Has anyone used airfare.com? I am about to book a trip from Orlando to Rome for Sept. 2011 for $922! On the US Airways website, it is over $1400.

Has anyone had a bad experience with this website? I am assuming $922 is a great fare, right?

No one can predict airfare for September. But my friends traveled to Rome in Sept of this year from Pittsburgh (which is never cheap) and the airfare was in the mid $800's.
But I did use them many moons ago and the flights were fine and way less expensive then I could get anywhere else.
Good Luck.

I think I used them once too, years ago. I didn't have any problems. But if you're worried you should do a search on the Air Travel board.

I just used Airfare.com to book a trip to London. I called the airline to make sure that they have our tickets booked, just because of a weird email I received from Airfare.com about verifying my credit card information.

Jill,

You may want to check this: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/trave...e_dot_com.html

Treesa: I sure hope RaintDay09 also reads your link . . . .

yep, I read it. I called the airline directly and they said they documented my concern and that I should confirm the reservation directly with the airline a day or two before the flight. If there are any issues, they'll have documentation that I expressed concern with the consolidator. Bottom line, JillDavis, it is not worth the risk. I am stuck now and will report how it works out. janisj, thanks for your concern, but I am determined to have a great trip despite all the odds.

Treesa, That is an excellent link. I sure hope Jill stops back to this thread before buying that ticket.

I am a bit superstitious that way. I *always* and only book directly with the airline. I'd rather pay a bit more but know I have a reliable plane ticket, with decent routings, and layovers/plane changes, and hopefully no surprises.

Oh wow! I am sure glad I posted this thread. Thanks for all the info guys.


RainyDay - when is your trip scheduled?

I booked a trip for next July with them to Paris. They are having a big USAir sale. I got tickets BNA-CDG for $1038 each. All the direct airline sites were hovering between $1680 and $2000! I was able to log onto USAir a couple hours after the purchase and pick seats for our flights. I will still call to confirm but they do have a record of my purchase and have charged my CC so I am not too worried.

Trvlgirlmq - will you post back on here again if you have a problem? Also, after you go in July, would you be so kind to post back on here that all went smoothly? I am just curious. Thanks for your response.

Some more info for you, Jill: http://travelsitecritic.com/reviews/1/airfare-com/

It seems to me booking through a consolidator is fine if there are no problems, i.e change of plans, mechanical issues, flight changes, etc. Too many scary stories.

About 5 minutes ago, I saw dallas to rome for $668.00 through kayak.com on iberia air.

I am flying December 24th and will let you know how it works out, Jill.

Hopefully everything works out great for RainyDay. But I personally wouldn't book w/ them even IF someone else gets a great deal/problem free customer service. This is a case where I wouldn't rely on an anecdotal report that one person manages OK.

Reading the complaints on the above link and other travel sites, there are just too many red flags and common issues. I'm sure many folks have no problems at all, but enough have had <u>horrible</u> experiences . . .

I wouldn't touch them w/a bargepole myself.

I haven't used airfare.com but I have booked flights to Europe and South America a number of times through online consolidators, including cheapoair.com and others similar. I have never had any problems at all.

You just need to be aware that the trade-off for the often amazingly low fares is that if for any reason you have to cancel your trip, you are stuck. There's no recourse with the airline. All the consolidators I have used have been very clear about that. What you can do, is to purchase trip insurance if you think that could be a problem.

The other thing is to be sure that if you have to make a connecting flight it's on the same airline, so if there are delays you don't have to try to make arrangements with two or more airlines.

In addition, I always check directly with the airline itself after I book with the consolidator to be sure we are booked with them too, and of course to see when we can choose seats. I've booked many months in advance of trips. Never had a problem!

scdreamer: "<i>I have never had any problems at all.</i>"

There are consolidators and then there are consolidators. I've used lots of consolidators over the years. But Jill is asking specifically about airfare.com

The fact that there are many reputable bucket shops/consolidators doesn't mean airfares is . . .

"<i>I always check directly with the airline itself after I book with the consolidator to be sure we are booked with them too</i>""

If you read some of the on-line reviews, that hasn't always helped. There are reports of (even after checking w/ the airline) airfares.com canceled the booking and required rebooking at a higher fare and the airline/credit card company could do nothing about it.

janisj - you're right ... I hadn't linked to the complaints about airfare.com, and I, too, would not book with them after reading everything.

I guess I will be the guinea pig, but if something goes wrong, God help them...

I can't find the posts, but I seem to recall that passengers who had booked their flights directly with the airlines fared much better during the Icelandic volcano eruption last spring that created havoc with flights, rather than those who
had booked their flights through other travel websites.