Will be going to LA in a couple months. Need to be there for the weekend, but would like to arrive and leave with a day or two to spare to unwind and maybe do some touristy stuff.

That said, what online services do you guys like to use to arrange your flights and hotels these days?

Also, with the routine cancellation of flights in mind, do you book one or more days prior to when you actually want to be somewhere?

Thanks

For flights, I tend to fly one airline due to points, locations and hubs (American, but your location may dictate another), then use the American website to book. But I fly somewhat regularly. If you are an infrequent flyer, you may be more flexible. I would still book using the airline's website, but I might compare options using something like Expedia or Kayak or similar.

Same deal with hotels - shop using an aggregator, but book directly with hotel website.

In both cases, if you book directly with the provider, the provider has more options/ obligations to make things right. They can't say something like "You'll have to call Expedia to work out any problems."

ETA: Yes, leave yourself some extra time, both in overall plans, and also in layovers. I never to a layover of less than an hour.

expedia provides me with lowest cost airfare

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
"You'll have to call Expedia to work out any problems."

Which is an exercise in futility. There are no human beings working at/for Expedia. Your problem will not be resolved.

Book directly with the carrier/hotel.

I don’t travel as much as I used to, but agree about booking directly with the airlines and hotels.

I think it’s rare to find better prices with third party sites. And if you do, you might find that there are some unpleasant surprises.

For example, a few years ago, I flew to Houston and got a great price on a car through Expedia. I arrived Bush Intercontinental airport about 10:30pm. I went to the car rental counter only to find out that Expedia had reserved my car at Houston Hobby airport, almost an hour away on the other side of the city. The car rental agent got me a car anyway, but told me it was not the first time he’d seen Expedia pull that stunt.

I will use google flights to search for flights and then book directly with the airline. Some airlines only show prices on their own site. Southwest is one. I will check their prices but they have been stupidly high for a while now.

If things go bad it's always best if you booked through the airline and not some third-party site.

The only exception is when I have points on my Chase credit card but even then the points are transferred to the airline although it's booked through Chase's site.

I'm now planning and booking a 3 week trip to Europe this summer and have decided to book directly with the airline and hotels. Hotel costs are very high but probably because I haven't personally had to pay for my own travel costs in decades. My employers paid them. Oh well, it will be a good but expensive trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
"You'll have to call Expedia to work out any problems."

Which is an exercise in futility. There are no human beings working at/for Expedia. Your problem will not be resolved.

Book directly with the carrier/hotel.

This is excellent advice. If you ever have a problem, it will be fixed quickly if you book direct.

If you decide to save a little money and book through one of the travel services you may have a real problem getting things straightened out.

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
I'm now planning and booking a 3 week trip to Europe this summer and have decided to book directly with the airline and hotels...

If that works for you, go for it. On foreign trips involving multiple cities we're happy to pay for the service from tour companies like Viking or Tauck (there are many others).

However, if we're going to a city to use one hotel as home base, we'll book travel and lodging directly with the airline and hotel. Then the hotel staff will help us set up day tours.

There's no right or wrong, but at our age (70+) we're good with someone else doing all the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively).

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
On foreign trips involving multiple cities we're happy to pay for the service from tour companies like Viking or Tauck (there are many others).

We have friends who travel to Europe regularly and do this. I don’t know who they use, but as Sigmund says, they much prefer paying someone to handle all the arrangements.

Expedia was a nightmare for us to work with after some problems a few years back. Absolute nightmare. I'll never use them, or any of their brands, again. A partial list of brands owned (wholly or partially) by expedia:
- Trivago
- VRBO
- Hotels.com
- Hotwire
- CheapTickets.com
- Orbitz

And maybe no ownership group but they have partnership with the Melia group, whom I will NEVER do business with again, from the same incident.

AMEX is also on the list from the incident.

American Airlines survived, but barely. And I am aware none of them care a wit about losing my business.

Flights and hotels are now ONLY booked directly for me and my family.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
Expedia was a nightmare for us to work with after some problems a few years back. Absolute nightmare. I'll never use them, or any of their brands, again. A partial list of brands owned (wholly or partially) by expedia:
- Trivago
- VRBO
- Hotels.com
- Hotwire
- CheapTickets.com
- Orbitz

And maybe no ownership group but they have partnership with the Melia group, whom I will NEVER do business with again, from the same incident.

AMEX is also on the list from the incident.

American Airlines survived, but barely. And I am aware none of them care a wit about losing my business.

Flights and hotels are now ONLY booked directly for me and my family.

I can only say that I tried using VRBO last year, at the recommendation of a member here, and it was a nightmare also. Never again.

Good luck with your trip. Looks like you have already gotten great advice.

quote:

Originally posted by bigpond73:

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
Expedia was a nightmare for us to work with after some problems a few years back. Absolute nightmare. I'll never use them, or any of their brands, again. A partial list of brands owned (wholly or partially) by expedia:
- Trivago
- VRBO
- Hotels.com
- Hotwire
- CheapTickets.com
- Orbitz

And maybe no ownership group but they have partnership with the Melia group, whom I will NEVER do business with again, from the same incident.

AMEX is also on the list from the incident.

American Airlines survived, but barely. And I am aware none of them care a wit about losing my business.

Flights and hotels are now ONLY booked directly for me and my family.

I can only say that I tried using VRBO last year, at the recommendation of a member here, and it was a nightmare also. Never again.

Good luck with your trip. Looks like you have already gotten great advice.

I used VRBO for the last 2 years and it went smooth as silk. Having said that, I only dealt with the owner of the property though and that may make the difference.

As others have pointed-out, using third-party platforms (Kayak, Priceline, Orbitz, etc..) while you'll find a better priced fares, should any issues come up, you may be on the short end of the stick when it comes to resolution and/or, satisfaction. Frequent flier/hotel points you won't be able to accrue and getting any kind of service is likely an obstacle course.

Airfare, booking directly with the airlines is always best. Google Flights is probably the best search engine, they aggregate from the airline's sites and post them, you click on that fare to purchase, you'll be re-routed to that airline's page. The ability to book an open-jaw flight itinerary seems to be much easier on Google Flights. You can also track the pricing trend's on the section you choose, based upon historical info.

Hotels and accommodations have become the most expensive segment of travel now, airfare used to be the biggest line-item but, the last 5-8 years, where you sleep has become the largest. I've relied heavily now on my credit card points (I use Chase), as airline prices have stabilized, hotel rates however has sky-rocketed.

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
I'm now planning and booking a 3 week trip to Europe this summer and have decided to book directly with the airline and hotels. Hotel costs are very high but probably because I haven't personally had to pay for my own travel costs in decades. My employers paid them. Oh well, it will be a good but expensive trip.

Depending on where you're traveling for Europe, booking hotels with air conditioning has become a 'hot' issue. The last coupe of years, Summer's in Europe have been pretty harsh with prolonged heat-waves, and European hotels generally do not have AC. Hotels in the southern regions like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece have them or, only a fan but, you either need to request that particularly room feature (which is an extra surcharge) or, purchase the use of the AC's remote control for the unit in your room. Yes, you read that right, a room may have an AC unit built-in but, control/use of it is an additional charge. Remember all those 'tourist taxes' that municipalities vote for to fund various projects here in the US, Europe does the same thing. Hotel owners also know it's an expense that guest will pay up for.

We've had issues with 3rd party booking sites for flights. Much better to book directly on the airline's website.

For rental cars I have had great luck with Priceline. Browse a month or so ahead of time but don't book (unless it is a peak event like Mardi Gras or Superbowl). Do sign up for an account. Then wait for the discount offers to hit your email.

For hotels, generally the hotel website has best prices.

If you have to be there without doubt, e.g. an important family event or a cruise, I book flights to arrive mid-day the day before.

A live person travel agent can be helpful if you're doing a cruise or a complex foreign trip. For normal domestic or simple foreign travel I don't see a benefit other than the time savings of them searching for options and pricing.

American Express travel services has done well for us when we want a live travel agent.