Travelocity.com, a unit of Sabre Holdings Corp., and Orbitz Worldwide Inc. plan to announce Monday that they will stop charging a fee when customers book airline tickets over the Internet.
During March and April, several major online travel agencies eliminated airline booking fees on a promotional basis through May 31. Then, last Thursday , Expedia.com, a unit of Expedia Inc., eliminated the fee on a long-term basis, forcing other large online agencies to do the same.
Already in 2007, Priceline.com Inc. and Expedia Inc.'s Hotwire.com, permanently stopped charging airline booking fees on most tickets. The fee is usually a charge of $7 to $12 on top of the price of a ticket.
Both Travelocity and Orbitz will still charge the fee on multi-carrier itineraries and flights originating outside the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The fees are a valuable source of revenue for the online travel agencies. The companies hope that if booking volume increases, the loss of fees will be partially offset by increased commissions paid by airlines and by travelers buying other services, such as hotel and car-rental reservations.
Since its no-fee promotion started in March, Travelocity has seen an increase in the number of people booking airline tickets, as well as an increase in the number of people clicking through to purchase other types of travel, said Tracey Weber, president of Travelocity North America. Expedia and Orbitz have said recently that booking volume for airline tickets increased since the promotions started.
Travelocity also plans to announce Monday it will make permanent a price guarantee on travel packages booked on the site. Under its PriceGuardian program, which began as a temporary promotion, the site promises to refund a price difference from $10 to $500 if another Travelocity customer buys the same package at a lower price at a later date.
The program is similar to a long-term offering on airline tickets and hotel bookings introduced by Orbitz.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Travelocity Flights| Travelocity Cheap Flights| Travelocity Flight Tickets| Travelocity Flights Booking
Travelocity Flights| Travelocity Cheap Flights| Travelocity Flight Tickets| Travelocity Flights Booking
Do business online with online agency
Q: I've been having some problems with an airline reservation, and was wondering if you could help me. I recently had to cancel a reservation I had made through Travelocity. I spent eight hours on the phone with their incompetent customer service agents trying to use the credit I received to reschedule another flight on the same airline.
Travelocity finally gave me a flight and a confirmation number, but when I checked the airline Web site, it hadn't been ticketed yet. I don't want to get to the airport and find we have no tickets and can't fly. I spoke to Travelocity about this again last night, and was promised an e-mail "within four to eight hours" with a resolution. I haven't received a response.
Travelocity has charged my credit card $2,700 for tickets I don't have. I can't deal with its customer service department again. I'm at my wits end. Help!
- Martha Schmidt, Sykesville, Md.
A: Travelocity should have changed your reservation quickly instead of keeping you on the phone for eight hours. When it promised you a response within four hours, it should have given you one.
At this point in my answer, I normally outline Travelocity's missteps and then suggest a few things you might have done differently. But let me start with you this time.
Based on your letter - the fact that you preferred talking to someone on the phone instead of dealing with a Web site - I think you may have booked your airline tickets through the wrong company. Travelocity is an online travel agency. That means for best results, reserve your trip through Travelocity.com.
You could have canceled your reservation online by clicking on the "Your Account" link at the top of the home page, logging in, selecting "Check Current Reservation" and then clicking "Cancel Reservation."
If you don't want to do that, why not use a travel agent next time? Sure, a human agent might charge a booking fee, and may not always have the lowest price, but that person will be there when you need to make a change. You will almost certainly not have to talk to a company representative for eight hours.
That's not to say anything Travelocity did was excusable. Its well-publicized "guarantee" would leave any reasonable traveler with the impression that problems are dealt with quickly. "If something isn't right, don't let it ruin your trip," it says. "Call us immediately instead! We're here 24/7 to work with our partners to make it right, right away. Our customer care professionals are ready to help."
I guess it all depends on your definition of "right away."
I asked Travelocity to take another look at your case. When you first contacted Travelocity by phone to apply the unused tickets to a new itinerary, the company didn't receive a confirmation from the airline. Travelocity rebooked a similar itinerary with nonstop flights on a separate reservation, which accounted for the delay. "In the spirit of the Travelocity guarantee, we waived our exchange fees on both bookings," a company representative told me.
Do business online with online agency
Q: I've been having some problems with an airline reservation, and was wondering if you could help me. I recently had to cancel a reservation I had made through Travelocity. I spent eight hours on the phone with their incompetent customer service agents trying to use the credit I received to reschedule another flight on the same airline.
Travelocity finally gave me a flight and a confirmation number, but when I checked the airline Web site, it hadn't been ticketed yet. I don't want to get to the airport and find we have no tickets and can't fly. I spoke to Travelocity about this again last night, and was promised an e-mail "within four to eight hours" with a resolution. I haven't received a response.
Travelocity has charged my credit card $2,700 for tickets I don't have. I can't deal with its customer service department again. I'm at my wits end. Help!
- Martha Schmidt, Sykesville, Md.
A: Travelocity should have changed your reservation quickly instead of keeping you on the phone for eight hours. When it promised you a response within four hours, it should have given you one.
At this point in my answer, I normally outline Travelocity's missteps and then suggest a few things you might have done differently. But let me start with you this time.
Based on your letter - the fact that you preferred talking to someone on the phone instead of dealing with a Web site - I think you may have booked your airline tickets through the wrong company. Travelocity is an online travel agency. That means for best results, reserve your trip through Travelocity.com.
You could have canceled your reservation online by clicking on the "Your Account" link at the top of the home page, logging in, selecting "Check Current Reservation" and then clicking "Cancel Reservation."
If you don't want to do that, why not use a travel agent next time? Sure, a human agent might charge a booking fee, and may not always have the lowest price, but that person will be there when you need to make a change. You will almost certainly not have to talk to a company representative for eight hours.
That's not to say anything Travelocity did was excusable. Its well-publicized "guarantee" would leave any reasonable traveler with the impression that problems are dealt with quickly. "If something isn't right, don't let it ruin your trip," it says. "Call us immediately instead! We're here 24/7 to work with our partners to make it right, right away. Our customer care professionals are ready to help."
I guess it all depends on your definition of "right away."
I asked Travelocity to take another look at your case. When you first contacted Travelocity by phone to apply the unused tickets to a new itinerary, the company didn't receive a confirmation from the airline. Travelocity rebooked a similar itinerary with nonstop flights on a separate reservation, which accounted for the delay. "In the spirit of the Travelocity guarantee, we waived our exchange fees on both bookings," a company representative told me.
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