Warning: Expedia.com incompetency

[Oldbabe]

I had to cancel a package vacation I had booked with Expedia.com and thought the package insurance would cover the cancellation. I called on Monday and talked with a customer "service" rep for a while, and after numerous and time consuming holds, finally she said that the cancellation would taken care of with a full refund.

One week later I receive an email "confirmation" of my trip. What the heck? I call them again and get another customer "service" rep who says the other rep didn't finish the cancellation. We go through the whole thing again. She tries to give me a refund of only part of the package cost. I remind her of the trip insurance plan which pays for the whole price. She tries to explain away my objection. I get angry! She puts me on hold for at least fifteen minutes.

Finally she comes back and apologizes for the "discrepancy." I will receive the entire refund, except for the airline fare which is nonrefundable. But no worries, she says, we will pay the airline cancellation fee of $100 for you! Hello! Isn't that why I bought the trip insurance?

I'm pretty disgusted with my experience with them. Will never do business again. I wanted others to beware.

[chinaco]

I have had problems with these service aggregators also. It seems that if things go as originally planned... usually no problems. If any complications arise, it can be difficult to get it straightened out. Some of them farm out the customer service center to India.

I have found that it is sometimes less expensive to order the tickets directly from the airline, get the hotel room direct, etc. I use the aggregators to identify who has a competitive price.

[Peaceful_Warrior]

While we're at it, we can put in a vote for Orbitz.com incompetency.

Several years ago, I was taking a trip with two of my friends. One friend booked on Orbitz.com, and the week before our trip he called up to confirm the reservation.

They had apparently cancelled his reservation without notice.

Mind you, the flights were still scheduled and had availability. They just randomly cancelled his reservation. So during that call, they fixed everything and we were booked again.

Then the night before the flight, he calls up Orbitz to confirm the reservation again. They inform him that our reservation was cancelled AGAIN. No worries though, they just book us back up again and everything is fine.

The next morning we're checking in, and the airline informs us that we're not booked on the flight and it appears that Orbitz.com had cancelled our reservation!!!

Fortunately, the airline told us they could rebook since there was still availability and they got us on the flight. We weren't charged anything by the airline since they had already been paid by Orbitz

Needless to say, that day I decided I'd never use Orbitz again.

[happy2bretired]

Please tell me that no one has ever had problems with Travelosity...?? We used them last year with no problems and have pending reservations for this year too. I hope they fare better than the other two companies mentioned.

[Texas Proud]

I have used Expedia and Travelocity for many years and have had no problems with either...

But, I do look at the airlines themselves after determining when I want to fly to see if I can get a better deal... sometimes I do...

However, if you are taking a trip with multiple airlines, you must go through one of these sites as you can not complete it on the single airline site...

I am surprised Orbitz kept cancelling the trip. Did he ever get an answer as to why??

[Meadbh]

I had a good experience with Expedia. I had to cancel a trip to Europe at the last minute because of illness. They refunded the entire cost after I sent them a letter from my doctor.

A travel agent once told me that they have access to lower fares than the public can get on Expedia and other publicly available sites. If you have time, it's worth comparing deals, including the travel agent's fees.

[Achiever51]

I've used Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and others for years with no major problems. On the rare occasion that an issue has come up (like the time that my hotel room was not booked even though I had a reservation number), I call the customer service number AND IMMEDIATELY ASK TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR. Key here is to not mess around with the call center headset jockey who really can't do much for you beyond the basics.

Also, I generally check directly with the airline/hotel (call the hotel itself, not the call center) to see if they will match the rate/quote I just got from the internet. Surprisingly, I've had good luck doing this -- hint: do not try this during high call volume times. (I also ask if they have any unpublicized special rates or promotions....AARP, AAA, etc.)

Oh, one other thing. When my DH and I travel in the US and plan to stay in a hotel usually frequented by business travelers, we always find out which businesses have major operations in that city. On check in, we then ask if there is a special corporate rate for XYZ firm -- and 9 times out of 10 we get that corporate rate (often the lowest rate available.) Note that I never say that I am an employee for that firm -- that would be lying ...I merely ask if that firm is eligible for a corporate rate.) Heh, heh.

[DangerMouse]

I'll admit I won't use these types of services at all. For me, I prefer the convenience of dealing directly with the service provider and my past experience has shown when you take out the middle man it is easier to rectify an issue.

[samclem]

I travel a lot. I usually check the fares on Travelocity first (I find their site easier to use and more complete than Expedia). I usually don't book through them, however, if I'm doing all my travel on one airline, since the airline gives a bonus (usually extra FF miles) if you book directly through their site. Also, for Airtran it is not possible to get an e-ticket through Travelocity, but you can get one through the Airtan site.
If I don't get a deal-sweetener and there are no other factors, I'll book through Travelocity. I'm using their service (to check for the lowest fare evry time) and I feel it's only proper to pay 'em some money occasionally. I've never had a problem with them, but I've never tried to get my money back, either.

[farmerEd]

I often check prices on Expedia, Orbitz etc...and then ALWAYS buy the tickets directly...usually the exact same cost, and a lot less hassel if you need to change anything down the road.

The middlemen here don't add any value as far as I am concerned.

[Texas Proud]

Originally Posted by OldMcDonald

I often check prices on Expedia, Orbitz etc...and then ALWAYS buy the tickets directly...usually the exact same cost, and a lot less hassel if you need to change anything down the road.

The middlemen here don't add any value as far as I am concerned.

I agree mostly... as I had said before, there are some trips on mutiple airlines that you just can not buy on an airlines site...

And there are some 'Expedia' specials that I have seen that are lower than the airline site...

Besides these two, going to the airline sites are better..

[MasterBlaster]

Originally Posted by Oldbabe

I had to cancel a package vacation I had booked with Expedia.com and thought the package insurance would cover the cancellation.

From what I understand, vacation insurance only covers a major medical emergency. So unless you are in the ER contemplating bypass surgery you probably won't get your money back.

In my opinion, trip insurance does not cover minor medical emergencies or worse if it's just inconvienient for you to take your planned trip.

- Read the fine print.

[Trek]

I've had very good luck with www.cheapoair.com for international flights. Way cheaper than the others mentioned, at least to where I've flown. Those big name ones give you very few airline options when going to more unique destinations.

[saluki9]

The last time I booked a trip through expedia they hooked me up a tour company that was supposed to take us from the airport in Jamaica to the hotel.

Turns out they had been out of business for weeks before I booked. Plus, I got to wait around at the airport in jamaica for a while getting hounded by beggars, and other lovely types. It counts as one of my least favorite travel experiences.

[Achiever51]

Originally Posted by Masterblaster

From what I understand, vacation insurance only covers a major medical emergency. So unless you are in the ER contemplating bypass surgery you probably won't get your money back.

In my opinion, trip insurance does not cover minor medical emergencies or worse if it's just inconvienient for you to take your planned trip.

- Read the fine print.

Absolutely read the fine print...not all travel/trip insurance policies are the same. In December, DH and I were on a cruise when he developed an allergic reaction to something and ended up in the ship's infirmary, incurring nearly $400 in medical costs. Our trip insurance policy reimbursed every penny PLUS covered the costs of several shore excusions that we had to cancel at the ship doctor's suggestion.

[Oldbabe]

Originally Posted by Masterblaster

From what I understand, vacation insurance only covers a major medical emergency. So unless you are in the ER contemplating bypass surgery you probably won't get your money back.

In my opinion, trip insurance does not cover minor medical emergencies or worse if it's just inconvienient for you to take your planned trip.

- Read the fine print.

Excuse me. I understood what I was purchasing. The Expedia travel insurance refunds the package for any reason. And I did get my refund!

[chinaco]

Originally Posted by Masterblaster

From what I understand, vacation insurance only covers a major medical emergency. So unless you are in the ER contemplating bypass surgery you probably won't get your money back.

In my opinion, trip insurance does not cover minor medical emergencies or worse if it's just inconvienient for you to take your planned trip.

- Read the fine print.

The terms of the coverage depends on the policy. However, the ones I have purchased usually cover a variety of trip interruption situations. One is if you become ill and cannot travel. Some cover repatriation (medivac) if you become injured or ill in another country. While this last one is kinda rare, it does happen. I have seen people get injured on vacation in Mex and other carrib countries. It is very expensive to be hospitalized to stablize you and them get shipped home (in a casket or otherwise).