When to book airfare with FlightEase

[CRu1853!!]

Hello all, just wondering how far out you would book your airfare through FlightEase? We are going on the May 2022 NA cruise from Whittier to Vancouver and will be flying cross country. I have been on the site just checking on things but would like any opinions you all have.

Thanks.

[kazu]

I would have booked it by now 😉

As long as you book “Flexible” option, it doesn’t have to be paid until final payment and if you find a better option you can cancel as long as you are outside of the penalty phase.

 

There are usually only a few seats on each flight so the sooner you book, the better your options, generally speaking.  At least that’s my experience.

[CRu1853!!]

Jacque, thanks for the info.

[Cleckie]

Just wondering about flightease.  Can you book business class or coach only? 

[dobiemom]

56 minutes ago, Cleckie said:

Just wondering about flightease.  Can you book business class or coach only? 

I’m pretty sure you can book whatever class you want (my TA helped me). I booked first class and business class, departing from one airport and coming home to another. 

[vicd1969]

6 hours ago, CRu1853!! said:

Hello all, just wondering how far out you would book your airfare through FlightEase? We are going on the May 2022 NA cruise from Whittier to Vancouver and will be flying cross country. I have been on the site just checking on things but would like any opinions you all have.

Thanks.

Up to 330 days out from your sailing. As mentioned previously, the sooner the better if you are doing flexfare bookings. Then you can always change at no cost when a cheaper option appears. However, the savings on US/Canada domestics usually don't seem as significant as international airfare bookings on FlightEase when compared to mainstream air booking sites.

[richwmn]

12 minutes ago, vicd1969 said:

Up to 330 days out from your sailing.

Just a slight correction. It is 330 days before the date of your return flight, which does not necessarily need to be the day you disembark the ship.

 

[Hlitner]

I agree with Kazu that with Flightease it makes sense to book ASAP (which means now) using the Flex Air option.  You do not have to pay any deposit and you have flexibility to cancel or change right up until you pay for the air (which is often around the final payment time).   And to answer the other question, Flightease  with all classes of airline travel assuming that it is part of the deal with the cruise lines.  We generally book Business or First Class on longer flights and only consider Economy on shorter domestic flights.  I would add that the Business Class fares on Flightease are sometimes fantastic.  We are about to book a 1 one Business Class fare from Europe to the USA that will cost about $1000 on Flightease.  That same fare booking on the airline's own site (with normal fares) is nearly $5000.

 

Hank

[iancal]

There is never a downside to booking air, or a cruise for that matter, if you have the flexibility to cancel without penalty.

 

Your bet is coved.  If fares increase  you win.  If they decrease (or if you shop a better routing), you keep rebooking until such time that you have to lock in or you want to lock in.

Edited October 29, 2021 by iancal

[CRu1853!!]

Thanks to everyone for the advise. Are all available flights and airlines listed online at HAL or can the PCC and/or FlightEase staff see more?

[Hlitner]

12 hours ago, CRu1853!! said:

Thanks to everyone for the advise. Are all available flights and airlines listed online at HAL or can the PCC and/or FlightEase staff see more?

That is a good question for which we were told (about two years ago) that all the contracted flights do show on the online site.  But you might want to call HAL and ask if this is still the case since so many things have changed during the COVID shutdown.   Just a suggestion when using the Online site that you do have the ability to change the departure/arrival airports in order to shop various options.   We have sometimes found big price differences if we simply use a different airport located in our part of the country.  I actually have a lot of fun looking at all the various options and carefully choosing the best airline and aircraft (this can be important to those of us flying Business Class or Premium Economy where there are big differences between aircraft).   I also try to avoid changing planes in certain airports (such as Heathrow and CDG) where a change can involve lots of hassles.

 

Hank

[trixiee]

If you are doing a "dummy Booking", can you also check pricing for Flight Ease at the same time?  I'm seeing higher airline pricing for a potential cruise I'm looking at booking.  

[StLouisCruisers]

10 minutes ago, trixiee said:

If you are doing a "dummy Booking", can you also check pricing for Flight Ease at the same time?  I'm seeing higher airline pricing for a potential cruise I'm looking at booking.  

 

Unfortunately, no you can't see flights when doing a dummy booking.  I used to do that when looking for flights on Princess and they had it available for dummy bookings.  Really helps to make a decision on a cruise sometimes.

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, trixiee said:

If you are doing a "dummy Booking", can you also check pricing for Flight Ease at the same time?  I'm seeing higher airline pricing for a potential cruise I'm looking at booking.  

Ok, I am going to share a secret but everyone shhhhhh....mumm is the word :).  While you cannot do a dummy air booking on the HAL site until you actually have a reservation number, you can see similar air prices on the Princess site without any reservation code.  Just go to Princess.com, find a cruise with the approximate dates and part of the world, and click on that cruise.   Once you find a cruise click on "Cruise Details"  and you will see "Flight Quotes" among the options on the next screen (its towards the right of the page).    Princess, HAL and Seabourn all use the same Flight booking system and usually (not always) have similar flights/pricing.  While that is not a guarantee that you will get exactly the same thing if you book a HAL cruise, it is more likely then not.

 

But remember, do not share this information with anyone!  🙂

 

Hank