HAL Flight Ease

[BEAV]

6 minutes ago, drowelf said:

Since you leave in 3 weeks, I would expect the flights to be ticketed almost immediately (24 - 48 hours) after payment. It takes a little bit of time for the payment to work its way from you -> HAL -> Airline. I would take the Airline Reservation # (not your cruise reservation number) and check on the Airlines Website to see if you have ticketed already. After more than 48 hours, which has passed,  I would be on the phone to HAL to check out whats going on, if I did not see that the flights had been ticketed on the Airlines Site. 

 

I can't comment on #2, as I've never done a direct booking on the HAL site for a cruise, we have a TA and I always have to get that kind of information via her. I know that you can see your details when you complete On-Line Check-In in the itinerary details once its completed. I think you can see some of the flight information on the My Bookings page of HALs site. 

 

Cheers, 

 

Thanks!  I’ll hit the 48 hour mark since booking/paying later today. I’ve brought up my flights on both the AA and UA websites, both of which indicate the booking is not yet ticketed. 

 

Will continue to monitor........😉

[drowelf]

1 minute ago, BEAV said:

 

Thanks!  I’ll hit the 48 hour mark since booking/paying later today. I’ve brought up my flights on both the AA and UA websites, both of which indicate the booking is not yet ticketed. 

 

Will continue to monitor........😉

NP, I thought you mentioned that payment had already been made, but maybe I misread. Its good that you can see the flights on the Airline Sites. Don't know about AA, but for UA you should also be able to deal with seats, if needed. 

[BEAV]

45 minutes ago, drowelf said:

NP, I thought you mentioned that payment had already been made, but maybe I misread. Its good that you can see the flights on the Airline Sites. Don't know about AA, but for UA you should also be able to deal with seats, if needed. 

 

You are correct. I both booked and paid for the cruise and air flights on Tuesday. (immediate payment since the cruise is leaving in 3 weeks).

 

I requested seats on both AA and UA segments via Flight Ease when I booked. I have gone to both AA and UA websites and verified the seats I requested are confirmed. 

 

What is yet remaining is for HAL to transfer the $$$ I paid for the flights to the airlines for ticketing. Both AA and UA websites 

confirm the flight reservations are not yet ticketed. 

 

And I answered my own question about where to look up my flights on the HAL website since I just completed the on-line cruise check-in. It not only gives me the cruise boarding pass, but also the flight itinerary I booked through HAL. That area of the cruise boarding pass that displays the flight information also indicates the flights are not yet ticketed. Once tickets are issued by the airline, I would suspect that info is then added/updated to the record. 

 

So all I'm left with is waiting (and wondering) how long it will take HAL to transfer the $$$ to the airlines for ticketing. Everything looks to be in order except for that one detail, which I am monitoring. 

 

On a philosophical note, I think a lot of people think that as long as they have a flight booking, seat assignments, ability to look up the flights on the airline website, etc they are 100% done. That's not the case until the airline issues tickets on the booking.

It's like making a reservation at a hotel. You have the confirmed booking, but the hotel doesn't give you a key to the room until it's paid for! Same thing with an airline reservation. You can't print a boarding pass for the flight unless it's paid for (ticketed).  

[BEAV]

Update:  Just got an email from HAL updating that the tickets have been issued. Also verified that on both AA and UA websites. 

 

We're now done here! 😉

[Cajuntraveler]

2 hours ago, drowelf said:

Where on the HAL website can I view the flights I’ve booked? I’m logged in and can pull up and view the cruise, but not the flights. 

To see your booking on HAL go to hollandflightease.com.  Use your airline confirmation# - not your  HAL booking number.  The password is: hollandamerica.   When your airline tickets are paid for by HAL, I hope you post that info here.

 

Oops - just saw your lastest posting - glad your flights have been ticketed.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Cajuntraveler

[mexico8]

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 8:40 PM, kazu said:

Well, I have given up on flight ease for this one.

 

I don't even know if the deal is good enough to bother with but the bottom line is that the website doesn't work.

I don't have the patience to be on hold with HAL for more than 20 minutes.

 

I thought that the flight ease number was different than the regular HAL number and it was but I got the same "stuff".

 

I like to look, examine and decide which the site DID give me.  <sigh>

 

Hopefully I found an alternatie which will be better than Flight Ease.  I guess time will tell - HAL's website certainly won't.

I had the same problems with Flight Ease.   Web site does not work.   I called the phone # they list for help and got the stupidest person.   She told me that I had to go through my TA that I booked the cruise with.   I told her I wanted to do it myself on their web site but it didn't work.  We argued and I got nowhere with her.  

 

I kept trying on their web site a few hours later and I finally got quotes.   Not any better than I found myself on airline web sites.   A lot of trouble for nothing.

[kazu]

1 minute ago, mexico8 said:

I had the same problems with Flight Ease.   Web site does not work.   I called the phone # they list for help and got the stupidest person.   She told me that I had to go through my TA that I booked the cruise with.   I told her I wanted to do it myself on their web site but it didn't work.  We argued and I got nowhere with her.  

 

I kept trying on their web site a few hours later and I finally got quotes.   Not any better than I found myself on airline web sites.   A lot of trouble for nothing.

 

I did succeed on the web site.  The transatlantic pricing is quite good.  North America is not so good in my experience.

[mexico8]

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I did succeed on the web site.  The transatlantic pricing is quite good.  North America is not so good in my experience.

I was also pricing a North America flight.   I think it was more expensive than I found  on the airline site.   The price I got from AC was in Cdn dollars and the HAL flight ease was in US dollars.   When I make the conversion  flight ease is more expensive!!

 

Just for fun if I can get the web site to work I will try the round trip fare to Rome and back from FLL and set what I get.   (I already booked the Rome portion and it's non-refundable.  Half hoping that flight ease is not a lot cheaper).

[kazu]

Just now, mexico8 said:

I was also pricing a North America flight.   I think it was more expensive than I found  on the airline site.   The price I got from AC was in Cdn dollars and the HAL flight ease was in US dollars.   When I make the conversion  flight ease is more expensive!!

 

Just for fun if I can get the web site to work I will try the round trip fare to Rome and back from FLL and set what I get.   (I already booked the Rome portion and it's non-refundable.  Half hoping that flight ease is not a lot cheaper).

 

Hmm, that’s strange on your pricing.  My HAL flight ease is always in Canadian dollars (I’m Canadian).  

 

If you want to have some fun, check biz class on your Rome trip.  I’ve found tremendous deals on biz class but we are normally looking at one way flights 😉 

 

If I hadn’t found a good Aeroplan flight, I would have booked Flight Ease for sure as biz was about 1/3 the cost!

[mexico8]

13 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Hmm, that’s strange on your pricing.  My HAL flight ease is always in Canadian dollars (I’m Canadian).  

 

If you want to have some fun, check biz class on your Rome trip.  I’ve found tremendous deals on biz class but we are normally looking at one way flights 😉 

 

If I hadn’t found a good Aeroplan flight, I would have booked Flight Ease for sure as biz was about 1/3 the cost!

I just got the price for Rome/FLL and it was slightly cheaper than what we will have to pay.   We got a 20% discount on the Rome flight but still checking for FLL.  I don't know if I want to find out the business class price!!!   I would love to fly Business but my ticket is non-refundable so I don't think I want to know now.

 

Maybe the price was quoted to me in US dollars because the flight was from US (FLL).

[wahwah1]

16 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Hmm, that’s strange on your pricing.  My HAL flight ease is always in Canadian dollars (I’m Canadian).  

 

If you want to have some fun, check biz class on your Rome trip.  I’ve found tremendous deals on biz class but we are normally looking at one way flights 😉 

 

If I hadn’t found a good Aeroplan flight, I would have booked Flight Ease for sure as biz was about 1/3 the cost!

Because your cruise fare is paid in USD therefore the flight ease is in USD.

[kazu]

1 minute ago, wahwah1 said:

Because your cruise fare is paid in USD therefore the flight ease is in USD.

 

Ahh got it, thanks.  I thought only Canadian pricing was available on the website for Canadians?  That’s all I ever see.  But, I did book in Cdn $. 😉 

 

If I want US pricing I have to go outside of HAL to see it.

[mexico8]

3 minutes ago, wahwah1 said:

Because your cruise fare is paid in USD therefore the flight ease is in USD.

Mystery solved.   Thanks.

[wahwah1]

Does anyone know if flight ease is quoting standard economy or basic economy (no checked bags)? 

 

I will be flying from canada to europe if flight ease is quoting basic economy, i will need to pay an additional $150 for luggages roundtrip per head.  Their flignt is already $100 more expensive than booking directly with the airline assuming both are basic economy.

 

Thanks. 

[wahwah1]

Just now, mexico8 said:

Mystery solved.   Thanks.

Np, i just paid my cruise fare in USD too.

[wahwah1]

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Ahh got it, thanks.  I thought only Canadian pricing was available on the website for Canadians?  That’s all I ever see.  But, I did book in Cdn $. 😉 

 

If I want US pricing I have to go outside of HAL to see it.

I guess you can book through an US agent, call HAL directly and get a quote in USD or change the country option on the HAL website.

[Librarymomb]

I'm a newby to all of this.  I was able to put a cruise on HOLD and with the reservation number, look up flights on Flight Ease.  However, I was not able to put those flights on hold as well.  A few more questions...

 

1. I'm looking at a Mediterranean cruise for this September.  The price for Delta business is somewhat reasonable and prefer the nicer seats for our overnight departure flight but would like to book economy or economy plus on our return flight.  I was not able to change the return flight class of service on website using the round trip feature.  Guessing I'll have to book them separately...outbound in business, then return in economy.  Is this possible or is it an either/or situation, as in you can only make one flight booking?  I think I read that somewhere...

 

2.  As this cruise is in September and final payment is soon approaching, do flights have to be booked by final payment or can I pay for the cruise and book flights later?  Still deciding how many days before/after cruise I can travel.

 

3. Pretty much same question as above but if I book through a travel agent, can I still book flights myself after final payment or do I have to rely on her.  Trying to cut out the middle man as much as possible.  Still trying to decide if I even want or need to use a travel agent.  If prices fall after final payment, I want to be able to upgrade and not sure if travel agents will do it for me.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[wahwah1]

1 hour ago, Librarymomb said:

I'm a newby to all of this.  I was able to put a cruise on HOLD and with the reservation number, look up flights on Flight Ease.  However, I was not able to put those flights on hold as well.  A few more questions...

 

1. I'm looking at a Mediterranean cruise for this September.  The price for Delta business is somewhat reasonable and prefer the nicer seats for our overnight departure flight but would like to book economy or economy plus on our return flight.  I was not able to change the return flight class of service on website using the round trip feature.  Guessing I'll have to book them separately...outbound in business, then return in economy.  Is this possible or is it an either/or situation, as in you can only make one flight booking?  I think I read that somewhere...

 

2.  As this cruise is in September and final payment is soon approaching, do flights have to be booked by final payment or can I pay for the cruise and book flights later?  Still deciding how many days before/after cruise I can travel.

 

3. Pretty much same question as above but if I book through a travel agent, can I still book flights myself after final payment or do I have to rely on her.  Trying to cut out the middle man as much as possible.  Still trying to decide if I even want or need to use a travel agent.  If prices fall after final payment, I want to be able to upgrade and not sure if travel agents will do it for me.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Sorry, i couldn't comment on #1 and #2, but for #3, you could purchase your flight on HAL website when you select your booking # and make flight arrangement.  HAL cannot book the flight for you on the phone but you can purchase yourself online without going through the agent. However, if you need to cancel or modify your tickets, you will need your middle man to contact HAL. 

 

If you want flexibility, I would book with HAL. If you agent gives substantial extea freebies than HAL, i may consider an agent depending on the price you got 

 

By the way.. i am heading to Med cruise on HAL in Sept too. I just paid in full!

[Librarymomb]

Just now, wahwah1 said:

Sorry, i couldn't comment on #1 and #2, but for #3, you could purchase your flight on HAL website when you select your booking # and make flight arrangement.  HAL cannot book the flight for you on the phone but you can purchase yourself online without going through the agent. However, if you need to cancel or modify your tickets, you will need your middle man to contact HAL. 

 

If you want flexibility, I would book with HAL. If you agent gives substantial extea freebies than HAL, i may consider an agent depending on the price you got 

 

By the way.. i am heading to Med cruise on HAL in Sept too. I just paid in full!

Thanks for your input and have a wonderful cruise.  I'm excited for you.  😊

 

Hopefully, I'll soon have all my ducks in a row and will be traveling in Sept as well. 

[wahwah1]

1 hour ago, Librarymomb said:

I'm a newby to all of this.  I was able to put a cruise on HOLD and with the reservation number, look up flights on Flight Ease.  However, I was not able to put those flights on hold as well.  A few more questions...

 

1. I'm looking at a Mediterranean cruise for this September.  The price for Delta business is somewhat reasonable and prefer the nicer seats for our overnight departure flight but would like to book economy or economy plus on our return flight.  I was not able to change the return flight class of service on website using the round trip feature.  Guessing I'll have to book them separately...outbound in business, then return in economy.  Is this possible or is it an either/or situation, as in you can only make one flight booking?  I think I read that somewhere...

 

2.  As this cruise is in September and final payment is soon approaching, do flights have to be booked by final payment or can I pay for the cruise and book flights later?  Still deciding how many days before/after cruise I can travel.

 

3. Pretty much same question as above but if I book through a travel agent, can I still book flights myself after final payment or do I have to rely on her.  Trying to cut out the middle man as much as possible.  Still trying to decide if I even want or need to use a travel agent.  If prices fall after final payment, I want to be able to upgrade and not sure if travel agents will do it for me.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Oh for #2, you can book after final payment. 

[Librarymomb]

Just now, wahwah1 said:

Oh for #2, you can book after final payment. 

Good to know. Thanks!

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, Librarymomb said:

 

 

 

3. Pretty much same question as above but if I book through a travel agent, can I still book flights myself after final payment or do I have to rely on her.  Trying to cut out the middle man as much as possible.  Still trying to decide if I even want or need to use a travel agent.  If prices fall after final payment, I want to be able to upgrade and not sure if travel agents will do it for me.

 

Thanks!

 

Item One:  you don't have to put the flights on hold.  Payment is usually not due until final cruise payment is due.  Up until that time, you can cancel or change your flights.  BTW, I changed my flights twice for my next cruise.  Once for a price drop and once for a better flight.  No issues.

 

Item Three.  Why not get your travel agent involved?  She's earning a commission after all.  Mine offered to do it for me.  She also offered to get on the line and walk me through it.  I chose to do it myself.  No big deal.

I would suggest you ask  your travel agent about upgrades/upsells/price drops.  A good agent will be eager to help with those things.  If yours isn't willing, look for a new agent.

 

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, wahwah1 said:

Oh for #2, you can book after final payment. 

But remember that the closer you get to departure date, the more likely it is that the prices will be higher. Basic fact of airline travel, as the inventory of seats goes down, fares go up. 

[BEAV]

13 minutes ago, drowelf said:

But remember that the closer you get to departure date, the more likely it is that the prices will be higher. Basic fact of airline travel, as the inventory of seats goes down, fares go up. 

 

Agree that’s the general rule of thumb, not to mention the way we were all brought up. 

 

On the flip side, I was thrilled to book my friend round trip business class SF-Venice and return from Barcelona for $2500 via FlightEase with only 2 week’s notice. 

[Librarymomb]

3 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Item One:  you don't have to put the flights on hold.  Payment is usually not due until final cruise payment is due.  Up until that time, you can cancel or change your flights.  BTW, I changed my flights twice for my next cruise.  Once for a price drop and once for a better flight.  No issues.

 

Item Three.  Why not get your travel agent involved?  She's earning a commission after all.  Mine offered to do it for me.  She also offered to get on the line and walk me through it.  I chose to do it myself.  No big deal.

I would suggest you ask  your travel agent about upgrades/upsells/price drops.  A good agent will be eager to help with those things.  If yours isn't willing, look for a new agent.

 

Thank you!