Two weeks before we left, we booked 3 nights in Copenhagen through Travelocity. Travelocity required full payment of $842 in advance. When we arrived, the hotel took my wife's credit card for incidentals (there were none). This Monday we got her credit card statement showing the hotel had charged (and then credited) her card for $675 for those 3 nights ($167 more than I paid for the same period). When I called Travelocity and complained, they said the prices had gone down (25%?). When I continued to complain, they agreed to credit my card with the $167. The fact remains they charged a 25% premium, over what we would have paid off the street, to book those rooms. Be careful when you use them and they demand payment in advance.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
The real lesson is check all your options before making your purchasing decision. Don't rely on one source whether it's a website, travel agent or direct call to the airline to net the best price.
Posted by
Freedonia
16278 posts
Most people use the online booking services for convenience. Occassionally, they will come up with a great price. They are basically travel agents and get paid a commission by the supplier.
However, it's always best to go directly to the source--airline, hotel, rental car firm. In fact, instead of calling a chain's 800 number, call the hotel or inn directly and see what they will do. If you got a better price online, tell them and see if they'll match it. They probably will. And this way, if you have a problem, you're dealing directly with the supplier and not a third party.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
805 posts
That's the risk you take, and it could just as easily happen with any of the online travel sites. Think about it, they booked you out at their average rate for those nights and were able to expect the revenue. If bookings were low, as they probably were, the price dropped, simple as that.
Posted by
Tucson
61 posts
Yup. Just had a dustup with Travelocity, which was quite interesting. Used them to book two flights in the UK for Sep 8 and 15th. Open jaw, since I'll fly into Cardiff and then back out of London.
Book, pay, all cool, right? No. I get a email and voicemail that there is a problem with the reservation. I call and attempt to talk to the first rep, and give up. Accent so thick I couldn't understand more than every 3rd word. I call back and got a second rep who explained the situation. Since Travelocity doesn't have an agreement with Flybe (listed as BE on Travelocity, btw) I would have to contact them to get my tickets. This would have been ok, except Travelocity had charged me for paper tickets (Flybe don't have those) and expidited shipping. I had them cancel the reservation, and I went to Flybe's site on my own. Net savings, $104.00 even after currency conversion and having to pay the Visa charge card fee 2x, since it was an open jaw setup.
Lesson learned - will book directly from now on, the big travel sites just aren't worth it without checking the local carriers first.
Glenn in Tucson
2 weeks to the UK!
Posted by
baton rouge, la, US
269 posts
I had a similar situation with Travelocity, where I booked two flights to Portugal. Immediately received a voicemail telling me there was a problem with my reservation; called, talked to a guy for twenty minutes, he said he was running into computer problems and would call me back in 15 minutes with a new price (same problem as other posters ... no agreement between airlines = no tickets). Long story short, he never called me back and I had to fight for me refund. It took two weeks to be credited back to my account. Definitely be aware when you use this company that customer service (and perhaps company integrity) has declined severely over the past few years. Book direct if you can, but if not, be careful and do you research.
Posted by
Boulder, CO, USA
780 posts
Travelocity is a company that outsources its customer service agents to India and Bangladesh, as well as Expedia. I only deal with cheapo ticket agents online that actually have offices and phonelines in the US. It makes a difference. I would always ask "where exactly am i calling?" before paying for anything.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32351 posts
This is a good reminder of why I always use a licensed travel agent to book overseas flights (I definitely follow Rick's advice on that point). There seems to be varying levels of "quality control" with some of the online travel sites. As someone else pointed out, these are often "outsourced" to other countries, where the agents may not be well trained.