expedia: disadvantages??
May 20, 2012, 10:34 am
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL Scattered Smothered Covered Medallion, Some hotel & car stuff, Kroger Plus Card
Posts: 10,745
May 20, 2012, 11:32 am
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 39
The outcome of the story: Foolishly, I did not buy the ticket yesterday, and this morning, when I looked, the good fares had disappeared from Expedia, Orbitz, Vayama, et al. Just a few minutes ago, however, the good fares reappeared. Unable once again to call up the flights on the Delta website, I called and found that this time, the fare quoted not just matched the third-party sites, but was even a few dollars lower. Mirabile! Paid ticket in hand, I want to thank you all for the discussion which taught me a lot.
May 20, 2012, 11:49 am
#34
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: DL SkyMiles, UA Mileage Plus.
Posts: 60
I purchased a UA ticket on Orbitz two years ago and the CC charge appeared as "United Airlines 016XXXXXXXXX" Howver, I don't think it can or will differentiate between the DL Amex and any other Amex. However, I believe if you purchase airfare as part of an all inclusive vacation charge then the CC statement would only indicate Expedia.
May 20, 2012, 12:04 pm
#35
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SUX
Programs: BA Silver; HHonors Gold; SPG Gold; Points but dirt with everyone else
Posts: 8,050
I purchased a UA ticket on Orbitz two years ago and the CC charge appeared as "United Airlines 016XXXXXXXXX" Howver, I don't think it can or will differentiate between the DL Amex and any other Amex. However, I believe if you purchase airfare as part of an all inclusive vacation charge then the CC statement would only indicate Expedia.
May 20, 2012, 1:22 pm
#36
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SEA - DL DM/2MM, *A Gold, SPG Lifetime Plat, some other car and hotel stuff
Posts: 5,649
Wow, what a thread. Since I book almost all of my tix (DL and others) via Expedia, my experiences support virtually everything andymo99 has stated in this thread. There are huge differences between online travel agents (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc.), opaque booking services (Hotwire or Priceline bidding), and consolidators. There are different situations where each is the most appropriate, but they are FAR, FAR, FAR from the same thing.
To be clear, Hotwire is an Expedia, Inc. company. As is Egencia, hotels.com, and several others brands.
May 20, 2012, 1:23 pm
#37
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SEA - DL DM/2MM, *A Gold, SPG Lifetime Plat, some other car and hotel stuff
Posts: 5,649
Not really. I have never seen that enforced anywhere, and the DOT rule applies the same whether you purchase from supplier direct or from a third-party.
May 20, 2012, 2:07 pm
#38
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Delta Ballast Medallion, Card Carrying Honorary KM
Posts: 553
FWIW -
I would defer to andymo99 any answers given about Expedia, as he is decidedly the one who knows
and I've made no secret of the folks who pay my paycheque - but with the disclaimer that I only know what Delta's P&P's are, and no matter where someone books a ticket, they should ALWAYS read the fare rules, especially those regarding cancellation and changes, and mileage acquisition.
I would defer to andymo99 any answers given about Expedia, as he is decidedly the one who knows
and I've made no secret of the folks who pay my paycheque - but with the disclaimer that I only know what Delta's P&P's are, and no matter where someone books a ticket, they should ALWAYS read the fare rules, especially those regarding cancellation and changes, and mileage acquisition.
May 20, 2012, 2:38 pm
#39
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: ATL
Programs: Delta PlM, 1M
Posts: 6,365
FWIW -
I would defer to andymo99 any answers given about Expedia, as he is decidedly the one who knows and I've made no secret of the folks who pay my paycheque - but with the disclaimer that I only know what Delta's P&P's are, and no matter where someone books a ticket, they should ALWAYS read the fare rules, especially those regarding cancellation and changes, and mileage acquisition.
I would defer to andymo99 any answers given about Expedia, as he is decidedly the one who knows
and I've made no secret of the folks who pay my paycheque - but with the disclaimer that I only know what Delta's P&P's are, and no matter where someone books a ticket, they should ALWAYS read the fare rules, especially those regarding cancellation and changes, and mileage acquisition.Regardless of exactly what Expedia sells, the only real answer to that subthread is to read the full fare rules.
May 20, 2012, 3:02 pm
#40
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL Scattered Smothered Covered Medallion, Some hotel & car stuff, Kroger Plus Card
Posts: 10,745
Can you please do this on my next business trip to LGA? I would be happy to miss work due to an "accidental" reroute.
May 20, 2012, 3:28 pm
#41
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: TPA-MKE-PHX
Programs: Ex DL-DM. MM. TWA-Aviator Plat. HHonors-DVIP, MR-Gold. Nat-Emerald. Avis Chairmn.
Posts: 1,925
Never had an issue with Expedia. Book tons on it and pretty much congratulate andymo99 on a great product. Never been burned. Can't say that about dl.com, where most of us are just "glitches" these days.
May 20, 2012, 4:41 pm
#42
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SEA - DL DM/2MM, *A Gold, SPG Lifetime Plat, some other car and hotel stuff
Posts: 5,649
I appreciate the sentiments, though I can't take any credit for the product. I congratulate our product team on that as well... though they are always pushing improvements.
May 20, 2012, 6:08 pm
#44
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: KATL
Programs: DL DM/2MM
Posts: 2,034
If Expedia or another OTA doesn't have a stated policy separate from the DOT rule, then I can't rely on it.
May 20, 2012, 7:10 pm
#45
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,797
The people who have said Expedia was a consolidator were from 2001 and 2005.
If they changed this policy, so be it, I can't answer that. I do know in the past they definitely did consolidator fares.
If these really weren't consolidator fares, then I was thinking that there is one other plausible explanation here and the source of this was from one of the travel websites which I forget offhand but has to do with timing of the fare discontinuation where it shows up in one database but not another, also things like removal of certain fuel surcharges or taxes in the fare itself which cause it to be cheaper.
Apparently the next day the database was updated and new fares opened up.
Were these the same fare codes from Delta and Expedia?
Anyways, glad you got what you wanted. Customers have flexibility to use any booking site they want and people can choose accordingly.
Apparently all these sites are able to sell tickets with lots of competition, and these days dwindling supply of tickets.
There must be boatloads of booking engines with their own pricing algorithms in the backend and consolidator fares in the mix and there is no one site fits all anymore.
"Unable once again to call up the flights on the Delta website, I called and found that this time, the fare quoted not just matched the third-party sites, but was even a few dollars lower. "
Interesting. I wouldn't expect the phone system to have different fares than the computer system. In fact costs are cheaper online for booking.
Last edited by adamj023; May 20, 2012 at 7:18 pm