Princess EZAir not customer friendly

[Pokey2]

On February 28th we purchased and paid in full our cruise for June 5th to 12th 2022 to Alaska for our family group of 7, including airfare with EZAir.  We chose nonstop flights for all from Columbus Ohio to Seattle Washington on Alaska airlines.  Two members of our family had no problem and received the flights as purchased.  May 3rd we found out that the remainder of the group did not have flights and had to call customer service to have EZAir purchase the flights that we had already paid in full.  Three of our family received the nonstop flights as requested and the last 2 received one non stop flight and on return a flight with one stop and arriving in Columbus after midnight.    I called diligently every week for assistance with promises that my request would be taken care of and even checked the airlines to make sure there were available seats on those flights.  With one week prior to my flights on my last call they indicated that it was too late to change anything and if they tried I would loose the one nonstop flight I did have.   They never once called to let me know there was any problems or anything they had done.  They never once acknowledged how their lack of completing our reservation negatively impacted our trip.   We had no follow through from EZAir or Princess indicating how little they care about their customers.  

 

I will never use or recommend EZAir to anyone!   If you do purchase your flights through them customer beware!   They do not care what flight they put you on and they will not inform you what they have done.  In addition it does not seem that they value you as a customer!

[rkacruiser]

Welcome to Cruise Critic new member Pokey2!  

16 hours ago, Pokey2 said:

we purchased and paid in full our cruise for June 5th to 12th 2022 to Alaska for our family group of 7, including airfare with EZAir.

 

I am sorry that you have had this disappointing experience.  I wonder if you had used a travel agent to make your reservations that your experience might have been better and less stressful.

 

On which Princess ship did your group sail?  I hope all enjoyed their cruise.  

[klfrodo]

Sorry you had this problem.

However, since EZAir is a consolidator, it's possible they didn't have enough allotted slots to place all 7 on the same flight.

[6rugrats]

Agree with klfrodo.  Maybe consider booking directly with the airline next time, so you can choose the flights you want.  This was a simple domestic booking, so it would be fairly easy to do.

[Rick&Jeannie]

I've learned my lesson!  It didn't happen to be Princess (it was NCL) but they do the same thing with a consolidator.  I'm savvy enough to do my own booking...I do not let myself get swayed by those "really low fares" that are shown.  They are NEVER the type of seating/class that I would book myself...and they REFUSED to talk to me about changes.

[Pokey2]

On 7/4/2022 at 4:03 PM, rkacruiser said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic new member Pokey2!  

 

I am sorry that you have had this disappointing experience.  I wonder if you had used a travel agent to make your reservations that your experience might have been better and less stressful.

 

On which Princess ship did your group sail?  I hope all enjoyed their cruise.  

We did use a travel agent for the cruise but added the flights prior to our final payment.  Discovery Princess was the ship we sailed on.

[Pokey2]

On 7/4/2022 at 6:38 PM, klfrodo said:

Sorry you had this problem.

However, since EZAir is a consolidator, it's possible they didn't have enough allotted slots to place all 7 on the same flight.

The slots were available when we booked but by the time Princess followed through with our request they were not.  Which was part of my complaint the timeliness of their follow through.

[roysue]

I thought I'd share my Flights By Celebrity experience.  I booked a cruise many months ago on Celebrity and included theflights.  Flights were on Delta as we have free baggage with them.  Delta canceled out 10am departure flight and rescheduled  us for a 12:20pm departure.  They also cancelled our return and rescheduled us for a 5:30 departure.   I called FBC to see what I could do.  Delta was advertising an outbound for 7am so i asked to switched to that.  They told me that since I was posting payment, they have no obligation to help me.  The offered me a "one-time courtesy change" but here's the rub - they could cancel me current flights and rebook at a rate 3x what I actually paid, or submit my request directly to Delta and allow 30 business days to hear back.  Yikes!  If I had booked directly with Delta, I could have made those changes directly with them at no charge, since they cancelled my original flights.  I'm not sure I will use FBC again.  The plusses did not out-weigh the benefits on this cruise.  🤔

 

 

 

[iancal]

We tried Princess air.  Our experience was not great and we never did buy.   We were trying for one way one from Sydney but a month after disembarkment.   

 

The other issue...was when we wanted to return to an airport that was not our home airport.  We have done this with RCI and Celebrity air.  Not able to the one time we tried on Princess air.   Princess made it so difficult compared to the ease of shopping and booking on RCI/Celebrity air.  Not certain why this was.

 

Not certain why this was.  We were able, in each instance, to get what we wanted at a good price, on our own.

Edited July 13, 2022 by iancal

[klfrodo]

I’ve been on this board since it was an AOL chat room.

I remember a story where an elderly lady purchased her air travel thru the cruise line such as we are speaking of. I believe the flight was on Delta.

The plane left LAX but had to divert to Kansas City. She missed her cruise by days because while all the other passengers were rebooked on other airlines or flights, the Terms and Conditions of her flight didn’t allow Delta to rebook her on anything but Delta flight xxx. If Delta had a flight going to her destination but the flight was on DL zzz, they couldn’t put her on it.

Have no idea how it was finally resolved.

This was years ago.

[Bo1953]

40 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

I’ve been on this board since it was an AOL chat room.

I remember a story where an elderly lady purchased her air travel thru the cruise line such as we are speaking of. I believe the flight was on Delta.

The plane left LAX but had to divert to Kansas City. She missed her cruise by days because while all the other passengers were rebooked on other airlines or flights, the Terms and Conditions of her flight didn’t allow Delta to rebook her on anything but Delta flight xxx. If Delta had a flight going to her destination but the flight was on DL zzz, they couldn’t put her on it.

Have no idea how it was finally resolved.

This was years ago.

She is still in MCI waiting to either go on her long sailed cruise or get back home on DL... LOL

 

bon voyage

[Ombud]

I have had 2 issues with Princess EZAIR.  (1) AA resolved (2) Return from MAI to SFO had me changing planes in Dallas but I only had 30 minutes to deplane / catch 2nd flight. Told Cruise Vacation Planner (CVP) that was unacceptable after landing in FLL. By the time I got to baggage claim she had resolved by putting me on a nonstop return. 

 

My suggestion: put flight issues on your CVP or TA. Isn't problem resolution why ppl use them?

[love2travel_6674]

We have previously used EZAir with no problem. This time has been a nightmare. We are booked on a cruise to Alaska next month with Princess. We used EZAir to purchase our flights. On Wednesday, I received an email that our flights had changed and we were now booked on Delta instead of American returning home. I found this strange but didn't have time to call them. When I called yesterday, my original flights were reinstated but my husband and I no longer had seats next to one another. For a 6.5 hour flight, that's not acceptable, particularly since I had selected our seats months ago. First class is full so there is no way we can select seats next to one another. We called the airline, who blamed Princess and said they couldn't help and then called Princess who said they can't help us and blamed American. To be honest, Princess was at least friendly, whereas the "customer service" rep from American YELLED at us and was absolutely horrible.

[FlyerTalker]

1 minute ago, love2travel_6674 said:

but my husband and I no longer had seats next to one another. For a 6.5 hour flight, that's not acceptable, particularly since I had selected our seats months ago.

 

Seat requests are never guaranteed.  Sorry that you won't sit next to each other.....first world problem.

 

2 minutes ago, love2travel_6674 said:

First class is full so there is no way we can select seats next to one another.

 

And of course you will expect the airline to move someone else so that you can be accommodated, right?  Thought problem - what would you say if YOU were moved from your preferred seat?

 

4 minutes ago, love2travel_6674 said:

We called the airline, who blamed Princess and said they couldn't help

 

Probably because you have consolidator tickets that were sold to Princess.

 

 

 

[6rugrats]

Every day I am really puzzled about how little the average pax understands about air travel and how it works.  Your seat reservation is always just a request; it's never a guarantee. 

Not sure why one would book a ticket from TN to AK through cruise air.  It's an easy booking and you would have control of the airline and routing.

If you book through a third party, that third party is responsible for helping you now, not the airline.  You are the third party's customer.

I am not sure what happened with your transaction with the AA agent, but watching many transactions at my workplace, I note people usually cry "rude" when they mean "I didn't get what I wanted."   I would be curious as to why a CSR would "yell."

In any case, this is hardly the stuff of "nightmares."  It is simply inconvenient.  Hope you get it worked out.

Edited July 16, 2022 by 6rugrats

[FlyerTalker]

44 minutes ago, 6rugrats said:

Every day I am really puzzled about how little the average pax understands about air travel and how it works.

 

And they have no desire to actually learn.  They will research and analyze a purchase of a TV or a tablet or similar for weeks prior, but air travel remains left to the vagaries of believing some vague marketing hype.

 

[love2travel_6674]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

And they have no desire to actually learn.  They will research and analyze a purchase of a TV or a tablet or similar for weeks prior, but air travel remains left to the vagaries of believing some vague marketing hype.

 

You seem like you're doing great.

[FlyerTalker]

46 minutes ago, love2travel_6674 said:

You seem like you're doing great.

 

Several million BIS miles have provided a world of education -- that I try to pass on for those who want to learn.

 

 

[epixx]

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Several million BIS miles have provided a world of education -- that I try to pass on for those who want to learn.

 

 

And I would like to thank you very much for that!  I have learned a lot.  Please keep posting and educating those of us who are eager to learn

[Earthworm Jim]

On 7/16/2022 at 1:26 PM, 6rugrats said:

Not sure why one would book a ticket from TN to AK through cruise air.  It's an easy booking and you would have control of the airline and routing.

 

One reason might be that you don't have to pay until cruise final payment.  You could just wait until that late to book your flights from the airline I guess, but then you may pay higher prices than you would had you booked earlier. Also payment is fully refundable until 54 days in advance through EZAir, which airlines may not offer on their cheaper fares. Those aren't necessarily good enough reasons, but they are reasons.

 

EZAir screwed up the names for my flights. Say I registered for the cruise as Mr. John James Public, which is like what my passport reads. Princess booked the flights with United as First Name: Johnjamesmr, Last name: Public.

 

I'm not sure if United will even let me fly with my first name showing as a combination of my first and middle name then title, all without spaces. I can't find a way to correct it though. They did the same thing with my wife's first name, Janesusanmrs for example.

 

 

[6rugrats]

Your name as listed has nothing to do with EZAir.  It’s the way UA’s system runs the names together with your title.  You can’t “correct” it.  I see this every day, it won’t be a problem.

[Globaliser]

 

5 hours ago, 6rugrats said:

14 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

EZAir screwed up the names for my flights. Say I registered for the cruise as Mr. John James Public, which is like what my passport reads. Princess booked the flights with United as First Name: Johnjamesmr, Last name: Public.

 

I'm not sure if United will even let me fly with my first name showing as a combination of my first and middle name then title, all without spaces. I can't find a way to correct it though. They did the same thing with my wife's first name, Janesusanmrs for example.

 

Your name as listed has nothing to do with EZAir.  It’s the way UA’s system runs the names together with your title.  You can’t “correct” it.  I see this every day, it won’t be a problem.

 

And not just UA's system, either. This is basically how airlines do it. It's cleaner if you book without using middle names (the airlines don't care about that, either) - but when someone else is booking for you, you may not have the luxury of insisting on it.

[vjmatty]

On 7/16/2022 at 3:24 PM, love2travel_6674 said:

You seem like you're doing great.

 

She has probably spent more time in the air than most of us have at sea.

[vjmatty]

On 7/16/2022 at 9:33 AM, FlyerTalker said:

 

Seat requests are never guaranteed.  Sorry that you won't sit next to each other.....first world problem.

 

 

And of course you will expect the airline to move someone else so that you can be accommodated, right?  Thought problem - what would you say if YOU were moved from your preferred seat?

 

 

Probably because you have consolidator tickets that were sold to Princess.

 

 

 

 

To be fair, this entire website is about first world problems, isn't it?  😉

 

While I never book cruiseline airfare because I am afraid of the uncertainty in replacing a canceled flight, I remember thinking during the pandemic that maybe in this crazy world right now it was the right thing to do given all of the last minute and not-so-last-minute cancellations of cruises.  Then I read half a dozen posts about how EZ Air and the others didn't get them to the ship on time, and still say never.

[cbmorg]

On 7/18/2022 at 8:34 PM, Earthworm Jim said:

 

 

EZAir screwed up the names for my flights. Say I registered for the cruise as Mr. John James Public, which is like what my passport reads. Princess booked the flights with United as First Name: Johnjamesmr, Last name: Public.

 

I'm not sure if United will even let me fly with my first name showing as a combination of my first and middle name then title, all without spaces. I can't find a way to correct it though. They did the same thing with my wife's first name, Janesusanmrs for example.

 

 

We booked flights from US to Canada for an Alaska cruise using Chase Sapphire card points.  Both airlines show our names with the first & middle names merged and the middle name field empty, as in  Earthworm Jim's example.   Except for the missing space between first & middle names, the names are spelled correctly.  But our passports show our names correctly, first, middle, and last names separately).

 

Will this cause a problem at the TSA check point and/or prevent us from using TSA pre check?  (I emailed TSA and got the response that this was an issue we have to resolve with the airline).