Booking your Airline tickets Online – Discount Airplane Fares – Compare Expedia Travelocity and Priceline - Avoiding the Pitfalls

May 30th 2006

Airline Travel

There are many places online where you can purchase airline tickets including Priceline, Expedia, and Travelocity. They are all different and you may find a deal on one but not the other. All offer a relatively quick search of airline fares.

In addition to a quick list of airline fares, Priceline offers a “Name Your Own Price” service where you are able to bid on a specific Departure and Arrival location. In this process you will need to input detailed information about the travelers including ages. Then just name your own price and see if it is accepted. You may have a better chance of getting a deal if you pick off times and dates. For instance, don’t pick December 24^th for travel.

Travelocity also offers a quick search for prices. Travelocity also offers flexibility and a guarantee that says that “when you book with Travelocity and encounter any problem with your booking, we'll work with our partners to make it right.”

Travelocity also says that if you purchase airline tickets and notify them within 24 hours of your purchase that you've booked the wrong dates, they’ll rebook your airline tickets without charging a change or cancellation fee. This is important because some airlines or agencies have an extra charge for this type of insurance.

Travelocity also says they will do the legwork to help locate another flight if your airline cancels your flight. In addition they will go to bat for you if a partner does not perform as expected. For instance, “If you arrive at your hotel room to find that your ocean view is a parking lot view, we'll ask the hotel to honor their commitment to you, or find you a room with an ocean view at a comparable hotel at no cost to you.”

Expedia was a little more intricate than the other two travel agencies. For instance, when we typed in a departure date of July 10^th and return date of July 25^th(LA to NY), Expedia offered more than one airport to choose from. This can be helpful if you need a certain airport, and there was a check box for all airports. The others may offer a similar option, but Expedia gave the list.

Travelocity and Priceline gave quick results with the lowest price available. In our comparison Travelocity returned the lowest price. Their American Airlines flight was $333 per person while Priceline returned $357 per person. After the extra step in picking “all airports” Expedia returned $333 per person as well.

In this case American Airlines turned up the lowest price. They may not always be the lowest price, but lately since gas and jet fuel prices have skyrocketed, the major airlines have actually become more competitive. Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines have had a harder time dealing with higher fuel costs.

Expedia offers a low price guarantee. According to their website: “If you’ve booked a trip with us, and you find a better price online for the exact trip within 24 hours, we'll refund the difference—and we'll give you a $50 travel coupon.”

It may be a good idea to pay a little extra for refundable tickets. Also, some frequent travelers say you should have your tickets mailed to you. This will help insure you get on that flight.