Yikes, I've used Expedia before with no trouble. I booked through them in Canada because we have so little competition (airlines). I hope no one has a real horror story! ~o)

I've booked through them multiple times as well. No trouble either. Once thing i've noticed though is that they don't post the best air canada airfares, they seem to skip all the air canada tango, jazz etc. fares. You're better off going to destina.ca (the air canada website) to take a look at those separately. They've proven to be (to me at least) better rates than what I can get through expedia.

You really know just how good a company is when something is wrong! We had problems with Emirates trying to change our flight home by one day! We were told this by Expedia two days before we were due on holiday.The woman I dealt with went out of her way to sort this, staying on beyond her finishing time. She succeeded in getting us home five hours AFTER our booked flight and also got Emirates to pay for a hotel in Dubai. I am afraid that I did not trust Expedia enough to leave her to get on with it but tried ( without Expedia's knowledge) to sort it myself. I got nowhere.Well done Expedia. I wrote to Expedia in praise of their employee. On the strength of this I have booked other holidays and recommended them to others.

We have used Expedia countless times for airfare, cars and hotels. No problems at all. Once, when we weren't happy with the suite we'd reserved (and paid for), I called Expedia and they immediately spoke with the hotel's front desk and got us a free upgrade to a much nicer one-bedroom. The only downside to Expedia, is that you pay upfront. And another time we arrived at a Hilton in Florida and they "walked" us for the first night because they were overbooked. They said they'd comp that first night, but since I'd already paid Expedia for it, it took a bit of sorting out to get the credit back via the hotel. (I ended up just charging things like meals to my room to get the credit.) But no problems with Expedia itself, and it's nice to be able to call the 800 number and speak to a live person.

I have used Expedia many times especially internationally. I do know that you get better customer service during the day than at night. Nights cust svc seems to be part time or something so sometimes you have to be aggresive with them if they do not understand your situation. Overall, I have been pleased with the flight and hotel prices.
Anita

Thank you all for your reassuring replies to my Expedia question. We also have had no problems with their flights and hotels but when I saw someone's post about Expedia booking problems it scared me!

I have heard of Expedia problems with hotels. These happen when the person arrives at the hotel, and the hotel has no record of the reservation. Expedia faxes the hotel after getting a reservation, and some of these go astray.

So after making a hotel reservation with Expedia, contact the hotel a few days later and confirm your Expedia reservation.

jazzyred:

There are clouds of steam rising from your coffee cup.

They shimmer and evaporate.

HOW do you do that?

Hi--when we were late on a flt going from Rome to Paris b/c the flt was delayed an hour on the ground in Rome--the fault of Air France--and about 10-15 people missed their AF flt back to the US, our family was put on the next flt a few hours later. We had bought our tkts directly from AF. A family who was on the same flt and had bought their tkts thru Expedia had to wait and fly out the next day. I don't know if that was the reason, but when it comes to buying tkts, I assiduously avoid 3rd party bookers and buy directly from the
airline website. I would be more open to using them for hotels, but only after assuring that I could not get the same price booking directly. Just my two cents.....

I fell at the Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe, NM, in July. Hotel staff was cleaning the entry way with a greasy substance and did not put up a caution sign or rope off the entry. The hotel staff was not responsive when I told them I was hurt. After many attempts I finally reached the general manager. He seemed very unconcerned that I had fallen and could have broken my kneecaps. He said he would look into the matter and call me back. He never did.

I eventually contacted Expedia, with whom I made the reservation. Expedia sent several form letter replies that did not address the complaint. Eventually they did respond and directed me to call the hotel manager, even though I explained he did not answer my calls.

Expedia did try to call him but would not credit my account or offer anything other than a $50 gift certificate that would require me to spend more money. You will have no recourse if you have a problem with a hotel and you have booked it through Expedia.

I have noted that the hotel rooms were not up to par when we booked through Expedia. Some were disgusting, even though the resorts had 4 or 5 stars. I also did not get my Hilton HHonors points when I used Expedia. It is not worth the small savings you get.

Sorry about your bad experience, but I wouldn't trust Expedia, or any travel agency for that matter, to vet hotels for me. I think it my own responsibility to check out hotel reviews, ratings, and locations before booking one. I think Expedia is offering convenience, and sometimes favorable rates, but not hotel expertise or guarantees.

Dear amoswald,

I should think that your complaint is against the hotel, not Expedia.

Were you actually injured?

If so, and you have not gotten satisfaction from the hotel, post your complaint at www.tripadvisor, and then call a lawyer.

Amoswald, hope you're feeling better and that fall had not spoiled your vacation.

One thing I can't understand, you said you didn't get your Hilton points. I went to the Hilton website, pulled up ALL Hilton family hotels in Santa Fe, NM - Eldorado not listed. How come?

I find it hard to believe that Expedia takes your computer request and then "faxes" it to the hotel .... seriously, in this age of worldwide Internet connectivity, that's a tough one to swallow.

DWzemens, it MAY be true. Once my reservation didn't go through - I always call the hotel to confirm. The CSR person on the phone (800-Expedia) told me she'll FAX my reservation to the hotel.

it's true -= many discount sites (expedia, travelocity, 1800-hotels) take the rez then fax or call the hotel to confirm. This why you should ALWAYS call the hotel yourself a couple of days after you make the reservation and get the HOTEL's confirmation number - expedia or travelocity's rez # will do you no good if there is a problem.
that said most of the time there isn't a problem...

Regarding my experience with Expedia and Eldorado Hotel. After my attempts to go through Expedia, I contacted the owner's of the Hotel. Low and behold, I got a call back from the General Manager and an offer to credit my account.

I was injured, not seriously, but enough to make me very uncomfortable for weeks.

I disagree with the individual who says Expedia should not vet the hotels. Expedia is publishing a rating of the hotel and accepts the money. The rating includes the facilities and should certainly extend to service and safety. The Eldorado Hotel fell down in both areas.

Also, had I booked directly with the hotel it would have been easier to resolve the matter through American Express. Involving a third party made it more complicated, and Expedia did not help.

Every time I booked through Expedia the rooms are subpar. I mentioned the Hilton Mission Bay. Horrible dirty rooms with beer bottles and cigarettes - and they refused to credit my account for the HHonors points because we booked with Expedia. In the small print on Expedia somewhere you will find a disclaimer.

So my issue was with both Expedia and the Hotel. I am resolving the issue with the Hotel myself and will not use Expedia again for booking hotels.

There is no reason to book most hotels with Expedia to start with. Most major chains have prices that are better or the same; and have a lowest price warranty.

Occassionally, these booking sites do have "exclusive deals" that may be cheaper, but these will have various restrictions like no frequent stayer points.

I've used Expedia twice and both times had very negative feedback about them. Poor customer service (automated response system), very in-accurate information on the site. Lost several hundred dollars and vacation time due to wrong published data. After doing some research, unfortunately found out that this has been a systemic problem for Expedia for a while now. Good luck to you.

I use them regularly and no problems. I was just on their website a few minutes ago, looking for a flight. Happy Travels!