Orbitz Review

Overall Rating

Easy to use

Horrendous customer service, screwed up my flights

I use Orbitz to book travel for myself and for my mother several times a year, and I started using Orbitz on the recommendation of my father, who uses it several times a year. However, after my last experience, I will never use Orbitz again.

I booked a trip to Las Vegas for May 27 through 30, 2009. This trip was for my best friend's wedding, and about 25 people booked their tickets to the wedding through Orbitz. When I booked my flights, I specified that I wanted flight times after noon. My original flights were the following: I was to leave Omaha at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, and I was to leave Las Vegas at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. These times were perfect.

I received four flight updates between January and February. The first two kept the flight times at acceptable times. When I received the third and fourth update, I (wrongly) assumed that the times would be within what I initially specified " after noon. Furthermore, I figured with four flight changes in one month, there were bound to be more over the next three months. However, when I received the confirmation the day before I left Omaha, I discovered that the time I left Las Vegas on Saturday had changed to 8:10 a.m.

Now, I know for a fact that there were later flights leaving Las Vegas, because I was the only person at the wedding who had this super-early time. Because of this flight time, my vacation was cut short, and I missed wedding festivities on Friday night because I had to go to bed early so I could be up at 4:30 a.m. the next day to catch the 8:10 a.m. flight. Moreover, I missed the wedding brunch with the other guests on Saturday morning because I had to be up at 4:30 a.m. to catch the 8:10 a.m. flight.

Because Orbitz did not stick to the time I specified when booking this trip, I hold Orbitz accountable for screwing up my first trip to Las Vegas and time I should have had with my best friend and her groom. I missed out on festivities on Friday AND Saturday because of this, and I am not pleased. This is time I can't get back with my friends. Orbitz robbed me of a night and half a day of my vacation.

While I'm voicing my displeasure, I'm going to add that I was stuck paying an extra $20 a night at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas because Orbitz booked me in the "fabulous" MOTEL part of the Imperial Palace. Thanks, but I didn't feel the motel was very safe. So I coughed up an additional $20 a night to stay in the main part of the hotel. So thank you for booking me in the lousiest part of the hotel possible so I could pay extra each night to feel safe.

When I called Orbitz after my trip, they put the blame on the airline. However, I did not book my flights through the airline, I booked them through Orbitz. Furthermore, when pointed out that they completely disregarded that I'd specified flight times after noon, they continually ignored this and continued to blame the airline. Orbitz's customer service was horrible, and I'm still irked that they cut my vacation short.