Normally when I buy airplane tickets I search using Kayak and then buy the ticket directly from the airline’s website. However, every once in awhile I will use an online travel agency (like Expedia
, Travelocity
, or Orbitz
) to book the flight. Usually I do this only when I have a multi-city itinerary requiring the use of multiple airlines.
But, when we booked our trip to Buenos Aires, Orbitz was giving us the best price. The price was about $100 less per ticket than the airline website’s price — even with taxes and fees. Even though the airline offered a “low fare guarantee,” I did not have the time that day to risk losing the ticket at Orbitz’s price. Plus I was curious to try out Orbitz’s new Price Assurance
which will give you a refund if, after you book your ticket, the price drops. The catch is that someone else has to book the same flight using Orbitz
. I thought I’d give it a try.
So, I booked the tickets through Orbitz. It was easy enough. I logged into Orbitz once or twice to see if there was any information in the Price Assurance section that would tell me if I could expect a refund. There wasn’t.
In the end, we didn’t get a price assurance refund. It was a very specific route and probability indicates that few other people would have booked this exact route using Orbitz. I’m not even sure that a lower rate would have been found on any search agent, given the (relatively) low prices we got on the tickets.
Moral of the story? I would use Orbitz again if their prices (including fees) were better than I could find elsewhere or it was one of the only was to get the multi-city itinerary I wanted.
The Price Assurance is a plus. But unless you are on a heavily trafficked route (like Chicago to New York), chances are you won’t see a refund.
About the author
- More at
Recommended Reading:
OK guys this is my story on Orbitz Price Assurance……so I bought 2 r/t fares through Orbitz for 708 from SFO to Geneva on Apr/30 and two weeks later the same fare, same departure, same arrival, same everything is now 677…..i emailed Orbitz requesting the credit for the difference (for 2 tickets is about $60) and their response was
———————————————————————————————————–
Dear Orbitz Customer,
Thank you for contacting Orbitz.
I understand you would like to claim price guarantee for you flight reservation.
Airfares change throughout the day, based on demand for the flight and the airlines’ right to change them at any time.
We monitor these changes closely and make every effort to keep our fare displays as current as possible. At the time of your fare search and when you bought your ticket, our display showed the lowest fare available for purchase for the time and dates you requested.
If you should find a lower fare after purchasing a non-refundable ticket, we will not be able to issue a credit for the difference in price. If you wish to take advantage of a lower price you see on the website, you may cancel the ticket and re-book. You will be subject to the refundability policy associated with your current ticket and may be charged any fees listed in that policy.
Sincerely,
Peter Emanuel
OrbitzTLC Team
———————————————————————————————————–
So basically, they lie, mislead and do not stand behind their promise just so they can make a sale. BEWARE!!!!!!
Okay so for my 25th bady I went to atlantic city for the weekend. We booked with orbitz and got a really great deal! So two weeks later I get an email saying that someone booked for cheaper than I paid so they were sending me the difference. Got a check in the mail 4 weeks later…Free Money! It doesnt get better than this. Price assurance from orbitz is awesome!
Just found your site with google. Thanks for the good read. I bookmarked you!
Dear Ziko (and every other person on the internet who doesn’t pay attention to details)….Orbitz (and Elizabeth) make it very clear that Price Assurance only works when someone books the EXACT SAME SEGMENTS with EXACT SAME RESTRICTIONS for less. There are (obviously) a large number of flight options and outlets to book trips. The Orbitz “guarantee” sounds a little too good to be true and to an extent it is, but it is exactly what they say it is.
I enjoy reading your posts. Thanks for all the hard work. Sara
I receieved my price assurance check .Great! i’ll certainly use Orbitz again and recommend them
@ Kathryn – Thanks for the update. It’s good to know who it’s working out well for.
Your review isn’t telling me much about Price Assurance. Please write a better review next time.
So I used Orbitz and the price of the ticket went down $40 after I bought it on Orbitz.com. The CSR told me he couldn’t do anything about since no one has bought the exact same ticket for the lower price on Orbitz.com, I can’t get the difference back. I told him I would like to speak to a manager. The manager also said the same thing. So I told her this would affect the way I made purchase on Orbitz (and I make them on biweekly basis). So she gave me the difference in Orbitz credit. So this is something you can try.
I think Price Assurance is dumb, because there is no way to know if no one has bought the ticket at a lower price on Orbitz, but there is a way to monitor the price on Orbitz.
I just experienced the same “crap” with the Orbitz price assurance. Unless the price is dirt cheap, next time I am booking directly with the airline. Price Assurance, what a load of “crap”.
nice post my friend told me to check it and i found that he was right thank you for sharing with us
This is the nice one keep up the good work
This is the nice one keep up the good work
I will pay someone $200 to book non-refundable tickets on Orbitz leaving August 18, 2011 from Newark flying to Stockholm on SAS Flight 904 and returning August 29, 2011 on SAS Flight 903. Yes, the savings would be great enough for us to pay out $200. Stockholm is a lovely city and with our discount, the ticket price really can’t be beat. My yahoo address is RNiburg; in the unlikely event that more than one person takes me up on this offer, it is first come, only paid.
Hey all, I ran across your website by means of Yahoo and google when trying to find a related issue, your website came right up, seems like excellent. I included in our favourites features|included in book marks.