Will using HAL to book our flight(s) save us money?

[Hlitner]

14 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

You might   look into Norwegian airlines . A couple of years ago I was looking at their prices for premium seating  & they were the best of all airlines

Yes, and PanAm also used to be great.  You need to keep up with the times.  Booking Norwegian for transatlantic is as likely as booking Sitmar or Renaissance for a cruise :).

 

The cruise, air and travel industries are all very dynamic and constantly in motion.  You either keep up or get left behind :).  Finding good deals on air these days is somewhat different than it was just a year ago.  We actually added a 2 week HAL cruise (Tokyo to Seattle) when we realized that Business Class air (from Tokyo) had become so expensive that it really made sense to pay for a 14 day cruise rather than the air back from Japan :).  What we saved by NOT booking that air actually subsidized most of the cost of the cruise (not to mention 14 days on HAL is better than 14 hours on a plane).

 

We have always had a lot of fun dealing with the challenge of finding the best value (note I said value...not cheap).  This often means being somewhat contrarian or taking some risk (like booking the new Explora Journeys cruise line when pricing was good).  I would expect, that for the next year there are again going to be some amazing last minute deals on various cruise lines partially due to overpricing on too many ships.  Hard to believe that Celebrity is sometimes getting nearly $1000 per passenger day (with packages making it all-inclusive)  for a relatively small Retreat Suite.  At the same time, one can book some cruises on lines like Seabourn, MSCs Yacht Club, etc. for far less.  A Realtor might use the term that some cruise pricing is truly "upside down."

 

Hank

 

 

[richstowe]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Yes, and PanAm also used to be great.

What's wrong with Pan Am ?

[FLCruiser97]

Conflicting answers....can you or can you not use air miles if you book with Flight Ease?

[DCThunder]

Just now, FLCruiser97 said:

Conflicting answers....can you or can you not use air miles if you book with Flight Ease?

I have been able to use miles to upgrade from premium economy to business on a flight booked through EZAir/Flight Ease, but only after ticketing and by dealing directly with United or American.  I'm not aware of any way to pay for the main ticket when booked through the cruise line, but maybe others know if this is possible.

[FLCruiser97]

2 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I have been able to use miles to upgrade from premium economy to business on a flight booked through EZAir/Flight Ease, but only after ticketing and by dealing directly with United or American.  I'm not aware of any way to pay for the main ticket when booked through the cruise line, but maybe others know if this is possible.

Thanks. I'll check this out when it comes time for me to book.

[Ready2go11]

I have been trying for a week to book a flight in October using flightease from BWI to Amsterdam, first online and then via phone. Although it says flights are available and they have a limited supply I keep getting errors saying purchase cannot be completed at this time. This message comes up after entering all of my information and trying to click on book. The same thing happened to the agent when I called on the phone.
 

They told me when the trip is more than 200 days out, they sometimes see this error and that I should try again when it’s less than 200 days. The fare is very good so I hope it is still available then. A little frustrating that they show flight options and let you get through all the screens only to have an error. 

[Hlitner]

43 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

I have been trying for a week to book a flight in October using flightease from BWI to Amsterdam, first online and then via phone. Although it says flights are available and they have a limited supply I keep getting errors saying purchase cannot be completed at this time. This message comes up after entering all of my information and trying to click on book. The same thing happened to the agent when I called on the phone.
 

They told me when the trip is more than 200 days out, they sometimes see this error and that I should try again when it’s less than 200 days. The fare is very good so I hope it is still available then. A little frustrating that they show flight options and let you get through all the screens only to have an error. 

In your situation I would simply call HAL.  The reservations clerks (who answer the phone) do have the ability to access the air options and if they cannot find a solution they can move you on to the real air experts (a third party company who handles Flightease).  Even if you book through a cruise/travel agent, the HAL folks will help you with Flightlease issues.

 

I do not buy the 200 day comment as Flightease is able to handle flights 330 days in advance (although it will usually default to 330 days from your debarkation date).  If they told you 200 days I would call back and politely be asked to be connected to a Flightease expert.  Also keep in mind that the best deals are usually capacity limited and contracts can change at any time.  So a deal that was not there last week, might be available this week.  

 

Hank

 

 

[Ready2go11]

Thank you for the advice but i already tried both. I started with the HAL reservation line listed on the web page for help. They received the same error after entering all the info) and then gave me the number for FlightEase. I called that with the same result and they are the ones who told me about the 200 day “tip.”

 

i will likely just go straight to the airline; in this case IcelandAir. Flightease was slightly cheaper but luggage not an issue so I would rather lock in to a price 

[fellswoop]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:35 AM, FlorenceItaly said:

For Business Class(Polaris) I do not think it can be beat.  We booked a one way June Polaris BC ticket from Amsterdam via Newark onto to GSP for under $1400 per person.  This was booked and ticketed in November.  The May TA cruise is a complimentary casino cruise so flight required payment at booking.  For this reason I also requested ticketing.  This is a regular United flight so felt comfortable with this.  

So we booked and paid for our air and we thought by doing that we locked in price.. What do you mean ticketed? Was there something else we needed to do to lock in price cuz we got a great deal for international. 

[Torquer]

@fellswoop Some people have had problems with FlightEase, where HAL did not pay the airline in a timely fashion and the airline "lost" the seat assignments or even the booking.  So a couple days after you have paid HAL, go into the FlightEase website, and click the button to "Issue Tickets".  After a couple more days, you can go to the airline's website, and you should see e-ticket numbers for your booking.  At that point, it is no different than if you had bought the tickets directly from the airline.

 

BTW, even if the booking got lost, you are still locked into the price.  But you may have to spend a lot of time on the phone to HAL to get them to fix their mistake.  And if there are no seats on your original flight you may have to take a less desirable flight (for the same price).  So be proactive and check for yourself to make sure everything has been done correctly.

[SSBrickNJ]

On 2/9/2023 at 5:59 PM, FlorenceItaly said:

YES you may.  I am surprised United has not posted their flights and rates yet.  Our return flight from Amsterdam on June 5 is on United VIA EWR onto GSP.

Hi @FlorenceItaly

To review, we booked SAS thru HAL's Flight Ease but 7 -8 weeks later got a better deal thru Air Canada.

Now I want to surgically separate my two HAL bookings....that being the 1) The cruise itself 2)The Flight Ease Flight Booking

#1 I want to KEEP my HAL Cruise booking that I've already paid the deposit for....and that cruise's balance is due in May

#2 I want to CANCEL the Flight Ease SAS arrangements. I never paid for that....never chose seats....the money was due in May...lumped in with my cruise balance payment.

I'm nervous that when I attempt to cancel my Flight Ease arrangements that I might accidentally cancel the cruise as well. That would be disastrous!

Please advise me how to accomplish canceling #2 (Flight Ease) without accidentally canceling #1 The HAL Cruise.

Thank you!

Steve

Edited March 27, 2023 by SSBrickNJ

[FlorenceItaly]

@SSBrickNJ - Hi Steve, I have no personal experience with what you are asking but I understand your concern.  My impression is it is an easy task and can be done online but if I were you I would probably call Flight Ease at 1-800-628-4771.   Perhaps @Hlitner can better guide you and reassure you, but I think he is boarding a cruise today in Japan.

[terrydtx]

15 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

Hi @FlorenceItaly

To review, we booked SAS thru HAL's Flight Ease but 7 -8 weeks later got a better deal thru Air Canada.

Now I want to surgically separate my two HAL bookings....that being the 1) The cruise itself 2)The Flight Ease Flight Booking

#1 I want to KEEP my HAL Cruise booking that I've already paid the deposit for....and that cruise's balance is due in May

#2 I want to CANCEL the Flight Ease SAS arrangements. I never paid for that....never chose seats....the money was due in May...lumped in with my cruise balance payment.

I'm nervous that when I attempt to cancel my Flight Ease arrangements that I might accidentally cancel the cruise as well. That would be disastrous!

Please advise me how to accomplish canceling #2 (Flight Ease) without accidentally canceling #1 The HAL Cruise.

Thank you!

Steve

Very simple, can be done online in your account or call Flight Ease and have them cancel the flights. Note, if you do cancel the cruise the flights are automatically cancelled too. We prefer to book with FE when we find a good deal on a fare and itinerary and make changes with them online if we find better deals. Then before final payment, if we find a better deal that we can't get with FE, we cancel FE and book directly with airline.

 

Here is our story from last year on the Oosterdam from Venice and why we believe in using FE when possible. We had booked business class seats with FE for our cruise. When my wife got Covid before the end of the cruise, we had to spend 3 days in quarantine in Venice and missed our return flights home. I called FE and they canceled our flights home and told me to call back when we were cleared to fly home. On the day she tested negative, I called FE and they got us booked home the next day in BC on the original itinerary we missed earlier in the week. I was very impressed with their customer service.

Edited March 27, 2023 by terrydtx

[SSBrickNJ]

10 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

@SSBrickNJ - Hi Steve, I have no personal experience with what you are asking but I understand your concern.  My impression is it is an easy task and can be done online but if I were you I would probably call Flight Ease at 1-800-628-4771.   Perhaps @Hlitner can better guide you and reassure you, but I think he is boarding a cruise today in Japan.

Thank you. I think I will call Flight Ease at the number you've provided. 🙂

[SSBrickNJ]

11 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Very simple, can be done online in your account or call Flight Ease and have them cancel the flights. Note, if you do cancel the cruise the flights are automatically cancelled too.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Our airfare that we bought independently from Flight ease is non refundable.

So for sure we want to take Air Canada to Denmark and get on that cruise to Norway.

I'll just call Flight Ease with all the specifics from when I used them....and I'll cancel the Flight Ease (SAS) stuff only 🙂

Edited March 27, 2023 by SSBrickNJ

[terrydtx]

22 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

On the day she tested negative, I called FE and they got us booked home the next day in BC on the original itinerary we missed earlier in the week. I was very impressed with their customer service.

I forgot to add when FE rebooked us it did not cost us anything more. Because of the time difference from Venice to Seattle, when I called the FE emergency line, the agent I talked to told me it was 2am his time and that FE provides 24/7 emergency service.

Edited March 27, 2023 by terrydtx

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

@SSBrickNJ - Hi Steve, I have no personal experience with what you are asking but I understand your concern.  My impression is it is an easy task and can be done online but if I were you I would probably call Flight Ease at 1-800-628-4771.   Perhaps @Hlitner can better guide you and reassure you, but I think he is boarding a cruise today in Japan.

I would just add that this is probably best handled by calling HAL.  The reservations clerk (who you get on the phone) may need to transfer you to the Flightease folks (they are the specialists in air).  In fact, I would be gently assertive (if that makes sense) in trying to get to the Flightease folks rather than dealing with a regular reservations clerk.

 

Hank

[Overhead Fred]

If you want to talk to Flight Ease directly, call 800-628-4771. Please note that you must choose option 3 or you will get routed to regular reservations and they will simply tell you to call the 4771 number 🙄

[SSBrickNJ]

1 hour ago, Overhead Fred said:

If you want to talk to Flight Ease directly, call 800-628-4771. Please note that you must choose option 3 or you will get routed to regular reservations and they will simply tell you to call the 4771 number 🙄

Thank you for the advice and for mentioning Option #3 🙂

Edited March 27, 2023 by SSBrickNJ

[SSBrickNJ]

On 3/27/2023 at 12:39 PM, Overhead Fred said:

If you want to talk to Flight Ease directly, call 800-628-4771. Please note that you must choose option 3 or you will get routed to regular reservations and they will simply tell you to call the 4771 number 🙄

@terrydtx

@Hlitner

@FlorenceItaly

*

I successfully canceled the Flight Reservations with Flight Ease. (1-800-628-4771)

Additionally, when that call was completed I called HAL's Customer Service (1-877-932-4259) and confirmed that the cruise reservation IS still in place and only the Air Reservation has been successfully removed.

Thank you everyone!

Steve

We ARE very much looking forward to our August 2nd Cruise from Denmark to Norway 🙂

Edited March 28, 2023 by SSBrickNJ