Carnival Air

[silversneakers]

Anyone know if Carnival air program is the same as the Princess EZ Air program?

[coevan]

We would never let anyone book our flights. There are too many variables and the cheapest flights are usually the longest layovers or crazy early departure times. We want to control our seats, what time we depart, the shortest flights and layovers if necessary. 

[wemjam]

While I am not familiar with EZ Air through Princess I am familiar with Carnival's program, and contrary to coevan's post there are benefits to using it.

 

While 90% of the time I do end up booking my own air, it is for one reason only, and that is we often want an earlier flight home than what Carnival can offer.  This is the only serious drawback to their program.  If you want an 11:30 flight home or something you may not be able to get it as they will not book before their "cut off" time of like 12 or 12:30ish depending on the port.  

 

That being said here are the benefits:

 

1st.  If something happens and your flight is delayed or canceled, they step in and help you get there, even so far as getting you to the first port if you miss the ship at no charge to you 

 

2nd.  You can book your air when you book your cruise and no extra deposit is required, you just must have it paid in full when your final cruise payment is due.  This means you can always cancel, and rebook if you choose anytime between initial booking and final payment with no penalty - you can't do this with normal airfare (once booked you pay penalties and fees if you want to change).  I usually book with Carnival and then watch the airfare prices all during the time I am paying on the cruise.  If the price goes down, I cancel and either have them rebook me at the new rate - or go and book myself if I find something I like better.

 

3rd.  Other than the timing of the flights (meeting their cut-offs), you can book the same exact flights with many of the same airlines you can book yourself directly, and I have found that Carnival's price is the same (and sometimes a few bucks cheaper than what I can book direct with the airline myself).  It does not have to be just the crappy flights with long layovers etc.  

 

4th.  The final reason I can think of is if you take advantage of the 10% off Carnival gift cards (read on CC to see about these) you can use these to pay for your airfare with Carnival too.  That saves you 10% on your air as well as your cruise.  For someone like us that lives in Michigan where airfare can run between $250-$500 pp/ and we cruise several times a year, this can add up to a few hundred bucks we save booking with them and using Carnival gift cards we buy at 10% off.

 

There are pro's and con's to doing it either way, but I hope this helps identify some reasons you may want to consider using it sometimes as we do.

 

PS:  Changes to flights etc, are going to happen no matter what, and having it booked through Carnival does not impact this either.  We fly to Orlando for one of our cruises this year and they changed our flight time slightly and we received a notification just as we normally would.  It also does not impact being able to upgrade your flight if you want with certain air carriers.  We usually fly Delta, and I paid a little extra directly to the airline (a couple of months after we initially booked our airfare and paid it and our cruise in full) to upgrade us to Delta Economy Comfort from regular seats just as I would have if I had booked myself direct.  Nothing different.

 

 

[coevan]

9 minutes ago, wemjam said:

1st.  If something happens and your flight is delayed or canceled, they step in and help you get there, even so far as getting you to the first port if you miss the ship at no charge to you 

 

 

as long as you have a passport, CCL can not overrule CBP 

[JaniceB]

2 hours ago, wemjam said:

While I am not familiar with EZ Air through Princess I am familiar with Carnival's program, and contrary to coevan's post there are benefits to using it.

 

While 90% of the time I do end up booking my own air, it is for one reason only, and that is we often want an earlier flight home than what Carnival can offer.  This is the only serious drawback to their program.  If you want an 11:30 flight home or something you may not be able to get it as they will not book before their "cut off" time of like 12 or 12:30ish depending on the port.  

 

That being said here are the benefits:

 

1st.  If something happens and your flight is delayed or canceled, they step in and help you get there, even so far as getting you to the first port if you miss the ship at no charge to you 

 

2nd.  You can book your air when you book your cruise and no extra deposit is required, you just must have it paid in full when your final cruise payment is due.  This means you can always cancel, and rebook if you choose anytime between initial booking and final payment with no penalty - you can't do this with normal airfare (once booked you pay penalties and fees if you want to change).  I usually book with Carnival and then watch the airfare prices all during the time I am paying on the cruise.  If the price goes down, I cancel and either have them rebook me at the new rate - or go and book myself if I find something I like better.

 

3rd.  Other than the timing of the flights (meeting their cut-offs), you can book the same exact flights with many of the same airlines you can book yourself directly, and I have found that Carnival's price is the same (and sometimes a few bucks cheaper than what I can book direct with the airline myself).  It does not have to be just the crappy flights with long layovers etc.  

 

4th.  The final reason I can think of is if you take advantage of the 10% off Carnival gift cards (read on CC to see about these) you can use these to pay for your airfare with Carnival too.  That saves you 10% on your air as well as your cruise.  For someone like us that lives in Michigan where airfare can run between $250-$500 pp/ and we cruise several times a year, this can add up to a few hundred bucks we save booking with them and using Carnival gift cards we buy at 10% off.

 

There are pro's and con's to doing it either way, but I hope this helps identify some reasons you may want to consider using it sometimes as we do.

 

PS:  Changes to flights etc, are going to happen no matter what, and having it booked through Carnival does not impact this either.  We fly to Orlando for one of our cruises this year and they changed our flight time slightly and we received a notification just as we normally would.  It also does not impact being able to upgrade your flight if you want with certain air carriers.  We usually fly Delta, and I paid a little extra directly to the airline (a couple of months after we initially booked our airfare and paid it and our cruise in full) to upgrade us to Delta Economy Comfort from regular seats just as I would have if I had booked myself direct.  Nothing different.

 

 

Thanks for all this information.  I was thinking of using them for our cruise that leaves from London. 

[NOLALADY]

1 hour ago, JaniceB said:

Thanks for all this information.  I was thinking of using them for our cruise that leaves from London. 

 

I used it when we cruised from Barcelona.  It worked out well and was significantly cheaper than if we had booked on our own.  I was a die hard "NO WAY am I letting someone else book for me" ... but for the reason mentioned above, I did.  They put me on a flight I didn't like,  I called my PVP and she changed it. She was willing to work with me to get on the right airlines/times I wanted. I was able to pick my seats, etc.  It was definitely worth it.  If I do Europe again, I would look into it for sure.

 

[lasekeye]

We used Carnival Air last Spring, it worked out great.  Our VP asked what aprox time we wanted to depart, asked which airline we wanted and gave us a price that was a couple dollars cheaper than I could have booked myself and worked through plane transfers too. I wouldn’t hesitate to use their services again.

[JaniceB]

15 hours ago, NOLALADY said:

 

I used it when we cruised from Barcelona.  It worked out well and was significantly cheaper than if we had booked on our own.  I was a die hard "NO WAY am I letting someone else book for me" ... but for the reason mentioned above, I did.  They put me on a flight I didn't like,  I called my PVP and she changed it. She was willing to work with me to get on the right airlines/times I wanted. I was able to pick my seats, etc.  It was definitely worth it.  If I do Europe again, I would look into it for sure.

 

Thank you, I will call my PVP and have them price it out.

[silversneakers]

On 4/15/2019 at 12:17 PM, coevan said:

We would never let anyone book our flights. There are too many variables and the cheapest flights are usually the longest layovers or crazy early departure times. We want to control our seats, what time we depart, the shortest flights and layovers if necessary. 

 

Edited April 22, 2019 by silversneakers
incorrect info

[silversneakers]

The reason I asked if Carnival is the same as Princess is that Princess allows you to book your own flights on their website and you can change up to 45 day prior to departure if you find something less expensive (without any fees).  I like it because I am in control of my schedule and you don't pay until I make my final payment.  

[PhillyFan33579]

On 4/15/2019 at 12:17 PM, coevan said:

We would never let anyone book our flights. There are too many variables and the cheapest flights are usually the longest layovers or crazy early departure times. We want to control our seats, what time we depart, the shortest flights and layovers if necessary. 

 

I feel the same way. Any time I fly I always book my own flights. I also feel the same way about cruises. I always book our cruises and would never consider letting someone else book a cruise for me. I know I might be missing out on OBC or other “freebies”, but I like having 100% control over our cruises. 

[cdm289]

I have used Carnival Air before successfully but after the last experience, I would not again.  The last time I used it (10 years ago), they put us on a red eye and then a connecting flight later the next morning.  I was traveling alone with 2 small children (4 and 6) and I do not sleep on a plane.  Once issued my flights, I called and they could not rebook on another flight.  I realize that when you travel to Europe, you may get a red eye but I was only travelling from western Canada to Florida.  There are MANY other options to travel that don't involve a red eye flight.  I felt like I got the bottom of the barrel.  I hate beginning a vacation on such crappy  lack of sleep with 2 small children.  Never again as now I plan my own flights.  I know others have been happy with Carnival air but I am happy planning my own now.  You never know what you are going to get and it is a bit of a crap shoot.