I am new to EZAir and was wondering

[southernshug]

if you can book the seats that cost a bit more but have more legroom on HAL's website? If so, how? Everytime I look, its saying I have to call the airlines. Id love to just be able to book economy for the first little jaunt and then the premium for the 4+ one.

[Sue from Canada]

This is just a guess but could you do two separate bookings.

[Sebbiesgrammy]

8 hours ago, southernshug said:

if you can book the seats that cost a bit more but have more legroom on HAL's website? If so, how? Everytime I look, its saying I have to call the airlines. Id love to just be able to book economy for the first little jaunt and then the premium for the 4+ one.

You can choose class of service, ie Premium Economy, in the Flight Ease selection screen.  It will show you which flights offer that cabin category. If you just want an extra legroom seat in Economy and its not selectable on the seat map, you likely have to wait until final cruise payment is made so that you have an airline conf number and then upgrade directly with the airline.  IME, Flight Ease is generally a good deal but you have to do some research to be sure

[Mary229]

I have never been able to figure out how to price one segment at a lower fare category than the other.  I also fly day time flights in economy or premium economy and long overnighters Business.  I end up calling HAL with my computer screen up to the Flight Ease page.

[rkacruiser]

13 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I have never been able to figure out how to price one segment at a lower fare category than the other.  I also fly day time flights in economy or premium economy and long overnighters Business.  I end up calling HAL with my computer screen up to the Flight Ease page.

 

Respectfully, I ask this.  Why do you choose to do this yourself?  Why are you not using a travel agent and allowing that person take care of such details?  Using a travel agent is not going to cost you anything more for your trip.  

[Mary229]

26 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Respectfully, I ask this.  Why do you choose to do this yourself?  Why are you not using a travel agent and allowing that person take care of such details?  Using a travel agent is not going to cost you anything more for your trip.  

Because often flight ease is so much cheaper and secondly, I am a bit of a control freak.

 

I actually do my own bookings then hand them off to my sister’s agency so they can reap the commission. They do watch prices and manage after my initial setup.  

Edited June 4, 2021 by Mary229

[rkacruiser]

5 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Because often flight ease is so much cheaper and secondly, I am a bit of a control freak.

 

I actually do my own bookings then hand them off to my sister’s agency so they can reap the commission. They do watch prices and manage after my initial setup.  

 

Thanks for your explanation.  I have used through my travel agent the cruise lines' air programs for many years.  I determine what flights I want on what airlines and on what days and at what class of service.  Only once, was I told that it was not available on HAL's air program.  The next day, my travel agent called me and said:  it's available!!  As you said, watching prices, etc.  is what a good travel agent does.  

[Mary229]

Just now, rkacruiser said:

 

Thanks for your explanation.  I have used through my travel agent the cruise lines' air programs for many years.  I determine what flights I want on what airlines and on what days and at what class of service.  Only once, was I told that it was not available on HAL's air program.  The next day, my travel agent called me and said:  it's available!!  As you said, watching prices, etc.  is what a good travel agent does.  

The person in sis’s shop is excellent,  the blame lies with me.  I spent years managing travel for our business and do have a few tricks but you are right for cruises and flights Judy probably knows better than me.  I am the queen of finding a great rate for hotels.  One thing about most TA’s is they aren’t really bargain hunters and even though that is no longer necessary old habits die hard 

[Primus]

There is an option on Flight Ease to select your class of seats on both the departure and return flights.  They do not need to match.

[Hlitner]

15 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Respectfully, I ask this.  Why do you choose to do this yourself?  Why are you not using a travel agent and allowing that person take care of such details?  Using a travel agent is not going to cost you anything more for your trip.  

I will jump in because we also handle our own EZAIR even though we use an excellent cruise agent/agency for our cruise bookings.  Why?  Actually two reasons.  I like to to look at many different options since we have the ability to use 6 East Coast airports.  When buying business class shopping around on EZAIR can save really big bucks.  and a 2nd reason is that our cruise agent really hates doing air because of just the reason I mentioned.  There are lots of potential options and she cannot know what is in my little ole mind.

 

So just today we were looking at all the various round trip Biz Class options from Tokyo.  We discovered that we could get an excellent deal on a flight to Tokyo, but all the return flights were substantially more expensive and we did not like the schedule.  So, on the spur of the moment, I decided to only book one-way air and add another 14 day HAL cruise (repositioning) instead of flying :).  No way our cruise agent would have done that.

 

Hank

[iancal]

We do the same.  Moreover, often when going to Europe we find that we can sometimes save a money and experience more by selecting an alternate gateway.  Plus, we typically spend some time in an area that we had non planned on.  

 

Last time we were on a Med cruise starting in Civ we picked up a rock bottom one way direct air from Toronto to Porto, Portugal.  We decided to spend a week driving in the Duoro, then picked up an LC fare to Rome.   

 

We liked the area so much we plan to return.  Had it not been for a change in gateway city and a different fare we might not have visited.

 

 Exact same for our last trip to Greece.   It was more attractive for us to fly to Cyprus, then fly to London to catch a direct fare home than it was to fly home through Athens or London, etc.  And we got to spend two weeks in Cyprus where we had never been before.

 

When it comes to air fares, routings, and airlines we never take anything for granted.  Itmatrix, Google air, Skyskanner and in country airline web sites are our first go to places for air.  Very, very infrequently expedia will have discounted air.

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by iancal

[Hlitner]

Another example of why we do our own air.  Yesterday when we we looking for the best deal on a one-way flight from the East Coast to Tokyo (lay flat Biz Class) the best pricing (from several gateways) on EZAIR was using some British Air Flights.  Those in the know about Biz Class understand that British Air has among the worst Biz Class seats in the skies.  On most of their aircraft they pack folks in like sardines with about half the seats facing backwards.  But while I was doing my own research and looking at tons of options I noticed that the British Air flight out of Dulles was using one of their newest 787s which has been fitted with decent reverse herringbone seating.  So while we would not normally book that airline we were fine booking that particular aircraft.  This is the kind of thing that most cruise agents would not notice (unless they were true experts on air).

 

Before anyone flames me and thinks this is silly, keep in mind that Biz Class is very expensive and varies greatly between different airlines and even different aircraft.  While a seat issue might be a big nothing on a 4 hour flight, when you are flying for 15 hours + that kind of thing is the difference between being comfy and arriving refreshed...or being miserable.  I am ole as dirt and do not like miserable!

 

Hank

[Mary229]

There is something to be said about gateways.   I check also.  Airport fees vary immensely particularly  for an international flight.  Here is a list of the cheapest and most expensive airports in the US and similar lists can be found for other countries.   The difference between LHR and AMS can be $400 or more  per one way business class ticket 

 

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/most-and-least-expensive-us-airports/

Edited June 4, 2021 by Mary229