10/8-10/14: Does Online Ticketing Suck?

Do you ever check airline ticket prices online? Have you ever bought tickets online? If yes, which sites do you recommend? If no, what changes would convince you to try? When it comes to online ticketing, who doesn't suck?

Here's what Tripod members had to say:

kf0yn: I've done both. I've only purchased tickets online once. It worked fine, but I think I'll stick to travel agents in the future. Travelocity seems to be a pretty good site.

hcm: It's too much work for not enough utility. My travel agent does a better job with tools that are better-suited for the job. Also, the incentives for online ticketing simply don't exist; I can (and have been able to) peruse airline schedules online for years, and then I call my travel agent and tell her which flights I'd prefer, ... doing my own booking earns me absolutely nothing, and costs me time. It's even worse during an airfare war; the net connections to those servers saturate with idiots who think this is a great time to learn how this stuff works (who don't understand, for instance, that each airfare class has a specific seat inventory which may or may not be sold out for a particular flight).

telarium: Heck, I think that if it makes it any easier, then we should go and explore those options. But not if it becomes a security hazard, like a lot of the Internet is. It is the future, but also the airlines are trying to make money. And that is what America is all about, money.

rjnerd: I tried, but wound up going directly to the airline. They don't want to make it that easy. I did use sabre (on a paid service) once, to find out schedule information, and that helped. I tried to reserve a car rental once or twice, but the prices were much higher than you would get by simply calling (once I did use a discount plan advertised on the net). The same (rack rate only) happened when I tried to reserve hotel rooms via the net.

allygrrl: Actually, I often book tickets on-line using Southwest Airlines because it is convenient for me. I have access to my computer more often than an actual telephone. I also book a lot of flights on short notice, and I've found that Southwest's site is very accomodating.

crooner: I know that my credit card details are safe when I go to my own travel agent. I'm still not convinced that any financial transaction on the net is safe. Apart from that, net people tend to ignore the fact that half the reason I go to my travel agent is because I have a relationship with that person, I'd never buy on line, because the human interaction is missing, and that's something that will never be there.

AlMiller: So far, I think Southwest Airlines really has their act together, and I would recommend their website for purchasing ticketless travel. Using the Southwest website is more convenient that calling the toll-free number for flight and fare information. When I actually made the reservation online, the fare I was charged was much lower than the fare that was listed as their lowest fare on the website. Most other airlines are not quite as accomodating on the Internet, as many require you to go offline to actually purchase the ticket or even get a fare quote. One big problem with www.iflyswa.com was when they offered $25 fares; I found it impossible to either connect through the toll-free number or Internet to purchase tickets because of the heavy volume. Also, their graphics-intensive website tends to be slow loading. My Southwest trip was the first thing I ever purchased online, and I would do it again.

JennyBean: Being a college student with a job in a computer lab, I have more time to spend online than most. I've truly appreciated the ease of use of the Flifo people in finding schedules and fares. They successfully found me the lowest rate for several flights I later booked through a travel agent, who couldn't find me a lower fare - even WITH various student discounts. I tried to buy my tickets online once, but ran into problems I later found out were due to the change of a flight number in American Airlines' books. I have a naive confidence in the security of online purchasing. I have bought several items from catalogs and the like online, even though I consider myself educated in Internet Current Events. I enjoy the novelty of getting my own info for flights, but it's little more than that -- a novelty -- for now.

Omicron: I've never bought anything online (except an internet account with a certain well-known carrier which will remain nameless). I figure if I can get it in real life (offline), why bother with the risk of letting my credit card numbers slip into the wrong hands? And there are a lot of hands on the net...

kjgens: I've done some browsing through Travelocity and Sabre's sites, but I haven't purchased anything online. It's unlikely I will, as I have a travel agent who provides corporate rates which are more flexible than the standard rates or provide a greater level of comfort. Air Canada has a site that does list its schedule, which can be handy, but I feel that the Internet still has security issues to work out before I will provide my credit card number to some faceless computer.

LittleM: For me, it's less a security issue than one of price and ease of use. You have to know these online booking systems inside out in order to get decent prices, and it's harder to tell a computer than a real person that you're flexible about time, day, airline, etc. The online booking systems appear to give you access to the databases of flights that travel agents use -- why do it yourself when there are people who are trained to do it?

Apel: I've used PC Travel once, and got a pretty good deal. But then the second time I wanted to buy a ticket, the deal didn't seem so good. So I called a travel agent. She found a fare half of what the best was that I had found, and it took her 2 minutes, compared to my hour. I'll stick to real travel agents from now on.

sanmando: I have used PC Travel and it is alright; the one that I currently use to check schedule is www.itn.com, their system seems to be more flexible.

CentralPerk: I find that the online ticketing services enable me to get a good idea of what the available fares are, and to let me know if the airline is lying. I was once trying to buy an air ticket from Newark, NJ to London, UK. After browsing Sabre on AOL, I found a $280 fare (before taxes) only offered by United Airlines. I called United to double-check, and they denied the existence of such a fare, offering me a $400 fare (before taxes) that all airlines were offering. I returned to Sabre to check the restrictions for the $280 fare, and as soon as I found that I was fully qualified and would even earn 7,000 frequent flier miles, I just went behind United's back, snatching the fare and a seat on their brand-new Boeing 777. The liars at United never noticed me doing it, since the fare was legitimate anyway. Although I still buy my air tickets primarily through a good travel agent or directly from the airlines, I always check on the Web first.