Online Travel Agencies? 55
dbright asks: "I am currently planning my upcoming honeymoon, and I was wondering if I should try getting my tickets, and/or making travel arrangements online using one of the many available retailers (cheaptickets.com, priceline.com, etc...). I wanted to ask Slashdot readers about experiences with any of these companies, and their thoughts on making arrangements online."
Don't take chances on Honeymoon (Score:5, Insightful)
I know I'm not answering your actual question here, but I would think twice about trying to save a couple of bucks on your honeymoon. Go the safer, more traditional route for something this important and you can gamble with some fly-by-night online agency for a future trip that is a little less important. Imagine if something goes wrong because of the travel agent, your wife is not going to very happy with your decision to go with a relatively new (a few years experience) online agency.
GMD
Re:Don't take chances on Honeymoon (Score:3, Insightful)
Because of the discounts the travel agency gets through it's arrangements, our trip was the same price as I could come up with after hours putting it together myself online, except I only had to make 2 phone calls and it was done.
You will be EXHAUSTED after your wedding. Wherever your destination, a good travel agent pays for themselves and more when it comes to your honeymoon.
Also, the wedding is really for the guests no matter how you slice it, but the Honeymoon is ALL YOURS. Make the most of it.
Re:Don't take chances on Honeymoon (Score:3, Informative)
She actually gave me an honest answer. You can get better prices on airling tickets online, because the agent charges booking fees, so if you have a site you know, (I like Orbitz and Travelocity), use it. She said (and I've had proven to me) that an agent can usually get better deals on hotels, cars and tours. I've used her for a bunch of hotel bookings, and she has always found better deals than I imagined ($160 a night at the Marriot in Hawaii, on 2 hours notice.)
A good office will have a specialist for lots of different things, and I've actually had them tell me "Just use the concierge at this hotel, they'll take care of you." Remember, they're in the business of taking care of peoeple and trying to make them happy, and a good travel agency will do just that.
But hey, that's just been my experience.
Agency for online travel? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Agency for online travel? (Score:2)
Searching for "cheap airline tickets" returns over 435,000 results.
Instead, he's asking a community of technology consumers. Though he could've done some homework and asked more pointed questions, but that's mincing details.
I'm surprised it got past the gatekeepers, considering they've rejected plenty of well-researched technical 'ask slashdots' but that's another discussion.
Don't confuse a search engine with a public forum.
Re:Agency for online travel? (Score:1)
Re:Um, moron... (Score:1)
That's why I switched around the wording so it would be more obvious I was making the play on words.
Re:Um, moron... (Score:1)
In that case, please don't tell us about your honeymoon!
Not just one.... (Score:4, Informative)
What works for me is to find a good price or two searching online, then take these to a real, in-person agent and say can you get me something like this or better....and the in-person agent can often do better!
I am going to go back to using the "Preview" button when Slashdot goes back to loading at reasonable speed. Until then, thank you for being able to read my typing.
Priceline for Hotels (Score:3, Informative)
In another browser window open Expedia.com and see what all 4 star hotels (or whatever the best shown by priceline is) are available in the area. Pick one you like, make a note of the average price per night in Expedia.
Go back to the browser window with Priceline and bid like half, maybe 60% of whatever the best price at Expedia is.
Wait 15 minutes, see what happens. I have stayed several stays at 4* spots (Austin / San Antonio) for $65 and $60 a night.
Priceline (Score:2)
If you do use an online travel agent, I would recommend using one where you know EXACTLY what you're getting before you pay, especially for your honeymoon.
SkyAuction.com (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't work for them, but I've had nothing but good experiences taking trips arranged through them.
Amazing prices. And even after the trip is over, you'll be wondering what the catch was.
some tips (Score:4, Insightful)
But...
For something as important as a honeymoon, I don't think I'd do it. See, the way that online ticket pleaces work is that they offer tickets with all sorts of restrictions (both on time and on convenience). Let's say something happens to your schedule and you want to delay a flight. Well, many of those cheap tickets can't BE delayed, at least, not without fees that often exceed the price you paid for the cheap tickets. No, for something "mission critical" like a honeymoon, do yourself a favour and go with a real (and respected - ask around) travel agent. A travel agent will be even more valuable for the non-flight portions of the trip (hotels, destinations, etc.), as a good and experienced travel agent will often have personal experience with destinations. If you can, go to a travel agent that specializes in your chosen destination(s).
Good luck and have fun!
I wouldn't fly any other way (Score:2)
Recently I traveled to Guatemala. I used Hotwire to establish a low-price benchmark and then Pricelined bottom up until I was within $20 dollars of the Hotwire offer before I accepted the Hotwire price. I assume that Priceline would have accepted my offer at about the same price that Hotwire gave me up front. The next best offer, Orbitz, et al, was several hundred dollars higher, like $450 vs $700.
So unless you think you might have to cash it in at the last minute, I'd suggest you go ahead and do a deal. By the way, you are flying on the same plane with the same services as those who bought tickets through more traditional channels.
Multiple Searches (Score:1)
Don't think it works for airfares, tho.
Currently Planning (Score:2)
Go to beta.itasoftware.com and do your search. Pick the itinerary you like, and drill down to get the exact fare codes, then call the airline and ask for those tickets.
The only things it won't give you are: "web fares" -- special promotional fares limited to certain (web) travel agents -- and tricks the airlines try not to allow, like buying two tickets and using half of each at a time to avoid weekend stay restrictions and the like.
Of course, never buy a one-way ticket, they always cost more than throwing away the second half of a round-trip.
Tickets (Score:2)
I must really suck at it (Score:3, Insightful)
Regarding STA, by the way, don't be scared off by the emphasis on students -- they have lots of good deals. Besides, they'll give a student card to anyone with a student ID dated after 1850.
Re: (Score:2)
hotels.com -- read carefully (Score:1, Informative)
Watchout for priceline (Score:3)
Be very very very careful about Priceline. They tell you most of this at some point, but just to be clear:
1) Once your price is accepted, you have no control over which airline or what time the flight is.
2) There is absolutely no cancelling, changing, or ANYTHING after you've bid.
Even in the case of a medical emergency, you simply cannot get them to change a flight no matter what. I was in LA on a vacation, got incredibly sick and ended up with an ear infection. The doctor told me to NOT fly no matter what. Even with a letter from a doctor, neither priceline nor the airline would let me change my return flight. When I finally was well enough to travel 48 hours later, a last-minute one-way flight back home was $1500. If I took a later flight so I got a lower price there, I still was stuck paying for a hotel for longer, also at last-minute prices.
Priceline will be cheaper than almost everyone else, just be aware of the risk you're taking.
I use Travelocity for everything myself. They usually come within a few percent of the best price I can find through traditional bookings.
If you fly enough to shell out the $75 for their "Preferred Traveller Elite" program, you get tons of perks. You also get 800# where you can call and talk to someone IMMEDIATELY, no waiting. The people who answer that special number will also pretty much do anything you want them to. I even got one guy there to call up a tiny tiny airline(so small they don't list with SABRE), and try to haggle a price for me for a charter flight.
Re:Watchout for priceline; check out Orbitz (Score:2)
Just becareful of hotel accomodations not being as advertised. Someone (either Orbitz or the MGM Grand) made a mistake and I got a lower quality room than I booked. The hotel stood firm that they would not honor the description I printed off from the Orbitz reservation, but Orbitz said all I needed to do was requst a refund and fax the bill. Maybe a one-time glitch. Maybe a consistent scam.
But for flying Orbitz is very good. consistently low priced. Also check iflyswa.com -- Southwest Airlines. You can only book on their site, but they've got good rates for flights and vacations.
Always use a credit card and have more than enough available credit not only for purchases but also for the "holds" put on your card when a hotel/car rental company "authorizes" your card. The credit hold surprises many people because they do not automatically expire if you pay cash at the end of your stay/rental. It's best to have a couple of cards available to you because you do not know what might happen, as the parent to this post related.
I have friends who use priceline exclusively for travel and they swear by it. But knowing my temper if anything went wrong in the tight, constricting parameters defined by priceline, I'd be swearing AT it.
P.S., I know about the credit holds and the inconveniences therein from my time as the maintainer of the credit card subsystem to a major car rental company in the US. Most travel related business (hotels, car renters, entertainment avenues) will put a significant credit hold on your account ($200 to $500 dollars) each time you "auth" with one of them. Then, when you pay cash at the end of the transaction, you'd expect that the credit hold would be removed -- it isn't. Even if the T&E company sends the code to remove the credit hold, your bank decides when to really release the funds for use. Many times we received calls from escalated complaints saying an important customer was declined at their hotel or at the airport ticket counter because of a credit hold (or series of credit holds) placed at the car rental counter. Yikes! Even though an authorization doesn't take money from your account it DOES reduce your available credit. Do not forget this!
P.P.S. If your curious, yes, I was responsible for millions of dollars every day ("settlements", that is completed transactions that are submitted for payment). And, yes, *twice* I was partially responsible for double billing an entire day's run (thousands of people). One of those times I used a field defined in the API for voiding/reversing a transaction only to find out that the credit card processor didn't honor the field and the double charge became a triple. Yes, it was too stressful messing up people's finances. Of course now I'm the author of a drug dispensing control system. At least I won't have ANGRY customers. . . :)
Use a travel agent (Score:3, Interesting)
Why? Well, The travel agent got us the same price. And she pointed out a few things about cruises we didn't know. And she had a bottle of wine sent to our table during the cruise. Experience does matter, and if you find someone who knows there business, then you can do well going with a real live person.
And everything I said matters even more if you are going into unchartered territory, like somewhere you have never been to before.
But, price does rule, so if you know what you want, and you are sure that you can get a better deal online, then book away.
Just don't torture yourself on your honeymoon with some leave at 6am --- take 7 connections --- got it from priceline flight.
Check out the Bidding for Travel forum (Score:2, Informative)
Use Orbitz if you only want airfare (Score:2, Interesting)
But if you are looknig for like a tour package, like adding a good hotel, car and other activities, use a travel agency. They have the abliitity to link up special deals that they have with certain hotels and car rental places.
As an example, I recently went on a trip to Maui. After looking high and low for open hotel rooms, special deals on those travel sites and lots of googling, my friends and I just gave up and went to a travel agency. That day we had our tickets, hotel, and car all set up, with special deals for some snorkeling, etc if we wanted to do those things.
Hope this helps!
Find a travel agent that knows what *you* like... (Score:1)
A good family friend of ours is a travel agent.. she booked our honeymoon and a couple of other trips. What is great is that she knows *us* and what *we* like. We just need to tell her where we want to go and when and she does the rest. She finds the right hotels, etc... to suit us.
Sure it might cost a little more, but it's worth it in my mind.
I'd recommend finding a travel agent that will get to know you and your tastes... it just makes things simpler in the long run.
Oh, come on! (Score:1)
Geek... Honeymoon...
Fill in the blank.
You should just hand me the karma now.
Don't go for an "auction" (Score:3, Interesting)
I've had very, very bad luck with flights from Priceline/Orbitz/Hotwire.
Basically, with the auction/super-duper-discount flights I've had the following problems:
* Flight departure time changes drastically multiple times before the day of flight. Sometimes you get a notification email. Sometimes you don't (always confirm your flight the morning of). Sometimes you get shifted between flights.
* Sometimes up to 3 connections that take you on ridiculous routes and quintuple your travel time ( Jacksonville to Raliegh to DC to Miami?)
* No way in hell you'll sit together if it's a full flight.
* The usual delays, bad food, getting bumped, canceled flights, etc that you can expect even paying full price.
Bottom line: it's your freakin' honeymoon. You want to be minimizing your chances for catastrophe, not adding to 'em.
You really don't want it to be in your fault if you spend half of your trip stuck in Atlanta because you saved $20 a head on tickets. Start the marriage off with a bang, that would.
cruise (Score:2)
Question as asked, or as the Slashdot title? (Score:2)
You asked about making reservations online. Are you trying to save a buck, or trying to shoot for convenience?
Like many people, I've made many reservations, happily and without problem I might add, using Travelocity [travelocity.com] or travel.yahoo.com [yahoo.com]. That's a good way to save a buck or two.
If money is less of an object, and you're shooting for convenience, call up a travel agent. Pull open the yellow pages and look for "travel" in your metropolitan area. That's what I did for my honeymoon in October 2000. I conducted most of my business over the phone and through e-mail with my agent (contrary to what most services tell you, the agents get kick backs roughly equal to what yahoo or travelocity do), and only had to go to the office to pick up the tickets. I wanted to get access to some extra services, like a premium floor at the Contemporary [themeparkinsider.com] 2 [disneyvacationguide.com] at DisneyWorld (I couldn't figure out how to do that over the web 2.5 years ago). But calling up and talking to a travel agent helped me get flight arrangements, park tickets at a discount, and set up a private car so we didn't have to hunt down a taxi to take us to and from the hotel.
Yes, you might possibly be able to save a few bucks, or use this novel "Internet" to help you make all the decisions yourself. Or, a travel agent who does this kind of thing professionally may be able to help you out and find you options you didn't know you had. Maybe you pay the same. Maybe you pay more, but get better accomodations.
Choose carefully. Your bride will remember this experience well -- and tell her friends about it. Heck, you probably will, too.
Oh, and Disney World was great. If you go, go first to Epcot Center's gift store and let it slip that you're on your honeymoon. They used to give out bride and groom mouse ears. Once you have those, you get to the front of LOTS of lines. And October is a very temperate, less busy time of year to go.
I wish you many happy years.
Don't use them for unusual itineraries (Score:2, Insightful)
They fall down badly if you travel a slightly unusual itinerary such as:
For this type of route, with enough patience, you can still do much of your research on Travelocity. But you need to apply trial and error combinations of individual segments, then call the airline to get the REAL price, which is often quite a bit lower, especially in the discontinuous example.
Another reason to actually call the airline rather than book online, is that they occasionally offer you a lower fare that is technically unavalable because the cutoff date has passed. I guess they have some discretionary flexibility. I don't know why they voluntarily do this, but it's happend to me more than once. British Airways is particularly good about this.
Online Travel (Score:1)
Go to a local travel agent (Score:2)
Here is a true story. My wife and I just went to Hawaii last month. Unfortunately, traffic at Logan airport was insane, and we actually missed our flight out. We grabbed our cell phone, and left our travel agent a message at about 7 am. We got to Hawaii about 5 and a half hours late, due to rerouting to all new flights. When we got there, a nice woman had our names on a sign right at the gate to meet us. She gave us leis, got our luggage taken care of, and escorted us to our hotel. We were completely taken care of, because our agent wanted to make sure we were ok, and that we had a good time when we got there. Let's see priceline do THAT.
Do you care quality? (Score:3, Insightful)
On the other hand, if you just want to get from A to B, do it yourself. Anytime I fly accross the pond I just pull up all the online sites, route myself through a major US hub, and get home cheap. Granted, changing in DC is a pain, and the trip may take a bit longer, but that's why God invented Melatonin. And any small intra-European jaunt is straight to easyJet/Ryanair. If it's within Europe, you don't need a travel agent - flights are all online, and most of Europe speaks one of English/French/German, or has a working knowledge of one them.
My experience: if it's simple, DIY. If it's complicated and/or really expensive, use a travel agent. And make sure they're bonded (ATOL in the UK, I think IATA is international).
We Didn't Buy Online (Score:3, Insightful)
When we're traveling for business or to a place we're familiar with, we almost always book online, but for a pleasure trip to an unfamiliar place, real live travel agents are invaluable!
My Picks (Score:3, Informative)
NEVER use Priceline.com for airlines, also NEVER use HOTWIRE or any other pig-in-a-poke service for airlines. You will be royally screwed.
Recommended for airlines: AA.com. Orbitz.com (and also for rent-a-cars when Priceline comes up empty).
Travelocity.com for hotels, only if Priceline comes up empty.
Hotwire (Score:2)
Expedia is Tricky (Score:2)
Needless to say I was very pissed about entering in all my credit card info BEFORE seeing the real price, and I went over to another site to book the trip. I won't be using Expedia for anything in the future because of this.
Re:Expedia is Tricky (Score:2, Informative)
Expedia.com Kauai Vacation (Score:1)
classic do it yourself, or pay for service (Score:1)
Business travel where you are going to go sit in a hotel on a specific itenerary, ALWAYS book online with priceline
Different things for different reasons (Score:2)
For personal travel, I use those two, plus I've used Expedia. I won't use Orbitz because I hate their ads too much. Between them and X10, I blame them both for the proliferation of pop-ups and pop-unders.
Hotels I usually book directly through the chain - we have a friend who runs a Marriott hotel in the area, so that contact usually helps out. If you're a AAA member (or any one of dozens of organizations), there's usually discount rates available at most major chains.
However, this is your honeymoon. There's no margin for error here, so I'd use an agent to book it for you. When self-booking, there's a lot more chances to screw up. You only get one chance at a honeymoon per marriage.
Online travel Agencies (Score:2)
I like NPR's The Savvy Traveler [savvytraveler.org] since they usually give really good advice and pearls of wisdom. Here are a few places that I've thought about going: Australia [hinchinbro...ort.com.au] and Brazil [privateislandsonline.com]
Yeah, because it's so much fun to stand in line. (Score:2)
Electronic tickets mean you can use automated check-in. With e-ticket and no luggage, check-in to gate for United at SFO is consistently under 30 minutes (TSA trained agents help too as they are much faster than the previous private-security agents).
I think I last used a paper ticket in Peru.
Read the contract. (Score:2)
Re:Read the contract. (Score:2)
For me the trade-offs (less convenient interline transfers if a flight is cancelled) are worth it for the benefits (much quicker check-ins). Maybe they aren't for you.
Re:Beware of electronic tickets! (Score:2)
Paper tickets are primarily useful if you are traveling on a full-fare unrestricted ticket; if your flight is delayed you can go straight to another airline and your paper ticket is as good as gold. If you are on a restricted ticket, like most leisure travelers, the other airline will not accept your ticket unless your orignal airline endorses it over to them, so you'll have to stand in line at your original airline's ticket counter anyway.
If you want real flying information from frequnet fliers who know all the tricks and rules, go to FlyerTalk [flyertalk.com] instead of slashdot.
Good travel agent for this important trip (Score:2)
The point: for this I would go with an agent who has experience booking honeymoons. He/she may have a great place or a great package deal.
Don't Confuse Travel Sellers with Travel Agents (Score:2)
That's how a travel agent feels about travel. Sure, you can MAKE travel your hobby, and learn enough to do without an agent. But you can't just say, "I've got Orbitz and Travelocity, I don't need an agent!" anymore than your mom can say, "I've got shopper.com and pricewatch, I don't need Dell or Gateway to build my PC!"