Buyer Beware....Travelocity

[VanillaGorilla]

Hi everyone. I posted this just now in another thread, and it occurred to me that maybe I can possibly save some of my new friends here at CC from the same headache I had to endure (I do count my blessings that we're all set now, but it still was very stressful). Here's a cut and paste of that post explaining an issue we recently experienced with Travelocity:

 

Just a buyer beware....Travelocity just really screwed us over recently. We never had a problem with them before, but this time it was a real pain in the butt and they did it twice in the same week. First canceling a booking 3 weeks after booking without informing us, I found out accidently because I was anxious for our upcoming trip and wanted to double check everything, which I usually don't do after everything has been originally confirmed. We hadn't yet recieved, and still haven't, the billing report from our credit card and wouldn't have known untill we arrived at the airport the night before our cruise. When I called to get it resolved, we forgave the mistake (everyone's entitled to one), they ended up double billing us for the new reservation. The airline called me 2 days later to inform me of this and Travelocity gave us a really hard time about getting an obvious error taken care of. Even when they finally agreed to fix it (which shouldn't have been an issue, who "agrees" to pay twice for the same seats on the same flight? lol) they said we needed to send them a letter explaining the situation and then "maybe" we would recieve a refund in 30 business days! Of course I put up a fight and finally after almost an hour and a half on the phone, got it fixed (I hope). Just thought I'd throw that in. Anyways, one thing I've learned about those sites (travelocity, expedia, ect...) is they are good if you want to book flight and hotel and ect together...you'll save a little on the hotel. But the price of the flight is really about the same as if you were to book it directly through the airline's website itself. From now on we will be using travelocity's site only as a search engine to find the cheaper airline price and then head over to that airline for booking. Best of luck and I hope no one else has to go through the same thing we did. Happy sailing!

 

VG

[Silver Anniv]

Wow, what a pain in the butt. I've used travelocity before for airfare, but will think twice. I do like booking with the airline itself.

 

FYI, if you don't get things straightened out with them, here's an e-mail to a travel ombudsman that will help. www.elliott.org

 

Have a great vacation!

[VanillaGorilla]

Wow, what a pain in the butt. I've used travelocity before for airfare, but will think twice. I do like booking with the airline itself.

 

FYI, if you don't get things straightened out with them, here's an e-mail to a travel ombudsman that will help. www.elliott.org

 

Have a great vacation!

Thank you. :D

[jezzdogg]

Well they screwed me To!!!!!

Booked an airfare, planned our long flight around it and also booked our hotel. Received a confirmation of the flight, etc.

18 hours later get a message from traveloocity to call as they need some additional information. Guess what the flights had gone up 170pp and if we wanted those flights we need to pay the additional amount. Confirmation means nothing for the first 24 hours as they have a loop-whole in the agreement, if the price goes up.....

Now trying to find a flight that sandwiches into the flight from the states and also gets me back to London in time to transfer to our ship

 

DO NOT USE TRAVELOCITY

[SoCalCruiseguy]

Well, I think if you travel a lot "never" any one place is a tough thing. I've used Travelocity for many years without problem one or a problem that was not resolved quickly along with others like Orbitz, Expedia, Hotwire, the Airlines dedicated web sites etc. Again for me its about the price, service and perks. Does that mean things will always be perfect, no. Stuff does unfortunately happen at times. It is certainly unfortunate that it put a crimp in several of the trips mentioned here. Just don't lock yourself into using one source including a live TA unless your ready to pay a lot more for the "privilege".

[1cruiselvr]

I don't understand why people use websites like travelocity or expedia, for anything more than a search engine when looking for air. There is no benefit by booking thru them over the airline directly and as described in this thread, they can cause needless problems and hassles as a middleman. I agree with the original poster, use these websites as search engines to find the flights and times you wish and then go to the airline website and book. Even for hotels, I have found when searching thru them, they will show a hotel as not available yet I can book it directly thru the hotel website or pricing is double. I see no benefit at all for using them. Happy Sailing!

[SoCalCruiseguy]

I can tell you that there are some perks to using sites such as Travelocity, Orbitz etc. over the airlines sites. First, without exception the commercial travel sites "ease of use" factor is unmatched by ANY proprietary airline web site. I use them all and I think this is no contest. Southwest has a pretty slick system and AA has made some nice gains but... Despite the gains that many have made, in general they are all slow and clunky. I think the same airline people who designed their food service are now working in I.T. , since they don't have any food service to speak of. In fact many of these web sites seem to be designed with as much forethought as some of their menus used to be.

 

Moving through travelocity to research and get your questions answered is still hands down much faster on the commercial sites. 2) You can often get lots of extra perks booking on one of these sites as well. Things like cash back, free premium rental car club memberships, one day use of the airline clubs i.e. ambassor rooms, crown room. The commercial sites were also way ahead in things like trip notification via email, cell phone, blackberry. If you use them for cruises you can also get cash back, several hundred dollars in Target and Mastercard gift cards etc.

 

When you use a site like travelocity you can also readily see what your choices are. On the airline sites you often have to do a lot more work to get the specific flights/times/fares to match up. But what I really like is the ability to work the code share thing. I live on the west coast and like taking USAIR flights non-stop to the east-coast. USAIR is in big trouble financially (tetering trouble) and could stop operating forever at a moments notice. But if you do a fare search, you'll often see that United is advertising the same flights for the same cost (its funny, at times even a few bucks lower) for the same code share flights operated by USAIR. So I book the flights on United and by doing this I get the advantage of USAIRS non-stop flights, United FF miles and the knowledge that if USAIR stops operating, United will still have to accomodate me because they are the ones who sold and issued the ticket. Also by using one of the commercial sites, you can also add in travel insurance for a pretty darn cheap cost that will provide you some additional protection as well and is something you can't do on an airline site.

 

I have traveled over a million miles via air over the past few years and have booked most of my travel via commercial ticketing sites. Heck, I was even using easySabre from home in ANSI II format "back in the day". Not once have I had any problem booking tickets, changing flights, seats, FF mileage or anything else using the commercial sites! I think over time the airlines will get better and better with deploying their web sites BUT, keep in mind one important thing; the commercial sites have a vested interest to hold YOUR interests in high regard, the airlines exclusive interest (once they have your money) is to themselves. I should know I worked for them. And that credit card slides through the slot just as easy for a $180 fare as it does for a $1,500 fare on the same flight! The commercial ticketing sites provide a valuable service by giving consumers options and by enabling them to easily see the big picture. We need to patronize businesses like these or eventually you'll lose the service and we will pay a price for it.

[Globaliser]

Heck, I was even using easySabre from home in ANSI II format "back in the day".

Ah, now THAT was a superb website. Everything that's been done since then has been a retrograde step, IMHO.

[1cruiselvr]

Well here's one traveler that doesn't agree with the opinion that airline websites are difficult to use. I use them all - without a hitch. Yes, they are all different, but if you are computer literate at all, you can figure it out in a few minutes. As for your perks, you are probably paying for them in higher airfare and hotel fees. Also, many of those perks are offered directly. I stick to my belief that using a middleman to book your travel arrangements is trouble waiting to happen. Recently, a coworker was bragging about the great deal she got on travelocity for her cruise vacation. I was also booked on the same ship just a few weeks later. Curious, I asked about her deal. Turns out she paid almost double what I did for the same category balcony cabin and of course, she booked thru travelocity. Me, I booked directly thru the cruiseline. I didn't burst her excitement bubble over her 'deal' by telling her what I paid but this is a great example of how many don't realize that their travelocity, expedia, etc. 'deal' isn't really one at all. I actually doubt they do any cost research before booking thru them. Happy Sailing!

[parody]

USAIR is in big trouble financially (tetering trouble) and could stop operating forever at a moments notice

 

As you likely know, both US Airways and United are in bankruptcy. And while US Airways has had to dodge a bunch of bullets in the last couple of months and still has massive money problems, it is highly unlikely that they will stop operating before June 2005. (See details at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050207/ap_on_bi_ge/us_airways_rebound_2.) It's been said of United yesterday, The stakes are high for both the airline and the mechanics union. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, mechanics could strike and United could go under. (If you are unaware of this fact, go to http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_3525333,00.html for more details.)

 

And while sites like Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia are wonderful in seeking out airline and fare options (although independent tests suggest that ITASoftware is better), the universally accepted advice is to do the actually booking of a flight at the selected airline's website. (And, for completeness, it is useful to note that none of these sites includes Southwest Airlines. Thus, if they are an option, one MUST go to their site to investigate options.)

[SoCalCruiseguy]

I don't think being computer literate is a problem given that I build my own computers, was on the internet when it was just a hobby for a few, went to travel school, worked in an agency PT and worked for the airlines... Can you get THE lowest fares on an airline site, sure you can. But in my humble opinion, no airline site has as smooth and quick running web site with all of the readily usable features that the aforementioned sites have nor do you have the visibility of more than 1 airline fare pricing at once. In the end, if you are comfortable using a particular airlines web site, do it. But I do need to say that MANY times have I been able to purchase a ticket on one of the "middleman" (your words) sites for a certain price and could not get the same fare for on the airlines site. I've never experianced that in the inverse.

 

As for not being inclusive of Southwest, yeah thats true, but then again if I were an airline agent looking in Sabre I may not have visibility on those fares either, so I don't think thats an indictment. It's Southwests choice that they don't play with other airlines and reservation systems, they don't want to pay. Oh and while your at it, add Jet Blue and a few others to that group as well. I also stand on the ascertion that you can buy travel insurance from say travelocity and be in much better shape if one of the airlines closes up. I mean its almost a universal given that private cruise insurance is much better than cruiseline offered insurance, so why would it be different with the airlines? As for US Air and United, I am well aware they are both in dire straights, but US Air is still far worse off even given Uniteds bad position. I'll NEVER book with either of these two airlines directly until when and if they exit bankruptcy. Doing otherwise is flat out rolling the dice.

 

As for ITA software, you are right, it has a very strong search engine. But its still a bit slow and not very user friendly yet. Then again, as far as I can tell ITA software is or was being marketed primarily for commercial use. Just remember, other sites like Orbitz were established and are owned by a group of airlines and have had so so results.

 

We can beat this horse to death I'm sure but until I get beat by one of the ticketing sites I'm gonna use them. Does that mean I won't or don't use the airline sites, no. But I will use all of the tools as a resource and make the best decision on a case by case basis. Airlines haved pared or cut out in whole their services so much that the only real thing they provide is a ride. Gone is decent food, gone are the good loyalty/FF programs, gone is the do whatever it takes to please the consumer atmosphere. So product differentiation is determined by the masses almost exclusively by price, destination and at times types of equipment used. I don't think many of us feel like valued customers, so why should I use their sites exclsusively?

[GoBucks04]

I have to totally disagree with you that you can NEVER get lower fares on Travelocity. Just now I am searching from CMH to SEA. Travelocity 249 (including ALL TAXES) The carrier which Travelocity is going through as well, NWA 333.29!!! Just goes to show-RESEARCH! You NEVER know!!!;)

[parody]

add Jet Blue and a few others to that group as well. I also stand on the ascertion that you can buy travel insurance from say travelocity and be in much better shape if one of the airlines closes up.As for US Air and United, I am well aware they are both in dire straights, but US Air is still far worse off even given Uniteds bad position.

As for ITA software, you are right, it has a very strong search engine. But its still a bit slow

 

A couple of points worth noting. ITASoftware includes JetBlue Airlines. I do NOT find it slow or unfriendly to use. If you want slow, check out Qixo.

 

These days, people purchase airline tickets with credit cards. If an airline stops flying and does not provide the service purchased with a credit card, reimbursement can be easily obtained. Really no need for separate insurance in this instance.

 

While it is true that US Airways is in more financial difficulties than United, it is not likely to stop operating "at a moments notice" as alleged incorrectly in a prior post.

 

Lastly, while Orbitz was originally founded by a group of airlines, they have sold their interests months ago. (Cendant Buys Orbitz For $1.2 Billion, see details at http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=48800113.)

[SoCalCruiseguy]

Hey parody, just curious what would make you so certain US Air could not or might not stop operating at a moments notice. The airline is under bankruptcy protection of the courts yet, they can only keep flying as long as they have cash to do so. Otherwise that court protection doesn't mean a whole lot. The only institutions that will give them cash now is their major creditors who stand to lose big if they go under. Yet at some point there is going to be a limit to how long and how much even they are willing to throw at those airlines. If the day comes they aren't willing to contribute more, or if there are even the slighest hint of maintenance or safety issues, US Air WILL shut down without notice and I don't see how anyone can predict when and if that will occur?

 

As for insurance via travelocity, the idea is to try and minimize the trauma both before, during and after a trip if an airline such as these goes under and keep in mind these are relatively special cases (so was the likes of Peoples Express). The idea would be to try and ensure you can start or if in mid-trip, finish your trip without too much anxiety since travelocity would presumably help to get you home without any additional (final) cost. Sure you can get a refund eventually from your credit card company, but I don't know how many times you've done it, that can be a REAL pain depending on the issuer and situation. Much rather deal with the insurance. At 10-15 bucks its still a steal. The point of the Orbitz remark being that often the airlines will play both ends against the middle.

 

In the end I would say again that no one site, airline or commercial, offers so much that would make me "one who drinks the kool-aid" err a true believer, or one who would look at no other place. Airlines as a business don't do very much well. Why would I think a specific airline would always offer me the lowest fares in a market on a consistent basis. I mean they all can't be Southwest Airlines!

[parody]

what would make you so certain US Air could not or might not stop operating at a moments notice.

 

Here is an answer to your question, as posted yesterday by the AP:

 

When US Airways filed for bankruptcy in September — its second filing in two years — many experts wondered aloud whether the airline's days were numbered. ...

 

 

Indeed, some of the airline's strongest critics have changed their tune. Terry Trippler, who runs the travel Web site TerryTrippler.com, said after the holiday debacle that the airline was a goner. "Stick a fork in them, folks. They're done," he said at the time.

 

Now, says Trippler, he would have no qualms about booking US Airways for travel on, say, Memorial Day weekend.

 

Read the full story at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050207/ap_on_bi_ge/us_airways_rebound_2. It is certainly true that US Airways (no longer US Air) has a bleek future. Their next major financing problems come June 30, 2005 and they project that they won't return to profitability until at least 2008.

[SoCalCruiseguy]

Hey I hear ya parody, in fact I've heard Terry Trippler speak many times and for whatever reason he's quoted a lot. Yet ,in the end he's just a guy (much like Tom Parsons with Best Fares) with an opinion. They get their information fed to them as well. The 2008 timeframe to profitability is down from the usual 2012 thats most often stated and that was before Delta changed their fare structures. When that happened, some of the reports I witnessed stated that Deltas move which of course prompted the industry to move in line with what Delta did, would probably move that hopeful 2012 date out to an unquantifiable timeframe, meaning most financial experts have no idea if and when they can return to profitability, or polite speak for "survive". We can quote articles to each other all night, I just don't think its very encouraging regardless.

 

Hey for the record, I for one sincerely hope US Air and United can make it. If for no other reason than they represent a bit of americana of yesterday and a lot of good people stand to get hurt. But the reality is, the odds are stacked HEAVILY against them. In my opinion, being optimistic doesn't change that. I can't help but think that the business strategists at airlines like southwest, jet blue, air tran, spirit etc are not going to sit idly by and wait for any of these legacy airlines to get their act together and return to dominance in the markets that they compete in.

 

Being the smart and shrewed business people that got them to where they are today, I am sure they are looking after their own self interests and doing their best to help these weak airlines edge closer to the cliff. Like doing what these former "big guys" did to would be competitors i.e "startups" in the past and keeping fares so low for so long, that it eventually breaks the weak guys. Couldn't prove collusion then and won't do it now.

[GoBucks04]

Parody-you mention ITA Software-How do you go about booking this fare with the airline?? Do you tell them where you found it and give them all the codes/etc? Do they honor the price?? There is a really good flight I would like, but I don't know how to begin to call the airline-Thank you!

[parody]

ITA Software-How do you go about booking this fare with the airline?

 

While popular sites such as Orbitz, etc. allows one to search for fares/flights and also do the booking (but, of course, with an added fee), the ITA Software site only does the fare/flight search. Consequently, once you find the airline and flights that meet your requirements, go to that airline's website to do the booking (and with no extra fees added) for the flights that you found. This works the overwhelming majority of times, but not always. One reason that it may not work is that the airline's website doesn't always display every single option that you uncovered using ITA Software (or for that matter, any competing software). This could occur simply as a result of limitations at the website or to a largely hidden fact that most airfare search sites are not being conducted with real-time data. (Afterall, this is what makes them fast to use. Some consideration has been given to providing how "old" the data is. However, this is typically not shown to the average user.) The airline's website, on the other hand, is being conducted with real-time data and therefore would not show flights that are sold out, for example. Although I have never needed to do it, ITA Software allows one to easily email the selected flights to a Travel Agent to do the booking through a CRSS such as Sabre. Since airlines no longer provide TA's with commissions, however, the added fees are likely to be relatively large. In addition, unless the TA can act quickly, fares and flights can change rapidly. Thus, if you are faced with this option, it is probably best to call the airline's 800 number and pay the $5 or so fee for booking a flight in this manner.

[Globaliser]

As for ITA software, you are right, it has a very strong search engine. But its still a bit slow and not very user friendly yet. Then again, as far as I can tell ITA software is or was being marketed primarily for commercial use.

It's worth remembering what the ITA Software site is. It's a demonstration page put up by the software house that writes the software. You have to remember the limitations that this entails. In particular, you cannot be guaranteed access to all airline data all of the time. I have no idea how often they refresh the availability data that drives the searches, and there are major airlines whose data they simply do not have - US Airways used to be one, Cathay Pacific is another which AFAIK remains unavailable.

 

The thing that floored me about jezzdogg's story was the revelation that Travelocity does not ticket your purchases straight away. That does leave a gaping hole open for problems - many a slip 'twixt cup and lip and all that. I'm used to pressing the "purchase" button on the airline website I use most, and getting an e-mail 10 seconds later with all the details including the ticket number.

[parody]

...ITA Software site is. It's a demonstration page

 

ITA Software is well beyond a "demonstration page". It has been around for more than 5 years. ITA Software was founded by computer scientists from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/02-11-2003/0001889442

ITA Software licenses its technology to many of the

world's leading travel companies, including Orbitz, Continental Airlines,

Galileo International, SITA, Accovia, Amadeus, and others.

[Globaliser]

ITA Software is well beyond a "demonstration page". It has been around for more than 5 years.

Sorry, you are quite right - the language I used was misleading. What I should have said was that the bit of the ITA Software site that we use for searching is a demonstration page - they seem to put all their new "bells and whistles" on it for us to try out as they're developed, although not all of their clients use all of them. In particular, Orbitz positively stripped out some of the functionality that was originally supplied to them on the grounds that it was too complex for purchasers to use.

[GoBucks04]

I tried to call the airline and gave the exact info off of ITA and they came up with an extremely different amount(higher of course) THe codes on ITA made no sense to the person at the airline. Did I just get a newbe & should I try again? The fare was still there when I went back. It was listed as NWA, but serviced by Delta. Does that make a difference??:confused: Thank you for your help!

[parody]

The fare was still there when I went back.

 

I think what you are running into is that the search you are conducting is not being conducted with "real-time" data. That is why when you go back and conduct a "new" search a few minutes later, say, you are getting the same results. When you call the airline, which does have access to real-time data, the fare does not exist. (Recall that fares can change frequently.) This is not a result of being a newbe. I have never seen a matrix that displays how "old" the data is by search engine. (I suspect it is something on the order of 2 to 4 hours, but I don't really know.) It seems you have a couple of options. First, conduct the search on sites such as Orbitz, Travelocity, or Expedia, and if you find something that you like (and can't get it from the airlines directly), try booking it thru them even though it may cost a few dollars more. (Note that you may or may not run into the same problem.) Your second option is to wait awhile and conduct the search again with ITASoftware. Good luck.

[GoBucks04]

Thank you for your input! I did end up finding it through Orbitz-not as cheap as ITA, but cheaper than the airline itself and Travelocity. I have never bought through Orbitz, but I'm assuming they are okay? Also, what condition is Northwest/ Delta in? It's a flight through Northwest run by Delta?? I usually just book and fly Southwest so I'm new to all the other airlines:)

[Bonnie&Rob]

I've booked through several on-line sites, including Travelocity and airlines directly, with no problems. One key to remember is to use a credit card (not debit) as it allows you dispute rights for any charges that are problematic.

 

The OP should dispute the charge with their bank within the bank contract terms (so many days from statement or ticket date). This forces Travelocity to prove the charge is valid or credit it.