Flight Booking Methods - Which and Why?
 

Having recently left a company that required me to use (and only use) AMEX Travel for booking, I'm a little unsure of the best way to book trips. Lately, I've just been booking at each individual website (AA, Hilton, National, etc.).

What methods do some of you use? The way I do it, Expedia, etc.?

Thanks.

aa.com for flights..

priceline or hotels.com for hotels. for hotels outside the usa, HRS.de My personal favorite is Marriott.com because they give me a $49 rate on their hotels, but that is probably not applicable to you.

Your two basic choices are a TA or individual bookings.

You are the classic customer for a good professional TA. They will, of course, charge a fee for their servce. For that they will coordinate travel, make recommendations for areas where you are unfamiliar, etc. Only you can determine if this is worth it.

If you want to DIY, look at TripIt (http://www.tripit.com) as a way to coordinate the travel.


-----Burton

Would you mind explaining?

As this topic is not about any specific airline, it has been rebooked to TravelBuzz!

I almost always book using the site of the individual provider, though the search process involves many, many more resources. No fees, occasionally bonus points/credits/whatever, and no getting passed back and forth between the booking agent and the carrier/hotel if things go wrong.

And then I use TripIt to produce a nice, clean itinerary that includes everything for me before I depart.

Adventure, a significant part of the "pleasure" of leisure, business combined with leisure, and even occasionally business travel, involves the planning, exploring and booking airlines and hotel rooms. I've learned almost as much "looking" as I have from being there. Discovering a hitherto unconsidered route, finding a hotel or room rate that excites interest, learning from the experience of others (and most TAs are short on the sort of experience which benefits me). Expedia, TV, PL, etc. are simply places to start or stops along the way.

For air I scan for price and schedule using Sidestep.com, then book directly with the airline. For hotels I start with Sidestep but also look at Agoda, Asiarooms, Wotif, Hotelclub.com and gtahotels.com. For cars I look only at Hertz and Avis.

AA.com for flights, hold, then use live help to tweak and check that I have the lowest fare. (No charge for EXP.) Then a combination of hotel sites and/or aggregators like Hotels.com and tripadvisor, which can access other aggregators. But since a lot of this is trade shows, I'll check with the show's housing bureau to see the rates they've negotiated, book one with a CC hold, then call my personal picks directly a week before the show to see if demand is light and they're willing to bargain further. Last week's IBS in Las Vegas had the bureau getting me Paris for $129, which is pretty good, but I went back to old stanbdy Circus Circus for $38 -- new west tower, top floor and walkable to the convention center.

For anything remotely complicated — or expensive — I use my travel agents, simply because in my experience they can often find options and deals that I can't, and they are more likely than I am to spot an anomaly in my itinerary and to mark hotel bookings for late arrivals, and so on. Also for the countries I visit there is often someone in their office with some local knowledge, which has been helpful a couple of times.

if I am booking a very simple — and inexpensive — itinerary, I sometimes book direct with the carrier on line and then book a hotel myself (usually by phone, in fact).

I'm not a big user of on-line facilities in this regard. Having said that, I do often look around before ringing my travel agents, but they have always matched and usually bettered what I have found on-line (in terms of cost, convenience or both).

kayak.com all the way.