EZ Air questions

[SSAtlantic]

We have never used Princess Air and are looking to book for a European cruise. The fares I see are about half of the airline fares. 
My questions are:

1. flexible fares are refundable but do the quoted fares change prior to payment if the airline fare increases?

2. can we use airline miles to upgrade after booking?

3. major drawbacks to using ez air for Europe?

I am sure these questions have been asked but would be grateful for any answers. 
thank you 

[skynight]

1. You will get the fare your booked. If the fare goes down you can change up to 45 days before the flight ( or maybe it is before the sailing date).

2. Not really. Most airlines will require full payment before you can use miles to upgrade. EZ Air is a consolidator. They will pay the airline inside the 45 day window. Once booked you will be able to find the airline's reference number in the EZ Air details. You can then call the airline and see what your options are.

3. EZ Air could change your flights or connections. Can't think of anything else.

[capriccio]

41 minutes ago, SSAtlantic said:

We have never used Princess Air and are looking to book for a European cruise. The fares I see are about half of the airline fares. 
My questions are:

1. flexible fares are refundable but do the quoted fares change prior to payment if the airline fare increases? No increases before payment, in fact since you aren't ticketed until about 45 days out (and you will have paid at final payment for the cruise).  If the fare decreases between final payment and ticketing you can get the lower fare)

2. can we use airline miles to upgrade after booking? That may be dependent upon the airline.  We've never had an issue with United.  We have booked economy and been upgraded to economy plus based on loyalty status and no miles just by calling after making the reservation.  We've also been on the upgrade list using miles but didn't clear it (no one did as far as I can tell but it wasn't an issue getting on the list).

3. major drawbacks to using ez air for Europe?

I am sure these questions have been asked but would be grateful for any answers. 
thank you 

See comments in red.

Edited December 8, 2023 by capriccio

[Paula_MacFan]

Your questions have primarily already been answered, so I'll just chime in with general comments.  We used EZ Air to London in September for a European cruise and saved quite a bit over booking on our own.  We flew United first class Polaris both ways and it was wonderful and totally worth the money.  Just the lounge access for pre-boarding and layovers, onboard meals, no checked bag fees, and other included perks made it so much more civilized.   Our fares were not much more than premium economy, and having the extra room and perks on a long flight were great.  

 

We used the United app to manage our flights and were able to choose seats at the time of booking, and order meals in advance on the app.  We got all flight and gate notices on the app as well.  I watched our fare prices every day, and was able to re-fare a couple times when prices dropped.  That is one of the best perks of EZ Air IMO -- the ability to refare with flexible fares if prices drop.

 

My experience has been for domestic flights EZ Air isn't that much different in pricing, but for Europe it really seems more cost effective.  We flew in 5 days early so we didn't have the worry about missing the ship, but for people cutting it close the benefit of Princess getting you to the ship could be important too.  

 

I don't see any downsides to using EZ Air to Europe but maybe others will chime in.  I've heard some horror stories of people who swear they'll never use EZ Air, but mostly those seem like airline issues to me and not specific to EZ Air. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Paula_MacFan

[SSAtlantic]

Thank you everyone for the responses. You all answered my questions and we will most probably go this route. 
thanks again for the prompt responses. 

[phabric]

I always book EzAir and watch the price up to 45 days of the cruise and if the price is cheaper I modify it.  Close to final payment, I check EzAir and the airline prices and take the one that is cheaper

[nini]

1 hour ago, SSAtlantic said:

Thank you everyone for the responses. You all answered my questions and we will most probably go this route. 
thanks again for the prompt responses. 

I agree that the fares for domestic flights are not really any different, so we use our Alaska miles or accumulate them with Alaska.

EZ Air is definitely worth it for Europe (at least for us on the West Coast). The only issue we have had is that the flights and airlines may change and you need to keep an eye on that, due to the changes may not work for you.

[beg3yrs]

5 hours ago, SSAtlantic said:

...

3. major drawbacks to using ez air for Europe?

...

 

4 hours ago, skynight said:

...

3. EZ Air could change your flights or connections. ...

This answer is a common misconception. EZ Air does not change your flights or connections, the airlines do because of schedule changes. This drawback is the same whether you book through EZ Air, through a TA or direct with the airlines. So as a drawback of using EZ Air, it is not.

 

If this does happen, you must use EZ Air if you haven't yet been fully ticketed and you need to correct something. Once you're fully ticketed, you can call the airline to get things straightened out if necessary.

 

I check my airline reservations almost daily. Typically it's a Sunday morning when changes can be found but not always.

[muffydawg]

If you book through EZ Air 8-10 months prior to departure and are not ticketed until 45 days prior to departure will the airlines allow you to select a seat?

[Knickearth]

10 hours ago, SSAtlantic said:

We have never used Princess Air and are looking to book for a European cruise. The fares I see are about half of the airline fares. 
My questions are:

1. flexible fares are refundable but do the quoted fares change prior to payment if the airline fare increases?

2. can we use airline miles to upgrade after booking?

3. major drawbacks to using ez air for Europe?

I am sure these questions have been asked but would be grateful for any answers. 
thank you 

Don’t know the answers but I booked years ago ezair to Europe and back to Calif  from NY on a transatlantic.  The fare at the time was approx &450. Each.  I somehow got into the habit if checking the airfare once a month prior to having to pay it.  We ended up paying 189. Per person for the flights.

 

last wee I checked on ezair our flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Calif which was $950. For 2.  It dropped to 800. For 2.  Same flight and seats.
 

I consider this a big plus for ezair.

[suzyed]

15 hours ago, SSAtlantic said:

We have never used Princess Air and are looking to book for a European cruise. The fares I see are about half of the airline fares. 
My questions are:

1. flexible fares are refundable but do the quoted fares change prior to payment if the airline fare increases?

2. can we use airline miles to upgrade after booking?

3. major drawbacks to using ez air for Europe?

I am sure these questions have been asked but would be grateful for any answers. 
thank you 

1. Fares changed but as far as I know YOUR fare should not change.
2. You cannot use airline miles.
3. We never had any drawbacks.

[coco2/27]

The only EZ Air problem that I’ve encountered was an instance when I needed to change my return flight after the 45 day deadline.  Despite it being an international business class flight that would have allowed penalty free changes if purchased directly from the airline, I wasn’t able to make a change without paying a Princess penalty of the entire flight cost in addition to the cost of the additional flight back.   Fortunately, I was able to find a last minute cheap trans-Atlantic cruise back.  So ultimately, my original round trip cost turned into a one way airfare cost that was probably not more expensive than I would have experienced with direct airline booking, and the return trip back to the US was much more relaxing!
 Sometimes one has to just appreciate any way one can make lemonade out of lemons 🍋!

 

(this wasn’t an insurance covered change, so that wasn’t an option, either, before this question may be asked)

[worldtraveller]

17 hours ago, muffydawg said:

If you book through EZ Air 8-10 months prior to departure and are not ticketed until 45 days prior to departure will the airlines allow you to select a seat?

I have always been able to select a seat but you may have to pay for it if that is an airline requirement.

[Paula_MacFan]

17 hours ago, muffydawg said:

If you book through EZ Air 8-10 months prior to departure and are not ticketed until 45 days prior to departure will the airlines allow you to select a seat?

 

I initially booked the day flights opened at 330 days out for our European cruise, and was able to immediately book seats.  This was on United.  We have flights booked for another upcoming cruise to Alaska which I also booked the first day available at 330 days, and was able to select seats for all flights coming and going.  Those flights are on Delta and Alaska airlines.  

[mrmoviezombie]

45 minutes ago, worldtraveller said:

18 hours ago, muffydawg said:

If you book through EZ Air 8-10 months prior to departure and are not ticketed until 45 days prior to departure will the airlines allow you to select a seat?

I have always been able to select a seat but you may have to pay for it if that is an airline requirement.

I forget which airline it was, but we definitely had to call and request "early ticketing" (aka pay for the flights and lock in the price) before the airline website would let me pick seats.

 

On pricing, yeah economy is usually about the same as anywhere else, it's the higher classes that you see the benefits.

 

Also watch your connections times, especially if they change around your flights prior to ticketing. I've had them select connections that while still inside the "guidelines" would have you sprinting to make your connection. Or missing it if there was any delays.

[trhattan]

Hypothetical question: 

If I buy EZair Flexible flights and want to cancel the flights within the 45 day cut-off for changes, what happens to the air money I paid?  Do I get anything back - real $ or cruise credits or what?

[SCX22]

7 minutes ago, trhattan said:

Hypothetical question: 

If I buy EZair Flexible flights and want to cancel the flights within the 45 day cut-off for changes, what happens to the air money I paid?  Do I get anything back - real $ or cruise credits or what?

 

You pay the airline cancellation fees that are levied to EZAir (if any), and those fees are deducted from the cash refund for the air portion that is being refunded to you.

[dolphfan]

EZ Air was great when booked them in August. We have them booked again in January and it has been crazy, When we first booked we had direct flights to FLL and back. In recent weeks we have had flight changes emailed to us, and now we have one connection going to FLL and two connections coming home. I am worrying that the more connections that you have the more chances that we miss a flight!

[coco2/27]

4 hours ago, trhattan said:

Hypothetical question: 

If I buy EZair Flexible flights and want to cancel the flights within the 45 day cut-off for changes, what happens to the air money I paid?  Do I get anything back - real $ or cruise credits or what?

If you cancel an EZ Air flight after the 45 day window and are still doing the cruise, you can lose all the EZ Air $ that you’ve paid as your “cancellation penalty”.  

[mevs904]

We’ve used EZ Air twice for European cruises and were very pleased.  If we plan another European cruise we will definitely use EZ Air.  If we’re sailing from a domestic port we book our own flights.  

[SCX22]

19 minutes ago, coco2/27 said:

If you cancel an EZ Air flight after the 45 day window and are still doing the cruise, you can lose all the EZ Air $ that you’ve paid as your “cancellation penalty”.  

 

At minimum will always get the air taxes and surcharges refunded.  Airlines can't legally charge this because you didn't fly in cases passenger initiated cancelations.  Kind of like how cruise lines refund the port charges for missed ports.

[coco2/27]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 

At minimum will always get the air taxes and surcharges refunded.  Airlines can't legally charge this because you didn't fly in cases passenger initiated cancelations.  Kind of like how cruise lines refund the port charges for missed ports.

Because a flight is booked through EZ Air which is not directly through the airline system, those fees are not refundable.  

I’ve personally experienced this within the past few months, with much time, phone calls, and mediations tried.

[SCX22]

6 hours ago, coco2/27 said:

Because a flight is booked through EZ Air which is not directly through the airline system, those fees are not refundable.  

I’ve personally experienced this within the past few months, with much time, phone calls, and mediations tried.

 

Sorry you were unsuccessful.  Pre-pandemic, my relative's CVP was able to refund the taxes/surcharges for the air portion on their booking.  If not refunded, wonder where the money goes?  Doesn't seem fair that the airline or EZAir, whoever is keeps the unused funds, keeps the funds as revenue, especially the taxes because they never had to be paid to the entity since no flight segment was flown.

[jagoffee]

12 hours ago, dolphfan said:

EZ Air was great when booked them in August. We have them booked again in January and it has been crazy, When we first booked we had direct flights to FLL and back. In recent weeks we have had flight changes emailed to us, and now we have one connection going to FLL and two connections coming home. I am worrying that the more connections that you have the more chances that we miss a flight!

What airline?  Do you think the airline perhaps eliminated their non stop flights?

[MacMadame]

I can see not refunding certain fees especially if they were for things that were already spent. But no refunding taxes? That doesn't seem legal. 

 

I suspect they do it because it's easier on them. Say they already sent the taxes to the state and would have to fill out lots of paperwork to adjust things. I know for the event I run when people get refunds, we don't refund their fees because the registration site won't give them back so it's a sunk cost for us. But we're a non-profit in an industry where that's the norm so people don't complain. They complain about other things but not that. LOL