Expedia/Travelocity/etc...

[TerriP]

Does anyone know were I can go online to get reviews for online travel sites? I'm booking a trip to London and, while these sites have great rates, I'm leery of using them. I don't know a single person who has used them. I've always booked all my trips myself (got my own flights, my own hotel reservation, etc...). If I price things out myself, I can't match their price...but I don't know if these sites are trustworthy.

Anyone have any experience with this kind of site or know where I can look at reviews????

 

[Planogirl]

I don't know about reviews but I've used Expedia on and off over the years and never had a problem. I always go there now to price hotel rooms and strangely enough it's the last place I got a good deal on a Disney hotel.

I've only used one other, Priceline, and it was years and years ago. We got a nice hotel for virtually nothing.

 

[freckles and boo]

I have used Travelocity and Hotwire without any problems at all.

 

[mrs_hower726]

If you do use these sites, even if you do get the insurance, be prepared for a fight if you have to cancel your flight.

I used Travelocity to book a flight and had to cancel it 2 weeks before my trip since my mom was sick and going to have surgery. They wanted me to fill out forms and I was fine with that but they wanted permission to access my mother's COMPLETE medical records and I offered to give them letters from her oncologist and regular MD but they said they would only issue a refund if they had access to her complete medical history. I told them no since the rest of her records are none of their business and they refused to refund my money.

 

[maxiesmom]

For airfare you are almost always better off booking directly thru the airline's own web-site. For hotels, I have used Expedia in the past without any problems.

 

[Babboo]

Hi all,

For once I get to chime in with something I can actually help with.

I travel a LOT. Some of the time I get to go through my company's travel office - quite often I have to find my own way and then get re-imbursed. In my time I have found a few very helpful sites for travel and a couple of other things along the way. I have put together quite a bit of info for my teams in the past - here is some of that for you . . .

First - there is no single site where you will always get the best deal. I have, however, found that the two mentioned on the OP are usually two of the highest. I have found Kayak.com, CheapFares.com, and UltimateFares.com usually have the best rates when compared to others. That is not to say they have the best 100% of the time - but usually. Compare first - then buy. Certainly compare to the airline sites - but I have never seen a time when the carrier's site offered better prices than these sites.

Second - good rates are often found in out of the way places. Sometimes airfares to main hubs are high - they are high volume and most are trying to get through them to other places. If you can find flights/legs through smaller, out-of-the-way airports then you can often save some money. Get a copy of the OAG or book mark the site (http://www.oag.com) - it's helpful and has every scheduled flight in the world. If you know what flights are going where you can usually put that info in the ticketing sites and find some amazing gems. Perhaps it's worth saving a bit if you only have to travel an extra 20 miles (compare flights to Midway vs. O'Hare - then add the extra crowds - just an example).

Third - know your flights - namely where you are sitting. That can make the trip a total nightmare or a be a great start/end to your travels. To find out what kind of seat you have you need to know the kind of airplane (the equipment on the ticket - i.e. MD-80, CRJ-45, L-1011, 747 and so forth - it's on the ticket/itenerary). From there, and the seat assignment you can look it up on www.seatguru.com and know what amenities are available (such as power outlets???).

The end of all this is - don't limit yourself to just one or two sources. There are several ticketing sites out there for the casual and professional traveler. Look around and become informed.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I like Expedia....I've used it a bunch of times, most recently to get a hotel in NYC over Thanksgiving. I've found better airline prices on the airlines own websites.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Personally, I like Expedia. We've never had a problem.

You might want to check out www.fodors.com for reviews. I use them when I need to book for a group. There's also a discussion board area.

 

[Shmily1]

I've used Expedia ,Travelocity, and Orbitz quite a bit since we spent well over 50 nights in a hotel in 2008. I've always had great service out of all three, but please be sure to read the cancellation policy before you click to finalize your plans. They will not budge on the cancellation fees so be sure, but I will keep using them because it's soooo much easier and you can save money!!

Have a great trip!!

 

[Wishing on a star]

I have not traveled a whole lot...

I usually use travelocity/tripadvisor/etc... but only as a wonderful resource and a good reference point. I have seen emails from places like TravelZoo, which promote special offers.

However, I have always booked my airfare directly thru the airline. I did this for my last two trips (Arizona and Philly). I have found competitive internet-only rates right on their web-sites. And I also booked my hotel directly.

I know that there are sometimes packages put together by travel agencies that could possibly be cheaper... but, remember, when it comes to any issues or travel changes, you are then going thru that third party, and are at their mercy.

Years ago we booked our trip to Jamaica thru one of those agencies. Think an outfit like Apple Vacations. We had no problems... But, less than a year later, that company filed an immediate bankruptcy, leaving travelers stranded in the Caribbean with no flight home!!!! Not to scare you, but I would want to be sure that any travel company that I was dealing with was very established and reputable.

 

[pr surfer]

Expedia has a bad reputation among frequent travelers for not doing anything when something goes wrong.

Your best bet is to book directly through the suppliers. Use the consolidators (Expedia, Travelocity), discounters (Priceline, Hotwire) and metasearch sites (Kayak, Sidestep), to get an idea of prices and options, and from there, use that knowledge, book directly through the airline's own website, the hotels own website, etc.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I used Expedia and Orbitz a few times in the past. I'm now on a hotels.com kick. And they do have reviews of hotels by customers. I was looking them over again tonight hoping to plan something for the next month or so. I had booked something through them and went in December. Hotel was great!

 

[Wishing on a star]

Expedia has a bad reputation among frequent travelers for not doing anything when something goes wrong.

Your best bet is to book directly through the suppliers. Use the consolidators (Expedia, Travelocity), discounters (Priceline, Hotwire) and metasearch sites (Kayak, Sidestep), to get an idea of prices and options, and from there, use that knowledge, book directly through the airline's own website, the hotels own website, etc.

I think you meant to type 'LOOK' thru the other suppliers (and from there, book directly thru the airline's/hotel's website)

That was my advice too!

 

[epfootballcutie04]

I've worked at a hotel the past couple years and we get tons and tons and tons of expedia/travelocity/hotels.com type of bookings. The number one complaint i hear from guests is that the hotel information is not up to date on their website regarding amenities and policies.

So while they may offer good deals, read all the small print and I'd also recommend calling the property directly just making sure you know what you're booking into Hotels can always make requests and notes in your reservations should something come up that you want to make sure to request

 

[pr surfer]

I think you meant to type 'LOOK' thru the other suppliers (and from there, book directly thru the airline's/hotel's website)

That was my advice too!

nope... the suppliers are the airlines, hotels, etc.

The websites, such as expedia, travelocity, etc.. those are just the booking agents, but ultimately the supplier is the one who provides the service/product.

 

[richmond282]

I have used priceline.com w/o any problems.

 

[TerriP]

Thank you all so much for your advice and input ~ I really appreciate it. A trip to London is $$$$$, at least to me, and I don't want to make it more expensive by getting ripped off by a travel service.

 

[pomlover]

Don't worry OP, these sites are completely legit and I have been using them for years without problems