Flight Ease Questions

[Voyageur de l'océan]

On 5/21/2022 at 12:23 PM, Roz said:

I've spent hours pouring over travel and airline websites trying to find the best flight for my South America cruise next March.  I need a one-way flight from Nashville to Buenos Aires with only one stop.  

 

I've never used HAL's Flight Ease but I started there.  Economy seats are in the $593 - $727 range, Premium Economy is $922 - $1,050, and Business is $2,425 - $2,345 😲.  I've seen posts here on CC where people said they got Business class seats thru Flight Ease for about the same price as Economy.  Where are they finding these fares?  

 

I'm going with Premium Economy.  When I priced the flight on United's website, it was about $40 more, so not a whole lot of savings.  Before I book with Flight Ease, I want to know what this means on the HAL website:

 

Prices and availability are not guaranteed until the cruise and air booking are paid in full. 

 

Does that mean the fare can go up until Dec. 10 when final payment is due?  Or that I may not even have a seat when I make final payment?   If either of these is the case, why would someone risk booking with Flight Ease?  Color me confused. 🤪  Should I just book directly with United?

 

Any first hand experiences with Flight Ease are appreciated.

I've booked flights for two previous cruises through HAL and all was good.
For my upcoming cruise, I also booked my flights through HAL.
I requested non-stop flights, which was what was confirmed.
However, several weeks later I received an email informing me that my flights had changed.
The flight to the cruise departure city was originally six-hours long and now it is 14-hours long, with a five-hour layover. On top of that, the best connecting train to the departure airport now arrives five-hours before the flight's departure
I called Flight Ease twice, and told them that I wouldn't have booked a flight with a stopover.
But, both the agents said that I'd have to pay full-price for any new flight.
I'm dreading the trip.
 

[CT D&N]

On 5/23/2022 at 1:57 PM, Laminator said:

From what I am reading here lately it seems like the non payment situation is happening more and more. And it appears the issue arises at the 30 day mark. I am not familiar with WestJet but I realized there was an issue when I saw the seats that I chose on my flights became available. Then i checked and found my reservations for the flights were gone from my United account. If you were able to choose seats that is how I would check. If you see those seats available you are probably going to have to jump through some hoops. 

I had the exact same experience a couple weeks ago when I hit the 30 day mark (I also found this out when I noticed my seats were showing as available on the Delta website!).  I called Flight Ease and after several hours they were able to negotiate with Delta to reinstate my reservation and fortunately at the same price.  I questioned Flight Ease as to why my original booking was cancelled and could not get a direct answer (I suspect Flight Ease for whatever reason just didn't pay the airline for my seats within a specified time window and the airline automatically canceled the reservation).  I'll continue to use Flight Ease going forward only when they are able to offer a significant savings compared to what I could book direct myself (for this flight and one previous flight, using Flight Ease did save me a significant amount of money).  However, I'll closely monitor my flight reservation and I'll call Flight Ease directly after making final payment and request that my flights be ticketed.

[Voyageur de l'océan]

On 5/17/2023 at 8:04 PM, Voyageur de l'océan said:

I've booked flights for two previous cruises through HAL and all was good.
For my upcoming cruise, I also booked my flights through HAL.
I requested non-stop flights, which was what was confirmed.
However, several weeks later I received an email informing me that my flights had changed.
The flight to the cruise departure city was originally six-hours long and now it is 14-hours long, with a five-hour layover. On top of that, the best connecting train to the departure airport now arrives five-hours before the flight's departure
I called Flight Ease twice, and told them that I wouldn't have booked a flight with a stopover.
But, both the agents said that I'd have to pay full-price for any new flight.
I'm dreading the trip.
 

I suggest that anyone considering booking using HAL Flight Ease consider carefully what it states on the Flight Ease page: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq.transportation.what-is-flight-ease.html
"Airline Schedule Changes Airline bookings are subject to flight schedule changes by the airlines. Schedule changes can occur at any time and may affect your flights. Holland America Line is not responsible for airline schedule changes. Holland America Line will assist guests affected by airline schedule changes so that flights booked will meet ship embarkation and disembarkation requirements. Any associated costs related to or caused by an airline schedule change is the responsibility of the guest."

[Mary229]

56 minutes ago, Voyageur de l'océan said:

I suggest that anyone considering booking using HAL Flight Ease consider carefully what it states on the Flight Ease page: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq.transportation.what-is-flight-ease.html
"Airline Schedule Changes Airline bookings are subject to flight schedule changes by the airlines. Schedule changes can occur at any time and may affect your flights. Holland America Line is not responsible for airline schedule changes. Holland America Line will assist guests affected by airline schedule changes so that flights booked will meet ship embarkation and disembarkation requirements. Any associated costs related to or caused by an airline schedule change is the responsibility of the guest."

This should be posted on every flight ease thread.  People have lofty expectations of HAL’s responsibilities regarding flights. 

[Voyageur de l'océan]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

This should be posted on every flight ease thread.  People have lofty expectations of HAL’s responsibilities regarding flights. 

But the story has a happy ending. I had received a notice from HAL that the direct seven-hour flight I'd originally booked had been changed by the airline to a one-stop flight that would take me 20 hours, with the connecting train to the airport. I called HAL Flight Ease three times and, each time, they said I'd lose the cost of the original flights if they made any change. So, today I called the airline, even though on their site it states that if flights are booked by another company then to call that company.
However, the airline, Delta, did change my flight, without any fee.

[alwaysfrantic]

On 5/17/2023 at 8:04 PM, Voyageur de l'océan said:

I've booked flights for two previous cruises through HAL and all was good.
For my upcoming cruise, I also booked my flights through HAL.
I requested non-stop flights, which was what was confirmed.
However, several weeks later I received an email informing me that my flights had changed.
The flight to the cruise departure city was originally six-hours long and now it is 14-hours long, with a five-hour layover. On top of that, the best connecting train to the departure airport now arrives five-hours before the flight's departure
I called Flight Ease twice, and told them that I wouldn't have booked a flight with a stopover.
But, both the agents said that I'd have to pay full-price for any new flight.
I'm dreading the trip.
 

And if you’d booked the same flight with the airline directly you could have changed to a more acceptable flight for no charge.  Your example makes me think I will just do air myself always 

[Voyageur de l'océan]

12 minutes ago, alwaysfrantic said:

And if you’d booked the same flight with the airline directly you could have changed to a more acceptable flight for no charge.  Your example makes me think I will just do air myself always 

But, the story has a happy ending (which I also posted on another thread.) Even though on the airline's site it states that if you booked through another agent that you have to contact that agent to change any flight, I called the airline, Delta, anyway. They changed the flight without charge.

[Mary229]

33 minutes ago, Voyageur de l'océan said:

But, the story has a happy ending (which I also posted on another thread.) Even though on the airline's site it states that if you booked through another agent that you have to contact that agent to change any flight, I called the airline, Delta, anyway. They changed the flight without charge.

@alwaysfranticis correct.  Once ticketed, if there is a substantial change , a US domestic flight can be changed free of charge directly with the airline.  I have changed my flight ease tickets when this has happened.  I just call the airline, use the app or deal with it at check in if it was a last minute change.  There is no point being on hold with flight ease.  If I recall HAL recently contacted with a new company for flights and the agents don’t seem to be as well informed.  

[jpnjh]

Our first HAL cruise and use of FlightEase. We leave end of September and fly home Nov 26. On contacting FlightEase, they indicated that the airline would receive payment October 5 while we are at sea. I am concerned that if there is an issue it would be difficult to resolve.  Should I request early ticketing for our flight home? Is there a downside to doing this?

Thanks.

[Mary229]

4 hours ago, jpnjh said:

Our first HAL cruise and use of FlightEase. We leave end of September and fly home Nov 26. On contacting FlightEase, they indicated that the airline would receive payment October 5 while we are at sea. I am concerned that if there is an issue it would be difficult to resolve.  Should I request early ticketing for our flight home? Is there a downside to doing this?

Thanks.

I researched this question last week as I was past final payment.  I could find no answers that said there was a downside so I went ahead.  I look forward to some fresh opinions.