Consumerist
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online booking
Expedia Drops Fee For Booking By Phone
This morning, travel service Expedia announced it will abandon its book by phone fee, which it first implemented last May. This makes it the only major online travel agency to not ding customers with a fee for booking flights over the phone, notes consumer travel advocate Christopher Elliott. More » -
travel
No More Flight Booking Fees On Expedia.com
Expedia has finally joined its rival online travel sites in eliminating air travel booking fees. Back in March, the site eliminated the fees on a temporary basis, but now the lack of fees is permanent. They will still charge a $20 fee to book flights over the phone. More » -
hotels
Four Reasons Not To Book Your Hotel Room Through A Third-Party Site
You won't get the best deal booking your hotel room through third-party sites like Expedia or Travelocity, according to an anonymous hospitality industry insider. Inside, four excellent reasons to book directly with a hotel to guarantee the best rooms at the best prices. More » -
sales
Morning Deals
- Kohl's: 80-90% Clearance Sale
- Disney Outlet: Kid's costumes up to 80% off, plus extra 20% off code
- Amazon: Dr. Martens Men's 1914 Cherry Red Size 14 Boots $38
- Tiger Direct: UTStarcom GSM708 Unlocked GSM Phone $20
- Butterfly Photo: Canon Rebel XSi 12MP DSLR & Lens $790 Shipped
- Expedia: Save 30% off Hotels, Cars, Cruises & Other Travel
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us airways
U.S. Airways Refunds $2200 Tickets For Recently Unemployed Man
Travel expert Christopher Elliott says US Airways refunded a couple $2200 on a pair of nonrefundable tickets to Ireland after the wife wrote to the COO and explained their situation. They tried Expedia first and were refused, and although they had travel insurance it wouldn't cover unemployment. The wife, Jennifer Bush, says the US Airways rep who responded to their plea "told me that they all felt for my situation and decided to refund the amount of the airfare." More » -
expedia
Expedia's "New York From $58 A Night" Offer Is Bunk (Beds)
Expedia says they can get you room and board in NYC for $58 a night. Amy at NewYorkology looked into what such a low, low price actually gets you, and it's not pretty: think hostels, co-ed group rooms, mice, bunk beds, and generally dirty environments. If you're undaunted by college-lifestyle travel, Amy points out that there's one cheap hostel listed that has some good reviews, but since we're talking about ultra-budget hostels here, a good review actually includes the phrase, "best of all NO ROACHES!!!" More » -
unexplained fees
Expedia Freezes $964, Says "Don't Worry, It Will Be Released Within 72 Hours"
Expedia thinks it's okay to place a total of $964 on hold on Nicholas' and his girlfriend's credit cards, even though they've already paid for their $3,000 trip in full. When he contacted Expedia to ask them what gives, they told him it would be released within 72 hours. Maybe this is Expedia's way of combatting travel inflation by creating a make-believe rebate-y feeling when you buy an expensive vacation package. More » -
travel
Is Expedia Censoring Negative Reviews?
Christopher Elliott has an interesting post about an Expedia customer ran into trouble getting his negative review posted to the site. Bob, the customer in question, says: More » -
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complaints
Expedia Refunds Your Canceled Trip Whichever Way It Finds Cheapest, Lies About It
"August 21, 2007
Mr. Dara Khosrowshahi
CEO
Expedia, Inc.
3150 139th Avenue SE
Bellevue, WA 98005Re: Itinerary # [redacted]
Dear Mr. Khosrowshahi:
I have been an occasional, satisfied Expedia user over the years but I had an experience with your company yesterday that has left me angry and frustrated.
Last month I booked tickets for me and my wife on Expedia for air travel later this week as follows: Continental First Class (refundable) EWR-DEN/ Frontier Coach (non-refundable) DEN-LAS / Continental First Class (refundable) LAS-EWR for later this week. My wife injured her back so I called your toll-free number to cancel the reservation. The representative with whom I spoke told me that I would have a credit of $3,063.78 on Frontier Airlines, since they were the "validating carrier" (carrier who issued the tickets) and that my refundable first class tickets had become non-refundable...." More »
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insourcing
Indian Company Opens Call Center In Ohio
Welcome to "insourcing!" Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate, has opened another call center. In Ohio. More » -
complaints
Man Locked Out Of Hotel Room, Expedia Agrees To Completely Refund, Then Changes Mind
"A week ago, I had the opportunity to go to Chicago to teach a class. As I normally do, I booked the trip through Expedia.com. I took one of their package deals - hotel, car, airfare. Since I had never been to Chicago before, I simply selected the first hotel that came up on their rankings for the suburb in which I was staying.
I arrived in Chicago, rented my car, and drove to the hotel, arriving about 1am. The clerk at the front desk informed me that the machine to make keys for the rooms was broken, but that he could let me into the room and I could get a key in the morning. This raised some suspicions, but it was 1am, I was tired, and had to work the next day, so I said fine..." More »
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expedia
Update: Expedia's Price Match Guarantee
Remember Ryan? He unsuccessfully tried to hold Expedia to their "Best Price Guarantee." The staff of PeterGreenberg.com read our story and picked up where we left off. Thanks to their efforts, Expedia offered Ryan a $200 travel credit towards a previously-scheduled itinerary.Brenda from corporate customer care contacted me by phone yesterday. She apologized very genuinely and even engaged in a lengthy conversation about how things might be improved. She offered me a $200 travel credit towards future travel, which I politely declined. She then proceeded to refund $200 off my OTHER existing itinerary (not even the trip that caused all this trouble!).
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expedia
Expedia Threatens to Discontinue Account For Redeeming Voucher
Ryan spent over two hours on hold trying to redeem Expedia's "Best Price Guarantee" after finding a lower price for his itinerary on Travelocity. Expedia offered a flight to Denver and a hotel nearby for $580. Travelocity offered the same package for $458. Ryan had an account with Expedia and wanted them to match Travelocity's price.The CSR informed me about the "Best Price Guarantee" where if after booking with Expedia I found a lower price on the exact same itinerary within 24 hours they would refund the difference and give me a $50 travel voucher for future travel. I asked if this could be done at that time with her and she said that I first had to book my Expedia package online and call back to complete the "simple refund process."
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complaints
Bitchin' Heard Round the Blogosphere
• Inside Firefox takes time out from detailing the cogworks of Firefox to descrying the non-works of Comcast. More » -
hotels.com
Hotels.com, Ernst & Young Lose 0.25 Million Credit Card Numbers
250,000 Hotels.com customers woke up to super great news Friday morning: "Um, sorry guys, all your credit card numbers were stolen." More » -
readers
Expedia Closes Ticket Change Fee Loophole Around Customer's Throat
All our best correspondents have alliterative names. Consumerist Grant G. decided to use Expedia to book a couple of round-trip flights from Denver to San Francisco. But when his plans changed and he needed to fly back a day later, he was told there would be a $200 extra charge to change the booking. More » -
airfare
Fly First Class For Cheap
There's no need to lead an on-board mutiny or deploy Macchivelian mind-tricks, here's how you get first-class airplane seats for cheap. More » -
csr
Companies Replace Indians With Zombie CSRs
Always quick to turn a global apocalypse into a profit margin, many call centers outsourced to Bombay are increasingly returning to the States and being staffed with zombie CSRs. More »
expedia
New York, 4:57 PM
Sun Nov 22
7 posts in the last 24 hours
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