Despite the protests from the leading hotel industry group that a merger between Expedia and Orbitz would concentrate too much of the travel-booking market in one company’s hands – leading to fewer choices for consumers – the two companies have received regulatory approval and completed their $1.6 billion marriage today. [More]
travelocity
Completion Of $1.6B Orbitz, Expedia Merger Further Whittles Down Online Travel Agency Options
By 9.17.15
Expedia Buys Rival Travel Site Travelocity For $280M
By 1.23.15
Expedia Inc. and Travelocity, two of the most prominent online travel agencies, have decided to take their relationship to the next level by way of a $280 million acquisition that paves the way for continued battles with travel site behemoth Priceline. [More]
Court Throws Out Online Price-Fixing Lawsuit Against Major Hotel Chains, Booking Sites
By 2.19.14
For years, some have accused America’s largest hotel chains of colluding with travel booking sites like Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, and Priceline to make sure that the room rates offered to consumers on these sites are the same. This practice, claimed plaintiffs in various lawsuits, effectively allowed the hotel chains to determine their own prices and kept the booking sites from competing against each other; meaning consumers could be paying more than they should. But a U.S. District Court judge feels differently. [More]
No, You Did Not Randomly Win A Vacation From Travelocity
By 4.25.13 — Updated: 9.5.14
Remember when we told you about the scammers out to trick people into thinking they’d won travel vouchers from the nonexistent (at least in the U.S.) United Airways? Since then we’ve heard of two apparently separate-but-similar scams using the Travelocity name to deceive unsuspecting consumers. [More]
Dallas Hotel Blatantly Offers To Pay Guests For Positive Online Reviews
By 12.14.12
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Here’s a tip to hotel managers around the world — Paying for reviews is bad enough. Advertising that you’re willing to pay for positive feedback is only going to communicate to your guests that you run a bad hotel and that you expect them to not have anything nice to say about your establishment. [More]
Holiday Inn Sends Me Wrong Receipt, Reveals How Much Of A Discount It Gives To Travelocity
By 8.22.12
If you’ve ever booked a room through Travelocity or any other online travel site, you might have wondered how much that company is paying the hotel operator for the room. Without even trying to, one Consumerist reader managed to find out what Travelocity actually paid for a recent stay at a Holiday Inn. [More]
Lawsuit Alleges Price-Fixing By Major Hotel Chains And Online Booking Sites
By 8.21.12
A class-action lawsuit filed yesterday in a U.S. District Court in California alleges that the biggest names in online travel — Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotels.com — and some of the world’s largest hotel chains — Hilton, Starwood, Marriott, Intercontinental, among others — conspired together so that the “best price guarantee” you often see when booking a room online is in actuality just a number set by the hotel operators. [More]
Travelocity's 'Confirmation' Doesn't Mean You Really Booked A Hotel Room, Silly
By 5.8.12
The idea behind booking a hotel room or other travel through a site like Travelocity is that they’re supposed to, um, actually book the travel that you pay for. They didn’t manage to do that for the hotel room Graham tried to book in Maine. He booked nine weeks ahead, then learned that the reservation was imaginary two weeks before the trip. [More]
American Airlines Yanks Fares From Orbitz
By 12.23.10
In a contract tussle, American Airlines has removed all of its fares from Orbitz. [More]
Executive E-Mail Carpet Bomb Resolves Travelocity Error, Preserves Awesome Price
By 9.23.10
Gail writes that when things went awry with her hotel and car package reservation on Travelocity, regular customer service wasn’t able to resolve the error. Representatives told her to give up and reserve them separately, or to leave Travelocity staff alone and use another service. As a Consumerist reader and loyal Travelocity customer, she knew that she deserved better. She found an e-mail for the company’s VP of Sales and Customer Care, which didn’t get her the package deal she wanted–she got her hotel stay for free instead.. [More]
Ritz-Carlton: Sorry, We Meant $580, Not $58
By 8.10.10
Over at Christopher Elliott’s blog there’s a story of a guy who booked a great deal at Travelocity. A little too great — it was a typo. Someone forgot to add a zero on the end of the room rate. [More]
Should Travelocity's "TotalPrice" Guarantees Cover Mandatory Surcharges?
By 6.26.10
Aaron’s pissed because Travelocity’s quote for a one week car rental in Costa Rica didn’t include a mandatory insurance charge that cost him more than $100. Aaron feels cheated and wants Travelocity to pony up under their TotalPrice Guarantee, but Travelocity may not have done anything wrong. Join us across the jump to help us sort this out. [More]
How Does Travelocity's New Service Compare To Hotwire & Priceline?
By 3.23.10
In a move to compete with Hotwire and Priceline, Travelocity has gotten into the deep-discount, semi-blind hotel booking business with the introduction of their new Top Secret Hotels service that promises savings of up to 45% on three and four-star hotels. [More]
Expedia Drops Fee For Booking By Phone
By 11.5.09
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.
Canceling A Vacation Due To Swine Flu? Expect The Runaround
By 4.28.09
So, you’ve decided to cancel your “nonessential” trip to Mexico to avoid the swine flu outbreak. Great. Just don’t expect the cancellation process to go smoothly.
Four Reasons Not To Book Your Hotel Room Through A Third-Party Site
By 1.31.09
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.
By 11.18.08
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Over on Elliott.org, a woman describes how her $29 Days Inn room ballooned to a $180 charge when the hotel’s owner refused to honor the deal, and what she did to get the difference refunded. [Elliott.org]
By 11.10.08
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Flying somewhere to welcome home a family member in the military? Hope that the military doesn’t change the date, because as one mom found out — Travelocity’s insurance policy is only covers changes due to “death, illness and jury duty.” Don’t worry, there’s a happy ending. [MomLogic]
