Experiences Using Online Air Travel Sites

Hi S.,
I've actually used both Expedia and Orbitz in the past to book tickets to Mexico with no issues. However, when I go to Florida, Southwest Airlines has been the best bet.

Karen is right. I use Orbitz to find out who's cheapest and then book directly through the airline's website. It is cheaper. Priceline is good for hotels. Southwest is usually pretty good depending on what part of FL you want to visit.

Here's the problem with these... if the airline changes it's schedule, NOBODY LETS YOU KNOW. (The airline says the broker should have notified you, and the broker says the airline shoudl have). This has happened to my brother and my dad recently (two separate incidences) and they got totally screwed.

Here's my solution: use the search engine to find the flight you want. Then go to the airline's website and pull up that flight. Almost ALWAYS they have it for about $5 cheaper. PLUS, then it's the airline's responsibility to let you know if anything changes. I travel a lot and this is what I always do now. Plus, lots of the search engines don't have the discount airlines - you should check ATA, AirTran, Southwest, Frontier (depending on where you're going), JetBlue etc. You may have to price these separately.

ps: I've used Priceline for rental cars - you can sometimes get a really good deal from them. Never had any problem.

I have purchsed tickets online and had no problem. They are the same as tickets purchased from the airline. We like to fly out of Milwaukee and we recently purchased tickets from Northwest online and they were cheaper than any where else online. You have to check around. I do like the check in convience when you purchase tickets from Northwest, you just scan your ticket at a kiosk and go to the gate. No waiting in line. (except at security which is not bad at Milwaukee)

S.

S.,

Try www.sidestep.com or www.mobissimo.com

Both websites search in sites like orbitz, expedia, travelocity, etc. as well as the actual airlines and you can display results in many ways.

Unlike the bookingwiz page that someone mentioned, all results are displayed directly in these sites so that you can see and compare. Once you decide which one is the right option for you it can transfer you to that site or you can do that on your own.

Hope this helps.

S.,
We used Orbitz to get to Las Vegas & has no problems at all.

I just got a hotel thru Priceline (The Omni) for only $99/night...the room in the past has been almost $200. I like to use Orbitz, Expedia too, but I always check them against the airline's main website, b/c sometimes you're not saving much of anything. The point being, it is worth it to take a look, but definitely compare.

Hope this helps!

M.

I've used cheaptickets.com and expedia.com, and have had no problems.

Hi. My family and I just got back from California. I priced both the online travel sites expedia,priceline,orbitz etc, and then I went straight to the source meaning air,accomedations car etc. It was WAYYYYYYY cheaper doing the direct route. Those places on the net are convienent but cost so much more than just going directly to the airlines site, the resort or hotel site, and the car site. We had a wonderful experience doing it without the middleman.

DO NOT, I repeat...DO NOT use travelocity for anything. Back in October last year I booked airfare and hotel package to Honolulu to attend a U2 concert and come to find that travelocity never sent my confirmation to the hotel. By the time I called the hotel to confirm, they were booked solid and so was the rest of the island. Travelocity didn't do anything for me to help me find another room. Thank God I had friends going too. I had to camp out in their room. Wouldn't you guess, I had to fight for weeks to get my money back!

i use it to get ticket prices for my step daughter. although most of the time one of them is cheaper, there have been times that going to the airline was. even though it had showed a cheaper price look at the taxes and fees and it can be more expensive than the airline itself.

I'm a flight attendant for a major airline and my only thought is make sure you understand what you are looking at when purchasing your ticket with one of these sites. If you are leaving out of Chicago and going direct to Florida you shouldn't run into any problems. Don't purchase a ticket that has a connection if possible. These sites pick and choose flights that may not give you a long enough connect time. And if you miss your connection you fly standby on the next available flight. If you are going to fly during spring break that could mean not getting on a flight for hours maybe even days. You seem to be planning way ahead of time which is good. Make sure you do check with the airline sites and remember that maybe the extra 20.00 that you spend on each ticket maybe piece of mind that you won't be spending more on hotels and meals in a city you weren't planning on visiting. Good luck and have a great spring break.

Hi S.,
I've used Expedia a few times with no problems. I even had to cancel a hotel which was in my package once and they gave credited the money back in my acct with no problems.
Of course there was a charge for that but it was small. I've traveled alone and with my two kids.

I have always used online travel sites for airline tickets. I mainly use Expedia, but have used Orbitz a couple times as well. Have never had a problem with either one of them. But as one other poster said, "sometimes" the airline itself can give a good deal too....so just be sure to do price comparison for the cheapest route. Good Luck & have fun in Florida:)....I use to live there & miss it. :(

S.,
I use priceline and orbitz all the time. I just took at trip to Pittsburgh in June and used Orbitz. They almost always have better prices.

Good Luck!
B.

Hi S.,

I have used priceline, expedia, etc. I did find one that was a bit better, independently operated- which I like, I'd rather give my money to a person versus a giant corporation) the prices were great, easily navigated and I received responses for my questions very quickly. Look it up and see what you think-
www.Sabo4travel.com

Hi S.,
I use these sites all the time. I have used Orbitz, Expedia and Kayak. At the very least, these sites are helpful reference tool because they allow you to see which airlines fly to your destination and the different flights (direct, stop-over) and pricing. From there, you can book with them or you can go directly to the airline website and book your flights, either way, you have a definite advantage and some helpful information. The other bonus to using them is that they often offer special packages which would give you a hotel, rental car and flight for a very reasonable price and you don't have to make 3 or 4 different reservations.

Hi S., I have used expedia.com for years now and have had great results. I have booked cars, hotels and airfares from them. Its really nice to be able to do everything at one time from the computer. I really enjoy the 'calander' that shows you the different prices based on what day you leave and come back. I would definetly recommend it. At least check it out and see what it can tell you. Hope this helped.

I've been using online airline sites for the past 7 yrs for all of my flights. I love them. I've used Orbitz and Travelocity the most. I've discovered a new one that checks all of the sites with one place to put in your flight schedule. It's www.bookingwiz.com. Sometimes they even show you airlines that you can't book through them, but you can get a great price on their website...such as USA3000 that flies to St. Petersburg, Ft Myers, and Sarasota, Florida. I have nothing negative to say about the online sites. Have a great vacation!!!