That's good to know eliztravels!

and the charges hit your credit card

Hope the trip goes well, Melnq. looks like you received great advice to look for any potential pitfalls.

I have booked air only via Orbitz and Expedia especially when using multiple airlines on one ticket and haven't had any problems so far. Just have to be careful about booking class for seats and FF miles. I sometimes have trouble finding all the details. I approach them with less hesitation than consolidators (whom I have also occasionally used for air), but more than direct with airlines and hotels or even booking.com.

My sister often books air/hotel or air/car combos via these sites and hasn't had any problems.

I had never booked a vacation package for a few reasons. One is that we rarely stay in one city for an entire trip. I have learned from Seamus that the number of hotel days can be adjusted. Great tip! Two is that I often travel alone and in some countries I can find a less expensive single hotel room than the rate in the package that is often for a double and two breakfasts. (I recently booked a ferry/hotel package Seattle-Victoria because the rate for the hotel was better than I could get direct. It included a voucher of breakfast for 2 from 3 selections. The waitress allowed me to select 2 breakfasts--I selected part of 2.) Three is that the packages I have seen did not include such generous cancellation of the hotel and any fees from the third party are nonrefundable, so a cancellation or change to the trip would cost more than the usual for a nonrefundable separate airfare.

My question to the knowledgeable on this subject is whether you still get the 24-hour airline ticket cancellation period like you do if you book air ticket only on third party site or direct with airline?

I believe you can cancel within 24 hours for airfare with Expedia.

There may be some fine points to be sure that you book that correctly, if the following blog is right.

https://www.visatraveler.com/blog/bo...on-on-expedia/

I know one can cancel within 24 hours if air ticket only. I'll have to read as you suggest when it is a package. Thx

https://www.expedia.com/service/#/link/15253

As usual with travel agents, the cancellation policy depends on the supplier's rules.

Mel, does your final receipt show a breakdown of a price for the airfare versus the hotel, then taxes and fees?

I did a little digging on my own about the refunds. I entered the flights I am using for an upcoming trip to JRO and selected a hotel I am using for 3 of the 7 nights in Tanzania as a single traveler just so I could compare costs directly. That hotel only offered a nonrefundable room for the package (other hotels offer refundable and nonrefundable).

The airfare is clearly covered under the 24-hour cancellation/refund policy. The hotel room is nonrefundable. I could not find in the Expedia change/cancel rules quite how that is handled--how much would be refunded of the package total since only the total for the bundle is presented.
I'd have a similar question still if the hotel is refundable until just before arrival. If one keeps the flight, but wants to cancel the hotel, how much is one refunded from the package price?
The hotel part reads just like a direct booking with "one night's charge" if canceled after the deadline. Again, seems like one would have to be told what that "one night's charge" is despite it being bundled.

It does look like if the bundled price is better than buying piecemeal (in this case it was with only hostel level lodgings), then the savings could cover the Expedia change/cancel policy premium so one could make allowed changes with only the difference in rates, no penalty charges.

Thanks again for reminding me to check packages. I hadn't done that in years.

You raise a good question Kay.

My receipt shows taxes and fees, but not a breakdown between air fare and hotel. I found this on the Expedia site:

For package bookings: While the receipt you get from the itinerary page shows the total amount you paid, your bank or credit card statement may show separate charges for each package item (flight, hotel, etc.).

I just checked my credit card statement and there's only one charge - for the full bundled amount.

The cancellation policy for the hotel I booked states:

• Cancellations or changes made after 6:00pm (W. Europe Standard Time) on Dec 13, 2019 or no-shows are subject to a property fee equal to 100% of the total amount paid for the reservation.

Just out of curiosity, I checked the nightly rates at the hotel I've booked, then subtracted that from the total cost, minus insurance. The airfare came to about $1,400 for both of us, which is much better than I could find booking directly through the airlines.

It's not clear to me how this would be handled in the case of a partial cancellation. I'm under the impression that the airfare would be refunded as a credit, but not sure what would happen regarding the hotel.

My Expedia account is now showing my booking as confirmed, no longer 'in process'. Hooray!

Sounds like you got a good deal !

Since you are happy mlnq8 that is the main thing.

just for anyone else, Mr wunrfl mentions the problem of contacting Expedia post purchase which may have changed since I last used it 11 years ago.
This was my main beef with Expedia, being placed on hold for long periods in respect of changes.

Also prices may change closer to the departure date, as in August or early Sept for dec. But you are happy so that is what matters.

Sue - I've called Expedia once since I booked, my call was answered quickly. No long wait. Maybe I was just lucky.

They also sent me a notice that United had changed my flight time about a week after I booked (only by five minutes), whereas United didn't bother to tell me.

Past experience tells me that the United flights will probably change two or three more times between now and December.

Or maybe they fixed whatever difficulty kept users from getting through. Glad your call was answered quickly. Have fun looking forward to your trip, that is often a good part of it!

I assume your call was made from Colorado and not from Munich. The experience might be different if you called at 9AM in Munich and it is 2AM in a midwest call center (or an early afternoon at a call center in India).

But, again, this is not a major concern. It is just a thought, and out of date, rooted in the olden days when airlines had city ticket offices, paper tickets, on up to the days of online tix but before you could make changes online by yourself (I assume you could make changes online at expdia dot com if changes after departure are possible). And chances are slim that would need to contact them.

Yes, I called from Colorado.

Good thread. I had difficulty trying to book an open jaw ticket on one of those vacation packages, but that has been a few years. I will check it out again.

​​​​​​Years ago, we really liked Alaska Air vacations for trips to Disney and to San Francisco. I math-ed it out and it was a great deal compared to the individual components.

This past spring, the East Coast had some storms that caused our flight to be cancelled. JetBlue said it was 5 days before they could get us there. We ended up buying a United ticket through Travelocity of all things. Worked out great. (Travelocity and Expedia are the same company.)

Thanks again Melnq8 for this thread
 

I remembered this thread when my husband told me last week he still had 4 days of vacation to use technically before end of February or lose them. This has happened before and his boss stretched it into March, but where to go on short notice? We decided a city in case of poor weather and stay in one place for 4-5 nights (unusual for us) and somewhere we have never been--settled on Athens, Greece.

Checked the airfares and didn't like what I saw (husband accepts limited selection of airlines). Remembered this thread and checked vacation packages via Delta Vacations, Orbitz, etc. DV offered the flights plus luxury hotel for 5 nights for less than the cost of just airfare for 2 and would throw in some bonus miles. Orbitz had the best price for same flights and a wider choice of hotels. I ended up booking the Orbitz package still with a nicer hotel than we usually choose, but only 4 nights for $1400 less than the airfare alone direct. We had 24 hours to cancel airfare and could choose nonrefundable or refundable (for higher cost) hotel. Some credit on airfare if change/cancel. Priced in main cabin/economy with option to pay $2000 more to downgrade to basic economy (yes) or $10,000 more (I think) to upgrade to business for the transatlantic segments. Our silver medallion status was recognized once the reservation appeared on Delta, so we could pick our exit row seats on DL and free regular seats on KLM. I haven't checked about FF miles (not a deciding factor), but I think the class still acquires miles, not sure about MQM.

Decided to stay near ATH last night because flight at 6am. Saw the Sofitel at airport offering acceptable rate on their website for Accor members. Then continuing the budget approach, I checked Hotwire for Hot Rates and they offered a $20 lower nonrefundable rate than direct on a hotel at the distance of the Sofitel from the airport with the message that the last person got the Sofitel and that I would get one of 3 hotels--the Sofitel and 2 that weren't even in the area on Hotwire, so not contenders. I took the rate and got the airport Sofitel. Can't guarantee double or twin beds, but that's fine. We'll be up by 3am.

Now to plan our activities.

I think this is one of best parts of my retirement. Want to take a trip to Athens in a couple of weeks? Sure. Any appointments or meetings I have can be rescheduled.

Good on ya Kay!

I've since booked flights to Spain on Expedia at a much better fare than I was finding directly with the airlines. I also booked a night in a hotel on either end of the stay via Expedia as an add-on, getting reduced rates on both.

The trip to Germany went without a hitch and the hotel I'd booked in Munich via Expedia was excellent - and one I'd probably not have found otherwise.

Have a great trip!

Great story. I appreciate the travel details. Looking forward to your TR.

Hope there will be a trip report
 

We are keeping an eye on the virus spread. We want to be supportive of the businesses and keep to our plans as much as possible, but also want to be prudent. If there is a spike in cases in Greece or some threat of travel disruption for our connection in Rome, then we will reconsider. I did pay slight extra for refundable hotel for most nights and we would get some (not sure how much) credit from airfare. Only cancel for any reason trip insurance would help in these situations. We don't want to lose the money and we do want to take a trip, but at least we could financially absorb any losses without major consequences.