This is an example that travellers need to watch out for themselves. Even if the ticket is offered, judge for yourself if the connection time is reasonable. If you can afford the time to miss the connection, then you might buy the ticket.<BR><BR>Other caveats include knowing that if you buy a Continental ticket with a Continental flight number but operated by Virgin (codeshare), Virgin's carry on allowance is only 7 kg. or so. Ryanair's free check in allowance is about 30 kg. Therefore, check the websites of any airline that you are not familiar with. Orbitz or others will not always look out for you!

I have certainly learned alot thru this experience. Bottom line Orbitz customer service is non-existent and they sold an illegal ticket. I am pursuing it and who knows, maybe something will come of it.

Go for it and let us know the final result. I, too, have seen some tight scheduling on Orbitz and wondered about the consequences.

More touble with Orbitz- Last summer flew from DFW to Oaxaca via Mexico City with Orbitz e-tickets. At initial check in I asked the Delta agents manning the Aeromexico desk for our boarding passes for Mexico City. They insisted I did not need them and could use the e-ticket to make our connection in Mexico City to Oaxaca. Arriving in Mexico City we got in line for the gates and were turned back because we had no boarding pases. Went to the Mexicana e-ticket desk and they advised they did not honor e-tickets. As she stated &quot;No paper ticket, no fly.&quot; Anyway after two hours of arguing and going to six different windows we finally got Aeromexico to issue me paper tickets, which I took to Mexicana to exchange for paper tickets- then I got the boarding passes for our flight. If I was not fluent in Spanish we would never have gone anywhere. Anyway, on return home I contacted Orbitz and asked why they issued e-tickets for travel to Mexico if airlines didn't accept them. I got a tremendous runaround and repeated promises to &quot;get back to you&quot; which were never honored. They could have cared less. Use Orbitz with the understanding there is no customer service.

So was the price worth the trouble? Maybe you should let a pro help you next time.

We also missed our flight to the US at Heathrow beacause our plane from Paris arrived late. The difference is that we had bought our tickets - at a little over $600 each May '01-June '01-directly from British Airways. After suggesting several other unacceptable flights they finally put us on a non-stop to Los Angeles on Air New Zealand. Maybe it is really worth spending a little more to deal directly with a top airline.<BR>

Customer service is nonexistent at Orbitz. I did follow-up with letters and written evidence of their &quot;error&quot;. I will let everyone know the outcome. I am not hopeful, but had to do it fof myself. I also filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commision and Better Business Bureau of Chicago. I am also in the process of contacting consumer affairs reporters at the local Boston stations in case anyone of them is interested in exposing Orbitz. I can see that I am not alone in my experiences.

I'm sorry to tell you any anyone else buying tickets on Orbitz that when you make a purchase from them you are agreeing to all their terms and conditions that include the following little gem:<BR><BR>5. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER. WE MAKE NO, AND OUR PROVIDERS MAKE, NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND REGARDING OUR SITE AND/OR ANY CONTENT, DATA, MATERIALS, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PROVIDED ON OUR SITE, ALL OF WHICH ARE PROVIDED ON AN &quot;AS IS&quot; BASIS. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT OUR SITE WILL BE ERROR-FREE, SECURE OR UNINTERRUPTED. WE FURTHER DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND TIMELINESS OF ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION FOUND ON OUR SITE. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM AND OUR PROVIDERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND THOSE ARISING BY STATUTE OR OTHERWISE IN LAW OR FROM A COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THIS WARRANTY DISCLAIMER MAY BE LIMITED IN ITS APPLICABILITY TO YOU.<BR><BR>This means that even though they may make an error that leads to your problem with the legal connection you can do NOTHING about it as far as they're concerned because they sold the tkt to you &quot;as is&quot; -- kind of like purchasing a used car, with NO warranties.<BR><BR>This is not uncommon with airline owned and operated sites -- so buyer beware, and remember WITHOUT A TRAVEL AGENT YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN&gt;

And when you're on your own, you can and should work directly with the airline.

Cassandra is correct. I prefer to work on my own, however, I will work with airlines in the future. It has proven to be easier than a company such as Orbitz. I also do know that I purchased the tickets as is. It was so kindly pointed out to me by the Customer Service Rep at Orbitz, before he hung up on me.

I travel a lot on business and find the airlines about as helpful as a website. Somehow a problem is always my fault. I'll use my agent anytime I have a glitch. At least she knows my name and cares. Does a damn good job too.

Cassandra is correct when talking about domestic US and most common international flights. But once your itinerary gets at all complicated (such as out of one European city and return to another) the airlines and the major Web consolidators can be twice (or more) as expensive as a specialized travel agent or tour operator.<BR><BR>There are instances where a tour operator can save enough on airfare otherwise available to completely pay for hotels for a 7 or more day trip.

So was using ORBITS really worth it? Did you actually in the end save and money? Were you really frustrated? Hmmm...just a little hint....USE A TRAVEL AGENT NEXT TIME!!! Most likely this would have never happened...and you would have most likely have gotten a better deal. Funny though...Orbitz is owned by the airlines...go FIGGER!!

The previous couple of support-your-local-travel-agent posts come from people who seem to make that a career on this board, and cruisenboy has elsewhere identified himself as an agent. <BR><BR>I don't disagree that sometimes travel agents can be very helpful, as with complicated international itineraries involving non-partner airlines. But opaldog's situation could have been taken care of perfectly well with direct dealings with the airline. The only advantage working with an agent instead of Orbitz would have been that if an agent made the same mistake, there would have been legal redress and recourse. But if Opaldog had worked directly through Continental, the mistake wouldn't have been made in the first place.

I've been following this thread attentively for several reasons:<BR>- I posted to it (and its &quot;predecessor&quot; started before opaldog left on her trip<BR>- I love travel but hate the air travel &quot;experience&quot; (unless I'm in biz class ;-))<BR>- I work in the travel industry (for a tour operator in Europe which also has a few hundred retail locations)<BR><BR>Some of what I have been reading here has made my blood curdle!<BR><BR>A few misconceptions:<BR>A) &quot;I have a routing with an ILLEGAL connection&quot;. WRONG<BR>There is NO such thing as an illegal or legal connection, for the very simple reason that this would require a LAW and to my knowledge no such legislation exists anywhere in the world! Airlines and/or airports have more or less official connection POLICIES, but these are not legally binding in any way for either party, as they are NOT part of the CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE.<BR>Anyway, even a routing which respects an airline's policy for connections provides no guarantees. Let's say for example that Air France's policy for tranfers from incoming intercontinental flights at LHR is 3 hours minimum and you, Opaldog have a 4 hour layover scheduled. The Continental/Virgin flight is then delayed for 5 hours. Do you actually think that Air France would hold its flght for you just because you had originally scheduled a 4 hour layover? <BR><BR><BR>B) &quot;An airline will always issue a ticket with a realistic itinerary&quot;. WRONG<BR>Airlines themselves often sell tickets with ridiculously short connection times - just search this site and you'll find tons of posts by people who had terrible experiences due to this. As a matter of fact, I was researching a trip from Geneva, Switzerland to Charlotte NC and the CONTINENTAL WEB SITE gave me an itinerary with a 70 MINUTE layover in Newark. This is criminal, considering that one would need to deplane, clear immigration, pick up luggage, clear customs, recheck luggage, go through security again and hike to the departure gate in this time! Totally impossible.<BR><BR><BR>C) &quot;My travel agent issued a ticket with an unrealistic itinerary - therefore I have legal recourse against him/her&quot;. WRONG<BR>A travel agent may phisically issue a ticket, but he is simply acting as an agent (think representative) of the ISSUING AIRLINE, with which you have a CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE. This contract is legally binding and gives you the right to be transported from your point of departure to your point of arrival within a &quot;reasonable timeframe&quot; for the price you paid, which means no extra charge for rerouting/accomodations (except in case of weather-induced delays). Nothing more nothing less.<BR>The agent establishes the contract between you and the airline, but once that airline has received your payment from the agent, that agent has completed his/her duty and cannot be faulted by you, the passenger. If the AIRLINE feels their agent has done a bad job representing them by issuing an itinerary which violates their policy, THEY can take action - but not you (though perhaps you'll find a zealous judge somewhere). On the other hand, this also protects the passenger, since no carrier can refuse to honor a ticket issued in its name because the agent screwed up the itinerary.<BR>(continued)

Bottom line is: YOU, the passenger, better figure out whether or not a given itinerary is realistic/acceptable - not the underpaid, hassled sales clerk at the airline/travel agency or the database on some web site! Opaldog, I believe you have your share of responsibility in this mess, as evidenced by the fact that you realized you had screwed up before leaving on your trip - if the price is especially low, there's generally a reason. For many people, saving several hundred dollars is worth the risk of a missed connection and subsequent delay/hassle. The only person who can make that judgment call is YOU!<BR><BR>Would you have missed your connections if you had used a good travel agent? Probably not, but you would've most likely paid more, both for a higher fare and a higher booking fee. And your priority was getting the cheapest fare (nothing wrong with that).<BR><BR>Also, you should realize that people miss connections all the time - the air travel system is simply not that reliable, due to many factors (extreme weather, mechanical problems, airport congestion etc.). Even a sensible 3 hour layover doesn't guarantee this won't happen.<BR><BR>Now, let's try to get some perspective and take a look at the ingredients in this recipe for disaster. Remember, this ticket was issued by Continental - Orbitz did not set the fare in any way!<BR><BR>- First act in this drama: the network planning people at Continental, thinking that this is a good idea, decide to buy a block of seats on the Virgin Atlantic flight from BOS to LHR to market under a CO flight nr. (why? since when is BOS a CO hub?)<BR><BR>- The yield management department at Continental notices that too few seats are being purchased and that the airline will probably end up losing money on Opaldog's flight. So, do they lower the price by say 15% on BOS to LHR tickets in order to sell a larger number of tickets, thus increasing total revenue (costs are fixed after all)? NOOOO! That would be far to logical for airline people! <BR>Instead, the yield manager (YM) gets on the phone with his equally moronic colleagues at various European airlines and asked them if they also have excess inventory at LHR: Air France does, so Continental agrees to purchase extra seats (extra cost!) in order to package them with the BOS to LHR flights. Did I mention that CO most probably only purchased an allotment on a particular flight, with a tight connection, but who cares - after all the YM's bonus isn't affected by how much it ends up costing the airline to actually fly the passenger who books this itinerary… Anyway, by selling these tickets at very low fares, the YM thinks it will be posible to fill otherwise empty seats wih passengers still generating a few bucks, while keeping the price on the BOS-LHR tickets artificially high, thus giving him a better total yield than if he'd simply lowered prices for the nonstop passengers (which wouldn't have cost a cent extra). Makes perfect sense if you work in the airline business…<BR><BR>- So, now our yield manager has a product - he still needs to find a distribution channel for it. He could load the fares &amp; itineraries on CO's web site… but that wouldn't look good - normally transatlantic CO passengers originating in BOS and flying to CDG would change at EWR and besides, he can probably get away with a higher fare on that route on the CO website (Opaldog, did you check the CO site before booking on Orbitz? Bet your routing didn't show up there!)<BR><BR>- Instead, genius yield manager decides to use Orbitz - sure he needs to pay them a commission which further reduces the ludicrously small yield he's probably generating on these seats, but at least the CO site stays &quot;clean&quot;. Besides, CO owns a stake in Orbitz, so to a certain degree it's all in the family, right?<BR><BR>(continued)

- So, now you, the client, come into play. After spending hours surfing around (perhaps also calling a TA or 2), you find a fare which looks attractive on airlines you've actually heard of. Hurray! You book. You get your tickets, take a closer look at the itinerary and flip.<BR><BR>- You call Orbitz, which basically tells you it's not their problem - they showed you the itinerary and you accepted it. They delivered. You're on your own.<BR><BR>- You call Continental. They're very friendly (they should be, they issued the ticket and are the ones responsible for getting you to Paris and back). You point out to them that the itinerary is unrealistic. They say, by golly you're right - isn't that a shame… yet refuse to modify your routing!<BR>Could you force them to change your itinerary there and then before you leave? I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that if they have sold you a product with terms they know they can't honor, you might have recourse (once again, they are responsible for Orbitz's mistake, both legally - Orbitz issued the ticket only in their capacity as Continental's agent and &quot;morally&quot; - read above how I believe your routing was &quot;born&quot. Unfortunately, the routing on your ticket is NOT BINDING with regard to the contract of carriage, but I still believe a judge would question that Continental acted in good faith by not correcting this mistake right away when they were made aware of it by you.<BR><BR>- You leave on your trip. As feared, it's a disaster - connections missed both ways, overnight layover etc. Yet Continental HONORED ITS CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE! It got you from point A to B and back within a reasonable time frame and at no additional cost to you. Did you miss a day of work or something like that? You might have a chance at something by suing CONTINENTAL for damages (see above), although this will probably be time consuming and the reward, if any, will hardly be in the millions.<BR><BR>So, at the risk of repeating, myself, I agree that Orbitz, it it were a well run business, would not have loaded this routing into its database. Failing that they should at least have gone to bat for you and tried to convice Continental to allow them to reissue your tickets with a better routing for free. However, they were under NO obligation to do so. <BR>On the other hand, Continental is by no means innocent in this matter - in fact they probably deserve most of the blame for it IMO.<BR>Finally, you, Opaldog, didn't pay enough attention when purchasing and must realize that this doesn't necessariily entitle you to financial compensation. Always look at the fine print - not just when purchasing travel!<BR><BR>I can only hope that you and others will learn from this experience - but PLEASE keep traveling!! ;-)<BR><BR>Andre

I certainly did learn a lesson from my experience with Orbitz, and as you so thoroughly point out, Continental. I don't expect financial compensation from anyone. I do want others to know that Orbitz will absolutely refuse to help a customer if it means changing a ticket to correct a problem. As Orbitz is partly owned by Continental, they certainly had a stake or played a part in the responsibility for issuing the ticket and should have corrected the tickets before my family traveled. I may be an inexperienced traveller compared to many others of you who are either in the profession or have travelled more than I. I also share some of the blame in being ignorant of connection times at international airports. I also purchased a product with no guarantee and should have been aware that I had no recourse if I were to be ignorant of connection times. I will still travel and having learned this lesson, will not make it again. I am sure that I will make others, but I still will continue to plan my own vacations, however, without the aid of Orbitz.

I wish I would have read this thread before I booked my travel.. Hopefully I wont have the trouble Ive read about as my flight is nonstop.<BR><BR>I HAVE come to notice that I can find out about the different fares and then go to the airline's web site to get the same rate without Orbitz's fee.<BR><BR>Well, thanks for the information, good for future use

I just returned from Italy the other day after booking a BA ticket through Orbitz (from Chicago connecting through LHR). It was the first time I used Orbitz for international. The trip was flawless (and inexpensive $400 RT). One week before travel, BA dropped the last flight back to Chicago and Orbitz notified me immediately. I called them and we were able to make a more convenient flight change for me. No problems. Also when I originally booked, I made sure that the connection times were acceptable to me (three hours). I'm sorry about what happened to opaldog, but I just wanted others to know that I have had very good experiences with Orbitz. I read this thread before I left and worried (just slightly) unnecessarily. Just make sure when you originally book, there is plenty of layover time. If I didn't feel like there was enough layover time, even at that price, I probably would not have booked.