I have been shopping about a month for a vacation in 2008. My dates are flexible so I have time to shop. I have been checking Orbitz website for a good deal and have seen a very ugly thing happening.
When a good deal is displayed, I select the hotel and flight from the display at the advertised price to book the package. The flight comes up, however with a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT hotel! When I back up and attempt to get the same hotel which was originally displayed a new screen appears which says that the price has now changed and reflects an increase up to $1,000.00!
If this had happened once or twice, I would have considered it a random error, however this is happening on what would be considered a fare sale! They are practicing "bait and switch" blatently! Are on-line travel sites such as this not subject to these laws?
I chatted with the online agent and was told to call to book the package I found. I call and am told that the prices must be in the process of updating for this to happen or must have sold out in the time it took for me to call. That is absolutlely absurd. I have literally sat on my computer all day in an effort to test this.
The hotel you want is displayed with the package airfare price, you click to purchase the deal and the hotel you have chosen is SWITCHED to a different hotel. It has happened to me over and over again! Furthermore, a return to the selection and re-selecting your hotel AGAIN suddenly jumps the fare to an outrageous increase!
The latest message received 5 minutes ago when I tried to book a package to the Caribbean:
"Due to changes in availability, the price of your package increased from $2966 to $ 4236. Please review the new trip cost below. (Message 1370)"
How can we get this practice stopped and when will the companies be charged under the bait and switch laws?
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