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Booking Flights through Orbits


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#1 ScubaSis

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Posted 20 March 2009 - 06:10 PM

I have been seeing the commercial about Orbits and getting a refund sent to you if the same flight is booked, through Orbits, at a cheaper price. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this and does it work??? Continental charges too much to make changing your flight worth it when the prices drop. This sounds like a good alternative.....IF it works!! I'll be looking to hear from you!! :welcome:

Edited by ScubaSis, 20 March 2009 - 06:11 PM.

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#2 Parrotman

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Posted 21 March 2009 - 09:30 AM

I have been seeing the commercial about Orbits and getting a refund sent to you if the same flight is booked, through Orbits, at a cheaper price. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this and does it work??? Continental charges too much to make changing your flight worth it when the prices drop. This sounds like a good alternative.....IF it works!! I'll be looking to hear from you!! :teeth:


I think this is a total sham. I bought a ticket through ORBITZ for an upcoming trip. The day I bought it, there were about 20 seats still available on the plane. Two days later the price of the ticket dropped by almost $300. No refund from ORBITZ. I watched the seating charts slowly fill up until the flight was full and no longer available. Still nothing from ORBITZ. I finally called ORBITZ to be told that the only way the refund applies is if someone else books the "exact same ticket" I asked how much more "exact" could it be? If it is the same flight on the same day to the same place? To no avail. No refund has been forthcoming. I know I won't be booking with ORBITZ again if for no other reason than I think they are scammers.

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#3 secretsea18

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Posted 21 March 2009 - 12:16 PM

I have been seeing the commercial about Orbits and getting a refund sent to you if the same flight is booked, through Orbits, at a cheaper price. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this and does it work??? Continental charges too much to make changing your flight worth it when the prices drop. This sounds like a good alternative.....IF it works!! I'll be looking to hear from you!! :teeth:


I think this is a total sham. I bought a ticket through ORBITZ for an upcoming trip. The day I bought it, there were about 20 seats still available on the plane. Two days later the price of the ticket dropped by almost $300. No refund from ORBITZ. I watched the seating charts slowly fill up until the flight was full and no longer available. Still nothing from ORBITZ. I finally called ORBITZ to be told that the only way the refund applies is if someone else books the "exact same ticket" I asked how much more "exact" could it be? If it is the same flight on the same day to the same place? To no avail. No refund has been forthcoming. I know I won't be booking with ORBITZ again if for no other reason than I think they are scammers.

Jim



I use Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity, and even have use the Priceline Negotiator, (but never the name your own price ticket), in addition to using the airlines sites directly. I have gotten some excellent bargains from all of these sites, such as $222 RT to London this month, $275 rt to Rome (two times) from the US!

I think there is absolutely nothing wrong or "scamming" about these online travel agencies. I do not buy tickets with the expectation of getting a refund, but have seen my ticket price decrease by $900 on NWA.com one time, and then happily paid the cancel fee and bought the new ticket to where I was going, saving myself the $700 difference after the cancel fee.

Most likely the problem with your refund has to do with the fare class you got, which is not visible on the online travel agencies like it is on the airline websites. Not only that, but there is no way that the seatmap actually reflects how many seats are available for sale on any airline/agency site. Many people do not select seats at purchase. Sorry that you didn't get a refund.

These travel agencies allow you to purchase one direction on one airline and the return on another airline, which is very convenient in many situations and often can give the cheapest price there can be. There are a number of other price breaks you can get as well, if you get a hotel or car. I was even able to book sold out hotels for DEMA via Expedia in conjunction with an air ticket.

All that above said, I research my flights and then buy when the price is right for my travel. I do not book a ticket expecting that I will be given a refund if the fare goes down, just as I do not expect to have to pay extra when the fare goes up!

#4 uwfan

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Posted 21 March 2009 - 12:32 PM

I read the "refund" language...and realized that was exactly what they said over the phone..."exactly the same ticket"...a tricky prospect, considering it is a website for airtravel across the United States and international travel. Sure you may buy a flight someone else does, but you don't start or end your travel in the same places...so it isn't "exactly" the same ticket...unless you buy your tickets piecemeal, one ticket for each segment of travel...and then are you getting the best price?

Ultimately, I try to look for the best price when it comes to air (within reason, I've learned long layovers can cost in ways that aren't worth the reduced ticket price.) I typically don't worry about who I buy the ticket from...it's the same airlines...unlike how I purchase diving...I want to be able to trust the dive operator I select for diving, so I will spend more to go with an operator I can rely on to make safe choices out in the open water. I'll use all of the different online ticket agents - cheapest wins.

#5 shadragon

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Posted 21 March 2009 - 12:47 PM

It is exactly the same ticket bought by another Orbitz customer, so think of it as a lottery. Buy the ticket for the price at the time. If you get a refund, then life is sweet. If not, you still got a deal.

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#6 Parrotman

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Posted 21 March 2009 - 03:53 PM

I have been seeing the commercial about Orbits and getting a refund sent to you if the same flight is booked, through Orbits, at a cheaper price. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this and does it work??? Continental charges too much to make changing your flight worth it when the prices drop. This sounds like a good alternative.....IF it works!! I'll be looking to hear from you!! :fish2:


I think this is a total sham. I bought a ticket through ORBITZ for an upcoming trip. The day I bought it, there were about 20 seats still available on the plane. Two days later the price of the ticket dropped by almost $300. No refund from ORBITZ. I watched the seating charts slowly fill up until the flight was full and no longer available. Still nothing from ORBITZ. I finally called ORBITZ to be told that the only way the refund applies is if someone else books the "exact same ticket" I asked how much more "exact" could it be? If it is the same flight on the same day to the same place? To no avail. No refund has been forthcoming. I know I won't be booking with ORBITZ again if for no other reason than I think they are scammers.

Jim



I use Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity, and even have use the Priceline Negotiator, (but never the name your own price ticket), in addition to using the airlines sites directly. I have gotten some excellent bargains from all of these sites, such as $222 RT to London this month, $275 rt to Rome (two times) from the US!

I think there is absolutely nothing wrong or "scamming" about these online travel agencies. I do not buy tickets with the expectation of getting a refund, but have seen my ticket price decrease by $900 on NWA.com one time, and then happily paid the cancel fee and bought the new ticket to where I was going, saving myself the $700 difference after the cancel fee.

Most likely the problem with your refund has to do with the fare class you got, which is not visible on the online travel agencies like it is on the airline websites. Not only that, but there is no way that the seatmap actually reflects how many seats are available for sale on any airline/agency site. Many people do not select seats at purchase. Sorry that you didn't get a refund.

These travel agencies allow you to purchase one direction on one airline and the return on another airline, which is very convenient in many situations and often can give the cheapest price there can be. There are a number of other price breaks you can get as well, if you get a hotel or car. I was even able to book sold out hotels for DEMA via Expedia in conjunction with an air ticket.

All that above said, I research my flights and then buy when the price is right for my travel. I do not book a ticket expecting that I will be given a refund if the fare goes down, just as I do not expect to have to pay extra when the fare goes up!


This has nothing to do with Expedia or Travelocity. The topic is about the refund for when someone books a cheaper flight. I have been making my own reservations for 20 years and have probably flown over a million air miles. I know the ins and outs of travel. That being said, when a company is advertising a program that is impossible to get value from it is a scam. I did not buy the ticket "expecting a refund" however I still will not use a company that is obviously misleading its customers.

Jim
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#7 ScubaSis

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Posted 21 March 2009 - 06:22 PM

I have been seeing the commercial about Orbits and getting a refund sent to you if the same flight is booked, through Orbits, at a cheaper price. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this and does it work??? Continental charges too much to make changing your flight worth it when the prices drop. This sounds like a good alternative.....IF it works!! I'll be looking to hear from you!! :fish2:


I think this is a total sham. I bought a ticket through ORBITZ for an upcoming trip. The day I bought it, there were about 20 seats still available on the plane. Two days later the price of the ticket dropped by almost $300. No refund from ORBITZ. I watched the seating charts slowly fill up until the flight was full and no longer available. Still nothing from ORBITZ. I finally called ORBITZ to be told that the only way the refund applies is if someone else books the "exact same ticket" I asked how much more "exact" could it be? If it is the same flight on the same day to the same place? To no avail. No refund has been forthcoming. I know I won't be booking with ORBITZ again if for no other reason than I think they are scammers.

Jim




You know I read that the refund comes 30 days after the trip.....Could this be the problem?? Maybe...Maybe NOT....we shall see!!! Like you Parrotman...I was checking to see if they are scammers. I don't like that either.

Edited by ScubaSis, 21 March 2009 - 06:31 PM.

Handle every stresssful situation like a dog.
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Just pee on it and walk away.

#8 ScubaSis

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Posted 21 March 2009 - 06:34 PM

Great deals Secret!!!

Mine was a lot smaller ticket price from Continental and it did not pay to make the change. I thought it might payoff if Orbitz does what they say and have a little hope of a refund in the future.
Handle every stresssful situation like a dog.
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Just pee on it and walk away.

#9 secretsea18

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Posted 22 March 2009 - 09:02 AM

If you read the T&C for the Orbitz low fare guarantee, the exact same itinerary, flights and dates must be selected and purchased by another Orbitz customer at a lower fare (at least $5 lower) than you purchased. So to get it, seats must be bought by Orbitz customers, so watching a seat map change will not give you any information about where the seats were purchased.

And yes, I have gotten some good prices for some tickets lately (actually purchased in Sept and Oct 2008 on Priceline (not name your price) for my london and Rome trips coming up. Very good fares, indeed. The hotel costs are almost or higher per night than the entire flight to get over the pond! :fish2:

Edited by secretsea18, 22 March 2009 - 09:03 AM.


#10 ScubaSis

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Posted 22 March 2009 - 07:05 PM

Yep that makes since to me. You would never know where the seat was purchased that shows filled the next time you look. It may be worth it to try sometime. It sure could have been on my last ticket I purchased.

Enjoy your trips Secret!!
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#11 Fordan

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Posted 25 March 2009 - 09:58 AM

Orbitz scares me sometimes with some of their multi-airline connections; their idea of acceptable connection times don't match mine, and since they're booked as separate tickets with the individual airlines (or at least, the one I was looking at was), your recourse if a flight is delayed is questionable.

Most of the time these days when planning a trip I do an initial look via http://www.kayak.com (or http://matrix.itasoftware.com with its powerful syntax if I'm turning the trip into a mileage run), and if I see a good fare, buy via the airline's website.

#12 uwfan

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Posted 25 March 2009 - 10:38 AM

Orbitz scares me sometimes with some of their multi-airline connections; their idea of acceptable connection times don't match mine, and since they're booked as separate tickets with the individual airlines (or at least, the one I was looking at was), your recourse if a flight is delayed is questionable.

Most of the time these days when planning a trip I do an initial look via http://www.kayak.com (or http://matrix.itasoftware.com with its powerful syntax if I'm turning the trip into a mileage run), and if I see a good fare, buy via the airline's website.


I didn't have problems when a flight was delayed out of Key West this past summer. While I missed my connection, I simply worked with the airline to reroute and got home just fine. I do look at connection times and get picker about what flights I will choose, not too close of a connection time and not too long a connection time. I may have to deal with some inconvenience, but the price is worth it to me.

#13 Fordan

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Posted 25 March 2009 - 11:43 AM

I didn't have problems when a flight was delayed out of Key West this past summer. While I missed my connection, I simply worked with the airline to reroute and got home just fine. I do look at connection times and get picker about what flights I will choose, not too close of a connection time and not too long a connection time. I may have to deal with some inconvenience, but the price is worth it to me.


Same airline, or different, non-codesharing airline? I haven't had a bad experience myself, just recalling a horror story from the Flyertalk forums where someone was hassled by an airline about rescheduling due to a late arrival on a different ticket.

On the SD Bahamas NYE liveaboard, which I booked via Orbitz, they initially wanted to give me a (if I recall correctly) 30 minute layover, which I rejected for an earlier initial flight and longer layover. When I got to FLL, the arrival terminal and departure terminal were different, having to exit the one terminal, get on a bus, drive to the other terminal, go back through security to get to the departure terminal. Even if the flight option with 30 minutes arrived exactly on time, there was no way I was making it to the other gate in 30 minutes.

Not that I'm against Orbitz; I've used them since. I just watch my connection times and try to avoid multiple airlines unless there's a significant cost savings (>$50), or it's unavoidable.




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