ORBITZ/EXPEDIA ANYONE??
 

Hi,
Has anyone on this board use either of these travel places?? If so are they safe and do they follow thru with all that they offer??
Thanks

We have used Expedia once for a hotel in Canada and had no problems at all. Our room was very nice...much nicer than we expected.

Expedia - yes, just don't assume this is the cheapest way to get tickets/reservations. I usually have better luck with airlines and hotel own websites. Never tried packages.

Have had excellent results with Expedia but for airline tickets be aware that they levy a surcharge of $5-$10.....you can get itineraries there and then call the airline directly for a slightly lower price.

You mich also consider comparing prices on at least two other sites: Travelocity and Sidestep

I've used Orbitz numerous times for both air and hotel reservations. I've been very pleased, had no problems at all and will continue to use them. So -- yes they are safe and do follow thru.

I have used Orbitz several times, no problems at all. You should however check several sites before booking as rates and availability can vary from site to site.

Have booked with <font color="blue">expedia</font> many times with no problems, however I have noticed that sometimes you may not get things like partner frequent flyer miles for the low internet rates for hotel room stay. Recently booked a hotel itinerary with <font color="blue">orbitz</font> for the 1st time.
Also have used and recommend<font color="blue"> www.travelocity.com
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I've had good luck with Orbitz -- but always cross-check the rates against the rates offered by the original source (hotel, car rental agency, or airline) -- sometimes they have specials that the online agencies overlook.

I booked a trip to NO through Expedia with airfare, hotel, and shuttle to and from the airport. I checked the individual prices from the source also. It was about the same price for the Expedia package. Credit card was charged in full almost immediately after booking. Everything was perfect. As the previous posters stated just check all the prices and then book with confidence at whichever gives you the best deal.

Thanks for all of the responses and I have checked the hotels and airlines but they were a bit higher and I also checked Travelocity and Side step. I will keep on looking as we are not going to N.O. until December!
Thanks again!!!!

Also, if you find packages to be cheaper (and there is a 50-50 shot that this will happen), pick the hotle you like and go to their website. Often times they will offer packages as well and you can get points from them. I purchased a package from Hilton's website one time and it turned out to be cheaper than Expedia's with a nicer room and I got FF points on my Delta card as well as got points for my Hilton stay which I could not have gotten if I had chosen the Expedia package.

I agree that Expedia isn't always the best deal, but sometimes it is. I recently got the Inn at the Ballpark (nice new hotel in Houston across from Minute Maid Stadium) for $79 a night, when the best I could do on the hotel website was $169 3 months before travel (and about the same on other travel discount sites). The rate steadily climbed and would have been $229 if I had booked w/the hotel a month after I booked on Expedia. I did have to pay the total when I booked w/Expedia.

I use Expedia all the time, and on one occasion, had booked an airline ticket to see my daughter (who is in the Air Force). Just 2 days before I was to leave, she was deployed on an assignment. I called Expedia, and the agent, finagled a complete refund for me from Northwest.....I KNOW he went above and BEYOND his call of duty! They have had my loyalty ever since then!

I've had the best experience with Orbitz, although I've used all three. What I like about orbitz is that you don't have to go to different airline websites so it's a timesaver, and, they typically have the best fares and...most importantly in this day and age of travel...REALLLY good customer service. I just hate hoaxes ya know? So it's good to know they're trustworthy.

Agree with all of the above--I have used Orbitz and Expedia multiple times and they are trustworthy. They don't always offer outstanding customer service--but who does, sadly?--nor is one always cheaper/better than the other, or any other travel agent, so check around, but they aren't fly-by night or a con. I have evn booked a special, Expedia-only fare that was riduculously low and had a great, and cheap, flight. Good luck!

I've used those two as well as travelocity, all with no problems. I was surprised though, with our last reservations made through Orbitz for a trip last week, that Orbitz added a surcharge...the first time I recall seeing that.

Worse, I thought we were going to have to cancel our trip due to hurricane Ivan which initially was projected to run right up the FL Gulf coast. In reading through the cancellation policy (which I had never done before) I found that not only would we have to pay a $100 charge per ticket to the airlines, which I knew, but also a $30 fee per ticket to Orbitz!! X(

That has really soured me on using them again, not that we cancel trips often, but still, from here on I think I'll find the best rate through them, then go ahead and book through the airline.

As it turned out, Ivan moved west bit by bit so did not impact our trip, plus, because he was in the Gulf the airlines lifted the change fee, and one would assume that Orbitz would have as well. Still, buyer beware!

OO, those surcharges are a real hassle. I recently considered changing tickets I'd bought through Travelocity, and their phone agent told me I could save Travelocity's change fee by going directly to the airline ticket counter for the reticketing. That's not always an option, I know, if you don' live ear an airport, etc., but I thought I'd offer it for what it's worth.

I have used Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity for hotel reservations. I also used Travelocity for an Air India flight from Bangkok to Delhi. No problems, ever. For hotels it pays to check these sites because sometimes there are deals - you may have to pay a deposit in advance of arrival but that's how the travel sites get around the hotel sites' &quot;low price guarantee&quot;.

That's good to know E, and as we are only 5 minutes from the airport, would be no problem. I wonder if you could avoid it as well by just cancelling through the airline and rebooking through them online? That might work as well?

Interestingly, I wanted to discuss our options when Ivan was still threatening, so called Delta customer service about rebooking. Of course I got New Delhi, :(, but no surprise considering their financial woes,and there was somewhat of a language barrier. He told me (as best I could understand) that should we cancel, we would do it through them and re-book through them. Because he was hard to understand, and I wasn't sure we were on the same page, I asked the same question of Orbitz via e-mail. They told me I should cancel and rebook through Orbitz. Same question, two answers.

Perhaps New Delhi was really providing the good customer service, doing a favor, and trying to save us the $60 Orbitz cancellation fee. And here I was, griping about outsourcing!

A word of caution about Orbitz: if you use their service to purchase airline reservations, be sure the next day to contact the airline and confirm that Orbitz completed the reservation by providing all numbers to the airline. An Orbitz email will not get you onboard.

My dealings with Orbitz had been excellent, until on one trip I arrived at the airport, only to dicover our reservation did not exist. Orbitz admitted it failed to give the airline all data. We were forced, as a result, to fly the next day.

Orbitz promised to cover our taxi fares, but later reneged. We'd have otherwise continued to use their service. Now it's Expedia and others.