Orbitz New Problems, Looking for New Travel Site
Oct 22, 2012, 2:31 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Princeton, NJ
Programs: Delta, United, Hilton, Holiday Inn
Posts: 3
Orbitz New Problems, Looking for New Travel Site
I have been using Orbitz since 2005, and am Delta Platinum and United Gold. After Orbitz website changes earlier this year, I've had alot of problems and am looking for an alternative travel site.
The strength of Orbitz before were the flight options in a multi-city itinerary, there were hundreds of choices to choose from. I could always find the right times for each segment. I did not find other sites offering the same ease to mix and match flights.
In an Orbitz website change earlier this year, the cosmetics were changed, but also the algorithm. Now, I often have limited flight choices and sometimes cannot book at all.
For example, flying from EWR to NGO in Japan, there are exactly 0 flights. From JFK to NGO, will be 200 flights. From JFK (plus airports within 80 miles) to NGO, also shows 0 flights.
Today, in a 3 segment itinerary, I choose segment 1 and 3. Orbitz offered only a single flight for segment 2, which I could not use due to the departure time. Therefore, I couldn't book this flight today. Before the website change, there could be dozens of flights offered for that segment 2. I would have found one at the right time, though not at the cheapest prices.
I would appreciate if anyone can answer 2 questions:
a. Is there any other travel website, that lets me choose flights easily a la carte in a multi-city itinerary?
b. Anyone know what Orbitz did?
Thanks for anyone's comments.
Carl
The strength of Orbitz before were the flight options in a multi-city itinerary, there were hundreds of choices to choose from. I could always find the right times for each segment. I did not find other sites offering the same ease to mix and match flights.
In an Orbitz website change earlier this year, the cosmetics were changed, but also the algorithm. Now, I often have limited flight choices and sometimes cannot book at all.
For example, flying from EWR to NGO in Japan, there are exactly 0 flights. From JFK to NGO, will be 200 flights. From JFK (plus airports within 80 miles) to NGO, also shows 0 flights.
Today, in a 3 segment itinerary, I choose segment 1 and 3. Orbitz offered only a single flight for segment 2, which I could not use due to the departure time. Therefore, I couldn't book this flight today. Before the website change, there could be dozens of flights offered for that segment 2. I would have found one at the right time, though not at the cheapest prices.
I would appreciate if anyone can answer 2 questions:
a. Is there any other travel website, that lets me choose flights easily a la carte in a multi-city itinerary?
b. Anyone know what Orbitz did?
Thanks for anyone's comments.
Carl
Oct 23, 2012, 4:58 pm
#2
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,580
You can try travel.yahoo.com, since they allow you to choose your itinerary segment by segment.
However, note that for any itinerary that is in one booking, all the flights have to be on the same airline's ticket stock. That does not mean that the carriers have to codeshare with each other. They can simply have an interline agreement. Therefore, as soon as you choose your first flight, it will restrict your choices for the remaining segments. This is true for all sites as far as I know.
In order to get more flexibility, you can make separate bookings. For example, try booking segments 1 and 3 in one multi-city booking, and segment 2 as a separate one-way.
However, note that for any itinerary that is in one booking, all the flights have to be on the same airline's ticket stock. That does not mean that the carriers have to codeshare with each other. They can simply have an interline agreement. Therefore, as soon as you choose your first flight, it will restrict your choices for the remaining segments. This is true for all sites as far as I know.
In order to get more flexibility, you can make separate bookings. For example, try booking segments 1 and 3 in one multi-city booking, and segment 2 as a separate one-way.
Oct 24, 2012, 9:51 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Princeton, NJ
Programs: Delta, United, Hilton, Holiday Inn
Posts: 3
Thanks for taking the time to make your suggestion.
Yahoo looked really good in layout, so I tried Yahoo, and similar to most others except for Orbitz, as soon as I choose the first segment, it limits me to that airline for the balance.
So I tried Orbitz and Yahoo. Choosing similar UA flights at first, Yahoo offered me pure United segments afterwards, which turned out to have less convenient times and I think higher cost than choosing UA, DL and US on the 3 Orbitz segments. But for Orbitz, it seems I have to restart a few times, to get things just right.
Imagine a multicity itinerary, with SLC, DFW and PHL, or hubs for 3 different airlines. If I have to choose a single airline, then it will have inconvenient times for 1 or 2 segments, since each airline I choose first, may have limited flights into 2 of 3 airports. Ultimately, each inconvenient time leads to a tradeoff, do I want to:
a. make a short meeting
b. take a chance of getting late to the airport
c. arrive really late to the destination
Thanks again for your comments.
Yahoo looked really good in layout, so I tried Yahoo, and similar to most others except for Orbitz, as soon as I choose the first segment, it limits me to that airline for the balance.
So I tried Orbitz and Yahoo. Choosing similar UA flights at first, Yahoo offered me pure United segments afterwards, which turned out to have less convenient times and I think higher cost than choosing UA, DL and US on the 3 Orbitz segments. But for Orbitz, it seems I have to restart a few times, to get things just right.
Imagine a multicity itinerary, with SLC, DFW and PHL, or hubs for 3 different airlines. If I have to choose a single airline, then it will have inconvenient times for 1 or 2 segments, since each airline I choose first, may have limited flights into 2 of 3 airports. Ultimately, each inconvenient time leads to a tradeoff, do I want to:
a. make a short meeting
b. take a chance of getting late to the airport
c. arrive really late to the destination
Thanks again for your comments.
You can try travel.yahoo.com, since they allow you to choose your itinerary segment by segment.
However, note that for any itinerary that is in one booking, all the flights have to be on the same airline's ticket stock. That does not mean that the carriers have to codeshare with each other. They can simply have an interline agreement. Therefore, as soon as you choose your first flight, it will restrict your choices for the remaining segments. This is true for all sites as far as I know.
In order to get more flexibility, you can make separate bookings. For example, try booking segments 1 and 3 in one multi-city booking, and segment 2 as a separate one-way.
However, note that for any itinerary that is in one booking, all the flights have to be on the same airline's ticket stock. That does not mean that the carriers have to codeshare with each other. They can simply have an interline agreement. Therefore, as soon as you choose your first flight, it will restrict your choices for the remaining segments. This is true for all sites as far as I know.
In order to get more flexibility, you can make separate bookings. For example, try booking segments 1 and 3 in one multi-city booking, and segment 2 as a separate one-way.