tell me about buying airline tickets on Expedia

[Nancy for Disney]

I found a really good deal for our family of 5. Unfortunately not to Orlando...I got out voted. Anyway I figured this would be the best place to ask. Normally I fly Southwest but these Expedia tickes would save about $500. We would fly one airline there and a different airline back. Please tell me about your experiences with Expedia. Thanks!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We purchased our hotel and airfare on Expedia.ca for our January trip. I can assure you that everything went seamlessly.

Our flights were with JetBlue. JetBlue changed our return flight time twice (the first change was a huge disadvantage from our initial plan, but the second change became a huge benefit ) and both times were were contacted via email with the updates (and in the case of the second change, they also followed up with a phone call to ensure the package we had booked still met our needs.

I had a couple of questions about possibly changing a componet or two of our flight and hotel package (changing to a different property, changing our room type, adding a rental car, etc.) and their customer service department was great to deal with. Very happy to answer questions and help (though be aware that not everything can be changed at no cost after booking....often there are substantial fees to do so....which is why we kept our original package intact!!! lol)

I would not hesitate to deal with them again if the price was right. And like your most recent findings, the rate we found on Expedia could not be reconstructed by booking direct with the hotel and airline.

 

[OKW Lover]

Is there a reason you wan to book through Expedia instead of booking directly with the airline? I've always found the exact same prices on the airline sites and it avoids having a middleman to deal with if you need help.

 

[sam_gordon]

Is there a reason you wan to book through Expedia instead of booking directly with the airline? I've always found the exact same prices on the airline sites and it avoids having a middleman to deal with if you need help.

Agreed. You (presumably) know what airlines & flights Expedia is offering. Go to those airline sites and price out the same trip. This way YOU have full control over your reservations.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Agreed. You (presumably) know what airlines & flights Expedia is offering. Go to those airline sites and price out the same trip. This way YOU have full control over your reservations.

I agree 100%. Book directly with the airline.

 

[brockash]

Is there a reason you wan to book through Expedia instead of booking directly with the airline? I've always found the exact same prices on the airline sites and it avoids having a middleman to deal with if you need help.

This. I almost always find the same price (sometimes cheaper) on the individual airlines websites. I'd really try to do this if at all possible (even look at booking 1 way travel, if the expedia price is giving you different airlines.) If the price is at least close to the expedia price, I'd def. book with the actual airline. There's nothing wrong with Expedia, but if you book through them, then you don't really have control over your flights after that. It didn't used to be as big of a deal, but anytime we book now, we always have multiple schedule changes that the airline makes before our trip, and I've never had a problem either getting refunded or getting better times when I book directly through the airlines. A few years ago, I was still booking through Expedia and the schedule changed and it was VERY hard and frustrating to get any help from the airlines because I didn't "own" my reservation at that point.

 

[seashoreCM]

Many times, travel agencies have their own blocks of seats and rooms (sub-inventory) that they prepurchased from airlines and hotels long in advance at deep discount. Of course they like to sell that off first.

The availability of sub-inventory may let the travel agency quote a fare or rate lower than the airline or hotel itself.

When customers want to change something, even if it was the airline's schedule change that precipitated the change, the travel agency might not have sub-inventory for the customer's new choices. The agency hates like hell to have to "go outside the box" and buy additional seats/rooms at normal prices for that customer and take back sub-inventory hoping to re-resell that later.

As far as telling you how to buy airline tickets on Expedia, heres how. After looking for the flights and prices you like, at least check the airline's own website next.

 

[rwdavis2]

I would almost never book airlines tickets through a third party. Just one more layer to screw up the most important part of the trip.