I've flown several times and you'd think I'd be smarter but .. I have been doing the crazey airline search, as many as you have been doing also - looking for the "deal" Is it safer in terms of a flight not coming through etc to have a ticket booked on an "airline" site or do Orbitz tickets etc have as much clout. And airline miles - I have a few, but they sound so hard to actually use. All the advice says be "flexable" and yet if you work .. or it seems one must make lodging reservations early, because hotels etc are not as big as in America, hence I can't be flexable. I've found one 1/2 way deal with Alitalia and I have this little nagging voice in my head that this might not be such a good thing. I have read the info on this site about airlines, but i've been burned a couple of times with strikes etc. Any info from a seasoned travel, I would appreciate.

I can only give a partial response, but regarding Orbitz tickets, if something happens to your flight, the airline has to do just as much for you with an Orbitz ticket as with one bought from their own website, so don't be afraid of that.

Once you buy a ticket, you have a ticket like any other passenger, doesn't matter where you got it. Buying from Orbtiz is no different than if you bought from a travel agent. You have a valid ticket and are now a passenger of that airline entitled to all protections and rights as other passengers.

Over the years I have received a lot of help on this forum, and noticed recently that a lot of people are interested in walking tours.

Well, I put together walking tours for Venice, Florence and Rome on Word documents. Since we won't be using them until June-July, I'm not confident they are 100% correct, hence my reluctance since they aren't "tested."

Would anyone like me to post them? If you do want to read them, let me know how I attach a Word doc. to this forum.

Sorry, I was reading this post. I will repost with a proper heading.

For most tickets, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, etc are no cheaper than the airline's website. Instead, usually $5-10 over.

And if you buy a ticket from an agent - online or not - if you need to change things prior to departure, you need to have it done through the agent. And some people find it hard to get through with a live person from some websites.

But if they have certain "exclusive" fares that are significantly better than the airline's, or they can build special itinerary that you can't find on the airline's site, then go ahead.