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Oct 12, 2023 · Booking through Expedia can be a convenient option for travelers who want to compare prices from multiple airlines and easily book flights, hotels, and rental cars in one place. Expedia also offers customer support and a rewards program for frequent travelers. However, there are some downsides to using Expedia.
Mar 29, 2024 · Expedia can sometimes yield big savings, but it’s not without its drawbacks. Here are the pros and cons of Expedia to consider before booking a trip.
- 10 min
Confused about whether to book flights directly with airlines or through Expedia? Our comprehensive guide breaks down the pros and cons of both options to help you decide.
- What Are The Advantages of Booking Flights with An Online Travel Agency?
- Disadvantages of Booking Flights with An Ota
- Which Online Travel Agency Should I Book Flights with?
- Advantages of Booking Directly with The Airline
- So, Should You Book with An Ota Or with The Airline?
1. The same flights may be cheaper on an online travel agency website.
Airlines offer financial incentives to online travel agencies, which are often passed on to the customer in the form of discounted flights. For example, you might find flights from Dallas to New York for $375 on the American Airlines website. A quick search on Orbitzreturns the exact same flights for $325. The takeaway here is that even if you’re only interested in flights from a particular airline, it’s worth your time to also check an OTA or two.
2. It’s faster to find suitable flights on an OTA website rather than searching multiple airline websites.
Since OTAs offer flights from nearly all major airlines, you can quickly compare things like prices, durations, and stops. Using sort and filter functions can make this process even faster. Some OTAs have search features like low-fare calendars for those who have flexible travel plans. If you’re looking for the widest range of options in the shortest amount of time, it makes sense to book flights with an OTA. That being said, you can also use tools like Google Flightsto search, then book your...
3. Online travel agencies offer multi-airline flight itineraries.
Most online travel agencies don’t just offer the same flights that are available on airline websites, they mix and match flights from different airlines. The result can be flight combinations that are super cheap, super convenient, or both. This means that you can often save money AND spend less time traveling by booking flights with an OTA. In contrast, airline websites sell only their own and partner airlines’ flights.
1. An online travel agency is a third party, which makes solving problems more complicated.
If you experience flight irregularities or require a refund, dealing with an online travel agency can be more difficult than simply dealing with the airline directly. There are many cases where the airline claims the situation is the fault of the OTA while the OTA blames the airline. In the meantime, the traveler gets the runaround, which exacerbates the stress inherent in air travel. To minimize the chance that you get stuck in the middle between two unhelpful customer service departments, c...
2. Not all OTAs offer free 24-hour cancellation.
Airlines departing from the USA are required to offer free ticket cancellation within 24 hours of purchase. The same isn’t true of online travel agencies, and many don’t offer this convenience. Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocityare three OTAs that do allow travelers to cancel flight tickets within 24 hours of purchase.
3. OTAs offer multi-airline flight itineraries.
Multi-airline itineraries offered by online travel agencies can save you a lot of money. However, when you book a roundtrip multi-airline itinerary from an OTA, it’s important to know that you’re really buying two or more one-way flights. If you need to cancel flights, it becomes more complicated since you may need to deal with each airline separately depending on their cancellation policies.
If you do choose to use an online travel agency to book flights, we recommend Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocityfor their prices, service, loyalty programs, and free 24 hour cancellation. All three OTAs are owned by the same parent company, Expedia Group.
1. It’s (usually) easier to solve problems.
Air travel is inherently complicated and can at times be quite frustrating. As noted above, booking flights with an online travel agency introduces a third party into the transaction, which by definition adds an additional layer of complication. This can quickly turn a mildly exasperating situation into a travel nightmare, depending on which OTA you’re dealing with and how they respond to the situation. If you wish to avoid a middleman between you and the airline customer service department,...
2. Some airlines don’t sell flights through OTAs.
Southwest, budget airlines like Allegiant, and smaller regional carriers don’t sell flights through online travel agencies. If you want to fly on one of these airlines, or at least see prices to compare, you’ll need to search their website directly.
Going back to our original question: when is it better to buy flights from an online travel agency and when is it better to buy directly from the airline? It depends what you’re looking for and how much time you want to devote to the search. To quickly sum it all up: 1. You might like: 1.1. More air travel tips 1.1. How to find the best Orbitz flig...
Pros of Expedia- cheaper fare for same flight and option for travel insurance. But not sure how the seat selection will happen. Will prices be higher for choosing seats? Is it even an option? And if anything goes wrong, such as a cancelled flight, do I deal with Expedia or VA which would have actual live human beings at a counter at the airport.
- Hi Just so you don't book with the wrong airline, VS is Virgin Atlantic, not VA.
- Unless the Expedia prices are much lower than direct with VS then I would book direct and I think that is the advice that many would give. Expedia...
- If your travel is 100% locked in and the savings are worth it then go with Expedia. The only downside with that plan is that if you need to change,...
- As a matter of interest , how much cheaper is Expedia.
- Don’t buy travel insurance from Expedia or the airline. The travel insurance offered by the airlines it travel agents is rarely a good policy. Rese...
- 24 hour prior to the flight, you deal with the airline even if you purchased from Expedia. So if you go to the airport and there is a delay or anyt...
- It's usually better to book with the airline, but if there is a significant saving with Expedia, it may be worth it. Just to clarify on exactly how...
- Regardless of with whom you end up booking, I would do two things: 1. Check with carrier’s Website, that there are no schedule changes, and do so m...
- Late add: 3. Make sure that all passenger names are spelled exactly, as listed on their Passports. Hunt
- First of all, I used Expedia a lot but usually when they offered good price. When they confirmed the ticket, they will usually send the booking cod...
The Pros & Cons of Using Expedia.com. It’s no secret. Sometimes, the airlines don’t always have the best fares. Online travel agencies like Expedia help travelers find cheap flights to global destinations, sometimes for even less than what’s available through the airline.
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Mar 9, 2019 · Price, however, is just one of many factors that you should consider when looking at airfare. While it's tempting to see a low bottom line and throw caution to the wind, there's a total package that should be analyzed before pulling the trigger.
