Does anyone buy airline tickets online?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I've bought airline tickets online since the 1990s. It's safe.

[panamania79 2]

Hey guys,

I have a question. Is it safe to buy airline tickets online. My husband and I want to go to Guadalajara, Mexico during Thanksgiving vacation. The best price came from expedia.com. Does anyone have any experience with expedia (or any other search engine) with buying airline tickets?

I am kind of old fashioned and am used to buying tickets thru a ticket agency. But expedia offers me an $80 price difference (times two, one for me and one for my husband, so that's a $160 difference). I am just terrified we may encounter some issues if we buy online.

I will appreciate any and all feedback.

Thanks

I always buy my ticket from expedia.

[panamania79 2]

I always buy my tickets online-I have used Expedia many times and it has always worked out just fine.

Stacey,

The price that shows on expedia.com is the price I pay? I just want to make sure there are no hidden fees, or extra fees I may be charged at the airport.

You will only have to pay to check your bags if that's what's required by the airline.I always fly continental and they allow one suitcase for free,an additional is $25.

[_Simpson_ 250]

I have used expedia a few times and have had no problems at all.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I used Expedia, and it sucks. It's all fine if everything goes fine with your flight and all, but if you need to make a change or some mistake happens be prepared to go through hell w/ people who have no idea what they are doing/don't speak english.

My Mom's a travel agent and says the same thing. She uses the online ticket sites to shop but goes directly to the airlines they list to purchase the tickets which is essentially the same deal except if anything goes wrong you can call the airlines directly to fix it in no time which is way better customer service.

One thing about purchasing online no matter what site always check the information you're plugging in. If it's your error they aren't going to help you usually.

Edited July 28, 2009 by ~Flower~

[Marilyn. 340]

I usually use cheaptickets or go directly to the airline site...

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Check the airline sites directly, its a better deal. Check every couple hours. The prices go down the closer it gets to flight time as they want to fill the plane.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Check the airline sites directly, its a better deal. Check every couple hours. The prices go down the closer it gets to flight time as they want to fill the plane.

Do you like to gamble alot?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Check the airline sites directly, its a better deal. Check every couple hours. The prices go down the closer it gets to flight time as they want to fill the plane.

Do you like to gamble alot?

they have software that tracks the population of the flight, right to the end. if your flexible enough you can get a great deal right at the end. They want to fill up the plane. Go check it out. Pick a flight. The closer it gets to departure and it isnt fiull the cheaper it gets.

I know it to be true.

[Marilyn. 340]

I always found that flights seemed to be the cheapest about 2 weeks to 7 days before the day I wanted to fly out...

[steve 27]

I used to work for a travel agent (tours and cruises, not airline tickets) but I had to book literally hundreds of tickets using the web. My suggestion is to go to www.sidestep.com or www.kayak.com first. They do a check of ALL the major ticketing agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbits) plus the airlines and it shows you the best prices on the web right now. They also show you what people taking the same trip have recently paid for comparison.

The cheapest rates are after 12 midnight on Wednesday morning (Tuesday night) EST, this is when agencies holding reservations and seats that are not paid for are released. You can check the airlines as it is true that it is much easier not to have a middle-man, but to be honest, most times, bucket shops like Expedia, Vayama, Travelocity and Cheaptickets offer the best rates, not always so once you find a flight you like on one of the other sites, give a quick check on the airlines website directly. Before you purchase, they must show you the total rate (but beware that they try to push insurance by putting and opt-out check here if you do not want it box). Some wait till you click "choose this flight" before they figure in all the taxes etc...

Today, the airlines no longer pay travel agent comissions, so agencies add anywhere from $25 - 50 per ticket and get the same prices as what is offered on the web. Personally, I like to have control of my trip and dont mind doing it plus, I am the one traveling so I should be the one to choose my flight times, airline etc... I have a vested interest to get everything right!.

Some tips and cautions: All tickets that are AFFORDABLE are pretty much non0refundable. This means you bought it, their yours use them or not, so be sure before you purchase. They do offer usually a 24 hour, oops I made a boo-boo but dont count on it. Triple check names and spellings as this is VITAL now! Changes are usually possible for $250.

Hope that helps. Buying online is one of the BEST ways to plan your trip... Enjoy

Wow. Nice info for us all!

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I always found that flights seemed to be the cheapest about 2 weeks to 7 days before the day I wanted to fly out...

Just keep hittin the refresh button.

[Marilyn. 340]

yeah sometimes you can get lucky and get a cheap flight days or hours before you want to fly out but not always...

I know a lot of the in and outs of buying tickets... I bought a tonne for my hubby

I remember once while the hubby and I were still living apart.. he called me up one day and said book me a ticket for tomorrow.. so I literally booked him a ticket hours before he flew out... we paid a few hundred more then we would normally.. although it probably was more expensive because it was in between Christmas and New Years...

Edited July 28, 2009 by Marilyn.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Pickin weekdays late and off season, is the key.

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

I always buy online. Going to a travel agency is so 80's. I've almost always found the cheapest deal on Travelocity. When Travelocity wasn't the cheapest, I found the best deal directly on the airline's website. Flying on Tues., Wed. or Thurs. is when you will find the cheapest fares.