EZair upgrade cancellation

[Upper Bob]

I'm not sure if anyone else has ever had this issue, but we have not. Back in February, I had booked standard economy EZ air flights for our upcoming TA on the Enchanted out of Rome. A few weeks later I went into my United account and requested an upgrade to either Premium Plus or Polaris for miles & money, which was accepted. I called the United Premier Desk this morning to check that status and they told me that the cruise line had removed the upgrade request back in May (without notifying me). Fortunately, the United agent was able to restore my request with our same priority, given the original February request. 

[Steelers36]

IMO, it pays to keep on top of anything to do with airline bookings.  They reschedule flights.  The cancel flights.  They change equipment.  Connection time can get altered.  Almost anything can change and you aren't always notified timely.  I watch my airline reservations almost like a hawk.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Upper Bob said:

I'm not sure if anyone else has ever had this issue, but we have not. Back in February, I had booked standard economy EZ air flights for our upcoming TA on the Enchanted out of Rome. A few weeks later I went into my United account and requested an upgrade to either Premium Plus or Polaris for miles & money, which was accepted. I called the United Premier Desk this morning to check that status and they told me that the cruise line had removed the upgrade request back in May (without notifying me). Fortunately, the United agent was able to restore my request with our same priority, given the original February request. 

Has your ticket been issued?  Sometimes, the EZAir agent will issue the ticket, which was a coach/economy ticket and that will cancel the UG.  Watch your reservation on the UA website around or after ticketing to make sure your UG is still appended.

 

There is a way to ticket it, without affecting the UG, but agent must not have known how to do that.

 

 

 

 

 

[Upper Bob]

6 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Has your ticket been issued?  Sometimes, the EZAir agent will issue the ticket, which was a coach/economy ticket and that will cancel the UG.  Watch your reservation on the UA website around or after ticketing to make sure your UG is still appended.

 

There is a way to ticket it, without affecting the UG, but agent must not have known how to do that.

 

 

 

 

 

You are correct, now that I looked at the air booking confirmation date. The thing is, the only way I was going to know that the EZ Air agent cancelled the upgrade request was by calling United directly and inquiring about the status. They (United) said the money and miles were still in place for the upgrade but the request was gone. Nothing on the UA website indicated the cancelled UG. I do check the flight booking info on a regular basis, as changes with EZ Air bookings are fairly common (as most of us know).

[ldubs]

Some good advice to stay on top of EZAir.  We have two bookings (our first two with EZAir).  Frequent checks will now happen.  Thanks for posting/sharing.   

[Coral]

I have never booked economy and then upgraded on United for Polaris with miles and money - can you explain?

 

I usually just book Business Class. I would be interested. Thanks.

[milolii]

Hi Coral, we fly United Polaris most of the time, including to Europe.  We use miles or cash; or a combination of both.  United has a great article, “All about Upgrades”  The link is below.  For Transatlantic flights miles and money are required. You can request the upgrade on the website or app.  Then you are placed on the waitlist.  If the request doesn’t clear, United refunds your miles and money. I believe this is what the OP is describing. 
 

But thinking you may know some of this; on aircraft with United Premium Plus, passengers who purchased those tickets, are processed first using the 8 tier priority list.  An upgrade from economy to Polaris may be a bit of a long shot, depending on the destinations, dates and number of Polaris seats.   Purchasing premium plus seating seems to be good strategy as that moves you up the list. 
 

We decided to try this next year.  RT to LHR.  We purchased Polaris on the way over for sleeping, but coming back we’re in Premium Plus.    I haven’t submitted the request yet, but it is 20,000 miles + $425.00 each.  If our request doesn’t clear, we will stay in those seats.  
 

The OP may have other thoughts to add.  I’d also check to be sure your fare class is eligible for any upgrades.  I usually call before I purchase the tickets if I’ m not sure,
 

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/upgrade.html

 

 

 

[Coral]

4 hours ago, milolii said:

Hi Coral, we fly United Polaris most of the time, including to Europe.  We use miles or cash; or a combination of both.  United has a great article, “All about Upgrades”  The link is below.  For Transatlantic flights miles and money are required. You can request the upgrade on the website or app.  Then you are placed on the waitlist.  If the request doesn’t clear, United refunds your miles and money. I believe this is what the OP is describing. 
 

But thinking you may know some of this; on aircraft with United Premium Plus, passengers who purchased those tickets, are processed first using the 8 tier priority list.  An upgrade from economy to Polaris may be a bit of a long shot, depending on the destinations, dates and number of Polaris seats.   Purchasing premium plus seating seems to be good strategy as that moves you up the list. 
 

We decided to try this next year.  RT to LHR.  We purchased Polaris on the way over for sleeping, but coming back we’re in Premium Plus.    I haven’t submitted the request yet, but it is 20,000 miles + $425.00 each.  If our request doesn’t clear, we will stay in those seats.  
 

The OP may have other thoughts to add.  I’d also check to be sure your fare class is eligible for any upgrades.  I usually call before I purchase the tickets if I’ m not sure,
 

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/upgrade.html

 

Thank you. I have just been purchasing Polaris through EZ Air for European flights. 

 

I have flown a few times to Vancouver this year and I use FF miles to book economy and then after I book, I have been offered First Class upgrades for $$$ which I have taken as it has been very reasonable.

 

It has been awhile since I have booked premium economy to Europe. 20K but $425 seems very reasonable. 

 

I appreciate your post and the link. Thank you.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Coral

[Cruise Raider]

19 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

IMO, it pays to keep on top of anything to do with airline bookings.  They reschedule flights.  The cancel flights.  They change equipment.  Connection time can get altered.  Almost anything can change and you aren't always notified timely.  I watch my airline reservations almost like a hawk.

So true …

not on Princess but on Choice Air, we had flights booked for a group of four.  They changed my flight .. but only mine.  Ugh!  Now, that wasn’t going to work.  
I spent so many hours of my time to get that taken care of and get our original flights and seats back in place.  If I hadn’t gone online and checked, that would have been a bit of a disaster.  Well, maybe calling it a disaster is a bit dramatic but I wouldn’t have been a happy camper.  

Edited November 11, 2023 by Cruise Raider

[Upper Bob]

8 hours ago, milolii said:

Hi Coral, we fly United Polaris most of the time, including to Europe.  We use miles or cash; or a combination of both.  United has a great article, “All about Upgrades”  The link is below.  For Transatlantic flights miles and money are required. You can request the upgrade on the website or app.  Then you are placed on the waitlist.  If the request doesn’t clear, United refunds your miles and money. I believe this is what the OP is describing. 
 

But thinking you may know some of this; on aircraft with United Premium Plus, passengers who purchased those tickets, are processed first using the 8 tier priority list.  An upgrade from economy to Polaris may be a bit of a long shot, depending on the destinations, dates and number of Polaris seats.   Purchasing premium plus seating seems to be good strategy as that moves you up the list. 
 

We decided to try this next year.  RT to LHR.  We purchased Polaris on the way over for sleeping, but coming back we’re in Premium Plus.    I haven’t submitted the request yet, but it is 20,000 miles + $425.00 each.  If our request doesn’t clear, we will stay in those seats.  
 

The OP may have other thoughts to add.  I’d also check to be sure your fare class is eligible for any upgrades.  I usually call before I purchase the tickets if I’ m not sure,
 

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/upgrade.html

 

 

 

Thank you for the great explanation to Coral. We have purchased Business Class fares on EZ Air in past years for amazing prices, but like so many other things these days, the prices are no longer dramatically better than booking directly through the airline. I also have never seen an opportunity to book a "Premium Plus" seat (also called Premium Economy on United planes with Polaris) through EZ Air, just economy or business. The plan was to book an economy fair, use my United Premier status to instantly upgrade to economy plus seats, and then use the "Upgrade Cabin" option in my United Mileage Plus account for that flight. When I selected this I chose both the Premium Plus and Business Class options for a 20K miles & $550 charge. Seeing how few Polaris seats are still available for next weeks flight, as milolii says, my chances are slim for Polaris but those already in Premium Plus might move up opening their seats for us (dependent upon our priority with fare class, status, timing, etc.). EZ Air are always classified as "bulk fare" with the airlines and as such probably have a lower priority when upgrading. No matter what happens, we know that once we have arrived at our destination, and have boarded the Enchanted Princess, we will have forgotten any inconvenience from our flights 😁.

[Mary loves to travel]

@Upper Bob   We've used EZair to purchase Premium Economy seats.    It's part of the drop down selection.   

 

Mary

[Upper Bob]

4 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

@Upper Bob   We've used EZair to purchase Premium Economy seats.    It's part of the drop down selection.   

 

Mary

Mary, that “premium economy” selection is for what is commonly known as the “extra leg room” in economy class. United, along with most other major airlines, has now introduced a category between economy (both levels) and business class. These seats (Premium Plus Class) are the equivalent of domestic first class seats and there are only 12-24 on each plane and that plane would have to have the Polaris seating (at least on United).

[Mary loves to travel]

9 minutes ago, Upper Bob said:

Mary, that “premium economy” selection is for what is commonly known as the “extra leg room” in economy class. United, along with most other major airlines, has now introduced a category between economy (both levels) and business class. These seats (Premium Plus Class) are the equivalent of domestic first class seats and there are only 12-24 on each plane and that plane would have to have the Polaris seating (at least on United).

Maybe that’s what it’s called on United?

 

On many airlines the extra legroom seats are called Economy Plus.   
And the cabin with reclining seats, the level between all Economy (including extra legroom), and Business and/or First is called Premium Economy.   
Yes, these seats are similar to domestic first, but really better.   Almost as good as the old style Business class (before most airlines went to lay-flat seats in Business).  
 

I’ve used EZAIR to buy Premium Economy seats.    And have confirmed same by pulling up my rez on the airline website.   And yes, by sitting in same on a flight 😉
 

I’ve not found an option, though, to use EZ Air for the “extra legroom” seats in Economy.  
 

Mary

Edited November 11, 2023 by Mary loves to travel

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Mary loves to travel said:

......... 

 

I’ve not found an option, though, to use EZ Air for the “extra legroom” seats in Economy.  
 

Mary

To get those, it is airline website seat selection and may need to pay extra.

 

Agree with your other notes as one can book true Premium Economy with a lot of airlines using EzAir.

[Mary loves to travel]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

To get those, it is airline website seat selection and may need to pay extra.

 

Agree with your other notes as one can book true Premium Economy with a lot of airlines using EzAir.

What's interesting is that for an upcoming cruise, we'll change planes in DFW before taking an international flight.    We selected "Premium Economy", on American Airlines. (and made sure not to get a codeshare).

EZAir booked us into regular Economy for the shorter domestic flight to DFW (no PE on that plane), then  into the Premium Economy (PE) cabin for the long international flight.

 

When I checked our flights on the AA website, I was able to move our seats into Extra-legroom Economy seats on the short domestic flight (from regular economy) at no extra charge.   But, that seat selection wasn't available on the EZAire site.      

EZAir does now show the same seats for our flights as shown on the AA website.

 

Mary

[milolii]

@Upper Bob good luck to you and enjoy your flight and cruise. The Enchanted is wonderful.  I agree about the recent pricing.  Sometimes direct airline booking is the way to go.

 

[rwmiller]

We also used EZ Air to book United Premium Plus seats for our trip to Australia in January. Price was just a bit lower than using United directly. We then submitted our requests to upgrade to Polaris on both ends. We have already been upgraded for the return trip and are on the waitlist for the outgoing trip. Knowing that the Polaris cabin is not selling out on other flights, I feel we have a very good chance of getting the upgrade. Nice to have on a 14 hour flight. 

 

Bob

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Mary loves to travel said:

What's interesting is that for an upcoming cruise, we'll change planes in DFW before taking an international flight.    We selected "Premium Economy", on American Airlines. (and made sure not to get a codeshare).

EZAir booked us into regular Economy for the shorter domestic flight to DFW (no PE on that plane), then  into the Premium Economy (PE) cabin for the long international flight.

 

When I checked our flights on the AA website, I was able to move our seats into Extra-legroom Economy seats on the short domestic flight (from regular economy) at no extra charge.   But, that seat selection wasn't available on the EZAire site.      

EZAir does now show the same seats for our flights as shown on the AA website.

 

Mary

I would say you could do that because you booked PE for the overseas flight.  But IDK for certain.  IOW, you booked PE cabin which is up form Economy.

[Mary loves to travel]

31 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I would say you could do that because you booked PE for the overseas flight.  But IDK for certain.  IOW, you booked PE cabin which is up form Economy.

That’s my thinking, too 😊