What has been your experience with booking air tickets, hotels, etc. with Orbitz.

This is my experience.

I needed tickets from Seattle to Orlando and asked my travel agent to arrange it. The price was $350 per ticket. Just out of curiousity I checked it on a few websites. Orbitz was $240, a web only fare. When I called it to my agents attention, she said that she could not book the fare through her computer, that Orbitz had fares that were only available through Orbitz. She said that she would charge me a service fee of $35 per ticket because Orbitz didn't pay a commission. I didn't see why I should pay an additional $105 for an intermediary. I actually booked the ticket on the airline's own website and received 5,000 frequent flyer miles per ticket as a bonus for booking on line.

It seems that since Orbitz has the best fares, why not find it on Orbitz and go to the appropriate airline and buy the ticket through their website? The airlines' websites usually have special bonuses for booking online.

I've checked fares on there on numerous occasions and found Orbitz to consistently have the lowest fares on the web (apart from priceline and hotwire who are sometimes but not always cheaper but don't allow one to choose time of day for travel). I finally purchased a ticket through them last week and it was a fast and simple process. I'll use them again.

Ummm...you must be new here Barbara.
Most everyone who frequents this site knows full well that travel agents are not price competitive when you're simply trying to book an airfare.

BTW, one limitation of Orbitz: it doesn't price Southwest into its listings.

Another: I still find special fare sales at other sites which are not always on Orbitz. Do keep in mind that Orbitz is owned and run by the major airlines themselves.

Orbitz is now charging a $10 service fee. I usually check Orbitz, Expedia and the airlines websites before booking. You are better off using the airlines website, frequent flyer point incentives, if the same airfare is offered. I have found at least three instances where better flights were offered by Orbitz than the airline's own website.

A word of warning here. I too booked online, bypassing my travel agent, felt the same as all of you. She couldn't book thru her computer, and would charge me to book it online. So I began booking online saving myself what I thought was a considerable amount of money. Then I got my credit card statement. My number was lifted from the website, and someone charged 1000's of dollars worth of travel. I have gone back to using my travel agent, as I never have in all the years using her had this to happen. I will never again use a credit card online, you will never convince me it is safe, and I would advise each and every one of you to think twice.

What Larry (Penny) says doesn't ring true. But at any rate, if there are unauthorized charges, you can easily get them reversed by your credit card company.

I have just used Orbitz and so far have had a very good experience with them. True the $10 service fee wasn't nice to see, but I "lucked into" a good time and the fee was waived.

Larry:
American Express and some other credit card companies now have a nice solution for online security concerns.
1) You contact the card company and tell them you're going to buy something online.
2) They issue you a numerical buying code number, similar to a credit card number.
3) You buy online using this temporary number.
4) The number is invalidated after 12 or 24 hours so no one can use it again.


Only the credit card company knows who you are. They handle the intermediary work. It's in the card company's interest to protect you, because they (or their insurance company) take the hit when someone buys things illegally using your card.

Vic, Your "Larry(Penny)" comment took the words out of my mouth. Terrific.

GK

Have you tried Yahoo! Travel? No fees, like Orbitz. I have used it several times and have been 100 % satisfied

I found www.Travel.com to offer the cheapest fares, but have not yet tried Orbit (on my way there now!).

At Travel.com, you must register, but it is free. I have used this site to purchase tickets and have been very pleased.

For a complete listing of MANY discount airfares, check out this site by Fool.com>>>>>

http://www.fool.com/Specials/2000/sp001011.htm?ref=SpAg

It's wonderful and I have bookmarked that page.

Happy Trails,
Paul