Orbitz

I have been using Orbitz since 2008. In the beginning, they treated me really well. Even canceling flights and hotels was annoying, but the reps were kind and tried to help. A lot has changed.

Today I am resolving today to NEVER use Orbitz again. In the last year, I have found dealing with Orbitz customer service to be a nightmare. Ideally, of course, I would never need to call customer service, but when you have to, it's hard to find worse than Orbitz.

I just tried to cancel a round-trip flight which it turns out Orbitz booked as two one-way flights. Because of that, the airline wants me to pay 2x the cancelation fee. I don't think I should have to do that. I thought I was booking a one-way flightI booked it at the same time on the same airline and Orbitz presented it to me like a round-trip flight when I paid for it.

I talked to two customer service reps who did not speak to me like a human being or try to understand my problem or solve it in any way. They just read me their Delta handbooks and told me that I should be grateful that Orbitz did this to make the flight cost lower. Orbitz absolutely has the ability to mitigate the cancelation fee if they wanted. I booked two identical flights, and in the past they have helped me out in this way.

I've been sticking with Orbitz for a long time just out of habit and because they have all my info saved, but they aren't good any more. I think they're still helpful with cars and a mess with flights and hotels. And they certainly don't care about my loyalty, so there's no reason to stay. There have got to be better services out there (Southwest, which doesn't charge cancelation fees at all, comes to mind!). This service has jumped the shark.

I will Never recommend using Orbitz. In June of 2015, I purchased 2 round trip tickets from Alaska to Florida using Orbitz for a December 2015 holiday trip. Great price, definitely not worth it. I chose to use one airline (Delta Air all the legs of this round trip air.) I got confirmation for 2 round trip tickets, dates and times all good. Over the next 5 months, we got approximately 6 notices of scheduling changes. I understand this, flight schedules change constantly. Happens - when you book far in advance. We travel often.

Upon preparing for this upcoming trip, I printed out the latest updated confirmation and noticed it said, One Way for each of us and I could not get the return portion to show up. I telephoned the airlines directly asking what was going on, was told "Orbitz cancelled my return portion". I then asked for a supervisor and Delta supervisor was courteous and did not have a reason for me, but told me not to worry as they were 'contractually obligated" to get us on that return... This is in December, just 2 weeks before we are to leave and during the holiday season - I was not hopeful. Sure enough, I was not able to get return flights during the dates we had originally paid and booked for.

Final answer, we got out 2 days later than planned. Obviously this caused me a great deal of stress, a great deal more money as I was scrambling to find a hotel for 2 added days, our work schedules had to change, costing us substantial more - financially - as well as our car rental now was more than double the cost to add 2 single days on. I tried every car rental and the answer was the same. More than double the cost as had been booked in advance. The advantage to booking cars early.

I have attempted several times to contact Orbitz directly, asking for a supervisor. The first time, was connected to a supervisor. But his accent was so thick, I could not have a conversation with him. I asked him where he was located and was told, the Philippines. I apologized to him, informed him that I could not understand him and would call back. I have not yet been able to speak to anyone in the U.S. I have even asked for customer service for Chicago, since Orbitz shows an address for Illinois. I have gotten no where with Orbitz directly and no answer for why they would have cancelled our return flight. I feel like an idiot for using them and now reading dreadful reviews that duplicate my complaint.

I scheduled a trip to Asia and was using Orbitz as a travel resource between destinations on my trip. I started in Hong Kong then planned to travel to Beijing by train and then fly from Beijing to Bangkok, Thailand. Unfortunately, despite every effort I made, extenuating circumstances prevented me from catching my train to Beijing and thus I missed my flight from Beijing to Bangkok, which I booked through Orbitz. I had to adjust my itinerary for the trip and contacted a customer service representative in the US from where I was staying in Hong Kong. The gentleman was very kind and patient and spent nearly half an hour helping me reconstruct my itinerary. This representative informed me that the money I had spent initially ($553) for my flight from Beijing to Bangkok could not be diverted to my new itinerary when I canceled the flight, but a credit of that amount would be placed on my account with Orbitz to use toward any domestic flights within the United States provided I use the credit within a year after my flight cancellation (expiration date of credit: April 1,2016).

February 18,2016 I contacted Orbitz about claiming my refund and was told by the representative I spoke with - again, a very kind and patient individual - that I received incorrect information. I could only use this credit with the airline I canceled with, which was a Chinese airline. Not American. Furthermore, to use this credit I would be subject to penalty fees of up to $200. I expressed to this representative that this policy is ludicrous and incredibly misleading, and he agreed with me and apologized saying there wasn't anything he could do.

I contacted the BBB with the details of my complaint and was contacted by a customer relations representative. She reviewed every aspect of my complaint thoroughly, but ultimately said that there was nothing they could do to remedy the situation. I decided not to continue pushing my complaint with the BBB in any interest of financial retribution, and see greater worth in sharing my experience with fellow travelers to advise them to seek other resources besides Orbitz. Please, learn from my experiences and do not make the same mistake I did by trusting Orbitz. Hopefully you find this review helpful!

First of all, Orbitz doesn't even deserve a star period! But unfortunately I have to give a rating. I have never purchased a flight without travel insurance (because anything can happen) whether through another travel site or straight through the airline. So when I purchased two $292 dollar tickets back in September 2018 and the $40 per person insurance, I just KNEW my purchase would be protected. Unfortunately with Orbitz, if you cancel your flight for any reason other than a medical emergency (has to be documented), death, jury duty or anything like that, you will not get refunded. Plus the fact that I purchased AA flights (which charges a $200 per ticket restocking fee upon cancellation) made matters even worse.

So after an hour on the phone with a representative and then their supervisor, it was agreed upon that I would at least get the $92 per person back (provided I purchase two tickets again on the same airline with the same person within a years time) because this was my first time using Orbitz and I guess they were empathetic this particular time. Well, today I call to redeem my $92 per person using AA for my boyfriend and I and I was greeted with the same foolishness! Again, I had to talk with a supervisor, explain what I had previously been told and this fool tells me that because I'm trying to book basic economy for this flight instead of the original main cabin I had booked back in September, I wouldn't be able to use the $92 per person credit because AA doesn't allow downgrades.

The level of DISGUST & DISDAIN I have for ORBITZ is astronomical! I hate this company with every fiber of my being! I lost over $600 on that flight purchase back in September after saving for 3 months for those tickets. They have no empathy for hard working individuals. This company is disgusting. Then the supervisor has the NERVE to tell me that if I purchase the tickets, and something happens where I have to cancel the flight, the exact same scenario will likely occur. I can't with this company. Please, please, please, heed this warning and DO NOT PURCHASE AIRLINE TICKETS FROM ORBITZ OR AMERICAN AIRLINES! You will be sorry. TRUST!?

Ok so up front the prices are good. Often Kayak.com beats them but they do have good rates. All is well if you don't need customer service re: your already purchased ticket. I have had to call a few times over the last few days and every time it was a minimum of an hour 1/2 wait... So they at least provide the option to receive a call back everytime they state it will be an hour & 1/2. One time it was within that time yes an hour & 1/2 later. The second time I did not receive a call back at all and 3 hours later I called again and set up another call back. It then took 2 hours to receive that call back. Once you get a representative some of them are really good others are average at best. The next day I had another question and again received the message that It would be at least an hour 1/2 and could receive a call back... that call back came nearly 5 hours later. Then to add insult to injury while I was on hold the call disconnected. I then had to call again. The system put me through to a rep. I was shocked... ended up that she could only help with hotel reservations. So for hotels the provide normal service. Then I was forwarded to the flights department and again it is an hour 1/2 wait or longer. I give them a 1 star even though they do provide adequate help when you get a hold of someone... and do have decent prices... because I find it appalling that ANY company would think it's ok to have a customer wait EVERY time they call for hours at a time & have a call back system that is flawed. It says ALOT about the ethics and character of the company that it would not have more reps available to be of assistance. If they have that many people calling they should err on the side of good customer service not poor. If this happened once or twice that it was this long of a wait I would just think that I called at a high volume time. However this happens EVERY TIME at all hours. I live in CA and it was the same thing at 9pm PST when I had to resubmit a call request which happened 2-21/2 hours later. Kayak.com provides excellent and accessible service. I have been using Kayak for at least 15 years and NEVER had such issues when using them. Plus kayak now sends you over to the airline to book your flight so if there are any issues you can go directly to the airline even for changes... unlike orbitz. You have to call them and end up in this never ending loop of just trying to get someone. Simply Orbitz this is not acceptable!