4 ms·

I see Expedia as no different from traditional middle-men (travel agents). If I search a flight+hotel deal on Expedia, I can always get the exact same price by

• stoolpigeon 14y ago
  One thing I learned on a trip this summer is that Delta will charge an extra fee to change tickets if they were booked through expedia. I don't know if other airlines do this too but if I'm flying Delta it is a motivator to book directly. Which I'm sure is the point.
  • OafTobark 14y ago
    Interesting to know. I personally avoid Delta, United, American, and a few others if at all possible. My main airlines are: Virgin America Southwest Alaska Airlines In that order with JetBlue mixed in somewhere in there. Helps to have a narrow set if you are racking up air miles and I've had HORRID experiences with the others. I only take them if I have to now
    • jowiar 14y ago
      The best strategy with flying I've found is to pick one Legacy carrier/alliance if you're a frequent traveler (because they treat their folks with status quite well, at the expense of everyone else). If you don't fly >25k miles/year, do what you do.
      • ubernostrum 14y ago
        Pretty much this. Pick an airline based on convenience, and sign up for the frequent-flyer program. So many of the negatives associated with air travel typically boil down to shopping based solely on base price, with zero brand loyalty, and then being surprised that the airline doesn't treat you as well as a repeat customer who buys (or has an employer who buys) full-fare tickets. And so much of the difference between the full and discounted fares typically gets made up one way or another; either you're paying about the same as someone who bought "discount" but now is getting socked with fees left and right to check bags, use power outlets, etc., or often it just evens out over the course of enough flights.
      • monksy 14y ago
        I'm a Gold member on United, and Silver on Delta. United treats me fairly well [when they have an issue they pass me on to US Airways]. I've had massive issues with Delta. Honestly, I'm not thrilled about Southwest. They'll get you there... but eh.
        • ubernostrum 14y ago
          I have flown pretty much all the legacy carriers, including the ones that merged out of existence. Delta is by far the worst I've dealt with. No other carrier even comes close on that score. I'm currently with US Airways (Platinum) for various reasons; they've treated me pretty well, their hubs are decent enough, routes are convenient, and they fly real planes rather than cramped CRJ lawn darts in and out of my home airport (Kansas City). And it's comforting to know, at the moment, that if they do screw up horribly I have other options within the alliance, though the looming prospect of the AA merger is going to lead to some serious thinking about whether I should just do it pre-emptively. Among the low-cost carriers I don't mind Southwest so much. They're kind of the Chipotle of airlines; you know what you're going to get, you know it's not the greatest but also not the worst, and they have some quirky branding and service aspects that inspire loyalty among their regular customers. If I were going to fly an LCC, though, I'd probably pick Frontier just because they give a bit more bang for the buck on the routes I'm most likely to fly.
• Nagyman 14y ago
  You might have been somewhat fortunate finding the same direct price. I'm aware that Expedia is large enough to get bulk discounts from airlines that aren't always publicly offered to direct passengers.
  • jiayo 14y ago
    It probably has to do with being located in Canada.
• aj37 14y ago
  The rationale for the discounts is that you don't know (or at least it's non-obvious), whether the discount is coming from the flight or the hotel. If the "Book together and save" amount is positive then you'll generally be getting a better deal than direct. You might see the same total price occasionally but it certainly won't be the case the majority of the time.