gigib

Normally I use Kayak to search then book through the airline's site, but this multi-city fare I've been watching doesn't come up there. The tabs on Kayak lead me to Orbitz, Cheaptickets or Priceline for this fare, I've never used them before and this is a bit scary.

Is this no problem or is there something I need to be concerned about? I realize the communication difficulties if we miss a flight or have troubles otherwise. I have used Expedia for packages but never for just flights, I might feel comfortable booking this through them, but they don't seem to have the low price that Kayak shows.

Kathie

If I can't book it directly with the airline, I don't book it. You can also call the primary airline and book it over the phone.

NoFlyZone

We have used Expedia for just flights a few times, but only after all other routes fail. We've had no problems with their tickets.

But if you are not comfortable booking with an online travel agency, go to your friendly neighborhood travel agent and pay the small fee, if any, for the peace of mind.

Songdoc

I've booked through Orbitz and Expedia countless times and never had a problem. But ... a couple of months ago I received a notice that a flight I'd booked on Orbitz had rescheduled, and the new itinerary was unacceptable to me. It added a six-hour layover. If I'd wanted that itinerary, I could have booked it myself for hundreds of dollars less than I'd paid for the more direct flights. Getting it changed was a NIGHTMARE.

Hawaiian Airlines refused to change it because it had been booked through Orbitz. Orbitz said they couldn't change it because Hawaiian Air wouldn't authorize it. I was only able to resolve it after blasting it all over social media and getting Orbitz' social media expert involved to stop the bad publicity.

It had never occurred to me that there was a downside to booking through a third-party. But now I know.

FYI, mine was a multi-airline itinerary, and booking it directly through the airlines would have cost hundreds of dollars more.

eliztravels2

The last time I used Expedia my outbound flight was delayed by a couple of hours, which meant a missed connection in Europe. Expedia notified me and put me on a connecting flight which would have got me to my destination about 8 hours later than planned. The airline, BA, notified me somewhat sooner than Expedia about the delay and told me there would be no problem getting me on a connecting flight, but I would have to do this at my departure airport at check in. I was a little anxious about this but got to the airport in plenty of time. The check in agent was surprised that I had been rebooked on such a late connecting flight and was able to put us on the next available flight, getting me to my destination only a couple of hours late.

If you book directly with the airline, no guarantee there will not be problems, but at least it is clear who is responsible for sorting them out.

gigib

An interesting note on the itinerary I am shopping. It involves a one way Los Angeles-Sydney on United and a one way Auckland-Los Angeles on Air New Zealand. I called both United and Air NZ (both code shares with each other) and was told that I could NOT book the fare I want directly through either of them, buying one-ways, I am stuck with using Orbitz etc. because of the way these two flights are being hooked together for a good price.

Today I am 90% considering buying through either Orbitz or Cheaptickets, I have to do something soon because we fly Nov. 14.

kybourbon

If you would list the actual flights/dates, we might be able to come up with the fare construction where you could book it. Since they are both Star Alliance, there should be a way to book it.

doug_stallings

This doesn't really make me nervous, and I don't see why you wouldn't do it. These are all legitimate online travel agencies, and they all sell real tickets. It's true that you add a layer of bureaucracy if something goes wrong, but there's little danger for you since the flights are not connecting.

I'm assuming you are getting from Sydney to Auckland on your own.

I'd also recommend that you buy travel insurance to cover your trip since this is likely to be expensive. If either of your legs were changed at the last minute, you could incur costs since you may have already made all your Australia/NZ travel plans.

gigib

Thanks Doug, I guess I've read too many horror stories.
We are going Sydney-Auckland on our own, I figure I'll get relatively cheap one-way tickets, and yes we will buy insurance!

kybourbon, LAX-SYD is Nov. 14 and AKL-LAX is Nov. 30, I want the 7:15 flight home. Find me a fare $1500 or less and I will jump for joy! It's $1634 right now, I'm going to wait one more week then I'll buy no matter what the price. I'm a shopper when it comes to airfare, I watch it like a hawk and usually win the game and get a good price.

Gardyloo

I just went to Air New Zealand's website and found a fare LAX-xAKL-SYD//AKL-LAX for your days for $1493. Yes, you stop in Auckland briefly before crossing the Tasman, but frankly I'd choose Air NZ any day over United.

Use the "multi flight" option.

The same flights using Expedia were $1512 and using Orbitz $1583.

gigib

I've seen that, but my problem is that we need to be on the 11:00 a.m. flight from Sydney to Cairns the day we arrive and the Air NZ flight arrives at 10:30. The next flight to Cairns is at 2:00pm, but I don't want that, we are driving to Port Douglas to spend the night and that makes it TOO long a day.
Thanks anyway though.

Gardyloo

If you have conditions that require excluding or including certain flights, or specific routing requirements, or connections that are specific, or... or...

...then you need to make them known, otherwise people trying to help you are just spinning their wheels. This shouldn't be a guessing game.

gigib

I realize that, my intent with this question was not for my specific flights, I only meant a general question about pros and cons of booking with the third party sites.

NoFlyZone

gigib, you went from a general question to a request for specific flights once you said, "LAX-SYD is Nov. 14 and AKL-LAX is Nov. 30, I want the 7:15 flight home. Find me a fare $1500 or less..."

gigib

I only put that because kybourbon asked. Geez.

jjimenez10

***DO NOT PURCHASE FLIGHTS THROUGH KAYAK*** I booked flights through Kayak for my family and me for a trip this June. Booking the tickets was easy enough after being redirected to Travelocity. Everything was very simple until I received an email stating that my flight itinerary has changed and to call the Customer Support Center to confirm the changes. It took me five phone calls each lasting over 30 minutes to fix my flight itinerary. The first four times I was told by "Dennis", "Katie", "Ricky", and some other made up name for their overseas support person that they could not get through to the airline to fix my flight. Finally, on the fifth try, I was able to arrange my return flights so that they worked for my travel dates. Great! Done! Now I can get on with my life!! Except, when I get the confirmation email the next day listing my new flight itinerary, I notice that they also changed a flight on the last leg of my outgoing trip so that I am now missing a connector flight to my final destination. This was never reviewed with me during my five phone calls so I have no idea why they changed it to begin with. Now I am in the process of getting this flight fixed. I'm two calls in. The first time, I got the same response, "We're having a hard time connecting to the airline. Please call back." This morning, I just got off a call with "Nancy" where I was on hold for over 30 minutes before my call was picked up. When I explained to her the situation, she said that I'd need to contact the airline directly. What?!! I was very adamant that I would not be doing that since this was their mistake and that they need to own it until it's resolved. After a few minutes of back and forth, "Nancy" finally realized that it is indeed an issue that they need to fix. So, she calls the airline and guess what? She's having a problem connecting and I'm asked to please call back in a couple days. Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER EVER WILL I BOOK THROUGH KAYAK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NoFlyZone

Please don't blame Kayak for the problem as they did NOT book/sell your tickets. The problem rests solely with Travelocity.

Also, if this happened recently when there were all the weather problems, every airline was all bollixed up. It was a mess.

crckwc1

I guess I'm incredibly lucky. I've booked for years with Travelocity, Cheapoair, Vayama and others with no problems even when there were itinerary changes. I may have to re-think this.

suze

jjimenez10- You didn't book thru Kayak, you booked thru Travelocity.

janisj

welcome to fodors jjiminez: Unfortinately you seem very very confused since Kayak does not sell tickets . . . EVER.

And IF you have a problem w/ a flight, why wouldn't you want to speak to the airline directly? But you likely won't read these responses since you merely registered here to post your rant and probably won't ever come back . . .