orbitz cares

There was a thread a while back about Orbitz mis-listing fares. So I
contacted them. Their thoughful reply explains everything!
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Original Query:
For WEEKS now I've been looking at NW fares from xxx to yyy on different
dates on Orbitz, and they always list low fares that are unavailable (low
$200's), and they they offer fare after fare that is unavailable, until the
total goes into the upper $300's. Even when the NWA website quotes a
flight at $248, Orbitz will offer it at $204, and then say it is unavailable
at that rate--and offer alternatives into the $300's. You are LOSING
BUSINESS by having these flights misprogrammed, which they have been for
WEEKS and I mean WEEKS. Orbitz is currently unable to sell NW--at least in
this market--because of this stupid and grotesque programming problem. Is
there anyway to book these flights at all through Orbitz at a genuine rate,
without minutes of frustrating clicking on non-existent fares?
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Thoughtful reply from Orbitz (note the last line!):
Dear Orbitz Member, Thank you for contacting Orbitz.

Many unbelievably low fares are usually offered for a very limited period of
time (maybe even 1 hour) and with a very limited number of seats when a
carrier wishes to draw attention to a certain flight/itinerary. So, it is
possible that the low fare was available, it just became unavailable rather
quickly, specially with Orbitz having 13 million + registered users.

In order to continue offering you the best travel benefits on the Internet,
we charge a fee for airline ticket purchases.
Orbitz promises to offer you:
* the widest selection of low fares from more than 450 airlines
* an unbiased site that never favors one airline over another
* the most Web Fares
* 24-hour access to our Customer Service professionals
Independent audit firms confirm that Orbitz finds you the lowest fares more
than 80 percent of the time, which is more than other travel sites.
We value you as a customer and look forward to serving you again in the
future.
Sincerely,
Milton Orbitz Customer Service www.Orbitz.com

Most Low Fares Made Easy

Their thoughful reply explains everything!

Right. They would rather you e-mail them so they can send you that pap instead
of calling them up and trying to get a real answer. When I called I managed to
get one of the supervisors so flustered that she hung up on me, a firing
offense at many call centers.

When I am consistently offerred low fares only to find out 5 minutes later that
they are unavailable, and I should try something higher priced, that is the old
bait and switch, pure and simple.

And I don't give a hoot for their lame
excuses about sudden fare/availability updates or incompatibility with AOL or
13 million registered users. It's all a smoke screen to calm you while they
pull the old switcheroo.

Simple rule of business: If you can't sell it, don't offer it.

The FTC needs to investigate these guys.

As for me, I just choose to shop elsewhere.

Jerry in LAS

It's all a smoke screen to calm you while they pull the old switcheroo.

The only thing I don't understand, is when a flight isn't available at $204,
but both the nwa.com website and Travelocity have it at $272, why doesn't
Orbitz simply 'correct' the misquote, and offer it at $272. But Orbitz
doesn't. You simply can't GET that flight on Orbitz--since they keep
offering you 'alternatives'--and they don't have a segment select function
to 'force' a price on those particular flights.

The only reason it's really an issue for me is because I have an Orbitz
credit card, and want to apply a credit earned from it to the fllight. I
want to purchase those flights, even at the "correct" fare--and I CAN'T on
Orbitz.

When Orbitz pulled the "quote low only offer high" routine on me, I was NOT on
AOL. I was on a high speed conection.