TravelSiteCritic's Blog

I’ve Relocated!

Pamela — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:38:08 +0000

I have not been posting much here, as I am concentrating on my new blog at http://travelsitecritic.com/blog/.

At Travel Site Critic, we review online travel sites based on who has the best travel deals and provide information on their fees, reputation, product line, usability, customer service, cancellation policies and current coupons.

www.TravelSiteCritic.com: Travel Website Reviews and Ratings. Online Travel Deals.

Review of Vayama-International Travel Solved

Pamela — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:41:23 +0000

My very popular review of Vayama has been moved. It is now only available on www.TravelSiteCritic.com on my Vayama Review page.

What’s Better: Travelocity or Priceline?

Pamela — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:02:57 +0000

There are tons of online travel sites out there that want your business. Believe me, I know, it can be hard to discern what agencies are the best to book your next flight or hotel with. I’ve made it my job to review and compare online travel sites, and can tell you that there are many differences between them. Some charge you a whopper if you cancel, and some charge you nothing. While other agencies agree to charge no booking fees, some agents charge up to 5o bucks in booking fees. These are the basics on the most popular travel sites:

Best site to book a hotel: Hotels.com. They do charge a small service fee (amount varies depending on hotel), but their selection is huge and their site is easy to navigate. In our tests, they usually came up with the lowest prices.

Best site to book a flight: Priceline.com. They charge no booking fees on published flights! They are one of the very few sites that agree to do this! Almost any travel agent will charge you a service fee to book a flight for you because the airlines stopped giving them commissions years ago.

Best site to book a package (flight + hotel): Travelocity.com. They charge $0 booking fees for packages, whereas they would charge you to book flights and hotels separately.

Best site to book hotel for large family: Hotels.com. Comes out ahead here too. If you have a family of 5 or more, you will be able to easily search for large suites and vacation rentals that can accommodate your family. They won’t pull up a bunch of hotels that have little rooms (max occupancy of 4). Also, Hotels.com is great because if you are forced to cancel they do not charge you a fee (keep in mind that some hotels charge their own fees, but that would happen no matter who you book with… just read the little Hotel Cancellation Policy, which is right there on the screen when you book).

Do you agree with me? Let me know, I really appreciate input.

Source: Travel Site Reviews

discounts4members.com: Too Good To Be True?

Pamela — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:05:12 +0000

Well as you know, I review sites all the time, and I came across this new site to review today. It is called discounts4members.com. Have you ever heard of it? Neither had I. It is basically a member-only travel booking site. I know that sounds bad, but read on. It is free for the first month, and then after that, if you decide to keep it, it is $69 or so per year. I thought, that seemed like a waste of money at first. But, I think they REALLY DO have some exclusive deals here, not available to the general public. We’re talking over $100 discounts on hotels, not some puny (is that how you spell “pyuwnee”?!) 10% discount or something. On top of that, you get $100 cash back on most bookings, and $150 in FREE GAS for signing up. I truly feel a little baffled. Is there a catch here? Is this too good to be true?

Source: Discounts4Members Review

What does Orbitz Charge you?

Pamela — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:29:09 +0000

As you may know, my job is to review online travel sites. I review a few every day, and compare prices. I consider myself a bit of an expert in this area. Most of people are surprised by the differences between travel sites. I mean, you can literally find 5 (or more) different prices for the same flight or hotel if you spend enough time searching different sites. I tend to drive myself a little crazy doing this! There quite simply is not just “one perfect site” for everything. Most of them have some perks,and they all charge you for something. Either they don’t give you the best price, or they charge you service fees to make up the difference. Anyhow, part of my job is reading the small print. The fine lines and backward talking that makes up the “TERMS AND CONDITIONS” and “FAQ” sections of these websites. It cracks me up how they don’t just spell everything out to you. I mean, come on, we’re not idiots here! Of course they want to make money, so why not just clearly say “we offer these low prices…and charge you 5, 10, or even 25 bucks for it”…. I think they should just put this on their front page. They are not quite that “up front”, you have to really search for the information. Cancellation fees are a whole notha animal.

Anyhow, here is a full review that I recently wrote about Orbitz. I hope that it provides information about them in an EASY TO FIND format. I like to include other user’s opinions in my reviews as well. Keep it real. Leave me a comment, and tell me what YOU think of Orbitz.