July 15, 2010 by idan.

July 14th-15th 2010:While traveling on a multi destination itinerary I called orbitz to extend the last segment of my flight with carrier United. I was told that there was an airline fee of $150 to rebook and a $30 orbitz fee. In addition to the $180 in fees and that there might be a fare increase.I checked orbitz website and found a united fare to and from the same destinations for $306 but when the agent checked the fare increase he informed me that it was over $1000 dollars. I asked the agent why this was and he had a very hard time explaining this to me. He either didn’t seem like he really understood it himself or being that Orbitz outsources our jobs to the Philippines it was lost in translation.Regardless i told the agent that this was too much and inquired about details of cancelling and rebooking my flight with the credit. That way I could just book the flight I found on the orbitz website. The agent told me that this would be the best way. So we went ahead to cancel my flight and we got disconnected before i was given my credit ID number.I called back to find that the cancelation was completed but then when i went to try and rebook with the credit i was informed of issues that had not be explained by the first agent. Somehow my United Airlines ticket was owned by US Airways therefor orbitz would have to get US airways to book my new united ticket??? Does this make any sense??? The united ticket on Orbitz.com was 300 bucks and US airways was gonna charge me over $1000. Why was i mislead to believe that i could use my credit to book the united flight on the website and then after i was told i couldn’t. I have never had this issue before with expedia or any other travel agent. Credit??? why not just call it a rain check with massive restrictions and fees that we don’t inform you of until after you cancel.Throughout the entire process i had informed the philipine agents that i was having difficulty understanding them. I asked to be transfered to an american agent and was told that it was not possible. Not possible? 2 days before my departure and someone in the philippines canceled my ticket based on miss information and has no authority to fix the issue nor can transfer me to someone that can??Their only remedy. Email customersupport@orbitz.com. Are you serious? I am in Hawaii on vacation and they want me to correspond with Orbitz Customer service by email when i leave in 2 days and have no flight due to there lack of customer support? WOW!! I have now spent a whole day of my vacation talking to the philippines and spending money on airtime. What kind of show are they running here?Furthermore, I emailed july 14th  and on july 15th received a response from Peter Emanuel, Orbitz Email Service Team, that the issue was being investigated. Due to the time sensitivity of my issue i called orbitz again and spoke with James (managerID 108077) and after jumping through the same hoops he told me that he could not do anything for me and directed me back to customersupport@orbitz.com. At that point I retuned an email to Peter Emanuel explaining that due to the urgency of the situation and to protect my self from further costs it is necessary that i rebook myself a flight home.Needless to say I will be filing a small claim against Orbitz.The agents i spoke with are: Unidentified, Coleen (empID MHI) and Harold (037648), James (managerID 108077)

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July 13, 2010 by Mexican_trvlr.

?!?     So far, my experience with Orbitz sucks. The most valuable lesson that I learned from my ordeal is ALWAYS check all the travel sites before (and up to 24 hours after) making a final booking and never rely on your “feelings” about a company… do some “google” search reviews before handing over your credit card number.I am a fairly sophisticated traveler. I was looking for a quick and easy Mexican vaca and following the advice on travel forums decided to book a vacation “package” through Orbitz. After researching hotels, I selected a fairly upscale non-all-inclusive property (that is sometimes a “featured listing” at Orbitz). I booked online and the next day, found the SAME upscale hotel — same flights, same days — with an upgraded room and an all-inclusive package included for just a few hundred dollars more on Travelocity.

I immediately called Orbitz and asked them to “price match” Travelocity. Orbitz would not price match. In fact, Orbitz did not, and to this day, does not, even list the all-inclusive option on their website for this hotel because (I’ve since learned) it is a new hotel offering and Orbitz’s reps advised they do not have any information about it. Here, Travelocity clearly is better than Orbitz.

Customer service directed me to the Orbitz Price Assurance Guarantee (which does not apply to packages anyway) and which in my opinion is fairly worthless to the consumer (and a peace of mind/false sense of security money-maker for Orbitz). From my reading of the guarantee, it’s basically Orbitz saying “Yes, we may overcharge customers on our website, but as long as we overcharge every sucker booking on our website, we don’t owe any sucker any refunds.” Feel free to read it yourself.

In Orbitz defense, they do not have a formal “price match” guarantee and I was offered a cancellation, but because of a timing misunderstanding, the airline tickets were issued and became non-refundable before I had the opportunity to cancel.

I escalated through Orbitz customer service and re-checked the Travelocity website everyday and every day the same flights, dates and package existed at the price I was originally quoted. Again, this makes Travelocity better than Orbitz.

Long story short, I escalated all the way up to the CEO of Orbitz. I figured that he would be happy that I notified Orbitz of a new product and helped speed the process of getting the all-inclusive option listed on the Orbitz website which would generate additional revenue for Orbitz. I thought the least he could do was match the Travelocity price.

Today, I received a call from a sugary-voiced southern woman from Orbitz customer service telling me that Orbitz will not be matching Travelocity’s price and that just this morning Orbitz received the information from the hotel about the new program and will be updating their website shortly.

Ms. Southern Accent also tells me that the Travelocity package I have been referencing is almost $1,000 more than has been showing up on my searches (going all the way through to final check-out). I tell her, “No way, I checked at 2AM this morning.” Sure enough, while we are on the phone, I check Travelocity’s site and my price is gone and she is correct — it is nearly $1,000 higher. She implies, but never states outright, that the Travelocity fare may have been a mistake OR a special offer for a limited number of rooms OR any number of other scenarios which all boil down to Orbitz not matching Travelocity’s rate.

So, for those “in the know” — what is more likely? That this was a mistake in Travelocity’s system or that Orbitz put pressure on the hotel to rescind the Travelocity offer? Could there be another explanation that I’m missing?

Assuming the rate was a Travelocity mistake, then Orbitz wins because who wants the hassle of arguing with front desk staff in a foreign country after hours of travel. But, if Orbitz flexed it’s muscle to push the Travelocity deal underground, Travelocity wins.

So, back to the original question… does Orbitz suck? Anyone out there with a similar experience with either company?

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