Airfare thru Expedia, Orbitz etc

Using both Expedia and Orbitz I've always been able to choose my seat, and sometimes if I want to change after I purchase my ticket I just call the airline directly and they do it for me. Call the airline involved to ask about your mileage account.

i use Orbitz and I have been able to use my aeroplan points. When booking they will ask you for your points card.
I usually fly Air Canada and for some reason they give you the choice to choose your seat and then don't give it to you. For Egypt Air, United and Turkish Airways I had no problems picking my seat and getting it. Maybe I will call Air Canada direct for now on once my flight is booked and pick my seat through them. I would book directly through them, but the last couple of time I have flown I have found the prices on Orbitz to be a little cheaper.

For what it's worth: I booked with Orbitz, had to change my plans, and ended up paying a penalty to both the airline and to Orbitz. I knew the airline would get me but the Orbitz penalty was a surprise...my problem, of course, as I guess I did not adequately reasearch, but that was the last time I used another party (Orbitz,Expedia) to book a ticket. It was about 3 years ago, too..maybe it has changed.

Both Orbitz & Expedia give you your mileage credit. All you have to do is enter your frequent flyer account number when you purchase your tickets. You can also "store" all your FF account numbers on those websites. Seat assignments depend on the airline. Usually you can pick your seats, but there are instances - usually on flights within Europe - where you cannot get an advance seat assignment. This is due to the particular airline's policies, not to Expedia or Orbitz.

Couple of points: - the advantage of Orbitz, Kayak, etc. is that they give you a lot more options and combinations for getting to your destinations than just a single airline. For example, on a trip to India a couple of years ago, the best routing and price was a United flight to Dubai with an onward connection on Emirates. This never was available on UA's own website. - With regards to frequent flyer miles: It all depends on what fare class your ticket is booked in. Do not take it for granted that you will get miles especially if your ticket is on an Asian or European carrier. A lot of carriers only award 25, 30 or 50% of the miles for very cheap tickets. If this is important to you, do your homework before hitting the purchase button.

Jeff, You will get mileage, just have to tie your account to the ticket. This can typically be done through the online agent when puchasing the ticket or you may have to contact them afterwards. You can also contact the airlines to have it added. Realize that depending on how the airlines discounted the ticket to the online agent that you may only get a fraction of the total miles flown. You may have to contact the airlines to get a seat assignment. Some airlines do not provide the seat assignment until later since they whole-saled the ticket to the online agent. Realize that if your flight gets cancelled or changed you will have to deal with the online agent and not the airline. The online agent may try to steer you to a flight that is more to their benefit. So do your homework and see what the options are for the airlines and then direct the online agent to get you on the flight that is more to your benefit. For instance, I was caught in the volcanic eruption mess last spring. Under that circumstance it would have been better to dealt with the airline directly. This was the only time out of over a dozen times that something happened to affect my flights. Some take out travel insurance for these kinds of situations, but I travel enough and I am still relatively young and healthy that I rather take the chance that the plans will be unaffected and have never regreted doing so. I also have not begun to travel in less stable areas that tend to be a wildcard (as you see happening in Egypt right now). In those cases I will probably foot the travel insurance just for peace of mind. Just keep in mind that the ticket is the same as the ones the airlines sell but they come with a few minor inconveniences as oulined above. Edwin

thank you all, very useful info