Pros/Cons of buying airplane ticket on Orbita vs. Airline's web site

[travelplanner70]

What are the pros and cons of buying from Orbitz versus the Airline's web site?

If a flight gets canceled, or if one misses a connection through no fault of their own, will the airline work jsut as diligently to get you to your destination if you have bought the ticket through Orbitz instead of directly through them?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[BevL]

No expert here but I've read about folks who had flight changes/problems and were bounced between the airline and the search engine folks, be it Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz.

I've used them to check fares, but never actually booked with anyone other than an airline directly.

 

[Talent312]

At first, I was going to ask, "What's Orbita?"

The only time that I have or would by from a travel-agency is when dealing with:
-- a complex itinerary involving multiple airlines;
-- foreign-based airlines where having a "U.S." agent can help;
-- a package tour from a trusted source, where "air" is a small component.

 

[dmbrand]

I booked flights to Mexico a few months ago on an airline website. The flight times changed so dramatically over the past few weeks, to the point where I did not even want to continue with the trip. The airline fully refunded both tickets, even though I purchased economy fares, and the refund was posted to my credit card within four days. I am not so sure I would have gotten a refund that quickly or hassle-free if I had used Orbitz, Expedia, etc.

 

[scotlass]

In 2010 we purchased flights from SkyAuction on Virgin Atlantic to the UK, only to have them cancelled because of the volcano. I called VA to get the tickets refunded as all the airlines were refunding due to EU rules. VA told me they could not help because I booked through SkyAuction. It took 6 months and a lawyer to finally get the refund from SkyAuction. Bottom line: You take your chances when you use a third party to book flights.

 

[tiel]

We book on Orbitz only when we are flying nonstop, for the price protection feature. If anyone books on the same (nonstop) flight as us, after we did, for a lower price, we get a refund for the difference in price. This has worked out for us twice.

 

[bobcat]

What are the pros and cons of buying from Orbitz versus the Airline's web site?

If a flight gets canceled, or if one misses a connection through no fault of their own, will the airline work jsut as diligently to get you to your destination if you have bought the ticket through Orbitz instead of directly through them?

Thanks for your advice.

I had checked prices on Priceline. I called Delta and asked for their Price. Booked priceline, cheaper. Flight change. I called delta to receive info on the change. The rep was not nice. Told me I booked with Priceline. She needed to go to Charm School.

 

[Passepartout]

We do book through Orbitz or Travelocity. We do NOT book through Priceline or Hotwire. Have not had any difficulties that I can attribute to the agency we used for booking. I suppose we've been lucky, but there have been times when there were airline-induced changes and we were able to find customer service reps that made the changes we needed done.

Can't see any particular reason to change what works.

Jim

 

[MommaBear]

I have used Orbitz many times with absolutely no issues. In fact, their automated calls letting me know the status of my flight is often more up to date than the gate attendant's knwoledge. I have had no problems dealing with the airlines directly if flights havbe changed. I find the interface tow ork well. If the prices are the same, I do book directly on the airline's website.

 

[x3 skier]

I use non-airline sites for searches but always book with the airline. I figure one less middleman / site between me and the ticket is better. Most airline sites are pretty good and I see no reason to chance having to possibly get caught in a verbal ping pong match between Orbitz etc and the airline.

Cheers

 

[WinniWoman]

I have posted elsewhere on this site regarding a nightmare I had with Travelocity, which I had used with no issues in the past; but once you have a problem with a cancelled flight (even with the airline cancelling, not you, which was my case) or whatever, the customer service becomes a hellish nightmare! Just Google Travelocity complaints and you will see what I am talking about. You can also probably do the same for Orbitz to see what others have experienced. I literally must have put in almost 16 hours of time, tons of postage, letters, copies, credit card disputes,filing complaints (like with the BBB, etc.) to get a quick refund - but I was very diligent and quick - left no stone unturned. I did not procrastinate. I will never book with an on-line company again after this experience. Will go directly to the airlines site, hotel site , etc. The only on-line site I continue to use is Car Rentals.com. You do not have to pay ahead, and you can cancel anytime anyhow. I recommend that everyone read Christopher Elliot's Blog about how to handle situations like these. He is a consumer advocate and he has lists of all these sites' corporate headquarters, etc., as well as details about how to rectify your issues.

So, bottom line is - book with the airlines directly and save yourself a lot of potential aggravation. We booked directly with United for a trip recently and the itinerary changed to what I considered unsatisfactory connection times, so I called a month after that and requested different flights (that I researched myself on-line) and they changed them - no problem - and no charge. Travelocity, meanwhile, for an upcoming flight we had scheduled that the airline (Lufthansa) changed said they could not put us on another flight that same day (economy class also) only the day before or day after!; if we wanted to leave the original day we would have to pay more money! They said that flight was "a different economy class"- which they could not clarify what that meant other than that is cost more! I could almost write a book, but I truly believe that Travelocity engages in "Bait and Switch" - they had already done other things with this flight in the beginning that leads me to believe that - like posting a fare on line that you cannot submit and then when you call to say you are having a problem booking on-line they tell you the fare is no longer available, but they, of course, have another flight available for MORE MONEY!

Stay away from on-line travel agencies. Book direct!

 

[bogey21]

I use non-airline sites for searches but always book with the airline. I figure one less middleman / site between me and the ticket is better. Most airline sites are pretty good and I see no reason to chance having to possibly get caught in a verbal ping pong match between Orbitz etc and the airline.

Cheers

Agree 100%. My only exception is to buy a ticket on Priceline every now and then, and only if the price difference is hugh. The few times I have done this I assumed I was at the airline's mercy.

George

 

[jlwquilter]

I have used CheapOAir three times with great success. Both times saved me big $$ over booking with the airline directly. The 2nd time I saved over $1K per ticket and it made the difference between going and not going. The $1k savings was over the American Airlines online price vs. what CheapoAir charged - for the exact same flights, in economy.

The 1st time was during the volcano too - many, many changes, cancellations, etc. and American treated me like I had booked directly with them thru the whole thing. I do not kow if it was Amrican or CheapoAir that made the difference (avoiding the 'you ddin't book direct with us' hassle) but it worked wonderfully, given the the situation.

I also used CheapoAir for this past trip (we just got back a week ago). We flew on Lufthansa but had flights on Continental and US Air as part of their alliance. We had no flight cancellatnions or changes this time (got lucky for once!) but I was a nervous nellie and had called Lufthansa several times prior to the flights to double check information and was always treated well.

So I too in the 'it ain't broke so don't change' mode and will continue to use CheapoAir if I feel they have the best price for the flights I want - and keep my fingers crossed. I am currently shooping for airfare for our summer trip to Ireland, England, etc. and will certainly keep CheapOAir on my option list.

 

[djs]

Although I almost always book on airline websites, there was one time (no, not in band camp) that I used cheaptickets. Was looking for a flight from BOS to ORD and prices were through the roof; I was able to get a flight from BOS to ROC to ORD, savings was about $250 cheaper than any other flights I could find. The return may have been n/s however going out was on USAir for the first leg and United for the second leg.