Travelocity *&%$#
 

Has anyone else experience endless frustration with Travelocity airline reservations? They confirmed our international flights online only to leave us a voice mail message the next day to call their "customer service" number because of an unspecified problem. After long hold times on three attempts, someone answers and has to TRANSFER you to another department...where you either get disconnected or a busy signal! On my fourth try I begged for the guy who answered to help me without a transfer. He looked up our reservation and told me we had to go directly to the airline to book our flights (at a higher price). Huh??!! Now we have to keep checking with American Express to make sure they don't charge our charge card and apparently have no reservations. At least we now know why the Roaming Gnome is roaming...he is trying to get some customer service at their call center in India.

I'm about done with Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, etc. This last trip to France/Italy just about made me crazy by the time I finalized our airfare reservations. We flew Air France/Delta and because we didn't book directly through them, it was a nightmare trying to get seats reserved for several legs of the journey. The site kept telling me I couldn't reserve my seats, that it would be done at checkin...when I doubled checked just a few days prior to departure, I called the airlines and was told that there were actually only two remaining seats available and they were nowhere near each other and were the middle seats in the middle aisle. I was livid and explained that i had tried to reserve the seats earlier. I got bounced back and forth between Air France and Delta and they each told me one of the reasons I was having trouble was because I booked through Orbitz. Who knows but I think I'm going to try booking directly from now on and actually talk to a real person.

Yup yup!! It all sounds so familiar. Travelocity sucks!!!
A couple years ago, I booked a couple tickets for my parents from Detroit to Cancun. I got an email acknowledging the reservation so I booked my tickets from California to Cancun for the family get together. Once my tickets were booked, my parents got a voicemail saying that they should contact the travelocity customer service. Since I deal with my parents' tickets and the tickets were on my credit card, I called the customer service desk, only to be transfered to the India call center. There I was on hold for 1 hour and then 2 hours during the call. In the end, I got a person who said that basically between me booking the flights on travelocity and travelocity booking the flights with Spirit airline, the price changed drastically so they cannot honor the reservation. I told them that I got an email, etc. He said that I got an email acknowledging the transaction, but not a confirmation email... which is true. I said that it is not my problem that the fare changed because I booked it on Travelocity and they need to honor the rates they display on their website. They said no... if the airline changes the rate in that small window of time, they will not honor it.
Now the problem was that my parents are old and wanted the direct flights from detroit to cancun, that was like a pre-condition for the trip. Meanwhile, Travelocity charged me for the increased rate. So, they didn't confirm the seats for me, but charged my card for the increased fare anyway!!!
I was ANGRY to say the least! I told them to refund the entire amount to me and forget we ever met. They said it will take them 60 BUSINESS DAYS to refund the money!!!!! I was too tired to argue so I said ok, as long as I get the money. They really wore me down.
Meanwhile, Spirit air dropped their rates so I booked directly through them. Now I was just waiting for travelocity to refund my money.
Towards the end of the 60 BUSINESS DAYS, I called the travelocity customer service to confirm that I'll be getting my money soon. They said what money?????
I almost had a freaking stroke! I was on the phone for 4 hours that day fighting with the call center people to ensure that I get my money back. Then I called my credit card to dispute the charges (I had already paid in full, as per the terms of my Amex GOld card).
A week later, I got a refund from travelocity... but they screwed up again... they refunded me double the amount they owned me by mistake! HA!!

Well I hope you didn't return your overpayment! I sure its worth less then your billable hours spent fixing the problem.

To make matters worse, now I keep getting endless emails and voice mail messages telling me to call their "customer service" phone number because they need additional information. When I call (yes, I was dumb enough to call these idiots a fifth time) they say they DON'T need additional info and ask me why I am calling them. And they still can't issue my tickets but can't say why! Avoid these people at all costs unless you want to go through endless hell and still have no tickets. Someone should turn these people in to the FTC for fraudulent advertising. Could you imagine trying to use their "guaranteed help phone number" if you were stuck in some foreign country or something? Unless you were stranded in India you would be SOL!

i always book direct with airlines. i'm not sure this is any pearl of wisdom, or even true, but i feel much more in control of my tickets doing it that way instead of thru a "middle-man". and have yet to have a problem.

Now there is another side of the coin here. I don't disagree with some of the pitfalls and problems raised...for me the worst is not being able to get seat assignments when you book.

But I have used Expedia extensively, probably 15 times in the past year or so for flights and hotels...and without a problem of any kind.

The big advantage is that if you do not have a lot of time to play around with different airlines, you put in your cities, your dates, and bingo you get a pretty thorough list of many many options listed from cheapest on up.

That in itself is worth something. And I have tried to improve the Expedia price by going directly then to the site of the airline mentioned, and quite often I have not been able to beat or even equal the Expedia listing.

But my travel is mostly business, with a lot of changes and last minute arrangements. I don't think I would use Expedia to book a once-a-year holiday for the reasons mentioned. But for quickly arranging a flight (I just did a one-way US-Europe, which saved a ton of time and effort) I have found that it works as advertised.

I used to use them a lot for hotels as well, and never had a problem...although lately I have become a Priceline convert...that is even better for price and quality.

So as the English say...horses for courses. But I agree that customer service can be a pain. Once I mistakenly keyed in the right dates, and wrong month on a booking. I called them right back and after checking that I had been a good customer, they canceled the mistake, credited me, and rebooked with no charge, penalty or hassle. Took 5 min.

I still think the world is a better place with those services than if they did not exist. But for my holidays, I think I would use that as a starting point but not for the final booking.

EG..do you know the cheapest airline from US to Europe one way? Without Expedia, I would not have known it was Aer Lingus! The other biggies I contacted all charged MORE for a one-way than a round trip, which to me is also insane and a vestige of the "old" airline model. Bon voyage! Rouss

Is Orbitz still owned by the airlines (and partially by Delta)?

Airlines often stop assigning seats once an aircraft reaches a certain point; e.g., 1/3 or 1/2 full. Doesn't matter where you got your tickets.