EzAir - Our Experience

[caribill]

After our Alaskan cruise we flew back from Seatle non stop to Chicago Midway via SW Airline. Fellow cruisers who lived about 40 minutes away from Midway using EZ Air flew to Detroit had a 2 hour lay over and then to Chicago landing at O Hare which is about 1 hour north of Midway. We always book using our TA's advice our own flights.

 

Southwest does not allow online booking except at the Southwest web site.

 

Thus it is not an option possible for EZAir to include. Or at any online travel agency.

[sjbj]

But air fares fluctuate all the time. While the EZ Air fare may have been $1000 cheaper on the day you checked, that savings would likely have evaporated over time. People generally book their cruises farther out in time than when the best air fares pop up. People here routinely book cruises 1+ years ahead of time. Published air fares are never cheapest at that time. If I tried to book a flight to FLL today for a flight a year from now, I would probably pay $500 per person. And perhaps EZ Air can (and would) beat that price. But at some point between now and a year from now, I know that that fare is going to drop to $175-$225 per person. You just have to be vigilant and watch for the sales.

 

You can't book air 1+ years out. The soonest you can book is 330 prior and for some airlines not even then.

[go sea]

This past May we flew Delta from LAX to MSP.The night before we printed off our plane ticket with our seat assignment that we picked. The next morning as we were checked at the gate we were told that the seats were already taken by someone else. We had to sit several rows back. When on board we found that one woman had insisted that she have the seats we had picked,and that the one seat was not being used. So it happens on all airlines

[vantec]

If anyone is wondering how this has turned out - we were in Minneapolis and went to the AA Ticketing agent, told him about the problems we were having, not one time did he say "I can't help you" or "there is nothing I can do" - instead he assigned us seats! After all the calls to BA, AA and Princess - he is the only person who quickly fixed the problem. By the way, in addition to calling Princess I also emailed them - no response to my email. We are relieved to have assigned seats at this time, of course realizing they can be taken away at any time.

[DrivesLikeMario]

If you have no seats and have a booking number, someone either owes you a refund or tickets.

 

Is it too late to cancel the air? I know that sometimes air cancellations are less rigid than cancelling your cruise.

 

The first part is not true or perhaps I don't understand what you're saying?

 

British Airways never assigns seats ahead of time unless you pay the additional money to choose your seat. This is different than most other airlines and an odd, revenue-generating quirk of theirs.

 

The OP could have tickets but no seats very easily. BA doesn't assign seats for free until 24-48 hrs. prior depending on your frequent flyer status.

[CruiseWookiee]

If anyone is wondering how this has turned out - we were in Minneapolis and went to the AA Ticketing agent, told him about the problems we were having, not one time did he say "I can't help you" or "there is nothing I can do" - instead he assigned us seats! After all the calls to BA, AA and Princess - he is the only person who quickly fixed the problem. By the way, in addition to calling Princess I also emailed them - no response to my email. We are relieved to have assigned seats at this time, of course realizing they can be taken away at any time.

 

Glad it worked out.

 

We had the exact same experience last September flying BA from JFK to Barcelona. At the time of booking the flight, I was able to choose two seats. Then the night before we leave, we tried to print out boarding passes and now BA absolved itself of a knowledge of any seat picking. It just sent us over to the AA website. I now learn that this is a codeshare?? Then the AA site has no seats available on this plane. So... I call AA customer service and discover that, in a cost saving measure, they have sub-contracted their customer service department over to a local women's prison. At least that's what it seemed like because these were the hardest, toughest, cruelest, rudest women you've ever talked to. I think supervisors were in for life because they could really care less about your problems.

 

At some point during my marathon telephone session between the airline and the cruise line, getting nowhere, two seats on a bulkhead suddenly turn green on the AA seat selection webpage. I clicked those suckers as fast as I could and solved the problem myself.

 

Lesson learned... tread carefully whenever you see the word "codeshare."

[vantec]

Glad it worked out.

 

We had the exact same experience last September flying BA from JFK to Barcelona. At the time of booking the flight, I was able to choose two seats. Then the night before we leave, we tried to print out boarding passes and now BA absolved itself of a knowledge of any seat picking. It just sent us over to the AA website. I now learn that this is a codeshare?? Then the AA site has no seats available on this plane. So... I call AA customer service and discover that, in a cost saving measure, they have sub-contracted their customer service department over to a local women's prison. At least that's what it seemed like because these were the hardest, toughest, cruelest, rudest women you've ever talked to. I think supervisors were in for life because they could really care less about your problems.

 

At some point during my marathon telephone session between the airline and the cruise line, getting nowhere, two seats on a bulkhead suddenly turn green on the AA seat selection webpage. I clicked those suckers as fast as I could and solved the problem myself.

 

Lesson learned... tread carefully whenever you see the word "codeshare."

 

Sounds like I relived almost your entire experience. It was just amazing that not one person could help us, but the very kind man in Minneapolis fixed the problem and was so pleasant to us. I also have to share that this morning somebody from Princess finally contacted us, she said she looked at our travel plans and saw that we do have seats - I told her we took care of it ourselves when nobody would help us, she apologized.

[weberman]

If you are interested, read my thread on Princess EZAir. What a horror story. I see some names in this thread that posted in mine.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1883151

 

Good luck to all you EZAir users.

 

Bill :)

 

I can smile a little now as at least I got my seats restored, but can't accept Princess blaming me!