hfnole

I have historically always used kayak.com to search and book my travel on AA/and now US occasionally. Recently, I've started using the Orbitz app as I find their reward program to be pretty easy and convenient for redeeming hotel nights and because they are doing 2x orbitz rewards dollars when you use the app. I find it pretty cool that I could double dip with flight miles and the orbitz rewards dollars.

So I wanted to know if most people use a third party OTA when purchasing their flights?

Also, if I have a question or want to make a change such as a same day flight change, will I have to call Orbitz rather than the AA elite desk? I call AA from time to time and I would hate to have to call Orbitz instead of calling AA directly.

jridge

One of the problems with OTAs is that they often charge their own fee (in addition to AA's) if the ticket needs to be changed or cancelled. I would imagine that to some degree, the level of comfort with an OTA will be related to the perceived risk that the passenger will travel as scheduled. There's probably also a lot of people who must use corporate travel and thus the question of "OTA or not" is moot.

seawolf

Not sure about Orbitz but I don't think Expedia charges any fees related to flight changes/refunds etc.

tatterdema

I book a lot of flights on Orbitz for the reasons you stated. I know with AS, I am still able to do the same day change on the AS website without any issue. Anything outside of that though, and you are going to run into issues.

bprsofteng

OTAs are a complete mixed bag. We're seeing a bit of a race to the bottom, and that makes it hard for everyone. Even the airlines appear to be getting involved in things like slapping on extra credit card fees and so forth.

In terms of change fees I can say that this should reflect the real cost of making a change (which can be a lot more complex than people realize, changing a name for example generally requires complete re-ticketing), but many OTAs use it as an excuse to price gouge.

For point to point you generally get the best (although not always) deals with the airlines direct. More complex stuff and it's anyone's guess. There are so many factors at play, overrides, negotiated fares, Nett fares, you name it.