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Online Travel Agencies?
dbright asks: "I am currently planning my upcoming honeymoon, and I was wondering if I should try getting my tickets, and/or making travel arrangements online using one of the many available retailers (cheaptickets.com, priceline.com, etc...). I wanted to ask Slashdot readers about experiences with any of these companies, and their thoughts on making arrangements online."
What works for me is to find a good price or two searching online, then take these to a real, in-person agent and say can you get me something like this or better....and the in-person agent can often do better!
I am going to go back to using the "Preview" button when Slashdot goes back to loading at reasonable speed. Until then, thank you for being able to read my typing.
Making trouble today for a better tomorrow...
I haven't done Priceline for airline tickets yet, but Priceline for hotels is awesome. Pick your area and dates, then pick the best star rating they have available.
In another browser window open Expedia.com and see what all 4 star hotels (or whatever the best shown by priceline is) are available in the area. Pick one you like, make a note of the average price per night in Expedia.
Go back to the browser window with Priceline and bid like half, maybe 60% of whatever the best price at Expedia is.
Wait 15 minutes, see what happens. I have stayed several stays at 4* spots (Austin / San Antonio) for $65 and $60 a night.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
Read everything on Hotels.com and its affiliate websites. My wife and I were convinced that we were getting oceanfront rooms based on the website description, but the hotel had us reserved for oceanview rooms when we arrived (oceanview is a complete joke). We complained and got upgraded without any hassle, but here's the warning again: read everything. Know what you are buying!
Others have debated the pros and cons of Priceline.com. For a good synopsis, as well as *awesome* tips on how to use Priceline, checkout the Bidding for Travel Forum. It IS possible to submit mutiple bids, figure out the absolute lowest price, and avoid problems. They also have link to Priceline good for $10 off per airline ticket and $25 off vacation packages.
ALWAYS use Priceline.com for hotels and rent-a-cars.
NEVER use Priceline.com for airlines, also NEVER use HOTWIRE or any other pig-in-a-poke service for airlines. You will be royally screwed.
Recommended for airlines: AA.com. Orbitz.com (and also for rent-a-cars when Priceline comes up empty).
Travelocity.com for hotels, only if Priceline comes up empty.
I've got to agree on using a travel agent. I use one for business, and once asked her point blank, "So, are you better than getting things online?"
She actually gave me an honest answer. You can get better prices on airling tickets online, because the agent charges booking fees, so if you have a site you know, (I like Orbitz and Travelocity), use it. She said (and I've had proven to me) that an agent can usually get better deals on hotels, cars and tours. I've used her for a bunch of hotel bookings, and she has always found better deals than I imagined ($160 a night at the Marriot in Hawaii, on 2 hours notice.)
A good office will have a specialist for lots of different things, and I've actually had them tell me "Just use the concierge at this hotel, they'll take care of you." Remember, they're in the business of taking care of peoeple and trying to make them happy, and a good travel agency will do just that.
But hey, that's just been my experience.
I've seen prices triple on travelocity.ca for cars, I've given up on trying to book anything through them.