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Plane Sailing / EZAir schedule changes and missing connections...


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When Princess had a UK promotion at the start of July with discounted flights through their Plane Sailing program, I put my previous bad EZAir experiences to one side and decided to book (EZAir is now called Plane Sailing in the UK). The flights are ticketed with Air France, but operated by Virgin and Delta. Around 3 weeks ago, I got a reschedule email notice from VA telling me that other flights I had booked with them had been rescheduled and automatically rebooked. By chance, I just happened to check our Plane Sailing flights. They have also been rescheduled and rebooked, without notification, and it turns out the new schedule has us arriving in Atlanta almost an hour AFTER our connecting flight has left 😞 Since we booked via a UK Travel Agent, they are working with Princess on our behalf to make sure we get an appropriate flight connection home, but is this normal (for international flights) and should I be concerned? What's the latest you'd expect to find out? I know that there should be plenty of options from FLL/MIA to ATL to get us to our connecting flight in plenty of time, but then if it's that easy, why are the IT systems not able to work this out quickly!?!

All I've been told so far is that Princess address all flight changes and conflicts in departure date order, which I completely understand, but we like to have things organised well in advance and I'm starting to stress...

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It is a little more complicated when there is a code share flight, like Air France for VA and DL.  So, if say VA has a sked change it goes through the AF system, advising the TA through their system, then they advise you.

 

Just a round a bout way.  If you go onto the VA website and DL website, make sure your information is up to date, phone number, email, frequent travelers numbers, etc.  So, if they have a sked change you will be advised.

 

You should check the schedules periodically, no matter who booked it, to make sure it’s still good.  Sometimes, its very minor or just a flight  number change.  I download the airline App on my phone and check it often.  Useful for checkin also. 
 

 

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Airlines are nortorious for changes (equipment and times), especially Delta.

 

When Delta cancelled my 4 PM flight, EZ Air AND Delta automatically rebooked me.  When I called to ask about a different time, Delta told me that they rebook within a 60 minute window (even if it is later).  First person I talked to at EZ Air, they told me nothing they could do.  Second call (for something else) I asked about being moved to the flight my sister was on...in the morning. 

 

Agent said that since Delta made the change, she could rebook me on my request.  What was funny is that the morning flight was cheaper than the afternoon one.  

 

On a different trip, EZ Air could not help me with a better connection.  It all depends (and usually not in our favor).  I would continue to monitor your flights.  Be proactive.

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On 8/28/2024 at 5:40 AM, dickinson said:

Don't stress.  All airlines adjust their schedules.  Delta does it frequently.  Plane Sailing will get you on needed flights.

Really?   One would think so but not always.   On our only use of EZ Air had multiple airline flight changes.  At the last minute was changed from American to Delta at DFW. With a connection time of 15 minutes!

While American might have held the flight - adjacent gates - Delta certainly would not.

If you assume EZ will notice AND fix the problem AND notify you - good luck.

You need to be proactive with all travel.today.

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Of course you can’t just assume it will be fixed and you will be notified.  In the US we can call them. I don’t know about others but in July when my outbound flight was cancelled (which I saw online) I called EZ air. They confirmed it and gave me another flight which was ok with me.  
 

OP is in the UK and says their TA is working on it with Princess but that has been a few days already. I would ask what is taking so long.  

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Thanks everyone. Still no updates and my TA is now escalating. The one saving grace is that this is only for our return flights after the cruise, and not an issue for us joining the ship. Appreciate all the advice, I continue to check at least daily and chasing my TA regularly too.

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Right now I'm so fed up with EZAIR.  Yes, me, Ombud, stick a fork in me I'm done. 

 

Friday 6am I get an email that my return flight is scheduled to land at 1140pm -- any delay at all and I cannot get home. I need to be able to catch that last Bart train. I've tried to get an uber at sfo but no one wanted to go all the way to Clayton.  Got a kid out of bed. Not wanting to repeat that. my CVP argued with EZAIR escalated to a supervisor & finally gets me into SFO at 8pm. 

 

2 days later (Sunday) I get an email that my flight out is at 6am. SERIOUSLY?!? Guess who has to fix it again tomorrow (not me, saying hi to my CVP who will probably be rolling her eyes). Bart starts at 6am. I'd need Scotty from Star Trek or a hotel in SF to make that flight 

 

It must be done by the airlines via AI because no human could screw it up this good. Wonder how many more times it'll get messed up ~~~ 10 days to go

 

Not as bad as @CaptainPedantic but still!!

 

(Added: sorry @CaptainPedantic not trying to hijack or minimize what you went thru -- just didn't want to start another thread

 

 

Edited by Ombud
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6 hours ago, Ombud said:

Right now I'm so fed up with EZAIR.  Yes, me, Ombud, stick a fork in me I'm done. 

 

 

It's not EZAir who rebooks you when there are airline schedule changes it's the airlines themselves.  They rebook you on the cheapest flight with the nearest flight times of your original flight.  (Delta for example is notorious for putting you on a later connecting flight if the flights prior are going out full.  My parents' friends once had a 5 hour connection in ATL as opposed to the 2.5 hour connection they originally had.)  The airlines just notify EZAir of the changes at some point.  Before calling EZAir and go on the airline's website and come up with flights that work; jot down the flight numbers; tell the EZAir agent that you would like to get switched to these flights and they can usually make these it happen because the change was initiated by the airline.

 

Last winter, United had a schedule change where the direct FLL-SFO flight in the evening only operated on Sa, M, W, F.  Well I was originally booked to fly home on a Tues and was auto rebooked on a flight departing FLL at 4:00 pm arriving into SFO at 11:15 pm with a connection in Houston.  I found out not through EZAir but through the United App; when I checked my flight schedule the flights had changed on the App but the change had not been loaded into EZAir's system.  I called EZAir with a flight schedule/routing that would route me through Denver and get me to SFO at 7:15 pm.  They made the changes with very little fuss.  The caveat is that they will not let you change airlines; if I wanted to fly Delta, they would have charged me the difference in fare.

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Yes but EZAIR did not want to accept 3 alternatives that would put me in at an acceptable hour UNTIL my CVP escalated the issue. I wasn't saying just FLIGHT A. It was FLIGHT A or FLIGHT B or FLIGHT C all available on EZAIR.  Maybe that's her job? To argue my point? Anyway round 2 tomorrow. And yes, I'm mulling over crashing at a kid's place in SF the night before so I can make the flight. He just doesn't know yet

 

I don't have this issue when I do land trips abroad 4× a year.

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21 hours ago, Ombud said:

Not as bad as @CaptainPedantic but still!!

Well what IS worse than my experience is that you only have 10 days to go... If that was me in my situation, I'd be beyond help! At least I had a couple of months of breathing space to worry about the point at which I'd have to tell my wife about it...

"No human could screw it up this good" made me laugh 😄 not sure I agree though 😉 

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if the airfare is making it so stressful, purchase another airfare ( with travel insurance, cancel for any reason) that suits your needs.  Then sort everything out once you get back home.  If the only option is spending the night with your kid, then treat your kid to a nice dinner.  

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3 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

if the airfare is making it so stressful, purchase another airfare ( with travel insurance, cancel for any reason) that suits your needs.  Then sort everything out once you get back home.  If the only option is spending the night with your kid, then treat your kid to a nice dinner.  

He deserves it for watching the dog for 3 weeks but now I'm on a 4pm flight. So I'm just treating his partner to lunch

 

If I wasn't flying into 1 side of the pond and flying back from another side I wouldn't be using EZAIR 

 

 

Edited by Ombud
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Remember EZ Air is NOT a travel agent.  They are a consolidator who buys blocks of tickets from SOME airlines.  They can assist if things go wrong, but add a layer of confusion and difficulty.

Really simple. . if the savings is not significant book directly.

EZ Air does not guarantee to get you to your cruise on time; just get you there.  Friends who watched their ship sail from LA got to their ship 4 DAYS later.  What is sad is there were direct flights that would have gotten then to Cabo in Mexico quickly, but we're not on airlines EZAir used.

 

CAREFUL.

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