Have you booked air through Princess?

[murphyis1]

I always make my own air arrangements (mostly because I'm a control freak;)) but I'm considering using Princess air for our next cruise. I can choose my own flights and pay just $14 more per ticket than if I book the same flights directly with Delta. This way I have the insurance of Princess getting us to the next port of call should we miss the ship in FLL. This sounds win/win to me. Am I missing something???

[Coracii]

I always make my own air arrangements (mostly because I'm a control freak;)) but I'm considering using Princess air for our next cruise. I can choose my own flights and pay just $14 more per ticket than if I book the same flights directly with Delta. This way I have the insurance of Princess getting us to the next port of call should we miss the ship in FLL. This sounds win/win to me. Am I missing something???

 

Yes, our flights for our upcoming Australia/New Zealand trip are booked through Princess EZ-Air and were significantly cheaper this time than I could find anywhere else. We're flying Qantas round trip for several hundred dollars each less than I found elsewhere for lesser airlines.

[The Wilkies]

Always fly using Princess, although I do my research first and usually get the flights I want, even though it may cost a little more. Like the security, expecially if going to far flung places that, if anything happens, you will be looked after (at least that is what I hope will happen!!!)

[Woobstr112G]

In the past, I've always booked through Princess. Next October, I plan to use the new Princess EZ-Air. I used EZ-Air to price air for random cruises. I found the prices significantly cheaper than anything I could find elsewhere.

 

Bob

[Druke I]

We've found Princess air to often be significantly less expensive, particularly on "open jaw" flights overseas.

[greatam]

I always make my own air arrangements (mostly because I'm a control freak;)) but I'm considering using Princess air for our next cruise. I can choose my own flights and pay just $14 more per ticket than if I book the same flights directly with Delta. This way I have the insurance of Princess getting us to the next port of call should we miss the ship in FLL. This sounds win/win to me. Am I missing something???

 

PLEASE read through the Princess cruise contract, particularly paragraph 15, subsection F.

 

http://www.princess.com/legal/passage_contract/index.jsp

 

Princess is NOT obligated to get you to the next port of call. They have absolutely NO responsibility or liability to do anything OTHER than refund your air fare.

 

You will also be sold consolidator class tickets which are generally NON REROUTABLE and NON ENDORSABLE. The tickets are NO GOOD on anything other than the originating carrier and on the original routing. You may be waiting a few hours or a few days for seating availability if there is a glitch. Princess EXPECTS you to have travel insurance to cover any glitches.

 

BUY YOUR OWN TICKETS DIRECT from Delta.

[Coracii]

PLEASE read through the Princess cruise contract, particularly paragraph 15, subsection F.

 

http://www.princess.com/legal/passage_contract/index.jsp

 

Princess is NOT obligated to get you to the next port of call. They have absolutely NO responsibility or liability to do anything OTHER than refund your air fare.

 

You will also be sold consolidator class tickets which are generally NON REROUTABLE and NON ENDORSABLE. The tickets are NO GOOD on anything other than the originating carrier and on the original routing. You may be waiting a few hours or a few days for seating availability if there is a glitch. Princess EXPECTS you to have travel insurance to cover any glitches.

 

BUY YOUR OWN TICKETS DIRECT from Delta.

 

You're quoting the Passage Contract, which has no bearing on flights booked through the EZ-Air Program. The EZ-Air contract supercedes the Passage Contract when booked and specifically contradicts your information by stating:

 

Passengers who book air travel through Princess Cruises will be automatically enrolled in the Princess next port protection program. If passengers 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 passenger.

[Coracii]

Princess EXPECTS you to have travel insurance to cover any glitches.

 

And as far as travel insurance, anyone that doesn't have it for a cruise vacation is a fool in my eyes.

[caribill]

I always make my own air arrangements (mostly because I'm a control freak;)) but I'm considering using Princess air for our next cruise. I can choose my own flights and pay just $14 more per ticket than if I book the same flights directly with Delta. This way I have the insurance of Princess getting us to the next port of call should we miss the ship in FLL. This sounds win/win to me. Am I missing something???

 

Sounds win/win to me also.

 

My only experience with EZAir is that it was more expensive on an open jaw ticket (USA-Asia, Australia-USA) than I could do on my own. Princess quote was $1692 per person. From a different airline I booked it for $1212/person.

[san diego sue]

In the past have used Princess air because it was cheaper for us.

On EZ air trying to return from Europe next spring had us flying all over the place.

most of the choices had us flying to New York and flight home to San Diego, was making us do an over night in New York to get that flight.

Another choice was giving us only an hour to get through customs, immigration etc. between flights on another route. There was a later flight (I checked the airlines direct), but not a choice with EZair.

this time the flights were about the same price as booking direct but flights were really not the best choices.

[greatam]

You're quoting the Passage Contract, which has no bearing on flights booked through the EZ-Air Program. The EZ-Air contract supercedes the Passage Contract when booked and specifically contradicts your quote by stating:

 

Passengers who book air travel through Princess Cruises will be automatically enrolled in the Princess next port protection program. If passengers 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 passenger.

 

 

Please note the wording "WILL WORK" and "REASONABLE". DOES NOT in any way GUARANTEE that Princess will get you to the ship. Same wording that has been in the original cruise air/custom air blurbs for years past. And the cruise contract SUPERSEDES any wording on a company website. They owe you NOTHING except a refund on your air. EZ Air is PRIVATE-it is proprietary to Princess. No one else can use it except Princess cruise customers. The cruise contract prevails.

 

If you read some of the fine print and some of the press releases, Princess new EZ air is absolutely NO different than the original cruise air/custom air IF you choose the cheapest flights EXCEPT YOU are doing the work that was once done by the land/sea dept. The cruise line still bought consolidator class tickets. They input those consolidator class tickets into a database which became EZ Air. And the "will work" part works like this-you miss the ship due to an airline glitch. Princess "will work" to get you on another flight to the ship. There are no flights on the originating airline which originally sold the consolidator tickets to Princess who in turn sold them to you. But there is a flight on XXX airline for $400 EXTRA. You are now given a choice-spend the extra $400 (Princess EXPECTS you to have travel insurance to cover the extra $400 which makes it NO COST TO YOU) or find another way to the ship or take the refund of the air. This VERY scenario happened to about 500+ passengers on the March 2 Star Princess "earthquake" cruise and an untold amount on other cruises where passengers booked cruise air during the "volcano" crisis in Europe.

 

If you cannot read the entire fare rules for ANY plane ticket no matter where it is booked and do not see the words ENDORSABLE and REROUTABLE or similar wording, you have been sold a consolidator class ticket with heavy restrictions.

[rajones007]

I wanted to use the Princess flights because it seemed like a decent deal for some peace of mind. And the prices were pretty good too.

 

BUT. They never gave me the option of a direct flight from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale. There are two direct Air Canada flights every morning to FLL and they arrive with ample time. The Princess EZ-Air doesn't have a problem with Air Canada, it just won't let me go on one of the direct flights. Instead it wants to connect in Newark, or Charlotte, or Detroit, or Atlanta. I live by my Dads advice. He spent his retirement travelling the world and always told us "avoid connections in the USA at all costs."

[DrivesLikeMario]

I wanted to use the Princess flights because it seemed like a decent deal for some peace of mind. And the prices were pretty good too.

 

BUT. They never gave me the option of a direct flight from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale. There are two direct Air Canada flights every morning to FLL and they arrive with ample time. The Princess EZ-Air doesn't have a problem with Air Canada, it just won't let me go on one of the direct flights. Instead it wants to connect in Newark, or Charlotte, or Detroit, or Atlanta. I live by my Dads advice. He spent his retirement travelling the world and always told us "avoid connections in the USA at all costs."

 

Do you mean "non stop" instead of "direct"?

A "direct" flight means you leave from point A and eventually end up at point B, often with at least one stop.

A "non stop" flight means there are no stops.

 

EZ Air will give you the cheapest choices first. If you want less stops or more convenient timing, you have to dig for it a bit.

[EAGLESLOVER]

I wanted to use the Princess flights because it seemed like a decent deal for some peace of mind. And the prices were pretty good too.

 

BUT. They never gave me the option of a direct flight from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale. There are two direct Air Canada flights every morning to FLL and they arrive with ample time. The Princess EZ-Air doesn't have a problem with Air Canada, it just won't let me go on one of the direct flights. Instead it wants to connect in Newark, or Charlotte, or Detroit, or Atlanta. I live by my Dads advice. He spent his retirement travelling the world and always told us "avoid connections in the USA at all costs."

 

 

Dad is very wise!!! Atlanta is a nightmare.

[hansi]

PLEASE read through the Princess cruise contract, particularly paragraph 15, subsection F.

 

http://www.princess.com/legal/passage_contract/index.jsp

 

Princess is NOT obligated to get you to the next port of call. They have absolutely NO responsibility or liability to do anything OTHER than refund your air fare.

 

You will also be sold consolidator class tickets which are generally NON REROUTABLE and NON ENDORSABLE. The tickets are NO GOOD on anything other than the originating carrier and on the original routing. You may be waiting a few hours or a few days for seating availability if there is a glitch. Princess EXPECTS you to have travel insurance to cover any glitches.

 

BUY YOUR OWN TICKETS DIRECT from Delta.

 

No so in the UK. I always book Princess air, and if it's not a Princess charter, they book you on a scheduled flight. They guarantee to get you the departure port andf they give you the airline booking reference to enable you to check in online, choose seats, and/or request special meals. Of course they expect you to have insurance. That's fairly obvious!

[hansi]

Do you mean "non stop" instead of "direct"?

A "direct" flight means you leave from point A and eventually end up at point B, often with at least one stop.

A "non stop" flight means there are no stops.

 

EZ Air will give you the cheapest choices first. If you want less stops or more convenient timing, you have to dig for it a bit.

Isn't a "direct flight direct? If there is a stop, it's an indirect flight surely!

[nana nancy]

We want to fly to FL early, visit family, then stay after 10 day Emerald cruise. Can I use EZ air for airport not near cruise port?

[donna5]

Isn't a "direct flight direct? If there is a stop, it's an indirect flight surely!

 

Direct Flight - can have an intermidiate stop where the flight number stays the same.

 

A Non-stop flight - Doesn't have any stops from origin to destination.

[mytime53]

Isn't a "direct flight direct? If there is a stop, it's an indirect flight surely!

 

Living in Alaska, we have many direct flights that have a stop, usually in Seattle, but sometimes other cities. Here's a definition I found for you:

 

A direct flight in the aviation industry is any flight between two points by an airline with no change in flight numbers, which may include a stop over at an intermediate point[1]. The stop over may either be to get new passengers (or allow some to disembark) or a mere technical stop over (i.e. for refuelling purposes only). These are often confused with non-stop flights, which are direct flights involving no intermediate stops[2]. When there is a change in flight number, the subsequent flight is referred to as a connecting flight.

[caribill]

Direct Flight - can have an intermidiate stop where the flight number stays the same.

 

A Non-stop flight - Doesn't have any stops from origin to destination.

 

 

So, what is it called when the flight number remains the same, but you actually will change to a different airplane at that intermediate stop?

[cherylandtk]

No so in the UK. I always book Princess air, and if it's not a Princess charter, they book you on a scheduled flight. They guarantee to get you the departure port andf they give you the airline booking reference to enable you to check in online, choose seats, and/or request special meals. Of course they expect you to have insurance. That's fairly obvious!

I cannot speak to the port guarantee part of your statement, as the Princess contract differs from the US to the UK, as we mostly all know from the frequent posts about non-refundable UK deposits and pricing differences.

 

A US consolidator class ticket also allows you to check in online, choose seats, make special requests, and is on a scheduled flight. It just is not worth anything as a TICKET that can be used/endorsed at another airline should there be delays. Regular tickets can be endorsed over to another airline. Perhaps that is yet another difference between UK and US.

[Daisymabel]

I wanted to use the Princess flights because it seemed like a decent deal for some peace of mind. And the prices were pretty good too.

 

BUT. They never gave me the option of a direct flight from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale. There are two direct Air Canada flights every morning to FLL and they arrive with ample time. The Princess EZ-Air doesn't have a problem with Air Canada, it just won't let me go on one of the direct flights. Instead it wants to connect in Newark, or Charlotte, or Detroit, or Atlanta. I live by my Dads advice. He spent his retirement travelling the world and always told us "avoid connections in the USA at all costs."

 

Just wondering if you have checked restricted and flexible? We have found a fare which is $800 cheaper with EZ air for two of us. We had to search through both options to find it. It's non stop. We had to pay for our cruise and flight to secure it but we are sure of our dates. Yes, we always have insurance to cover cancellations and fly at least the day before. Totally agree, avoid connections in the US at all costs. Have a great holiday whoever you fly with. :)

[greatam]

No so in the UK. I always book Princess air, and if it's not a Princess charter, they book you on a scheduled flight. They guarantee to get you the departure port andf they give you the airline booking reference to enable you to check in online, choose seats, and/or request special meals. Of course they expect you to have insurance. That's fairly obvious!

 

As cherylandtk posted, EU rules are totally different than US rules for cruise/flight packages and the protections they offer. EU rules offer total protection and I believe you HAVE To book the package-flight, cruise, possibly hotels, etc. etc. Not so in the USA. There are no such rules to protect passengers nor are they needed.

[Hlitner]

We decided to try and use Princess air for an upcoming cruise out of FLL. We wanted air from BWI to FLL and the best airline for this route (because of price and favorable luggage rules) is SouthWest. But we quickly found that Princess does not even handle bookings for SWA. We were totally underwhelmed and booked direct with the airline.

 

Hank

[Coracii]

We decided to try and use Princess air for an upcoming cruise out of FLL. We wanted air from BWI to FLL and the best airline for this route (because of price and favorable luggage rules) is SouthWest. But we quickly found that Princess does not even handle bookings for SWA. We were totally underwhelmed and booked direct with the airline.

 

Hank

 

For a really easy domestic route like BWI to FLL there's really no reason to even consider booking through Princess. The major airlines are constantly running specials for routes like that.