Orbitz Reviewer's Comments

The “TopTenReviews Bronze Award” winner makes traveling easier than ever. Orbiz’s TLC feature is great for frequent travelers that need to manage flights and travel arrangements often or for the casual traveler visiting friends and family or going on vacation. You can book flights and hotels from your mobile device, get alerts about flight delays and cancellations emailed to you and six others, and get pre–trip emails confirming your itinerary.

We found Orbitz to have some of the best booking options and additional features available on the Internet. There is a $4.99 to $11.99 service fee for all airline tickets. Unfortunately, Orbitz’s customer service was unsatisfactory. Although Orbitz provides a comprehensive FAQ, they only answered one of our emails, three days after it was sent.

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Additional Features:  

Orbitz TLC includes alerts, mobile access, pre–trip emails and podcasts. If there is a cancellation or delay, you and six friends/family can automatically be alerted of your flight status. All you have to do is set up a contact list prior to your departure. Additionally, Orbitz will send you a pre–trip email including confirmation numbers, a three–day forecast and links to city guides.

With mobile access, you can view your itinerary, check flight status and see hotel availability from any web–enabled mobile device including PDAs, cell phones and smart phones.

Podcasts are free downloadable introductions to various activities, attractions and events in a select city.

Orbitz includes a low fare and low hotel guarantee; however, they do not refund your reservation. Instead, if you find a flight or hotel that matches the exact requirements you’ve just booked, including airline, time, date, flight number or hotel name, rooms size and dates within 24 hours of booking your reservation, Orbitz will give you a $50 coupon toward your next booking.

Registration with Orbitz is easy to use. In your account, you can manage your billing, newsletters and updates, and redeem coupons and Orbitz points.

Booking Options:  

Orbitz has some of the best booking options on the Internet. You can reserve flights, hotels, cars, cruises, trains and activities. Additionally, you can book any combination of air, hotel and car and save with each bundle.

When booking your flight, hotel, car or cruise, you can be as strict or as flexible as you’d like. We found Orbitz can search for many specific criteria in all aspects of booking. Hotels can be searched based on amenities, near an address, you can request a manual transmission car and specific cruise liners or airliners.

Orbitz offers train tickets; however, unlike airfare, which compares prices from hundreds of airliners and carriers, train tickets are only available through Amtrak.

Orbitz charges a $4.99 to $11.99 service fee for all airline tickets. If you need or require a paper ticket, Orbitz charges $45.00; this does not include the price the airline may charge. Additionally, if you need to change your itinerary through Orbitz, there is a $30.00 service fee separate from the fee the airline may charge.

Resources:  

Most of Orbitz’s resources are located in the TLC section. They include travel news about security and airlines. You can check flight status and weather. Orbitz provides information about international travel, airport guides, airline contacts and travel tips.

Orbitz was the only online travel site we reviewed that included sports news and games.

Ease of Use/Support:  

Orbitz is an easy to use travel site. Everything is clearly labeled and easy to navigate. Our biggest problem with Orbitz was their customer service. They provide a large, comprehensive FAQ that will answer many of your questions; however, they were not very efficient when answering emails. We sent Orbitz two emails. The first one was answered in about three days, at the time of this review; we had not received a reply to our second question.

Summary:  

Orbitz is one of the most popular online travel sites on the Internet. They offer several unique features, like mobile access and travel alerts to others, which makes them stand out from the rest of the competition. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed with customer service. Although most people won’t need to contact Orbitz when booking their flights or hotels, it is nice to know there is someone responsive on the other end, just in case.