Anyone ever order airline tickets on-line at a discount site?

[jenluckenbach]

I was checking flights to England on websites such as cheaptickes.com and Globe travels low airfares. etc. But since I have never booked a flight of ANY kind, I wondered if anyone had any experience they could share with me. (the good and the bad of using this type of reservation system) The prices are so fantastic that they are hard to resist, but I can't help wondering what is the catch?

Thanks in advance.

[sammy101]

i have never book on the discount sites.We usually book online,with the airline that we choose,which usually for us is Air Canada,American or Continental.
I dont know if theres a catch really?But if you feel comfortable booking with them,then go for it!:)

[Uabassoon]

I always buy my tickets from those discount sites and have never had a problem. I'm not sure what the return policy is since I've never had to cancel a trip. But I know that everytime I've booked from them everything has gone smoothly. I also book hotels from those sites.

[Nomilynn]

I've used cheaptickets several times, and my parents have also, and never had problems. In fact, there was a change in flight time (about a 5 minute difference) and cheaptickets tried calling them I think 3 times (all different people) to make sure they had this information!! :)

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

I've booked through expedia.com several times without any problem. The tickets are electronic, so you just bring your confirmation number to the airport to get your boarding pass. I've also booked through the specific airline's Web site without a problem.

The thing to be cautious about is the rule for changes and cancellations: they are usually not allowed or allowed only for a high fee. If you're sure you won't cancel, go for it!

[guster girl]

I've used the discount sites like expedia.com and cheaptickets.com and have never had a problem. :)

[Lilith Cherry]

I have used them several times for hotels and flights and never had a problem. They are generally much cheaper than the actual airline's web prices.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I use travelocity and expedia and have never had a problem. I like travelocity best. Just seems easier to use to me.

I am so jealous.....

[catnapper]

We bought our honeymoon plane tickets online, plus made many room reservations for soccer tournaments from discount websites. The only time I was disappointed was in a Best Western... and that was more to do with that particualr hotel than the site. I'd never buy tickets any other way - its easy and fast --- and the prices can't be beat!

[Paul]

   I have purchased from and enjoyed expedia (http://www.expedia.com/), travelocity (http://www.travelocity.com/), and orbitz (http://www.orbitz.com/).

   Karen and I went to England via Priceline. Because we could not choose our airline and routing we lost a day. I doubt I will ever user Priceline again. I will also avoid US Airways.

   Karen's office went to England and Scotland via Go-Today (http://www.go-today.com). They enjoyed their trip.

   I would not recommend buying a package with hotel reservations unless you know exactly where you will be staying before you purchase. To me the biggest downside is ending up in a hotel you would not want to stay in. Because I am picky, I also will no longer use the services that do not specify the exact itinerary, airline and routing in advance.

   It's clear to me you can save a lot of money by checking a dozen or more websites and booking online. I also could waste a lot of time endlessly checking websites for one hotel room.

   Before I go anywhere I also check Flyertalk (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/). Some discount sites still allow frequent flyer miles. Thanks to Flyertalk it only took two flights for Karen and I to have enough miles for award tickets to Hawaii.

   There are always great deals to England in the winter. England is even warmer than Boston. There is no catch. Although Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are only open at the end of the Summer. There is more than enough to do in London at any time of the year.

   London is always very expensive. In the Summer the air pollution is bothersome.

      Paul

[Paul]

   Some price quotes include some fees and or taxes. You should compare prices that include all fees and taxes.

   From TravelZoo (http://dir.travelzoo.com/Air.asp?intCategory=12)

Boston (BOS) to London (LGW)
10 Jan, 2005 - 17 Jan, 2005

Base       Taxes      Total
$178.89   $161.10   $339.99

      Paul

[Logan]

That is a lot of good information, Paul. Thanks! And I wasn't even the one asking! LOL!!! :o

[sirrahbed]

I use Expedia but always compare with Travelocity and Cheaptickets. I have never had problems. We even used them for our tickets to Japan. Missy and Paul used a discount place and I think it was Orbitz- for their tickets from Tokyo to Ohio. Great service. It is so convenient now as all you need is that e-ticket number and many times can even get your boarding pass at a kiosk. I know the first time - it was ODD to not have a paper ticket, but now seems very normal. The price difference is pretty amazing, too.

[GraciesMommy]

I have several times and have never had any problems

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Some companies overbook their flights; so make sure to get some info on the reputation of the company you wanna use!
Have a great trip, Jen :)

[carole]

Is someone going to visit Annie? wow how exciting if you are? come on Jen tell us all, what are the plans, we are all nosey here ya know especially me lol!!!

:)

[Randy_K]

We have used Expedia and Travelocity to book flights to Europe and Africa without any problems at all. We just booked a flight to New Delhi through Expedia. The bigger cities have many more flight options than smaller airports. For example, from Los Angeles British Air has two 747s a day to London, Air France has a daily 747 flight, Lufthansa has a daily 747 flight to Munich, Swiss (no longer Swiss Air!) has a daily 747 flight to Zurich, Cathay Pacific has a daily 747 flight to Hong Kong and the like. The more flights the better the price. I like British Air as the cabin service is quite civilized (or, perhaps, "civilised" to avoid that Oxford spelling). Swiss is OK but they are the first to cancel a connector flight on us - this one from Nice to Zurich to catch our flight home. We ended up on Air France going through Paris coming home... 33 minutes later than our original arrival time so we did OK.

[Cincy'sMom]

We have looked at the discount sites, but found booking through the airline was cheaper. When we went to Vegas, the flight was the same price at the ATA website, or Travelocity, but Travelocity had a "finder's fee" type thing. My upcoming trip I booked through Southwest, $39 each way, Detroit-St. Louis.

I don'tknow if you would find the same thing ornot, but before you book anything, check the discountsites, then compare to the airline site. You may find the flight price is the same on either.

[Randy_K]

I have found that the domestic flights price out pretty much the same between the individual carrier's websites and the sites like Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc. On international flights the prices are a lot different. Last year I was looking for a flight to Rome with the relatively cheapest being found on the British Air website when compared to other carrier's websites. Then I went to Travelocity and found the same seat on the same British Air flight at $200 cheaper than British Air's own site.

[carole]

Jen check out Lufthansa, my son went with them from LA, and found them pretty good, not sure how cheap they are, but a german airline, they do however go to Frankfurt Germany ,then onto London, might be worth it moneywise.

[Randy_K]

I try to balance price against the amount of time I have to spend traveling. I can get a flight to London that is $120 cheaper than a direct flight (this one going from Los Angeles to Denver to New York and then to London) but it would mean I would have to spend another 8 hours in travel - mostly spent in airports which we all know are the happiest places on earth - rather than getting to my destination. It's worth the money to me to get there sooner rather than cheaper