Buying airline tickets at Expedia.com
 

Has anyone good or bad experiences buying airline tickets through Expedia on the web?

Kathy, <BR>I have purchased several airline tickets thru Expedia and everything was fine. There have been both e-tickets and paper tickets (Fed-ex for $10.50 extra)depending on the rules for those particular flights. I always make comparisons between the airline website, Orbitz, and Expedia for prices. More than not, Exp has been the lowest.

I've used Expedia many times over the last couple years and have had consistently good service - even when I screwed up!

Expedia has been very efficient and responsive. When I had to cancel a flight and needed a paper ticket for my insurance company, they produced one from an E ticket($10 standard fee) and sent it within 3 days. <BR>They are also excellent about notifying you about any changes in flight times by the airlines. <BR>Fred

Expedia does have good deals on airline tickets ... but the best deals are with the tour wholesalers ... they have lower rates and some have blocked seats with the airlines, and can pass these savings on to you as long as you buy some of the land components (e.g. hotel, ground transportation, etc.).

While Expedia is fine for tickets commencing in the US and continuing through to foreign destinations, should you need a separate side ticket commencing somewhere overseas it tends to be more expensive (sometimes a lot more) than doing it through an overseas service.

Which overseas service would you recommend to purchase Hong Kong to Bangkok tickets?

I can't recommend any particular service for Hong Kong-Bangkok as I have usually done it in the opposite direction, but for sure it should be a Hong Kong based service.

Just to make sure you don't misunderstand, the cheapest way of all is usually having the side trip as an integral part of your basic ticket. So, for example, if you were planning a trip from San Francisco to Bangkok with a side trip to Hong Kong, then you would be best to buy a ticket San Francisco-Hong Kong-Bangkok-Hong Kong-San Francisco (all on the same airline). <BR> <BR>It is only if your side trip is not easily integrated with a main ticket that the advice of purchasing in the overseas starting city of the side trip that applies.