Help!

[maggie27]

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons to using Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz?

[Perki]

I use Travelocity often to check prices for flights and have purchased several tickets with them, never a problem. My only con is that they charge a fee $5 to use their site, if you go direct to the airlines website you can probably get the same ticket for the same price minus the $5

[vivian02]

I have had really good sevice in using Expedia and Orbitz. On expedia when I had trouble trying to book a flight from London to Frankfurt it was a snap...and the price was right. I even had a booking on Orbitz where I was assigned Business Class Seats on Air France. Travelvelocity I have never used but I'm sure the day will come. Tim

[parody]

At one time, a $5 booking fee was common. However, for some sites, that fee has increased. For example, from Orbitz: For air tickets purchased at Orbitz.com, a non-refundable fee of up to $7.00 USD per ticket ($11.00 USD for some international destinations) is charged for each air transaction on an airline that pays us a fee or commission, including our charter associates. A non-refundable fee of up to $12.00 USD per ticket is charged on all other airlines ($16.00 USD for some international airlines). These non-refundable fees will be itemized prior to purchase and may be less than the amounts stated above.

 

Perhaps, the biggest "con", however, for these sites is that, like most every other site, they do not include Southwest Airlines. Thus, if Southwest is an option, one must go to their site in addition to a search site in order to get a complete picture of what the alternatives are. But don't confuse searching with buying. As stated by Perki, may times the exact same flights can be purchased directly from the airlines thus eliminating a needless middleman. Still, this is not always possible and sometimes tickets must be purchased from one of the sites that you mentioned.

[maggie27]

Does anyone know anything about booking thru Kayak.com?

[N.FL Cruisers]

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons to using Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz?

 

We used Expedia and they moved us to a different hotel without telling us until we got there to check in. All of our friend and family were at this specific hotel but they moved us about 10 blocks away. Just find out what all the clauses are, their rights and yours.

[JJPNYC]

You can't book directly through Kayak, but they do have links to the various sites where you can purchase your tickets. I've found kayak to be very user friendly.

[greatam]

All sites have their pitfalls. I have been shafted by both Travelocity (booked and paid for hotel room in Maui and when I got there, no hotel room was available) and Expedia ($135.00 per night charge at the Royal Horseguards in London turned out to be $205.00 per night on my CC). Both companies had what they thought were legitimate excuses. I prevailed in the end, but it was a long road; something the average traveller is not prepared for.

 

All online companies you book with (although an easy internet interface), are no more than middleman. DIRECT with hotels, airlines and rental cars, is a whole other story.

When things go wrong, the online travel agencies ALWAYS shuffle it to the provider (hotel, car, etc.).

 

Do your research (this is the key- too many people fail to do it on their own or don't turn it over to a TA for research) and then shoot your best shot. I, myself, prefer booking direct with the vendor. If there is a problem, at least I don't have to consult someone who may be a long distance away from where I am.

[kelleya]

Just do your research....check with them regarding what will happen in the event of a flight change or cancellation. I have had trouble with both Travelocity and Orbitz on these issues. In one instance a flight was cancelled and we were at the bottom of the barrel for re-booking priority because our tickets were bought through Travelocity. Even though we are very frequent flyers, the airline wouldn't really do much for us because our ticket was a special fare class through travelocity. We ended up having to pay a significant difference to get to our destination in the time frame we needed. The airlines are much more willing to work with you if you purchase the ticket directly from them. If your plans are very flexible and you don't expect any changes, or have enough cushion in the event of an unexpected change, all will probably be fine.

Good Luck!

[nho9504]

Use all 3 sites to do research, but most of the time try to buy directly from airlines, for air. And to bid hotel rooms on priceline.

 

I did use Travelocity once to buy a cruise because of incentive rebates - had to follow up to make sure everything was correctly noted in file. Did get the rebates 8 weeks after cruise as promised.

 

Sometimes only Travelicity/Orbitz/Expedia have the right fare/schedule combo on air tickets - especially sometimes due to fare mistake - airlines usually pulled the mistake fare much faster than the above sites. In such situations, the fare could be a huge difference.

 

As for flight cancelled by airlines - even booked direct with airline, did not get any better treatment - in fact, was not even informed by AA that my return flight was completely changed (Tokyo to Miami). I discovered it 3 weeks before departure when checking on whether there was a change on time.

 

ALWAYS ALWAYS check your flights at least couple weeks before departure, especially if your flights are booked a few months ago.