For my personal travel, I prefer to find great deals offered directly by the airline and hotel, avoiding third-party booking sites unless there's an extremely good deal just too good to pass up. The reason why I prefer to book direct is because if anything goes wrong, it's much easier to deal directly with the travel provider. With a third-party site, there's a middle man that you need to go through.
Here are some of the frustrating scenarios that make me avoid them as much as I can:
Example 1: Your flight gets rescheduled and you won't be arriving until the next day. Instead of being able to call the hotel directly and speaking to a front desk agent or manager to request that you won't be charged for the first nights' stay (which I've found is usually not a problem), you have to call the third-party booking site. As you've already pre-paid for your hotel stay, the third-party booking site representative places you on hold so that he or she can get in contact with the hotel manager for the refund. You could be on hold for 30 minutes or more for this simple request.
Example 2: Something comes up and you need to change your flight. While many airlines' hold times and customer service representatives can be maddening nowadays, imagine having to go through that experience twice. For a ticket purchased through a third-party, you usually can't just speak directly with the airline or change your flight online as only the issuing travel agency can make changes. You will need to call the third-party site who will place you on hold to get in touch with the airline and then come back to you. "The important to budget travel is to prepare in front. When it happens to family trips, globetrotting, well-deserved trips and/or going to see new locations we have never been before, the reality of expense and budgeting is generally in the back of our heads. Preparation and consuming our travel budget wisely is a consideration for most families. Lowering expending and expenses, while still taking pleasure in your vacation to its fullest, is the key to certain achievements and fiscal responsibility. Your pocketbook and family will thank you! The thought behind economizing money while vacationing is simple: Even if your personal finances is really limited, you can still take a break and enjoy life! Simply put, life is just too short to never step out of the door or leaving the homestead! Also remembering that while traveling, no matter whether on a resources or not, even the smallest of things can all add op to a huge vacation or travel bill!..". Be prepared to spend about an hour on the phone and possibly pay extra service fees.
Although I usually avoid them, Expedia.ca (the Canadian version of Expedia.com) dangled a $300 off coupon about a month ago. Taking into account the $300 discount, I barely paid more than the cost of a cheap lunch for a flight from San Francisco and two nights in Las Vegas. Alas, the flight was canceled by the airline and all other flights that would've had me arriving into Las Vegas at a reasonable hour were sold out. It was a maddening few hours of trying to work with Expedia.ca who provided the worst customer service I have ever experienced. The first agent even repeatedly told me that the flight was not canceled (contrary to the airline's online flight status and own representatives) and to just show up at the airport.
While the amount of money paid was hardly worth the frustration, it became a matter of principle! We shall see what happens with my written complaint sent to Expedia.ca and directly to the airline. Take this as a lesson learned - avoid Expedia.ca at all costs. For this budget traveler, the customer service experienced is enough to turn me off them for good, no matter how good the deal.
Have any third-party booking horror stories of your own? Comment below!
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