Online travel sites and the bait and switch

[RandytheHelpfulPineapple]

I'm booking an international flight a long ways in advance, and Expedia runs me all the way through the bookin process before telling me a flight is no longer available. I checked the seating chart they had online-- not even half way full. An alternative flight is $300 more.

It's a nice little scam-- dangle a cheap flight out there to direct traffic and run people through a long data entry process, before shutting them out at the last second. This happened to me when I booked my trip to Europe, as well. I guess they think that folks will get frustrated enough to pay the extra $300.

Let's see how this phone call goes-- wait time is at 7 minutes so far.

[Hoopo]

Re: Online travel sites and the bait and switch

Expedia is what it is.

Go Orbitz and pay $5 more per flight without most of the shenanigans. Just don't prevaricate. See what you want at the price you want, grab the card and book it. Don't fuck around.

[Gem]

Re: Online travel sites and the bait and switch

Go directly to the airlines and book them there. Most airlines let you pay for the segment now, and not the roundtrip, and if you have to make a change you won't have to be spend 18 hours on the phone with Orbitz trying to fix it.

I despise Orbitz.

[Hoopo]

Re: Online travel sites and the bait and switch

[quote author=Gem link=topic=393.msg3976#msg3976 date=1281749891]
Go directly to the airlines and book them there. Most airlines let you pay for the segment now, and not the roundtrip, and if you have to make a change you won't have to be spend 18 hours on the phone with Orbitz trying to fix it.

I despise Orbitz.
[/quote]

I've gotten far, far, far, far, far better deals by closely watching Orbitz than by going through the airlines websites. In my mind that's the biggest travel myth out there: that airlines websites/reservation phone lines have the best deals. I've even had a Delta phone operator tell me that they can't reserve deals at Orbitz clearinghouse prices.

Despise it if you want, but you're stupid to do so.

[Gem]

Re: Online travel sites and the bait and switch

[quote author=Hoopo link=topic=393.msg3987#msg3987 date=1281751536]
[quote author=Gem link=topic=393.msg3976#msg3976 date=1281749891]
Go directly to the airlines and book them there. Most airlines let you pay for the segment now, and not the roundtrip, and if you have to make a change you won't have to be spend 18 hours on the phone with Orbitz trying to fix it.

I despise Orbitz.
[/quote]

I've gotten far, far, far, far, far better deals by closely watching Orbitz than by going through the airlines websites. In my mind that's the biggest travel myth out there: that airlines websites/reservation phone lines have the best deals. I've even had a Delta phone operator tell me that they can't reserve deals at Orbitz clearinghouse prices.

Despise it if you want, but you're stupid to do so.
[/quote]

I book travel that has to be changed frequently...

And, I've never had an airline not be able to match what I could see on Orbitz/Cheap Tickets, etc. But if you know that you're going to take the flight, 100% for sure...there's no problem with it.

[Hoopo]

Re: Online travel sites and the bait and switch

Okay, but you're not looking for travel deals so much as you're looking for flexibility and service.

You're sort've in a different market from someone who travels less frequently. If you need that extra bit of stuff that airlines provide for a fee, yeah, directly booking with the airlines is your best bet, especially if you get a reservation agent that knows what he/she is doing (remember their name and direct line).

But for consumers who don't travel a lot and not for business, Orbitz has great deals and seems to beat most of it's competitors handily.