JD

Just a word of warning for anyone using Travelocity: they appear to be engaging in price discrimination. <BR> <BR>I reserved an airline ticket yesterday from New York to Italy on Alitalia for $450, but when I went to pay for it today, I was informed that the price had gone up overnight to $550. I thought that was just my bad luck, but that it was fair enough if prices really had gone up. So, not wanting to give up my reservation in case the flight was getting full, I duly paid the $550. However, a friend of mine who happened to be checking Travelocity's prices today for the same flight found that the ticket price on the web site was still $450 dollars. Yahoo Travel, which also quotes Travelocity prices, also continues to give the price as $450 dollars. <BR> <BR>I was quite annoyed, and telephoned them immediately to complain. I spoke to a number of customer service representatives, and after being put on hold for 20 minutes, I finally spoke to the most senior supervisor available at the time. They were courteous in speaking with me, but insisted that it was the Airlines who were setting the prices, and that prices can fluctuate. However, I asked them how it is possible for prices to go from $450 to $550 and then back to $450 within 24 hours. They had no explanation. They said that although the current price was $450, they could not cancel my ticket and issue me a new one at the lower price because my ticket had gone out. I responded that I would be making a complaint to my credit card company. At this point they suddenly told me that maybe my ticket had not been sent out yet, and they were going to check to see if they could cancel it. Lo and behold, they said that they found my ticket had not been sent out yet, and that they could cancel it and issue me a new ticket at the lower price. <BR> <BR>Given recent news reports that Amazon.com has been practising price discrimination among different groups of customers, I would not be surprised if Travelocity is also experimenting with these types of pricing schemes. However it strikes me as highly unethical (possibly bordering on illegal) for them to quote a price when a customer makes a reservation, then jack up the price just as they are about to pay, meanwhile keeping the original prices for everyone else. <BR> <BR>I have used Travelocity before without this kind of hassle. I wonder if they are testing this as a new business policy on a limited number of customers to see how well it works. Amazon.com has been carrying out just this kind of experiment. <BR> <BR>Anyway, I hope all of you will be careful even with supposedly reputable online companies. If you do think you are the victim of discriminatory pricing, please do not just sit back and accept it. Explain your case clearly to their customer service department, be firm, and turn to your credit card company if necessary. <BR> <BR> <BR>Good luck <BR>JD

Topsy

a good alert.

Rex

I have no affiliation with travelocity nor any airline, and I submit that you are unwilling to believe what veteran travelers know from experience. The airlines do set prices, they do jump and right back down at times in logic-defying hiccups and nothing in your anecdote of one suggests that Travelocity was doing anything other than acting as the conduit. Travelocity is NOT Priceline, nor amazon - - they sell tickets only at "retail list", as far as I know, and I think you are making a huge speculative (and anonymous) accusation. <BR> <BR>Rex Bickers <BR>Westerville, Ohio

Cindy

I don't know, Rex. Stories like this are becoming increasingly common, and I'm getting more wary of e-commerce because of it. It's bad enough that certain e-tailers use clandestine methods to gather info about me, but they really cross the line when they decide to charge me a higher price because I am a loyal, regular and reliable customer. Sort of like reverse frequent flier credit. <BR> <BR>JD, thanks for the heads up. I don't think any of us can tell if anything devious is going on, but it certainly pays to pay attention. But that business about telling you it was too late to fix things when it really wasn't -- well, that's pretty suspicious, IMHO.

xxx

For what it's worth, this is a good reason to build a relationship with a real human travel agent. More than once, my travel agent has been able to "void out" a non-refundable ticket purchase when I called her within 24 hours. Agents have that long to turn in the "method of payment" reports, and it is entirely legal to report "credit card refused", thus voiding out the purchase of a ticket that might not otherwise be cancellable. <BR> <BR>Useful when a bargain fare is about to expire and you know you want to go, but need just a little more time to make sure about one thing or another (like whether you CAN go or not!)

Brian in Atlanta

Or to avoid the problem JD had, simply pay for the ticket when reserving it rather than waiting the 24 hours.

Stan Lepelstat

I'm retired and spend 2 hours a day on the internet.Recently I went to Paris and started looking for tickets using Continental's website as I belong to Onepass.I was amazed at how prices changed,even daily.The price was $672 to $622 for about 30days,then on 1 day it dropped to $427 and back up to the 600's the next day.Pricing is being done by computor oriented programs bases on sales.It's not Travelcity but the airlines that is doing it.

Don in VA

Stan is right-on. The airlines use "yield management" software which helps them extract the most dollars per seat. CRSes are updated several times daily, and seats can sell out at certain fare buckets, or be reserved then go unpaid, and voila... the cheaper seat reappears. I'm not a travel agent, but like Stan and others, I watch fares closely as I book my own travel online. Hope this helps.