Expedia flight booking service

Expedia flight booking service

rated 5 out of 10: use with extreme caution

A few days ago, Expedia sent me a travel itinerary. Interesting, I thought, it was sent two weeks I before travel. So early. Curious, I thought, since I have no Expedia bookings.

I followed the link to my "itinerary". It was empty. Everything on this itinerary has been cancelled, was the message. What a stuff-up, I thought. Then thought no more about it.

Until... a few days later... Expedia sent another email. Shout about your experiences ! they shouted. Welcome back ! they enthused.

Time to review Expedia, I thought.

So:

I was planning an overseas trip. Certain cities I had to be in, on certain dates. Otherwise flexible. One destination city led me to Qatar Air, the only airline to fly there with only one stop on the way. I would be coming home from a different city.

Expedia offered plenty of flight options, a wide choice of airlines. They guarantee lowest priced flights. So I used Expedia to book a flight to Budapest, flying Qatar.

First mistake.

A subsequent check on the Qatar website showed a price -- for exactly the same flight -- but cheaper. Sure, just $50 cheaper. But it shatters the guarantee of lowest price from Expedia.

A quick email and Expedia refunded the difference. Very nice. But how many people don't double-check ? How many people overpay, just because Expedia pretend that they can guarantee the lowest price ?!

Meanwhile, I had already made my second Expedia mistake.

Expedia claim to offer the lowest priced fares. They also claim to be a "travel agent".

Why would a traveller use a travel agent ? Because a travel agent offers advice based on experience and knowledge. Because a travel agent acts as an *agent* for the traveller. First, the advice... or lack of it:

My travel dates were flexible. I played around a bit, looking at other days, other itinerary options. And found something unexpected...

Air fares vary depending on the day of the week on which you fly... Fares vary by several hundred dollars ! This is the sort of knowledge that you would expect a "travel agent" to offer as advice. You know:

"I plan to fly out on a Monday." "Can you fly out on a Tuesday ? Flights are much cheaper on a Tuesday." That's how it works with a real -- a good -- travel agent.

Not with Expedia.

That was my second mistake with Expedia. Not a fault with Expedia. Just a reminder that Expedia is a travel booking service. Not a travel agent. No matter what they claim.

So the trip is taking shape. One (expensive) flight booked. Time to add more detail...

Until my son told me, Qatar charge less if you buy several flights in the one transaction...

Oh. Is that common ? Last few flights I booked, each flight was independently priced. Buy one, buy many, individual flight prices don't change. (Or perhaps the situation has never occurred before ?! )

Warning: this is not mentioned by Expedia. It's the sort of advice you get from a real *travel agent*. Or, if you're lucky, from your son.

Third mistake: I expected Expedia to be sympathetic. Possibly even supportive. I did not want to cancel my flight. Just buy the second flight at a lower price, as though I were buying the two together.

It's not our policy to help, said Expedia.

Qatar were slightly more sympathetic. But no more helpful. The ticket was bought through a travel agent, they said. We can only help you if the travel agent contacts us. To me, that's perfectly acceptable.

What a pity that Expedia refused to do anything whatsoever to help. Not our policy, I was told. No, I lie...

Our policy states that we will not help you. That's the Expedia policy.

And they claim to be a travel "agent" !

I cancelled the flight that I had booked.

Sure, it cost me several hundred dollars. But when I later bought *all* air tickets in one transaction -- and bought tickets for flights on the cheap days -- I came out ahead.

An expensive lesson. It would have been even more expensive if I had bought the rest of the tickets through Expedia.

Well yes, of course, I bought all subsequent air tickets direct from the Qatar website.

My advice: use Expedia -- or a similar site -- to get ideas of flights and fares from a selection of airlines. , Also look for airlines which are not included in Expedia's offerings. (That was an earlier mistake -- to assume that Expedia covered all of the well known airlines.)

If in doubt, go to a *real* travel agent. If you are reasonably confident -- make the actual purchases direct from the website of your favoured airline.

And if you believe that an Expedia-like service is a good way to book your holiday *accommodation* -- wait till I write a separate review of online accommodation bookings...

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Problems ? Solved