Orbitz and Expedia rant

**858Smith** · 10-13-2008, 04:59 AM

this is so random, but...

in july, my husband and his family booked their vacation to NYC (where i was living, at the time). they booked flight and hotel. on their way to NYC, my husband's cousin called the hotel to let them know they were checking in late cuz the flight in atlanta was delayed by hours. when they looked them up, they said they weren't in the database. orbitz took their money and never forwarded the info to the hotel.

meanwhile, when i called, i was on hold for about an hour til i hung up and i told them i demanded another hotel and they said nothing was available til the next day. i had 5 people coming and nowhere to stay!

they refunded the money 3 days later, but still. good thing we found a place, although it was soooo outta the way.

expedia pissed me off cuz they charged us $300 more than we should've paid for a hotel. yeah, it was totally our fault we didn't book it through the hotel, but that was the first time we'd ever done that.

**perSue** · 10-15-2008, 10:18 AM

that's not the first time i've heard of orbitz doing that.

i had a problem when i went out of the country... i'd gone thru orbitz to book my flight... paid and when i called up the airline directly to confirm & discuss my meal plan... they told me there was no flight in my name.

so i contacted orbitz and threatened a lawsuit if i wasnt refunded immediately... and booked DIRECTLY thru the airline.

I've also had family/friends have the same types of issues w/orbitz.

if all else fails... just directly contact the airline/hotel/car rental agency... it's not worth the hassle...

**858Smith** · 10-15-2008, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by perSue

that's not the first time i've heard of orbitz doing that.

i had a problem when i went out of the country... i'd gone thru orbitz to book my flight... paid and when i called up the airline directly to confirm & discuss my meal plan... they told me there was no flight in my name.

so i contacted orbitz and threatened a lawsuit if i wasnt refunded immediately... and booked DIRECTLY thru the airline.

I've also had family/friends have the same types of issues w/orbitz.

if all else fails... just directly contact the airline/hotel/car rental agency... it's not worth the hassle...

sorry that happened to you, also! when we threatened to sue, they didn't care. it was my first and last time booking through a site instead of directly.

**Lady_V** · 10-15-2008, 03:51 PM

I had the same thing happen to me when DD and I went to London 6 years ago. They had HER reservation... and not mine. DD was a lap-child

They told me the seats were sold out.

Who's lap was DD slated to sit on???

**Luv2BeFrugal** · 11-03-2008, 12:11 AM

Sorry that happened to you!

We've never been able to find any good deals on Orbitz...

We've had excellent experience with Travelocity.

**Contrary Housewife** · 11-08-2008, 11:31 AM

When I make online reservations I always print the receipt page that you get when you pay, and take it with me. I get a simple cardstock folder, like kids use for school, and put all our travel papers in there for the hotel, the airlines, and any other reservations or numbers we need. It has saved a lot of headaches.