My husband and I recently purchased two business class tickets from SFO/MAD MAD/JFK JFK/SFO through Travelocity.
2 days after the purchase, we decided to extend our stay in JFK an extra day... called Travelocity, got connected off-shore, put on hold for 30 mins and was told on my 1st call, the change would be $500 per ticket. On my 2nd call, I was told it would be $200 per ticket - somehow, we were disconnected. Then on my third call - this time with a "supervisor" - I was told $400. Now I realize there is a penalty involved for a change but 3 different amounts is something else.

Yesterday, I decided to call Delta directly, I spoke to a supervisor in the International department, she changed my tickets from JFK to SFO - AT NO CHARGE!

comments, anyone?

There have been numerous complaints on Flyertalk about the poor service provided by Travelocity customer service agents. I'm glad you got what you needed in this case. There are various tricks to get connected to a higher-up agent - you might find them on Flyertalk in the same threads, I believe.

I don't care how good the deals are with any of the on-line services, you are far better off dealing directly with the airlines or through a travel agent on overseas flights.

The ideal method is to search online for the best rates and then take them to your own travel agent. Either they will then book them for you - giving you the gurarantee of someone to back you up in case of problems - or find you an even better rate.

The ideal method is to search online for the best rates and then take them directly to the airline website to book - giving you the guarantee of someone to back you up in case of problems - or find you an even better rate.

Forget the travel agent.