Why do people use Travelocity, Expedia, or Orbitz for flights?

[Ned Land]

I have never seen a cheap flight on these web sites. The web sites of the individual carriers are always $5 cheaper.

What am I missing?

 

[zurgswife]

I use it as a guide to what fares are being offered....then I go directly to the airlines site to get the fare or call the 800 number...

 

[MrsMud]

I don't understand it, either

 

[Minybear]

I look at Expedia for flights and specials, but I book directly with the airlines. With at least Expedia they charge you a fee like $10 for their servcie. That is why the airline tickets are a little less expensive going directly with the airlines then going through Expedia or the other travel companies.

 

[Gillian]

I use Orbitz to compare fares & routes on various carriers. It's the easiest way to quickly see what's available. I also like that it allows you to easily change a search to include neighboring airports.

The only time I have actually booked on Orbitz was when I did a trip with 3 flight segments on 2 different airlines. I flew Nj to Atlanta, then atlanta to Tampa, drove to Orlando, and flew orlando to NJ. It was very inexpensive and not something I could have booked through 1 airline because none of them had non-stop flights on all the routes.

 

[safetymom]

Most of these other sites do not have the availability that the Airline themselves have. When Orbitz was formed the airlines were charged a fee to be part of the group. How they pay that fee is through cheaper tickets. So often times they are not as convenient or plentiful as the airlines themselves.

Also it used to be if you had a problem with the flight such as cancellation you had to deal with Priceline, Expedia because they bought the ticket. You aren't as protected as you would be with the airlines directly. Especially in this day and age of cancelling flights, changing the size of the equipment it is easier to deal with the airline than it is to deal with these travel companies.

So I look on those sites but then when I find the airline that has the best price I book with them directly.

 

[TreeOfLife]

Often people think they get the lowest prices that way. But when you go to the airline's website and look up exactly teh same flights, you often realize the prices were raised up and on top of it, you have to pay a fee to buy tickets through them.

Why do people buy through them? Ignorance, I suppose.

 

[bunnyfoo]

On Expedia, I know they let you book vacation packages (hotel + air)... I guess, there are some people who don't know that it's cheaper to book them separately.

 

[Niagara2]

I use them all the time to check prices and usually go to airlines site to book but three times I got the deal of the century type pricing directly on Orbitz. Last week booked a flight for Labor Day Weekend and it was $105 RT on Orbitz and same exact flight on US Air site was $732!! I also got a great last minute flight on Orbitz when the airline itself was very high for two day advance bookings. Now most of the time the airline sites are great for service and avoiding service fees but sometimes the deals are on these consolidator sites too. I fly 6 to 8 times a year on average. I consider myself very savvey on internet airline bookings. Haven't use a travel agent for plane tickets in 5 years.

 

[MinnieGi]

I too never book my airfare through Expedia etc. and always through the airlines direct site. It is always cheaper for when I have compared flights. I do however like to see what airlines have flights scheduled for the times I am looking for and if they are direct or connecting. That's a useful tool for these sites, but I never buy from them.

 

[Aisling]

Sometimes it's not ignorance, but a greater selection of options through Orbitz/Travelocity, etc ,which cause people to use them instead of the airline site.
Last year we booked from Orbitz because it offered the exact times we wanted. They did this by booking us on two different airlines and using two neighboring airports. It was the same average price as the airline's own site, but we were able to get more specificity through Orbitz.
This year, we booked right from Delta's site, because date, time, and price were right.

 

[NancyIL]

My husband travels quite a bit on business, and usually flies on American Airlines. On two occasions in the past year, Orbitz had a lower fare than the American Airlines web site for the exact same flights - so he purchased his ticket on Orbitz.

 

[apagano]

Sites like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz are more convenient because you can search all the major airlines at once. It's much faster than checking every carrier's site individually. For some people, the time saved by not having to check different sites is worth the $5-10 service fee. Essentially you are paying for the convenience of being able to see all the available fares on one page. Also, the airlines themselves are not always cheaper than the big search sites as others have pointed out.

 

[ncligs]

As most of the above posters have stated, I use the sites(Orbitz,Travelocity,etc) to get the lowest fares, than book directly with the airline(always Continental or US AIR).

 

[minniecarousel]

I just booked airfare from Oakland to Orlando through Expedia - $215 per person roundtrip. That same set of flights using American Airlines online was over $500 per person. Southwest Airlines was going to be over $2500 for the 4 RTs. This is for a trip in 3 months.

 

[kkozma]

I also found cheaper flights on expedia then Delta website. Easy to pick seats and now I check my itinerary daily for flight changes. Expedia also will email me with any changes. Was just easier for me personally...

 

[madge]

personally, I like www.sidestep.com it goes through the individual airline sites and orbitz. I have even seen southwest on that site

 

[meb51]

I know the airlines are supposed to contact you when they change your flight but I also know that this does not always happen. I booked with Expedia for my last trip and when the airline changed my flight, Expedia e-mailed me and revised my itinerary for me to print out. I was very pleased.

 

[mitros]

I have been using delta for some years now, and I always get flights between $175 to $211. Those travel sights just don't work for me. Delta has a great web sight, and if there are any changes, they notify you by e-mail. I would not use one of those travel sights. It seems like you spend more time trying to figure them out.

 

[Ned Land]

Just to clarify...I do use those sights to give me an idea of where flight prices stand. In fact I use the "Fare Watcher" feature on Travelocity to help me see what current flight prices are for my favorite cities. There is just VERY rarely any real discount.