Are Travel Websites Just A Scam These Days?

[Bailey Guns]

I've been trying to book a flight/hotel/car for 2 days now on Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz, etc..., for a trip from Lewiston to OKC.

Everything proceeds along fine until checkout. Once my CC info is entered I ALWAYS get the message, "We're sorry. The flight you wanted just sold out." Then I'm offered a different return flight at a slightly higher price with the same results. Happens on every single website. This happens even though they show plenty of seats on both legs of the trip.

I know most of the sites like Orbitz and a few others are owned by Travelocity and Priceline owns most of the others. I've used Travelocity in the past without difficulty but if I didn't know better I'd swear they're trying to run some kind of scam.

I've also checked with the airline directly and there are plenty of seats available for the days I want to travel. I'd book there but then booking the hotel and car separately makes the cost prohibitively expensive.

Is there a trick to this? Is there a better way to book the trip? Anybody have any secrets/connections they'd feel comfortable passing on?

[MrAK]

Last two times I booked a flight I had no such issues

[JohnnyDrama]

I have not had any trouble either. I have always flown between major airports only though. Not knowing your itenerary, it's hard to say. One thing I used to caution the agents I worked with when I was in the travel bidness (this was before everyone could book their own flights) was to check the air carrier code to see if the airline they were booking was really who they said they were and not a code share partner "doing business as". I'm guessing what ever software the travel site uses is third party which creates an incompatibility when it comes to connections. The major carriers have proprietary software, smaller carriers usually use software licensed from one or another of them.

Be sure you check the seat map and get assigned seats before you push the purchase button. No seats, the flight is probably oversold. Not a happy situation.

[Aloha_Shooter]

I have seen the "only 1 ticket left at this price" or "only 2 rooms left" on Expedia and Orbitz and Travelocity but I haven't seen the kind of behavior you're talking about. OTOH, I rarely book flight + hotel + car through those sites. Generally, I have booked the the flights directly with the airline as I have seen no price advantage in going through the travel websites unless it's a package deal.

The problem witih consolidators like Expedia and Orbitz and Travelocity is that they can't compete with the airlines directly on published price (contractually) so they make their money by buying seats at even lower unpublished rates. The package deals depend on those consolidation tickets to lower the overall cost and those tickets may sell out even with the flight itself showing plenty of availability.

TL;DR: I don't think it's a scam but rather a matter of the limited unpublished rate seats they buy in order to create the package deals you're seeing.

[brutal]

There's only one thing I'm convinced of because it happens to my wife all the time even though I've "told her so" on countless occasions.

If you check prices on flights repeatedly from the same device, even over just a few short days, even 21+ days or more out where prices are typically stable, I'm convinced they are using cookies to track you and pushing the price higher every time you look. I always tell her if the price is reasonable, it's not going to get any better so just book it.

The only one ticket left at this price is a sales pressure tactic for sure.

[Bailey Guns]

I'm actually on the phone with customer support at Expedia. She went thru the entire process and the same thing happened to her...two different bookings on different days. After payment info taken she got the same message.

[Bailey Guns]

She tried multiple variations with the same result. Even tried one trip 2 months later. Same thing. Takes payment info and then get the "you're flight just sold out" message. I may need to find my tinfoil hat cuz I'm starting to wonder...

[ray1970]

I had the exact thing happen with Expedia recently. Finally just booked straight through the airline and got the exact flights I was trying to book through Expedia for roughly the same price.

The first time I got the message about the flight or seats not being available I just thought it was a glitch. Tried again, no luck. Tried the next day, same thing. Tried day three and just gave up.

Booked my flights directly with United and the booked a hotel through Expedia.

[ray1970]

Also, every time I tried to book my flights the charge hit my bank account as a pending charge and reduced the available balance in my checking account accordingly. The day I tried twice my bank showed $1400 worth of pending transactions.

On a positive note, the charges did go away the next day without issue.

[Gman]

There's only one thing I'm convinced of because it happens to my wife all the time even though I've "told her so" on countless occasions.

If you check prices on flights repeatedly from the same device, even over just a few short days, even 21+ days or more out where prices are typically stable, I'm convinced they are using cookies to track you and pushing the price higher every time you look. I always tell her if the price is reasonable, it's not going to get any better so just book it.

The only one ticket left at this price is a sales pressure tactic for sure.
There was a study done years ago that realized people that were buying tickets using an Apple device were getting higher prices than those on a PC. It was determined that Apple users probably have a higher disposable income. If there's a possible way to get more money from customers, it will be leveraged.

[MrAK]

She tried multiple variations with the same result. Even tried one trip 2 months later. Same thing. Takes payment info and then get the "you're flight just sold out" message. I may need to find my tinfoil hat cuz I'm starting to wonder...

Might be a good time to ask your gut what it thinks and be open to the idea of a different travel date..

[Gman]

We're getting into college football season. Any relation to the dates you're looking for?

[Bailey Guns]

Booked my flights directly with United and the booked a hotel through Expedia.

Finally resolved the issue by doing the same and going directly to Delta (the only airline that flies outta here). Bought the ticket there and they had plenty of seats on the days I wanted. Then booked the hotel and car with Priceline. Saved $90 doing it that way. Exactly the same flights, hotel and car I was trying to bundle on the other travel websites. Weird stuff.

[Hoser]

Just book it through the airline. If something goes sideways, those site just tell you to piss off. The airlines will at least work with you.

[Hummer]

There's only one thing I'm convinced of because it happens to my wife all the time even though I've "told her so" on countless occasions.

If you check prices on flights repeatedly from the same device, even over just a few short days, even 21+ days or more out where prices are typically stable, I'm convinced they are using cookies to track you and pushing the price higher every time you look. I always tell her if the price is reasonable, it's not going to get any better so just book it.

The only one ticket left at this price is a sales pressure tactic for sure.


This is our experience, too, with the various online booking companies, even Amazon, playing the price shuffle bait and switch games. I don't have good answers but clearing our cache each time we make another inquiry seems to limit the hanky-panky. When I get hotel booking prices from a booking company, I call the hotel directly and ask if I can save. The smaller hotels often assign the booking company customers the smaller, older, crappier rooms.

In June we traveled Europe and used AirBnB for several stays. We'll do that again because we got great places for very good prices from good people happy to have our business, much better than nearby hotels.

[Grant H.]

Just book it through the airline. If something goes sideways, those site just tell you to piss off. The airlines will at least work with you.

This.

There are lots of "gotcha's" with Expedia/Travelocity etc...

Booking directly with the vendor (airline, hotel, rental car, etc) makes changes noticeably easier, and there are chains that are starting to "penalize" travel website bookings (charge for internet, inability to change flights).

[XC700116]

Just book it through the airline. If something goes sideways, those site just tell you to piss off. The airlines will at least work with you.

^^^^ This, I've never seen the "discount sites" ever end up cheaper than I can book directly from the Airline/Hotel/Car Rental Site anyway.

[Eric P]

Get a VPN. Clear all cache. History and cookies. Set the VPN to a poorer location.

Check rates and book. I save a few hundred using a server in Missouri vs non VPN since it knows if I'm from denver, I have more cash to spend..

[KestrelBike]

There's only one thing I'm convinced of because it happens to my wife all the time even though I've "told her so" on countless occasions.

If you check prices on flights repeatedly from the same device, even over just a few short days, even 21+ days or more out where prices are typically stable, I'm convinced they are using cookies to track you and pushing the price higher every time you look. I always tell her if the price is reasonable, it's not going to get any better so just book it.

The only one ticket left at this price is a sales pressure tactic for sure.

They definitely do this.

[Bailey Guns]

^^^^ This, I've never seen the "discount sites" ever end up cheaper than I can book directly from the Airline/Hotel/Car Rental Site anyway.

Well, I've used Travelocity for probably 15 years or more to arrange travel. I don't do it frequently...maybe once every couple of years. It's always worked out well for me.

This time, the tickets booked thru Delta directly were $30 cheaper than what I was quoted from Expedia/Priceline/Travelocity/Orbitz (that they couldn't book) and I got my first choice in flights (with the shortest layovers). But booking the car and hotel from Priceline saved me at least 50% over booking the room directly from the motel. The Super 8 Wyndham I called (I know...nothing but the best accommodations for me) wanted $107 a night and that was after some discounts. I didn't even bother checking the price of the car. Priceline got me the car and the same room for $95 a day.

And when I went to Priceline to book the motel/car, no problems. Zipped right thru the process. For some reason the flight portion was really screwing up the works.

Bottom line, round trip air from Lewiston to OKC, 4 nights in a motel and 5 days with a rental car was $698. That seems pretty reasonable to me.

[brutal]

You can often a better deal on the car through a booking site.

I have only one word of advice there from personal (wife's_ experience. Avoid Payless Car Rental at all costs. I can't speak for the other super low end rental agencies but their practices are egregious. They are pure evil.

Long story short, wife's flights got delayed and they tried to fuck her over with a higher (same day rental) rate because she wasn't picking up the same day because THEY were closed when she landed. I tried to play nice but ended up booking her a different car and had to dispute the charges.

[XC700116]

Well, I've used Travelocity for probably 15 years or more to arrange travel. I don't do it frequently...maybe once every couple of years. It's always worked out well for me.

This time, the tickets booked thru Delta directly were $30 cheaper than what I was quoted from Expedia/Priceline/Travelocity/Orbitz (that they couldn't book) and I got my first choice in flights (with the shortest layovers). But booking the car and hotel from Priceline saved me at least 50% over booking the room directly from the motel. The Super 8 Wyndham I called (I know...nothing but the best accommodations for me) wanted $107 a night and that was after some discounts. I didn't even bother checking the price of the car. Priceline got me the car and the same room for $95 a day.

And when I went to Priceline to book the motel/car, no problems. Zipped right thru the process. For some reason the flight portion was really screwing up the works.

Bottom line, round trip air from Lewiston to OKC, 4 nights in a motel and 5 days with a rental car was $698. That seems pretty reasonable to me.


Well at least you got it worked out. So for my Caveat to the whole thing. I travel roughly 80-90% for work and have frequent traveler programs with almost every airline and hotel chain, and also Corporate rates for Rental car. So to be honest, I haven't rented a car without that in probably 15 years. The hotels though, if you sign up for their loyalty programs and a lot of times you can get a better rate. Also on a Super 8/Wyndham booking you can many times get a decent discount by paying up front. Also on almost ALL hotels, the website price is going to be cheaper than if you call the hotel.

There's about 50 ways to skin the cat find what works, but in my experience the "budget" or "value" car rental and airlines are the biggest scam of them all. Horrible service, and they will nickle and dime you to death to the point that if you are traveling with more than a briefcase you'd have saved money going to one of the majors.

[Bailey Guns]

I rarely travel by air any more.

My wife flies out east every year or two and the online booking has always been the easiest way to do things for us.

I took a one way flight to Boise 2 years ago to pick up a truck and drive it back to Lewiston. I think that's the only time I've flown anywhere since I flew to San Antonio in 2003 to see my kid's graduation from basic training. I'm certainly not experienced enough to know all the tricks of the trade. But I appreciate all the advice. As usual, no matter what you wanna know, there's someone on this forum that's done it and is ready to help out.