Comparisons Between Airline and On-Line Travel Agency Internet Web Sites
A reporter for the Wall Street Journal is researching an article about the Internet web sites of airlines and how they compare with each other, as well as how they compare with on-line travel agencies such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity when it comes to booking tickets and other products and services.
This reporter, whose identity will remain anonymous by me for now, reportedly has a tight deadline to submit this article tomorrow, which is Thursday, January 20, 2011. Please post your thoughts as soon as possible.
Programs: JAL Mileage Bank, oneworld Sapphire, MY JALHotels Gold
Posts: 7,642
They are just the same to me. Booking through airline website and online travel agencies like orbitz are always more expensive than going through the traditional travel agencies. Neither of them let you waitlist on discounted tickets which traditional travel agents do. And for complicated routings (for MRs), it's almost impossible to do it online at a reasonable price too. Seems like the booking engines are not smart enough to play with the fare rules.
But if I have to choose between the two, I would always go to the airlines websites as it seems more integrated and might provide some extra functionalities. E.g. aa.com let you hold the ticket for a certain amount of time while you can't do the same on orbitz.
I'll use orbitz etc to find routings and connections that I often can't pull up on airline websites, but then call the airlines directly to make the booking. Cheaper, and I like dealing w the airlines directly myself. But I sure can't get the same depth of info from airline websites that I can get from orbitz.
As a frequent flyer on UA, I prefer to book on the United website rather than via online travel agencies like Orbitz or Expedia (assuming the fares are equal or almost equal). Booking on United gives more flexibility and ease at selecting fare class, checking the flight loads, changing seats, and requesting upgrades. Plus, if necessary, it is easier to deal with the airline directly than having to deal with a 3rd party travel agency.
FlyerTalk Evangelist and Ambassador: Hyatt Gold Passport
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Palo Alto, California,USA
Posts: 12,059
If you book through an online agency, unless you find someone at the airline who takes pity on you (which has only happened for me once), any changes have to go through the online agency. That can be a real pain since most of the online agencies are a lot better at selling things online without human intervention than providing knowledgable customer service.
That being said, for my upcoming London trip in UA Z class, I ended up using an online agency because it came up with a fare about $1000 cheaper than the same flights booked through an airline website (either UA or a codeshare partner). This is pretty rare to find in my experience.
But I did feel rather nervous until my itinerary showed up on the UA website.
Programs: UA PG :(, Amtrak GM, Hyatt Plat, Priority Club (Holiday Inn) Plat
Posts: 2,418
Quote:
Originally Posted by tkc98110
I'll use orbitz etc to find routings and connections that I often can't pull up on airline websites, but then call the airlines directly to make the booking. Cheaper, and I like dealing w the airlines directly myself. But I sure can't get the same depth of info from airline websites that I can get from orbitz.
That's what I do, but I often use ITA.
__________________
Continental Airlines, July 15, 1924-March 2, 2012, you will be missed.
Welcome to UAdbaUA
Kayak lets me see routings, times and a matrix of plus and minus three days if want to see if there's less expensive trips. It also shows the total cost, not the airlines cost without taxes and fees. It's also much faster than most any other site out there.
If I see something I want there, it will usually link to the airline site to book of I'll just plug in the dates and times to get the fare.
I use some of the online agencies for research, (Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity) because they have better matrices if you are looking for a flexible date. My favorite research tool is matrix.itasoftware.com, but you can't book through them. Occasionally I check out farecompare.com to gauge the lowest fares that have been filed for a route, regardless of availability.
But I usually book online at AA.com, which allows you a 24-hour hold, or Continental.com, which allows a 24-hour free cancellation. Orbitz usually allows cancellation within 24 hours, but I'm not sure if this is a firm policy.
Always always book directly through airline's own website. 3rd party websites have offices internationally and any change in schedule or cancellations can be a real pain ,miserable frankly - when dealing with them.
Comparison shop using 3rd party agencies and book online directly with airline website. That's why Kayak.com is absolutely the best.
It gives all the fares- you can filter them as per your needs- this is really useful , gives total price including tax and then it links directly to the airline's website to make the booking. So you book directly at airline's website. It's the best of both worlds really !!!
Like others, I start with Kayak to see who goes where, then go to the airline's site. I'm *G, so I have a strong preference for *A partners. I really like their airline alliance filters. They also have a usable smartphone app (Blackberry, in my case) which, when it is needed, is very needed.
Kayak is great for US and Europe, not so much for Asia. I went there to find a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong and it showed nothing for *A partners, which is wrong.
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, HH Gold, Hyatt Diamond, Starwood Gold, BD/BA Gold, Kingfisher Silver
Posts: 15,882
Afeter using Orbitz for years, I now exclusively use ITA Software to search for airfare than book directly with the airlines.
Orbitz still has a fee, usually $5 o/w for airline bookings while Priceline, Travelocity, and Expedia have eliminated airline fees.
Airline websites often (though not like a few years ago) have booking bonuses if you book directly with them, but both online travel agencies and websites both can store information so you do not have to enter your details each time you book.
Even if you book through a third-party website like Expedia, your reservation is accessible on the airline's website as soon as it booked as long as you enter your frequent flyer number when booking. From there, you can request upgrades (even though it does take an extra step).
While not as lucrative as a few years ago, booking through an online travel agency using fatwallet.com can pay dividends.
The whole fight between American Airlines and online travel agencies may fundamentally change the way those website operate, though I think that would be at least a couple years down the line. Booking directly through United or American (for example) allow you to customize your trip, adding on such items as extra legroom, premier check-in, or pre-pay for checked baggage. This is often not possible on online travel agencies, though AA is working to change that.
Generally, the seats you can book using an online travel agency are similar to the seats you can book directly through the website, though an online travel agency will mask premium seats in economy that elite members are eligible for.
The upside of online travel agencies is, of course, when booking mixed itineraries, say an outbound on AA and a return on DL. Booking through an online travel agency will save you from having to book two separate o/w tickets. (although that's exactly what happens in one easy step)
Airline websites vary widely from eachother, though all seem to have improved in recent years. United, often called .bomb by UA frequent flyers, has actually improved quite a bit from its less than stellar post-bankruptcy days. Delta, American, and even US Airways all have websites that are quite easy to use.
The next generation of travel booking will be through devices like iPhones and United particularly lags in this area. While UA has said it is developing a mobile app, its merger partner Continental has an effective and easy to use app that UA should just adopt now. Delta, American, Southwest, and Alaska all have easy to use apps.
ITA Software has a wonderful mobile app, though you cannot book directly from it (or from their website). With Google's takeover, however, we may soon see that change.
Lastly, the problem with booking through online travel agencies is that generally the airlines will not touch the ticket until the day of departure. Therefore if cancellations or schedule changes occur, you must deal with Expedia or Travelocity's call center, not the airlines.
As someone who has spent hours on the phone with Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, and most of the airlines, I would much prefer to deal with the airlines--especially with those which I have elite status with.
Expedia hold times are often in excess of 45 mintues on the west coast on evenings. With United (I am a 1K), I reach an agent in under a minute almost every time who is US-based.
I am an AA elite (lifetime Gold) so I usually just book through the AA website. The total cost to me of an AA ticket is usually cheaper than those of other airlines, as I have to pay baggage fees elsewhere. AA offers competitive fares to the places I usually fly.
Second observation: When I read the "travel troubleshooter" type columns on line and in the newspaper, there seems to be a disproportionate number of letters that start with "I booked on Orbitz/Expedia/Whatever and when I had a problem (no hotel reservation, flight cancelled, etc) I tried calling Orbitz/Expedia/Whatever, and no one could help me. I had to pay for a flight/room/whatever, at the full price, and now am trying to get my money back."
Every time I read one of those letters, I make a mental note to just stick with the airline or hotel websites themselves, and not rely on an online booking service.
Let me just share this quick story...had to book two itineraries for the same flights, same dates on US. Booked one, then when trying to book the 2nd one, the price went up almost $400. Then had to book through Expedia to get the lower price.
I do prefer to book through airline websites than Expedia.
