sbmumford

I just got back from Afghanistan and this was the worst trip of my life, and I have done a lot of traveling. I will NEVER recommend Travelocity to anyone in the future.
My ticket involved 4 different airlines; the weak link was Indian Airways (ridiculously or comically, contracted by Air India - how many levels of bureaucracy can you invent?) which lost my luggage in Delhi and repeatedly promised to send it along to Kabul. The flights came but not my luggage. It did not arrive until a few days before my return flight was scheduled, despite repeated promises from IA people that it would.
Then my return flight to Delhi was canceled, even though I had checked in two days prior and been assured of the flight - in fact I was told on the phone while at the airport to check in, despite the fact that there was no flight there and would not be for several days. Needless to say I missed my connecting flight. I could have stayed in Kabul several more days, paid over $300 to extend my connecting flight, but clearly IA was randomly canceling flights and there was no guarantee that it would actually take place.
So I bought a ticket to Dubai, flew out without problems and bought another ticket to NYC on Emirates.
Trying to negotiate all this I spent hours on the phone, and lost precious travel time and eventually had to spend a couple of thousand dollars; Travelocity employees were of essentially no help, as they have no real authority or influence over the many shoddy airlines they contract with. I feel abused by the experience.
I strongly recommend that travelers stay away from this business and book their tickets directly with the airlines.

J62

It's tempting to fault Travelocity, but from your report it sounds like your main problems were the weak link, Indian airways. If you'd booked the same itinerary by yourself directly with those 4 airlines would the result have been any different?

It was your choice to accept the 4 airline itinerary they offered for sale, or find an itinerary or routing you preferred.

This is a good example of caveat emptor.

bratsandbeer

As a rule I never buy airline tickets except from the airline itself. If there is a short oneway flight and a really cheap price on Kayak or Travelocity, I might buy that. But for other trips I deal with the airline.

DMBTraveler

This can sometimes be part of the problem with using a third party agency. The issue here is to do your homework before handing over your cash or credit card.

Travelocity and similiar companies sometimes come up with some interesting pairings to get you the cheapest price tickets.

These cheaper priced tickets can somtimes make for a miserable travel experience.

My recommendation, use an airline web to see routing that they would put you on. Use Travelocity for price comparison. Maybe for a few bucks more you would get a better routing. This could make your travels a bit easier.

For more air travel tip see:

www.dmbflyingcoach.blogsspot.com

NoFlyZone

Airline sites can also come up with some pretty strange and inconvenient routings. And "third party" sites can often come up with better routings, at lower cost, than can an airline site.

There's no hard and fast rule on which is better. The savvy traveler will check both, critically examine the offerings, and make an informed decision.

DMBTraveler

NoFlyZone,

Right you are! The important thing is to do research and be an informed consumer.

I suggested airline sites because of the "seamless" travel possibilities available with alliance partners. I don't think these are considered by third party sites.

But your point is well taken, be smart, be a savvy traveler!