Air reservations through HAL

[Tn gal]

Have you used HAL to make air reservations for you?  If so,  were you satisfied with the route and costs?  Many thanks.

[RuthC]

I have used HAL air, for international flights, and found it a great savings over doing it myself. Domestic air may not have the savings. 
I always research the flights in advance, and decide on what is best for me. Then I have my TA contact HAL to get their price, and make the booking. It's always gone smooth as silk. 

[cruzn single]

Even for me, HAL Air is a good.  I have to fly from a very small regional airport, which tends to raise the rates to start!

Edited September 4, 2019 by cruzn single
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[JimnKaren]

We live in Florida and regularly take cruises one-way. For instance: Florida to Buenos Aires and cruise back; or fly to Vancouver and cruise through the canal back to Florida. HAL air has worked for us.

Jim

[jlnprt]

We have used HAL to book air for 2 of our 3 HAL cruises. Domestic flights were about the same as I found, but our flight to Europe was a lot cheaper than anything I could find.

[TAD2005]

You can't beat the one-way international fares on Flight Ease.   We are flying one-way from Tampa to Amsterdam, business class.  The best fare I could get on many sites was $2300 to $3100.   The fare on Flight Ease is $1130 per person.   Domestic flights, do not have such a huge difference in price.   But domestic or international, the big advantage is you can get a confirmed reservation, with seat selection when you book, but you do not pay for the flight until you make your final cruise payment, usually 75 days out.   If you book directly with the airline, or a 3rd party booking company, you pay for the air when you reserve it.   If you have to cancel the cruise for any reason before the 75 day date, you get all of your cruise fare money back, but you will be stuck with the air ticket if you buy it on your own.  If you use HAL's Flight Ease, when you cancel the cruise, the air is also cancelled with no loss of money.

[rkacruiser]

I have been able to book international Business Class airfares through HAL using the airlines, itinerary, and schedules that I prefer at a considerable savings as compared to doing it on my own.  There has been exceptions, such as a Singapore-SFO-DAY itinerary on Singapore Airlines which HAL was not able to quote.  But, that has been a one-off situation.

 

Domestic air flights through HAL, I'll ask for a quote, but usually can get a better price on my own.

[Tn gal]

Thank you all so much.  I will need air travel next August (2020) to Copenhagen.  It will be one way.  I am surprised at the very expensive fares I have found online, especially for business class.  Basically, those fares are more than the cruise!  How far ahead should I contact Flight Ease?

[RuthC]

27 minutes ago, Tn gal said:

How far ahead should I contact Flight Ease?

You can contact them 330 days before you want to fly. That's when bookings open. 

[Tn gal]

Thank you.

[iceman93]

In the past (like, years ago), the general consensus was to avoid HAL-booked air as it was inflexible, expensive, you couldn't choose your airline, etc.

 

I'm looking at a cruise next year where, as others have reported in this thread, international business class air is half the cost of anywhere else.  Plus, the online booking engine is easy to use, and allows complete flexibility in choosing days of travel, airline, itinerary, and whatnot.

 

How is this possible?  I wasn't going to book it, thinking it was too good to be true, but it appears others have had no problems.  I'm just wondering how FlightEase is able to get these cheapo flights?  Do they still earn frequent flier miles?  Are you protected in case of delays or cancellations?

[ski ww]

Good to know, we'll need a return to Amsterdam next summer for our Norway cruise. 

[victory2020]

12 hours ago, iceman93 said:

In the past (like, years ago), the general consensus was to avoid HAL-booked air as it was inflexible, expensive, you couldn't choose your airline, etc.

 

I'm looking at a cruise next year where, as others have reported in this thread, international business class air is half the cost of anywhere else.  Plus, the online booking engine is easy to use, and allows complete flexibility in choosing days of travel, airline, itinerary, and whatnot.

 

How is this possible?  I wasn't going to book it, thinking it was too good to be true, but it appears others have had no problems.  I'm just wondering how FlightEase is able to get these cheapo flights?  Do they still earn frequent flier miles?  Are you protected in case of delays or cancellations?

It actually works out better if you use their air & flight is delayed getting to ship - they guarantee getting you to the next port if you miss departure. You do get airline miles although a reduced amount  - it appeared on my American flight it was about half & I'm not sure with United, but I went r/t to Europe & only ended up with about 10K miles.

[FetaCheese]

I Booked air thru hal flight ease for a dom. open-jaw itin.  hal returned prices about $100 pp less than the same exact flights on AA.com.  so, I do believe their claim that they have lower negotiated fares than avail. to gen. public. 

[AncientWanderer]

We had a very positive experience flying to Rome using HAL flight ease.  We were able to select flights and seats we wanted, and nice to have flexibility on cancellation.  Smooth sailings!

[rkacruiser]

On 9/4/2019 at 11:01 PM, iceman93 said:

Do they still earn frequent flier miles? 

 

I think it depends on the airline.  

[Mary229]

The few times I used Flight Ease I was very happy with the prices and the flights.  For domestic flights I always have enough points to cover.   I look forward to checking their business class prices for international 

[RocketMan275]

I booked some domestic flights that were cheaper than with the airlines and I didn't have to pay until final payment date.

[iceman93]

Thanks everyone!  Helpful replies like these are one of the main reasons I love these boards.

[Hlitner]

We have used Flightease which often has terrific prices on Business/First Class International prices.  However, we do not let "HAL to make reservations."  Once your disembarkation date is within the 330 day airline booking window, we simply access Flightease through our online HAL account (usable even if we book through a cruise agency), check out various air options and pricing and make a decision whether to book on Flightease.  That is an automated process (handled by the same company that does both Princess and Seabourn).  No need to talk to any HAL employee (who have limited knowledge regarding airlines).  Using the Flightease online software allows us to look at multiple airports, flights, and airlines.  When booked on the Flightease site you will immediately get an airline booking/locator number and can usually double check the reservation on an airline's own site.  A nice benefit of using Flightease are the Flex fares which are not actually ticketed until 45 days prior to the cruise.  Up until that time you can cancel or modify the reservation with no penalty or other cost.

 

Hank

[westcoastcruiser]

We used Flightease for our RT Amsterdam business class flights associated with our cruise this past summer.  We were able to schedule flights 3 weeks before our cruise so that we traveled by land  to several countries before our 3 week  cruise.  The prices were excellent and the flights were good.  We booked as soon as the flights were released.

 

because we had heard of an issue where flights accidentally got cancelled if you went in and price checked after booking, we did not do so on our own.  Twice I did call HAL and had them  check and the prices were much higher than when we booked and the flight times available were less convenient.

 

we would not hesitate to use Flightease again.

[caribill]

On 9/4/2019 at 6:23 PM, Tn gal said:

 How far ahead should I contact Flight Ease?

 

As soon as the flights would be available.

 

If you book the flexible fare, you can get a lower fare later on if one becomes available. But if fares only go up, you will be glad you booked early.

[teacherman]

We booked RT business class air through them for our cruise this coming January to South America.  I booked it the first day it was available.  It was Flexible Air.  It was "expensive" but still less than booking direct with the airline.  The cruise was through our TA, but I did the air myself through the HAL web site.  Since then, I have continued to check and have changed the reservation twice, choosing different flights and airlines, and lowering the total cost by quite a bit.  I will keep checking to see if I can do it again.  We used them last summer to fly home from Paris.  No problem.

[fatcat04]

Does anyone have experience with Flight Ease pricing for economy/coach tickets for international flights, especially one ways for TA cruises? With European budget style airlines expanding with regular flights into many US cities, just curious if anyone has run a comparison. Business class is a few decades off for us as we are still working stiffs with kids. 

[bichonsx2]

21 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We have used Flightease which often has terrific prices on Business/First Class International prices.  However, we do not let "HAL to make reservations."  Once your disembarkation date is within the 330 day airline booking window, we simply access Flightease through our online HAL account (usable even if we book through a cruise agency), check out various air options and pricing and make a decision whether to book on Flightease.  That is an automated process (handled by the same company that does both Princess and Seabourn).  No need to talk to any HAL employee (who have limited knowledge regarding airlines).  Using the Flightease online software allows us to look at multiple airports, flights, and airlines.  When booked on the Flightease site you will immediately get an airline booking/locator number and can usually double check the reservation on an airline's own site.  A nice benefit of using Flightease are the Flex fares which are not actually ticketed until 45 days prior to the cruise.  Up until that time you can cancel or modify the reservation with no penalty or other cost.

 

Hank

how do you get to Flightease?