Has anyone actually gotten a rebate check from Orbitz yet?

[MamaParrotHead]

I am intrigued by their newest marketing campaign...and there are testimonials plastered all over their website. Has anyone here actually received a check from them (after taking your trip) for a refund in ticket prices on the same flight someone booked cheaper through them?

[6rugrats]

Are you asking about the "Orbitz Price Assurance"?

 

You must book your flight through Orbitz; it can't be booked on another site.

 

Some restrictions:

 

1. If Orbitz finds, after you have booked your flight, that another Orbitz customer subsequently books the same flight(s), meaning the same dates/times of travel, on the same airline, with the same flight numbers, for the same passenger type, itinerary, cabin, and subject to the same fare refundability, or other restrictions, that is at least $5 lower than the airfare you booked on Orbitz.com, Orbitz will refund you the difference up to a maximum of $250.00 per ticket.
   
2. The confirmed airfare and itinerary you booked on Orbitz.com will be compared to the same itineraries subsequently booked on Orbitz.com for drops in fare up until the day you fly. Fares are compared with like fare restrictions, so for example, if an unrestricted airfare is booked on Orbitz.com, it will not qualify for the Orbitz Price Assurance if compared to a restricted airfare found on the Orbitz Web site.
   
3. Orbitz Price Assurance does not apply to lower airfares that are available on other Web sites, flights you cancel or change, to itineraries booked prior to yours, or to refundable tickets that you choose to refund.
   

I wonder how many people actually receive a refund? I have never booked through Orbitz, so no personal experience, but have found other webpages with similiar policies so restrictive that I have never received any refund, as the conditions were impossible to meet.

[MamaParrotHead]

Right. Don't those restrictions just boil down to, "it has to be the same exact flight booked through Orbitz", though? Or am I missing something?

[FlyerTalker]

Right. Don't those restrictions just boil down to, "it has to be the same exact flight booked through Orbitz", though? Or am I missing something?

Yep...

 

What it means is that the following has to happen:

 

1) Another customer buys the exact same ticket that you did AFTER you do.

2) That ticket is priced more than $5 cheaper.

 

Now, since you would have to find someone taking the same flights, same dates, and booked into the same ticket fare class -- I'd say that first requirement is pretty tough to come by. Then, you'd have to have the same fare basis drop in price.

 

Yes, it can happen. Will it? Well, someone hits the Lotto.

[parody]

When this program was first introduced, I did some very ballpark calculations and estimated that less than 1% of the people purchasing a ticket on Orbitz would be eligible for a refund (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=814025&highlight=orbitz, post #10).

 

I particularly thought insightful the comment by one person:

The odds are so in their favor that I wouldn't purchase from them just for spite.

[MamaParrotHead]

Interesting. Thanks for the input.

[Kylie]

Has anyone here actually received a check from them (after taking your trip) for a refund in ticket prices on the same flight someone booked cheaper through them?

 

Great question - it sounds like a good deal when you first hear it but obviously isn't.

I usually get the best price booking directly with the airline anyway.

[silverridge]

I am intrigued by their newest marketing campaign...and there are testimonials plastered all over their website. Has anyone here actually received a check from them (after taking your trip) for a refund in ticket prices on the same flight someone booked cheaper through them?

I was wondering the same. We booked our flights on Orbitz with 1/3 full (at the time)planes for our recent cruise. Our flight originated and returned to Chicago. The cruise was in Jan 09, and we booked flights in Aug 08. Well, the flights gradually filled up, and of course the fare prices were dropping (due to oil price/bbl). We were certain (coming from a cold weather climate at the busiest airport inthe world) that someone (most likely a cruiser) would book at a lower price than us. The flights were both full, and no refund was ever issed. I pretty much think it's a scam now. Next time, I'll book direct with airlines and forget about Orbit'z Price ASSurance.

[13point1]

I was wondering the same. We booked our flights on Orbitz with 1/3 full (at the time)planes for our recent cruise. Our flight originated and returned to Chicago. The cruise was in Jan 09, and we booked flights in Aug 08. Well, the flights gradually filled up, and of course the fare prices were dropping (due to oil price/bbl). We were certain (coming from a cold weather climate at the busiest airport inthe world) that someone (most likely a cruiser) would book at a lower price than us. The flights were both full, and no refund was ever issed. I pretty much think it's a scam now. Next time, I'll book direct with airlines and forget about Orbit'z Price ASSurance.

 

There is no way to tell when booking, how full a flight is, looking at the seating charts is pretty useless.

 

Also, the person(s) would have had to book the exact same flights going down and coming back. They would also have to book them with Orbitz. There are just far too many variables for many to actually benefit from this program.

[silverridge]

There is no way to tell when booking, how full a flight is, looking at the seating charts is pretty useless. How do you figure?

 

Also, the person(s) would have had to book the exact same flights going down and coming back. They would also have to book them with Orbitz. There are just far too many variables for many to actually benefit from this program.

Agreed (hindsight 20/20)

[silverridge]

There is no way to tell when booking, how full a flight is, looking at the seating charts is pretty useless

 

How do you figure?

[wrp96]

How do you figure?

 

 

Most airlines only allow a certain percentage of seats to be allocated in advance. The rest they reserve for assignment at time of check in.

 

Not all people get a seat assignment when they book either. And even among those that do, if there are schedule or equipment changes they will lose their seat assignments.

 

For example, a few years ago on President's Day weekend, the seating chart showed lots of seats available on my flight and all the earlier and later flights. But every flight was actually overbooked.

[Globaliser]

How do you figure?

If you want to know how many reservations the airline has taken for a flight, it's quite simple. You just need to make friends with someone who works in the airline's reservations department who's prepared to look up this information for you.

 

Of course, the information may also shock you, given the extent to which airlines have to overbook their flights. So you may want to know the answer to the question "How many reservations have you taken?", "How does that compare to the number of seats on board?" and "How many more reservations are you prepared to take?" I know I've been on one flight which was overbooked by well over 100 people in economy about three months out, but which went out only about 90% full.

[parody]

Other than knowing someone or having access to some GDS system, it would seem that a class availability website such as http://flyaow.com/classamex.htm would help one to at least put some boundaries on the number of seats sold/available on a particular flight. As with seat charts, the maximum number of seats available by class is limited to 9 so there will be instances when a plane is half full say that one will not be able to ascertain that with assurance. However, around peak-periods when most classes still available are in the lower single numbers (or even zero), one can probably get a pretty good idea of how many seats are still available. But, I have no idea how overbooking affects the numbers shown.

[FlyerTalker]

The availability number shown in AOW or Expert Flyer (for the least restrictive class, usually F and Y) is:

 

(Total number of seats available for sale on the flight) - (Number of seats currently sold) = Displayed number (truncated to usually a max of 7 or 9). So a number of "9" actually means "at least 9". When you get into lower values (under 7), you're getting the actual number of seats available for sale in each bucket.

 

Note that the total available for sale is equal to the seating capacity of the aircraft PLUS the number of allocated oversales (as determined by the yield management gnomes in the back room).

 

For "lower" fare buckets, it's a pure yield management allocation as a subset of "Y".

[Globaliser]

As with seat charts, the maximum number of seats available by class is limited to 9 so there will be instances when a plane is half full say that one will not be able to ascertain that with assurance. However, around peak-periods when most classes still available are in the lower single numbers (or even zero), one can probably get a pretty good idea of how many seats are still available. But, I have no idea how overbooking affects the numbers shown.

No, it really is no guide at all.

 

Take, for example, that flight on which I knew that there was a lot of overbooking. It was overbooked by 120, in fact, in a cabin of 315 seats. That is, the airline already held 435 reservations for those 315 seats. But the flight was far from closed for booking. It might still have been showing 9s in all economy classes, if the overbooking limit was much higher than 120 (which it probably was).

 

It does bring one to the question, just what do you mean by the question "How full is the flight?" This flight was ultimately only 90% full in that cabin, which was about what the airline expected, even though it was at one stage holding that many reservations for the seats in that cabin.

[parody]

No, it really is no guide at all.

 

 

As I mentioned in my prior post, I can certainly understand that if there were some 9's (or 7's) in various fare classes, it would really provide no guide to how full the aircraft may be, but is it also the case that if it showed all zeros for each of the fare classes, it also provides "no guide at all"?

[Globaliser]

... but is it also the case that if it showed all zeros for each of the fare classes, it also provides "no guide at all"?

True, a flight which is zeroed out is probably busier than a flight which is showing all 9s.

 

But even then, what does that tell you beyond the fact that the airline is currently not prepared to confirm any further reservations on that flight? A flight which is all zeroed (and nothing else) is usually still open for waitlisting, in relation to fares which qualify for waitlisting; or it may still be available on request. Only a flight which is all Cd is truly closed for booking.

 

And even then, as I said, the flight may at that time be "150% full", yet still only be 80%, 85% or 90% full on the day. So what do the zeros or Cs actually tell you about how full the flight is - or will be?

[SNOWEY]

I am embarrassed to say that I booked with "O's" price Assurance just before 7/4/09. DH (gotta blame someone) warned that rates will probably be going up. Guess what? The went down, down, down to the tune of $240 for 2 tixs, DFW to LAX. And, no notification of anyone dumb enough to book with them. This is truly misleading and I will never use "O" again.

 

BTW, I read the fine print but not close enough. I thought the same itinerary ment same day and date, but it has to be same times also :(. As said before, what is the chance of that?

 

I have 1 more month to go, doesn't someone else want to book now on "O" since the rates are so much lower :rolleyes:.??

[parody]

 

BTW, I read the fine print but not close enough. I thought the same itinerary meant same day and date, but it has to be same times also :(. As said before, what is the chance of that?

 

I've never seen a definitive answer, but is "Itinerary" defined as time and date for both the outgoing and return trip? If so, then even the 1% estimate above is too high.

[fbgd]

I pretty much think it's a scam now. Next time,

 

This is truly misleading and I will never use "O" again.

 

To be honest I only expect people who know all the rules, and how to interpret them to understand how small a chance of getting a refund is. It isn't a scam just extremely unlikely unless my hypothesis below is correct:

 

My understanding is that is has to be the same itinerary with the same booking classes (not just coach/business/first but the sub booking class within that) which has to be the same and booked at the lower fare. Since the booking class is directly tied to the fare paid (I don't know how not just an L fare but a LXYZ123 fare can be sold for two different prices) it is impossible for someone to book an identical itinerary for a cheaper price.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if on business travel heavy flights that quite a few passengers could be booked in unrestricted Y/J/F as per company policy. Especially Monday morning out, Thursday evening back flights and since airlines will sell as many of these tickets as they can. However, I doubt many of these guys are booking through Orbitz (ha!).

[SNOWEY]

I don't think it is a scam but is misleading. Especially when they have a big banner that just says Price Assurance.

 

In my business if I wrote an ad like that for let's say interest rates, I would be guilty of DTP (deceptive trade practices) and would be liable for treble damages :eek:.

 

Live and learn.

[Jade13]

I am embarrassed to say that I booked with "O's" price Assurance just before 7/4/09. DH (gotta blame someone) warned that rates will probably be going up. Guess what? The went down, down, down to the tune of $240 for 2 tixs, DFW to LAX. And, no notification of anyone dumb enough to book with them. This is truly misleading and I will never use "O" again.

 

BTW, I read the fine print but not close enough. I thought the same itinerary ment same day and date, but it has to be same times also :(. As said before, what is the chance of that?

 

I have 1 more month to go, doesn't someone else want to book now on "O" since the rates are so much lower :rolleyes:.??

 

Plus its even slimmer if you are going overseas because someone would have to be from the exact same originating city and what if its an open jaw with different start and end points...

 

So, if you checked your exact itinerary for DFW-LAX it would count.

[alidor]

The big thing here is that it has to be booked in the same class of service and that's their out. One day the lowest fare might be available in Q class, the very next day (or even the very same afternoon), the airlines might change the class of service for the best fares, and, say, now offer the lowest fare is L class. Since the airlines literally change fares 4 times a day, this is a very common occurence.