EZ-Air Airline Canceled Booking, Rebooked Fare Increased $1,200

[kjg46]

I received this notice from EZ Air yesterday. I called Princess and was advised that our entire air reservation from Houston-Rome return Athens-Houston

was cancelled by the airlines (United) Air Canada operator. I was advised that we had to re book our air flights. So we did, I did, I selected the same flights and was rewarded with a $1,200 fare increase over my original EZ Air booking. I am not sure how much Princess had to do with the price increase or of it was a way for the airline to increase fares. 

We rebooked our flights using airline miles for half of our trip and EZ Air for the return. This way we avoided  the  additional out-of-pocket fare increase.

 

I was wondering if anyone else has had this same problem.

 

 

AIR UPDATE - NEW FLIGHTS REQUIRED

ACTION REQUIRED - Select New Flights The airline made a major schedule change to your booked flights and they no longer meet our guidelines for arrival at the embarkation city's airport and/or departure from the disembarkation city's airport. We apologize for the inconvenience. Finding new flights is simple: 1. Login to Cruise Personalizer at www.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer 2. Click on the Travel tab.   New flights are required for the following guests:

[Coral]

I would have tried to call Princess and speak with EZ Air to see if they would have found flights and honored the original price. I don't know if they would have or not but I would have at least tried.

[Mud_Shark]

Been there, done that.  There was a day when EZ air was a great way to book and hold your reservations without locking them in until 45 days prior.  But when a similar thing happened to me, I decided to go back to buying my air upfront from an online 3rd party.  That way, last year, when my flights were cancelled several times over the course of a few months, the airline simply moved us over to other acceptable flights at no charge.  Worked out fine.

 

Turbulent times for travel industry.  

[Cruise Raider]

I had that happen to me when they canceled my outbound flight earlier this year.  My travel agent fought for me and got the flights resinated at the original price,  

[gottagocit]

In July we went to Tanzania for an incredible photo safari. We’d wanted to do this trip for years. In early 2021 we decided we were finally going. I began watching airline rates and shopping for a good safari company. At that time airlines were begging people to fly and one day in August I stumbled on an unbelievable deal on a large online booking site.
 

I immediately called the other couple who were planning to go with us and all agree it was too good to pass up. I quickly purchased 4 tickets for around 1/3 of what we’d been seeing airfare over years of considering the trip.  This was almost exactly 11 months prior to our trip dates. The next day the fare was 2 times what we paid. 
 

Over the next 11 months our flights changed too many time to count. We were booked on 3 different airlines and in that time Qatar cancelled their legs twice, once rebooking us on the day before our connecting flights. American also cancelled theirs two times. By regularly checking our reservations we usually discovered the change within a few days. Our flight times also changed countless times. 
 

Each time I spent 1-2 hours on the phone, often also waiting on call backs from the online company while they try to resolved the issue. 
 

By remaining calm but persistent each time they or the offending airlines agreed to honor the original rates even when the new fares were 2-3 times more than we had paid. I have not doubt the hoped we would simply accept the newer fares and give up. I’m not wired that way and with the help of the patent agents we worked with we managed to keep the great fare we had and made the trip although arrival was a day earlier than originally planned due to flight changes. That did give us a rest day after a 26 hour travel day to get there which was actually a blessing. 
 

You’ll have to be diligent and insist the previous rates be honored but I imagine either Ezair or the airline will do the right thing if you stay on them. 
 

Good luck 

Edited December 28, 2022 by gottagocit

[azbirdmom]

From the routing you mentioned, I gather that this is a cruise more than 90 days from now and that you hadn't paid for the flights yet.  Basically it is just a "hold" in the system and not ticketed until you pay for it.  And if the flights cancel while it is on hold, all bets are off and you have to start over at the going rate.  If it was paid / ticketed they would have had to work to find other alternatives for you at no change in fare.  But what you experienced is definitely a risk that you run by using the flexible EZAir option.

[beg3yrs]

I completely understand that it's not always possible to fly in a day or two before your cruise departs but this situation illustrates yet another risk of flying in on the day the cruise departs.

 

Personally before this I had only considered the possibility of delayed flights causing one to miss the ship. Now here's another reason to try and arrive a day or two early. If the airline changes its schedule, you've got plenty of flexibility.

 

[Coral]

57 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

From the routing you mentioned, I gather that this is a cruise more than 90 days from now and that you hadn't paid for the flights yet.  Basically it is just a "hold" in the system and not ticketed until you pay for it.  And if the flights cancel while it is on hold, all bets are off and you have to start over at the going rate.  If it was paid / ticketed they would have had to work to find other alternatives for you at no change in fare.  But what you experienced is definitely a risk that you run by using the flexible EZAir option.

There are definitely issues to consider if you "ticket the flights early". Princess insurance doesn't treat air the same as if it was flexible and will not reimburse you incase of illness with restricted air (becomes restricted once you pay for it). Make sure you have 3rd party insurance or you will have a credit with the airlines that must be used with the cruise lines for air in the future. Found this out the hard way.

[milolii]

11 minutes ago, Coral said:

There are definitely issues to consider if you "ticket the flights early". Princess insurance doesn't treat air the same as if it was flexible and will not reimburse you incase of illness with restricted air (becomes restricted once you pay for it). Make sure you have 3rd party insurance or you will have a credit with the airlines that must be used with the cruise lines for air in the future. Found this out the hard way.

Thanks for this tip.  I am looking at ticketing my  flight in January.  I have insurance with tripinsurancestore (IMG) anyway and will add it to my coverage then.  Too a bad you  discovered  the hard way.  

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, milolii said:

Thanks for this tip.  I am looking at ticketing my  flight in January.  I have insurance with tripinsurancestore (IMG) anyway and will add it to my coverage then.  Too a bad you  discovered  the hard way.  

I actually did have backup insurance (as I don't think Princess's medical is enough). It just took months to file with one and then months to file with the other one to get my money back. It all worked out. Though I did learn a lesson and it took a long time to find out from Princess why Aon did not pay for air (Aon couldn't tell me why and directed me back to Princess).

Edited December 28, 2022 by Coral

[azbirdmom]

21 minutes ago, Coral said:

There are definitely issues to consider if you "ticket the flights early". Princess insurance doesn't treat air the same as if it was flexible and will not reimburse you incase of illness with restricted air (becomes restricted once you pay for it). Make sure you have 3rd party insurance or you will have a credit with the airlines that must be used with the cruise lines for air in the future. Found this out the hard way.

 

Yes, I am aware of what happens with early EZAir ticketing.  Which is why I've been shying away from using them since the restart of cruising and I've been booking directly with United.  If I cancel the flights I will at least have a credit to use at a later date whereas it would be a royal pain to deal with EZAir.  But back to my earlier post...  I was merely explaining why this happened to the OP, not advocating that they ticket early as there certainly are multiple pros and cons that one needs to consider when they do that.

[PacnGoNow]

24 minutes ago, Coral said:

There are definitely issues to consider if you "ticket the flights early". Princess insurance doesn't treat air the same as if it was flexible and will not reimburse you incase of illness with restricted air (becomes restricted once you pay for it). Make sure you have 3rd party insurance or you will have a credit with the airlines that must be used with the cruise lines for air in the future. Found this out the hard way.

Are you saying if you don’t ticket early, just waiting until EZair tickets it… then the PVP insurance will refund the air fare,  if you have to cancel?  Medical or CFAR?

TIA

[Coral]

1 minute ago, PacnGoNow said:

Are you saying if you don’t ticket early, just waiting until EZair tickets it… then the PVP insurance will refund the air fare,  if you have to cancel?  Medical or CFAR?

TIA

Yes for medical. I have no idea how CFAR works in regards to air.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Coral

[milolii]

12 minutes ago, Coral said:

I actually did have backup insurance (as I don't think Princess's medical is enough). It just took months to file with one and then months to file with the other one to get my money back. It all worked out. Though I did learn a lesson and it took a long time to find out from Princess why Aon did not pay for air (Aon couldn't tell me why and directed me back to Princess).

I have never had Princess insurance and always used Tripinsurancestore after reading reviews here.  We did submit a claim in June as I caught CoVID in Scotland (land trip) and was happy with my reimbursement, which I received in July.  So about a month turnaround.  
 

But I am now going to send my agent an email about EZ Air after thinking about this. She has told me before you can insure the air or take the credit from the airline.  But the scenario you describe is a bit different.  Thanks again. 

[Coral]

18 minutes ago, milolii said:

 

But I am now going to send my agent an email about EZ Air after thinking about this. She has told me before you can insure the air or take the credit from the airline.  But the scenario you describe is a bit different.  Thanks again. 

The scenario I mention is only if you ticket the air sooner or buy restricted air.

[milolii]

Yes, I plan to purchase the ticket in January, so I will clarify all this with my agent before I buy the ticket and request early ticketing. 

Edited December 28, 2022 by milolii

[tillys mom]

My EZAIR flight with New Zealand Air was canceled by the airline, and everything else was much more expensive. I called EZAIR and was persistent until they found me an acceptable flight on United at the original price. Not sure if it’s too late for you to call, but it is worth trying.

Good Luck!

[PacnGoNow]

31 minutes ago, milolii said:

Yes, I plan to purchase the ticket in January, so I will clarify all this with my agent before I buy the ticket and request early ticketing. 

Please keep us posted, as to what you learn about the early ticketing in Jan.

[PacnGoNow]

32 minutes ago, tillys mom said:

My EZAIR flight with New Zealand Air was canceled by the airline, and everything else was much more expensive. I called EZAIR and was persistent until they found me an acceptable flight on United at the original price. Not sure if it’s too late for you to call, but it is worth trying.

Good Luck!

Were you ticketed yet, when your flight was cancelled and rebooked?

[mjmalino]

That is interesting. We are doing a S. American cruise in February and purchased flexible air through EZ Air back in March, when the flights became available. Our flights have changed multiple times since then, either because the flight time changed, or one or more of our flights were cancelled. Each time, we were given new flights,  without  additional fare.

[tillys mom]

15 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Were you ticketed yet, when your flight was cancelled and rebooked?

No, and will not be until end of January. I am staying flexible as long as possible hoping for business class with points to show up.

[Coral]

12 hours ago, mjmalino said:

That is interesting. We are doing a S. American cruise in February and purchased flexible air through EZ Air back in March, when the flights became available. Our flights have changed multiple times since then, either because the flight time changed, or one or more of our flights were cancelled. Each time, we were given new flights,  without  additional fare.

Sometimes flights change drastically or airlines drop cities and that is when substitutes are often not available. 

[mjmalino]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

Sometimes flights change drastically or airlines drop cities and that is when substitutes are often not available. 

That is a good point.

[westcoaster]

I've had EZ Air changes a few times in the past year due to airline schedule changes.  If I wasn't given new flights, or if I wasn't happy with the new flights offered, I've been able to talk directly to EZ Air and get flights I was satisfied with.  The original fare was protected in all cases.  This has been the case whether the flights had been ticketed or not.

[PacnGoNow]

12 minutes ago, westcoaster said:

I've had EZ Air changes a few times in the past year due to airline schedule changes.  If I wasn't given new flights, or if I wasn't happy with the new flights offered, I've been able to talk directly to EZ Air and get flights I was satisfied with.  The original fare was protected in all cases.  This has been the case whether the flights had been ticketed or not.

And that’s the way it should work.