I got an email from Orbitz announcing very inexpensive fares over Labor Day weekend. What caught my eye was a $222 roundtrip b/w EWR & LAX. I did a search here about Orbitz and while some of my questions were answered, I still have a few others. I've never used Orbitz before.

1. If I book using Orbitz, will I still accrue Elite miles, not just onepass miles?

2. Can I select my seat or if not, how soon can I call CO to get one of the "premium" seats reserved for Elite members?

3. On the way home, I will be changing planes in IAH. At IAH (or I guess even at LAX prior to my return) can I change my itinerary to fly back to LGA and not be charged a fee? I live much closer to LGA than EWR.

4. When checking in, can I use the kiosk or must I go to the ticket window? I don't know how e-tickets work with Orbitz.

5. Will I be eligible for EUA even if I purchase through Orbitz?

I noticed how Orbitz has many more CO flights listed than CO's own website. I tried the new and the old CO sites. Even when I used the multi destination feature, there were fewer flights than in Orbitz and I could not find fares below $1000. Most were over $2k. So Orbitz's fare was something which attracted me. I need to start accruing more miles.

Anyway, thanks for your assistance.

Analise

I have booked on Orbitz before and have always accrued OP Elite miles. Call CO after making the reservation and add your OP number to the reservation and to select seats. EUA should work just fine if you do it this way. Unless the EWR flight is oversold I doubt that you will be able to switch airports.

1. Yes- obviously, no online booking bonus.
2. No- reservations crossing over to CO should be within an hour or so.
3. No waivers and favors. There probably is a no reroute (even in NY metro) on the ticket. You would most likely definitely lose 1st/EUA.
4. PNR at kiosk will work.
5. As long as your Onepass number is on the res.

Orbitz puts together combinations CO wouldn't for "revenue management" reasons (e.g. IAH-> EWR via ATL, etc.)

Thanks for your help!

What if I select NW flights roundtrip from LGA to LAX. They are the exact same price as CO. How would I get both elite miles as well as opportunities for upgrades? On my own time, I prefer to fly out of LGA.

Just FYI, If I were you, try and price out an itinerary on Orbitz at the dates/times that you prefer. If you got the price/times that you prefer, try pricing it out at the continental website. (You can also use the "build your own trip" option to make sure you get the flights that you priced out.)

Most of the time, (there are exceptions), the flights price out at the same price. But if not, go ahead and do the purchase through Orbitz. (The reason I'd rather book on continental.com if it's the same price is that: a) I get the online booking bonus, and b) You don't have to pay the $5 fee that Orbitz charges you.)

This is exactly what I did for my SFO-IAH trip over labor day weekend. I found out on Orbitz that CO was offering SFO-IAH r/t for $150. I then went to the CO website and got it for the same exact price! What a deal!

I have rarely seen CO advertise their fare specials for the trips I've taken. I usually just stumble upon them on Travelocity or Orbitz.

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SFnFlaGuy

I followed your advice to a tee, SFnFlaGuy, as I saw you mentioned that on other posts. But there were no matching flights with those fares---not even close. Should I try to NW website too? NW is attractive to me b/c of its LGA departure. But I won't go near it if I can't get CO elite miles. I'm not sure if the NW flights which are posted in both Orbitz and the NW site need to have a CO codeshare # or not.

Excellent advice--booking on continental.com has the additional advantage of letting you select the elite seats right away (n hassling with the import feature or clogging up the CO phone lines).

All-in-all, Orbitz works very well for mixed itineraries (more than one carrier) and for odd routings, in my experience. Good luck!

I substituted SEA for LAX and found the same Orbitz fares!

Thanks SFnFlaGuy!!!

I booked a "buy one, get one free" flight to Orlando on Continental through Orbitz, and I (the companion on the itinerary) only got credit for the DTW->CLE and CLE->DTW segments; not the segments to MCO. I called the OP desk and was told that the fare code for those segments did not allow me to get miles. Orbitz never told me this. I will be VERY cautious about ever booking through Orbitz again...

Aww...you guys make me blush!

I'm always happy to help everyone to get the best deal possible! Feel free to email me if you have any additional questions!

It's just quite sad that CO might further enhance our benefits.....I really liked CO...but, once they start enhancing the "budget elites" like me, I might have to reluctantly say good bye like all the others on this board...and jump on over to NW.



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SFnFlaGuy

All NW flight numbers are eligible for OP Elite Status mile earnings. So, I would definitely do the LGA-LAX thing on NW. You will even get EUA if you are Elite, just remember that a NW Elite will get preference over a CO Elite on NW.

Try to replicate the itinerary on nwa.com and see if you get the same price.

I just booked flights on nwa.com EWR-IND through Detroit (CO non-stop flight times were not beneficial to me and for some reason CO website would not process a IND-MEM-EWR codeshare. The flights have CO flight numbers but I could never get it to come up on the website.)

Anyway, I booked the flight got Elite seating, E-Ticket and will get processed on the EUA.

- HobokenFlyer

I live in NYC as well, and I find that it's almost 100 times easier to get to EWR compared to LGA. Even if you live in Queens it should be easier to get to EWR.

Go to Penn station and take the NJ Transit train to Newark Airport Station, then transfer to the monorail. Total time of 25 minutes to terminal C from Penn, plus whatever you took to get to Penn.

A big plus is that you can check-in for the flight at Penn station(Machine Check-in), which is a blessing.

CO's service/flights out of LGA just don't stack up to the routes out of EWR, so I don't mind an extra transport hassle to get more convenience or a lower fare.

You do have a point there. I have never taken the train to the plane (yes I remember there used to be a commericial with that phrase!). Where at Penn is the check-in kiosk?

I just wonder how long it will take to return to NYC via monorail/NJT when my plane is due to arrive at 8:30pm on a Sunday evening.



[This message has been edited by Analise (edited 08-22-2002).]

join the club.

I do it all the time at night--you can usually catch a train every 20-30 minutes at the airport station (I don't know the schedule off by heart, but it's close to that). At worst, you wait for 30 minutes for the next train, and even that isn't that long (sometimes the taxi line at LGA is 30 minutes long!!). Check out NJtransit.com, and then the North Jersey Coast Line or the Northeast Corridor line.

The CO check in is on the NJ Transit side of Penn station, at the far end of the concourse (near track 12 I think). The machine is tucked into a corner, right near the CO ticket booth (which is often manned by a sour fellow). Just ask around and you'll be directed to it.

The fare to the airport is just about $10. It's the best deal going.

Try it out one night when you feel like some adventure, and you'll quickly forget LGA and it's associated 45-minute circles over Long Island, delays and poor shopping.