Found something on ITA - cannot seem to book it
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 466
Found something on ITA - cannot seem to book it
I have read the stickies and have gotten as far as finding the right combination of flights, but cannot figure out how to book them. I've tried using united.com and travelocity/expedia (though I am forced to use the Canadian versions).
I've printed out the booking details page from ITA - can I just take it to a travel agency (like Flight Centre) and can they book it?
The routing is:
BUF-CLT-SFO-LAX-ONT-LAX-ORD-PHL-BUF
Leaving Buffalo 20-March and returning 21 March, laxing the red-eye LAX-ORD.
I work it out to 7252 miles. All in cost (according to ITA) is $270.20 so it is 3.75 cpm.
So, my questions are how to go about booking (or if there is another sticky other than the 'how to do a MR' one, pointing me the right direction). And, is this a good MR? My first attempt wasn't (thanks for steering me clear of it).
I've printed out the booking details page from ITA - can I just take it to a travel agency (like Flight Centre) and can they book it?
The routing is:
BUF-CLT-SFO-LAX-ONT-LAX-ORD-PHL-BUF
Leaving Buffalo 20-March and returning 21 March, laxing the red-eye LAX-ORD.
I work it out to 7252 miles. All in cost (according to ITA) is $270.20 so it is 3.75 cpm.
So, my questions are how to go about booking (or if there is another sticky other than the 'how to do a MR' one, pointing me the right direction). And, is this a good MR? My first attempt wasn't (thanks for steering me clear of it).
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,297
The best way I found to do this sort of thing is to use Expedia multiple cities option and input all/almost all segments one by one and then build a trip using the flights shown on ITA, in the end the price usually matches
#3
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: UK - Cymru
Programs: Emirates Skywards Gold, Hilton HHonors Gold, QF (currently some base metal), LH, Star Alliance, CSA
Posts: 854
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 11,956
Make sure that you have the fare basis codes from ITA and call the airline directly. With UA it will be the ICC. Tell the res agent the exact flights, times and fare basis and it should go through. You may have to pay the associated fee because you did not book online buy you can try to get it waived saying that it was impossible to book online. I succeeded with this once.
Good luck.
Good luck.
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS
Posts: 15,027
Make sure that you have the fare basis codes from ITA and call the airline directly. With UA it will be the ICC. Tell the res agent the exact flights, times and fare basis and it should go through. You may have to pay the associated fee because you did not book online buy you can try to get it waived saying that it was impossible to book online. I succeeded with this once.
Good luck.
Good luck.
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 11,956
Good luck to you as well.
#8
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: GSO
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 776
Believe it or not, I actually booked a UA MR over the phone using the automated voice system. It took a little while, but probably not any longer than dealing with the ICC - I booked ATL-ORD-SNA-LAX-SFO-ORD-ATL....with the exact flight times pulled up from ITA, I just read the cities and exact times to Mr. Automated, and he put the itinerary together perfectly. [The reason I did it over the phone was to put it on hold so I could mail in a paper voucher, but it might be worth a shot to try!]
#9
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Somewhere cold - preferably up a mountain
Programs: AC Subhuman (*A silver), NW Barely Alive
Posts: 842
Often it's well worth the $5-7 premium to book with them rather than through the airline's site, where you can't possibly get the connections you want.
Good luck!
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 466
Thanks.
Had no luck with Expedia/Orbitz. I tried it in little segments (so that I could see which places I needed to enter) but the total price was way more than ITA said.
I'll try the automated UA centre - the 'real person' at UA wouldn't allow me to 'direct' my booking (kept insisting on fewer connections).
It looks like I'll have to change my dates anyway, so I'll try again when I can square the dates.
Thanks again for your help.
Had no luck with Expedia/Orbitz. I tried it in little segments (so that I could see which places I needed to enter) but the total price was way more than ITA said.
I'll try the automated UA centre - the 'real person' at UA wouldn't allow me to 'direct' my booking (kept insisting on fewer connections).
It looks like I'll have to change my dates anyway, so I'll try again when I can square the dates.
Thanks again for your help.
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 11,956
Believe it or not, I actually booked a UA MR over the phone using the automated voice system. It took a little while, but probably not any longer than dealing with the ICC - I booked ATL-ORD-SNA-LAX-SFO-ORD-ATL....with the exact flight times pulled up from ITA, I just read the cities and exact times to Mr. Automated, and he put the itinerary together perfectly. [The reason I did it over the phone was to put it on hold so I could mail in a paper voucher, but it might be worth a shot to try!]
Enjoy your trip
#12
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: UA MM, QF Plat, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 2,563
I'm not sure if this was said earlier, but try to cut out hub cities while booking the multi city options. For example, ORD-IAH-DEN-OMA should be tried as ORD-IAH-OMA. I think this will get past some routing tricks because for example AA and UA will look at it as IAH-OMA where there are only either DEN, OMA, or ORD as a reroute point.