MilesBuzz! - Awesome Orbitz!

For those who are interested, although the fare may have been yanked by now, I managed to book a RT from PHL-MSY for November travel for a whopping $89...an awesome deal. When I checked the same flights on UA's website I believe it was around $260....I did this on thursday by the way so not sure if this goodie is still available...

------------------
Dena

For me, unfortunately, Orbitz is not all it's cracked up to be.

Tried to book HNL-LAX RT for September. Orbitz shows a slew of $377 fare options on AA. Clicked through, logged in, then Orbitz admits "the fare has changed"...to $489.50 plus taxes http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

At least Travelocity's Dream Maps gives you the bad news at the second screen...

Aloha.

I use ORBITZ as a Fare Finder, and then book the travel on the airline's own website.

For example, I did a recent search and found a NYC-LON R/T economy class flight during July at an unbelievable $520 on AA!

I went to book it on AA and it was 540 there, however, I was willing to accept the $ hit, as I had never booked on AA.com before, and I knew there was a 5,000 mile booking bonuse for 1st timers. Little did I know that there was another 5,000 mile booking bonus for first timers. I signed up for both and we will see if I get boths, as I have e-mail confirms to that effect.

Anyway, I do not know if the $520 Orbitz flights would have been "converted" to the more costly $540 flights that I finally booked on AA.com, but if the costs are nearly the same, it might be worth it to use Orbitz as I have done, and then book on the airline's own on-line website for their extra mileage booking bonuses!

I was able to find and book an extremely cheap fare ($271) from LGA to AUS two days before the outbound, when other fare quotes from the airlines or my travel agent were all north of $1,000. So I would contend that Orbitz can be of real value.

At other times, however, I have seen better fares/less restrictive rules from other sources, particularly on international flights.

Net, net? It's another source worth checking, but it shouldn't be relied upon solely, any more than the airlines' web sites, online travel sites, or one's travel agent.

I just bought a ticket on Continental at Orbitz for $285.26. The same exact flights on the Continental website were almost $100 more. I like Orbitz for finding the best fare, but I then will book the flight on the airline's website. This was the first time I couldn't get the same fare, so I bought the ticket on Orbitz.

i've had similar problems on orbitz, ie finding a great deal only to learn it isn't available.

the site would be much more useful if they would only show available fares. i emailed their CS and stated such and have not received a reply. it's been five days now.

Is anybody else bothered by their terms of usage? I find a $250 limit on baggage liability, even on death or injury due to an airline's negligence, a little hard to swallow. Also, the stipulation that you will pay any unauthorized charges, even if made by a disgrunted or dishonest ORBITZ employee, seems way to biased in favor of the site's owners. I have used them once, but after reading a lawyer's warning about the risks involved, I'd shop elsewhere.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by numbbutt:
Is anybody else bothered by their terms of usage? I find a $250 limit on baggage liability, even on death or injury due to an airline's negligence, a little hard to swallow. Also, the stipulation that you will pay any unauthorized charges, even if made by a disgrunted or dishonest ORBITZ employee, seems way to biased in favor of the site's owners. I have used them once, but after reading a lawyer's warning about the risks involved, I'd shop elsewhere.</font>

Am I bothered with the Terms of Use for Orbitz? In a word: No. The limitiations on liability only cover the use of Orbitz and in no way limits the liability of the carrier should an event such as lost luggage occur. Re-read the Orbitz Terms and Conditions and then compare them to the User Agreement for Travelocity and you will find that the two are extremely similar. You will find that Orbitz's limit on liability is actually 2.5X more "generous" than Travelocity's $100 limit.

If one was charged for fraudulently obtained tickets (using the Orbitz I.D. and password) the credit card protection would still be evident. To make non-personal purchases such as those on the net there has to be a presumption that the person purchasing the ticket is the "real thing" given the correct use of a password. The "victim" is liable to the extent that he has to properly notify the credit card issuer and contest the charges. The same requirement would exist if the tickets were purchased by telephone.

I don't know what the attorney refered to in the above post was thinking, but I am willing to bet that he was comparing apples (booking engine terms of use) to oranges (airline contract of carriage). DISCALIMER: The above post is not intented to be legal advice and should not be construed as such.

Hope that this helps.

CWPFLY

Just purchased aa tix JAX-SLC on orbitz for $216 RT. Lowest fare on aa site or travelocity $337.

Hooray for orbitz!

My strategy has been to find the cheap fare on Orbitz and then book the fare via my company web site where I get a 30% discount. I've done this a few times so far, SEA-IAH (AA) $169, SEA-YYZ (AA&TW) $US 223. Both of these trips are in August. I found a SEA-MIA (UA) for $180 but didn't book it.

I just don't read it that way, CWPFLY. I went back and reread the terms and conditions, and it specifically states that both Orbitz and it' providers, which would include the airlines, cruise ships, tour operators, etc., have a maximum liability of $250. As I read it, that would apply even if the pilot gets drunk and crashes the plane you're flying on. (Or the captain sinks the ship, etc.) How do you see paragraph 6 excluding airlines or other providers?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by numbbutt:
I just don't read it that way, CWPFLY. I went back and reread the terms and conditions, and it specifically states that both Orbitz and it' providers, which would include the airlines, cruise ships, tour operators, etc., have a maximum liability of $250. As I read it, that would apply even if the pilot gets drunk and crashes the plane you're flying on. (Or the captain sinks the ship, etc.) How do you see paragraph 6 excluding airlines or other providers?</font>

In the paragraph immediately above the $250 limitation one will see that all the terms refer to the USE of Orbitz not the travel purchased. They are disclaiming liability should the vendor, say an airline, fail to perform, since the purchase of a ticket is a contract between the purchaser and the airline and is NOT a contract between the purchaser and the booking engine. Remember, in cases that do get filed the Plaintiff's attorney will go after any possible defendant. This is telling them to back off since Orbitz has no part in the actual delivery of the services purchased.

Section 6 refers to the following:

[list] Part A - Damage to your computer such as viruses due to the access of data on the site. Part B,I - Damage to you due to the use of the data. Part B,II - Damage caused by the dailure or delay in the data. Part B,III - Damage caused by the performance or non-performance of a provider.

Your concern lies with part B,III. What it says is that ORBITZ is not liable should a provider fail in some manner. Look at it this way. I purchase a ticket through Orbitz on airline A and before I take the flight Airline A goes bankrupt and ceases flying. The limitation here applies and I can't sue Orbitz because of Airline A's bankruptcy even if the possibility of Airline A's bankruptcy was known to Orbitz. This makes sense because I entered into a transportation contract with Airline A and Orbitz was merely the vehicle I used to purchase that contract.

In essence, Orbitz is not guaranteeing the providers' services on their site and their providers are not guaranteeing the services of Orbitz. What this does not do, however, is modify the terms of the contract between the parties (e.g. and airline and passenger). Look to the limiting statement within Section 6 itself: This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record...

To reiterate, I am not bothered by the terms because Orbitz is merely providing me a means to make a reservation and as a third party can't alter the contract between myself and the airline (cruise line, rental car co., etc.). Again, the terms of use for Travelocity and Expedia are strikingly similar to the Orbitz terms. For convenience, I have cut and pasted the appropriate sections.

Trvelocity
IN NO EVENT SHALL TRAVELOCITY.COM OR ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS OR DISTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INJURY, LOSS, CLAIM, DAMAGE, OR ANY SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS), WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, WHICH ARISES OUT OF OR IS IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH (I) ANY USE OF THIS SITE OR CONTENT FOUND HEREIN, (II) ANY FAILURE OR DELAY (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE ANY COMPONENT OF THIS SITE FOR RESERVATIONS OR TICKETING), OR (III) THE PERFORMANCE OR NON PERFORMANCE BY TRAVELOCITY.COM OR ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS OR DISTRIBUTORS, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES TO SUCH PARTIES OR ANY OTHER PARTY.


Expedia
IN NO EVENT SHALL EXPEDIA, INC., ITS AFFILIATES, AND/OR THEIR RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH, THE USE OF THIS WEB SITE OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THIS WEB SITE, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS WEB SITE.

DISCLAIMER: The above post is not intented to be legal advice and should not be construed as such.

I hope that this helps.

CWPFLY

[This message has been edited by cwpfly (edited 07-10-2001).]

cwpfly: Thanks for the advice, legal or not.

p.s. Watch out for the process servers!

(Edited to reduce liability)

[This message has been edited by snake (edited 07-10-2001).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by numbbutt:
As I read it, that would apply even if the pilot gets drunk and crashes the plane you're flying on. (Or the captain sinks the ship, etc.) </font>

In such a case it wouldn't matter anyway since you can't disclaim your way out of gross negligence.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer I just play one on flyertalk.

I used orbitz the other day to look up fares between DFW and PHL. I found a $195 fare on CO and then when to CO's website to book it, but it wasn't available on CO, so I booked it on Orbitz. Seems that I'm not the only one to experience this. Perhaps specials stick around longer on Orbitz than on the Airline's own sites.

I like Orbitz for presenting a lot of options at once. I like the ability to easily switch between exact matches and near-matches to airports 25, 50, or 100 miles away. I fly to DCA a lot, and some other websites make it difficult to either include or exclude BWI from searches at will. I've found some cases where the Orbitz fares are the best, but usually I've found that going through the airline site after doing the Orbitz search works fine. Since the airlines started the site themselves, I would think that this would usually work (???).

A couple of things I don't like about the user interface: If I say I want to fly in the *evening*, don't show me 146 flights departing at 5.50am. Or...at least show me the evening flights first, and give me an option to get the other flights if I want them. For hotels: don't make me click on each hotel in a list to see if it has rooms and what the rates are. Show me available hotels, available rates, and nothing else.

These are minor peeves...in general I like the site.

I've also had a bad Orbitz experience. Tried to book a flight from CHM (Columbus, OH) to ISP (Islip, NY) for 4 people. Found a great fare at a great time on Orbitz, went to purchase the fare, only to find out that it was sold out. I searched again several hours later, only to have the same sold out fare come up again!

What should have been a 15 minute process to buy the tickets on Orbitz ended up being 2 hours of frustration on the phone to Orbitz customer service, checking other services (I had great luck with sidestep.com and qixo.com), and checking airline websites.

I will never use Orbitz again after this experience!

Thanks for all in the info in your response. I guess I'm still a little more comfortable with the bricks and mortar consolidators, who often have similar fares, but I'll be less concerned about using ORBITZ or any of the other sites after reading your opinions.