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Booking Travel With Orbitz – Everything You Need to Know [2024]

David Slotnick

Former Content Contributor

2 Published Articles

Countries Visited: 11 U.S. States Visited:

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

43 Published Articles 3380 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 50 U.S. States Visited: 28

Director of Operations & Compliance

6 Published Articles 1203 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 10 U.S. States Visited: 20

Table of Contents

Why use an ota, orbitz rewards, insider pricing, and credit cards, orbitz flights, orbitz hotels, orbitz vacation packages, orbitz activities, orbitz cruises, orbitz car rentals, orbitz mobile app, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

There are a ton of online travel agencies ( OTAs) out there, each competing hard for your business. With such a saturated market, many of them try to offer something unique to attract customers.

For example, Priceline offers savings through simple bookings, while AmexTravel.com offers cardholder perks and fantastic customer service. Others, like Costco Travel , offer freebies for members. They each hope that by attracting business with specials, travelers will stay loyal to the platform for all of their travel booking needs.

What Orbitz offers is an in-house loyalty program, strong search functionality, regularly-published low prices, and occasional discounts. It also features a wide range of services, letting you book flights , hotels , vacation packages , activities , cruises , rental cars , and more.

In the grand scheme of things, Orbitz offers consistency. So if you choose to use an OTA, then they can be the best option, particularly when there isn’t a specific deal for what you want being offered elsewhere.

Let’s dive in and take a closer look at how to use Orbitz, how it compares to other OTAs, and cases when you might want to choose them over the competition.

When you’re booking travel for a particular hotel or flight, it often makes sense to book directly with the travel provider. If there are any issues such as cancellation, overbooking, or delay, dealing directly with the airline or hotel can make solving the problem easier.

When you book through an online travel agency, the actual travel provider may not be able to work with you directly to come up with a solution. Instead, you may have to go through the booking agent, which can cause some confusion when communicating back and forth.

One compelling reason to use an OTA is when you’re trying to put together a more complicated itinerary, especially when you’ll need to book a few different flight segments on a few different airlines.

Not all OTAs (or even airlines) make it easy to book a multi-city trip — for example, a trip where you leave New York and start in London, fly to Amsterdam, and head to Berlin before going home. This is something that Orbitz is particularly useful for, where it can help build a single itinerary with a carrier or alliance.

However, this benefit is made a little less valuable by the plethora of ultra-low-cost-carriers (LCCs) that have popped up lately. In the above example, for instance (New York-London-Amsterdam-Berlin-New York), you could pay a lot less by just booking a series of one-way segments on Norwegian Air Shuttle and Ryanair .

Rather than freely mixing and matching the lowest-priced one-way segments, Orbitz tries to stick with a single alliance where possible. Additionally, Google Flights has become a lot more capable over the past few years and makes it easy to search for and compare flights.

Bottom Line: These days, a better-use scenario for OTAs is vacation packages , where you can save a bit by purchasing airfare, hotel stays, and extras like rental cars or transportation all in 1 bundle. Be sure to check out our picks for the best credit card for vacation packages before making a purchase.

Orbitz offers its own loyalty program, meaning that you can triple-dip on rewards between Orbitz Orbucks, credit card rewards , and frequent flyer miles (you generally aren’t eligible for hotel loyalty points if you book through a third party). Before booking anything through Orbitz, you should sign up for an account.

Orbitz Rewards

This rewards system is relatively simple. Each travel purchase made through the site earns Orbucks. Each Orbuck is worth $1 and can be redeemed for hotel purchases with no blackout dates.

Any time you book travel, you’ll see an earning rate next to your itinerary. Typically, it’s an even 1% return on airline purchases and vacation packages , and 3% back on eligible hotels (or 5% on hotels if you book through the Orbitz app). In other words, if a flight costs $650, you’ll earn 6.5 Orbucks.

The next time you book a hotel through Orbitz while you’re logged in, you’ll have the option to apply your Orbucks balance to the purchase.

Insider Prices

Orbitz offers discounted member pricing on certain hotels, with discounts usually around 10%, but sometimes as high as 50% . When searching for hotels (more on that below), just look for the Insider Price marking.

Rewards Tiers

Orbitz offers 3 tiers of rewards with elite status benefits.

The first tier, Silver, is the most basic level and applies to everyone. You’ll reach Gold status after staying 4+ nights per year in hotels booked through Orbitz and Platinum status after 12+ nights per year.

Perks for all members include access to Insider Prices, Orbucks earning, and a low price guarantee. At the Gold level, you get access to a priority customer service line and perks at certain hotels, such as free in-room premium Wi-Fi or breakfast.

At the Platinum level, you’ll be eligible for upgrades at participating hotels (Orbitz Rewards VIP Hotels) and a reimbursement of $50 Orbucks if you pay for 2 or more checked bags on flights booked through Orbitz. You can also get an $78 reimbursement if you sign up for TSA PreCheck.

Just remember that you won’t earn hotel loyalty points, status, or receive status benefits when you book through a third party like Orbitz. You’ll have to decide whether hotel rewards or Orbitz Rewards are more valuable to you — if you are loyal to 1 hotel chain, that reward system is likely more worthwhile.

Orbitz Rewards Visa Card

Orbitz offers a branded credit card that earns rewards in the form of Orbucks.

The Orbitz Rewards Visa Card earns 8% to 10% back on hotels booked through Orbitz, 6% on flights, 5% on other Orbitz.com purchases, and 2% on everything else.

This is a generous card — the catch is that Orbucks can only be redeemed on hotel purchases through Orbitz. Most other rewards cards offer more flexible or more valuable points. Still, if you use Orbitz frequently, this card could make sense as a way to earn a lot of Orbucks quickly.

Bottom Line:  Orbitz Rewards is a substantial program; make sure to sign up before booking anything through the site.

Booking a flight on the platform is a fairly simple process, just like with most OTAs. Let’s take a look at how to search and book, and how to build a more complex itinerary.

To search for flights from its homepage, make sure to click the Flights tab. Enter your origin and destination city/airports, dates, number of passengers, and whether you’d like to search for lower prices on nearby dates.

If you click the “Advanced Options” link, you can choose whether you’d like to restrict the search to nonstops, as well as whether you want refundable fares, if you have a preferred airline, and what class you want. Once you’re ready, search and wait for results to load.

Results are typically displayed in price order, starting with the lowest. You’ll only see the outbound flight, but the price represents the entire round-trip. It displays flights from most low-cost carriers, so if you’re searching for a one-way or basic round-trip, chances are these flights will show up first.

If you have preferences for which airline you fly, the number of stops, or the time of day, you can use tools on the left side of the screen to filter results. You can also reorder the flights by departure or arrival time, duration, or highest price using a drop-down menu to the upper-right of the results.

Another great feature is that Orbitz displays amenities alongside flight results — icons to the left of the price tell you whether the flight is equipped with Wi-Fi, power outlets, or inflight entertainment (IFE).

You can also click on “Flight details and baggage fees” to learn about costs, as well as the type of plane and what meal service is available.

Keep in mind that to keep prices as low as possible, Orbitz will often book flights through the operating airline’s partners — for example, in the above search for a flight from ORD to LHR, Orbitz is showing a flight operated by American Airlines but booking it through British Airways .

That’s usually not an issue; just make sure to show up at the right terminal and consider this for frequent flyer mileage earning.

Making a Reservation

Once you’ve found an outbound flight you like, hit the pink “Select” button. The next screen shows you options for the return flight. Because the price on the first screen represented the total lowest-possible round-trip cost, most of these will show a cost of $0.00.

As you scroll down, other flights may show additional costs due to timing, capacity, or whether they’re operated by a non-alliance carrier.

In this example, most return flights on Oneworld carriers are either no additional charge or just a few dollars. This is because the outbound flight was on American Airlines booked through British Airways.

However, when you scroll down, you’ll see that you can book on other carriers including Star Alliance . That would require the trip to be booked as 2 expensive one-ways, which would add a punishing $3,940+ to the overall cost.

Hot Tip:  Make sure to check the additional cost for your return flight! Usually, it’s $0, but just keep an eye on it.

Once you select the return flight, a dialogue box pops up asking if you’d like to book a hotel simultaneously, claiming that people booking flights and hotels together save an average of $193. If you’re interested in vacation packages , check out the section below.

If you don’t opt to book the hotel, the next screen displays your complete flight itinerary and offers a few different fare choices, such as flexible economy and business class. Select the fare you want and click “Book.”

On the next screen, enter passenger and payment details, then confirm to pay and book your flight.

Make sure that you’re signed in when you pay to earn Orbucks on the flight. Also, remember that Orbitz gives you 24 hours to cancel any flight . Most airlines and travel portals have to offer this according to U.S. law, but Orbitz is known for making the process easy.

Comparing Prices

Orbitz offers a “best price guarantee” on just about everything — for flights, if you find a lower price within 24 hours of booking, it will refund the difference. Placing a claim is relatively easy, but let’s see how likely it is that you’ll need to use it.

We searched a few different portals and websites for the same nonstop trip from Chicago to London on the same days but didn’t specify the airport, time of day, or airline. Here’s what we found:

*Priceline offered an “Express Deal” flight for $561.42, but this was an opaque booking — you wouldn’t know your airline, the number of stops, or the exact time of day until booking.

In this example, Priceline found virtually the least-expensive possible non-stop routing, remarkably consistent with the other online travel agencies and search engines — perhaps because this is such a busy route. When checking other routes, prices stayed consistent with the other OTAs.

Justfly.com, through Kayak , did manage to find a route that was about $4 cheaper by booking American Airlines flights through multiple Oneworld partners, though odds are good that it was either a glitch or a mistake.

We repeated the search from New York (JFK), where a few different airlines operate multiple daily flights to London, again restricting the search to nonstops. This time, prices were a little different depending on whether an OTA had access to low-cost carriers:

We can only assume that the Orbitz pricing for Norwegian was an error or glitch, as it was around $150 more than we could find that ticket anywhere else — the comparison is not only of the cheapest available options; it’s looking at the same exact flights.

This could be a case where a price guarantee claim would be effective, especially since it seems to be a mistake.

Bottom Line:  Generally, Orbitz offers the best price on flights. If you find a better price within 24 hours of booking, it will refund you the difference.

Before searching for hotels on the platform, you should make sure to either create or log in to an Orbitz account. This is because it offers Insider Price deals on some hotels that feature savings up to 10%. Also, some Orbitz VIP hotels offer elite status perks if you book through Orbitz and have elite status with Orbitz.

After logging in, head back to the home page and click the Hotels tab. Enter your city, check-in and check-out dates, the number of people staying, and the number of rooms you need. Then, hit “Search.”

By default, Orbitz sorts results in “recommended” order. You can find a breakdown of how it decides which hotels will be recommended on the website’s support section .

If you want, you can change the results to sort by distance from downtown, price, customer rating, Insider Prices, best deals, and more.

You can also use tools on the left-hand side to filter results by star rating, the price per night, neighborhood, amenities, property type, proximity to popular locations, and more. You can also search for a specific property by name.

When browsing results, keep an eye out for a few different icons. A purple VIP circle signifies hotels where Orbitz Gold and Platinum members can get perks like room upgrades. If the price is highlighted in blue, that means it’s an Insider Price.

Booking a Room

Click the various results to see property details. When you find one you’d like to reserve, click on the price.

Immediately, you’ll see messages encouraging you to book quickly, with pop-ups reading things like “prices for your dates have been going up,” or “32 people are looking at this property!” Feel free to ignore these.

Either click the “Reserve” button or simply scroll down to see available rooms and rates. Pay attention to the “Options” column — if you click the top line, a pop-up appears with terms and conditions for your rate. Click “Reserve” next to the room and rate you want.

Enter contact and payment details and you’re pretty much set. Again, remember to double-check all rate terms and conditions before making the reservation to know the cancellation and refund policy. Orbitz also extends the window to submit a claim for its price guarantee up to 48 hours before check-in!

Hotel Pricing Side-by-Side

To compare prices between Orbitz and the competition, we searched for stays in London for a week in March and picked the Grosvenor Hotel, a property with an Insider Price available. Here’s how the total stacked up for 7 nights in a standard double room, including all fees and taxes:

Ultimately, booking direct was slightly cheaper in this instance because the hotel was having a sale. However, Orbitz was clearly cheaper than any other online travel agency. In a few other searches, this was generally the case — it even beats direct booking on a few occasions, as long as it was a hotel with an Insider Price.

Hotel Rewards

Remember that whenever you book a hotel through an online travel agency, you won’t collect rewards with the hotel’s loyalty program. You will, however, get Orbucks.

Bottom Line:  Orbitz Insider Prices offer great rates and discounts on hotel stays!

By booking vacation packages on Orbitz you can save even more money! Unlike the packages offered by Costco Travel , these only include a combination of flight, hotel, and rental car rather than activities or tours. One great benefit of booking a vacation package through Orbitz is that its price guarantee extends to 48 hours after booking!

Searching and Booking — Flight + Hotel

To search for a vacation package, click Vacation Packages on the home screen. Choose what you want to include in your package — flight, hotel, or rental car — and enter your departure city and destination, dates, and the number of people.

In this example, we looked for a Flight + Hotel package flying from New York to Rome.

Just like the results of the hotel search, Orbitz sorts vacation packages by recommendations. On the first screen, you’ll see hotel options with VIP and Insider Price hotels flagged.

Click the hotel you’re interested in. On the next screen, beneath the hotel’s details, you can see room options. Rooms included with the package’s base price say “+$0.00 per night,” while upgraded rooms cost extra.

Once you pick the room, you’re taken to a screen to pick outbound and return flights. The package price reflects the cheapest available “recommended” flight — in this case, a nonstop on Norwegian from Newark to Rome. Other flights might cost more, or in some cases less — these flights usually involve either more stops or inconvenient flight times.

On the next screen, you can add airport transportation and tickets to attractions, or you can proceed to payment.

In the above example, you save about $38 for booking the flight and hotel as a bundle. That’s not a huge amount, obviously, but depending on destination, hotel, time of year, and many other factors, you might be able to save a lot more.

Vacation package prices tend to vary across the different online travel agencies, with each having access to different hotel deals and perks. Unless you’re set on using 1 — for instance, if you value Orbucks — it would be worth checking out packages at a few different websites.

Bottom Line:  Orbitz vacation packages can offer savings by bundling a few purchases together, though the savings may not always be huge.

Orbitz allows customers to search for and book entertainment in the city that you’re visiting, just as you would search and book a flight. These activities can include anything from concert tickets to tours, or even food events.

Searching and Booking

When looking for activities on Orbitz , simply enter the destination that you’re traveling to and your dates. You’ll then receive a list of all the activities happening within the city on those dates. From there you can filter by price, activity type, or enter a keyword for a specific activity you’re looking for.

Once you’ve selected your activity you’ll receive a list of available dates and times for you to choose from, along with highlights and reviews of that activity.

When you find a date and time that works well for you, simply click “Book,” finalize your payment details, and you’re done! Easy as that!

Orbitz offers perks and extras on certain cruises, like many other online travel agencies. Prices are often consistent across OTAs and booking directly, but Orbitz occasionally offers sales with modest discounts.

To search for cruises, hit the Cruise button on the home page, then select a destination region and departure month — that’s it. On the results page, you can use filters to narrow down what you’re looking for: departure port, length, cruise line, and even specific ship.

When you pick a cruise, you’ll have a choice of extras, when available. For example, on the below cruise you can pick between a free third and fourth guest, free dinner or drinks, credits to use onboard, and more.

We compared the above cruise to other booking sites and prices were all identical — except for Orbitz, which offered $40 off. While that’s a small amount compared to the $1,498 total, it’s still a savings!

Bottom Line:  While prices are generally consistent across OTAs and cruise websites, Orbitz occasionally manages to offer a discount. Keep an eye out for included perks, too! Curious to learn about other resources that help you find cheap cruises? Check out our post on the best websites to book cruises ! 

Orbitz’s car rental options are fairly consistent with most other online travel agencies . Although most rentals are available at the same price that other OTAs offer, Insider Prices offer discounts on a few different classes of car.

Enter your location, choose pick-up and drop-off dates and times, select any preferences you have, and click “Search.”

Scroll through the cars, using filters on the left as needed. Orbitz offers occasional Insider Prices on rental cars, so keep an eye out for the blue highlighted prices.

Once you’ve found the class of car you want from the rental agency of your choice, click the price to make the reservation. On the next screen, select any add-ons or accessories you want, then click “Reserve.”

Hot Tip:  The Chase Sapphire Preferred ® card is a credit card with primary rental car insurance ! Just use your card to pay, and decline the rental company’s collision damage.

Enter contact details, payment information (if prompted), and select whether you want collision protection. That’s it!

Rental car prices tend to stay consistent across OTAs — the exception is Costco Travel, which has negotiated group rates and discounts (similar to AAA ) and automatically applies anything available. The downside to Costco Travel is that it only included 4 rental companies.

In head-to-head comparisons, Orbitz offered the same prices as other portals like AmexTravel.com. The exception was at Budget , where Insider Prices were available. Across the board, rentals from Budget were $2 to $5 cheaper per day than at other OTAs.

Bottom Line:  Orbitz offers a few discounts on rental cars, but for the most part prices are the same as anywhere else. Need more rental car resources? We’ve got you covered! Have a look at our best websites for finding cheap car rentals . 

With the Orbitz app, you can book travel, get mobile exclusive deals, and track flights and your overall itinerary, all from your smartphone! The Orbitz travel app is available on iOS and Android .

In addition to the discounts and deals you can score through the Orbitz app, one of the best features is trip management . From the app, you can access your itinerary and receive instant trip updates, including gate changes and even baggage carousel numbers.

Orbitz offers some decent deals on travel, as well as a fairly robust rewards program and a very handy 24-hour free cancellation policy on flight bookings . Thanks to its price guarantee, you can always get the difference refunded if you find a lower price elsewhere within 24 hours of booking!

For information on alternative OTAs and metasearch engines, check out our post on the best websites for booking cheap flights.

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• Flight Nashville - Fort Lauderdale (BNA - FLL) $63+
• Flight Baltimore - Fort Lauderdale (BWI - FLL) $64+
• Flight Philadelphia - Fort Lauderdale (PHL - FLL) $66+
• Flight Tampa - Fort Lauderdale (TPA - FLL) $66+
• Flight Cincinnati - Fort Lauderdale (CVG - FLL) $67+

Atlanta Flights

• Flight Orlando - Atlanta (ORL - ATL) $27+
• Flight Dallas - Atlanta (DFW - ATL) $35+
• Flight New York - Atlanta (NYC - ATL) $37+
• Flight Philadelphia - Atlanta (PHL - ATL) $44+
• Flight Boston - Atlanta (BOS - ATL) $46+
• Flight Minneapolis - Atlanta (MSP - ATL) $46+
• Flight Tampa - Atlanta (TPA - ATL) $49+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Atlanta (FLL - ATL) $52+
• Flight Houston - Atlanta (IAH - ATL) $53+
• Flight Houston - Atlanta (HOU - ATL) $53+

Boston Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Boston (ATL - BOS) $43+
• Flight Baltimore - Boston (BWI - BOS) $47+
• Flight Nashville - Boston (BNA - BOS) $52+
• Flight Raleigh - Boston (RDU - BOS) $56+
• Flight Dallas - Boston (DFW - BOS) $58+
• Flight Houston - Boston (IAH - BOS) $60+
• Flight Philadelphia - Boston (PHL - BOS) $61+
• Flight Tampa - Boston (TPA - BOS) $61+
• Flight Miami - Boston (MIA - BOS) $67+
• Flight Orlando - Boston (ORL - BOS) $70+

United States Flights

• Flight Dallas - Las Vegas (DFW - LAS) $61+
• Flight Philadelphia - Orlando (PHL - ORL) $63+
• Flight Atlanta - Los Angeles (ATL - LAX) $76+
• Flight Philadelphia - Miami (PHL - MIA) $76+
• Flight Minneapolis - Phoenix (MSP - PH1) $91+
• Flight Denver - Las Vegas (DEN - LAS) $92+
• Flight Atlanta - Las Vegas (ATL - LAS) $98+
• Flight Minneapolis - Las Vegas (MSP - LAS) $113+
• Flight Los Angeles - Honolulu (LAX - HNL) $220+

Hawaii Flights

• Flight San Francisco - Hawaii (SFO - USHI) $191+
• Flight Los Angeles - Hawaii (LAX - USHI) $220+
• Flight Seattle - Hawaii (SEA - USHI) $220+
• Flight San Jose - Hawaii (SJC - USHI) $234+
• Flight Oakland - Hawaii (OAK - USHI) $239+
• Flight San Diego - Hawaii (SAN - USHI) $246+
• Flight Portland - Hawaii (PDX - USHI) $258+
• Flight Ontario - Hawaii (ONT - USHI) $287+
• Flight Sacramento - Hawaii (SMF - USHI) $288+
• Flight Las Vegas - Hawaii (LAS - USHI) $319+

London Flights

• Flight New York - London (NYC - LON) $287+
• Flight Miami - London (MIA - LON) $313+
• Flight Boston - London (BOS - LON) $360+
• Flight Los Angeles - London (LAX - LON) $407+
• Flight Las Vegas - London (LAS - LON) $444+
• Flight Chicago - London (CHI - LON) $448+
• Flight Denver - London (DEN - LON) $452+
• Flight Baltimore - London (BWI - LON) $454+
• Flight Portland - London (PDX - LON) $464+
• Flight Washington, D.C. - London (WAS - LON) $467+

Paris Flights

• Flight New York - Paris (NYC - PAR) $209+
• Flight Boston - Paris (BOS - PAR) $296+
• Flight Baltimore - Paris (BWI - PAR) $303+
• Flight Washington, D.C. - Paris (WAS - PAR) $306+
• Flight New Windsor - Paris (SWF - PAR) $309+
• Flight Los Angeles - Paris (LAX - PAR) $368+
• Flight Charlotte - Paris (CLT - PAR) $369+
• Flight Chicago - Paris (CHI - PAR) $372+
• Flight Atlanta - Paris (ATL - PAR) $386+
• Flight Cincinnati - Paris (CVG - PAR) $392+

Manila Flights

• Flight Los Angeles - Manila (LAX - MNL) $612+
• Flight San Francisco - Manila (SFO - MNL) $689+
• Flight Seattle - Manila (SEA - MNL) $725+
• Flight Honolulu - Manila (HNL - MNL) $729+
• Flight Ontario - Manila (ONT - MNL) $740+
• Flight Chicago - Manila (CHI - MNL) $754+
• Flight New York - Manila (NYC - MNL) $790+
• Flight Boston - Manila (BOS - MNL) $811+
• Flight San Diego - Manila (SAN - MNL) $817+
• Flight Las Vegas - Manila (LAS - MNL) $836+

Denver Flights

• Flight Los Angeles - Denver (LAX - DEN) $57+
• Flight Ontario - Denver (ONT - DEN) $57+
• Flight San Francisco - Denver (SFO - DEN) $57+
• Flight Minneapolis - Denver (MSP - DEN) $70+
• Flight Phoenix - Denver (PHX - DEN) $73+
• Flight Portland - Denver (PDX - DEN) $81+
• Flight Seattle - Denver (SEA - DEN) $81+
• Flight San Diego - Denver (SAN - DEN) $82+
• Flight Houston - Denver (IAH - DEN) $83+
• Flight Houston - Denver (HOU - DEN) $83+

San Francisco Flights

• Flight San Diego - San Francisco (SAN - SFO) $31+
• Flight Las Vegas - San Francisco (LAS - SFO) $37+
• Flight Ontario - San Francisco (ONT - SFO) $41+
• Flight Los Angeles - San Francisco (LAX - SFO) $46+
• Flight Portland - San Francisco (PDX - SFO) $47+
• Flight Santa Ana - San Francisco (SNA - SFO) $47+
• Flight Salt Lake City - San Francisco (SLC - SFO) $62+
• Flight Denver - San Francisco (DEN - SFO) $66+
• Flight Phoenix - San Francisco (PHX - SFO) $72+
• Flight Dallas - San Francisco (DFW - SFO) $106+

San Diego Flights

• Flight Las Vegas - San Diego (LAS - SAN) $33+
• Flight Sacramento - San Diego (SMF - SAN) $35+
• Flight San Jose - San Diego (SJC - SAN) $35+
• Flight San Francisco - San Diego (SFO - SAN) $46+
• Flight Oakland - San Diego (OAK - SAN) $55+
• Flight Phoenix - San Diego (PHX - SAN) $55+
• Flight Portland - San Diego (PDX - SAN) $63+
• Flight Chicago - San Diego (CHI - SAN) $64+
• Flight Salt Lake City - San Diego (SLC - SAN) $69+
• Flight Dallas - San Diego (DFW - SAN) $72+

Punta Cana Flights

• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Punta Cana (FLL - PUJ) $144+
• Flight Miami - Punta Cana (MIA - PUJ) $225+
• Flight Atlanta - Punta Cana (ATL - PUJ) $230+
• Flight Dallas - Punta Cana (DFW - PUJ) $234+
• Flight Tampa - Punta Cana (TPA - PUJ) $234+
• Flight Hartford - Punta Cana (BDL - PUJ) $251+
• Flight Cleveland - Punta Cana (CLE - PUJ) $256+
• Flight New York - Punta Cana (NYC - PUJ) $259+
• Flight Philadelphia - Punta Cana (PHL - PUJ) $261+
• Flight Boston - Punta Cana (BOS - PUJ) $264+

Europe Flights

• Flight Boston - Dublin (BOS - DUB) $294+
• Flight Miami - Madrid (MIA - MAD) $316+
• Flight New York - Athens (NYC - ATH) $316+
• Flight Boston - Madrid (BOS - MAD) $335+
• Flight Boston - Lisbon (BOS - LIS) $350+
• Flight Boston - Athens (BOS - ATH) $397+
• Flight Los Angeles - Madrid (LAX - MAD) $412+
• Flight Los Angeles - Lisbon (LAX - LIS) $439+
• Flight Los Angeles - Athens (LAX - ATH) $460+
• Flight San Francisco - London (SFO - LON) $491+

Florida Flights

• Flight Boston - Florida (BOS - USFL) $40+
• Flight Dallas - Florida (DFW - USFL) $51+
• Flight Atlanta - Florida (ATL - USFL) $52+
• Flight Baltimore - Florida (BWI - USFL) $55+
• Flight Hartford - Florida (BDL - USFL) $61+
• Flight Philadelphia - Florida (PHL - USFL) $63+
• Flight New York - Florida (NYC - USFL) $65+
• Flight Charlotte - Florida (CLT - USFL) $69+
• Flight Minneapolis - Florida (MSP - USFL) $75+
• Flight Los Angeles - Florida (LAX - USFL) $110+

Frequently asked questions

What do i need to know before booking a flight.

There are various factors to consider when booking a flight including cost, fare classes, baggage policies, the complications of flying long haul, and complying with airport regulations. To make your booking journey smoother KAYAK has developed a comprehensive flight guide including insights on finding affordable flights, packing efficiently, and utilizing the best travel tools.

What is the cheapest day of the week to book a flight?

The best day to book your flight depends on a number of factors, but there are general trends that you can follow to increase your chances of cheaper plane tickets. Based on an analysis of KAYAK data for all flights departing from inside United States over the last 12 months, the cheapest day to fly for domestic flights is Wednesday. For international flights, Tuesday had the cheapest tickets on average.

Which month of the year are flight prices lowest?

It’s well established that flights in the low season are generally cheaper than ticket prices during the high season. That means that knowing which month to find the lowest priced plane tickets will depend heavily on seasonality and your destination. While avoiding peak travel times can help you keep costs down, our data shows that the month with the lowest priced plane tickets for domestic flights based on all searches made on KAYAK in the last 12 months was January, while the most expensive was August. If you’re booking an international flight, then January is the cheapest month to fly and June the most expensive.

When is the best time to buy plane tickets - Last minute or in advance?

Last minute flight deals are definitely up for grabs but when exactly to purchase your plane tickets will depend on where you’re traveling to and from. Based on all data for flight searches made on KAYAK over the last 12 months, prices for domestic flights remained below the average price up to 1 weeks before departure. For international flights, deals could still be had up to 1 weeks prior to the departure date, with prices remaining below average. If you’re flexible, KAYAK brings you both advance and last minute one-way and round-trip flight deals.

Can flying international flights with a layover save money on airfare?

For many long-haul international flights, flying non-stop is not possible and you will have to fly with a layover. Some routes will offer both and you could consider flying with a layover for a number of reasons. Firstly, breaking up what would otherwise be a long-haul flight, taking a rest and then completing the journey might make the flight more manageable. Secondly, prices can also be lower than non-stop flights, so while it might take longer for you to reach your destination, you could save money. We’ve looked at prices over the last 12 months for the 100 most popular international destinations for KAYAK users and on average, prices for non-stop flights were cheaper than flights with a layover.

How does KAYAK find such low flight prices?

KAYAK processes over 2 billion flight queries annually and displays results from hundreds of airlines and third party sites, allowing it to find a variety of flight prices and options. It also displays results from 2M+ properties along with rental cars, vacation packages, activities and millions of verified reviews so users can see as many available travel options as possible.

How do I find the best flight deals on KAYAK?

A simple flight search at https://www.kayak.com/flights scans for prices on hundreds of travel sites in seconds. We gather flight deals from across the web and put them in one place. Then on the search results page you can use various filters to compare options for the same flight and easily choose the best flight deal from all of the deals coming straight from the travel sites to your screen, with no extra fee from KAYAK.

How can Hacker Fares save me money?

Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets on different airlines when it can save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket.

Does KAYAK query more flight providers than competitors?

Yes, KAYAK has access to more data and information than online travel agencies and consistently outperforms the competition in accuracy, globally.

How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care?

Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you flights up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. That way, you can see if leaving a day or two earlier will find you a better deal. You can also select the flexible "weekend" or "month" search options to widen your search range and find the cheapest price that works for you.

Search cheap flights with KAYAK. Search for the cheapest airline tickets for all the top airlines around the world, airports around the world and the top international flight routes . KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites to help you find cheap airfare and book a flight that suits you best. Since KAYAK searches many plane tickets sites at once, you can find cheap tickets from cheap airlines and for trains and buses quickly.

KAYAK also helps you find the right hotels for your needs.

Travel Website Reviews

Travel site reviews and ratings

• List of Reviews
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Top 10 Travel Sites

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• Of what good is a Critic?
• Frequently Asked Questions
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• September 8, 2024

Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia – Which travel website is best?

Vs.       vs.      .

When searching to book travel on the internet, should you use Orbitz , Travelocity and Expedia ?   There are an amazing variety of travel websites on the internet, and I personally find the selection a bit overwhelming.  If you simply Google the words “travel website”, you will find upwards of 132 million results!   Interestingly today, Orbitz got top billing on Google.    But, is Orbitz really the best website to use to book your vacation just because it shows up as the first travel website on Google?    Well, of course any rational person knows that’s not necessarily the case!

There are many factors to consider when comparing travel websites.  Things to compare include booking fees, cancellation polices, price guarantees, coupon codes, price-wars and sometimes even membership fees.  In our travel website reviews , we look at each of these variables, including what real travel website users have to say in the comments.  You will find these comments, real experiences, and cautionary complaints under each of our reviews for Orbitz , Travelocity and Expedia.  As with anything you find on the internet, don’t believe everything you read.  However, the amount of complaints about one travel site versus another is a good indicator that there may be a real customer service issue with the travel website.

Fees and cancellations

Let us start with the travel website fees*.   In our latest review, it appears to us that  Travelocity has the least amount of fees, along with the easiest to find cancellation policy.   Keep in mind that if you cancel a vacation package or flight, you will be charged approximately $200 by the airline (per ticket).  This cancellation fee is charged by the airline, and the travel website will pass this charge onto you.   In addition to this airline fee, most travel websites will also charge you their own cancellation fee.   Expedia claims that they do not charge to cancel flights or hotels.   But when it comes to Expedia’s policy on canceling vacations… it gets blurry.   Does Expedia offer refunds for vacation packages?   That is a question that remains unanswered when browsing their website.  Travelocity’s claims that they do not charge a fee to cancel a vacation, albeit you still need to pay those pesky hotel and airline fees.  Orbitz claims they will tack on an additional $25 fee if you cancel a vacation.  At least we could find their policy!

User reviews and comments

Now, let’s move onto the user comments.   As far as users of this site are concerned, the Expedia travel website has the most complaints.  Travelocity is not trailing far behind and Orbitz has relatively few.  I take this information with a grain of salt because we are talking about the biggest names in online travel and they are bound to have more complaints than the smaller companies.  Take a few moments to read through these user comments, just to familiarize yourself with what you may need to watch out for on a particular travel website and possibly pick up a few insider tricks along the way.

Price guarantees

Looking at the price guarantee policies* of Orbitz , Travelocity and Expedia , I’d say that Orbitz takes the cake on this one.  Expedia offers you a $50 coupon if you find a lower price within 24 hours.   Travelocity gives you a longer period of time, but otherwise their guarantee appears identical to Expedia’s.  For both Travelocity and Expedia, you need to search for a lower price on your own and submit a claim to get this benefit.   Orbitz takes their guarantee one step further with their new “Hotel Price Assurance”.   Although only good for hotel bookings, “ if another Orbitz customer books the same pre-paid hotel as you for less, you’ll get a cash refund for the difference… automatically “.  Oh, and Orbitz also offers the same $50 price guarantee that Travelocity and Expedia offer.

Coupon codes and deals

What about those coveted travel coupon codes (aka.  promotional codes)?  Not every travel website has coupon codes, and they do not make these codes easy to find by the public.  Travelocity is the winner of this group when it comes to coupon codes.  We get new Travelocity promotional codes every month here at Travel Site Critic.com, and try to be the first to post them in our travel deals .  I’m not sure how much this weighs in on making Travelocity the best travel website, but if coupon codes are what you seek, you can easily get them for Travelocity .  The downside of coupon codes is that they often expire within 30 days or less, so you need to search for new codes every time you book a vacation.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to arm yourself with relevant information and decide which travel website is best for you.  You may find that a smaller travel website may be just what you are looking for.  Our top rated travel websites are listed on the left side of this page.  Explore our other travel website reviews and see what you find.  It may surprise you.

Read our Reviews Disclosure

I have only one thing to say. AppleVacations.com

I highly recommend to avoid using Expedia. They overcharge and then it is a pain and nightmare to get your money back. I recently booked a trip (for $1400 and got charged $3400) – still waiting to get refund part of hotel (about $700). Issue is still open, and so far I got over 5 hours of waiting time on the phone during 3 phone calls that still have not lead to a resolution. Read details here http://bit.ly/9BGi6b and join the facebook group to talk about your experience http://bit.ly/bUbp9h

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Plane bound for UK forced to make emergency landing in Russia

All the 258 passengers and 17 crew members are unharmed, article bookmarked.

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An Air India flight en route from Delhi to Birmingham made a precautionary landing in Moscow after facing “technical problems” on Wednesday night.

The Air India Boeing 787-800 passenger plane to Britain made a safe emergency landing at the Russian capital’s Sheremetyevo airport , with all 258 passengers and 17 crew members unharmed. The incident occurred at around 9.35pm Moscow time.

“The aircraft’s crew requested an unscheduled landing at Sheremetyevo Airport due to technical problems,” the airport said in a statement. “Airport services promptly responded to the crew’s request and prepared to receive the aircraft according to the applicable emergency plan. The foreign crew received full assistance from the Russian airport and specialists under the applicable international convention.”

The scheduled departure time of the flight was set for 21.35 Moscow time (18.35GMT).

This was the third Air India flight in recent months to make an emergency landing due to technical problems.

A flight from Delhi to San Francisco in July carrying 225 passengers and 19 crew was forced to land in Siberia after a potential issue was found in the cargo hold area . In a statement, Air India said a team, including crew and security personnel, were on board a ferry flight sent to pick up stranded US-bound passengers from Russia . It had also set up a dedicated hotline for anyone wanting to reach out to the passengers.

Since Air India didn’t have a dedicated presence at the Krasnoyarsk airport, it had to rely on third-party services to assist the stranded passengers, leading to logistical problems, the Hindustan Times reported , quoting airline officials.

The airport had put the flight’s crew in hotels but the passengers were left in the international departure area, which angered some of those stranded, Reuters reported, citing social media posts of some of the passengers.

Another Air India aircraft flying the same route last year was grounded for a day due to a technical issue, requiring a replacement aircraft to be sent to retrieve the stranded passengers.

The pilots had received an indication of low oil pressure in one of the engines, forcing them to land at the remote Magadan airport in Russia. The 216 passengers and 16 flight crew had to be housed in makeshift accommodation at the airport until the replacement plane arrived.

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