Originally Posted by
itsme
I take your counterpoint on behalf of Expedia (not Travelocity!) and their potential advantages when booking some exceptional itineraries. But what does one do when something goes wrong, is there some recourse? While there are undoubtedly many stories about unsatisfactory experiences with airline website bookings, I do know to whom to complain when my beef is with the airline, and I have a pretty good sense of how to go about it. But what does one do when they have been screwed by an "intermediary" party, like Travelocity? Is there anyway to gain traction, indeed even to get their attention in the first place?
It was a long, unpleasant "discourse" before the Travelocity supervisor said they would get me ticketed for the flight I was originally scheduled on, leaving 8 hours later. If I had not been able to get them to do the right thing with a great deal of browbeating, what would/should I have done next? How would others have handled it? Does one have any leverage in circumstances like mine when facing off against a Travelocity? (Note, I couldn't look to AmEx for the help I would ordinarily expect from them, because the charges were never made after Travelocity got approval for them.)
Glad to hear you got Travelocity to honor the fare and compromise with flights. I try to avoid Travelocity and other non-airline online booking engines for the same reason. I've heard too many horror stories similar to yours. Sadly any recourse can be difficult, especially if they didn't charge your credit card.
If I do have to use a booking engine, it is usually Expedia. There are times I haven't been able to book what I wanted on the airline website, usually due to a quirk in their booking system where I can't get the connection or routing I want -- or there are situations where a mixed carrier combo provided to be less expensive or offered better flight times that just couldn't be booked at an airline website. Recently I had a problem where the usairways website just wasn't functioning properly, I needed the ticket, so I went to Expedia.
The other alternative is to use a local travel agency, but office hours are limited and when I do use a local TA, I resent paying a "booking fee" of $50 (or more) for their services -- especially when I go to them with exactly what I want, flight schedule, booking classes, and all they have to do is ticket the thing.
OTOH, I understand what local TA's are facing. They get no to little commission from the airline, there is still a cost associated with booking tickets, and they have to earn money.