Princess EZAir cancelled my tickets

[nhcruiser]

This thread has turned into an interesting discussion of airlines and the reservation process.

 

One thing we know for sure is airlines don't care about customer service. :rolleyes:

 

And the other is to keep checking your reservation however you make it!

 

I will only feel assured when my bottom hits the seat cushion on the airplane. :eek:

 

Thank to everyone for the supportive posts. :)

 

I am very pleased that this seems to have worked out for you! I certainly agree that you will only be truly assured when you are wheels-up and airbourne.

Again, thanks for the very relevant thread that helps all of us be more aware of the perils of booking airline tickets thru cruise companies.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Suggest you log into the BA site and make sure that is what they show in their records online using the BA booking number.

If you did not do the seat assignments through the BA system then I would not count on those being valid.

It might be that you paid the additional amount when your fares were paid, but I would not count on it.

 

I have never had a problem, but then I do not use a TA and when I use EZAir I always go onto the carrier site to book seats and any other unique services.

 

To many rules on individual carriers these days to trust anything that does not come directly from the carrier.

 

I agree with that - check on BA's website because they usually charge for seat assignments in advance.

[vantec]

weberman, glad that you got things resolved.

CHECK, CHECK, CHECK - almost a daily thing for me now.

 

Vantec, just keep trying. Can you get to the airline site and put in you record locator number?

 

We will keep trying - it is true, airlines do not seem to care about customer service, once they get your money they can do whatever they want. It is comforting to come to cruise critic and see how many people are going through what we are, at least we know we aren't alone! We do put our record locator number in and go through the process of trying to get seats, we get all the way through and then nothing! We will be at the Minneapolis airport later this week and will try to go to the AA counter and see if face to face we can get seat assignments. So far no response from Princess, I keep hoping they will help, since we originally did this through them.

[CQG67]

Airlines and buses - about the same experience these days. Pity. Sorry you had to have the aggravation you did but glad it got resolved. We used choice air with Celebrity last fall and it went fairly smoothly until one day we totally disappeared from the booked screen and nobody seemed to know anything - airlines or Celebrity. After a change in our flight - which we were able to work with Celebrity and get changed again all worked out.

 

I do remember a couple of years ago we had a connecting flight in Germany and were not allowed choose our seats from Copenhagen to Germany until we got to the airport in Copenhagen. Interesting. Forgot the reason but it wasn't a good one.

 

One time we booked with Princess for our Alaska cruise and they completely messed up the reservation and then wanted $400 more from us to fix it. It got fixed and we did not pay extra for their mistake.

 

You would think the airlines and such would remember the cash flow. Oh we'll. have a great trip despite the problems. Barb

[sha88]

Weberman, glad it worked out for you.

 

The one time I used EZ Air, I went and check my reservation on United and saw that my departing flight time from Vancouver had been changed to a later time which means I would have missed my connecting flight in SF. No one had advised me of the change - so crazy.

 

A good thing to know is that whena a change is made to your restricted ticket and you find it unacceptable (in my case, I would have missed my connecting flight) and they can't come up with something that is suitable or agreeable to you, then you have the right to cancel with no penalty. That is what I decided to do. In the end, it was really a blessing because some issues arose and unfortunately we could not go on the cruise, so I had to cancel anyway. We were still more than 75 days out, so everything was refunded. Whew.

 

So, EZ Air passengers, go to your airlines' web site and check your booking. My Princess Cruise Personalizer did not have the updated information.

[COMBOY]

Just got a phone call from Barbara of Princess Air. While she could not explain why or how this happened, she did get my reservation restored with the same seats on both flights. So, thanks you Barbara. :)

 

But, the lesson from all of this is to watch your air reservations made with Princess EZAir carefully as there appear to be some gremlins in the system. :eek:

 

I found this strictly by accident, as I signed on to my Cruise Personalizer to check on something else and happened to see my air reservations were gone.

 

If not for that, I may not have known until it was too late and really been in a pickle.

 

So, CHECK, CHECK, CHECK! :)

 

I work in the travel industry and I know how these things can easily happen...probably someone with a similar Princess booking number canceled their cruise reservation. Then someone in Princess air dept turned around and canceled your flight reservations in error by entering the wrong booking number. Maybe by one digit. Yep...just like that. Complete human error. You were lucky and found out in time. However, Princess will do everything possible to either restore the original flights or rebook you on comparable flights at their costs. Cruise lines do such volume with the airlines that they had real power to do they need to do to fix their error. If you booked your flight independently you wouldn't have that abilities so EZ air although not perfect can protect you if something goes wrong. This is why you and your travel agent should always reconfirm your flight reservations at final payment and 72 hours prior to departure to catch any flight changes or problems like flight cancellations. I do think your situation is probably pretty rare, but it's something to watch out for. Always note your flight locator # or PRN and in most cases you can pull up for air reservation directly at the airline website. I'm so glad it worked out for you. :)

[Lynda90]

The lesson I took from your experience was not to get overly upset when something goes wrong until I have given Princess the opportunity to fix it. In my experience Princess usually does the right thing. Also, after I do a booking I do most of my checking on the airline website. Glad you got it all straightened out.

This is also good advice when you've booked through an airline broker such as cheapo air, 1800flyeurope, etc. I check weekly to make sure my reservation is still there and that the times haven't changed. I was notified the first time I had a time change but not the second. I guess we have to take responsibility for constant checking and rechecking!

[weberman]

One thing I did not mention as it was not really relevant at the time is the Air Berlin station manager here in Fort Myers live 4 houses down the street from me.

 

She told me she will do whatever she can to help us (upgrade) depending on the flight status when we get to the airport. Maybe we will get lucky.

 

However, I am quite satisfied that we got our original flights and seats restored.

 

And, I think I will, as suggested in a prior post, contact our T/A about having Princess give us a little gift of some onboard credits. But, I am not counting on it. I don't have a stateroom assigned yet. I am in a DD deluxe balcony, so maybe the upgrade fairy would be nice.

 

Again, thanks to all the supportive posts. My wife and I have finally settled down from this stressful situation. However, I would really like to know how this happened. It had to be a Princess mistake and Princess should investigate how it happened, to make sure it does not happen again to somebody else.

 

I was fortunate that I just happened to catch so quickly as the air reservations were cancelled just a few days before I was checking my Cruise Personalizer. Someone else may not have been so timely.

 

Bill

[Julia’s Journey’s]

I'm so glad everything worked out for you - weberman! Enjoy your cruise! ;)

 

Since I posted earlier of our concerns ... I'll finish out the story.

 

We booked (many months before the 90 day final payment period for the cruise) our flexible air arrangements (and paid full amounts on air and cruise).

 

Those arrangements could have been left "floating" in price, meaning, when we paid the cruise and air in full, we would at the time, be locked in the price. However, pricing for flexible air was $2,000 less per person for our cruise! And it still is today + some!

 

We got the confirmation numbers from our TA. Our air travels had changed. Instead of a non-stop from JFK to Venice, we know we have a lay-over in France. I do think they should have told us of the change when it happened; even our TA didn't know of it.

 

I booked Atlanta- Venice direct on Delta for this past May and they rerouted us via JFK with an additional 6 hours of travel. It's bait and switch as they do it often, sell a plane of non-stop and then cancel that flight and reroute to fill a larger plane.

[BJS]

I work in the travel industry and I know how these things can easily happen........... Cruise lines do such volume with the airlines that they had real power to do they need to do to fix their error. If you booked your flight independently you wouldn't have that abilities so EZ air although not perfect can protect you if something goes wrong.

 

It is nice to know that someone in the travel industry feels EZair might not be so bad after all. I know from past experiences booking independently that many problems can arise but never considered how much more "pull" Princess would have to fix things.

 

 

.

[skynight]

Weberman: If you have the energy would suggest you fully document this (including names dates and times) in writing to Princess Executives. While they will probably never see the letter, you could get a small OBC for this or future cruise.

[billco]

Well, I have been a big fan of Princess EzAir, but I learned a little lesson today. Last December, I booked flexible airfare for flights from Sacramento to Venice (3 flights on United) and back from Fort Lauderdale to Sacramento (2 Flights on United). I made final payment for cruise and airfare earlier this month.

 

Last week, I did a search and saw that I could change the booking for $100/person less. Princess refunded $200 to my CC.

 

The new flights from Sacramento to Venice were KLM operated by Delta for the first two legs and KLM for the third leg and Fort Lauderdale to Sacramento (2 flights on Delta). I made seat selections on the Princess Personalizer for all five flights. I then went to the KLM and Delta websites and verified seat selections.

 

This morning, I went to the Delta website and noticed it said select seats vice view seats for the first two flights (the ones operated by Delta for KLM), but when I tried to select seats, it wouldn't save them. I could still view my seats on the KLM website. I then looked at the Princess Personalizer and it said there was an itinerary conflict and to call customer service.

 

Princess CSR said to call Delta. Delta said the two flights were not ticketed and to call Princess. Second call to Princess got me escalated to Customer Relations. Back and forth to Air Dept. I learned three things:

 

1. Code share flights have different rules. Since Delta is the operating airline for KLM, I need to check in with them, but I can't confirm seat selection until checkin, though the KLM website shows the seats.

 

2. The Cruise Personalizer still shows I have seats selected for all five flights. If I had not gone to the Delta website, I might have had a big surprise at checkin.

 

3. Though it hasn't been posted, Flexible Fares are locked in at booking and will not change before final payment.

 

The customer relations rep (who supposedly is higher than the first person one talks to) said she was going to write in her report that the new flexible fare policy needs to be posted and the codeshare policy needs to be clarified, as well as reflected on the cruise personalizer.

[weberman]

Well, my travel agent asked for an OBC and Princess refused. They said it was a combination of my fault and their agents fault.

 

All I did was ask a question of Princess. In my cruise personalizer the air was listed as Fort Lauderdale and I live in Fort Myers. The Air Berlin flight was booked out of Fort Myers. Air Berlin does not even fly out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

So, just by asking the Princess Rep why it said Fort Lauderdale, as I had nothing to do with Fort Lauderdale, the Princess Rep tried to change the Gateway and my reservation was cancelled. :confused:

 

So, they are blaming me for asking a question. Further, Princess was going to charge me additional airfare, but Barbara (I have no problem with her as it seems she worked for me) got it restored without me having to pay more money. :eek:

 

I find it OFFENSIVE that they are putting blame on me. I am not upset that they denied any compensation, but now I don't trust Princess when they are saying it was my fault and even were going to charge me more to fix THEIR MISTAKE.:mad:

 

I like Princess but I think I am now done with them after this cruise. My last cruise with them was a nightmare. It was on the Grand Northern Trans-Atlantic which was right before the Grand went into for refurbishing. I won't go into details, but the worst was no heat for three days around Iceland and having to sleep with our clothes and coats on.

 

End of story.

 

Thanks to all.

 

Bill

[BJS]

Thanks to both you weberman and billco for posting your experiences.

 

I think we will continue to avoid Princess EZ Air for our international flights next September.

 

We already have a problem in that our bookings are made where our credit card address is in Casa Grande, AZ and we fly from where our residence address is in Fresno, CA. I see too many problems despite Princess telling me it is not a problem to show Fresno for our air choices via EZAir.

 

 

 

.

[vantec]

Thanks to both you weberman and billco for posting your experiences.

 

I think we will continue to avoid Princess EZ Air for our international flights next September.

 

We already have a problem in that our bookings are made where our credit card address is in Casa Grande, AZ and we fly from where our residence address is in Fresno, CA. I see too many problems despite Princess telling me it is not a problem to show Fresno for our air choices via EZAir.

 

 

 

.

 

I agree - no more EZAir for us, nothing easy about it! Especially since I don't feel I can count on Princess.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I've also had a problem getting seat assignments for Princess & HAL cruises. The Cruise Personalizer will say you have them, when you really don't on codeshare flights. Just be aware of this when booking thru EZ Air.

 

Many airlines, like British Airways charge you to choose your seat ahead of time (unless you're a very frequent flyer). If you think you're choosing them for free thru the Cruise Personalizer, just be aware that there's a chance you may not have those seats upon check-in.

[jnc411]

Well that pretty much does it for us, not planning on booking any Princess EZ air in the near future. Will do my own airline bookings, and have a bit more control, true the airline can still jerk you around , but at least it is one less person to deal with.

Sorry for all the stress you had to deal with .

Cori

[Coral]

It used to be so much easier in the old days. You looked at the back of a cruise brochure for the price (and it didn't change). About 2 weeks before the cruise, the tickets arrived with the schedule. Boy do I feel old!

[weberman]

Well, I have been a big fan of Princess EzAir, but I learned a little lesson today. Last December, I booked flexible airfare for flights from Sacramento to Venice (3 flights on United) and back from Fort Lauderdale to Sacramento (2 Flights on United). I made final payment for cruise and airfare earlier this month.

 

3. Though it hasn't been posted, Flexible Fares are locked in at booking and will not change before final payment.

 

The customer relations rep (who supposedly is higher than the first person one talks to) said she was going to write in her report that the new flexible fare policy needs to be posted and the codeshare policy needs to be clarified, as well as reflected on the cruise personalizer.

 

Hi billco,

 

Princess sure is a set on contradictions. I asked about Flexible when I booked December 7, 2012. The Princess Rep told me the only way I could get Flexible was if I paid for the cruise and airfare in it's entirety.

 

There was no possible consideration of paying by the Final Payment Date.

 

Princess needs to get their act together. There website is very confusing on this airfare issue. Although, it does not matter to me any more as I I said I am done with Princess after this cruise.

[luxurysailer]

Glad you've been made good. The attempt at an upgrade was worth a try for all the grief they gave you.

 

You now should try for a Cruise Critic upgrade for the same reason.

 

Thank you for sharing all this. It is a valuable lesson for all of us.

 

What is a Cruise Critic upgrade? Never heard of this before.

[ntvsdgrl]

Well that pretty much does it for us, not planning on booking any Princess EZ air in the near future. Will do my own airline bookings, and have a bit more control, true the airline can still jerk you around , but at least it is one less person to deal with.

Sorry for all the stress you had to deal with .

Cori

 

Cori, I was just thinking the same thing. I'll continue to book on my own. this is just a little to scary. I can just imagine if he hadn't checked his cruise personalizer what would have happened.

[Northender]

I agree - no more EZAir for us, nothing easy about it! Especially since I don't feel I can count on Princess.

 

That is the bottom line. I have never used EZAir but did check with Princess for my b2b for Alaska. I did better on my own. That being said, United changed the type of aircraft and put us in two different rows.:( But at least we had seats and were able to sit together once we checked in at the airport.

 

Originally from the Boston area (love retirement here in Maine) when I called they were trying to fly me out of Boston, but the CSR just changed us to Portland for the future. She did that very easily.:)

 

Seeing what has happened here will not get me to stop using Princess, but will probably never use EZAir or United again.

[billco]

Seeing what has happened here will not get me to stop using Princess, but will probably never use EZAir or United again.

Actually, I still like EzAir and will continue to use it. I learned something the hard way about the booking I have for this Fall's flight to Venice, but I am still happy with it. We have already booked EzAir for our TA on the Emerald next Spring and plan to do the same when bookings open up for our TA on the Emerald in the Fall of 2014.

 

The Princess CSRs I talked to about my issues were helpful and in some ways we both learned something.

[Gunner22aa]

"Time, money and patience to spare - fly cruise air"

 

Never been let down booking direct with an airline, never. Cruise air had one chance with me and blew it royally.

[beg3yrs]

What is a Cruise Critic upgrade? Never heard of this before.

 

It was a sarcastic joke and a finger-point at us, the Cruise Critic community. I first suggested to the OP he should ask Princess for an upgrade on the airline because of all the grief he got (and still continues to get) from Princess.

 

The following suggestion, was to ask for a Cruise Critic upgrade, for all the undeserved grief OP got from multiple posters on this thread.

 

As far as I know, like the unicorn, there is no such thing as a Cruise Critic upgrade although one would certainly like to have one.