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My own experience is that all of these sites that are supposed to save you money can actually charge you more.
Example: A couple weeks ago I booked a one-way flight here in the U.S. and I priced it on Orbits, Travelocity, Expedia and Cheapoair, and the plane ticket ranged from $340-$500. So just out of curiousity I went directly to United Airlines website and priced my ticket...$235. Total all tax/fees included. So clearly you can see I would have lost over $100. by using one of those sites that supposedly save you money.
Few years back the same situation happened to me in California when I went to rent a car. All those sites were charging more than going directly into the rental shop where they sometimes offer you face-to-face deals.
Maybe if you book combos it saves you, I don't know. But so far I've had better luck buying directly from the source.
Another major issue with using these 3rd party sites is that if there is any kind of issue, frequently the hotel/airline can't assist you. I work for a hotel and whenever there is a booking issue with these 3rd party sites, we can't assist. Plus if you have any service issues it makes getting compensated harder also. As a hotel person, I STRONGLY advise booking directly with a hotel.
Same as above - always get a better rate going directly to the companies (rental car, hotel, or airlines) website. I have better success looking for deals, coupons, etc outside of those sights.
And for airfare - NEVER use those sights, you will likely end up paying more. Everyone should knows this at this point because it has been repeated so much in this forum. The cheapest rate is always to use a search engine to determine the cheapest route and time, then go to the airline sight and book your flight.
> My own experience is that all of these sites that are supposed to save you money can actually charge you more.
Sometimes yes, but in my experience not often. Usually prices have been just about the same and at least once the travel website was cheaper.
Of all the websites- avoid Travelocity because they add travel insurance to airplane ticket prices by default. You have to be very careful to remove it if you don't want it. Other websites (including my current favorite, Expedia) require that you explicitly choose insurance, decreasing your chances of making a mistake.
I WAS a happy Travelocity customer (they helped with a messed up plane reservation) but I am now completely off them because of the travel insurance issue.
Priceline used to be great, especially for hotels. We've gotten good flights from them in the past but in the past 6-7 years or so, I've never been able to get a 'deal" on a flight. Hotel discounts aren't really very good any more either.
Thank you for that info everyone. I was fooled into thinking those websites could actually save you money.
They do - by pointing me in the direction of the specific hotel or car rental or airline to buy my ticket!
But remember, some airlines do not participate, so you still have to check them individually. Like SouthWest, AirTran, and several discount airlines in Europe and Asia.
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