Are there EZAir cons or negatives?

[DebbieMacG]

31 minutes ago, DebbieMacG said:

I’ve booked using EZ air for the first time for my flight in December from Miami to Inverness, the flight is business class with AA from Miami to Heathrow and a code share with BA from Heathrow to Inverness Scotland. I was able to select the seats on AA  when I booked and I rang BA and got my seats assigned for free with them.

 

I’m now 36 days from my flight, the flight was ticketed a while back and although I’ve had emails from HAL I’ve had nothing from AA, I can see my booking online on the AA website but haven’t received an email or anything from them, is this normal? I can’t check in online until 24 hours before the flight.

 

Sorry that should say Princess 

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, DebbieMacG said:

I’ve booked using EZ air for the first time for my flight in December from Miami to Inverness, the flight is business class with AA from Miami to Heathrow and a code share with BA from Heathrow to Inverness Scotland. I was able to select the seats on AA  when I booked and I rang BA and got my seats assigned for free with them.

 

I’m now 36 days from my flight, the flight was ticketed a while back and although I’ve had emails from HAL I’ve had nothing from AA, I can see my booking online on the AA website but haven’t received an email or anything from them, is this normal? I can’t check in online until 24 hours before the flight.

IMHO yes.

[styme123]

3 hours ago, frugaltravel said:

I am not the poster you asked this question to :-).  Code sharing is a huge scam.  Generally I try to book a flight using the flight number of the operating carrier.  Booking a code share is no issue.  The reason fares are different is that for most flights/routes there can't be cooperation/collusion so they each price the flights separately.  So AA might price a flight cheaper than BA for the same flight (or v.v.).  Generally, until flight departure time you contact the airline who issued your ticket for changes.   But for seat assignments it is always best to contact the airline operating the flight.  For upgrades, it depends on various factors including if you have status with an airline and how you are trying to upgrade - using status, miles, cash?

I'm concerned that if I used the cheaper price code shared flight, the other airline would tack on fees. So in the end I won't save any money than if I just booked with the operating carrier. I don't fly often so I have no status, FF miles or anything to keep me loyal to one carrier over the other.

[frugaltravel]

5 minutes ago, styme123 said:

I'm concerned that if I used the cheaper price code shared flight, the other airline would tack on fees. So in the end I won't save any money than if I just booked with the operating carrier. I don't fly often so I have no status, FF miles or anything to keep me loyal to one carrier over the other.

The only fees they may add are for advance seat assignments. Luggage fees are the same based on the operating carrier.

Edited November 11, 2019 by frugaltravel

[styme123]

23 minutes ago, frugaltravel said:

The only fees they may add are for advance seat assignments. Luggage fees are the same based on the operating carrier.

Yeah those are the ones I was thinking of. I know BA was charging $174pp to pick the seats I wanted. Picking my seat in advance is one of the few things that is a priority for me. We are doing carry-on so I don't even care about luggage.

[frugaltravel]

3 minutes ago, styme123 said:

Yeah those are the ones I was thinking of. I know BA was charging $174pp to pick the seats I wanted. Picking my seat in advance is one of the few things that is a priority for me. We are doing carry-on so I don't even care about luggage.

That fee has nothing to do with code share or whether it is an EZAir booking.

[styme123]

8 minutes ago, frugaltravel said:

That fee has nothing to do with code share or whether it is an EZAir booking.

I meant that I have seen say a AA code share booking with BA be listed as cheaper for example $350 and then a direct booking through BA for the same flight say for $500. When you go to book the code shared AA flight they tack on the additional fees of $150 and you are at the same $500 as if you booked it directly from BA. Not sure if this is the same with every airline that code shares but it seems to be that way with the ones I have been looking at. As far as the EZAir booking when you are looking at the prices on the Princess website they are not including those fees for economy flights until your ticketed.  So a flight you thought was a great price at say $350 is really $500 once you are ticketed. 

[frugaltravel]

1 hour ago, styme123 said:

I meant that I have seen say a AA code share booking with BA be listed as cheaper for example $350 and then a direct booking through BA for the same flight say for $500. When you go to book the code shared AA flight they tack on the additional fees of $150 and you are at the same $500 as if you booked it directly from BA. Not sure if this is the same with every airline that code shares but it seems to be that way with the ones I have been looking at. As far as the EZAir booking when you are looking at the prices on the Princess website they are not including those fees for economy flights until your ticketed.  So a flight you thought was a great price at say $350 is really $500 once you are ticketed. 

I am confused because you just said:

 

"Yeah those are the ones I was thinking of. I know BA was charging $174pp to pick the seats I wanted. Picking my seat in advance is one of the few things that is a priority for me. We are doing carry-on so I don't even care about luggage."

 

when I was talking about advance seat assignment fees.  Now you appear to be talking about other fees or charges.

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by frugaltravel

[jimmieg]

4 hours ago, DebbieMacG said:

I’ve booked using EZ air for the first time for my flight in December from Miami to Inverness, the flight is business class with AA from Miami to Heathrow and a code share with BA from Heathrow to Inverness Scotland. I was able to select the seats on AA  when I booked and I rang BA and got my seats assigned for free with them.

 

I’m now 36 days from my flight, the flight was ticketed a while back and although I’ve had emails from HAL I’ve had nothing from AA, I can see my booking online on the AA website but haven’t received an email or anything from them, is this normal? I can’t check in online until 24 hours before the flight.

 

You should be able to print out your itinerary or confirmation from the EZair or carrier website. Nothing else needed until you print boarding pass 24 hours in advance. You can also load the carrier app and have info on your device.

[caribill]

7 hours ago, DebbieMacG said:

 

 

I’m now 36 days from my flight, the flight was ticketed a while back and although I’ve had emails from HAL I’ve had nothing from AA, I can see my booking online on the AA website but haven’t received an email or anything from them, is this normal? I can’t check in online until 24 hours before the flight.

 

 

Why would you expect an E-mail from AA?

 

The only ones I would expect are:

a) If there is a schedule change made by AA

b) telling you it is time to check-in online

[caribill]

13 hours ago, styme123 said:

I asked this question on Cruise air forum but since you mentioned the code sharing here maybe you know the answer to this as well. Is there any benefit to using a code shared flight? Sometimes the price is different for the same flight. So for example say a BA stand alone flight at 10:00pm is $550 but a code shared one with AA is $350 with being operate by BA? why the difference in price. If you want to change or upgrade which carrier do you contact?

 

When initially booking, I would pick the airline that had the lowest cost.

 

If you want to make a change after the ticket has been issued, you need to contact the airline you booked for.

 

As far as frequent flyer programs, if you want to use your AA FF number, it can be used whether you booked BA or AA.

[caribill]

13 hours ago, polmcs said:

AA doesn’t charge for seat reservations

 

It may depend on the route.

 

When I had an AA flight fron NRT to LAX this year, the only "free" seat assignments in economy were middle seats.

 

If you wanted to sit with a traveling companion, the 2nd person would have to be in a window or aisle seat, and those seats had an extra charge.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, styme123 said:

I meant that I have seen say a AA code share booking with BA be listed as cheaper for example $350 and then a direct booking through BA for the same flight say for $500. When you go to book the code shared AA flight they tack on the additional fees of $150 and you are at the same $500 as if you booked it directly from BA. eted. 

 

And what do they say the additional $150 in fees are for?

 

My experience with EZAir (and equivalent programs with other cruise lines) is that the price EZair shows is exactly what I pay +  seat assignment charges (if any) + checked luggage charges (if any). This has been true also on code share flights.

[DebbieMacG]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Why would you expect an E-mail from AA?

 

 

Since I haven’t booked with them before that’s the whole point of my question.

 

Thanks to you and everyone else for your replies, now I know it’s not something others receive there’s no need to worry.

[styme123]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

And what do they say the additional $150 in fees are for?

 

My experience with EZAir (and equivalent programs with other cruise lines) is that the price EZair shows is exactly what I pay +  seat assignment charges (if any) + checked luggage charges (if any). This has been true also on code share flights.

The other "fees" are for being able to pick your seat and the seat you picked. $34 for the option to pick it before and $84 for the specific location.

[styme123]

Just now, styme123 said:

My experience with EZAir (and equivalent programs with other cruise lines) is that the price EZair shows is exactly what I pay +  seat assignment charges (if any) + checked luggage charges (if any). This has been true also on code share flights.

I guess it's the + seat assignment charges that are charged after that is a little deceiving. Meaning, you think your ticket will cost $300 but after $150 seat assignment charge it's now $450.  

[styme123]

9 hours ago, frugaltravel said:

when I was talking about advance seat assignment fees.  Now you appear to be talking about other fees or charges.

 

The fees I'm referring to are the seat assignment fees.

[Jnsplace1]

Using EZ, was able to do seat selection. Biz class.  

 

It's been about a 1.5 years since I've flown international.  Last time I did, the airlines allowed one luggage free.  Course, I'm sure that has changed since everyone is doing the ala carte method.  yay.

[Cruise Raider]

19 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Did not see this mentioned but an EZ Air benefit is that Air is included in Princess insurance. We recently had to cancel for medical reason and air cancellation charges were covered by Princess Platinum Insurance.

 

I had a related question ... did the Princess insurance premium go up when you added the EZ air to your reservation?  

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

I've used this feature on other cruiselines, once I had no issues and the other time ... yikes ... they really did a number on our reservation, so much so that I was traveling with a group and they put me on different flight altogether!  Even my DH, which was in the same cabin as me on the ship, was on a different flight ... and it was cross country.  I spent numerous hours over 5 different weekends trying to get this all straightened out.  In the end, they put us all on a very nice flight home.  

 

Now, I just booked my air through EZ air for a couple different cruises using the flex rate option.  If the first one goes south ... well, I will know to cancel my other couple of reservations.  Anyhow, the one flight to Canada (we are in the US) was at a great discount!  The domestic flights are pretty much only what you can get by booking it directly through the airline's website.  Oh, and I booked Delta and United for these flights and was able to just choose my seats right at the time of booking without any additional seat charges.  They do state that the seat assignments are not guaranteed ... but they never really are anyway as I've experienced through my years and years of traveling.  

[PoohUnderstands]

19 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I had a related question ... did the Princess insurance premium go up when you added the EZ air to your reservation?  

 

 

No.

 

Pooh

[PoohUnderstands]

59 minutes ago, Jnsplace1 said:

Using EZ, was able to do seat selection. Biz class.  

 

It's been about a 1.5 years since I've flown international.  Last time I did, the airlines allowed one luggage free.  Course, I'm sure that has changed since everyone is doing the ala carte method.  yay.

Business/First now allows for two free checked bags.

 

Pooh

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I had a related question ... did the Princess insurance premium go up when you added the EZ air to your reservation?  

 

 

No, we use a TA and the initial quote included insurance at that time we had not looked at EZ Air. No subsequent change in insurance.

[40yearcruiser]

On 11/11/2019 at 10:37 AM, Jnsplace1 said:

It's been about a 1.5 years since I've flown international.  Last time I did, the airlines allowed one luggage free.  Course, I'm sure that has changed since everyone is doing the ala carte method.  yay.

 

The luggage allowance and seat selection fees vary by airline and route. We are booked on Qantas to Australia in March and are allowed 2 free bags per passenger but other international flights this year allowed only one. We fly international several times a year, on various airlines, and have always had at least 1 free bag; but there may be some airlines that do charge on international flights.  If seated in Economy on Qantas, the fee to choose a standard seat on an international flight is $30; domestic flights seats are free. Some of the other airlines we've flown have a seat selection fee, some don't. If you don't want to pay the fee for a seat, wait until check-in and take your chances on what's still available. The only way to know is to check with the individual airline for their fees for your particular flight. We have found that almost always EZair gives us the best rates, and using the flex rate allows us to lock in a price and change it if a better option comes along. Another plus: if you book with EZair and your flight is delayed so long you miss the ship, Princess will get you to the next port (it happened to our son last year).

[phred119s]

On 11/9/2019 at 4:03 AM, caribill said:

Biggest advantages of EZAir:

o A flexible fare can be changed or cancelled up to 45 days before travel begins.

o Fares of overseas flights are significantly less than other ways of booking.

 

Biggest disadvantages of EZAir:

o Not all airlines are included.

o Not all flights are included on included airlines.

o Need to watch connection times. "Legal" connection times may not be practical connections.

Speaking of legal connections. Due to schedule changes, I’m now showing an 18 min layover in Atlanta. 🙄 I only noticed because I was going to price check while logged in. After I clicked modify flights the error message said my flights were unavailable due to schedule changes. Guess I’m calling tomorrow. 

Edited November 13, 2019 by phred119s