Travelocity flights

I think you'll get more useful responses if you provide details about the flights you're considering: dates, times, origin, destination(s), airline(s), prices on Travelocity and directly from the airline.

Hesitancy is good! You found an itinerary you like; now go to the airline's website directly and make that reservation with the airline directly. There has been lots of discussion about the risks of buying through a 3rd party like flight cancellations and missed flights. I recommend doing a search and reading the many threads.

I've used Orbitz for flights to Europe. Couldn't get the routing I wanted with Aer Lingus, but Orbitz was showing it so I booked there. Only issue, even though Orbitz gave me the Aer Lingus record locator number, I could not select seats in advance because I did not book direct with them.

Without knowing your itinerary, I can only make general comments.

The general wisdom is that it's always best to book directly with the airline. This gives you the most control over your flight in the event of any changes, cancellations, delays, etc.

As far as booking through online agents such as those mentioned above, I have no problem. They will fulfill their end of the agreement and book your ticket with the airline. It's when changes happen or problems arise that you may find yourself wishing you'd dealt directly with the airline. BUT....

If a price is showing up online at Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc., that is that much better than the airline's website, I'd be asking myself what's the difference? Am I sure that I'm comparing the exact same ticket? Same class of service? Am I being stuck in Super Economy fare on one site (which varies by name by airline but often has major restrictions) OR is the fare on the airline's website for regular Economy? (Again, the name's vary depending on the airline.) Is the website showing me the fare one way or the fare if I fly the worst possible times both ways?

I'm not saying don't do it. I'm just saying that I'd double check against the airlines before I book a fare that is that significantly different.

Don't let me scare you off of using Travelocity, I think you can get some great deals though Travelocity. I just recommend that you check your flight status regularly and you have a printed copy of your conformation and Travelocity contact information with you when you travel. It was useful when the car rental company tried to charge us for car insurance, when we already paid through Travelocity.
Last year, I spent $565.00, including travel insurance per ticket for my family of four to fly from Seattle to Munch , I booked on Travelocity 8 months prior to our trip. Our flight number and departure time had changed 2 different times between the time I made the booking and the day we flew out. The first time it had changed, I found out by accident. I just received my daughters' new passports and I went to try to enter the passport numbers into British Air's membership program when they informed me about the flight cancellation. I reported the information to Travelocity, which they were able to update the flight information. The flight was still the same, but the flight number that had changed. The second time was 4 weeks before our trip, British Air contacted me about the new flight number and departure time and then three days later Travelocity email me about the change. Lastly, on our way to the airport, the Travelocity phone app I add did not notify us about our departure delay. At the SeaTac boarding counter the attendant informed us about the 3 hour delay, due to weather condition elsewhere, which we would miss our connecting flight. Thanks to the attendants at American Airlines/British Air, they got my family on a couple of connecting flights that got us in to Munich one hour later then our original flight plan. It also helped that we used Rick Steves' packing light tips. We were able to caring on our all luggage without checking them in, which made it easier to make last minute changes.

Bruce was lucky that BA was willing to re-book a Travelocity ticket. Most of the time the airline employees say to contact the third-party vendor for re-booking, which is what happened to me with Expedia years ago as I was standing in an airport re-booking line. I called Expedia, and got it taken care of.

The other thing that can happen with a third-party vendor, is they change your itinerary completely. You booked a noon departure but suddenly you're on a 6 am flight. What happened is that they have the right to change your itinerary from direct to stopover or another time. Meanwhile your sweet itinerary is resold to another at a higher price. This is just a warning that it is possible, not that it always or often happens. But it does sometimes. So if you buy via Travelocity, check your itinerary often.

I used other third party sites in the past (and still use them for hotels and cars). If the price differential is sizable, it's worth giving it a try. If you can accept some risk, it could be worthwhile. In the ideal world, book with the airline...but there are times when it's just too tempting not to. Know the downsides and you'll be OK. I'm not ideological about this. I use price and convenience as my criteria, and have a certain risk level I can definitely live with.