Trouble rebooking Flight cancelled 737 with EZair

[kruisey]

Yes it is a lesson learned. I never believed in my wildest dreams that brand of plane I was to travel on would crash and the whole fleet grounded. One has to read carefully terms and conditions of a contract with a Company on canceling and time limitations. Have always booked direct with the airline in the past. On the other hand under the circumstances the airline waived cancellation fees for folks  re booking under these tragic circumstances.

 

[lx200gps]

On 3/20/2019 at 2:31 PM, kruisey said:

I have a flight to LAX from YVR on May 4th it was on a 737 with Air Canada.They have grounded those flights until end of June and give another number for affected customers to re book on. Air Canada will not re book with me because they say flight was booked through Princess. Princess flight will not re book because they say it was not their problem that Air Canada ground their 737 and probably all the other airlines used the same planes. Princess air telling me to get in touch with airline. Have been on phone  hold for hour Customer Service rep. Princess  ?All I want to do is get to LAX on May 4th to get on Royal Princess.HELP.

We're in almost the same situation as the OP, but managed to get very lucky, I assume, by not using EZAir, but by using FF miles on Aeroplan. We're also on Air Canada, flying in to LAX for a trip on the Royal the week before the OP, and were also booked on the 78M as AC calls the aircraft. Our booking continued to show it as the aircraft for a week after it was grounded. Then, this AM, I noticed that the aircraft had been swapped over to a tried and true A320, we had been automatically switched over, same flight, same time and SAME SEATS even. No involvement on our part, all handled automatically.

[kruisey]

 In hindsight, I should have waited.Another lesson learned.I got my seat back though.

 

[wallyj]

Would u clarify what was the total cancellation fees you were charged? You first posted you were charge $221 , then later post an amount over $400. 

 

You should NOT have been charged fees for cancelling the American flight as you did it before 24hours.

 

Appears you panicked and cancelled the original AC flights that were showing the equipment was 737 Max, but as you have posted if u waited , it would have resolved itself as AirCanada has swapped to A320 equipment for your original flight?

 

Maybe a Princess supervisor can help u recoup your cancellation fees as it appears you are back where u started. Definitely sure you should not have been charge cancellation fee for flight cancelled within 24hrs of booking.

[Cruise Junky]

Heather, did you willingly cancel the flight rather than waiting for AC to do it? 

[kruisey]

Yes I did cancel because both parties left me in a bind. I gave the Princess agent the 833 number that Air Canada said we were supposed to call to cancel and exchange but the Princess agent said she could not get through. I then asked if there was another airline they could book me on because I thought that if everyone was calling Air Canada and Princess could not get through to that number by the time they did there might not have been a seat available...I would have been offered a later plane and missed the ship. When I found out Air Canada had re assigned another craft early evening I rang back to change back to Air Canada the male agent changed it but again because it was 45 days before cruise Princess charges a fee.....I did not know this and the agent did not let me know. Personally I think Air Canada should have told their passengers that they were going to automatically change planes for the same flight already booked. They did not in advance. There was talk about cancel and re book only.

Edited March 22, 2019 by kruisey

[caribill]

23 hours ago, kruisey said:

Was told ticketed so airline responsibly.Rang airline who told me I had to go through Princess to cancel and re book because they had acted as my TA.

I am confused.

 

If the airline had cancelled the flight itself and thus it no longer existed, Princess should not need to cancel the booking. If the flight no longer exists, the airline should find a suitable alternative and this does not involve the passenger (or Princess) cancelling anything.

[frugaltravel]

On 3/20/2019 at 5:49 PM, Anubi said:

We were flying a 767Max8 from SFO to YYZ.

I seriously doubt you were on a 767 Max8 since there are no such aircraft.  I assume you meant 737 Max8?

[Coral]

This is one of those times when having a TA would have greatly helped. They look out for your best interest. Princess doesn't.

[kruisey]

Yes you are right Coral a T/A would have helped.

However, this morning early I managed to get through to Customer Relations. She went through the Executive level, and they have refunded my cancellation fees.I am a very happy puppy now.

Thank you all my CC friends who have been following this journey. You gave me the encouragement not to give up.

[Mytravellove]

On March 20, 2019 at 6:47 PM, kruisey said:

I found out Princess charged me $221 dollars for cancelling my flight and exchanging though.I thought that a little mean and stated a lesson learned book direct in the future .I could have exchanged with Air Canada for free for they waived exchange fees due to circumstances.

I was in the same position...booked my flight from YHZ to SFO via YYZ through EZAir with Air Canada. One of the legs on this flight was on a 737Max 8. I first called Air Canada and after being on hold for over 1 hour and 5 mins, spoke to a customer service rep/agent who advised me that Air Canada was changing all such flights for free, but I would have to go through Princess cruises. Next day I called Princess, explained the situation and asked to speak with EZ Air rep. I didn't get transferred to EZ Air, but the Princess rep did the talking between both of us. EZAir was putting me on a flight to ORD with an hour to catch the connecting flight & change terminals. I declined that connection.Their 2nd suggestion was better for me but not as good as a route as I had hoped to get. When I suggested my route, they said I'd have to pay an additional $600, which needless to say I declined. EZ Air told the Princess rep that if I didn't take their 2nd suggestion, I was out of luck and would have to pay a change fee to do anything else. I thought it was rude, but giving EZ Air the benefit of the doubt, they may have just been overwhelmed. So a change in flights but no fee charged. 

I would go back to Princess and ask why you were charged an additional fee of $221, when it was Air Canada who specifically advised that changes could be made without any charges/fees.

[kruisey]

The charge because it says in the EZair contract between 45----0 days there is a fee.

Princess credited back both these fees  to my card.

As I mentioned above with encouragement from CC members some I have known for a while I did not give up.

[caribill]

6 hours ago, Mytravellove said:

Their 2nd suggestion was better for me but not as good as a route as I had hoped to get. When I suggested my route, they said I'd have to pay an additional $600, which needless to say I declined. EZ Air told the Princess rep that if I didn't take their 2nd suggestion, I was out of luck and would have to pay a change fee to do anything else. I thought it was rude, but giving EZ Air the benefit of the doubt, they may have just been overwhelmed. So a change in flights but no fee charged. 

 

 

The reason for the additional $600 for the flights you preferred is that Princess does not have the good contract pricing on every possible itinerary between ship and home.

 

Even when selecting flights the first time you did for this trip, you were only shown a limited number of possible itineraries, the ones that Princess had good contracted rates available for.