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This is very frustrating behavior by Orbitz, but occasionally it works the other way too. You can click on a $2000 fare and then it turns into $700. But how do you know where to click, when it behaves this way?
I've had similar behavior on the United site too. Once I was buying a ticket for $233 (obviously not to Europe). I had to leave the computer for a few minutes, and when I came back and clicked through, the price had dropped to $211. |
OK, AA, let me ask: How can a fare be "valid" and "not available" a the same time. The two seem mutually exclusive to me. And please, no mumbo-jumbo about "loaded inventory." It's available or it's not.
Imagine if a travel agent stuck a big poster in the from window saying "JFK-Milan $589!" And then when you walked in and said, "I'll take it," they said, "Sorry, the inventory hasn't been loaded." Gimme a break, willya. You'd be attacking the place with pitchforks and lanterns. BTW, I went through that nonsense once with Orbitz and vowed never to use the site again. |
I agree j999.
AAFrequentFlyer wrote "the fares are valid, it's just that the airlines have not loaded any inventory, so the fares were not available, even for 30 seconds, to begin with". So when will they be loaded? Never? And can you define valid? If they advertise a fare that no one can purchase, it doesn't exist, you're arguing semantics. |
ok, nobody is advertising any fares....
You or anybody else did not get an e-mail stating that JFK-Milan is $589, all in, just come to Orbitz. Here is what happens, and any travel agent should know this, so if you intend on being your own TA, then perhaps you should learn as well. Most major/international airlines have on the average ~20 different fare codes. They range from the very restictive, very cheap economy fares all the way to very expensive unrestricted first class fares and everything in between. The airlines "load" the available inventory to the global distribution systems when they and only they decide to offer a certain fare. At the same time the GDS will have fare codes and the fares relating to them in the system at all times. When a travel agency, such as Expedia, Orbitz, does a Dream Map or Fare Watch type search, it pulls all the fares "possibly" available. Since the airline did not load any inventory into the distribution system, you get the error message after clicking on the fare. It's simply just not available at the moment, but it does not mean it will not be in the future. The only thing you can blame this on is the very powerful search engine of the major sites, but they never advertise these fares until they are actually available from the airlines. Hope this helps you to understand the system. |
Stupid question but: can Europeans use these website too?
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I was told by a very computer literate person that you should always delete cookies & temp files before going back to a site from which you got a fare quote. They want you to grab the next fare after you have lost a couple of lower fares. I don't know how all that works but I always follow his advice and have not yet lost a fare to the "no
longer available" unless it has been days. |
This happens from time to time for me with Orbitz and I don't doubt it happens on other sites.
When it last did, I got the booking codes from ITA and also saw it was available on Alitalia. Because it was an overseas biz trip, my company requires Orbitz bookings. Orbitz phone support was able to contact Alitalia and got me ticketed. Be sure to have your ducks in a row if you call them. |
I am under the impression that this has happened to me more when I've attempted to use Orbitz, than on other sites such as Travelocity or Expedia. And it has happened over the course of weeks (when I was searching for a specific trip). Now I don't use Orbitz anymore.
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That might be the explanation, AA, but if it is it sounds darn shady. The Internet is a publishing/advertising medium accessible to the public at large, and thus it isn't the same thing as the systems accessible only to travel agents. The figures and fares that a company puts on the Internet amount to prices advertised to the public.
The 'sorry, we're out of stock' routine is something that consumer affairs departments routinely investigate and fine firms for abusing. A firm must show that a significant proportion of its inventory is routinely available at the published price, or it is committing bait-and-switch. It is true that markets in the airline industry move very fast, so that the inventory at a published fare can sell out very quickly, but that doesn't excuse having a price listed for which there was no inventory available at the time of listing. Further, as I understand it, Orbitz is not simply saying 'fares FROM $589', they actually list the $589 price - in real time. For all I know my local supermarket has umpteen canned tuna codes that it uses to sell said good. But should they have a sticker on the shelf that says "$1.79", and should I or anyone else fail to find a can of the stuff at that price, I'm calling foul. Tuna prices or airfares, vendor makes claim, vendor should make good on it. |
It's a website. Why waste energy hating it????
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I wouldn't give up with Orbitz because of this glitch. It's a very powerful search engine and will find lots of fares the other sites will not find. And as I mentioned, sometimes when you click on a fare, you get a lower fare. Programming with a constantly changing database is a challenge and no site is perfect.
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I hate Orbitz for that reason too. I switched to www.faremax.com
They list lots of airfares that some of the big sites do not. |
Author: CarolA Date: 04/29/2006, 08:43 pm It's a website. Why waste energy hating it???? So. You did not bother to read the thread before replying? If my grocery store offers T-bone at $x per pound on it's website, you bet they offer rainchecks at the the till. |
It not just the sites like Orbitz where this happens. The same thing was happening to me last week via Continental's website. So frustrating when I really wanted that low fare!
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Check out http://www.farecompare.com Excellent site for nailing down fares. I've encountered very few situations where the fare it listed was actually unavailable on the days it indicated.
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AA, you are making a false assumption with this statement "You or anybody else did not get an e-mail stating that JFK-Milan is $589, all in, just come to Orbitz"
I am registered on farewatcher at Travelocity, when fares to my target cities go lower, they do, in fact, email me with the advertised fare. I have yet to be able to get that fare when I try to book it, it always tells me the fare is unavailable. |
Here you go, todays email advertising a $465 roundtrip flight from NY to Rome, just try and book it, good luck,
http://dps1.travelocity.com/airgchoi...mp;FromTF=true |
Author: natinwpb
Date: 04/27/2006, 10:39 am I checked a RT from JFK to Milan for Sept. this morning and it was showing a great rate of $589 which included taxes. When you click on it, it gives you the "oops this fare is gone" message. Checked it an hour later and it still says that fare. I got all excited for nothing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Intrepid1 Date: 04/27/2006, 10:43 am Go to www.onetravel.com and/or www.itasoftware.com and see if you can find it there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: AAFrequentFlyer Date: 04/27/2006, 10:44 am Why do you hate Orbitz? The fare is a valid fare, unfortunately the airline(s) have not loaded any inventory. It's not Orbitz's fault. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: rick_c Date: 04/27/2006, 10:57 am Lately, it happens all the time. One day one of my colleagues and I clicked on lots of different flights just to see if the fares were good, and nearly every one of them was not available. While it may not be the fault of Orbitz, it is still a waste of everybody's time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Intrepid1 Date: 04/27/2006, 10:57 am Orbitz is owned by an airline consortium so everything it does or doesn't "do" is ultimately up to the airlines which own it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Intrepid1 Date: 04/27/2006, 11:01 am Sorry...I am incorrect... "Orbitz was acquired by Cendant's Travel Distribution Services division in November 2004, and is part of the Consumer Travel Americas group." Looks like the various airline owners took their money and ran with it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: tcreath Date: 04/27/2006, 11:04 am I agree with the op. This happens to me on Orbitz all the time. Whether its Orbitz' fault or not is irrelevant; its a pain and it rarely ever happens to me on the other consolidator websites (travelocity, expedia, etc.). I always get excited but rarely is the offer good once you start clicking through. Its a waste of time and can be a downer. I stopped using Orbitz a while back because of this. Tracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: AAFrequentFlyer Date: 04/27/2006, 11:29 am The same thing happens with Travelocity Dream map and with Expedia farewatch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: tcreath Date: 04/27/2006, 11:49 am I don't use those functions on travelocity or expedia. I was referring to just simply going on the home page and putting in the date and place you want to go and choosing an itinerary. I just find it aggravating when I'm looking for a simple point to point airfare on orbitz and it comes back as "not available" and with a different fare that is usually a lot higher. I never have a problem when I do the same on travelocity or expedia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: TexasAggie Date: 04/27/2006, 11:50 am Hi Tracy You seem to find SUCH good airfare deals for all of your trips. Where do you look? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Lostmymind Date: 04/27/2006, 11:51 am you and I must be on the same wave length, I was trying to book the same flight and got the same message. I am still holding out hope! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: nina Date: 04/27/2006, 12:12 pm This happens ALL the time, on Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia, and I'm on farewatcher with Travelocity, so I can check the site a minute after I get the email telling me about the new fare and it will inevitably be gone. How long do these bait and switch airfares last anyway, 30 seconds? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: AAFrequentFlyer Date: 04/27/2006, 12:17 pm As I said, the fares are valid, it's just that the airlines have not loaded any inventory, so the fares were not available, even for 30 seconds, to begin with. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Ziana Date: 04/27/2006, 12:18 pm I would print out pages now and later with time stamp and call and DEMAND that price. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Gardyloo Date: 04/27/2006, 12:22 pm Now that Orbitz is owned by Cendant, it's being sold by Cendant (along with sister company Cheap Tickets.) The big agencies like Orbitz (Cendant) or Travelocity (Sabre) all pull fares from the same global distribution services; it's really a case of how often they update their prices - usually several times a day, but for parts of the site like their fare search services, the updatings might not be as fast or as thorough. I really recommend ITA - www.itasoftware.com - especially ITA's 30-day search. You can't book via ITA but you can go directly to the airline showing the cheap fare and book without paying Orbitz or Expedia et al their booking and "handling" fees. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: sundowner Date: 04/27/2006, 12:23 pm I had a comical experience with orbitz this week. A guy needed a one way flight from San Antonio to Houston (200 miles) for that day. I didn't plan on buying the ticket on Orbitz but used it to find airline choices. The first flight that pulled up on orbitz was: San Antonio to New Orleans. Spend the night. New Orleans to Atlanta. Atlanta to Houston. How crazy is that! A one hour flight turned into 3 flights and hours and hours of plane time plus an overnight. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: AngelaS Date: 04/27/2006, 12:27 pm Whenever I find a fare on Orbitz or Travelocity, I usually go to the airline's website to see what the fare is there. Sometimes it can be lower, and if booking directly through the airline you can use miles. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: FainaAgain Date: 04/27/2006, 12:42 pm I am with Angela, only the airline's website always gives a lower price. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: tcreath Date: 04/27/2006, 02:21 pm TexasAggie, I swear I don't know how I stumble across the cheap flights! I guess I get bored enough at work that I just play around with different websites for fun. A little sad, but my friends finally quit making fun of me when I found our $300 St. Louis to Paris tickets last November! But usually I just search tons of different websites until I find a good deal. I found those tickets on Travelocity, using the "flexible date" option. Like they mentioned above, a lot of times I will get messages saying that "American Airlines doesn't fly from Chicago to Paris" or something like that, but if I play around enough I can usually come up with something pretty good. Many of our trips are created because I find a great deal and we just go from there. For instance, today I was just checking out both American and Aer Lingus's website to see how much a flight would be to Ireland for next February and I found tickets for about $650 for both of us. Now I'm thinking Ireland for Valentines Day! Poor DH...I know I must drive him crazy because every time I call him I have another flight deal I found! One other thing...I am usually pretty flexible about where I fly from. I live in St. Louis but its usually a lot cheaper to fly from Chicago. We are always willing to drive the four hours to save hundreds of dollars off of our tickets prices. Tracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: TexasAggie Date: 04/27/2006, 02:42 pm LOL! I too share your habit of trawling for cheap airfares when bored at work. Since we're in Denver we're pretty far from any other major airport except Colorado Springs (which isn't really a major airport). But now that Southwest Airlines is flying Denver to Chicago I'm hoping that we'll be able to take advantage of some of the awesome ORD--Europe fares that come up every once in a while. Ireland for V-Day sounds very romantic by the way, and at a good price too! DH and I did Germany (Romantic Road - cheesy I know) for V-Day 2005. It was such a neat little get-a-way. -jill -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: WillTravel Date: 04/27/2006, 03:04 pm This is very frustrating behavior by Orbitz, but occasionally it works the other way too. You can click on a $2000 fare and then it turns into $700. But how do you know where to click, when it behaves this way? I've had similar behavior on the United site too. Once I was buying a ticket for $233 (obviously not to Europe). I had to leave the computer for a few minutes, and when I came back and clicked through, the price had dropped to $211. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: j_999_9 Date: 04/27/2006, 03:06 pm OK, AA, let me ask: How can a fare be "valid" and "not available" a the same time. The two seem mutually exclusive to me. And please, no mumbo-jumbo about "loaded inventory." It's available or it's not. Imagine if a travel agent stuck a big poster in the from window saying "JFK-Milan $589!" And then when you walked in and said, "I'll take it," they said, "Sorry, the inventory hasn't been loaded." Gimme a break, willya. You'd be attacking the place with pitchforks and lanterns. BTW, I went through that nonsense once with Orbitz and vowed never to use the site again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: nina Date: 04/29/2006, 02:15 pm I agree j999. AAFrequentFlyer wrote "the fares are valid, it's just that the airlines have not loaded any inventory, so the fares were not available, even for 30 seconds, to begin with". So when will they be loaded? Never? And can you define valid? If they advertise a fare that no one can purchase, it doesn't exist, you're arguing semantics. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: AAFrequentFlyer Date: 04/29/2006, 02:34 pm ok, nobody is advertising any fares.... You or anybody else did not get an e-mail stating that JFK-Milan is $589, all in, just come to Orbitz. Here is what happens, and any travel agent should know this, so if you intend on being your own TA, then perhaps you should learn as well. Most major/international airlines have on the average ~20 different fare codes. They range from the very restictive, very cheap economy fares all the way to very expensive unrestricted first class fares and everything in between. The airlines "load" the available inventory to the global distribution systems when they and only they decide to offer a certain fare. At the same time the GDS will have fare codes and the fares relating to them in the system at all times. When a travel agency, such as Expedia, Orbitz, does a Dream Map or Fare Watch type search, it pulls all the fares "possibly" available. Since the airline did not load any inventory into the distribution system, you get the error message after clicking on the fare. It's simply just not available at the moment, but it does not mean it will not be in the future. The only thing you can blame this on is the very powerful search engine of the major sites, but they never advertise these fares until they are actually available from the airlines. Hope this helps you to understand the system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: schuler Date: 04/29/2006, 02:46 pm Stupid question but: can Europeans use these website too? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: yy4me Date: 04/29/2006, 05:16 pm I was told by a very computer literate person that you should always delete cookies & temp files before going back to a site from which you got a fare quote. They want you to grab the next fare after you have lost a couple of lower fares. I don't know how all that works but I always follow his advice and have not yet lost a fare to the "no longer available" unless it has been days. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: repete Date: 04/29/2006, 05:36 pm This happens from time to time for me with Orbitz and I don't doubt it happens on other sites. When it last did, I got the booking codes from ITA and also saw it was available on Alitalia. Because it was an overseas biz trip, my company requires Orbitz bookings. Orbitz phone support was able to contact Alitalia and got me ticketed. Be sure to have your ducks in a row if you call them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Tracey14 Date: 04/29/2006, 05:49 pm I am under the impression that this has happened to me more when I've attempted to use Orbitz, than on other sites such as Travelocity or Expedia. And it has happened over the course of weeks (when I was searching for a specific trip). Now I don't use Orbitz anymore. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Sue_xx_yy Date: 04/29/2006, 07:12 pm That might be the explanation, AA, but if it is it sounds darn shady. The Internet is a publishing/advertising medium accessible to the public at large, and thus it isn't the same thing as the systems accessible only to travel agents. The figures and fares that a company puts on the Internet amount to prices advertised to the public. The 'sorry, we're out of stock' routine is something that consumer affairs departments routinely investigate and fine firms for abusing. A firm must show that a significant proportion of its inventory is routinely available at the published price, or it is committing bait-and-switch. It is true that markets in the airline industry move very fast, so that the inventory at a published fare can sell out very quickly, but that doesn't excuse having a price listed for which there was no inventory available at the time of listing. Further, as I understand it, Orbitz is not simply saying 'fares FROM $589', they actually list the $589 price - in real time. For all I know my local supermarket has umpteen canned tuna codes that it uses to sell said good. But should they have a sticker on the shelf that says "$1.79", and should I or anyone else fail to find a can of the stuff at that price, I'm calling foul. Tuna prices or airfares, vendor makes claim, vendor should make good on it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: CarolA Date: 04/29/2006, 08:43 pm It's a website. Why waste energy hating it???? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: WillTravel Date: 04/29/2006, 08:47 pm I wouldn't give up with Orbitz because of this glitch. It's a very powerful search engine and will find lots of fares the other sites will not find. And as I mentioned, sometimes when you click on a fare, you get a lower fare. Programming with a constantly changing database is a challenge and no site is perfect. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: mamaj Date: 04/29/2006, 09:52 pm I hate Orbitz for that reason too. I switched to www.faremax.com They list lots of airfares that some of the big sites do not. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Author: icithecat Date: 04/29/2006, 11:01 pm Author: CarolA Date: 04/29/2006, 08:43 pm It's a website. Why waste energy hating it???? So. You did not bother to read the thread before replying? If my grocery store offers T-bone at $x per pound on it's website, you bet they offer rainchecks at the the till" I read ALL of the posts... I still think "hating" an website is a waste of energy. I don't really like Orbitz that much. I use the TA websites (Orbitz, Expedia, etc) for research but don't book there. I find that if you book there you have to deal with them to resolve issues that may arise. It is easier, faster and usually cheaper just to book directly with the provider. (And if you spend your life hating websites, how so you treat humans?) |
Just as an example, I tried the itinerary I bought a couple weeks ago on the Continental site, which is still about the same price now and still available at Continental. FareMax.com listed something that cost over $300/person more as their cheapest option. Orbitz lists the same itinerary, but for the $10 extra booking fee that it charges over Continental. I reiterate that it's not going to be a wise choice, economically, to give up looking at Orbitz, even if you don't book there.
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And I thought Orbitz was only out to get me...
As fustrating as Orbitz is and even if they "push" you to the more expensive current level their priices are better than the rest... |
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