Have you booked air through Princess?

[rajones007]

Thanks for the clarification of direct and non-stop flight. I never realized there was a difference. Leave it to the airline industry to muddle the definition of the word "direct". When I said direct - I meant non-stop to Fort Lauderdale.

 

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. :)

I went thru it numerous times, using the different options. I couldn't figure it out so I gave up. I ended up booking directly with Air Canada on an afternoon non-stop flight the day prior to the cruise...so all is well.

 

EDIT. Well, there we go. I managed to find a non-stop flight TO Fort Lauderdale but it won't let me make a non-stop return. It actually wants to fly me back to Montreal and then wait 3 hours for a flight to Toronto. If I drove home from Montreal I'd just be pulling into my driveway by the time the plane takes off for Toronto. Another return package has me flying back to Montreal, then to Ottawa, then to Toronto. Wow.

 

Expensive though. Princess wants $1200 per person, which is out of this world. Non-stop flights from YYZ to FLL, in the fall and winter months, can be had for a couple hundred dollars anywhere else. Matter of fact some flights to FLL (there are 4 a day) are only $104 right from the Air Canada website.

[Aruba]

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???

Only $14 more per ticket? That's a great deal considering the extra piece of mind you will have. I recently booked Princess E-Z Air for $50 more per ticket, but I did it for the next-port-protection feature.

[greatam]

Only $14 more per ticket? That's a great deal considering the extra piece of mind you will have. I recently booked Princess E-Z Air for $50 more per ticket, but I did it for the next-port-protection feature.

 

"Next Port Protection"????

 

Better read the fine print. Words like "will work" and REASONABLE are legal "weasel" words (I am a non practicing transportation attorney). DO NOT BE FOOLED. The CHEAP tickets you are buying from EZ Air are NOT the same as what you would buy from AN AIRLINE. There is NO WRITTEN GUARANTEE that Princess will get you to the next port. They may TRY, they may make a VALIANT effort. They have no LEGAL obligation to get you to the next port. The tickets you were sold are most likely CONSOLIDATOR tickets with heavy restrictions-NON REROUTABLE (means your original ticket which ended in Fort Lauderdale/Miami is NO GOOD to get you to Aruba, Boston or Kuwait City) and NON ENDORSABLE-means your ticket on Delta is NO GOOD on American, US, United or Continental (or any other airline for that matter).

 

PLEASE be aware of what you purchased. I am in the international logistics planning business. I have RARELY seen cruise air tickets CHEAPER than what you could purchase yourself IF you use all the helpful tips and tricks and websites that REALLY get you CHEAP fares. The best for the general public-itasoftware.com. Cannot book the seats there, but you get the fare class, the booking code numbers, etc, etc to allow you to go to the airline website and actually book the fare (maybe even have to go to a land base TA to book the flights for a small fee on a complicated itinerary) MAY take a little bit of work and research (we on the Cruise Air board are always available for help) but it can be done, cheaply and easily!!!

[donna5]

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?

 

A "through flight"

 

 

(Also a very stupid way to run a business in my book, we get confused enough as it is!

[greatam]

A "through flight"

 

 

(Also a very stupid way to run a business in my book, we get confused enough as it is!

 

A flight that stops, even IF it changes planes BUT keeps the SAME flight number-a DIRECT flight.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The only time we booked air through a cruiseline (Carnival), we found ourselves with a red-eye flight arriving in Miami in the morning, and the hotel room that went along with it turned into a dayroom. We immediately called the TA and said we wanted the flight changed so we would arrive the night before.

 

The next morning we were waiting for the elevator to go down to have breakfast when some blurry-eyed people got off the elevator to go crash in their dayrooms before the shuttle arrived to take everyone to the port. These people were definitely not happy campers.

 

Since then, we have made our travel arrangements on our own, and always to arrive at least a day ahead (except when leaving from our home port, which is an hour's drive for us). It would have to be an incredible deal for us to give up control over what flights we get...and even then, I don't think we would want to.

[milamber]

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!

 

Same for us. We booked late for our upcoming cruise and whilst most others seem to be on charter flights with BA, we are on a scheduled flight with Virgin for the outbound leg (we are doing a B2B so flying back with a different airline). My understanding of the guarantee is the same.

 

As for cost I checked the Virgin website the day after we booked. The price to book the outbound leg myself, rather than as a package through Princess, was just short of 65% of the entire package price. On this occasion, at least, having checked the cost of the 'no air' cruise plus the return flight it would have cost just under twice as much to DIY.

[Coracii]

The only time we booked air through a cruiseline (Carnival)' date=' we found ourselves with a red-eye flight arriving in Miami in the morning, and the hotel room that went along with it turned into a dayroom. We immediately called the TA and said we wanted the flight changed so we would arrive the night before.

 

The next morning we were waiting for the elevator to go down to have breakfast when some blurry-eyed people got off the elevator to go crash in their dayrooms before the shuttle arrived to take everyone to the port. These people were definitely not happy campers.

 

Since then, we have made our travel arrangements on our own, and always to arrive at least a day ahead (except when leaving from our home port, which is an hour's drive for us). It would have to be an incredible deal for us to give up control over what flights we get...and even then, I don't think we would want to.[/quote']

 

With the way the new EZ-Air system is set up you choose your flights entirely and arrive on whatever day you desire. We're heading to Australia 6 days before our cruise departs and the cost is the same as if we landed the morning of the cruise (and many hundreds of dollars each less on Qantas than if we had booked the open-jaw flights through one of the dozens of online sites I looked at or through our travel agent on a lesser airline).

[knittinggirl]

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.

 

When I flew to Hong Kong from San Francisco, we stopped in Hawaii and Tokyo. While it almost 30 years ago, I remember leaving the plane, but we were allowed to leave the carry-ons on board. (Probably not something we could do today.)

[Kamloops50]

Used Princess Air ( old system) for our panama cruise in Dec 09.

 

Much cheaper than booking air thru our TA . The last cruise and the

 

one in Jan 2011 arranging our own air . May 10 got a seat sale

 

and Jan 2011using air miles to fly.:cool: On the panama cruise

 

because we had to a arrive the day before Princess supplied the

 

hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

[donna5]

A flight that stops, even IF it changes planes BUT keeps the SAME flight number-a DIRECT flight.

 

Not what an airline employee told me.

[Pam in CA]

Sometimes, I book my flights myself, sometimes through Princes. The times I've booked Princess air, it has been a lot cheaper; I've never had "crazy" routing that some have reported. Just returned last night from my Crown cruise from Southampton to NY. We used EZ Air for the first time and I paid about $2,500 for my flights: Biz Class from LAX to LHR and First Class (not Biz, which was also available on this flight) from JFK to LAX. That was a LOT cheaper than anything I could find using any search engine or airline system. FYI, the dinner we had on the plane was fabulous; incredibly good; better than anything we had on the cruise.

[donna5]

Sometimes, I book my flights myself, sometimes through Princes. The times I've booked Princess air, it has been a lot cheaper; I've never had "crazy" routing that some have reported. Just returned last night from my Crown cruise from Southampton to NY. We used EZ Air for the first time and I paid about $2,500 for my flights: Biz Class from LAX to LHR and First Class (not Biz, which was also available on this flight) from JFK to LAX. That was a LOT cheaper than anything I could find using any search engine or airline system. FYI, the dinner we had on the plane was fabulous; incredibly good; better than anything we had on the cruise.

 

Well then, you must share which airlines you flew.