stellabell

Can anyone give me some hints or experiences regarding booking airline tickets over the internet with Orbitz or Expedia or others? Prices seem to be quite a bit cheaper than any other source but are there any problems?

nks267

Never had any issues with either sites..I would also try Travelocity. If you are concerned, I would also check the cancellation policy for the tickets purchased. If you want, you can purchase travel insurance that may cover trip cancellation due to some predetermined reasons(illness etc...usually determined and outlined in insurance policy).

Gavin

It is best to check with a few different sources sometimes there can be differences, sometimes quite large. For example a couple of years ago I fount it to be about $400 less to book an Air Canada Toronto-Madrid flight on destina.ca than at aircanada.ca! AC owns destina and it was a promotion. Recently I have found some small differences on occasion. If you want to check Westjet, Canjet, Jetsgo or Zoom I believe that you must go to each companies web site in turn because they will not come up on Expedia for example. I don't think Orbitz works for flights originating in Canada. Someone please confirm.

There is no great mystery to booking online. It is the normal way to do it these days. The site should just lead you through the process. ONe other thing to keep in mind is that airfares are dynamic and can change quickly.

brookwood

I have had no problems with e ticket bookings, particularly on Air Tran.

Check prices offered by the Expedias and Orbitzes, but also ask directly with the airlines.

I have found lower prices on web site specials from Air Tran and US Airways than what I saw on Orbitz.

I think it pays to get 3 to 4 prices from different sources. Be sure to check on exactly which fees and taxes are included in the price you are quoted.

I know I ended up once with addons that included an airport tax, an airport lounge usage tax, a Federal fee for something or other, and a 9/11 fee of some type. Combined, they boosted the first price quite a bit.

The bottom line is that what you see is not always what you get.

Just joking about the lounge usage tax, but there were quite a few add ons that jacked up the price to more dollars than what I was initially shown.

In other words, get some prices and look the horse in the mouth.

rkkwan

Chances are after you add up all the taxes, the prices are the same as on the airline's own website. And then the internet booking sites add $5-$10 for handling/processing fees.

Another issue is in the case of a cancellation. I once bought a AC ticket on Travelocity YVR-YKA (Kamloops). YKA was fogged in for several days, and all flights were cancelled. Since I booked through Travelocity, I could not get a refund immediately, but have to buy my own bus ticket and didn't get my money back for weeks. If I had purchased through AC directly, at least that's one fewer step, and I could have gotten more help from AC at YVR.

Intrepid1

You should also try inputting the info onto one of the so-called "aggregator" sites such as www.mobissimo.com which will often find fares that are passed over by Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity.

It is DEFINITELY worth a look in many instances.

taggie

Here's what I will sometimes do: put all my info into expedia or travelocity, and get the details on which airlines they come up with. Then I go to the airlines' individual sites and double check. I've often gotten better fares from the individual sites.
Also the point about changing and cancelling are good ones. i once want tot change an Alaska flight to SF... rather than go through expedia I just called the airline directly and luckily they did the change for me. I had to only pay the airline's change fee, not the additional one for expedia. However this might not work out in all cases - I think I just got lucky with the Alaska agent I spoke with.