EZair *much* less expensive than through airline page?

[fletcher57]

Hi, Still putting together info for an Alaskan cruise this summer from Seattle. I've been trying to find the best flight plan from Boston or Providence to Seattle. The EZair page seems to indicate that a round trip flight on Alaskan Air using EZAirs flexible plan is about $506. I just looked up those same flights on the Alaskan Air flight and could not believe what I saw. For those two flights using AA's flexible plan the total would be over $1000. Am I reading the EZair info correctly? Thanks. Joyce

[Pam in CA]

That's certainly possible. I've had similar experiences when comparing the old Princess air (which changed to EZ Air last summer) to booking it independently.

 

FYI, I hope you're planning to fly to the cruise a day before embarkation. You never know if there will be airline delays.

[fletcher57]

Hi Pam, Thanks for your reply. I thought I was going nuts because of the price difference. We are definitely planning to fly in the day before and stay until the day after disembarkation. Figuring that we'd get to our hotel several hours before we can check in, I'm hoping the hotel will have a secure room where we an leave our luggage then take a non-Princess tour of Seattle. Joyce

 

 

QUOTE=Pam in CA;27467974]That's certainly possible. I've had similar experiences when comparing the old Princess air (which changed to EZ Air last summer) to booking it independently.

 

FYI, I hope you're planning to fly to the cruise a day before embarkation. You never know if there will be airline delays.

[Northender]

I just checked EZAir and the flights I now have thru Jetblue total $300+ cheaper.:eek: Next time will check that out first. It was Boston to FLL return.

[BACON227]

Two summers ago, my wife and I saved about $1000 by cancelling the Princess Air for our Alaska cruise and booking on our own........just letting you know.........

[goldesq]

How can I know what the price for EZ air is? Do I go through and type in my name as if I am making a reservation ?

[cruiserus]

For what it is worth, we just booked a flight from SFO to Singapore and a return flight from Rome to SFO. DH spent hours looking at all varieties of airlines, routes, etc. and found nothing but very high prices for the time we were flying (April,May). The he checked with Princess and we were able to get the same flights on an airline of our choice using their customizing program. We saved a couple thousand dollars each using Princess. They have special contracts with the airline we chose, which gave us a deep discount. The seats were cheaper than even going through a consolidator at my DH's travel agency. Once we had our airfare booked through Princess, we were able to go to the airlines and upgrade to Economy Plus for just a few hundred dollars more, which we did given the LONG flights involved.

[Astro Flyer]

Two summers ago, my wife and I saved about $1000 by cancelling the Princess Air for our Alaska cruise and booking on our own........just letting you know.........

We had similar experiences in the past but have sometimes found their new eZAir option less expensive so for me it's another way to search for the least expensive airfare when doing my homework.

[Astro Flyer]

How can I know what the price for EZ air is? Do I go through and type in my name as if I am making a reservation ?

Through the Princess Cruise Personalizer after booking your cruise, you can get their eZAir rates very easily under "Book Flights" with a red "new" flag. They are not available until about 11 months prior to sailing & sometimes limit choices for pre or post cruise independently booked stays.

 

Through eZAir to Quebec, we couldn't arrive in Montreal early for a pre-cruise stop. However for another cruise ending in Vancouver, there were many more flight options including from SEA & later dates available plus you can book one-way since we drive to embarkation.

 

It's easy to do & just another source I check before booking our airfare...including airline miles which we're using for our cruise embarking in Quebec by flying into Montreal to visit before taking the train to Quebec. :)

[Woobstr112G]

Booked air for our Oct T/A a couple of weeks ago. I was going to pay more because I wanted to treat DW to business class because she has a bad back. EZ Air offered no flexible flight choices for the parameters of our pre stay. The cost would have been well over 6K pp. I went to an on line site (sorry can't mention the name) and found it for 2K pp. No rhyme or reason I guess.....

 

Bob

[Katie333]

So the moral of the story is that it's worth checking because while it sounds like it might be inflexible to a degree, it's still more flexible than it used to be. And if there is a chance the airfare will be any less expensive, I'm definitely checking it, especially for my open jaw Asian flights next year.

[Northender]

Katie, I think that is the answer. I stopped looking at EZAir ahile back as it seemed so expensive. Now I will check - one never knows.:)

[vcgeno]

I checked for a short flight from Phoenix to LA and found the EZAir to be more expensive the the web rates I found on Southwest. Southwest is not an option on EZAir. In addition to the lower rate there were no bag fees with Southwest so we booked the flight on our own.

[Times Prince]

Last couple of times I looked at EZ Air the prices were very comparable to airline direct website pricing. The difference was maybe $50 total, with Princess being a little higher.

 

I always double check the pricing details when there is a 2x difference, as some pricing is given per person, some for total for the number of persons in the booking.

 

Things change.