Online travel agency suggestions

[Rock Steady]

We've just gone through a nightmare w/ Orbitz.

Just wondering if anyone has good luck w/ any of these outfits?

Thanks.

c

[SusieAndAl]

Hi C,

We've used Travelocity.com for several years with excellent results. It has an auto alert feature that can hit your cell phone, PDA or laptime if there are any changes to your flight scheds.

[coconutscottage]

The problem is that Orbitz usually has the best prices, but heaven forbid you need any customer service. We just had an experience with them where flights were changed and the connections did not work anymore - they did not notify us and I found out by chance. Trying to resolve via Orbitz Customer Service was a waste of time, so decided to call Continental directly and had it resolved in seconds. We had another situation arise just the other day and rather than call Orbitz, I went directly to the airline and had the same good experience. I had given Orbitz all my info for notifications and they could not tell me why we weren't alerted. So, in the future, we may save a few $ by using Orbitz but we will watch our itinerary like a hawk and make changes directly with the airline.

[Rock Steady]

Susie and Al,

Thank you. I'm not sure why we even hooked up w/ Orbitz, but won't again.

We were on the phone w/ them today well beyond 90 minutes. We finally got everything straight as possible but ended up cancelling everything we'd booked way back and re-scheduling through totally different airlines.

It is what it is, but ...

Our intent is to just live in Abaco and then these issues would dissolve!

Thanks again,

c

[DrRalph]

We've had pretty good luck with Expedia, haven't been stung yet.

[PELLUCID]

Orbitz has a really cool flight search algorithm. When I used to fly a lot, I would use it to show me all the possibilities. Then, I would go directly to the web site of the airline and check whether the flight was actually available. If it was, I'd book it there and bypass Orbitz. That way, I got a cheaper ticket (no Orbitz service fee), eliminated a middleman if something went wrong, and usually got bonus miles for booking directly.

I think Orbitz is a great site for finding flights. I can't imagine anyone actually using them to book a flight, once they know how the system works.

[Luff'em]

kayak.com has more gadgets to adjust your search for departure and arrival times. You see one you like and there is a link that takes you to a site to order the tickets. The site searches other travel sites, orbitz, expedia, cheaptickets etc. but also searches all the airline sites.

For example a search on Orbitz for BWI to BHM doesn't list any Southwest Flights and BWI and BHM are Southwest hubs but Kayak includes all airlines, since they aren't looking for a listing fee from the airline. Kayak is attempting to make money through advertising.

Basically Kayak is attempting to be the google of flight search.

No I don't have any stake in Kayak.com. Just a slow lunch at my desk today.

[Rock Steady]

Thanks all. We appreciate your responses.

Merry Christmas,

Crispin

[Abacoparrott]

the right idea. Just search for flights on Orbitz, Expedia, etc to see what flights/prices are available then go directly to that airlines website and book with them.......always cheaper and you're dealing directly with the provider.......Ken

[rgroseclose]

I took Dr. Ralphs advice and tried expiedia for a nonstop flight RT to FLL From STL I did not think I had a chance booking only seven days from departure this time of year for six people. It worked like a champ. i will use them again. In case you want to know the RT fare for all six on AA 2274.00

[CrossPatch]

You may want to check out sidestep.com They open a window where the favorites would be at the left of your screen. It runs in the background and if you do any type of search on a travel site it will automatically ask you if you'd like to compare. Nice way to get two sites side by side both of which search multiple travel sites. It's a good enough system I don't feel I have to go to 4 or 5 sites and enter the same data over and over anymore.

[badfish]

Ive used orbitz for years - never had a problem. Amazing prices , convenient, and they e-mail me if theres any kind of flight changes etc. Im sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

[sandy shaw]

You may want to check out sidestep.com They open a window where the favorites would be at the left of your screen. It runs in the background and if you do any type of search on a travel site it will automatically ask you if you'd like to compare. Nice way to get two sites side by side both of which search multiple travel sites. It's a good enough system I don't feel I have to go to 4 or 5 sites and enter the same data over and over anymore.

I agree, Side Step is an amazing program which has saved me a few dollars over the years. However, it is 'Spyware' software and whenever I run a scan, my 'Spy-Bot' program tells me to delete it. Spyware, as I understand it, tracks and reports all your activity on your computer to an unknown third party. Anyway, I eventually unisnstalled it and buy my tickets without it. Anyone else come across this problem?

[Patti Puzo]

Yes Sandy, it would not let me install it either. Sometimes MSN can be a little heavy handed, which is why I left AOL a couple of years ago.
Patti