flights, during which we kept in touch with Princess' Travel Delay hotline. First, this kept us informed of our options, plus they kept the ship informed that we were incurring a delay on Princess booked travel. In our case we arrived quite late but they (the travel delay folk) were able to delay the ship's sailing until we were aboard. Princess even transferred us from airport to the port using a full bus with just the two of us as passengers - we were quite fortunate and lucky. Make sure you have that telephone number with you.

 

The options they gave us at the time was the "next port" guarantee. They would book us a hotel for a flight to the first airport available port (Princess Cays was the first port) the next day, and would give us a healthy hotel/per diem allowance at that port until the ship arrived. This was part of the EZAir Next Port guarantee. They could have changed this policy in since then, but that's what we were told at the time.

 

In your case it would be likely you would overnight in the LA area, fly to Cabo the next day, then overnight in Cabo.

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Because the aforementioned scenario would save us around $700. Granted, for some that's pocket change but not for us...

 

I hear ya! We drove to Toronto for our flights to Europe back in '16, even with the ~$100 for a hotel and the mileage we saved ~$1,000 (granted the exchange rate is favorable for USD).

 

Consider though flight prices from YYZ, BVT, and SYR too. You might save some money and have a better schedule, even when you add in a hotel somewhere a comfortable distance from the hotel.

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We too are flying in with EZAir "day of" for the first time in November out of Fort Lauderdale. I am nervous for sure, but the ease of flights and savings (both airfare & hotel) were enough to make us decide to take a chance. There are some variables that made it a bit less scary of a decision. We live in the Southern U.S. in a smaller regional city & weather issues are unlikely. Our cruise leaves on a Sunday, and we are taking first flight out at 6:30 a.m.(the plane will be there overnight ready to go & we live 10 minutes from airport), connect through ATL, and arrive in FLL (hopefully) at 11:30 am. There are also 2 later flights from ATL to FLL arriving at 1:30 & 2:30 (sail away is at 4 p.m.); so hopefully we have some options if our outgoing flight is delayed & we miss connection. (yn) We also made sure to get Princess Transfers to ease our minds about someone looking out for us at the airport & making sure we make it to the port, which is only 15 minutes from FLL.

 

Just be prepared to roll with the punches if something does happen. That's all you can do.

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Sounds like your mind is already made up.

 

Not at all. For many the math is simple, take the easy, safe way regardless of cost. For us, it's a very much more complicated equation with many, some personal, variables. Fundamentally, I think I am wondering what the benefit is, in this specific case, of using EZAIR with its "Late Arrival Protection". For us, missing the ship's departure but having to "endure" an extra day in LA, or in Cabo, waiting for the Ship's arrival, with expenses covered, is not an unacceptable risk, given the significant cost savings we would see flying the day of departure. We love LA and would be more than happy to spend an extra day or two before flying on to meet the ship in Cabo, in lieu of a sea day. That being said, I will have to read the EZAir Ts and Cs to understand exactly and precisely how the Late Arrival Protection actually works. More than likely, we'll just suck it up and pay a lot more for the peace of mind of flying the day before, but I just need to investigate all the options.

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I have flown in the day of but like the OP posted above, do a Princess transfer to the ship. They held the ship for us, approx 30 minutes, we were the last people on, even missed the muster. Being on a direct flight would make me feel better, Mine was DSM to Mpls to FLL but we couldn't get to MPLS so we went through Detroit. It was very stressful. I won't do it again. Do you have a designated cruise planner? I'd call them with all of your questions.

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We have used EZAir coming from mid-USA to the coast.

 

It appears you have a direct flight from Montreal to LAX, in which case you will not be subject to the ambiguity of multiple plane connections, which is a good thing. Understanding that this is a significant savings option I would book it. I would also book a Princess Transfer from LAX to the port, putting all the travel arrangements directly in Princess' hands (they can't say you missed a ship because of your taxi's fault).

 

We had (in winter) a series of delayed flights, during which we kept in touch with Princess' Travel Delay hotline. First, this kept us informed of our options, plus they kept the ship informed that we were incurring a delay on Princess booked travel. In our case we arrived quite late but they (the travel delay folk) were able to delay the ship's sailing until we were aboard. Princess even transferred us from airport to the port using a full bus with just the two of us as passengers - we were quite fortunate and lucky. Make sure you have that telephone number with you.

 

The options they gave us at the time was the "next port" guarantee. They would book us a hotel for a flight to the first airport available port (Princess Cays was the first port) the next day, and would give us a healthy hotel/per diem allowance at that port until the ship arrived. This was part of the EZAir Next Port guarantee. They could have changed this policy in since then, but that's what we were told at the time.

 

In your case it would be likely you would overnight in the LA area, fly to Cabo the next day, then overnight in Cabo.

 

Just the sort of feedback I was hoping for, thanks so much. Unfortunately, we don't have a decent direct flight, Air Canada is notoriously expensive and we'd save a lot by going with a US airline with one stop. EXCELLENT advice re using a Princess transfer if we did go this route. We've used various limos and taxis in the past from LAX to San Pedro/Long Beach, but we would definitely use a Princess transfer in this case.

 

One of my next jobs will be to check the LA to Cabo connections to ensure that there are enough flights available such that if we did miss the boat, we could get on to Cabo easily...

 

Thanks again very much for the advice...

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I hear ya! We drove to Toronto for our flights to Europe back in '16, even with the ~$100 for a hotel and the mileage we saved ~$1,000 (granted the exchange rate is favorable for USD).

 

Consider though flight prices from YYZ, BVT, and SYR too. You might save some money and have a better schedule, even when you add in a hotel somewhere a comfortable distance from the hotel.

 

We actually have TWO upcoming cruises to worry about, this one out of LA in April, but another one of Rome next November on the new Sky Princess. For both trips, I'll be scouring EZAir for lots of different options, both from here and a few Canadian airports (Toronto and Ottawa), but also a number of easily accessible US alternatives like Boston and the New York/New Jersey airports. From what I'm seeing, based on my early experiences with EZAir, is that flying with US airlines is quite a bit easier and cheaper, especially if we drive down and avoid Canadian airports entirely.

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I almost always use Ezair the day of and so far no problems. I am flying from LAX to Toronto for a Canada New England cruise and didn't think twice about it. I know the risk, you know the risk so do what you feel comfortable with. For the $700 savings you have you could book a flight out to your next port and still come out ahead.

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Just the sort of feedback I was hoping for, thanks so much. Unfortunately, we don't have a decent direct flight, Air Canada is notoriously expensive and we'd save a lot by going with a US airline with one stop. EXCELLENT advice re using a Princess transfer if we did go this route. We've used various limos and taxis in the past from LAX to San Pedro/Long Beach, but we would definitely use a Princess transfer in this case.

 

One of my next jobs will be to check the LA to Cabo connections to ensure that there are enough flights available such that if we did miss the boat, we could get on to Cabo easily...

 

Thanks again very much for the advice...

 

 

So if you miss the ship you will not only miss 1 or 2 days of the cruise but you will most likely spend a night or 2 in a hotel anyway. You may be on Princess dime but you will also be on their timetable. You say you can get to Cabo easily. Is that at your expense? Because If you don't like the flights that Princess sets up for you and you book flights yourself they will not reimburse you. You will be at their mercy.

If the flight arrived LAX around 10:00am to 11:00am then I might chance it. However arriving at 12:30 and collecting luggage and heading to San Pedro leaves you absolutely no room for error. Will you make it? Probably. Just not worth the stress.

Good luck........

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So if you miss the ship you will not only miss 1 or 2 days of the cruise but you will most likely spend a night or 2 in a hotel anyway. You may be on Princess dime but you will also be on their timetable. You say you can get to Cabo easily. Is that at your expense? Because If you don't like the flights that Princess sets up for you and you book flights yourself they will not reimburse you. You will be at their mercy.

If the flight arrived LAX around 10:00am to 11:00am then I might chance it. However arriving at 12:30 and collecting luggage and heading to San Pedro leaves you absolutely no room for error. Will you make it? Probably. Just not worth the stress.

Good luck........

 

Thanks Keith. First of all, I was making the point that missing a sea day on this itinerary is not at all a problem for us. If that's the only downside, we're OK with it. We're perfectly OK with a day in LA or Cabo over a sea day. And I don't say I can get from LA to Cabo easily, I have to research it. I'm ASSUMING Princess can do it under the Ts and Cs of the EZAir agreement. If there's any reasonable possibility that they can't do it, all bets are off and we're doing the Day Before option with its significantly higher cost.

 

Heck, had EZAIR not been part of this discussion, I NEVER would have considered flying the Day Of on a transcontinental flight.

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I hope it all works out well for you. IMO you are doing exactly the right thing, looking at the possibilities and options in making your decision.

 

 

I AM normally one of those that preach always arrive at your embarkation port minimum 1 day ahead. I have been pretty true to that for myself. I have an upcoming South America cruise that I am taking the chance and booking EZ Air arriving the DAY OF. For a couple months I had Delta booked with a change of plane in ATL and on to Buenos Aires (EZE), arriving about 9:10 AM IIRC. I stumbled across American's newly approved (starting this fall) route non-stop LAX-Buenos Aires (EZE) I checked EZ-Air and for my travel date the new American flight is scheduled to operate. I canceled Delta and booked American. (And I got a great business class fare that on EZ-Air tends to be running at about double and on American quadruple what I am booked for :))

 

This is my rationale:

I spent 3 days in Buenos Aires last February and do not feel a need to visit again this trip as well as the additional $ for 1 night stay on me.

 

American flight is non-stop vs having to change planes in winter in a possibly weather issue prone ATL airport

 

The flight arrives at 8:20 AM, Princess Outsource folks arrive about 9:00 AM

 

 

The ship will overnight in Buenos Aires departing the day after arrival @ 10:00 AM

 

 

Booked Princess Transfer to port (actually one of the few times the price is reasonable)

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That time frame sounds a bit too tight for my taste. As to the Princess guarantee, as I understand the policy it only guarantees to get you to a future port (if possible). However, it does not cover your extra expenses such as hotels, meals, etc.

 

Hank

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Thanks Keith. First of all, I was making the point that missing a sea day on this itinerary is not at all a problem for us. If that's the only downside, we're OK with it. We're perfectly OK with a day in LA or Cabo over a sea day. And I don't say I can get from LA to Cabo easily, I have to research it. I'm ASSUMING Princess can do it under the Ts and Cs of the EZAir agreement. If there's any reasonable possibility that they can't do it, all bets are off and we're doing the Day Before option with its significantly higher cost.

 

Heck, had EZAIR not been part of this discussion, I NEVER would have considered flying the Day Of on a transcontinental flight.

 

 

I would be concerned with the Princess idea/plan of getting you to Cabo if you know what I mean. Sometimes not so straight forward. I say this because I have read nightmare stories here on CC over the years from those that reported back on this very issue after missing the ship. They detailed the trek they took to reunite with their cruise. Some gave up and headed home.

I just would not want the stress.........

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That time frame sounds a bit too tight for my taste. As to the Princess guarantee, as I understand the policy it only guarantees to get you to a future port (if possible). However, it does not cover your extra expenses such as hotels, meals, etc.

 

Hank

 

Thanks Hank. That's another reason why I have to research the EZAir Terms and Conditions. If they don't cover obvious but important incidentals like hotels, etc, then there's little chance we would bother with the risk. We would only entertain doing this if Princess/EZAir covered pretty much all of the costs.

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