Flight Ease Glitch! Be Careful!

[doublebzz]

Yes, you have to have a booked cruise before you can check flights with Flight Ease. You need your reservation number to access.

Thank you. So the HAL site has not changed with regard to Flight Ease and is different in that respect from Princess. My " work around", as I did on my recent Transatlantic, was to check the flights on the Princess site first and then book my HAL cruise followed by calling Flight Ease and booking the air.

[doublebzz]

As some posters have indicated, you have to be very selective when using Flight Ease. Sometimes, its a great bargain and other times it is substantially more costly. So my advice is to use it as a tool along with "Google Flights" and other search sites.

[Hlitner]

Thank you. So the HAL site has not changed with regard to Flight Ease and is different in that respect from Princess. My " work around", as I did on my recent Transatlantic, was to check the flights on the Princess site first and then book my HAL cruise followed by calling Flight Ease and booking the air.

 

I think you are correct. The Princess site allows anyone to EZAIR prices before booking a cruise. I do not see any such option on HAL although one can certainly call HAL or their cruise agent and have them check on pricing options prior to booking. We think this is an area where HAL needs to improve their web site so it has a similar option as is found on Princess.

 

Hank

[TiogaCruiser]

Yes, this happened to me in January, and I posted about it in another thread. The website should clearly state that doing another search will delete your reservation. I would only book on HAL if I never check flights again.

Yes, you, your thread. Was it really January?:eek:

 

I thought it was at least April, when I had been back from my cruise. I guess time really does fly.

[TiogaCruiser]

Thanks for reporting it, Hank.

May the Upgrade Fairy smile upon you.

[JennysUncle]

The Princess site allows anyone to EZAIR prices before booking a cruise.

 

Hank, I just tried this out -- I registered on the Princess site, and clicked the EZair link under "Plan a Cruise", but that takes me to a page that says it can't find any bookings for me, and will let me go on only if I put in a booking number. Is there some other way to get into the EZair lookup ?

[doublebzz]

Hank' date=' I just tried this out -- I registered on the Princess site, and clicked the EZair link under "Plan a Cruise", but that takes me to a page that says it can't find any bookings for me, and will let me go on only if I put in a booking number. Is there some other way to get into the EZair lookup ?[/quote']

Its a little bit convoluted but let me walk you through the steps. Lets say you are looking for an Asia cruise in July on HAL. On the Princess site, you look for a cruise to Asia in July. When the results show, pick out a cruise. When the cruise page displays, click on a tab called "Flight Quotes". It will take you to a place called "Princess EZair" where you can see a display of flights.

[Hlitner]

Hank' date=' I just tried this out -- I registered on the Princess site, and clicked the EZair link under "Plan a Cruise", but that takes me to a page that says it can't find any bookings for me, and will let me go on only if I put in a booking number. Is there some other way to get into the EZair lookup ?[/quote']

 

So here is what you need to do. On the Princess site you must first pick out the an actual voyage under Find a Cruise. Then click on "Cruise Details" which will take you to another screen. On that screen you want to click on the tab that says "Flight Quotes" and you will be able to check out flight options. No need to book the cruise or even put in your name.

 

Hank

[JennysUncle]

Thanks Hank. It's always a help to find bargains -- and to avoid disasters.

 

(BTW, if you stayed up late with Barry on the VoV, I can put a face to the name).

[Sherry H]

Be careful indeed!!

Realize I am referring to a post from June but, guess what...…...this just happened to me.

I am cruising from Rome to Fort Lauderdale on a Transatlantic Oct 28, 2018.

Already had my flight ease from Las Vegas to Rome.

Decided to go on the HAL site and see what they might have in flight ease available from Fort Lauderdale back to Las Vegas.

Thought I would see what my trip back to Las Vegas might cost on flight ease. I "clicked on" Post trip flights and entered Fort Lauderdale and tried to select to Las Vegas. Up popped Pre trip.

Not at all what I had chosen, so I hit the back button. Went back to Pre trip, so I signed out and called my TA.

Well...…….TA informs me they show no flights. She calls HAL Rep and is told I just canceled my Las Vegas to Rome. What!!!! There was no indication I had canceled anything! No warning......no cancel button....nothing.

I was able to rebook but at an increased price.

HAL Rep said they would not have charged me if it was their fault but it wasn't. REALLY!!? I think it was the fault of their website!

Hope that all made sense.

At any rate be very careful.

Sherry

Edited July 11, 2018 by Sherry H
wrong word

[ChinaShrek]

This is happening to too many people and needs to stop. Instead of saving money, Flight Ease is causing people to spend more money because their reservation is "accidentally" cancelled. I think HAL needs to make it so that once a flight is booked it cannot be cancelled online through the Flight Ease website. You have to call them or your TA directly to cancel. Then one could go online and book it a new flight if they wished. I am now reluctant to use Flight Ease.

[JudithLynne]

I am wondering if the problem is that the HAL website is not compatible with some of the internet providers of its customers. I went into the FE program this morning to check and see if the flights I booked had dropped in price as they did on the UAL website. I had no problem working through the program to see that my FE flights actually increased. ( domestic flights are not the bargain that international flights are) Once I saw that I needed to stick with my current flights, I backed out of the program. I have done this many times w/o a hitch.

 

I am concerned that HAL is disregarding information from their customers that the FE online program is not working for them.

Sherry....it is inexcusable that you had to rebook at a higher cost, I am so sorry to hear that.

[ChinaShrek]

Once I saw that I needed to stick with my current flights, I backed out of the program. I have done this many times w/o a hitch.

 

How exactly do you back out of the site? What do you actually click on?

[JudithLynne]

I click continuously on the back curser, upper left corner, of my Internet Explorer 11 program, until I am completely out of FE.

 

The other thing....when I plug into existing flights or new flights to look at, once I have selected flights to view, I will get a new schedule and at the bottom of the page and very visible, it will list my current price and the new price if I select the change. There is a big button, I think it is green (?) that says "continue." If I don't want to continue, I will back out. If I continue, on the next page, there is a message warning that booking new flights will cancel the old flights and may incur a price difference.

I have saved money watching for price changes and I have never had a flight cancelled.

Edited July 12, 2018 by JudithLynne

[RJ2002]

Boy am I glad I saw this thread. For the first time ever, we booked our flights through HAL and Flight Ease -- for a last minute cruise next month. Business class fares were significantly less expensive through HAL, and rewards seats were long gone. I've been going back to the Flight Ease site periodically to check on alternate flights and fare changes, totally oblivious to the potential danger of having the whole itinerary cancelled!

 

Thanks very much Hank for the warning.

[ChinaShrek]

I click continuously on the back curser, upper left corner, of my Internet Explorer 11 program, until I am completely out of FE.

 

The other thing....when I plug into existing flights or new flights to look at, once I have selected flights to view, I will get a new schedule and at the bottom of the page and very visible, it will list my current price and the new price if I select the change. There is a big button, I think it is green (?) that says "continue." If I don't want to continue, I will back out. If I continue, on the next page, there is a message warning that booking new flights will cancel the old flights and may incur a price difference.

I have saved money watching for price changes and I have never had a flight cancelled.

 

This is very helpful. I guess I don't understand what continue means. I want to continue with my original flights. So, I hit continue. I do not remember any warning that the old flights will be cancelled when I hit continue, though. Does such a warning appear?

[JudithLynne]

Yes, after "continue" there is a warning, at least for me but it has been a few weeks since I actually changed fights. I do NOT go that far if the change is not to my liking.

Your point is well taken that "Continue" can mean more than one thing, I never thought of that. They need to add a button that indicates that you do not want to go any further, i.e. two buttons for the two possibilities.

Thankfully I interpreted it the way I did and felt safer backing out.

I personally have found the FE program to be user friendly and intuitive for me.

[OHCruiser]

We do as much independently as is reasonable. We do book the cruise with a big box membership store TA because of the deal we get, but we book all of our own airfare, transfers, and insurance. We just find that the fewer middle men, the better.

 

 

For the flights we want--domestic or international on a carrier we like with no more than one stop flying at a reasonable hour--we've never found the cruise line flight offerings to be cheaper. Were we willing to have multiple stops, really long layovers, or fly on a carrier we don't like, we might save a few $, but it's never been worth it.

[JudithLynne]

What makes a program like FE appealing to us is that we can book months in advance and not pay until final payment. Most cancellations are for medical reasons and we have that covered. BUT...we have two geriatric pets and we do not want to pay for flights 6 months in advance only to lose that money because of an ill pet. The additional cost paid for FE is like an insurance policy to us.

I also like being able to change flights if necessary. We recently had flights changed on FE because of UAL eliminating a flight, the problem for us with the new flights was a 55 min layover in SFO, not enough time in that airport. I went into the program an easily changed flights that were more comfortable for us.

[AryMay]

I have posted on a couple of other threads concerning this issue, but will comment on this one as well.

 

I also had our HAL flights cancelled without me knowing it and didn't find out for some time that it had happened. Fortunately I was still able to re-book and get the same flights (although one was showing only 2 seats left) BUT at a much higher cost.

 

From my experience and the posts I've read from others, the problem seems to occur when you type in a different airport than what you originally booked. I just wanted to check fares from a smaller airport that is closer to us. At no time, however, did any kind of warning pop up saying that changing the airport would cause the previous reservations to be cancelled.

 

The fact that the fares are considered "flexible" implies they can be changed. One should be able to look at different airports and flights on the website to compare. I booked a flight through Princess in the past and checked fares often and was even able to rebook when I saw prices had dropped.

 

I had booked our flights as soon as they were available to get a good price and I get mad just thinking about the extra money that it is costing us now...not to mention the stress. I am so paranoid now that I am almost afraid to even log into our account on HAL!

[Sherry H]

Upon doing a bit of research, I have discovered individuals other than just this thread have had the same issue of flight ease being canceled with no warning.

I plan to write the Presidents office with my complaint. May do no good but I will feel better for having done it.

HAL rep said it was not HAL's fault but they really should take responsibility for their website.

[JudithLynne]

This is very helpful. I guess I don't understand what continue means. I want to continue with my original flights. So, I hit continue. I do not remember any warning that the old flights will be cancelled when I hit continue, though. Does such a warning appear?

 

I rebooked our same flights this morning due to a price drop. Here is what you will see after hitting "CONTINUE." This is copied and pasted. There also was a yellow triangle with an explanation mark in it and an enlarged sign that says "WARNING" Neither would copy. I have never been charged for a "change fee."

 

 

 

Please Review the Following Notices Carefully

Modification Change Policy

Modification will result in the cancellation of the selected flights. Additional air fare and change fees will be applicable. Ensure you wish to incur these charges before proceeding.

 

Choose:

Find another Itinerary Continue

Edited July 12, 2018 by JudithLynne