Withalmost everyone having access to the internet, the day of calling atravel agent to book a flight are nearly gone. However, there aresome pitfalls the consumer needs to avoid when booking their ownairline reservations. Many discounted airfares are notrefundable or carry stiff penalties if you need to change or cancelyou flight. Keep in mind that the cheapest airline tickets couldend up costing more if you have a change in plans.
Ipersonally experience this recently when I was booking a trip toTexas for my husband. We were a bit indecisive about our travelplans, first thinking we were both going to drive to a gathering ofhis family but I decided to not make the trip so I booked him aflight on Orbitz from El Central to Houston. About a weeklater, I discovered that other family members were running intoissues with getting to and from the airport so we decided to stay inSacramento and my husband would fly out of Sacramento. Changinghis flight with Orbitz turned out to be a nightmare. I fullyexpected to pay the $150 penalty noted in the terms on their sightbut what I didn't expect was that they would want this amount paid upfront even if my new tickets were less money and the credit from hiscancelled flight would cover the new ticket and the penalty.
Ifyou do book through Orbitz (or any other discount travel service) and find you need to change yourreservation or cancel a flight and want to reuse the credit, godirectly to the airlines to rebook your new flight. You willstill get tagged with the penalty but the airline will take that feefrom your credit and apply the balance to a new flight and send youvoucher if you still have a credit balance. When we attemptedto book the new flight through Orbitz we were told we forfeit thebalance and have to pay the penalty up front. So in our case,with a $479 credit pending we would still need to pay $180 (Orbitztacks on their own $30 fee) for a $232 ticket. Bygoing directly to United to rebook we did not have to pay anythingout of our pocket on the second ticket. United deductedthe $150, issued a new ticket for $232 and sent us a voucher for the$97.
Sobe prepared to lose money if you need to cancel or change your flightif you book through Orbitz.
