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May 5, 2009 | 8:08 pm
#1
lydia
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Havertown, PA, USA
Programs: US Chairman
Posts: 216
Why is Orbitz cheaper than US Air?
I have been checking rates PHL to STT for quite awhile on the US site. I just checked with Orbitz and Travelocity and both sites are cheaper by $80 all in. This is for travel in the second week of September.
I have never used either of the two sites. Should I? Should I wait?
Thanks,
Lydia
May 5, 2009 | 8:51 pm
#2
kudzu
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: AVL
Programs: AA EXP ; Cunard Plat
Posts: 4,211
It sounds like other ticket brokers (Orbitz/Travelocity, etc) still have tickets to sell in the cheaper fare buckets, while US itself has run out of inventory in those fare classes and thus only selling the next-higher fares on its website.
Whether to buy now or wait is a tough call; I guess the standard should be, "If you have to buy now, does it sound like a fair price?" If you wait, you win if the fare goes down later, but would ya kick yourself if the fares spiked? 
Sure, it's fine to book Orbitz/Travelocity/Expedia as they are major online travel centers; I've booked through them and everything works as it should, including being in the queue for auto US upgrades ^
Last edited by kudzu; May 5, 2009 at 8:53 pmReason: clarification
May 5, 2009 | 9:00 pm
#3
me4yankees
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Programs: DL Silver, UA Silver, Marriott Lifetime Silver, IHG Plat, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,695
The only caveat might be that if there are IRROPS, the airline may require you to contact Expedia or Orbitz for assistance, as they are essentially your "travel agent." That happened to me one time and the telephone service I received was not very good. But other than that, everything else worked.
May 5, 2009 | 9:12 pm
#4
djk7
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Orlando, FL, US
Programs: DL-Dirt Medallion;US-Cast Iron Preferred
Posts: 3,618
Originally Posted by lydia
I have been checking rates PHL to STT for quite awhile on the US site. I just checked with Orbitz and Travelocity and both sites are cheaper by $80 all in. This is for travel in the second week of September.
I have never used either of the two sites. Should I? Should I wait?
Thanks,
Lydia
Hard to say if you should wait, without knowing the actual prices you are seeing. My experience is that sometimes these sites have stale info. They price from their database, but when you go to buy, they actually check with the airline, and you get the dreaded "this price is no longer available" screen. If that is not the case and they are offering fares you can live with, go for it.
As kudzu mentioned, prices go up, prices go down. My threshold at this point would be if they were under $275 or so, I would buy, otherwise wait a bit. And if you buy and they go down, it happens, you can't expect to buy the cheapest ticket on every flight you take.
May 5, 2009 | 9:23 pm
#5
BoeingBoy
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: High Point, NC
Programs: None
Posts: 9,171
Originally Posted by kudzu
It sounds like other ticket brokers (Orbitz/Travelocity, etc) still have tickets to sell in the cheaper fare buckets, while US itself has run out of inventory in those fare classes and thus only selling the next-higher fares on its website.
While there are brokers and the airlines do dump unsold tickets to them (usually in the 24-48 hours before departure), the big online GDS' aren't brokers. Just like your local travel agent, they sell from the airline's available inventory - if the airline is sold out in a particular fare bucket the GDS' can't sell you that ticket.
For some reason, US' website is rarely shown as having the lowest fare available. I use Kayak, which doesn't sell tickets but merely consolidates the listing of fares from various siites (both airline and GDS) and provides a link to the lowest fare provider, and US' website is almost never listed as the lowest source for US tickets. At one time it was because of the $5 hidden fee for booking on US' site which made the big GDS' $5 cheaper - maybe that fee is still there.
Jim
May 6, 2009 | 10:56 am
#6
debbieb
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Pittsburgh
Posts: 965
Originally Posted by djk7
Hard to say if you should wait, without knowing the actual prices you are seeing. My experience is that sometimes these sites have stale info. They price from their database, but when you go to buy, they actually check with the airline, and you get the dreaded "this price is no longer available" screen. If that is not the case and they are offering fares you can live with, go for it.
That happened to me once on Expedia. Decided to book it and it came back not available.
May 6, 2009 | 4:39 pm
#7
MrPink
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: Grounded
Posts: 670
Originally Posted by BoeingBoy
While there are brokers and the airlines do dump unsold tickets to them (usually in the 24-48 hours before departure), the big online GDS' aren't brokers. Just like your local travel agent, they sell from the airline's available inventory - if the airline is sold out in a particular fare bucket the GDS' can't sell you that ticket.
For some reason, US' website is rarely shown as having the lowest fare available. I use Kayak, which doesn't sell tickets but merely consolidates the listing of fares from various siites (both airline and GDS) and provides a link to the lowest fare provider, and US' website is almost never listed as the lowest source for US tickets. At one time it was because of the $5 hidden fee for booking on US' site which made the big GDS' $5 cheaper - maybe that fee is still there.
Jim
It used to be that the big sites sold tickets with a $7 fee when usairways.com sold with the $5. Before this latest fee-free spree I only remember priceline.com being cheapest.
May 6, 2009 | 5:52 pm
#8
CLTUSCAPTIVE
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Center Seat in Coach in a AA A321
Programs: AA Platinum, Marriott Rewards Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 261
Just last week I had exactly the opposite situation: Buying 4 tickets CLT - DEN for a family vacation in June the same flights on US were roughly $30 more (each) on Orbitz than on the US website. I wanted a nonstop but almost booked a connection on Air Tran, was glad I checked the US website before I bought the tickets.
May 6, 2009 | 7:27 pm
#9
docr775
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: TX
Posts: 2,734
Sunday I booked a ticket on Expedia for IAH-PHL-FRA for memorial day. Expedia priced it at $435 including taxes, USAirways priced it at $547 including taxes. I think Expedia did not charge YQ fees since the base fare was the same on USAir. Sometimes it pays to shop around. Kayak is your friend!!!!
May 6, 2009 | 8:39 pm
#10
ClueByFour
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Commuting around the mid-atlantic and rust-belt on any number of RJs
Programs: TSA Random Selectee Platinum, * Gold, SPG/HH/MR mid-tier, and a tiny bag of pretzels.
Posts: 9,255
Originally Posted by me4yankees
The only caveat might be that if there are IRROPS, the airline may require you to contact Expedia or Orbitz for assistance, as they are essentially your "travel agent." That happened to me one time and the telephone service I received was not very good. But other than that, everything else worked.
If any airline does that, they are full of it. Orbitz is essentially a distribution channel for the airline--the contract of carriage still applies.
May 7, 2009 | 3:01 pm
#11
me4yankees
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Programs: DL Silver, UA Silver, Marriott Lifetime Silver, IHG Plat, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,695
Originally Posted by ClueByFour
If any airline does that, they are full of it. Orbitz is essentially a distribution channel for the airline--the contract of carriage still applies.
Then apparently the airlines are full of it, because that is what has happened to me, even as an elite, on more than one occasion with different carriers. Therefore, I do not buy from third-party booking companies anymore.
May 8, 2009 | 8:17 am
#12
ClueByFour
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Commuting around the mid-atlantic and rust-belt on any number of RJs
Programs: TSA Random Selectee Platinum, * Gold, SPG/HH/MR mid-tier, and a tiny bag of pretzels.
Posts: 9,255
Originally Posted by me4yankees
Then apparently the airlines are full of it, because that is what has happened to me, even as an elite, on more than one occasion with different carriers. Therefore, I do not buy from third-party booking companies anymore.
You are being muscled by the airlines. Muscle back.
May 8, 2009 | 9:47 am
#13
iztok
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: CLT
Programs: AA-EXP, MR-PP
Posts: 3,440
Originally Posted by me4yankees
Then apparently the airlines are full of it, because that is what has happened to me, even as an elite, on more than one occasion with different carriers. Therefore, I do not buy from third-party booking companies anymore.
I buy from a third party (my TA company) and never had issue contacting the airline or call TA to sort things out. Both ways work well for me.
May 8, 2009 | 1:52 pm
#14
me4yankees
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Programs: DL Silver, UA Silver, Marriott Lifetime Silver, IHG Plat, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,695
Since I am my own travel manager (as well as one for other clients), I just choose to not book with third-party booking companies. Case solved and closed.
And just because it has not happened to some of you, does not mean it doesn't happen!
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