Booking travel with airline vs. Yahoo or Travelocity

Run girl Run · Post by **Run girl Run** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:32 pm

Can anyone share their experience booking travel directly with an airline vs. with Yahoo or Travelocity? We are planning a trip to St. John next May and the prices with the airlines are, on average $250 more than with Yahoo, Travelocity or Orbitz.

Thanks for your input.

Jimm · Post by **Jimm** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:55 pm

I've never experienced that much of a price difference between the airlines and Yahoo, Travelocity, or Orbitz. I’m going to guess that the Yahoo, Travelocity, and Orbitz are pricing using multiple carriers for the round trip. I used Yahoo once because for some reason they had a Continental flight that was not on Continental’s website. With the exception of the minimal $5.00 a ticket surcharge I had no problems what so ever using Yahoo. Now take in mind that I never had to contact them after I purchase the tickets, so I cannot really comment on the customer service.

tipsy · Post by **tipsy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:20 pm

I've too have booked thru both sites and have never seen such a price difference as what you are seeing! I would go back & recheck both sites and see if there is a catch somewhere. That's a big price diff, even for yahoo,travelocity etc.
Know that when we are going,the price has inc. by $250, since when we 1st looked in July and what it is now. But we're going down during the St Thomas carnival time, which didn't know when booked.

But never had a prob. w/booking thru the travel sites,used both of them,so go for it. If remember right, St John Carnival is in May I think, so prices might start going up.

waterguy · Post by **waterguy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:46 pm

STJ carnival is the end of june with the last day on the 4th of july

NCSue · Post by **NCSue** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:26 pm

The only difference I've found is if there is a difference in the fare. We've had this happen twice - I booked and then a couple weeks later the price dropped dramatically. I got a refund voucher for the difference in the fare. With the third party sites, you won't always get this!

tipsy · Post by **tipsy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:34 pm

waterguy wrote:STJ carnival is the end of june with the last day on the 4th of july

Thanks for the info, knew it was sometime in early summer. It was the only thing I didn't look into before we booked our trip, always check for school & college vacations, holidays etc but never gave Carnival a thought. So am hoping STJ doesn't get too much "fallout" from the STT Carnival in April and the beaches don't get too crowded.

Marcia (Mrs. Pete) · Post by **Marcia (Mrs. Pete)** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:24 pm

tipsy wrote:
waterguy wrote:STJ carnival is the end of june with the last day on the 4th of july
Thanks for the info, knew it was sometime in early summer. It was the only thing I didn't look into before we booked our trip, always check for school & college vacations, holidays etc but never gave Carnival a thought. So am hoping STJ doesn't get too much "fallout" from the STT Carnival in April and the beaches don't get too crowded.

We are always there during Carnival (STT) in late April and there isn't any kind of "fall out" as far as crowds and such on STJ.

As to the airfare pricing, that seems really odd...usually, the prices I get on Expedia, etc...are nearly identical to what I get from the airlines directly. Hummmmmm.....

I never book us through Expedia (or similar sites) for our STJ trips. Two reasons: one, I like to work directly with the airline whenever possible and two, unless you are taking advantage of add-on discounts (hotel/car rental), there is no savings. But, if you can get a better rate through Travelocity or similar, I guess I would suggest you go for it!

Hummmmmm...

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:38 pm

It's going to be the airline that takes care of any exceptions or issues. I always make certain that I have the airline's confirmation number; you'll need that if you need to call them directly. Some airlines (US Air) may not let you check-in online if you have purchased the ticket through a third party. If I can get the price directly from the airline than that is what I prefer.

Cheers, RickG

waterguy · Post by **waterguy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:42 pm

Check to make sure that they only list one airline on the way down and one on the way back. I have seen some deals where you change airlines in the middle of the flight and if there are problems with a delayed flight it can be a hassle Benn there done that.
Tom

tipsy · Post by **tipsy** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:34 am

Marcia (Mrs. Pete)

Thanks for the heads up on STT Carnival, we were concerned STJ beaches (trunk bay esp.) would get very crowded from the visitors for that. This is our 1st time going to STJ and so very excited. Are you going to be there 4/17 -24th 2010?

I have only booked thru some of those travel sites for flts in the states, never out of states and we rather pay more to have direct flts to avoid any of the horrors that may happen w/connecting. The few times have booked w/ these sites, haven't had any problems, even when prices changed etc. You get to talk to a human if have questions or problems w/booking.

We have booked many hotels thru the sites and again, not a problem and the hotels were all they were said to be.

Have seen the prices for flts for the time we're going down,jump very high since June. Not sure why but went from 348.00 to 504.00 (last I looked @ 2wks ago). ?????

Have a nice day.
Debbie

Berlingirl · Post by **Berlingirl** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:51 am

Tipsy...

Those dates are April school vacation for Maine, Mass and New York. Those I know for sure.

We have found some of the beaches to be very crowded on STJ at those times. It has nothing to do with Carnival on STT at the time, but more so that it's a busy vacation period for New Englanders and those big cruise ships that hit the islands 2 or 3 sometimes in one day.

We've been going for years and in the past few have noticed how busy some of the beaches get now. Makes me want to go in the off season again.

tipsy · Post by **tipsy** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:10 am

Tipsy...

Those dates are April school vacation for Maine, Mass and New York. Those I know for sure.

We have found some of the beaches to be very crowded on STJ at those times. It has nothing to do with Carnival on STT at the time, but more so that it's a busy vacation period for New Englanders and those big cruise ships that hit the islands 2 or 3 sometimes in one day.

We've been going for years and in the past few have noticed how busy some of the beaches get now. Makes me want to go in the off season again.

Hi there, here on Long Island, the schools are closed the week before for Easter but didn't know about the rest of the New England area. Well if the popular beachs are too busy then will go find a secluded one (thats what a jeep is for).

Know about the cruise ships, it's how we found STT & STJ . But will check the STT cruise ship schedule week before we go and try to plan our trips to the known beaches (trunk bay etc)& to STT around them. Have a week to enjoy paradise, so no rush,can go in-between the crowds.

But when we talk about crowds at beaches etc, might be quite a diff. thing,we're talking about 1000's of people,traffic jams that you're in for 1-2 hrs to get to the beach. On a hot summer day here,have to get to beach by 8:30ish to beat the traffic and get a quiet spot. So if there's 50-100+ people on a beach,that isn't bad to us.

See by your clock, you might be going down the same week as us. And sounds like you are a regular to STJ, so any tips or suggestions are very welcome if you would like to share them.

Thanks for the info.
Debbie

Berlingirl · Post by **Berlingirl** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:00 am

tipsy wrote:
Hi there, here on Long Island, the schools are closed the week before for Easter but didn't know about the rest of the New England area. Well if the popular beachs are too busy then will go find a secluded one (thats what a jeep is for).

Know about the cruise ships, it's how we found STT & STJ . But will check the STT cruise ship schedule week before we go and try to plan our trips to the known beaches (trunk bay etc)& to STT around them. Have a week to enjoy paradise, so no rush,can go in-between the crowds.

But when we talk about crowds at beaches etc, might be quite a diff. thing,we're talking about 1000's of people,traffic jams that you're in for 1-2 hrs to get to the beach. On a hot summer day here,have to get to beach by 8:30ish to beat the traffic and get a quiet spot. So if there's 50-100+ people on a beach,that isn't bad to us.

See by your clock, you might be going down the same week as us. And sounds like you are a regular to STJ, so any tips or suggestions are very welcome if you would like to share them.

Thanks for the info.
Debbie

Debbie...Yes, just noticed your ticker. We are gonna be there at exactly the same time! Oh No, nothing like the crowds you mention, just on a much smaller level. MUCH SMALLER! Last year we had a few experiences that were just plain rude. No details, but do check the cruise ship schedules. Please feel free to pm me if you'd like...I would love to share.

Steve S · Post by **Steve S** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:25 am

I'll use travelocity, Vayama, whatever to search for flights, but I'll almost always book directly with the airline. I've yet to find an instance where the travel site's prices are lower and there's a 1 in 3 chance (my experience) that flights will be changed or cancelled and it just makes sense to book directly with the airline to remove any excuses for prompt service and resolution.

usvi-on-line

Login or Register with your Facebook account

Booking travel with airline vs. Yahoo or Travelocity

Booking travel with airline vs. Yahoo or Travelocity