However we get there, it’s a good result.Thank you for taking the time to contact Expedia regarding an issue from our customer. The only side I’m on is customers getting better experiences. There’s plenty of room for airlines and online travel agencies to grow in the customer experience realm, and this experience was a positive sign of what may be to come. If that does start to happen, airlines may be forced to go the route of hotels, and offer better benefits or better customer service for booking direct.
You could also argue that improved travel booking experiences from major credit card companies has pushed OTA’s to be better. If they take away the pain points of booking with them, versus booking direct, they’ll be able to slowly win more business from the most apprehensive customers. As hotels shoot themselves in the foot with loyalty cuts, and airlines struggle to hire back enough people to provide good customer service, Expedia may be winning major ground. OTA’s are already winning.īut for discerning travelers, many of whom are high margin customers, booking direct has always been the way. They don’t own hotels or planes, they just fill the rooms and seats, and make handsome commissions in the process.
Make no mistake, online travel agencies are largely massively successful. I had a great customer service experience which was equal or on par with most airline rebooking options - and in some cases, better. Point is: on this booking, I felt that the one reason you typically don’t want to book with Expedia was not a reason not to book. Or, in the case of many airlines, they might not have an online rebooking option for international tickets at all. I wanted to make a more comprehensive change that might not have automatically been offered by an airline IT system for rebooking. Sure, I could’ve potentially had a better time by selecting alternative flights online with the airline directly, but not necessarily. I helped to guide them through my preferred alternative flights and within 5 minutes the tickets were reissued to my liking. What happened next surprised and delighted me. I felt I’d soon face the music for booking with an OTA - punishment for not following my years long, own advice to book direct. The airline cancelled my connecting flight, throwing off my entire itinerary. I booked, knowing if things changed, or flights were moved or cancelled, it might get messy.Īnd that day finally came. I had a very specific flight need for a trip from Paris to New York, and Expedia became the best solution for that need. When you want one of the others, you look elsewhere.
Look on the airline website, you get offered some flights at a certain price, but not others. Sometimes though, online travel agencies turn up availability for flights that even airlines don’t. If prices are the same, or even close, it’s best to book directly with the airline, because dealing with online travel agencies for changes, refunds or other issues can be a nightmare. Historically, it’s been for very-very good reason. There’s one piece of advice you’ll constantly hear travel experts harp on.
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