Booking Flights w/ Expedia vs. Airline?

I use sites like Expedia to see the options, then book directly with the airline. In case of an issue along the way, you're more likely to get help from the airline in resolving it than if you have another layer of bureaucracy between you.

Expedia and all of major search engines are fine for booking fares. And you should check the airline web site since fares vary greatly.

i have booked with Orbitz and have never had any problems.

It is safe and efficient to book online. Yes, the fare can vary tremendously. Look at the small print that shows the airfare with taxes and fees and not the big print come on fares without taxes and fees. Triple check that you are giving the exact name that your ID shows and that the date and the destinations are really what you want. I have had no trouble with online purchases of airfare from Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, United, Delta, and American. Orbitz has turned up a number of bargains, including an Aer Lingus incredibly low one way fare to Rome that I could not book on the Aer Lingus website or anywhere else.

I've never had a problem with Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz. I've also had occasion to use Expedia's telephone customer service (to change a reservation) and I found them to be very courteous and efficient.

Although I would use a hotel booking website, like Expedia or Booking.com, only as a last resort (poor selection, mostly overpriced properties), I have used Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz for booking flights without problem. I often go to an airline site (Lufthansa) because I prefer to fly with them.

I've book 2 great package deals on Orbitz.com No problem with either (although the first trip, the hotel was way farther out from city center than I'd have liked, but my fault, I didn't really research it) My trips consisted of air and hotel. Went off season for 5 days, took each one of my kids on a mommy and me trip to a location of their choice) Problem with booking with these sites is, if there is an issue with the air travel, you are kind of on your own. If you book directly with the airline, they are more likely to be able to help you. I LOVE Lufthansa for overseas travel. United is OK, but Lufthansa's service on board is much better, the seats more comfortable, even in the back of the plane. Food on Lufthansa is better too. Lufthansa is more likely to be on time, as it's Denver/Munich, or Denver/Frankfort, then you make your connection to your destination city. United from Denver usually connects through Chicago, Dulles, etc. more of a chance to miss a connection. As far as the prices being different, I don't think so. Look carefully at the trip. On the home page you won't always see all the taxes and fees that will be added when you book the flight. Click all the way through up until you have to confirm and pay. Also, some flights look really cheap because you have longer layovers, or lots of connections. Check the total travel time to determine the value of your flight. Some require an overnight stay and seem really cheap - do you want to sleep in the airport, or pay for a hotel for one night?

I too prefer Lufthansa for the food and service. Note, however, that there is no non-stop flight from Denver-Munich. You can fly Denver-Frankfurt, then connect. Last time I flew to Munich I had choices to connect in Philadelphia or Newark. I chose Newark because of a previous bad experience with NTS in Philly. Newark is as bad; maybe it's an east coast thing. Actually, flying out of Philly is not so bad. The concourses, although far-flung, are all connected and inside the same security zone. Coming back, however, customs dumps you outside security, and you have to come back through it, and the TSA personnel in PHL are hostile.

"TSA workers" and "Hostile" from my experience in Atlanta are linked together all the time!! The worst part of international travel for me is re entry into Atlanta....

I flew into Atlanta in Sept 2002. I don't even remember the TSA workers there, so they must not have been exceptionally bad then. The Denver TSA workers have always been friendly and helpful.

Note to H J: when you re-enter Atlanta (assuming it's your home airport), you don't encounter any TSA personnel. Just passport & customs.

I'm sure most Expedia/etc transactions go smoothly. But, I've heard of enough problems that I always book directly through airlines, not through a third party. The problems can arise, for example, if a flight is cancelled and you need to rebook. You can't just line up at the airport counter or call the airline, you need to deal with whatever site you booked through. A friend of mine recently booked a multi legged flight through Orbitz and couldn't get confirmation from the airline for her middle leg. The airlilne told her to take it up with Orbitz. It took hours on the phone with Orbitz, then they ended up cancelling the entire ticket, because of this middle leg issue between Orbitz and the airline.

I've used Expedia without any problems. They had the lowest price ticket on our flight to Denmark, with only layover each way.

Well, I had a problem when NWA cancelled our inter-European flight back to Amsterdam to catch a flight back to Seattle. NW shipped us over to a BA flight to London and then on to Seattle. The problem, other than I do not care for BA or Heathrow, BA put my wife and I on separate planes to fly from London to Seattle. In discussing this issue with BA, I had no satisfaction what so ever. I ended up calling the home office of NWA in Minneapolis and told them that putting us on two separate planes was not only unacceptable, but it would lead to one big anti-NWA campaign on the internet. After some time on hold, a person came on and apologized for what he said was a big mistake by BA. He contacted BA and we ended up on the same plane back to Seattle. I was certainly glad I had booked with the airline in this case and continue to do so.

We have had our share of problems booking flights thru sites like Expedia, etc. We will use them to find the deals, then go directly to the acutal airline site to book the deals We tried to change a flight once at the airport on an Orbitz booked flight(book an earlier or later flight) and were told that we could have done that, if we had booked directly with the airline. We have also had problems getting seat assignments using them. Any changes are a hassle...the airlines are a lot easier to work with. Recently we found a real cheap non-refundable fare using Orbitz. I booked it directly with the airline. When weather problems arose, the airine refunded my money, even though they were not obliged.

A lot of airlines now offer to pay the difference back if their fares drop. Expedia doesn't seem offer that. I prefer to purchase directly from the airlines since most flights wont be cheaper elsewhere because of these guarantees. For instance, last year I purchased a round trip flight to London from Denver for $640 via Expedia. I went to the United Airlines site to change seats a week later (logged into the UA site directly so it already had my ticket info) and it said "Click here for price fare difference refund". I clicked and it said my flight had dropped to $520 and a week later $120 was refunded back onto my credit card. This was through United.com, not Expedia (who never notified me but probably would have somehow gotten the refund for themselves maybe? just a speculation..) So ever since that happened, I buy directly through the airline. I just got my tickets for Denver to London non-stop in March for $706 directly through British Airways site, and an Expedia Email to me (still on their list apparently) offered the same "deal" for $812. Moral of the story - first check all airlines directly!