new_trader_boy

Which website do you buy travel from?
a. Expedia
b. Travelocity
c. Orbitz
d. Airline web site

Why do you purchase from them? (Price, Lower fees, Customer Service, etc)

Do you shop on all the above and only pick the cheapest? yes/no


I’m trying to figure out why anyone would choose one over the other if they have the same content.
For me it’s all about price. I don’t want to pay any fees to make my purchase.


Condensed results.
Looks like almost everyone books directly with the airline with some booking on Orbitz. Expedia is sometimes used but rarely Travelocity.
This is a small sample from what I would classify as experienced travelers but I wonder if this would hold true for a majority of them? My guess would be that it would.

Now the intriguing question would be what does Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz need to do to get your business without losing money?

RESPONDENTS:
Direct Airline site. Kayak for pricing
Direct Airline site, Expedia rarely, Travelocity sometimes, lastminute. Direct Airline for flexible tickets.
Direct Airline site to do the actual purchase. Love the bonus miles. Looking for lowest price.
Expedia
Direct Airline site. Travelocity for the all in one package.
United Airlines and the booking bonus.
Direct websites. Booking bonus and easier to make changes. Alliances and not the cheapest.
Direct Airline site and Expedia for complex itins.
Direct Airline site. Expedia and Orbitz rarely have better fares.
Direct Airline site
Direct Airline site. Expedia and Orbitz for multi airline itins.
Direct Airline site. If cheapest.
Direct Airline site. Orbitz for KE.
Direct Airline site or Orbitz.
200 res with Expedia, 100 with Orbitz and 5 with Travelocity. Mainly go to Direct Airline web sites.
Direct Airline site. Search through Orbitz before booking.
Direct Airline site. Orbitz sometimes. Kayak for pricing
Direct Airline site. Cleaner transaction.
Direct Airline site.

chrissxb

welcome on flyertalk, new_trader_boy

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cordelli

Where from - I've used all of them, though usually it's the airline's website. Kayak has been creeping up too, but that just gets the price, and then links to the airline's website for the purchase.

Why - I'm pretty much price driven. If the difference is a few dollars more on the airline site (few being $5 or so) then I'll use that for the bonus miles, other then that it's price driven.

I usually do shop them all, though most times it's not a huge, if any, difference.

stut

Assuming it's a throwaway ticket, I'll usually go for the cheapest. This is sometimes Expedia, rarely Travelocity, sometimes lastminute, ebookers, a whole number of others, or the airline's website. Orbitz, I've never really heard much about. Fees, I don't care about, just the bottom line.

For flexible tickets, I'm more inclined to go direct to the airline. It's not like I'd get a discount, and I need to know I can change easily.

abebix

ITA Software first to check all departure, city pair, and price combos and then hop onto airlines' web sites to do the actual purchase. I love the bonus miles from booking on the airline's website ^ I usually don't have a certain bucket fare I'm looking for, so I take the lowest price!

Sanosuke

a. Expedia. Just because.

Sanosuke!

onlyairfare

Often, for my family, I use Travelocity because they have the airfare/hotel/rental car all in one package, at a reasonably good price, for a $5.00 fee. So it is easy. After doing this a couple of times, I began receiving coupons for $100 - $250 off for my (their) next purchase, even better.

For myself, I use kayak to get the flights and prices, then purchase at the airline website to get the miles. The hotel and car/limo/taxi is determined by the business purpose at hand, so the "package" is not helpful to me.

If the itinerary is complex (multiple stops with fly vs drive decisions, checking prices on refundable vs non), I'll call corporate travel at my former employer. For $40, those knowledgeable angels will make it happen on a reasonable schedule, at a price that is the best value to me, even though I no longer work for that company.

linsj

I always book at UA's web site to get the extra EQMs with my credit card and the booking bonus.

theblakefish

Welcome to FT! Here's my take:

Which website do you buy travel from?
d. Almost 100% of my travel is booked through these websites: Continental.com ; hertz.com ; hhonors.com ; southwest.com. I am forced to buy two company airline tickets through expediacorporate.com

Why do you purchase from them?
Price is usually lower, full EQM & EQP's, online booking bonuses, and it is easier to make changes if you buy directly from the source, IMHO.

Do you shop on all the above and only pick the cheapest?
No, I have alliances that I try to stick to, and a lot of the time the route/company that I choose is NOT the cheapest.

RustyC

Well, lessee...

If it's a hot-potato mistake fare, it'll be through whichever site lets me put in a reservation or from which the fare gets yanked last. Lately lastminutetravel and cheaptickets have gotten those.

Otherwise the airline site will be first, though NW doesn't incentivize that as much as some other airlines do.

OTOH, if dealing with an airline like UA with an especially bad site, I may be forced over to Expedia to book a complex, segment-stacker itinerary sinply because UA's own site won't offer up all the possible options. Maybe the new beta will do better.

And sometimes there might be some site-specific hotel deal that drives decisions on that.

So, it very much depends. By the numbers, the airline site probably winds up with the most, though I've never used it for anything other than flights.

sany2

Almost always the following happens:

I use Avis.com for the car rentals, NWA.com/CO.com/UA.com/BA.com for my airline reservations, and call/e-mail for hotel reservations.

I rarely if ever use expedia/orbitz because I rarel if ever find a better fare there. In fact I often find a better fare directly from the airline.

cpx

direct from the airline web site.

bdesmond

I buy them direct from the airline if at all possible. I use Expedia or Orbitz when I need multi airline itineraries. I prefer Expedia's site but Orbitz can be better for segment runs which I occasionally do.

CApreppie

The airline's website if it is the cheapest.

In2ishn

I try to use the NWA site to get the extra miles. When I go to ICN I generally fly KE (credit the miles to NWA) and book through Orbitz. For some reason Orbitz often has the best connections/schedules from KE cities to MSP because it allows me to fly out of and back into different KE cities, e.g., out: MSP-ORD-ICN, return:ICN-SEA-MSP