Travelocity Bait and Switch

[MICOL]

Trying to book flights with them for Disney, they show a great rate and when you put all the info they need they come back and say flight sold out pick a new one and the same flights I picked are still there. So ok I picked them again and same result. Needless to say Not impressed with them.

 

[DebbieB]

That has happened to me in the past with Expedia. Their systems are not up to date with the airlines. I always book direct.

 

[Singinglizzie]

I always had good luck with Travelocity. I don't think its a bait and switch, but rather that airfares are fluid, so depending on the day and time, the fares could swing. That being said, I ususally check a few different sites, including directly with the airline before I buy. Good luck on your trip planning.

 

[blissventure]

It is not "bait and switch."
There are x number of reservations available, and they are selling them all the time. If they sell out, they sell out.

And, ummm, just a hint. If you see a good rate at Travelocity, go to the airline's website and try to obtain the same thing, there. I never book with Travelocity, but I use their search as a starting place. It's much better to book directly with the airline, rather than with a middleman like Travelocity.

 

[crashbb]

It is not "bait and switch."
There are x number of reservations available, and they are selling them all the time. If they sell out, they sell out.

But, if the airfare was sold old, the OP should not have seen the same flight and price should not have been there when he/she went back and searched Travelocity again.

 

[goofy4tink]

I"ve had the same thing happen every time I tried booking that way. Not any more..I book directly with the airline. Seldom have I found a lower price though Travelocity or Expedia than booking with the airline directly. And...it's so much easier to make any changes or at least have some control over your reservation!!

 

[GoldenOldie]

It is also entirely possible that you may be attempting to book more seats than are currently available at that rate. Example: There may be two seats left and you are trying to book a party of three or more.

Also, some airlines will limit the amount of low fare seats that can be generated on a single reservation. They may limit it to 4 which will cause a problem if you happen to be booking for a party of 5 or more.

 

[crashbb]

It is also entirely possible that you may be attempting to book more seats than are currently available at that rate. Example: There may be two seats left and you are trying to book a party of three or more.

Also, some airlines will limit the amount of low fare seats that can be generated on a single reservation. They may limit it to 4 which will cause a problem if you happen to be booking for a party of 5 or more.

But since you tell Travelocity how many seats you need before it shows you your options, if either of these sceranios are the problem, the OP shouldn't have been shown the option at all. You don't change the number of passengers between the time you choose your flight and the confirmation (which is when the price changing is occuring).

 

[Brian Noble]

Third-party search engines are often slightly out-of-date compared to the airline's own systems. They don't update availability continuously---only every so often. Typically, they don't actually check current availability until they try to ticket the itinerary.

So, it's not so much that they are intentionally trying to hornswaggle you---they just can't hammer the airlines sites constantly for the dozens of fares for each individual flight routing. They probably should update when it is found that the fare has sold out (and at least one of them does this, Expedia maybe) but apparently, Travelocity doesn't.