BlondeBomber

I could be wrong but I think Travelocity just introduced an alternative airport feature.

Adman

ITN doesn't "formally" have an alternative airport function, but I've frequently been shown alternative airports when they were cheaper.

An example: I'm trying to book New York to West Palm Beach. ITN has shown me flights from both Fort Lauderdale and Miami as cheaper alternatives, if I so choose.

What I don't know is who defines what alternative airports are offered for each destination...

lonman

although most people hated it, i used to love the aa.com booking system for a couple of reason. first, it allowed you to book whatever type of itinerary on any carrier. i frequently purchased other carriers tickets via the site, because often if i called an airline directly i would usually get a higher fare. it also allowed you to book itineraries taking advantage of the 24 hour int'l stop over rule or overnight stopvers in us cities without significant fare increases. i once checked dl prices to prague, then threw in a 24 hr stopover in hannover, germany for the atp tennis championships for $4!! also, because it is basically a travel agent, it often would circumvent purchase requirement rules. frequently i made reservations for flights (mostly dl) the day of departure at the three day advance price. i'd stop at aa in the airport and then go to dl to check in. absolutely brilliant. finally, other bizarre quirks such as booking an L or Q fare on one leg with a higher fare on the other leg would also slide by. and finally, if for some reason, i couldn't travel at the last minute, i could rebook the ticket either on the original carrier or aa(since the ticket was on their stock) without paying the change fee.

now with their supposed upgrades, they took it all away. bummer!!

SD Flyer

Jetsetter:

Thanks for you information about the CRS's. I too was a TA in college and loved SABRE! Once you knew the codes, it was great.

I have had problems with both ITN and Expedia with air bookings in that they price a ticket and then I can't buy it because of a lack of availability. Expedia went as far as letting me hold the reservation overnight, then verifying the price when I recalled the reservation, then telling me the fare was not available. It just said to "pick another flight". I won't use them again.

ITN, on the other hand (Apollo interface) got me a $219.00 fare on HP, when Travelocity and HP's website showed the lowest fare at $456!!! I called after booking, and sure enough, it was confirmed. Sometimes it takes a while for an Airline's computer to update its availabilities in competing CRS systems. It works to both the advantage and disadvantage of the TA using the system. For us FTers, though, we have access to SABRE, Apollo, Worldspan, and a host of others. Maximum access=Maximum savings.

BTW, I think DL has developed a direct interface to it's own, internal CRS. All "Delta" travel agencies were switched from DATAS II to Worldspan several years back, but the DL website produces a DL record locator, not a Worldspan locator.

Travelocity has also done this to me, especially buy quoting very low hotel rates for sold-out properties. I kept checking back for my confirmation number to no avail. When I finally called customer service, they called the hotel, and it was sold out.

dg1

Let me just say I tried to make four reservations in Travelocity today. ALl of them I went through to the last step and then got UNABLE TO CONFIRM.

I'm getting that error more and more often. I believe it comes when one of the segments sell out (even though Travelocity will show the connection as available).

Paulo

Which reminds me (and I realise that I should make this complaint directly to Expedia)...

When Expedia cannot book the selected itinerary, it tells you that "One or more" of the flights in the itinerary is unavailable.

Would it be too bloody much trouble to tell me WHICH flight is unavailable so that I can figure our how to fix it without resorting to trial and error?!

jetsetter

I too miss from both Easy Sabre, and the travel agency system (SystemOne) that you cannot make changes to the itinerary after you issue the ticket, without going through an agent. Going through one of the agents = paying the service charge and the additional collection of fare if it applied. In Easy Sabre, and the travel agency CRS's you could make whatever change you wanted. Either the outbound or the return, or you could upgrade the whole pnr to F class. I remember one time in college, was traveling I think CMH-BOS or something like that on a NW youth fare of about $65. It was probably a K fare. K wasn't available, so I booked the first segment in F, and the other in K. The system would not price that, but those older systems let you book something even if it would not price. So I go to the NW CMH counter, and they first quote the F class fare. Then I tell them I wanted the youth fare, and they say something like "oh ok, they must have booked in F because K not available, no problem, we'll give you the $65 rate and upgrade you." Actually they upgraded both segments, it was through DTW. Those legacy systems were wonderful for making changes, and usually not getting charged. If you call an airline, make a change, they will document your record saying you have been advised of the change free. However, if you changed it in one of the legacy CRS systems, no documentation would exist. Gate agent likely to just print you a boarding pass, from your paper ticket. E-tickets were just entering the market when I left the travel agency. For an e-ticket, the system keeps a "history" of any changes made to the e-ticket, and exactly which agent at which location makes the change. I suppose this makes it easier for the internal audit departments, and perhaps reduces the times agents will waive the change fee since the agents name could in theory be linked to the waiver of the fee. In the old days with paper tickets, it did not append anything to the record if an agent printed a boarding pass for you, so very little paper trail if they waived rules. But now with e-tickets, there is an e-audit-trail. I don't know how much or how little airlines look at these things, or whether they actually call in agents into the office for waivers. Perhaps we sshould invite some agents to join this forum, they certainly could remain anonymous.

kokonutz

The absolute best internet reservation system in the world is United Connection for the PC.

One of the worst internet reservation systems in the world is United Connection on the Web.

So, in typical UA fashion, UA is trying to phase out the PC version in favor of the web version.

jet

Well, you said "internet" and not "web" so I vote for United Connection for the PC, version 3.0. Did you hear that, United?????? I said for the PC. Yes, that's right. I use the software version, which can connect via the internet without a separate dialin. The website sucks rocks, frankly, and the only time I use it is to take advantage of web-only fares.

Paul3456

United Connection for the PC V3.0 is the best for hotels and car rentals, but for flights I find it doesn't always list the cheapest fares available even with using fareshopper. It also seems partial to United flights. I do agree though that it is far better than the worthless web version.

West Coast Flyer

I haven't researched the technology that they use, but I do know that the web booking for Alaska Airlines at alaskaair.com is efficient and painless. You can even "check-in" for your flight on-line (although you still have to present your photo I.D. at the airport, and you can't e-mail your bags there, [yet] ). The only disadvantage is that while you can specify your seats, you can't actually pick them. I have e-mailed them about this inconvenience and they appear to be working on it.

I have used itn.com before, and it works quite well (for almost all US airlines). Unfortunately, popularity comes at a price, as the server seems prone to getting overloaded.

[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 11-07-1999).]

Tute84

I like trip.com because they give miles for booking through them. (1 mile/dollar)

RichG

Interesting that UA says they're phasing out UA Connection 3.0 yet there is still a placard advertising it just before security at IAD.