Online Travel Sites

Now, I have been buying domestic plane tickets online for probably 15 or more years.  For foreign flights it is probably more like ten.

But my most recent experience with an online broker is less than satisfactory.  I used Oxxxxx recently to book a multi-airline flight from Hartford/Springfield (BDL) to Tortola (EIS).  Since the two airlines were not partners, I received paper tickets after some delay since I needed to provide a street address instead of a mailing address.

The day before my flight I phoned the first airline and while they had my reservation, I had no assigned seats and none could be assigned until I arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m. the next day.  And the best seats I could get put my wife and me apart or in the bulkhead.

I generally use a couple of search engines to check airlines, times and dates.  I like KAYAK and HIPMUNK for starters and then will go to the individual airline to book the flight.  I try to be a loyal flyer with a few different airlines and try to fly via San Juan PR (SJU) to clear customs instead of Miami (MIA).  But as I shared earlier, since the two airlines were not partners, in order to get the "whole" package, I needed to use an online broker.

What a royal pain.

And I will never use Oxxxxx again.