NJ_Gal

I have never booked a trip online. I would like to know which one is good to use? I have seen Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline and Kayak. They are very close in price but I don't know about hidden fees etc. Which site is preferred??

Andrew

If booking airfare or hotel, I always book at the source (the hotel or airline website) directly if at all possible. There are fewer "middlemen" and fewer fees, usually. Once you get an Expedia or Orbitz involved, there are usually more fees and restrictions. I'll only use them if I'm saving a SIGNIFICANT amount of money.

I use Priceline to book hotels (their "Name your own Price" service), even though they have a no changes/no refunds policy. But I can often save a TON of money with Priceline that way, so to me, it's worth it.

I use Kayak for comparing airfares (except Southwest, not listed in Kayak) - I think it's a great site for that. Kayak usually offers an options for booking directly with the airline, though, so I'll always do that vs. booking with an Orbitz - again, unless I'm saving a lot of money. Wouldn't do it to save $10 - has to be a lot.

ccolor

I agree with Andrew about air fares except that I use ITA, then go to the source for actual purchases.

I've never used Priceline for lodging, but that's only because we have either certain hotels or rooms we like to stay in and I'm concerned that we won't get what we want.

Picky, picky us....

beanweb24

Many of the online travel agents dropped their booking fees for booking air last year. Expedia and others also no longer charges change/cancel fees for hotels. BUT that doesn't mean that the airline or hotel doesn't charge their own fees...they will all have their own policies, and you need to read them carefully when booking (no matter the source).

I have used Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity. I also book directly through hotels and airlines. I generally just buy based on best price.

gail

Research at the various sites you mentioned - great because you can comparison ship among brands (Marriott/Hilton/Best western, etc or United/USAir, etc) and then go to first-hand site for company and book - almost always price is the same as on consolidated site.

longhorn55

Another reason to book a hotel room directly on the hotel's website is that you have the option to use your AAA, military and/or government discounts which I have not found to be the case with the "consolidator" websites.

djkbooks

Some of the booking sites are useful to get started with prices, availability, etc. The bargains the used to have are long gone. The alleged "package" savings or "when booked together" are often very misleading. You usually get better hotel rates (and a better choice of room selection) booking directly with the hotel.

I agree that it's better to book directly with airlines and hotels. You can get bounced back and forth miserably when something goes wrong if you've booked through a third party.

Priceline, Hotwire, Easyclicktravel, etc., are fantastic, if you know what you're doing.

s_sharona

Since I started booking online, I never went back to "regular" booking. It is so much easier and more comfortable, you just have to remember a few things: start with a search engine like kayak, to find the best possible price; look for special promotional prices most of the sites usually offer; remember that you can book the whole trip online (flight, car and so forth), and you can usually get points for that (easyclicktravel for example has something similar to frequent flyer miles).
I used the following- expedia, priceline, easyclick, lastminutetravel. there are more, but I found these to have the best prices.

NJ_Gal

Thanks for all the advice. Since I am new I am probably better off booking direct and I am also picky about the room. I am going to Chicago in March, so I will look at the airlines and then hotels seperately. I did a package on Expedia that was very reasonable so I will try to match it.
Thank you for all your help. One more question, do you advice purchasing insurance?

longhorn55

I don't purchase travel insurance for domestic trips because I'm not likely to lose much money if I don't make the trip. Check the cancellation policies of the airline and hotel (and include other non-refundable costs, e.g. pre-booked tours, etc.) and figure out how much you would lose if you cancelled at the last minute. Should you decide you want travel insurance, a good place to compare policies and buy insurance is www.insuremytrip.com I have used them twice for expensive overseas trips/cruises where I would stand to lose a lot of money if I had to cancel the trip.